Russian space officials fired over satellite crash
Russian space officials are fired over rocket failure.
Russian space officials are fired over rocket failure.
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Russian space officials are fired over rocket failure.
The pilot who was threatened by the TSA because of his YouTube video goes public.
After six blank days, the Sun is once again showing spots. As I have mentioned several times in 2010, this might be the last time the Sun is blank for years to come as it ramps up to solar maximum. However, don’t bet on it, as the Sun’s activity has been way below all predictions. The upcoming solar maximum might very well be the first in centuries with blank days interspersed throughout.
Why I use Linux: Hilarious Windows error messages. This is typical:
Windows has detected that you have moved your mouse. Please restart your computer.
Buy your very own Batmobile! Key quote: “The car also has a fully functioning flame thrower.”
A vast storm rages across the face of Saturn.
The SOHO spacecraft, in space monitoring the Sun since 1995, has discovered its 2000th comet!
Want to know what’s going to happen? What the 1930s tell us about today.
Nor am I alone is wanting the damn bill repealed: Support for the repeal of ObamaCare remains at 60%.
Repeal the damn bill! Health plans for high-risk patients under ObamaCare are attracting fewer customers while costing far more than expected. Key quote:
Last spring, the Medicare program’s chief actuary predicted that 375,000 people would sign up by the end of 2010. In early November, the Health and Human Services Department reported that just 8,000 people had enrolled.
The war between Texas and the EPA over carbon-emission rules heats up.
Numbers to scare you: The just ended 111th Congress added more debt than the first hundred Congresses combined.
Want to become an astronaut? The private company Astronauts4Hire is taking applications.
As I’ve said, it’s all pork: NASA’s Ares rocket is supposingly dead, but the continuing resolution from Congress requires NASA to spend $500 million more for it.
It is also a mess, but I’ve said that before also!
The lawless Obama administration. Key quote:
Obama uses his control over Executive Branch agencies to do what Congress or the courts have forbidden. It’s worked, sometimes, for him over the past few years. But he’s out of time now: the GOP-led House can defund many of these efforts, even if it can’t put a stop to them completely.
Just so no one has any doubts, doing something that both Congress and the courts say is forbidden is breaking the law. And it appears that the Obama administration has a fetish for this sort of thing.
The government solution to everything: A Texas district attorney says that funeral processions should be banned.
Researchers think they have found a way to use DNA to kill the mite that is killing bees in Britain, without harming the bees themselves.
Oink! “Nonprofit groups, for-profit businesses, the University of Hawaii, and state and local governments” in Hawaii are faced with a loss of funding due to the end of earmarks in Congress.
What is most interesting about this article isn’t just that it gives a great deal of space to those who oppose earmarks and spending (something you don’t see that often in an AP article), but that the comments are almost universally in favor of eliminating earmarks as well as cutting the federal government. A truly hopeful sign.
Bad news for India’s space program: It’s geosynchronous rocket, GSLV, failed today less than two minutes after launch. Key quote:
[The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)] has had a troubled past with GSLV, with only two of the seven launches so far claiming total success. Though ISRO claims that four launches had been successful, independent observers call at least two of them either failure or partial success. When it comes to launching its workhorse PSLV, ISRO has had 15 consecutive successes.
Iowahawk: So You Lost Your Election: An outplacement transition guide for unemployed Congressmen. Key quote:
The road to your new non-Washington career begins with an inventory of your personal strengths and competencies. Read the critical skill list below, and circle the ones that you possess.
* Telling other people what to do
* Demanding money
* Peddling influence
* Talking loudly over others
* Condescension / arrogance
* Threatening, browbeating, arguing
* Narcissism
* Evading responsibility
* Spin controlAs a former Washington professional, you probably circled four or more of the above. Yes, there are some private sector industries where these skills are valued – such as journalism, bill collection, professional wrestling, higher education, and carnival barking. Unfortunately, these are all declining industries with low wages and/or fierce job competition. In order to maintain your standard of living, you will probably have to seek employment in other industries where you will find surprisingly little demand for your skills.
Maybe Shakespeare was right about lawyers: A San Francisco bookshop owner is being forced to close her store because of an ADA lawsuit.
Democratic tolerance: Al Sharpton, in his effort to get the FCC to outlaw conservative speech on the airwaves, says it is arrogant to “allow people to say what they want.”
Islamic tolerance: The cross is banned in Bethlehem for Christmas.
Flying on empty to a comet.
The new colonial movement: For the first time China has matched the U.S. in space launches. Note that though the above article implies it, the U.S. has quite often not been the yearly leader in launches, as Russia has often topped the list. Nonetheless, with China now becoming more competitive the future of space travel can only get bettter.
Oink! Scientists rail against senator who belittled research.
More TSA abuse: A rape-survivor is arrested for refusing an enhanced pat-down at Texas airport.
The space war over NASA: The continuing resolution puts NASA where it was back in February, with everything uncertain.