The government does a study of a study about studies.
Our government at work: The GAO has done a study of a study about studies.
Our government at work: The GAO has done a study of a study about studies.
Our government at work: The GAO has done a study of a study about studies.
The day of reckoning looms: The federal government is liable for approximately $850 billion in student loans, and the number of borrowers defaulting on these loans is on the rise.
Why Lugar lost. And how the left is going to get blindsided in November by these facts.
“How I learned not to deny climate change.”
An excellent summary of the real debates in the climate field, as well as who is actually denying reality.
How nice of them: Massachusetts’ House yesterday overturned the ban on bake sales imposed by its Department of Public Health.
Republican space socialism update.
Simberg summarizes well the foolishness coming from Congress when it comes to budgeting NASA and commercial space.
The ten scariest DMV horror stories.
Just remember: the Democrats and President Obama have given the management of everyone’s healthcare to this kind of bureaucracy.
Israel’s new coalition government: Why this new political deal happened and how it will change Israel.
A trend, not a fluke: Indiana Republicans have dumped incumbent Senator Richard Lugar for a tea party favorite.
In related news, a prison inmate has gotten the highest percentage of votes, 40 percent, of any candidate in any previous state primary against Barack Obama.
Washington politicians had better stop ignoring the fiscal concerns of the tea party. The federal budget has got to be brought under control.
We’re here to help you: Last week the federal government abandoned more than a century of precedent to declare it holds senior water rights across much of Arizona’s San Pedro River riparian watershed.
For some additional background, see this story.
This happened in Michigan and was instigated by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). And now the police and CAIR are being sued because of it.
The financial foolishness in Congress, by Republicans this time, continues. In making its budget recommendations for NASA, the report [pdf] of the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee also demands that NASA immediately choose one commercial company for its commercial space program. (Hat tip to Clark Lindsey for spotting this.)
The number of ways this action is counter-productive almost can’t be counted.
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Mexico has passed its own very strict climate change law.
The new law contains many sweeping provisions to mitigate climate change, including a mandate to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 30% below business-as-usual levels by 2020, and by 50% below 2000 levels by 2050. Furthermore, it stipulates that 35% of the country’s energy should come from renewable sources by 2024, and requires mandatory emissions reporting by the country’s largest polluters.
Some predictions:
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Senate Democrats don’t even bother to show up for a budget meeting called by their own leader.
Since the year 2009, not one single Democrat or Democrat-aligned member of the United States Senate has voted “yes” on any budget. They’ve refused to present their own ideas, of course, but they’ve also unanimously voted down every last alternative, from both Republicans and their own party’s president. Think about that.
A Senate panel today proposed shifting the responsibility for building weather satellites from NOAA to NASA.
It is very unclear from this article why the Senate panel proposed this shift. They claim it will save money but I don’t see how.
What I can guess is that there is probably a turf war going on in Congress over this money. For example, shifting these weather satellites to NASA almost certainly means that the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland will get more money, which is almost certainly why Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) is for it.
One thought however: NASA generally focuses on individual missions, not long term operational stuff like weather. I suspect it probably is not a good idea to give this work to NASA.
The same article above also outlined the panel’s proposals for other areas of NASA’s budget. To me, the key issue is the budget for commercial space. The White House requested $830 million. The Senate panel has instead proposed $525 million.
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There are really only two important stories today concerning space exploration. The story that is getting the most coverage is the big news that the space shuttle Discovery is making its last flight, flying over Washington, DC, as it is delivered to the Smithsonian for permanent display.
Of these stories, only Irene Klotz of Discovery News seems to really get it. This is not an event to celebrate or get excited about. It is the end of an American achievement, brought to a close probably three to five years prematurely so that the United States now cannot even send its own astronauts to its own space station.
The other news, actually far more important, has gotten far less coverage, and includes three different stories all really about the same thing.
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More video proof from Project Veritas that voter fraud in Washington DC is easy to do.
His new video shows Project Veritas going into poll locations in DC on April 3, being offered ballots for Ben Jealous, President & CEO of the NAACP; one Bill Maher; and David Brock (Project Veritas says they could not verify whether the David Brock for which they were offered a ballot was the same David Brock as the Media Matters president). Hilariously, Project Veritas also shows that you can’t get into Media Matters without showing ID. The video also depicts Project Veritas going to a polling place and asking about Alicia Menendez, daughter of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez (D) and political commentator on MSNBC; a poll worker asks to see ID, preventing Project Veritas from being offered Menendez’s ballot.
The failure to obtain a ballot for Menendez was directly because ID was required, which is the whole point that Project Veritas is trying to make.
And of course, the Democratically controlled Board of Elections in DC is right on the case, announcing that it has started an investigation of Project Veritas.
Why the mainstream media hates new media, Alabama edition.
More news from commercial space: Assuming it gets the necessary funds, Boeing anticipates flight tests of its CST-100 reusable manned capsule by 2016.
This story is part of the on-going lobbying effort to convince the Luddites in Congress to subsidize the new commercial space companies. To get some context, even if Congress gives NASA all of the money it has requested for this program, the annual cost will still be less than a third of the NASA-built Space Launch System, and will get us four different ways to get humans and cargo into orbit, and do it in far less time.
Despite protests from the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea is continuing preparations for the launch an Earth observation satellite.
North Korea recently entered into a food aid agreement with the U.S., which requires the Asian nation to halt long-range rocket launches in exchange for critical resources to stem the country’s widespread poverty and famine.
Officials from the U.S. and South Korea have said that the Unha-3 launch is a violation of this agreement, and could carry significant consequences. South Korean officials have said they may even shoot down parts of the Unha-3 rocket if they breach the state’s borders.
Clues to North Korea’s rocket program.
Modern doublethink: The Obama administration’s treasury secretary admitted Wednesday that the federal government’s debt is “unsustainable,” but then added that solving the problem shouldn’t be a top priority, because the government still needs to “do things.”
Geithner’s refusal to confront what he admits is a looming disaster illustrates for all to see the normal operating policies of this administration.
The Buzz Lightyear toy that flew on space shuttle has been donated to the Smithsonian.
This news item illustrates the sad state of the American space program, when the arrival at a museum of a foot-high plastic toy that had been in space merits major news coverage. Worse, if we instead wanted to bring this toy back to ISS, we can’t, at least not without begging help from someone else.
The House today passed the Republican 2013 budget, 228-191.
Ten Republicans voted no. All Democrats voted no.
Though this budget might not be perfect, at least it makes an effort to face the budget situation. Note also that the Democrats have now rejected their own President’s budget as well as the Republican budget. In addition, the Democratic leadership in the Democratically-controlled Senate has already said they won’t pass a budget this year, the fourth year in a row.
The country is sinking in debt caused by the federal government. It behooves these elected officials to deal with it. That the Democrats won’t tells us much about their lack of qualifications for office.
The House today rejected Obama’s proposed budget for 2013 by a vote of 414 to 0.
We must all remember this vote when the Democrats demonize any future budget proposals by the Republicans. The above vote was very bipartisan. Even the Democrats rejected Obama’s proposal.