Yes, the notion that everyone should get a college degree has been tremendously destructive.
All posts by Rand Simberg
Virgin Galactic’s Future
The amount of money wasted on this flawed concept is tragic, when considering what better things could have been done with it to advance suborbital flight.
Are they still using hybrid propulsion? I haven’t seen much detail on what’s different about Delta, other than size.
If SpaceX is offering orbital rides for a few hundred thousand, I’m having trouble seeing how VG would compete with a suborbital system. They were way too late to market, and they’ve probably missed it. I would never have put a dime into this business, and I wouldn’t now.
Palestinianism
“It began with Nazism and today is based on antisemitism, sexism, homophobia and denial of human rights. So why is the left so in love with it?”
Gee, seems to me that the question answers itself.
Islamists Keep Stabbing People
Why are we not allowed to talk about it?
This “Islamaphobephobia” has been going on since 911. Whenever an Islamist Islamists, the knee-jerk reaction is to express concern over our reaction to it, rather than the act (similar to how when there is Democrat wrong doing, the story is about Republicans “pouncing”). And it’s not just in Europe; the pro-Hamas demonstrations and riots indicate that it’s here as well, and we’ve been letting many in at the open border. The administration’s notion that Gazans should be “resettled” here is insane.
David Boaz
RIP.
I saw one of his last (maybe his last) speeches at LibertyCon in DC a few months ago (during my trial, but on the weekend). He didn’t look well, but I didn’t know that he had cancer.
[Update late afternoon]
Sorry, link added.
Admiral McRaven To The American People
“There are countries that do not tolerate speech critical of the government and its institutions. There are countries where citizens who publicly disagree with the actions of the government and its institutions are condemned as disloyal citizens, investigated and tried. There are countries where people with political views that differ from those of the governing authorities are subject to governmental abuse and ruin just because of their political opinions. We have a name for these countries. They are totalitarian.“
Space History
Several firsts today. I think this is the first time we’ve seen an entry without a plasma blackout. It’s amazing that it managed to do a soft landing with all of that damage to the fin. I’ll be curious to know if all of the fins suffered like that, or just the one in the video, but it’s a testament to how robust the design is.
[Update a while later]
June 6th now has another reason to go down in history. The first launch and entry of a fully reusable spaceship occurred on the 80th anniversary of the invasion to liberate Europe.
— Rand Simberg (@Simberg_Space) June 6, 2024
I suspect that this is going to upstage Starliner docking with ISS.
[Update a while later]
Commentary from David Strom.
[Friday-morning update]
Reflections from Glenn Reynolds.
Centuries from now, on other worlds, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be minor footnotes in history, but everyone will know the name Elon Musk.
[Update a while later]
Ellie Sheriff interviews Elon:
NEWS: Elon Musk gives a thorough update after the 4th launch of Starship.
— Ellie in Space 🚀💫 (@esherifftv) June 7, 2024
Will we see a catch for Flight 5?
How will Starlink be even better on the next flight?
These are some of the questions Elon answers for us.
I hope this interview informs you about the incredible work SpaceX… pic.twitter.com/NUzVmUxHFp
California’s War On Business
The Biden administration wants to do this nationwide, but they’ll have to do it with illegal executive orders, because they’d never get the needed legislation through Congress.
Better Late Than Never
Starliner finally launches with crew. I doubt that it will fly many times.
Merrick Garland
Don’t praise him; impeach him.
We really dodged a bullet by keeping that “moderate” partisan hack off of the Supreme Court.