Government posts biggest monthly deficit ever
O joy. The federal government posted its biggest monthly deficit ever in February 2011.
O joy. The federal government posted its biggest monthly deficit ever in February 2011.
Category: Behind The Black
Government posts biggest monthly deficit ever
Palin’s parents fear death threats
The new civility: Sarah Palin’s parents describe the numerous death threats the family has received.
The new civility: Sarah Palin’s parents describe the numerous death threats the family has received.
Senate science budget proposals
Progress! The Senate’s science budget proposals are higher than the House’s, but actually do include real cuts.
Progress! The Senate’s science budget proposals are higher than the House’s, but actually do include real cuts.
Democrats attack Republican candidate’s children
Want to run against an entrenched liberal Democrat? Then expect him and his allies to try to destroy your children.
Want to run against an entrenched liberal Democrat? Then expect him and his allies to try to destroy your children.
Orrin Hatch, Mark Udall back anti-appropriations committee in Senate
Progress! Two senators from both parties have proposed an anti-appropriations committee that would focus on cutting wasteful federal programs.
Progress! Two senators from both parties have proposed an anti-appropriations committee that would focus on cutting wasteful federal programs.
Number of healthcare reform law waivers climbs above 1,000
If Obamacare was so great, why have the number of waivers the administration has issued to the law now climbed to more than 1,000?
If Obamacare was so great, why have the number of waivers the administration has issued to the law now climbed to more than 1,000?
America must protect funding of Huntsville NASA facilities according to lawmakers
Alabama lawmakers express desire to protect funding of Huntsville NASA facilities.
Normally I would call this a typical squeal for funds (and we do see so-called conservative Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) squealing a bit) , but the article makes it clear that everyone involved (even the journalist!) has real doubts about the wisdom of funding these programs with the present federal debt.
Alabama lawmakers express desire to protect funding of Huntsville NASA facilities.
Normally I would call this a typical squeal for funds (and we do see so-called conservative Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) squealing a bit) , but the article makes it clear that everyone involved (even the journalist!) has real doubts about the wisdom of funding these programs with the present federal debt.
Some interesting comments about NASA’s future from Clark Lindsey
Clark Lindsey of www.rlvnews.com/ has posted some interesting thoughts in reaction to the successful launch of the Air Force’s second reusable X-37b yesterday and how this relates to NASA’s budget battles in Congress. Key quote for me:
Charles Bolden doesn’t seem prepared to make a forceful case against the clear and obvious dumbness of the HLV/Orion program. Perhaps he in fact wants a make-work project for NASA to sustain the employee base.
As I’ve said before, the program-formerly-called-Constellation is nothing more than pork, and will never get built. Why waste any money on it now?
Clark Lindsey of www.rlvnews.com/ has posted some interesting thoughts in reaction to the successful launch of the Air Force’s second reusable X-37b yesterday and how this relates to NASA’s budget battles in Congress. Key quote for me:
Charles Bolden doesn’t seem prepared to make a forceful case against the clear and obvious dumbness of the HLV/Orion program. Perhaps he in fact wants a make-work project for NASA to sustain the employee base.
As I’ve said before, the program-formerly-called-Constellation is nothing more than pork, and will never get built. Why waste any money on it now?
Tommy Emmanuel – Guitar boogie
How Los Angeles’s community colleges wasted millions on green energy construction
How the head of Los Angeles’s community college construction program wasted millions on green energy construction. This quote sums up the absurdity of this environmental wet dream:
As head of a $5.7-billion, taxpayer-funded program to rebuild the college campuses, Eisenberg commanded attention. But his plan for energy independence was seriously flawed. He overestimated how much power the colleges could generate. He underestimated the cost. And he poured millions of dollars into designs for projects that proved so impractical or unpopular they were never built. These and other blunders cost nearly $10 million that could have paid for new classrooms, laboratories and other college facilities, a Times investigation found.
The problems with Eisenberg’s energy vision were fundamental. For starters, there simply wasn’t room on the campuses for all the generating equipment required to become self-sufficient. Some of the colleges wouldn’t come close to that goal even if solar panels, wind turbines and other devices were wedged into every available space.
Going off the grid did not make economic sense either. Given the cost of alternative energy technology, it would be more expensive for the district to generate all its own electricity than to continue paying utilities for power.
Weather and geology also refused to cooperate. Three solar power arrays had to be scrapped because the intended locations were atop seismic faults. Plans for large-scale wind power collided with the reality that prevailing winds at nearly all the campuses are too weak to generate much electricity. To date, a single wind turbine has been installed, as a demonstration project. It spins too slowly in average winds to power a 60-watt light bulb. [emphasis mine]
Worse, the man who forced this idiocy on the colleges still sees nothing wrong with it. And his justification illustrates how completely uneducated he is.
