Monthly Archives: October 2008

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

A Good Point

…by John McCain on Meet The Press this morning, though he didn’t press it home–he only mentioned the name in passing, and didn’t point out the connection, apparently assuming that most viewers would get it.

Bernie Sanders is an avowed socialist (I’m not sure about the Senate, but as a member of the House he ran as one, but caucused with the Democrats). McCain pointed out that the number one, two and three senators listed as the most liberal are Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. How far are his votes or views from Barack Obama and Joe Biden?

A suggested McCain campaign ad: “Barack Obama, despite his statement to Joe the Plumber that the wealth should be “spread around,” complains when he is therefore called a socialist. But his brief Senate voting record is to the left of that of Bernie Sanders, who proudly calls himself a socialist. So what does that make Barack Obama?”

He did something else that was good. He pointed out that Michigan is a poster child for the kinds of policies that will result from an Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime. High taxes, more power to unions, big-spending Dems in charge, and the state has (in many cases literally) gone south.

Put together an ad describing Michigan’s straits and the causes, and point out that this is what the OPR regime has planned for the entire country. It would even help him in Michigan.

Political Commentary, Space

Picky, Picky, Picky

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Well, here’s the latest in the Perils of Ares I–it might sideswipe the gantry as it launches:

The issue is known as “liftoff drift.” Ignition of the rocket’s solid-fuel motor makes it “jump” sideways on the pad, and a southeast breeze stronger than 12.7 mph would be enough to push the 309-foot-tall ship into its launch tower.

Worst case, the impact would destroy the rocket. But even if that doesn’t happen, flames from the rocket would scorch the tower, leading to huge repair costs.

“We were told by a person directly involved [in looking at the problem] that as they incorporate more variables into the liftoff-drift-curve model, the worse the curve becomes,” said one NASA contractor, who asked not to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss Ares.

“I get the impression that things are quickly going from bad to worse to unrecoverable.”

But all is not lost:

NASA says it can solve — or limit — the problem by repositioning and redesigning the launchpad.

Sure. No problem. Just reposition and redesign the launch pad. Simple, safe, soon.

NASA officials are now looking at ways to speed up the development of Ares and are reluctant to discuss specific problems. But they insist none is insurmountable.

Of course they do.

“There are always issues that crop up when you are developing a new rocket and many opinions about how to deal with them,” said Jeff Hanley, manager of the Constellation program, which includes Ares, the first new U.S. rocket in 35 years.

“We have a lot of data and understanding of what it’s going to take to build this.”

Yes, they have so much data and understanding that they don’t find out about this until after their fake Preliminary Design Review. And (just a guess), I’m betting that if I look at the original budget and development schedule, “repositioning and redesigning the launch pad” isn’t even in or on it.

Look, obviously, if you pick a lousy design, you can eventually make it fly, given enough time and money. But in the process, it may end up bearing little resemblance to the original concept, and if it’s neither simple (which it won’t be with all of the kludges that they’ll have to put on it to make up for its deficiencies), safe (no one really knows what the probability of loss of crew is, since they still haven’t finally even nailed down the launch abort system design) or soon, then the nation has been sold a pig in a poke. And there’s no budget line item for the lipstick either, though NASA has been attempting to tart it up as best they can.

As Einstein once said, a clever man solves a problem–a wise man avoids it. Since Mike Griffin came in, NASA has been too clever by half. Given the budget environment we’ll have next year, it’s hard to see how this unsustainable schedule and budgetary atrocity survives in anything resembling its current form.

Space

Lunar Landing Challenge Day Two

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Armadillo’s attempt at Level Two (a million dollar purse) starts in a few minutes. Webcast is here.

[Update]

Well, there was a problem. There was a hard start, and the vehicle fell over on its side. Not clear how recoverable it is.

[Afternoon update]

That’s it for this year. They aren’t going to make another attempt today. Clark Lindsey has the story.

That leaves most of the money still on the table, but at least Armadillo didn’t go home empty handed this time.

[Update an hour or so later]

Jeff Foust has a picture of the burned-through nozzle that resulted from the lean fuel mixture.

Science And Society, Technology and Society

Better All The Time

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A cure for nut allergies?

Well, actually, it’s only for peanuts, though for peanut-allergy sufferers (who seem to be sufficiently legion that it’s affecting the lifestyle of the rest of us on airplanes and other places), that’s a good thing.

I’m allergic to tree nuts, not peanuts (which are not true nuts, but legumes, like beans). And it caused me no little amount of grief when I was a kid, because the allergy was just unpleasant, not life threatening, so my parents wouldn’t believe me. Part of the problem was that because I was truly allergic to cashews, walnuts, etc., I assumed that I was also allergic to peanuts. But I ate peanut butter with no problem, so my parents assumed that I was faking, and made me eat not just the peanuts but all the nuts, which would result in a swelling and itching of the mucous membranes in my mouth and throat, and a slight but vague stomach upset. But because it never resulted in a trip to the hospital, they never believed that I was allergic, and tormented me throughout my childhood until I left the house and took control over my own diet, at which point, being rational, I realized that if I could eat peanut butter I could eat peanuts as well. And I do.

Anyway, I hope that progress on this front continues, not because I think that I’ve been missing anything great from the other nuts, but because I will be able to eat foods (particularly Indian food, which seems to be kind of sneaky in this regard) without worrying about unpleasant consequences. And even more for those for whom the consequences go far beyond “unpleasant.”

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The Obama Fundraising Fraud

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If John McCain were doing this, the press would be crying bloody murder:

He may now be running the biggest underground finance operation since Nixon deployed the plumbers as his key operatives in 1972.

And there seem to be a lot of parallels with the voter registration fraud being perped by ACORN. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

And of course, if McCain ends up losing this because he didn’t have enough money, it will be justice, because it was his idiotic assault on the First Amendment that got us here.