Buses vs high speed trains: the buses win
Buses vs high speed trains: the buses win.
Buses vs high speed trains: the buses win.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Buses vs high speed trains: the buses win
Blue Origin to do a test flight tomorrow
Blue Origin, one of the four commercial companies NASA hopes to use to get crew up and down from ISS, plans to do a test flight tomorrow. Hat tip to SpaceRef.
This company, founded by Jeff Bezos of amazon.com, has generally released very little information about their effort.
Blue Origin, one of the four commercial companies NASA hopes to use to get crew up and down from ISS, plans to do a test flight tomorrow. Hat tip to SpaceRef.
This company, founded by Jeff Bezos of amazon.com, has generally released very little information about their effort.
Bigelow in negotiations to supply privately-built modules to ISS
Bigelow Aerospace is in negotiations with both NASA and Japan to supply ISS with privately-built modules
The module could be rented out as an ISS storage unit, making the station less dependent on frequent resupply flights, says Hiroshi Kikuchi of JAMSS. To show that the modules are capable of safe, crewed operation, Bigelow is also negotiating with NASA to attach one to a US-owned ISS module.
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Bigelow Aerospace is in negotiations with both NASA and Japan to supply ISS with privately-built modules
The module could be rented out as an ISS storage unit, making the station less dependent on frequent resupply flights, says Hiroshi Kikuchi of JAMSS. To show that the modules are capable of safe, crewed operation, Bigelow is also negotiating with NASA to attach one to a US-owned ISS module.
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Crime rate drops in Virginia bars after concealed carry is allowed
Crime rate drops in Virginia bars and restaurants serving alcohol after concealed carry guns are allowed.
Crime rate drops in Virginia bars and restaurants serving alcohol after concealed carry guns are allowed.
“How dare this lawfare organization use lawfare against our boat.”
The first earthrise
Egyptians Protest Outside Israeli Embassy With Swastika Sign Saying “The Gas Chambers Are Ready”
The religion of peace: Egyptians protest outside the Israeli embassy with swastika sign that says “The gas chambers are ready.”
The religion of peace: Egyptians protest outside the Israeli embassy with swastika sign that says “The gas chambers are ready.”
Federal debt increased $4 trillion under Obama, the most under any president
Just remember, it is never his fault: The federal debt increased $4 trillion under Obama, the most by any president.
Just remember, it is never his fault: The federal debt increased $4 trillion under Obama, the most by any president.
Super-Earth spotted on the edge of habitable zone
A super-Earth has been identified orbiting its star on the edge of the habitable zone.
A super-Earth has been identified orbiting its star on the edge of the habitable zone.
FCC finally kills off fairness doctrine
Some good regulatory news: The FCC finally killed off the fairness doctrine today.
Some good regulatory news: The FCC finally killed off the fairness doctrine today.
University shutters manned sub research program after forty years
Feeling the pinch: A Florida university has shuttered its manned submersible research program after forty years of operation due to lack of funds.
Feeling the pinch: A Florida university has shuttered its manned submersible research program after forty years of operation due to lack of funds.
NASA pushes for funds to save the James Webb Space Telescope
NASA pushes for funds to save the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA pushes for funds to save the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA announces awards for three technology demonstration space missions
NASA has announced three awards for technology demonstration space missions, all set to fly within four years. More details here.
The three missions are:
- A solar sail demonstration mission, flying a sail 38 by 38 meter sail.
- A demonstration of in-space laser/optical communications technologies.
- The use of a high-precision atomic clock in space.
I especially like the solar sail mission because of its long range possibilities, though the other technologies would probably be put to practical use more quickly.
NASA has announced three awards for technology demonstration space missions, all set to fly within four years. More details here.
The three missions are:
- A solar sail demonstration mission, flying a sail 38 by 38 meter sail.
- A demonstration of in-space laser/optical communications technologies.
- The use of a high-precision atomic clock in space.
I especially like the solar sail mission because of its long range possibilities, though the other technologies would probably be put to practical use more quickly.
“He’s a moron.”
Early hints of the Higgs boson fade with fresh data.
Early hints that scientists had found the Higgs boson at CERN have faded with fresh data.
New data presented today at the Lepton Photon conference in Mumbai, India, show the signal fading. It means that “this excess is probably just a statistical fluctuation”, says Adam Falkowski, a theorist at the University of Paris-South in Orsay, France.
Early hints that scientists had found the Higgs boson at CERN have faded with fresh data.
New data presented today at the Lepton Photon conference in Mumbai, India, show the signal fading. It means that “this excess is probably just a statistical fluctuation”, says Adam Falkowski, a theorist at the University of Paris-South in Orsay, France.
Bringing the Delta 2 back to launch unmanned science probes
Rocket shortage: NASA is reconsidering the Delta 2 rocket as a vehicle to launch its unmanned science satellites.
Rocket shortage: NASA is reconsidering the Delta 2 rocket as a vehicle to launch its unmanned science satellites.
Social Security disability on verge of insolvency
The day of reckoning looms: Social Security disability on the verge of insolvency.
The day of reckoning looms: Social Security disability on the verge of insolvency.
One man’s response to Obama’s demand that taxes on the rich be raised
One man’s response to Obama’s demand that taxes on the rich be raised.
I deeply resent that President Obama has decided that I don’t need all the money I’ve not paid in taxes over the years, or that I should leave less for my children and grandchildren and give more to him to spend as he thinks fit.
and
Governments have an obligation to spend our tax money on programs that work. They fail at this fundamental task. Do we really need dozens of retraining programs with no measure of performance or results? Do we really need to spend money on solar panels, windmills and battery-operated cars when we have ample energy supplies in this country? Do we really need all the regulations that put an estimated $2 trillion burden on our economy by raising the price of things we buy? Do we really need subsidies for domestic sugar farmers and ethanol producers?
Read the whole thing.
One man’s response to Obama’s demand that taxes on the rich be raised.
I deeply resent that President Obama has decided that I don’t need all the money I’ve not paid in taxes over the years, or that I should leave less for my children and grandchildren and give more to him to spend as he thinks fit.
and
Governments have an obligation to spend our tax money on programs that work. They fail at this fundamental task. Do we really need dozens of retraining programs with no measure of performance or results? Do we really need to spend money on solar panels, windmills and battery-operated cars when we have ample energy supplies in this country? Do we really need all the regulations that put an estimated $2 trillion burden on our economy by raising the price of things we buy? Do we really need subsidies for domestic sugar farmers and ethanol producers?
Read the whole thing.
The new commercial space companies question NASA contracting policies
The new commercial space companies are challenging NASA’s new contracting policy.
The article covers the conflict that I described in this post, whereby NASA is abandoning the more flexible contracting approach used for the commercial cargo contracts of SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and going instead with the contracting system it used for all past NASA subcontracts.
The article is errs badly when it calls the new contracting approach that NASA wants to use “non-traditional.” It is instead the way NASA has been doing things for decades, whereby the agency takes full control of everything and requires contractors to fill out so much paperwork that the costs double and triple.
The new commercial space companies are challenging NASA’s new contracting policy.
The article covers the conflict that I described in this post, whereby NASA is abandoning the more flexible contracting approach used for the commercial cargo contracts of SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and going instead with the contracting system it used for all past NASA subcontracts.
The article is errs badly when it calls the new contracting approach that NASA wants to use “non-traditional.” It is instead the way NASA has been doing things for decades, whereby the agency takes full control of everything and requires contractors to fill out so much paperwork that the costs double and triple.
Researchers have found what could be the oldest microbial fossils yet, discovered in 3.4-billion-year-old Australian rocks
Researchers have found what could be the oldest microbial fossils yet, discovered in 3.4-billion-year-old Australian rocks
Researchers have found what could be the oldest microbial fossils yet, discovered in 3.4-billion-year-old Australian rocks
Europe and Russia talk of joint manned mission to Mars
Europe and Russia talk of joint manned mission to Mars.
I’m not sure how seriously to take this story, though its implications are intriguing regardless. More than any other country, Russia knows how to build the kind of spaceship necessary for the journey. What Europe will contribute more than anything else would be money.