He cast himself as an environmental visionary and predicted that the college system would eventually achieve energy independence. “Somebody needs to be first,” he said. “If the great explorers really had a map and knew where they were going, maybe we wouldn’t have the result we have today.
The fact is that the great explorers always had a map, and worked carefully from real data. Granted, the horizon was unknown, but the explorers who succeeded all ground their exploration on reality, not fantasy.
With foolish leadership like this, it is no surprise California is about to go bankrupt.
How the head of Los Angeles’s community college construction program wasted millions on green energy construction. This quote sums up the absurdity of this environmental wet dream:
As head of a $5.7-billion, taxpayer-funded program to rebuild the college campuses, Eisenberg commanded attention. But his plan for energy independence was seriously flawed. He overestimated how much power the colleges could generate. He underestimated the cost. And he poured millions of dollars into designs for projects that proved so impractical or unpopular they were never built. These and other blunders cost nearly $10 million that could have paid for new classrooms, laboratories and other college facilities, a Times investigation found.
The problems with Eisenberg’s energy vision were fundamental. For starters, there simply wasn’t room on the campuses for all the generating equipment required to become self-sufficient. Some of the colleges wouldn’t come close to that goal even if solar panels, wind turbines and other devices were wedged into every available space.
Going off the grid did not make economic sense either. Given the cost of alternative energy technology, it would be more expensive for the district to generate all its own electricity than to continue paying utilities for power.
Weather and geology also refused to cooperate. Three solar power arrays had to be scrapped because the intended locations were atop seismic faults. Plans for large-scale wind power collided with the reality that prevailing winds at nearly all the campuses are too weak to generate much electricity. To date, a single wind turbine has been installed, as a demonstration project. It spins too slowly in average winds to power a 60-watt light bulb. [emphasis mine]
Worse, the man who forced this idiocy on the colleges still sees nothing wrong with it. And his justification illustrates how completely uneducated he is.
He cast himself as an environmental visionary and predicted that the college system would eventually achieve energy independence. “Somebody needs to be first,” he said. “If the great explorers really had a map and knew where they were going, maybe we wouldn’t have the result we have today.
The fact is that the great explorers always had a map, and worked carefully from real data. Granted, the horizon was unknown, but the explorers who succeeded all ground their exploration on reality, not fantasy.
With foolish leadership like this, it is no surprise California is about to go bankrupt.
Shackleton’s Antarctica in colour, 1915
Shackleton’s Antarctica, in color in 1915.
Shackleton’s Antarctica, in color in 1915.
Alfred E. Obama: What, Me Worry?
TSA planned secret body scans of pedestrians
Does this make you feel safer? The TSA spent millions developing the ability to do secret body scans of pedestrians as they entered train stations, bus depots or major events. Key quote:
EPIC lawyer Ginger McCall says the project is disturbing nonetheless because it shows the department “obviously believed that this level of surveillance is acceptable when in fact it is not at all acceptable.”
Does this make you feel safer? The TSA spent millions developing the ability to do secret body scans of pedestrians as they entered train stations, bus depots or major events. Key quote:
EPIC lawyer Ginger McCall says the project is disturbing nonetheless because it shows the department “obviously believed that this level of surveillance is acceptable when in fact it is not at all acceptable.”
Flying car
More questions about today’s alien fossil story
More questions about today’s alien fossil story.
The questions this article raises jive well with my own doubts. However I find the level of hatred expressed in the comments to be quite disgusting and vile.
More questions about today’s alien fossil story.
The questions this article raises jive well with my own doubts. However I find the level of hatred expressed in the comments to be quite disgusting and vile.
The second X-37b is in orbit
The second X-37b is in orbit. Key quote:
Similar to [Orbital Test Vehicle-1] , [Orbital Test Vehicle-2]’s actual mission duration will depend on the vehicle achieving its test objectives, but he expects it to remain on orbit for approximately 270 days. “We may extend the mission to enhance our understanding of the OTV capabilities,” Colonel Giese said, “especially since the performance data from the first flight suggest that the vehicle could have gone beyond the 270-day requirement.”
The second X-37b is in orbit. Key quote:
Similar to [Orbital Test Vehicle-1] , [Orbital Test Vehicle-2]’s actual mission duration will depend on the vehicle achieving its test objectives, but he expects it to remain on orbit for approximately 270 days. “We may extend the mission to enhance our understanding of the OTV capabilities,” Colonel Giese said, “especially since the performance data from the first flight suggest that the vehicle could have gone beyond the 270-day requirement.”
