Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Leftwing civility: The “I hate when I wake up and Sarah Palin is still alive” Facebook page is still up and running.
Freedom of speech alert: A Michigan town passed a ban on all political signs in a public park in order to silence a Tea Party protest.`
Some details on the $38 billion budget deal.
Overall, it looks like more of the same, gimmicks disguised as budget cuts. Nonetheless, considering that most of government is still controlled by status quo spenders — in both parties — the deal is still a good one, as it clearly sets that political tone for the future: budget cuts and more budget cuts.
The fat lady hasn’t sung yet: The budget deal fine print is “still under negotiation.”
Stagnation haunts Russian space program.
Virgin Galactic is now hiring for spaceship pilots.
A government shutdown is averted as congressional leaders have reached an agreement on a budget deal. Here’s some analysis of the political ramifications.
A government shutdown would idle all but 500 NASA workers.
ISS plans week-long simulated Mars mission.
This is the right idea, but to really learn something NASA needs to commit to a year-plus long simulated mission.
This monstrosity has got to be repealed: Six pages of Obamacare equals 429 pages of regulations.
Leftwing civility: “Let’s dump trash at Boehner’s pad.”
NASA, crunched for money due to overages on James Webb Space Telescope, has cancelled its participation in the space gravitational wave mission LISA.
Two Americas: public vs. private. The graph illustrates our nation’s problems quite clearly.
After much fussing in the vote-counting process, the conservative judge has won in Wisconsin. This probably ends the debate over the union law passed last month, which will now become law.
The future is here: Spaceship lands at San Francisco airport. And yes, that is an accurate headline!
Picking the landing spot for the next Mars rover: down to four finalists.
The strange fluctuating polar vortex over Venus’s south pole.
Kepler does asteroseismology on 500 sunlike stars. The data says that the theories of star formation need to be revised.
Russian spaceship “Gagarin” arrives at ISS.
Newly discovered asteroid follows the Earth as it orbits the Sun, and has been doing it for a quarter million years.
Currently, three other horseshoe companions of the Earth are known to exist but, unlike 2010 SO16, these linger for a few thousand years at most before moving on to different orbits. Also, with an estimated diameter of 200–400 metres, 2010 SO16 is by far the largest of Earth’s horseshoe asteroids. The team has already used the Las Cumbres Observatory’s Faulkes Telescope in an on-going campaign to track the object and refine its orbit further. “It is not that difficult to spot with a medium-sized professional telescope”, says Dr Asher. “It will remain as an evening object in Earth’s skies for many years to come.”
Walking in Nyiragongo Crater in Africa. The pictures are stupendous.
More progress, if true: The Republican 2012 budget proposal includes nothing for Obamacare.
Scientists have found strong evidence that liquid water once existed in the interior of a comet.
Looks like he has decided to shut the government down: Obama rejects latest Republican budget.
