Fifty-eight percent of population favors repeal of Obamacare
And the Democrats wonder why they are losing this election? Fifty-eight percent of the population favors repeal of Obamacare, with a whopping 70 percent of independents wanting repeal.
Category: Behind The Black
Massacre by Islamic terrorists at Iraqi Christian church
The religion of “peace” strikes again! Islamic terrorists seized a Christian church in Baghdad during services. In the violence that followed, 58 people were killed and 78 wounded.
Opportunity’s journey continues
Opportunity’s long journey across the desert plains of Mars to reach Endeavour Crater is now more than half completed. Below is the most recent mosiac of its view heading east towards the crater, with the crater’s rim visible on the distant horizon, still five miles away.
Poll warden denies a policeman in uniform the right to vote because he is wearing a gun
A poll warden, since dismissed, denied the right to vote on Friday to a policeman in full uniform because he refused to surrender his gun.
Poll numbers suggest largest Republican victory in generations
Gallup poll numbers suggest tomorrow’s Republican victory could be the largest in generations, and could exceed all predictions. Key quote:
It should be noted, however, that this year’s 15-point gap in favor of the Republican candidates among likely voters is unprecedented in Gallup polling and could result in the largest Republican margin in House voting in several generations. This means that seat projections have moved into uncharted territory, in which past relationships between the national two-party vote and the number of seats won may not be maintained. [emphasis mine]
UN conference passes broad ban on “geoengineering”
A UN conference in Japan today approved the extremely broad language that I had noted earlier this week, banning all “climate-related geoengineering activities that may affect biodiversity . . . until there is an adequate scientific basis on which to justify such activities.” You can read some reactions here. Key quote from the ETC group, a Canadian non-profit organization which supports the language:
The agreement, reached during the ministerial portion of the two-week meeting which included 110 environment ministers, asks governments to ensure that no geoengineering activities take place until risks to the environment and biodiversity and associated social, cultural and economic impacts have been appropriately considered. The CBD secretariat was also instructed to report back on various geoengineering proposals and potential intergovernmental regulatory measures.
If the broad language of this policy is accepted by the United States government, it will effectively shut down almost all new construction and development, as practically anything people do “may affect biodiversity.”
The Haunting
An evening pause: From the film, The Haunting (1963), based on the story by Shirley Jackson. Stay for the closing scene in this clip.
Shuttle launch now set for Wednesday
The last launch of the space shuttle Discovery has been moved to Wednesday afternoon in order to give engineers time to test their repairs.
The suborbital commercial industry responds to smog accusations
The commercial suborbital industry responds to the recent science paper that said that the soot from their rocket engines might cause to global warming.
The telescope that ate astronomy
The telescope that ate astronomy. My just finished Sky & Telescope article (expected out early next year) covers some of the same ground, describing how the cost overruns on the James Webb Space Telescope has badly damaged much of NASA’s space astronomy budget, for this and possibly the next two decades.
Spirited Away
An evening pause: As it is the Halloween weekend, how about an appropriate clip from Hayao Miyazaki’s surreal masterpiece, Spirited Away (2001).
Brother, can you spare a dime?
An evening pause: In honor of the anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash, Bing Crosby singing “Brother, can you spare a dime?”
A “man-caused disaster” averted
A “man-caused disaster” averted! Two packages from Yemen containing explosives and addressed to Chicago-area synagogues have been intercepted in transit.
Squeal like a pig
Let’s take a trip into the future, looking past Tuesday’s midterm election.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that, come Tuesday, the Republicans take both houses, in a stunning landslide not seen in more than a century. Let’s also assume that the changes in Congress are going to point decidedly away from the recent liberal policies of large government (by both parties). Instead, every indication suggests that the new Congress will lean heavily towards a return to the principles of small government, low taxes, and less regulation.
These assumptions are not unreasonable. Not only do the polls indicate that one or both of the houses of Congress will switch from Democratic to Republican control, the numerous and unexpected primary upsets of established incumbents from both parties — as well the many protests over the past year by large numbers of ordinary citizens — make it clear that the public is not interested in half measures. Come January, the tone and direction of Congress is going to undergo a shocking change.
Anyway, based on these assumptions, we should then expect next year’s Congress to propose unprecedented cuts to the federal budget, including the elimination of many hallowed programs. The recent calls to defund NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcastings are only one example.
When Congress attempts this, however, the vested interests that have depended on this funding for decades are not going to take the cuts lightly. Or to put it more bluntly, they are going to squeal like pigs, throwing temper tantrums so loud and insane that they will make the complaints of a typical three-year-old seem truly statesman-like. And they will do so in the hope that they will garner sympathy and support from the general voting public, thereby making the cuts difficult to carry out.
The real question then is not whether the new Congress will propose the cuts required to bring the federal government under control, but whether they, as well as the public, will have the courage to follow through, to defy the howls from these spoiled brats, and do what must be done. » Read more
Gore leaves engine idling for entire speech
Don’t you dare preach to me! It is reported that while Al Gore gave an hourlong environment speech in Sweden he left the engine on his rental car idling.
SpaceShipTwo completes second free flight test
Yesterday SpaceShipTwo completed its second successful free flight (via Clark Lindsey at www.rlvnews.com). The results:
Flew to more aggressive stall indication. Evaluated handling and stability through several maneuvers. Expanded envelope to 230 KTAS and 3g’s. Roll evaluation. Full stop landing.
New leaks discovered on Discovery, on launchpad
Engineers have discovered two new leaks on Discovery as it sits on the launchpad. It appears the Monday launch has been delayed at least one day.
University of Virginia elminates all speech codes
Some good news for freedom of speech: the University of Virginia has elminated all of its speech codes.
The first complete early sauropod dinosaur skeleton found
Scientists have discovered in China the first complete skeleton of an early ancestor of the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs.
NASA’s budget remains under threat
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the likely budget cuts expected from the next Congress are almost certainly going to threaten the extra shuttle flight that Congress authorized several weeks ago.