Obama administration appeals oil drilling ruling
The Obama administration has appealed a judge’s ruling that the law requires them to issue oil drilling permits.
The Obama administration has appealed a judge’s ruling that the law requires them to issue oil drilling permits.
Ohio GOP State Senator faces nasty threats from union officials and members on both Facebook and in restaurant
Union civility: An Ohio Republican state senator has received threats from police union officials and members, both on Facebook and in person.
Union civility: An Ohio Republican state senator has received threats from police union officials and members, both on Facebook and in person.
Drillers will stop injections for fear of earthquakes in Arkansas
Two drill companies will temporarily cease work in Arkansas to see if this action will cause the recent swarms of earthquakes there to ease.
Two drill companies will temporarily cease work in Arkansas to see if this action will cause the recent swarms of earthquakes there to ease.
Los Angeles suburb fires almost half its government workforce
A Los Angeles suburb has laid off almost half its government workforce in an effort to stave off bankruptcy.
A Los Angeles suburb has laid off almost half its government workforce in an effort to stave off bankruptcy.
Has a NASA scientist discovered alien fossils in several meteorites?
Very very intriguing: A NASA scientist has claimed in a peer reviewed paper the discovery of alien fossils in several meteorites recovered on Earth. From the paper’s last paragraph:
The absence of nitrogen in the cyanobacterial filaments detected in the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites indicates that the filaments represent the remains of extraterrestrial life forms that grew on the parent bodies of the meteorites when liquid water was present, long before the meteorites entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The news article describing this discovery is a bit more breathless in style than I would like, and makes me suspicious about these results. Moreover, that NASA held no press release or press conference for a result of this significance gives me pause. (Though NASA might have felt burned from the reactions they got from the arsenic-based-biology press conference and decided therefore to take a low profile here.)
» Read more
Texas Legislation Proposes Felony Charges for TSA Agents
Go Texas! Legislators there have proposed making it a felony for TSA agents to perform full-body patdowns without cause. They have also introduced legislation that would make the body scan equipment illegal.
Go Texas! Legislators there have proposed making it a felony for TSA agents to perform full-body patdowns without cause. They have also introduced legislation that would make the body scan equipment illegal.
Walker notifies unions of layoffs, but gives Democrats 15 days to reverse move
Walker notifies unions of layoffs, but gives Democrats 15 days to reverse move. This article is a nice summary of the present situation in Wisconsin.
Walker notifies unions of layoffs, but gives Democrats 15 days to reverse move. This article is a nice summary of the present situation in Wisconsin.
The future of NASA’s planetary program does not look good
Due to the budget situation, it appears that planetary scientists have scaled back their plans for future NASA missions to other planets.
We will know more on Monday, when the planetary community releases its much awaited decadal survey, outlining their recommendations for the next decade.
Due to the budget situation, it appears that planetary scientists have scaled back their plans for future NASA missions to other planets.
We will know more on Monday, when the planetary community releases its much awaited decadal survey, outlining their recommendations for the next decade.
Former MIT Researcher Convicted of Fraud
More science cheating: A former MIT researcher has been convicted of fraud.
More science cheating: A former MIT researcher has been convicted of fraud.
NASA to announce future museum homes of shuttles on April 12
NASA administrator Charles Bolden revealed at House hearings this week that NASA will announce the future museum homes for the retiring shuttles on April 12.
There is something terribly sad and ironic about having this announcement occur on the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight into space by Yuri Gagarin.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden revealed at House hearings this week that NASA will announce the future museum homes for the retiring shuttles on April 12.
There is something terribly sad and ironic about having this announcement occur on the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight into space by Yuri Gagarin.
Allan Sherman – Hail to thee, Fat Persons!
Weather scrubs X-37B launch
Weather has scrubbed today’s X-37B launch. They’ll try again tomorrow.
Weather has scrubbed today’s X-37B launch. They’ll try again tomorrow.
Democrat state lawmakers want to ban photography at accident sites
Freedom of speech alert: Democrat state lawmakers in Illinois want to ban photography at accident sites.
Freedom of speech alert: Democrat state lawmakers in Illinois want to ban photography at accident sites.
Biden leaving in middle of budget talks
How can anyone take this administration seriously? On Wednesday Obama announces that Biden will be his lead negotiator with Congress on the budget, even though Biden already had a prearranged trip to Europe beginning on Monday. He attended one meeting on Thursday, and then said goodbye!
How can anyone take this administration seriously? On Wednesday Obama announces that Biden will be his lead negotiator with Congress on the budget, even though Biden already had a prearranged trip to Europe beginning on Monday. He attended one meeting on Thursday, and then said goodbye!