Bernadette Peters & Stephen Sondheim – Send In the Clowns
An evening pause: An apropos song I think for April Fools. That’s Stephen Sondheim on the piano, accompanying Bernadette Peters.
James Hansen is retiring from NASA and will dedicate his time to global warming activism.
James Hansen is retiring from NASA and will dedicate his time to global warming activism.
All that is really changing is that Hansen will no longer work for the government. The activism has been going on for a very long time.
Also, it is interesting how this New York Times article seems very unaware of this fact, which makes all of Hansen’s global warming claims very suspect. Might the Times not want the public to know this annoying detail?
James Hansen is retiring from NASA and will dedicate his time to global warming activism.
All that is really changing is that Hansen will no longer work for the government. The activism has been going on for a very long time.
Also, it is interesting how this New York Times article seems very unaware of this fact, which makes all of Hansen’s global warming claims very suspect. Might the Times not want the public to know this annoying detail?
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
Homeland Security has been claiming that it has the authority to inspect private safety deposit boxes without warrants.
Does this make you feel safer, or more free? Since 2011 Homeland Security has been claiming that it has the authority to inspect private safety deposit boxes without warrants.
Does this make you feel safer, or more free? Since 2011 Homeland Security has been claiming that it has the authority to inspect private safety deposit boxes without warrants.
Are your indoor tomato plants probable cause for an armed raid?
Are your indoor tomato plants probable cause for an armed raid?
Yes, if it was up to most police departments and governments today.
Are your indoor tomato plants probable cause for an armed raid?
Yes, if it was up to most police departments and governments today.
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.
Astronomers searching the WISE infrared data archive think they might find a Jupiter-sized planet lurking near the Oort Cloud.
Astronomers searching the WISE infrared data archive think they might find a Jupiter-sized planet lurking near the Oort Cloud.
Astronomers searching the WISE infrared data archive think they might find a Jupiter-sized planet lurking near the Oort Cloud.
Debbie Reynolds – Tammy
An evening pause: If you listen real close to the second movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, you will hear the roots of this lovely song.
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
At a cave rescue course
Posting this weekend is light because I am attending a class here in Tucson on cave rescue. Today, Saturday, was a mostly in class session going over the basics, most of which I am very familiar with from many years of experience. We did spend ninety minutes learning how to carry people around in a sked or sled, two different types of equipment used to carry a patient through difficult cave passage. In this case the terrain was simulated by going up, over, under, and around scaffolding and vehicles inside a garage. Lots of fun.
On Sunday we will be doing a mock rescue, whereby we will arrive at a cave entrance where we will have to locate the patient in the cave and get that person out of the cave safely. Should be most interesting.
Posting this weekend is light because I am attending a class here in Tucson on cave rescue. Today, Saturday, was a mostly in class session going over the basics, most of which I am very familiar with from many years of experience. We did spend ninety minutes learning how to carry people around in a sked or sled, two different types of equipment used to carry a patient through difficult cave passage. In this case the terrain was simulated by going up, over, under, and around scaffolding and vehicles inside a garage. Lots of fun.
On Sunday we will be doing a mock rescue, whereby we will arrive at a cave entrance where we will have to locate the patient in the cave and get that person out of the cave safely. Should be most interesting.
Connie Dover – I am going to the west
An evening pause: On this the first anniversary of the day we moved into our dream home, on a western hill of Tucson overlooking the mountains and the city, let us revisit this magnificent song by Connie Dover, this time sung live.
A boycott of Colorado because of its new gun restrictions appears to building among hunters.
Pushback: A boycott of Colorado because of its new gun restrictions appears to building among hunters.
Pushback: A boycott of Colorado because of its new gun restrictions appears to building among hunters.
What it feels like to have your life savings stolen by the global elite.
Riverdance – violins
An evening pause: I am usually not a big fan of the big production Irish shows like Riverdance or Celtic Woman, as often the heart of the music gets lost in the big production. Here, however, they keep it somewhat simple, and the result is we see some good fiddling.
The collapse of household income since 2009.
The collapse of household income since 2009.
A comparison of the graph in the article above with the changing federal debt (both graphs below the fold) is quite revealing. The steep drop in household income in 2009 lines up precisely with the steep rise in federal deficits beginning in 2009. I wonder if they have anything to do with each other? The article also notes the possible negative impact of Obamacare. How could they think such a thing?
» Read more
The collapse of household income since 2009.
A comparison of the graph in the article above with the changing federal debt (both graphs below the fold) is quite revealing. The steep drop in household income in 2009 lines up precisely with the steep rise in federal deficits beginning in 2009. I wonder if they have anything to do with each other? The article also notes the possible negative impact of Obamacare. How could they think such a thing?
