Brooklyn memories
Lost world: Brooklyn memories.
In words and pictures this webpage captures well what the world was like for someone growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s.
The construction of Freedom Tower will today finally exceed the Empire State Building, making it the tallest building in New York.
The construction of Freedom Tower will today finally exceed the Empire State Building, making it the tallest building in New York.
The best memorial to those killed on September 11th is to rebuild, and to rebuild bigger and better.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
A microscopic algae-eater that lives in a Norway lake has now been identified as one of the Earth’s oldest living organisms.
A microscopic algae-eater that lives in a Norway lake has now been identified as one of the Earth’s oldest living organisms.
The elusive, single-cell creature evolved about a billion years ago and did not fit in any of the known categories of living organisms – it was not an animal, plant, parasite, fungus or alga, they say.
MIT students last week turned a whole building into huge game of Tetris.
A good hack: MIT students last week turned a 21-story building into a huge game of Tetris. More here, including links to video.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Andrea Glass – North Wind
An evening pause: Nice song, from Andrea Glass.
On Wednesday Obama announced he would overide Congress and release of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, with no strings attached.
What could possibly go wrong? On Wednesday Obama announced he would override Congress and release of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority (PA), with no strings attached.
Not only is this insane, considering the murderous behavior of the PA, it seems to me that the U.S. has this document called the Constitution, which clearly stipulations that Congress, not the President, determines how money can be spent. If Congress says no, the President isn’t legally allowed to do it. The article above is vague about this issue, so it is possible that Obama is acting legally here. However, based on his previous behavior, I remain suspicious.
A more detailed analysis of Obama’s action can be found here. It appears my suspicions are correct.
Congress deliberately froze those funds, and not just because of the statehood demand through UNESCO. Hamas, a terrorist organization, reconciled with Fatah and has rejoined the PA, which means we’re putting almost $200 million into the hands of a terrorist organization. The language of the Palestinian Accountability Act could not be clearer: “[N]o funds available to any United States Government department or agency … may be obligated or expended with respect to providing funds to the Palestinian Authority.” Obama literally waived that statutory language off yesterday afternoon. [emphasis mine]
For this President, a supposed Constitutional lawyer, the law is always such an inconvenient thing. He somehow thinks that, under our legal system, he can rule by dictate, something that any legal scholar would tell him is wrong.
The faster we get this power-hungry man out of office, the better.
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
A political squabble between Russia and Kazakhstan has delayed the launch of a European weather satellite.
A political squabble between Russia and Kazakhstan has delayed the launch of a European weather satellite.
Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada have successfully completed wind tunnel tests of their commercial manned spaceships.
Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada have successfully completed wind tunnel tests of their commercial manned spaceships.
In closing down its ATV cargo freighter assembly line, Europe considers its next manned space project.
In closing down its ATV cargo freighter assembly line, Europe considers its next manned space project.
ESA and NASA have been discussing how ESA might compensate NASA for Europe’s 8.3 percent share of the international space station’s future operating charges. Until about 2017, the agency is repaying NASA, as the station’s general contractor, through launches of European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo ships to the station. But with the station partners now all but committed to operating the station at least through 2020, ESA is searching for another “barter element” to succeed ATV.
NASA has said a propulsion module for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle would fill ESA’s obligations to NASA, which have been estimated at about 450 million euros ($600 million) over three years.
But several ESA members, notably France and Italy, have argued that the Orion module, which would use ATV-derived technologies, does not provide sufficient technology interest or public impact. Instead, these governments have proposed development of a vehicle that would perform multiple tasks in low Earth orbit, including debris removal.
Want to watch the launch of Falcon 9/Dragon? Here’s the low down.
Want to watch the launch of Falcon 9/Dragon? Here’s the low down.
The Monkees reunion – Daydream Believer
An evening pause: R.I.P. Davy Jones. This reunion performance, which included Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, and Peter Tork of the Monkees, occurred on June 16, 2011 at the Beacon Theater, New York City. Less than a year later, Davy Jones had passed away.
Though the audio isn’t great, the joy of the song and those singing it comes through loud and clear. Go here to hear the song as performed in 1967.
Liam Clancy – A Place in the Choir
An evening pause:
Some just clap their hands or pause or anything they got now.
Another breathtaking Hubble image of the Egg Nebula.
Another new breathtaking Hubble image of the Egg Nebula.
The image combines data taken in both optical and infrared wavelengths.
The Labor Department has abandoned its effort to ban kids from working on farms.
A victory of sorts for freedom: The Labor Department has abandoned its effort to ban kids from working on farms.
The reason I consider this merely a temporary victory is that the desire to regulate these matters still exists in the people running the federal government. These same people also don’t understand that, as a free nation, they have no moral right to impose these rules in the first place. Thus, they remain a threat, waiting only for another opportunity to try again.
Engineers in Great Britain have begun testing a new hybrid engine for lifting a spaceplane into orbit.
The competition continues to heat up: Engineers in Great Britain have begun testing a new hybrid engine for lifting a spaceplane into orbit.
Three astronauts have returned safely to Earth in their Soyuz capsule after spending 165 days on ISS.
Three astronauts have returned safely to Earth in their Soyuz capsule after spending 165 days on ISS.
Coiling lava on Mars
Coiling lava found on Mars.
An underground military bunker, all your own!
An underground military bunker, all your own!
A condo association threatened a woman with fines for following her religion and placing a Jewish mezuzah on her doorpost.
Condo thugs strike again! A condo association threatened a woman with fines for following her religion and placing a Jewish mezuzah on her doorpost.
Fortunately the condo association backed down. Nonetheless, this is a good example why I hate these kinds of real estate organizations.
Celtic Thunder – Atmos, Druids, Deus Meus & Dulaman from Voyage
An evening pause: