Will GOP take the P out of NPR?
Defund them! Will GOP take the P out of NPR?
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
NASA solar sail lost
A nano-sized solar sail, built by NASA and launched in mid-November, appears to have been lost. Sadly, this has been the history of almost all solar sail efforts: failure before the sail can even deploy.
The rise and fall of rocketplane
The rise and fall of Rocketplane.
Recent volcanism on Venus
In a paper published today in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists think they have detected evidence of volcanic activity on Venus that took place sometime in the past two decades.
A car that runs on air
A car that runs on air. Literally.
EPA Delays Job-Killing Emissions Regulations
“Elections have consequences.” EPA suddenly delays new rules governing industry emissions.
Christmas Jihad in Stockholm
Feel the love from Islam! Two car bombs go off in Stockholm, Sweden, killing one. Key quote from an email claiming credit for the attack:
“Our actions will speak for themselves. As long as you continue to wage your war against Islam and insulting the prophet and your stupid support of the pig Vilks. . . .” [The email continues by encouraging] all Muslims in Sweden to “stop sucking up and debasing yourselves,” then ends with another exhortation to “all the mujahideen in Europe and Sweden. . . . Now is the time to attack, do not wait any longer. Come forward with whatever you have, even if it’s just a knife and I know you have more than just knives. Do not fear anyone, do not fear jail, do not fear death.”
Kyoto Protocol is dead, long live the climate fund
It appears the climate meeting in Cancun has ended without much success. Unable to get an renewal of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, the diplomats instead agreed to create a $100 billion “Green Climate Fund” that is mostly funded by the First World nations but is mostly distributed by the Third World. See the notes at 10:45 am on this blog and at 12:20 am on this blog. Key quote:
[The fund] will have 25 members of developing countries on its board, compared to only 15 for developed countries. This gives developing countries a much stronger role. The World Bank is a trustee.
The real question is whether the new Congress in the U.S. will appropriate any money at all to this scam.
Court to rule on ObamaCare constitutionality Monday
Court to rule on the constitutionality of ObamaCare on Monday. Key quote:
Normally, all comprehensive laws contain a boilerplate severance clause: it says that if any portion of the law is found to be unconstitutional, that portion is severed from the rest of the law — that is, the rest of the law stands. But ObamaCare contains no severance clause. Virginia is asserting that if it prevails on its substantive claims, the whole law is unconstitutional. (If Virginia does not prevail, any one of the twenty-plus legal challenges have the same severance argument available.)
This really isn’t the best way to get rid of this idiotic law, but we should also take any bone we can get.
Will there be earmarks in the next Congress?
More squealing, this time from Republicans: several GOP congressmen claim earmarks are necessary for budget negotiations.
the illegal imprisonment of Joel Rosenberg
The illegal imprisonment of Joel Rosenberg.
India “outraged” over TSA patdown of ambassador
More TSA absurdity, with video: Indian ambassador given full patdown by TSA.