» Read more
“We’re just not interested in continuing to support bureaucracies and talkfests.”
Canada to the UN environmental movement: “We’re just not interested in continuing to support bureaucracies and talkfests.”
The country has pulled out of a UN program supposedly aimed at “combating desertification,” noting that
only 18% of the roughly CAD$350,000 per year that Canada contributed to the U.N. initiative is “actually spent on programming,” [Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper] told Parliament this week during question period. “The rest goes to various bureaucratic measures. … It’s not an effective way to spend taxpayers’ money.”
As is their normal approach to debate, there is a lot of wailing, gnashing of teeth, and name-calling among the environmentalists, but no substantive response to counter Harper’s point above.
Canada to the UN environmental movement: “We’re just not interested in continuing to support bureaucracies and talkfests.”
The country has pulled out of a UN program supposedly aimed at “combating desertification,” noting that
only 18% of the roughly CAD$350,000 per year that Canada contributed to the U.N. initiative is “actually spent on programming,” [Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper] told Parliament this week during question period. “The rest goes to various bureaucratic measures. … It’s not an effective way to spend taxpayers’ money.”
As is their normal approach to debate, there is a lot of wailing, gnashing of teeth, and name-calling among the environmentalists, but no substantive response to counter Harper’s point above.
One very good sign that North Korea’s recent warlike threats are merely posturing.
One very good sign that North Korea’s recent warlike threats are merely posturing.
[W]e do have one pretty good metric with which to judge the country’s intentions: the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The Kaesong Industrial Complex, located just across the northern side of the border, is staffed by South and North Koreans. It can’t function without Pyongyang’s daily okay. If the North suddenly shuts down Kaesong at some point, watch out. But as long as it’s still running, as it has been throughout the provocations and tensions of the last few weeks, we can probably – probably — assume that North Korea is not actually planning to launch a war.
And the complex is still in operation.
One very good sign that North Korea’s recent warlike threats are merely posturing.
[W]e do have one pretty good metric with which to judge the country’s intentions: the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The Kaesong Industrial Complex, located just across the northern side of the border, is staffed by South and North Koreans. It can’t function without Pyongyang’s daily okay. If the North suddenly shuts down Kaesong at some point, watch out. But as long as it’s still running, as it has been throughout the provocations and tensions of the last few weeks, we can probably – probably — assume that North Korea is not actually planning to launch a war.
And the complex is still in operation.
“The fact that global surface temperatures have not followed the expected global warming pattern is now widely accepted.”
The uncertainty of science: “The fact that global surface temperatures have not followed the expected global warming pattern is now widely accepted.”
This quote above refers to scientists in the climate field, who are now admitting that for the past 20 years the climate has shown no warming, despite the continuing increase in CO2 in the atmosphere and their computer models that all predicted increased temperatures because of that CO2.
The uncertainty of science: “The fact that global surface temperatures have not followed the expected global warming pattern is now widely accepted.”
This quote above refers to scientists in the climate field, who are now admitting that for the past 20 years the climate has shown no warming, despite the continuing increase in CO2 in the atmosphere and their computer models that all predicted increased temperatures because of that CO2.
India has successfully tested a homebuilt engine to be used in its more powerful geosynchronous launch rocket, set for launch in July.
The competition heats up: India has successfully tested a homebuilt engine to be used in its more powerful geosynchronous launch rocket, set for launch in July. More here.
Previous launches of the GSLV rocket used a Russian-built engine on a second stage. They also ended in failure, not because of the Russian equipment but because of other problems.
The competition heats up: India has successfully tested a homebuilt engine to be used in its more powerful geosynchronous launch rocket, set for launch in July. More here.
Previous launches of the GSLV rocket used a Russian-built engine on a second stage. They also ended in failure, not because of the Russian equipment but because of other problems.
After a fast four orbit/six hour flight a Soyuz capsule carrying there astronauts has successfully docked with ISS.
After a fast four orbit/six hour flight a Soyuz capsule carrying there astronauts has successfully docked with ISS.
After a fast four orbit/six hour flight a Soyuz capsule carrying there astronauts has successfully docked with ISS.
Rachel Barton Pine – Molly on the Shore by Percy Grainger
An evening pause: The pace and speed of this music might make us feel breathless, but she’s having so much fun playing it!
There astronauts were successfully launched today from Russia and are expected to dock with ISS later tonight.
Three astronauts were successfully launched today from Russia and are expected to dock with ISS later tonight.
