…is not Italian. An interesting history.
I was never impressed with the pizza at Shakey’s, but that’s because we had Luigi’s in Flint.
Category Archives: Business
Aerojet
An interesting report on the internecine battle within the company in the wake of the FTC disallowing the acquisition by Lockmart. I found this amusing:
Aerojet has traditionally structured itself as an engineering company with high fixed costs and low margins, Thompson said. But if private equity buys the company, it will want to see more robust financial returns, which could come at the cost of innovation.
“This really comes down to whether the financial interests or the engineering interests within Aerojet prevail in the struggle,” he said. “My heart is with the engineering interests. My brain, which knows the history of these types of struggles, assumes the financial interests will ultimately prevail.”
Yes, for me, the first word that comes to mind when I hear the word “Aerojet” is “innovation.” Not.
To Mars Or Not To Mars?
That is the question at this Oxford debate this evening (in a couple hours, sorry about the short notice).
[Update toward the end of the debate]
As I’ve noted in the past, debates like this are pointless, because they are a false choice based on a false premise. We don’t have to choose between populating Mars and saving the planet; we have abundant resources for both. The false premise is that this is going to be a collective decision whose outcome will be determined by an Oxford debate. People who go to Mars will be doing so with their own money, so people on Earth who oppose it are going to have to make it illegal to prevent it. There is a word for people like that: jailers.
The Covid Narrative
…is collapsing.
Public Health
…has become an ideological monoculture.
Graboyes gave me a very good review of my book. He saw a lot of parallels between the risk aversion in the space industry and healthcare.
The Religion Of “Liberals”
Unlike Gleen Greenwald, I use scare quotes because people who think and behave like this are the farthest thing from actual liberals.
Leaded Aviation Fuel
How to survive the transition to unleaded.
As more airfields adopt this policy, it could cause affect flight plans and significantly impact aircraft owners and pilots, especially those operating high-performance models.
Much like Tesla owners who now plan road trips based on the availability of charging stations along the route, flight plans will need an additional layer of forethought to ensure refueling at an airport still distributing 100LL.
The stakes are considerably higher with aircraft, as one does not simply pull over and wait for AAA to arrive with a portable charger when reserves dip dangerously low.
You don’t say.
China In Space
Mike Rogers is concerned.
But he doesn’t lay out any vision or goals of what we should be trying to accomplish. He’s stuck in Sputnic/Apollo mode. It’s just that the race (for whatever it is) is now with China, instead of the USSR.
Maybe I should write an editorial response.
Lockdowns
I never thought that they would.
[Update a few minutes later]
Why can’t the CDC admit that there’s no solid evidence to support masking in schools?
What little regard I’ve ever had for the CDC has been pretty much dissipated in the past two years.
[Evening update]
First link fixed, sorry!
A Doctor’s Perspective
…on covid.
[Update a few minutes later]
Doctors: Give kids their childhood back.
[Update a while later]
Covid-19’s impact of expressive individualism.