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The scientists operating Curiosity have decided it is time to begin the trek up Mt. Sharp
Europe successfully launched its heaviest unmanned cargo freighter to ISS today.
Europe successfully launched its heaviest unmanned cargo freighter to ISS today.
The docking of the ATV freighter, dubbed Albert Einstein, will take place after ten days of checkout in orbit.
Europe successfully launched its heaviest unmanned cargo freighter to ISS today.
The docking of the ATV freighter, dubbed Albert Einstein, will take place after ten days of checkout in orbit.
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 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.
Rex Harrison – Why Can’t the English Learn to Speak?
The predictions of seventy-three climate models are compared to real data and not one comes even close to reality.
The predictions of seventy-three climate models are compared to real data and not one comes even close to reality.
Remember: computer modeling is not science research. It does not tell us anything about the actual climate. It is instead theoretical work useful for trying to understand what the data actual is telling us.
Computer modeling, however, is totally useless if it doesn’t successfully mimic that actual data. Since all of these climate models fail to do this, they very clearly show that they do not understand the climate itself, and are not valid theories to explain its processes. If the scientists who created them were honest about these results, they would immediately go back to the drawing board and rewrite these models.
I unfortunately have serious doubts they will do this.
The predictions of seventy-three climate models are compared to real data and not one comes even close to reality.
Remember: computer modeling is not science research. It does not tell us anything about the actual climate. It is instead theoretical work useful for trying to understand what the data actual is telling us.
Computer modeling, however, is totally useless if it doesn’t successfully mimic that actual data. Since all of these climate models fail to do this, they very clearly show that they do not understand the climate itself, and are not valid theories to explain its processes. If the scientists who created them were honest about these results, they would immediately go back to the drawing board and rewrite these models.
I unfortunately have serious doubts they will do this.
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 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
Two more IRS agents have been put on leave.
Two more IRS agents have been put on leave.
Both are charged with accepting free food and other items inappropriately. One is also implicated in the IRS harassment scandal and is the deputy to Sarah Hall Ingram, who now runs the IRS Obamacare office and was in charge of the enforcement division when it was implementing the harassment policy.
Two more IRS agents have been put on leave.
Both are charged with accepting free food and other items inappropriately. One is also implicated in the IRS harassment scandal and is the deputy to Sarah Hall Ingram, who now runs the IRS Obamacare office and was in charge of the enforcement division when it was implementing the harassment policy.
The first annual College Stupidity Awards.
The first annual College Stupidity Awards.
I especially like this one:
A Hispanic student group at Northwestern University instructed members of the campus community to forgo eating tacos and drinking tequila on Cinco de Mayo, so as not to offend Mexican culture. But Mexican students, who indeed wanted to spend their holiday eating tacos and drinking tequila, took offense at the assumed offense. The Hispanic student group ended up with huevo on its face.
The first annual College Stupidity Awards.
I especially like this one:
A Hispanic student group at Northwestern University instructed members of the campus community to forgo eating tacos and drinking tequila on Cinco de Mayo, so as not to offend Mexican culture. But Mexican students, who indeed wanted to spend their holiday eating tacos and drinking tequila, took offense at the assumed offense. The Hispanic student group ended up with huevo on its face.
There are now only 3 copies left of the now out-of-print hardback of Leaving Earth. The price for an autographed copy of this rare collector's item is now $150 (plus $5 shipping).
To get your copy while the getting is good, please send a $155 check (which includes $5 shipping) payable to Robert Zimmerman to
Behind The Black, c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Leaving Earth is also available as an inexpensive ebook!
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
The EPA has acknowledged that it illegally released personal information of farmers to several leftwing environmental organizations.
The EPA has acknowledged that it illegally released personal information of farmers to several leftwing environmental organizations.
Mistakes do happen, but like the IRS scandal, this mistake was all one way, helpful to the left and harmful to their opponents. And like the IRS scandal, this one way harm suggests this was not a mistake, but quite intentional.
The EPA has acknowledged that it illegally released personal information of farmers to several leftwing environmental organizations.
Mistakes do happen, but like the IRS scandal, this mistake was all one way, helpful to the left and harmful to their opponents. And like the IRS scandal, this one way harm suggests this was not a mistake, but quite intentional.
German scientists have outlined a technique for using pulsars as an interplanetary and interstellar GPS system.
German scientists have outlined a technique for using pulsars as an interplanetary and interstellar GPS system.
German scientists have outlined a technique for using pulsars as an interplanetary and interstellar GPS system.
A look at Dream Chaser’s upcoming glide tests.
An eleven-year-old was suspended from school for merely talking about guns.
The new freedom: An eleven-year-old in Maryland was suspended from school for merely talking about guns.
The new freedom: An eleven-year-old in Maryland was suspended from school for merely talking about guns.
A message to moderate Muslims.
A message to moderate Muslims.
What we need is a Muslim backlash, and we need it now. You may be a moderate, peaceful Muslim, but there’s nothing moderate or peaceful about your religion, and you know it.
The bigots who preach in your mosques, who take sustenance from your religion, are hiding behind you. And your silence is helping them to do it. If your mosque is letting anyone preach hatred and violence on its premises, you have a duty to call the police. And the police have a duty to take off their politically correct-tinted glasses to go into that mosque, without removing their shoes, and arrest that person. Anything less than this, and you’re on the wrong side.
As always, Pat Condell puts it bluntly but honestly. If Islam is being hijacked by radicals, as so many politically correct people claim, than the religion can easily be saved if the reasonable people within stand up to them. If they don’t, however, they tell us that the religion isn’t being hijacked. It is radical, and violent, and should be shunned and opposed by all reasonable people worldwide.
A message to moderate Muslims.
What we need is a Muslim backlash, and we need it now. You may be a moderate, peaceful Muslim, but there’s nothing moderate or peaceful about your religion, and you know it.
The bigots who preach in your mosques, who take sustenance from your religion, are hiding behind you. And your silence is helping them to do it. If your mosque is letting anyone preach hatred and violence on its premises, you have a duty to call the police. And the police have a duty to take off their politically correct-tinted glasses to go into that mosque, without removing their shoes, and arrest that person. Anything less than this, and you’re on the wrong side.
As always, Pat Condell puts it bluntly but honestly. If Islam is being hijacked by radicals, as so many politically correct people claim, than the religion can easily be saved if the reasonable people within stand up to them. If they don’t, however, they tell us that the religion isn’t being hijacked. It is radical, and violent, and should be shunned and opposed by all reasonable people worldwide.
A liberal campaign finance reform activist, who had called for the targeting of conservative organizations, had meetings with Obama about the time the IRS harassment began.
Hmm: A liberal campaign finance reform activist, who had called for the targeting of conservative organizations, had meetings with Obama about the time the IRS harassment began.
Hmm: A liberal campaign finance reform activist, who had called for the targeting of conservative organizations, had meetings with Obama about the time the IRS harassment began.
Researchers have developed a technology which permits a toy helicopter to be steered through an obstacle course — by thought alone.
Researchers have developed a technology which permits a toy helicopter to be steered through an obstacle course — by thought alone.
The technology is quite primitive, requires many hours of training, and can only move the helicopter up, down, left, or right. Nonetheless, it is one step closer to magic.
Researchers have developed a technology which permits a toy helicopter to be steered through an obstacle course — by thought alone.
The technology is quite primitive, requires many hours of training, and can only move the helicopter up, down, left, or right. Nonetheless, it is one step closer to magic.
The House testimony today of one tea party person
The House testimony today of one tea party person:
“I want to protect and preserve the America I grew up in, the America that people cross oceans and risk their lives to become a part of, and I am terrified it is slipping away.”
Watch the full video below. It is heart-rending.
The House testimony today of one tea party person:
“I want to protect and preserve the America I grew up in, the America that people cross oceans and risk their lives to become a part of, and I am terrified it is slipping away.”
Watch the full video below. It is heart-rending.
Did an IRS employee illegally leak the donor list of a conservative organization to one of its left wing opponents?
Did an IRS employee illegally leak the donor list of a conservative organization to one of its left wing opponents?
Did an IRS employee illegally leak the donor list of a conservative organization to one of its left wing opponents?
Wednesday is National Hug Your Cat Day!
The communications satellite launched by Russia’s Proton rocket has successfully reached its target orbit.
The competition heats up: The communications satellite launched by Russia’s Proton rocket has successfully reached its target orbit.
The competition heats up: The communications satellite launched by Russia’s Proton rocket has successfully reached its target orbit.
Astronomers take an image of an exoplanet only 300 light years away.
The left’s unmistakable trend toward weaponizing the tax code.
The left’s unmistakable trend toward weaponizing the tax code.