They are the first crew to use the fast route to ISS, only six hours, rather than the more traditional two day rendezvous path.
Three astronauts were successfully launched today from Russia and are expected to dock with ISS later tonight.
They are the first crew to use the fast route to ISS, only six hours, rather than the more traditional two day rendezvous path.
Elon Musk confirms that on future Falcon 9 launches they will do tests of a powered return of the first stage.
The competition heats up: Elon Musk confirms that on future Falcon 9 launches they will do tests of a powered return of the first stage.
For the upcoming flight, after stage separation the first stage booster will do a burn to slow it down and then a second burn just before it reaches the water. In subsequent flights they will continue these over-water tests. He repeatedly emphasized that he expects several failures before they learn how to do it right. If all goes well with the over-water tests, they will fly back to launch site and land propulsively. He expects this could happen by mid-2014.
These tests are an extension of the Grasshopper tests, only this time they will take place during an actual launch.
The competition heats up: Elon Musk confirms that on future Falcon 9 launches they will do tests of a powered return of the first stage.
For the upcoming flight, after stage separation the first stage booster will do a burn to slow it down and then a second burn just before it reaches the water. In subsequent flights they will continue these over-water tests. He repeatedly emphasized that he expects several failures before they learn how to do it right. If all goes well with the over-water tests, they will fly back to launch site and land propulsively. He expects this could happen by mid-2014.
These tests are an extension of the Grasshopper tests, only this time they will take place during an actual launch.
Science and sequestration in context
On March 21, the House accepted the continuing resolution proposed by the Senate for the year 2013. This continuing resolution will fund everything in the federal government though September of this year, and includes the cuts imposed on March 1 by sequestration.
As it always does, the journal Science did a specific analysis of the science portion of this budget bill. As usual, they looked only at the trees, not the forest, comparing the budget changes up or down for the 2012 and 2013 years only, noting how those changes will impact each agency’s programs. As usual, Science also took the side for more federal spending, assuming that in each case any cut was sure to cause significant harm to the nation’s ability to do cutting edge science.
I like to take a wider and deeper view. Below is a chart showing how the budgets for these agencies have changed since 2008. They give a much clearer perspective of the consequences of sequestration and the cuts, if any, imposed by Congress on these science agencies.
» Read more
Steve Goodman – The Dutchman
A Proton rocket has successfully launched a Mexican communications satellite today.
The competition heats up: A Proton rocket has successfully launched a Mexican communications satellite today.
ILS, the company that launches the commercial Proton rocket, needed this success badly, considering the recent problems they have had with the Proton’s Briz-M upper stage.
The competition heats up: A Proton rocket has successfully launched a Mexican communications satellite today.
ILS, the company that launches the commercial Proton rocket, needed this success badly, considering the recent problems they have had with the Proton’s Briz-M upper stage.
On the air
Tonight I am on The Space Show with David Livingston, so if you have any questions you’d like to ask me, you can do it tonight live, starting now (7 pm Pacific).
Tonight I am on The Space Show with David Livingston, so if you have any questions you’d like to ask me, you can do it tonight live, starting now (7 pm Pacific).
The Highwaymen – Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans
An evening pause: A nice live performance of Steve Goodman’s classic song, with Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson providing backup and chorus for Willie Nelson.
Dragon has splashed down.
The Obamas have taken more than a vacation per month in 2013.
We don’t need no stinking sequester: The Obamas have taken more than a vacation per month in 2013.
I don’t mind them taking the weekend off. It is the apparently unlimited travel expenses on the taxpayer’s dime that gall.
We don’t need no stinking sequester: The Obamas have taken more than a vacation per month in 2013.
I don’t mind them taking the weekend off. It is the apparently unlimited travel expenses on the taxpayer’s dime that gall.
To show support for the New Jersey family that had been threatened by the government for posting a picture of their son holding a rifle, hundreds of parents post pictures of their own gun-toting kids.
Pushback: To show support for the New Jersey family that had been threatened by the government for posting a picture of their son holding a rifle, hundreds of parents post pictures of their own gun-toting kids.
Note also that if you look at the posed pictures, none of the kids have their hands on the trigger. Unlike Michael Bloomberg’s actor in his anti-gun ads, these kids have been taught the safe way to handle a gun.
Pushback: To show support for the New Jersey family that had been threatened by the government for posting a picture of their son holding a rifle, hundreds of parents post pictures of their own gun-toting kids.
Note also that if you look at the posed pictures, none of the kids have their hands on the trigger. Unlike Michael Bloomberg’s actor in his anti-gun ads, these kids have been taught the safe way to handle a gun.