There’s a little discussion over at the Motley Fool web site about Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos (registration required). I thought that this little bit raised more questions than it answered:
…entrepreneurs such as Bezos, Branson, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen — who funded the winning SpaceShipOne in the X-Prize competition — appear ready to provide the capital. That’s good news for dozens of companies, from Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Ball Aerospace (NYSE: BLL) to Orbital Sciences (NYSE: ORB) and SpaceDev. They’re all likely to have a hand in our latest quest for the heavens.
Well, as the old test question goes, one of these things is not like the other three. Why Lockmart, Ball and Orbital? Why not Boeing? Or Northrop-Grumman?
How does the success of low-cost entrants benefit the stock of people operating at high costs, under the old paradigms? Maybe it does, but they certainly don’t explain it. Simply saying that “they’re all likely to have a hand” hardly makes for a useful (or credible) explanation. This kind of thing makes me question the wisdom of any of their other stock advice.
Consider the fact that more than 100 people have already plunked down $200,000 apiece for a seat on a Virgin Galactic spaceflight and thousands more have already placed a total of $11 million in deposits for a chance at manned spaceflight.
The latest, year-end Carnival of Tomorrow is up, and has a number of very interesting links (of which mine is undoubtedly the least interesting). Hard to believe that we’re already almost four years into the new century, and millennium, and while we don’t yet have flying cars, in many other ways, we’re living in the science-fiction future of our childhoods, at least for those baby boomers among us.
Here’s a good Internet equivalent of a “man-(and woman)-in-the-street interview”–a compendium of Freeper responses to the article in the Toledo Blade about Ray Kurzweil and life extension.
The interesting thing to me will be the responses when (as one commenter put it) “a mouse lives ten years.”
I’m here, but don’t have much time to blog, between getting truculent wireless connections working, family visiting, and working on a proposal with deadlines next week and telecons every day. I do want to note that there’s been a lot of discussion in this post on NSA “spying,” and while I don’t agree with commenter Jane Bernstein, I’m gratified to see that the level of discussion is informed, rational, and civil. May all my comments sections be that way.
We’re heading off to Missouri to visit Patricia’s family for a few days. I’ll probably check in from there, but not until tomorrow, if then. We’ll be back on Saturday, so I’ll save my New Years’ wishes for my return.
…from Mark Levin, for all those Democrats and journalists (and both) who are hypocritically hyperventilating about presidential power and eavesdropping.
…some Iraqis are warming to a stronger relationship with Israel, in part because they are frightened of Iran’s influence.
“They are afraid of Iran’s extremist political system. If Iran were a democracy, they wouldn’t be afraid,” Alusi said. “We don’t have border problems with Israel. We don’t have historical problems with Israel,” just Iran.
At last a glimmer of common sense on the issue. Of course, it’s important to not let this grow into a civil war, with Israel and the Sunni Iraqis on one side, and the Shia and Iranians on the other.