Another innocent patient, having lost his insurance due to Obamacare, is now threatened with death.

Finding out what’s not in it: Another innocent patient, having lost his insurance due to Obamacare, is now threatened with death.

I cannot be more accurate. Read the story. The man is not getting treated because his policy was cancelled because of Obamacare.

Thank you Obama and the Democrats. I am so glad you care.

And there’s this horrible story of a disabled family now out of luck: “We did not put ourselves in this situation,” she told The Daily Caller. “The government put us in this situation.”

And we have only just begun. Stay tuned from more horror stories as Obamacare spreads its wings over the entire healthcare industry this year.

Astronomers have identified a star they expect to go supernova very soon.

Astronomers have identified a star they expect to go supernova very soon.

[SBW2007] 1 (or SBW1) is located 20,000 light-years from Earth and features an enigmatic double-ringed planetary nebula. The rings are gases that have been blasted from the outermost layers of the blue supergiant star in the nebula’s core. The star, which was estimated to be 20 times the mass of the sun before it became unstable, is going through its final death throes before a supernova is initiated. But don’t worry, the supernova would be a safe distance from us, although it will put on an exciting light show.

There is no way to predict when the supernova will occur. On the timescales of stellar evolution, it could happen tomorrow, or in a thousand years. For the full Hubble image go here.

This story is significant in that it shows how much knowledge has been gained in astronomy since Hubble’s launch. In 1987, when Supernova 1987a exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud, astronomers had not identified even one progenitor of any supernova, and did not have any clear idea what kinds of stars produced these gigantic explosions. Today, they have identified more than a handful, and are even beginning to pinpoint candidates, such as the star above, that could be the next stars to go boom.

SpaceX has signed a contract with a Japanese commercial satellite company.

The competition heats up: SpaceX has signed a contract with a Japanese commercial satellite company.

The story was first reported on Friday, but I was busy this weekend and forgot to post it. Key quote:

The launch contract award for JCSAT 14, a communications satellite owned by Tokyo-based SKY Perfect JSAT Corp., adds another mission to SpaceX’s backlog, which stands at nearly 50 missions worth nearly $5 billion, according to a company press kit.

As SpaceX rolls these missions out and the money rolls in, it will insure the likelihood that they will build the Falcon Heavy as promised. And when they do, they will have created a heavy lift rocket and done it for pennies, compared to the costs spent on numerous government projects attempting to do the same.

“Over the weekend, it seems as though the national media finally figured out what most ObamaCare critics have predicted all along.”

“Over the weekend, it seems as though the national media finally figured out what most ObamaCare critics have predicted all along.”

And what did these giants of intellectual thought finally figure out? They discovered, as conservatives have been trying to explain for four goddamn years, that Obamacare is a insane mess, it doesn’t work, it is raising costs, it is preventing people from getting health insurance, and it should never have been passed in the first place.

What a shock!

The Spanish language Obamacare website is unreadable to Spanish speakers.

Incompetence beyond belief: The Spanish language Obamacare website is unreadable to Spanish speakers.

The site, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, launched more than two months late. A Web page with Spanish instructions linked users to an English form. And the translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated — the name of the site itself can literally be read “for the caution of health.”

“When you get into the details of the plans, it’s not all written in Spanish. It’s written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them,” said Adrian Madriz, a health care navigator who helps with enrollment in Miami. [emphasis mine]

I normal expect the government to do a poor job in most things, but this level of idiocy astonishes even me. For example,

As for the language, Plaza, the New Mexico professor, said a recent examination by her research students concluded that the translations were done “by a computer-generated process” and came across as awkward.

“There are problems with the verbs and word order that make sentences hard to understand,” said Plaza, who helped develop an audio version to help residents in New Mexico sign up. “Sometimes,” she added, “it’s just the terms they use.”

The website translates “premium” into “prima,” but that Spanish word is more commonly used to mean a female cousin, Plaza said. A more accurate translation, she said, would be “cuotas,” ”couta mensual” or “costo annual.”

It is a good thing the Democrats have demanded Obamacare go into effect right away, as they are also the ones in charge of implementing it.

Cygnus was successfully berthed to ISS today.

Cygnus was successfully berthed to ISS today.

This is the first operational station resupply mission carried out by Orbital Sciences under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA calling for at least eight flights and delivery of 40,000 pounds of cargo and supplies.

