Ronald Reagan inspired Mongolia’s president to seek democracy and freedom for his own nation. Key quote:
As Mongolia’s democratically elected president, Elbegdorj has hung a portrait of Reagan and his frequent ally, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, on the wall of his office in Ulaanbaatar, also known as Ulaanbaatar.
An evening pause: Joe Cocker, “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress.” Performed live August 20, 1983, Loreley, Germany.
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.
"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
Is the NASA solar sail satellite NanoSail-D alive? Only your ham radio operator will know!
Behind the curtain, a dictator: Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) said yesterday that he not only thinks that Congress has the power to make people buy insurance according to the Constitution, it is his obligation to force them to do so. In his own words:
“I think people should be required to get health insurance. We require people to get insurance for their automobile state by state but the federal government has an obligation to encourage by law, moral persuasion, to get people to get health insurance,”
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.
“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.
Climate scientists admit that a climate change study which claimed the Earth would warm by more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit in about a decade had “significant errors”. Key quote:
Scientist Scott Mandia forwarded to AFP an email he said he sent to Hisas ahead of publication explaining why her figures did not add up, and noting that it would take “quite a few decades” to reach a warming level of 2.4 degrees Celsius. “Even if we assume the higher end of the current warming rate, we should only be 0.2C warmer by 2020 than today,” Mandia wrote. “To get to +2.4C the current trend would have to immediately increase almost ten-fold.”
Progress! By a vote of 245-189, with three Democrats joining all 242 Republicans, ObamaCare has been repealed in the House.
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.
"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 Mars map app for Android phones.
NASA has named a replacement for astronaut Tim Kopra, who injured himself in a bicycle accident, for the next shuttle mission.
The left demonstrates how they tone down the rhetoric: Union protesters today overwhelmed security and barged their way into a meeting of bankers at a hotel.
Here is the text of the bill to repeal Obamacare, as introduced today.
I’m not the only one saying it: Two hundred economists ask lawmakers to repeal Obamacare. Key quote:
The letter from economists said the law is “fiscally dangerous at a moment when the United States is already facing a sea of red ink. It creates a massive new entitlement at a time when the budget is already buckling under the weight of existing entitlements. At a minimum, it will add $1 trillion to government spending over the next decade,” the letter stated. “Assertions that these costs are paid for are based on omitted costs, budgetary gimmicks, shifted premiums from other entitlements, and unsustainable spending cuts and revenue increases.
The state of Virgin Galactic. Key quote:
One of the great things about Galactic is that it’s still built on a non-government market — that is to say, the individual spacefarer market, the space tourist market, call it what you will. As you know, we’re now over 400 people [who have paid deposits for a spaceflight], and over $55 million dollars in deposits. None of that is based on a government program. I think that’s really encouraging. It’s a sign that there are markets outside the government, and that you can build a human spaceflight business around those markets.
Want to become an astronaut? Astronauts4hire is still looking for a few good candidates.
The husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, astronaut Mark Kelly, says he will decide in a few weeks whether to pull out as commander of Endeavour’s final mission.
Here come the squeals! GOP spending cuts would affect millions of people.
Oh my! “Millions!” The world is going to end! Soon it will be gabillions, then squajillions, and finally megabajillionmillionbillions!
Good news for California gun-owners: A judge has ruled against the state’s new ammunition law. The law not only required purchasers of ammunition to provide their thumbprint, photo ID, birth date, and address, it also outlawed mail-order sales of pistol ammunition.
Bad news for Gliese 581g, the first exoplanet thought to orbit its star in the habitable zone: A new study can’t find it.
The University of Kentucky has agreed to pay $125,000 to the astronomer who was denied a job because of academic religious bigotry.
What Congress should cut. And they find $3 trillion in only 14 paragraphs. Key quote:
None of this will be easy. Many will likely demagogue any reduction in the rate of growth of spending as a devastating “cut.” But the politics of spending has changed, and there is an expectation among fiscally conservative voters—Republicans, independents, tea partiers and even Democrats—that the government tighten its belt, just as American families have been forced to do. Some in the Republican establishment have already started complaining that this is too politically difficult. These naysayers misread today’s political climate. Should they succeed in blocking change, tea party voters will hold them just as accountable as big-spending Democrats.
Repeal the damn bill! By large majorities, surveyed doctors believe that ObamaCare will hurt care quality and doctor pay. Key quote:
During the next 5 years, the quality of health care in this country will improve (18%) stay same (17%) deteriorate (65%).
The Affordable Care Act will result in physician reimbursement becoming more fair (9%) neither fair nor unfair (17%) less fair (74%).
Overall, the impact of the Affordable Care Act for patients will be positive (27%) neutral (15%) negative (57%).
Overall, the impact of the Affordable Care Act for physicians will be positive (8%) neutral (14%) negative (78%).