Europe and Russia talk of joint manned mission to Mars.
I’m not sure how seriously to take this story, though its implications are intriguing regardless. More than any other country, Russia knows how to build the kind of spaceship necessary for the journey. What Europe will contribute more than anything else would be money.
Did Obamacare cause the economic collapse
By the spring of 2010, private sector job growth turned positive. In April job growth increased to 230,000 net private-sector jobs. The economy appeared on track for a normal recovery from an awful recession. The administration began confidently predicting a “Recovery Summer.” But Recovery Summer fizzled instead of sizzled. In May private sector job growth dropped sharply to less than 50,000 net jobs. Thereafter, monthly improvement in private job growth averaged just 6,500 jobs.
What else happened in the spring of 2010? Despite obstacles that many believed would kill the bill, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. Within two months, the trend in job growth dropped sharply. Monthly job creation had been on pace to top out in the hundreds of thousands. Post-Affordable Care Act, it has barely kept pace with population growth. [emphasis mine]
and
The health-care measure raises business costs and makes planning for the future more difficult. It should be expected to slow hiring.
Federal Reserve officials report that the law has had exactly this effect. Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, reports that “prominent among these (factors businesses explain are impeding hiring) is the lack of clarity about the cost implications of the recent health care legislation. We’ve frequently heard strong comments to the effect of ‘my company won’t hire a single additional worker until we know what health insurance costs are going to be.'” Surveys bear out these warnings. In a recent poll one-third of small business owners identified the healthcare bill as one of their top two obstacles to hiring. [emphasis mine]
By the spring of 2010, private sector job growth turned positive. In April job growth increased to 230,000 net private-sector jobs. The economy appeared on track for a normal recovery from an awful recession. The administration began confidently predicting a “Recovery Summer.” But Recovery Summer fizzled instead of sizzled. In May private sector job growth dropped sharply to less than 50,000 net jobs. Thereafter, monthly improvement in private job growth averaged just 6,500 jobs.
What else happened in the spring of 2010? Despite obstacles that many believed would kill the bill, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. Within two months, the trend in job growth dropped sharply. Monthly job creation had been on pace to top out in the hundreds of thousands. Post-Affordable Care Act, it has barely kept pace with population growth. [emphasis mine]
and
The health-care measure raises business costs and makes planning for the future more difficult. It should be expected to slow hiring.
Federal Reserve officials report that the law has had exactly this effect. Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, reports that “prominent among these (factors businesses explain are impeding hiring) is the lack of clarity about the cost implications of the recent health care legislation. We’ve frequently heard strong comments to the effect of ‘my company won’t hire a single additional worker until we know what health insurance costs are going to be.'” Surveys bear out these warnings. In a recent poll one-third of small business owners identified the healthcare bill as one of their top two obstacles to hiring. [emphasis mine]
Chicago police must pay 330k for killing dog in home raid
Justice: The Chicago police department as well as the officers themselves must pay $330k for killing a dog in a home raid.
Justice: The Chicago police department as well as the officers themselves must pay $330k for killing a dog in a home raid.
A reindeer herder in Russia’s Arctic has stumbled on the pre-historic remains of a baby woolly mammoth
A reindeer herder in Russia’s Arctic has stumbled on the pre-historic remains of a baby woolly mammoth.
A reindeer herder in Russia’s Arctic has stumbled on the pre-historic remains of a baby woolly mammoth.
66 Percent of CEOs Plan to Freeze or Downsize Workforce Size
Two-thirds of the country’s CEOs plan to freeze or downsize their workforce over the next year, according to a new survey.
“As I approach my 44th year in business, the last 20 as CEO, I can never remember a time when I felt so disenfranchised from our leadership in Washington. They seem determined to continue their ongoing anti-business attitude and to frustrate small and mid-sized businesses by uncertainty on taxes, government regulations, and simply too many bureaucratic restrictions. We desperately need a change in Washington.”
I guarantee that much of this reluctance to hire stems from uncertainty and fear of Obamacare and the regulations it brings.
Two-thirds of the country’s CEOs plan to freeze or downsize their workforce over the next year, according to a new survey.
“As I approach my 44th year in business, the last 20 as CEO, I can never remember a time when I felt so disenfranchised from our leadership in Washington. They seem determined to continue their ongoing anti-business attitude and to frustrate small and mid-sized businesses by uncertainty on taxes, government regulations, and simply too many bureaucratic restrictions. We desperately need a change in Washington.”
I guarantee that much of this reluctance to hire stems from uncertainty and fear of Obamacare and the regulations it brings.
“Freedom Dies With Each Paper Cut”
“Freedom dies with each paper cut.”
Recently, the USDA inspectors show up and pull our workers out of the fields for hours of questions (while we still are paying them). They inspect our houses. Several items just not up to code say these inspectors in an accusatory and snide tone. Threw a stack of regulations literally 8 inches high, small type, saying we are responsible to know and to account for each and every one.
Now we treat our workers very well, but we treat them like men, not children. The house was “messy.” My goodness, we need to hire a maid! The screen door was not exactly square with the frame by an 1/8th of an inch. Well many folks around here live in older homes that have settled. The list goes on, but no item was such that our workers thought there was a problem. The worst part is we were treated like criminals. We are awaiting our fine for our failing to memorize every federal regulation applicable to us.
My dad is 67 and told the feds that he was out of farming due to this ridiculous bureaucracy and storm trooper treatment. Their arrogant reply, “well the law lets us inspect your land and homes one year after you have left farming, so you can’t keep us off your land next year either.”
“Freedom dies with each paper cut.”
Recently, the USDA inspectors show up and pull our workers out of the fields for hours of questions (while we still are paying them). They inspect our houses. Several items just not up to code say these inspectors in an accusatory and snide tone. Threw a stack of regulations literally 8 inches high, small type, saying we are responsible to know and to account for each and every one.
Now we treat our workers very well, but we treat them like men, not children. The house was “messy.” My goodness, we need to hire a maid! The screen door was not exactly square with the frame by an 1/8th of an inch. Well many folks around here live in older homes that have settled. The list goes on, but no item was such that our workers thought there was a problem. The worst part is we were treated like criminals. We are awaiting our fine for our failing to memorize every federal regulation applicable to us.
My dad is 67 and told the feds that he was out of farming due to this ridiculous bureaucracy and storm trooper treatment. Their arrogant reply, “well the law lets us inspect your land and homes one year after you have left farming, so you can’t keep us off your land next year either.”
The Obama administration has issued more waivers to Obamacare
Repeal it! The Obama administration has issued more waivers to Obamacare.
Repeal it! The Obama administration has issued more waivers to Obamacare.
Two planes to Martha’s Vineyard
Barack and Michelle Obama took separate government planes to their vacation on Martha’s Vineyard,
This is just one clear example of why I have no faith in Obama’s sincerity when he claims he wants to rein in spending. To him, tax dollars and the government they fund are his little playthings, to do with as he likes.
Barack and Michelle Obama took separate government planes to their vacation on Martha’s Vineyard,
This is just one clear example of why I have no faith in Obama’s sincerity when he claims he wants to rein in spending. To him, tax dollars and the government they fund are his little playthings, to do with as he likes.
Some results from the HTV-2 hypersonic flight
Some results from the HTV-2 hypersonic flight: the glider flew successfully for about three minutes at 20 times the speed of sound.
Fixed the stupid error. The speed of SOUND is of course correct. Sorry for the lapse in thought.
Some results from the HTV-2 hypersonic flight: the glider flew successfully for about three minutes at 20 times the speed of sound.
Fixed the stupid error. The speed of SOUND is of course correct. Sorry for the lapse in thought.
The Pioneer anomaly is fading
The Pioneer anomaly is fading.
The analysis shows that the anomaly is not constant, as researchers had believed, but is decreasing with time. The finding points toward a conventional explanation of the phenomenon, most likely asymmetric radiation of heat, and against some of the more exotic proposals.
The Pioneer anomaly is fading.
The analysis shows that the anomaly is not constant, as researchers had believed, but is decreasing with time. The finding points toward a conventional explanation of the phenomenon, most likely asymmetric radiation of heat, and against some of the more exotic proposals.