Category: Behind The Black

The murder of four Americans in Libya, including the ambassador, appears to have been the result of failed security.

6:25 pm

Focused like a laser: The murder of four Americans in Libya, including the ambassador, appears to have been the result of failed security.

Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”. Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts.

According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and “lockdown”, under which movement is severely restricted.

This is a disaster, and suggests incompetence at all levels of the State Department and the White House.

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An American professor of religious studies has called for the arrest of a filmmaker because his film insults Islam.

10:44 am

Words fail me: An American professor of religious studies has called for the arrest of an American filmmaker because his film insulted Islam.

The most revealing moment in this disgusting op-ed is when Butler explains that somehow this filmmaker’s free speech rights are less valuable than the filmmaker who made The Last Temptation of Christ.

Bacile’s movie is not the first to denigrate a religious figure, nor will it be the last. The Last Temptation of Christ was protested vigorously. The difference is that Bacile indirectly and inadvertently inflamed people half a world away, resulting in the deaths of U.S. Embassy personnel.

So in other words, free speech is only allowed when it offends Christians or Jews. Offend a Muslim, however, and you must go to prison.

As I said, words fail me. Though I might add that you can reach the head of Anthea Butler’s Department of Religious Studies here. It might be worthwhile to politely ask him what he thinks of his associate professor’s interpretation of freedom of speech.

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A new and very large study now suggests that — even though no one really knows why — acupuncture might actually be effective.

9:27 am

The uncertainty of science: A new and very large study now suggests that — even though no one really knows why — acupuncture might actually be effective.

The key mystery here is the lack of any explanation for why acupuncture seems to work. And without that explanation, a large number of doctors will justifiable still refuse to use it as a course of treatment.

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Not only has Barack Obama not attended an intelligence briefing since Sept 5, he canceled the briefing yesterday, the day after the attacks on our embassies in Egypt and Libya.

9:12 am

Focused like a laser: Not only has Barack Obama not attended an intelligence briefing since Sept 5, he canceled the briefing yesterday, the day after the attacks on our embassies in Egypt and Libya.

And why did he not have a briefing yesterday? He had a campaign fundraiser he just had to attend in Las Vegas.

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At the AIAA meeting this week in Pasadena, NASA officials admitted that the Space Launch System (SLS) will likely cost half a billion dollars per launch

7:43 pm

It’s only money! At the AIAA meeting this week in Pasadena, NASA officials admitted that the Space Launch System (SLS) will likely cost half a billion dollars per launch.

That means that after only two flights this rocket will have cost about the same as the entire manned commercial program, from which three different space companies are building three different methods for getting humans into space. After three missions it will cost more, and after four missions it will have cost double. And this is assuming that the half billion dollar “target” number ends up correct.

We can’t afford this. We never could, which is why the Saturn 5 rocket was abandoned, and why the shuttle never fulfilled its stated goal of lowering the cost of access to space and after thirty years was abandoned as well. Instead, we have got to find a cheaper way to do this, and to my mind, competition and private enterprise is the only hope.

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Kseniya Simonova – sand art

6:01 pm

An evening pause: From Ukraine’s Got Talent, an amazing performance by Kseniya Simonova, telling the story of World War II from the Ukrainian perspective, all with sand. From the youtube webpage:

What she depicts is love and the chaos of war, it is set amidst the turmoil of the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa (Nazi invasion of USSR during World War II) and the impact it had on a Ukrainian couple, the husband is drafted into the Soviet military and never came back home, years later his wife grows old and visits a war memorial to mourn him. The last picture is her younger self and her baby saying farewell to him… with the quote, “You are always with us.”

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A dispute over launch pricing between ArianeSpace, the launch company, and Globalstar, the satellite company.

8:37 am

A dispute over launch pricing between Arianespace, the launch company, and Globalstar, the satellite company.

The article only quotes an executive from Arianespace, who suggests Globalstar has been having troubles making payments. I wonder instead if maybe Globalstar has been balking at Arianespace’s prices (knowing there are other companies that can do it cheaper) and has been holding out for a price cut.

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“We choose to go to the Moon.”

5:01 am

Kennedy at Rice University

Fifty years ago today, John Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University in Texas, outlining his reasoning behind his proposal that the United States send a man to the Moon before the end of the decade. The key phrase:

But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Video below the fold. The full text can be found here. (Interesting sidebar: When I posted Monday’s evening pause that quoted this speech I hadn’t realized the 50th anniversary of the speech was this week!)

This speech is worth watching, in full, if only to see the passion of both Kennedy and the audience for what he says. It also reveals a somewhat higher level of sophistication coming from a politician than one would see nowadays. Kennedy not only understood the deeper philosophical reasons for exploration, his thoughts were grounded in history as well as recent events, all of which he referenced repeatedly.
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An experimental vertical take-off and landing rocket crashed during its most recent test on Tuesday.

10:49 pm

An experimental vertical take-off and landing rocket crashed during its most recent test flight on Tuesday.

The Xaero had already flown more than 100 test flights, so this crash does not make it a failure. Like all engineering tests, the flight will only be a failure if they cannot figure out what went wrong.

This update says they have located the problem, the failure of a valve.

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The White House has disavowed the apology to the Muslim protesters issued by its embassy in Egypt.

8:55 pm

The White House has disavowed the apology to the Muslim protesters issued by its embassy in Egypt earlier today.

“The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government,” an administration official told POLITICO.

In other words, the Obama State Department isn’t cowardly, it’s simply incompetent. What a relief!

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The U.S. Embassy in Egypt, response to the attack by Islamic protestors today, has apologized to them.

2:27 pm

That’s telling ’em! The U.S. Embassy in Egypt, in response to the attack by Islamic protesters today, has apologized to the protesters because their feelings might have been hurt by a film critical of Mohammad.

The full embassy statement is beyond belief:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.

Freedom of speech means you have the right to offend others, with no apologizes. Considering the violence continually perpetrated by Islam, it is perfectly justified to criticize this hateful religion. In fact, to its face I say Islam is a stain on the Earth which oppresses millions while killing hundreds of innocents on a daily basis.

For the Obama State Department to apologize for our country’s belief in freedom of speech, on this day of all days, September 11, is unspeakable. What kind of cowards are these people?

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Cairo protesters today scaled the U.S. Embassy wall in Egypt and pulled down the American flag to protest a film they say is insulting to the prophet Mohammad.

11:53 am

Feel the love! Cairo protesters today scaled the U.S. Embassy wall in Egypt and pulled down the American flag to protest a film they say is insulting to the prophet Mohammad.

In related news, a television station has canceled the airing of a documentary on Islam because of threats it and the filmmaker have received.

Several points:
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