The Cygnus captured Sunday will remain attached to the space station until mid February. At that point SpaceX will step up with launch of a Dragon cargo ship around Feb. 22. It will be the third operational resupply flight by SpaceX, which holds a $1.6 billion contract to deliver more than 44,000 pounds of supplies over a dozen missions.

SpaceShipTwo successfully completed its third powered test flight today.

The competition heats up: SpaceShipTwo successfully completed its third powered test flight today.

On release, SS2’s rocket motor was ignited, powering the spaceship to a planned altitude of 71,000 ft. – SS2’s highest altitude to date – and a maximum speed of Mach 1.4. SS2’s unique feather re-entry system was also tested during today’s flight. Two important SS2 systems, the RCS [reaction control system] and thermal protection coating, were tested during today’s flight in preparation for upcoming full space flights. The spaceship’s RCS will allow its pilots to maneuver the vehicle in space, permitting an optimal viewing experience for those on board and aiding the positioning process for spacecraft re-entry. The new reflective protection coating on SS2’s inner tail boom surfaces is being evaluated to help maintain vehicle skin temperatures while the rocket motor is firing.

Seven months after the IRS scandal broke, the FBI has finally contacted some of the conservative groups that were harassed by the tax agency.

Seven months after the IRS scandal broke, the FBI has finally contacted some of the conservative groups that were harassed by the tax agency.

“After seven months of no contact from federal investigators, a small number of our clients recently received a request for an interview from the FBI,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice, which represents more than three dozen groups.

He said the clients were evaluating FBI’s request but were troubled by the revelation of Ms. Bosserman’s political leanings. “This development creates a serious conflict of interest and raises more questions and doubts about the Obama administration’s promise to get to the bottom of what happened,” he said.

The last paragraph refers to the fact that Barbara Bosserman, the person named by Obama to lead the FBI investigation, is also a big time donor to Obama’s campaign. The conservative groups have very legitimate reasons not to want to talk to the FBI under these circumstances, as anything they say might instead be used against them by this very partisan use of government power.

We must once again contrast how Obama has dealt with this admitted misuse of government power with that of Chris Christie. Tells us a great deal about Obama, doesn’t it?

One health insurance company has now announced that the mix of old/sick and young/healthy buying insurance under Obamacare is far worse than expected.

Repeal the damn law! One health insurance company has now announced that the mix of old/sick and young/healthy buying insurance under Obamacare is far worse than expected.

In other words, the only way the company can make a profit is to raise its premiums so high — in order to pay for the costs of its mostly sick customer base — that no one will be able to afford to buy the insurance.

But then, none of this is a surprise to conservatives. You can’t outlaw Adam Smith’s laws of economics, as Obamacare tries to do. All that will happen is that you will distort the market enough to destroy any businesses in it. Just ask anyone who lived in the communist bloc in the 20th century.

Congress has now officially renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.

Congress has now officially renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday (Jan. 8) passed a bill that redesignates the space agency’s Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California the “NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.” The legislation continues to honor the facility’s displaced namesake by renaming the surrounding area the “Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range.” The U.S. House of Representatives earlier introduced and passed a corresponding resolution in February 2013. This was at least the third time since 2007 that Congress has sought to name the flight research center for Armstrong.

On Thursday, the bill was presented to the President to be signed into law.

It still seems unseemly to me to remove the honor from Dryden. I would rather give Armstrong a better memorial, on the Moon.

Astronomers announced today the discovery of several dozen stars which are traveling so fast they will escape the Milky Way galaxy.

Astronomers announced today the discovery of 18 sunlike stars which are traveling so fast they will escape the Milky Way galaxy.

These sunlike stars are in addition to another 20 blue giant stars that are also traveling at escape velocity.

The origin of all of these new stars is completely mysterious. The theory had been that such stars got their speed boost by being flung past the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, dubbed Sagittarius A* (pronounced “A-star”). These new stars, however, come from other directions, and in fact appear to have even come from outside the galaxy’s main disk. Thus, astronomers are baffled as to what caused them to be traveling so fast.

Some individuals who thought they had enrolled in a healthcare plan on the Obamacare website are discovering that their insurance company has no record of them.

Some individuals who thought they had enrolled in a healthcare plan on the Obamacare website are discovering that their insurance company has no record of them.

