Americans (and westerners in general) really are different.
Yes, Judeo-Christianity is a fundamentally different philosophy and basis for society.
Category Archives: History
An Intact Shipwreck
The world’s oldest, found deep in the Black Sea.
Have to say, whatever else you think about the Grauniad, they have great science articles.
The South China Sea
China is getting more aggressive. This is a dangerous game. One wonders, of course, how much more aggressive they’d be if Hillary had won. Of course, she’d have give Xi Jinping a misspelled “Reset” button.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Three quarters of a century after they were hitting the beaches against each other, in a joint exercise, Japanese amphibious troops establish a beachhead alongside U.S. Marines from the Seventh Fleet.
First Man
Eric Berger liked the movie.
[Afternoon update]
Thoughts from Marina Koren. Despite Gosling’s stupid statement, “it’s not an unpatriotic movie.”
[Late-afternoon update]
Here is Alan Boyle’s review.
[Saturday-morning update]
For those saying they’ll watch it at home, I rarely go to the theater, but this is the sort of film that deserves a big screen.
[Friday-afternoon update]
John Podhoretz hated it.
The Battle Of Brett Kavanaugh
Was it the high-water mark of the new civil war for “the Resistance”? I’d like to think so, but I think they’re perfectly capable of getting more vicious.
Winston Churchill And Scott Kelly
We haven’t all gone insane, but a lot of us seem to be.
I have to say, though, that I’ve been pretty unimpressed with Kelly’s political acument and judgment. He should stick to astronautics. I would also note that the demands of the howling left that he do a struggle session is Maoist.
Sputnik
It’s been 61 years now since that event upended U.S. space policy. It’s worth (re)reading a piece I wrote a few years ago at The New Atlantis, while we’re waiting for my most recent one to come on line. Sadly, it holds up pretty well, and I would make the same policy recommendations today.
The Return Of The Space Visionaries
About a year ago, I started writing an essay comparing and contrasting Bezos’s versus Musk’s visions for humanity in space. As is often the case, it expanded into a history of space visions in general, and how we’re finally returning to the old ones, after the tragic detour of Apollo. It’s out in the current issue, but unfortunately, isn’t yet available on line. I expect it will be in a few weeks or less, though.
[Update a few minutes later]
This is sort of a space issue. There is a piece by Bob Zubrin laying out his concept for Moon Direct, bypassing what he calls the space toll booth (Gateway), and another by Micah Meadowcroft on how Mars will disappoint.
Trump’s Triumph
It’s long past time that someone spoke truth to mendacity and hypocrisy.
Timekeeping
This is an interesting history, but it makes me wonder how Huygens knew how long a second was to adjust the pendulum length.