Will the Republicans actually cut spending?
If victorious on November 2, will the Republicans actually cut spending? This article outlines the issues.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
First ticket issued for deadly butter
Our government doing the really important work! Health officials in Baltimore have handed out their first ticket to a restaurant for not using the proper cooking recipe, as determined by the government. Key quote:
“They originally had a margarine that was above 3 grams, actually, which is very high compared to the .5 that is allowed. Then when we came back and they had replaced it, they replaced it with one that was 2 grams, so it still was too high,” [Health Department agent Juan] Gutierrez said.
And then there’s this: Fake health inspectors at restaurants on the rise.
China plans space station by 2020
China today announced plans to complete its first space station by 2020.
Bigelow factory expansion
Bigelow is expanding its factory, and here’s a gallery of images showing the work’s progress.
Digging into the pockets of billionaires for interstellar travel
NASA is begging money from billionaires for an interstellar travel project. Sounds cool I know, but wouldn’t it be more worthwhile right now for those billionaires to invest their money in developing low cost rockets so we can simply get into space cheaply?
Virus jumps from monkey to scientist
Deadly monkey virus jumps from monkey to scientist.
Tax Official Threatens to Shut Down Kids‘ Pumpkin Stand For Lacking ’Proper Permit’
More government idiocy: Tax official threatens to shut down kids‘ pumpkin stand for lacking “a proper permit.”
Toronto elects conservative mayor by a surprising margin
Is this a hint of what’s to come on Tuesday? Toronto yesterday not only elected a conservative mayor by a very large margin, four incumbent councillors were also defeated soundly. Key quote:
Polls, indicating the race was razor edge close, were proven false in 11 single minutes! . . . [The conservative] Ford won with 383,501 votes—more than the votes of his two main opponents combined.
Date set for zero gravity beer drinking test
Save that date! November 19 has been set for the first test of beer drinking in zero gravity.
Hubble Data Used to Look 10,000 Years into the Future
Hubble data used to look 10,000 years into the future.
Tsunami and volcano hit Indonesia
Bad news from Indonesia: A tsunami killed 108 at the same time a volcano eruption has forced thousands to flee.
Obama takes the money and runs
These politicians are such jerks! A family in Rhode Island put together a fancy “Dinner with Obama” to raise money for Democrats. Obama arrives, collects the money, and then skips out before dinner. And why couldn’t Obama stay? This is what he said, just before everyone else sat down to eat,
“I’ve got to go home to tuck in the girls and walk the dog and scoop the poop,”
Bloomberg supports term limits for everyone else but himself
This illustrates why much of today’s political class, from both parties, needs to go: New York mayor Michael Bloomberg supports term limits for everyone . . . but himself.
The 123,000 MPH Plasma Engine That Could Finally Take Astronauts To Mars
The 123,000 MPH plasma/nuclear engine and the astronaut who is building it.
ISS to dodge space junk
Russian mission controllers have shifted the orbit of ISS about a half mile in order to avoid an unidentified piece of space junk.
Why this election is important
Mark Steyn explains why next week’s midterm election and what the next Congress does has very special significance. Key quote:
In a two-party system, you have to work with what’s available. In America, one party is openly committed to driving the nation off the cliff, and the other party is full of guys content to go along for the ride as long as we shift down to third gear. That’s no longer enough of a choice. If your candidate isn’t committed to fewer government agencies with fewer employees on lower rates of pay, he’s part of the problem. This is the last chance for the GOP to restore its credentials. If it blows it, all bets are off for 2012.
Space tourism ticket prices could drop
Two companies who are offering suborbital tourism space flights have indicated that the price per ticket could drop by 2011.
NASA’s commercial crew program moves forward
The commercial half of NASA’s future manned program is moving foward. The agency today began soliciting bids for “launchers and spacecraft that would transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations on a commercial basis.” Contract awards are expected by March 2011.
Google Lunar X Prize
The private race to the Moon, led by the Google Lunar X Prize. Key quote:
The Google Lunar X PRIZE offers a total of $30 million in prize money to the first privately funded teams to land robots on the Moon that explore the lunar surface by moving at least 500 meters and by sending back two packages of high definition video and photos we call Mooncasts. Unlike our first competition, the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE, the Google Lunar X PRIZE isn’t a ‘winner take all’ proposition: instead, we have a $20 million Grand Prize, a Second Place Prize that will award $5 million to the second team to meet all of the requirements, a series of technical bonus missions that can allow teams to earn as much as an additional $4 million, and a $1 million award that will go to teams that make the greatest contribution to stimulating diversity in space exploration and, more generally, in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The competition operates on a “payment on delivery” model: the prize money is only given to teams after they complete a successful mission, meaning that each team needs to raise all the capital needed to design, develop and conduct their missions on their own. We’re now three years into a fairly long effort: the prize is available until all of the prize purses are claimed or until the end of the year 2015. Last week, we accepted our 24th team into the competition.
Last flight for Discovery set for Monday
The leak on the space shuttle Discovery appears fixed, and NASA managers have confirmed the launch date as Monday, November 1, 4:40 pm (Eastern). This will be Discovery’s last flight.