This is what you get when you ask the DMV to run your healthcare system. Big government bureaucracies always, repeat, always do a bad job at these kinds of large scale complex tasks.

But then, anyone who read anything written about Obamacare by conservatives back in 2009 and 2010 would have been warned that this was going to happen. It ain’t a surprise, except to liberals who refuse to consider anything conservatives say because it must be racist!

Speaking of contrasts, compare the reaction when evidence revealed the Obama administration intentional made life difficult for citizens during the government shutdown.

Speaking of contrasts, compare the reaction when evidence revealed the Obama administration intentionally made life difficult for citizens during the government shutdown.

The point here is not to excuse Christie or his administration, only to point out the disgusting hypocrisy of the press and the Democrats. It is bad when a Republican does it, but when a Democrat does it who cares?

Update: And then there’s this: “In less than 24 hours, the three networks have devoted 17 times more coverage to a traffic scandal involving Chris Christie than they’ve allowed in the last six months to Barack Obama’s Internal Revenue Service controversy.”

Orbital Sciences has successfully launched its Cygnus cargo ferry into orbit.

Orbital Sciences has successfully launched its Cygnus cargo ferry into orbit.

Another perfect launch for the company.

Consider once again what has happened. While it cost NASA six years and $9 billion to build nothing before its Constellation program was cancelled, two private companies have built and launched two different rockets and unmanned cargo spacecraft in that same time period for about a third of that cost.

The contrast couldn’t be more stark. And that contrast will get even more stark as the flights of the privately built manned spacecraft by SpaceX, Boeing, and Sierra Nevada unfold in the coming three years, while SLS and Orion sit around and do little but spend money.

Heads roll in New Jersey over traffic scandal.

Heads roll in New Jersey over traffic scandal.

The speed in which Christie is firing people strongly suggests to me that he did have nothing to do with the scandal, was out of the loop as he claims. Otherwise, these fired individuals would have some leverage that they could use against Christie to protect their jobs.

Also, compare the speed of Christie’s actions with the stonewalling we have seen by Obama in connection with the IRS scandal. I think the difference is illustrative.

A Colorado Democratic Senator has asked his state insurance agency to hide the numbers of people whose insurance was cancelled because of Obamacare.

Facts are such inconvenient things: A Colorado Democratic Senator has asked his state insurance agency to hide the numbers of people whose insurance was cancelled because of Obamacare.

As much as the Democrats want to make believe the Obamacare disaster hasn’t happened, it has. There are millions of people who had health insurance of their choice on December 31 that now do not have health insurance. God help them should a catastrophic health issue arise for them without that insurance. What will they do?

More than eight months after an outraged President Obama said he would get to the bottom of the IRS harassment of conservatives, we finally find out who is heading his investigation.

More than eight months after an outraged President Obama said he would get to the bottom of the IRS harassment of conservatives, we finally find out who is heading his investigation: a big name Democratic Party donor.

“By selecting a significant donor to President Obama to lead an investigation into inappropriate targeting of conservative groups, the Department has created a startling conflict of interest. It is unbelievable that the Department would choose such an individual to examine the federal government’s systematic targeting and harassment of organizations opposed to the President’s policies. At the very least, Ms. Bosserman’s involvement is highly inappropriate and has compromised the Administration’s investigation of the IRS,” Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday. “We request that you immediately remove Ms. Bosserman from the ongoing investigation.”

In other words, Obama and his administration are stonewalling, which strongly suggests that they had everything to do with approving and directing this harassment of their political opponents.

NASA and the Obama administration have announced their support for extending ISS’s operations for more years to at least 2024.

NASA and the Obama administration have announced their support for extending ISS’s operations for more years to at least 2024.

Obviously, Congress needs to agree with funds. Moreover, so do the Europeans, Russians, and Japanese, though they all have been pushing to extend ISS for awhile.

Now maybe NASA will finally consider doing some of those year-long plus manned missions on ISS that are essential if humans are eventually going to go to Mars and beyond.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has now expressed outrage over the revelation today that his aides created traffic jams to hurt a political opponent.

Hm. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has now expressed outrage over the revelation today that his aides created traffic jams to hurt a political opponent.

Has he fired anyone? We shall see. If he is sincere about this happening without his knowledge, he will be able to fire people quickly. If not, he will have to make some backroom deals, which will take time.

