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The Russian deputy prime minister told students at the Moscow Aviation Institute on Thursday that they expect their first launch from their new spaceport in Vostochny to occur in November 2015.

8:00 am

The competition heats up: The Russian deputy prime minister told students at the Moscow Aviation Institute on Thursday that they expect their first launch from their new spaceport in Vostochny to occur in November 2015.

He also said that they want to name the new town they are building at the site after Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

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Genesis cover

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, any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, 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

Conscious Choice cover

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.

A series of letters signed by IRS official Lois Lerner show that she was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

10:47 pm

A series of letters signed by IRS official Lois Lerner show that she was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

I want to make one point that I haven’t read anywhere about this scandal. The problem here really isn’t that the IRS was investigating the legitimacy of giving these conservative organizations tax exempt status. The problem is that they specifically chose to only investigate conservative organizations. Leftwing organizations got a pass.

Either investigate all, or none. I prefer none. But either way, playing favorites for the sake of politics is a partisan corruption of the tax code, and a misuse of the power of government.

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Leaving Earth cover

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

Don’t criminalize the investigations. immunize the witnesses!

10:28 am

Don’t criminalize the investigations. immunize the witnesses!

If we criminalize the investigations, if witnesses are afraid they will be indicted, prosecuted, and punished if they tell the truth about what they’ve been up to, our chances of getting the full picture will be enormously, maybe even fatally, diminished.

We want the truth, the whole truth. The best way to get it is to immunize congressional witnesses who tell the story. That way, they will be part of a common effort to understand what went wrong, rather than targets of a criminal investigation. It may surprise you to learn that there are many civil servants who have quietly asked to be subpoenaed so their superiors will not accuse them of ratting out their bureaucratic cohorts. Fair enough. Subpoena them, and give them the protection of immunity, provided they tell the truth.

The cudgel of criminal action should be reserved for those who insist on clamming up, for they are obstructing investigations desperately needed to protect and advance our freedoms.

And I say, right on! For example, I am not enthused about the claim that Lois Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment rights by her testimony yesterday, thus allowing Congress to force her to speak or charge her with contempt. I fear this will only make her a convenient martyr to be used by the tools of the Obama administration to distract us.

It would be far better to give immunity to as many low level employees as possible. That way, we get the truth out, and the handful who lie to protect Obama and the Democratic Party will be exposed.

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The Russians announced that they plan nine more Proton rocket launches in 2013, for a total of twelve.

9:52 am

The competition heats up: The Russians announced today that they plan nine more Proton rocket launches in 2013, for a total of twelve.

I note this to give some context to what SpaceX will do with Falcon 9 this year. SpaceX has just updated its launch manifest schedule, and if the American company does what it says, it should have at least six more Falcon 9 flights this year, for a total of seven.

Should these predicted launches all take place, it will clearly demonstrate that SpaceX has grabbed a significant share of the launch market, but that the Russians are also holding their own.

Note also that the updated launch manifest still includes the first test flight of Falcon Heavy in 2013. Very interesting.

Update: The Russians are also preparing to launch their new Angara rocket family, which will replace their older rockets and allow them to launch from their new spaceport.

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A former IRS worker points out that the law allows the immediate termination of any IRS worker who violates certain clear rules.

9:44 pm

A former IRS worker points out that the law allows the immediate termination of any IRS worker who violates certain clear rules.

The rule is Section 1023 of the Internal Revenue Code. The violations pertaining to this scandal are these:

-(2) providing a false statement under oath with respect to a material matter involving a taxpayer or taxpayer representative;

-(3) with respect to a taxpayer, taxpayer representative, or other employee of the Internal Revenue Service, the violation of – (A) any right under the Constitution of the United States;

-(6) violations of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Department of Treasury regulations, or policies of the Internal Revenue Service (including the Internal Revenue Manual) for the purpose of retaliating against, or harassing, a taxpayer, taxpayer representative, or other employee of the Internal Revenue Service;

-(7) willful misuse of the provisions of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the purpose of concealing information from a congressional inquiry;

I like to say it isn’t what people say that counts, it is what they do. If President Obama was truly outraged about this scandal, he could do something about it. That he has not, and has in fact supported and promoted the key players at the IRS suggests instead that he is very happy with their performance.

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Gun rights advocates counter a Michigan county gun buyback program with their own “Guns 4 Cash” operation.

8:55 pm

Pushback: Gun rights advocates counter a Michigan county gun buyback program with their own “Guns 4 Cash” operation.

It is interesting to read what happened after the County Executive himself observed the gun rights advocates:

From that moment forward until the event ended, the gun rights activists were harassed by all day by Wayne County deputies. Their first act was to park one of their marked cars by the parking lot’s entrance and started directing people further up the street to the church.