What was once a neutral instrument used for the purpose of collecting revenue for legitimate governmental functions is now employed to punish behavior that powerful people don’t like.
The left’s unmistakable trend toward weaponizing the tax code.
What was once a neutral instrument used for the purpose of collecting revenue for legitimate governmental functions is now employed to punish behavior that powerful people don’t like.
A new report from Social Security has raised its predicted unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years by one trillion dollars.
The day of reckoning looms: A new report from Social Security has raised its predicted unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years by one trillion dollars, for a total of $9.6 trillion.
According to the report, “Through the end of 2087, the combined funds [OASI and DI] have a present-value unfunded obligation of $9.6 trillion.” That is “$1.0 trillion more than the measured level of $8.6 trillion a year ago,” states the report, in reference to the data available for 2011. That $9.6 trillion shortfall equals approximately $83,894 per household based on the Census Bureau’s latest estimate that there are 114,430,000 households in the country.
The report also looks farther into the future and saw the shortfall rise to $23 trillion.
The day of reckoning looms: A new report from Social Security has raised its predicted unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years by one trillion dollars, for a total of $9.6 trillion.
According to the report, “Through the end of 2087, the combined funds [OASI and DI] have a present-value unfunded obligation of $9.6 trillion.” That is “$1.0 trillion more than the measured level of $8.6 trillion a year ago,” states the report, in reference to the data available for 2011. That $9.6 trillion shortfall equals approximately $83,894 per household based on the Census Bureau’s latest estimate that there are 114,430,000 households in the country.
The report also looks farther into the future and saw the shortfall rise to $23 trillion.
The Sun makes the scientists look good — for now!
NOAA today released its monthly update of the Sun’s sunspot cycle, covering the period of May 2013. As I have done every month for the past three years, I have posted this latest graph, with annotations to give it context, below the fold.
For the third month in a row, the Sun has shown increased sunspot activity. Though the total activity continues to remain well below all predictions, it appears that the Sun is going to produce a double-peaked maximum, as predicted by some solar scientists back in March. Be aware however that this prediction isn’t based on any real understanding of the physical processes that produce sunspots but is instead based on the fact that the Sun has sometimes done this in the past. If you asked these scientists why the Sun sometimes produces a double-peaked maximum they will wave their arms about but will really not be able to tell you.
Stratolaunch officially announced today that Orbital Sciences will build the system’s second stage rocket.
The competition heats up: Stratolaunch officially announced today that Orbital Sciences will build the system’s second stage rocket.
The rocket that Orbital will build for Stratolaunch will launch from the air, the first stage being a giant airplane which will carry that rocket aloft, much like Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and Orbital’s Pegasus rocket. Clark Lindsey at the same website also notes that the efforts of SpaceX (and to my mind Stratolaunch) to make the first stage reusable will likely revolutionize the rocket industry.
The competition heats up: Stratolaunch officially announced today that Orbital Sciences will build the system’s second stage rocket.
The rocket that Orbital will build for Stratolaunch will launch from the air, the first stage being a giant airplane which will carry that rocket aloft, much like Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and Orbital’s Pegasus rocket. Clark Lindsey at the same website also notes that the efforts of SpaceX (and to my mind Stratolaunch) to make the first stage reusable will likely revolutionize the rocket industry.
“I can say with a very strong sense of certainty that there are people very close to this president that not only knew what the IRS were doing but authorized it.”
Said by an ABC news reporter today.
In related news, it appears that the IRS not only targeted conservative organizations which applied for tax exempt status, the tax agency also targeted the donors to those organizations.
Said by an ABC news reporter today.
In related news, it appears that the IRS not only targeted conservative organizations which applied for tax exempt status, the tax agency also targeted the donors to those organizations.
A U.S. company is planning on building a commercial jet capable of traveling routinely just under the speed of sound.
A U.S. company is planning on building a commercial jet capable of traveling routinely just under the speed of sound.
It is only a two-seater, and the design is based on a military fighter jets.
A U.S. company is planning on building a commercial jet capable of traveling routinely just under the speed of sound.
It is only a two-seater, and the design is based on a military fighter jets.
Russia’s Proton rocket successfully launched a commercial satellite today.
The competition heats up: Russia’s Proton rocket today successfully launched another commercial communications satellite.
The troublesome Briz-M upper stage still has to get the satellite to its proper orbit, so stay tuned. Nonetheless, this launch, only a few weeks after their last commercial Proton launch, suggests they were serious about launching nine more commercial launches this year.