Eight reasons why Chris Christie’s traffic scandal could cause big trouble in 2016.

Eight reasons why Chris Christie’s traffic scandal could cause big trouble in 2016.

Most people understand that politics ain’t beanbag. There’s a certain amount of rough-and-tumble, back-and-forth backbiting that’s expected from the kind of people who choose to spend their lives trying to accumulate as much power as possible. As a result, backroom maneuvering to remove some political privileges enjoyed by one’s opponent probably wouldn’t draw a second glance. But that’s not what Christie’s top aides did. They deliberately chose to target innocent civilians: moms and dads trying to get to work on time, school bus drivers trying to get children to school, first responders trying to take ill people to the hospital.

It doesn’t matter who you are: that type of behavior is inexcusable. Nobody likes the guy who intentionally abuses his power in order to indiscriminately punish people just trying to get through the day.

And this:

In the wake of the current presidential administration’s use of the IRS to terrorize its political enemies, a lot of conservatives and Republicans are just a wee bit sensitive about a politician’s willingness to abuse his power to reward his friends or punish his foes.

I don’t care what party the politician belongs to. I don’t care how good he or she is in balancing the budget (something Christie has shown himself to be very good at). If they abuse their power they are dead to me.

What frightens me now is the possibility that the choice in 2016 might be Christie and any number of corrupt Democrats.

In a story that concerns the upcoming presidential campaign, emails show that top aides to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie purposely closed lanes to the George Washington Bridge in an effort to hurt the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie.

In a story that concerns the 2016 presidential campaign, emails show that top aides to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie purposely closed lanes to the George Washington Bridge in an effort to hurt the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie.

Private messages between Governor’s Christie’s deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create “traffic problems in Fort Lee” by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge and apparent pleasure at the resulting gridlock. The messages are replete with references and insults to Fort Lee’s mayor, who had failed to endorse Christie for re-election and they chronicle how local officials tried to reach the Port Authority in a vain effort to eliminate the paralyzing gridlock that overwhelmed his town of 35,000, which sits in the shadow of the bridge, the world’s busiest.

Read it all. The emails are ugly, and exhibit a gleeful nonchalance towards the problems the lane closures were causing.

Politics can be a dirty game, but for a politician or his aides to do such a thing is despicable. The actions did more harm to the citizens trapped in unnecessary traffic jams than it did to the mayor of Fort Lee. Based on this evidence I am far more reluctant to support Christie for President.

The European Space Agency announced today that it is studying using Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser spacecraft for manned flights.

The European Space Agency announced today that it is studying using Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser spacecraft for manned flights.

This arrangement allows ESA to prove its hardware and technology in space on a crewed spacecraft. In exchange, SNC will have its development costs and production time potentially lessened as well as benefit from the extensive experience of ESA and its industrial partners. At the end of an initial evaluation and planning phase, which will continue through 2014, the organisations expect to continue the relationship through a long-term agreement leading to flight operations. Both entities foresee further arrangements to continue the partnership towards the potential use of Dream Chaser for European missions.

This supplements an earlier announcement by Germany which also is considering using Dream Chaser.

Orbital Sciences has scrubbed today’s launch of Cygnus due to the major solar flare that occurred yesterday.

Orbital Sciences has scrubbed today’s launch of Cygnus due to the major solar flare that occurred yesterday.

“Early this morning the Antares launch team decided to scrub today’s launch attempt due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket’s electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment,” Orbital Sciences officials said in a statement today.

Five years of hate and falsified news at NBC.

Five years of hate and falsified news at NBC.

This article is important because it documents the repeated times NBC has been caught deliberately faking news stories by dishonestly editing material. Worse, it also shows that, despite being caught at it, the network has refused to stop. If anything, it appears they have doubled down on their dishonesty in the last two years.

This says nothing good about NBC. It also tells us something far more terrible about its audience.

Arianespace, in an effort to trim costs, is considering slashing the number of companies that will build its next generation rockets from 150 to 50.

The competition heats up: Arianespace, in an effort to trim costs, is considering slashing the number of companies that will build its next generation rockets from 150 to 50.

You might call this the SpaceX effect. Their success and lower launch costs is forcing changes throughout the launch industry.

Note also that there is certainly a lot of room for Arianespace to trim, considering that this European rocket company has still never made a profit, despite dominating the commercial launch market for years.

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