Then a deputy went into the fast-food restaurant and talked to the manager on duty. We do not know what they told the manager, but suddenly, the restaurant reversed its decision to allow gun rights activists onto its property. Prior to contact with the deputies, their presence was allowed as long as it did not interfere with customers buying food. Thus, the gun rights activists were ejected from the parking lot and had to move their cars. Apparently, the deputies thought their actions were enough to deter the activists. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The activists adjusted by walking up and down the public sidewalk while holding their signs.

The deputies responded by telling them that they would start writing tickets for both being on and obstructing the sidewalk in front of the church. It would be a hour or so later before discussions with the top deputy in charge confirmed that walking on the sidewalk was legal and that all deputies would be apprised of that fact.

This harassment by police of Americans, very carefully doing legal things, is appalling. More appalling is how common this is becoming.

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A lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Connecticut against the new gun control laws that were passed recently after the Newtown shooting.

10:17 am

Pushback: A lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Connecticut against the new gun control laws that were passed recently after the Newtown shooting.

The lawsuit seeks immediate injunctive relief and a ruling declaring the new law unconstitutional under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It alleges that Connecticut’s new firearms law is not only unconstitutional but dangerous, since it makes both citizens and law enforcement less safe by depriving citizens of firearms that are in common use throughout the country. The very firearms and design features banned by the new law are commonly used in part because of safety, accuracy and ease-of-use features that make them effective in the hands of citizens who must defend themselves and their families against criminals and the mentally ill who do not obey such laws.

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A new Defense Department report says that China is aggressively ramping up its space program.

8:39 am

The competition heats up: A new Defense Department report says that China is aggressively ramping up its space program.

China will continue to augment its orbiting assets, with the planned launch of 100 more satellites through 2015. These launches include imaging, remote sensing, navigation, communication and scientific satellites, as well as manned spacecraft.

China is pursuing a variety of air, sea, undersea, space, counterspace and information warfare systems, as well as operational concepts, moving toward an array of overlapping, multilayered offensive capabilities extending from China’s coast into the western Pacific. China’s 2008 Defense White Paper asserts that one of the priorities for the development of China’s armed forces is to “increase the country’s capabilities to maintain maritime, space and electromagnetic space security.”

Further, China continues to develop the Long March 5 rocket, which is intended to lift heavy payloads into space. LM-5 will more than double the size of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) payloads China is capable of placing into orbit. To support these rockets, China began constructing the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in 2008. Located on Hainan Island, this launch facility is expected to be complete sometime this year 2013, with the initial LM-5 launch scheduled for 2014.

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A detailed analysis of the IRS’s chain of command in Cincinnati, proving the harassment of conservatives came from high up the chain.

9:48 pm

A detailed analysis of the IRS’s chain of command in Cincinnati, proving the harassment of conservatives came from high up the chain.

The article names names, and places them in the chain of command both in Cincinnati and in relation to Washington. The new key person in that chain is Cindy Thomas, who appears to have been at the top of the chain in Cincinnati, reported directly to Washington, and also was the person who signed off on the illegal release of data to ProPublica.

All of it makes the claims of the White House and the IRS that this was done by a few low-level rogue agents look absurd and dishonest.

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The journal Science struggles to find the harm done from NIH’s 5% cuts from sequestration.

9:35 pm

The journal Science struggles to find the harm done to NIH from sequestration’s 5% cut.

Given that sequestration lopped off a staggering $1.55 billion from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) budget this year, it shouldn’t be hard to find examples of how the cut is harming research labs. Although sequestration “has already dealt a devastating blow,” said NIH Director Francis Collins at a Senate hearing last week, it turns out it’s not that easy to spell out the damage.

First of all, this cut was hardly “staggering.” All it did was bring NIH’s budget down to $29.15 billion, which is almost exactly the budget the agency had in 2008. Somehow, NIH managed quite well with this amount of money in 2008, and in fact probably wasted quite a bit of cash even then.

Second, this fact — that the cut wasn’t really that “devastating” — might explain why Science can’t find any obvious damage to any program. In its budget articles the journal routinely makes it a point to lobby for more money for scientists. Thus, we shouldn’t be surprised when it tries to spin any cut — or even a small reduction in the rate of growth — as a disaster. The fact that Science still has trouble making that spin seem believable in this case is solid evidence that sequestration was a good idea, and that there was a great deal of fat that could be trimmed from the budget.

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Photos from various tea party protests across the nation today.

5:21 pm

Photos from various tea party protests across the nation today.

The protesters wearing targets on their backs were especially clever, considering the vicious attacks after the Tucson shootings two years ago against Sarah Palin for using tiny target graphics in some of her literature. Back then, Palin and conservatives got slimed for this irrelevant act, something they had nothing to do with the Tucson murders. Now, the IRS has made them real targets. And it both cases, they are innocent, doing nothing more than expressing their beliefs and ideas.

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