Counterfeit climbing gear
A warning to users of climbing and caving gear: Counterfeit Petzl equipment from China has been found on the market, and is dangerously defective.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Music in space
New Congress lets expire a decades-old $2.4 billion pork program
Change! The House kills a decades-old $2.4 billion pork program. Key quote:
The Trade Adjustment Assistance program dates back to the Kennedy-era Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and was expanded under the 1974 Trade Act, signed into law by Gerald Ford. It was the kind of bipartisan program thought to be bulletproof. In the last session, it went from a small program, designed to aid workers displaced by foreign trade, to a huge $2.4 billion pork program providing laid-off workers with 156 weeks of “income support,” subsidies and even education.
Orion spacecraft shipped to Lockheed’s Jeffco facility.
Even as Congress argues over NASA’s budget, Constellation marches on! The first completed Orion capsule was shipped from the factory yesterday to undergo tests.
Stay Classy, TSA
Government in action: “Hey, I thought she was mine! I was gonna do her!”
SpaceX puts Dragon 9 space capsule on display in D.C.
SpaceX has put the Dragon 9 space capsule that flew in space on display in D.C. Though it is really cool that they are making the capsule so available to the public, this quote tells us the real story:
With Congress preparing in the weeks ahead to again address the question of government contracts for commercial space businesses such as SpaceX, the company wanted to give it (and attendees of the nearby FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference) an opportunity to see the capsule. Members of Congress and of the Obama administration were invited to attend a Thursday evening viewing, and company officials said the response has been enthusiastic.
Los Angeles gets tough with political protesters
Los Angeles gets tough with political protesters who break the law.
Understand that I do not consider this action by LA to be an attack on free speech, since the prosecutions all focus on illegal disruptive protests, such as blocking traffic for hours. Protest in a free society must be encouraged, as long as it doesn’t impinge on the rights of others. These protests did.
Cutting the Full $100 Billion
Keep this momentum going! The House Republican leadership was forced this week to increase its proposed budget cuts to $100 billion because of tea party movement pressure, both in the House and back at home. Key quote from this New York Times report:
The reversal was the most concrete demonstration yet that the wave of fiscal conservatives who catapulted Republicans into the House majority is reshaping the political and policy calculations being made by the party leadership.
15 Ancient Mysteries That Aren’t So Mysterious
Fifteen ancient mysteries that aren’t so mysterious.
CBO Director Says Obamacare Would Reduce Employment by 800,000
Repeal the damn bill! The director of the Congressional Budget Office admitted today that Obamacare will destroy about 800,000 jobs.
Cities of the future
House Panel to Take Second Bite Out of Science Budgets
The revolt of the freshman Republicans is working: The House science panel is going to revisit its budget cut proposals for science from yesterday and find ways to cut more.