Meanwhile, we wait for SpaceX’s first commercial launch by the Falcon 9 rocket. Their launch manifest still claims there will be three such launches before the next Falcon 9/Dragon mission to ISS later this year, but two of those launches were supposed to have occurred already. The non-occurrence of the March MDA/Cassiope launch out of Vandenberg is especially puzzling, as there are few scheduling conflicts at that rarely used spaceport.
The Falcon 9 delays at this point are beginning to be worrisome, and suggest the skepticism of some about SpaceX’s ability to compete might have merit. SpaceX has got to launch a commercial satellite soon in order to quell those doubts.
The competition heats up: Russia’s Proton rocket today successfully launched another commercial communications satellite.
The troublesome Briz-M upper stage still has to get the satellite to its proper orbit, so stay tuned. Nonetheless, this launch, only a few weeks after their last commercial Proton launch, suggests they were serious about launching nine more commercial launches this year.
Meanwhile, we wait for SpaceX’s first commercial launch by the Falcon 9 rocket. Their launch manifest still claims there will be three such launches before the next Falcon 9/Dragon mission to ISS later this year, but two of those launches were supposed to have occurred already. The non-occurrence of the March MDA/Cassiope launch out of Vandenberg is especially puzzling, as there are few scheduling conflicts at that rarely used spaceport.
The Falcon 9 delays at this point are beginning to be worrisome, and suggest the skepticism of some about SpaceX’s ability to compete might have merit. SpaceX has got to launch a commercial satellite soon in order to quell those doubts.
In celebration of its tenth year in orbit, scientists running the Mars Express mission have released global mineral maps of Mars.
In celebration of its tenth year in orbit, scientists running the Mars Express mission have released global mineral maps of Mars. With video.
The unique atlas comprises a series of maps showing the distribution of minerals formed in water, by volcanic activity, and by weathering to create the dust that makes Mars red. They create a global context for the dominant geological processes that sculpted the planet we see today.
Take a look at the video. It is fascinating to see where these minerals concentrate.
In celebration of its tenth year in orbit, scientists running the Mars Express mission have released global mineral maps of Mars. With video.
The unique atlas comprises a series of maps showing the distribution of minerals formed in water, by volcanic activity, and by weathering to create the dust that makes Mars red. They create a global context for the dominant geological processes that sculpted the planet we see today.
Take a look at the video. It is fascinating to see where these minerals concentrate.
Transcript excerpts of House testimony by two IRS employees show that the policy to harass conservatives was ordered by supervisors in Washington.
Transcript excerpts of House testimony by two IRS employees show that the policy to harass conservatives was ordered by supervisors in Washington.
When these employees testify publicly, it will not be pretty for the Obama administration. The next question will of course be: Who were those supervisors, and who gave them their orders?
Transcript excerpts of House testimony by two IRS employees show that the policy to harass conservatives was ordered by supervisors in Washington.
When these employees testify publicly, it will not be pretty for the Obama administration. The next question will of course be: Who were those supervisors, and who gave them their orders?
When Lois Lerner worked for the FEC she offered to drop a case against a conservative if he promised never to run for office again.
Working for the Democratic Party: When IRS thug Lois Lerner worked for the FEC she offered to drop a case against a conservative running for the Senate if he promised never to run for office again.
The conservative refused, and the case went to court, where all charges were dismissed. Nonetheless, the conservative subsequently decided that the harassment from the government, which also included a visit from the FBI, was not worth it, and has not run for office since.
In other words, Lerner’s harassment worked, to the benefit of the Democratic Party.
Working for the Democratic Party: When IRS thug Lois Lerner worked for the FEC she offered to drop a case against a conservative running for the Senate if he promised never to run for office again.
The conservative refused, and the case went to court, where all charges were dismissed. Nonetheless, the conservative subsequently decided that the harassment from the government, which also included a visit from the FBI, was not worth it, and has not run for office since.
In other words, Lerner’s harassment worked, to the benefit of the Democratic Party.
.45 acp Guns and The People Who Carry Them
An evening pause: A lot of the jokes only gun owners will understand, but nonetheless, this is funny.
The 100 words used on the web that Homeland Security considers dangerous and thus justification for spying.
The 100 words used on the web that Homeland Security considers dangerous and thus a justification for spying.
The 100 words used on the web that Homeland Security considers dangerous and thus a justification for spying.