Meanwhile, TSA management has its head up our ass, insisting that everyone who enters the security area submit to its abuse or face heavy fines.
Even the TSA agents know how stupid and ugly the new security procedures are. That they hate the more aggressive pat downs means everyone should insist on them, if only to increase the chances they will finally decide it ain’t worth doing them.
Via Clark Lindsey, it appears that NASA has taken from storage its two X-34 suborbital spaceships and is considering returning the ships to flight status.
While sexually abusing the rest of America, Homeland Security head Napolitano is considering allowing Muslim women to pat themselves down at airports.
A deal with the devil: Former shuttle manager decries NASA’s commercial crew safety regulations. Key quote:
The U.S. government did not always rely on voluminous specifications to safeguard pilots or astronauts, Hale said, citing requirements for the first U.S. military aircraft which covered only 2.5 pages and those of NASA’s Gemini capsule which were about 12 pages long.
Maybe these businesses are simply not economically viable? Faced with the end of federal grants, the wind and solar power industries are pushing for more federal money or legal mandates to prop up their business.
The future of funding for public radio in the next Congress truly looks dim. NPR had zero Republican support in a funding bill approved by Democrats on Thursday,
NASA managers have once again delayed the launch of Discovery, now set for no earlier than December 3.
Astronomer and comet/asteroid tracker Brian Marsden has died. Marsden was the kind of gentleman that makes writing astronomy articles so much fun. Even when I was a newby science writer back in the early 90s he was always willing to answer any of my questions, and give me blunt and honest answers to boot. R.I.P.
Some cogent thoughts from James Delingpole about climate politics on the one year anniversary of the release of the climategate emails and the refusal of the elite ruling class to address the issue. Key quote:
And why is this so? In part, at least, it is because of the abject, ongoing failure of our Mainstream Media to report environmental issues with the robust scepticism that ought to be the natural tack of responsible journalists. Too many environmental reporters are still regurgitating press releases handed to them by activist organisations like the WWF, Greenpeace and Friends Of The Earth. In the MSM, as in government, it’s like Climategate never happened.
Freedom of speech alert! Al Sharpton wants the FCC to threaten stations with a loss of their license if they carry Rush Limbaugh.
The law, a living document! The Federal Labor Relations Authority has given TSA staffers permission to unionize, despite the fact that the law creating the TSA expressly forbids such action. More here.
NASA management is reviewing the “flight rationale” for Discovery’s next mission, considering the cracks in the external tank. Key quote:
Troubleshooters are assessing the structural integrity of the tank and its foam insulation to develop the necessary flight rationale, or justification, for proceeding with another launch as early as Nov. 30.
