Category Archives: Political Commentary

Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

From “Arab Spring” to Arab Fall

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Egypt descends into chaos:

Egypt literally will run out of food. It imports half its caloric consumption, mainly wheat (although Egyptians eat less wheat than Iranians, Moroccans, Canadians, Turks and Russians). Egypt spends $5.5 billion a year on food subsidies. Its social solidarity minister wants to change the system (which subsidizes some people who can afford to pay more than the penny a loaf the government charges), but seems deeply confused. “‘We need to change consumer habits so that we are not consuming so much bread. In Mexico, for example, they rely more on potatoes. Why can’t we start shifting toward that?’said Saad Nassar, adviser to the agriculture minister.” Mr. Nassar seems unaware that Mexicans eat more corn than wheat or potatoes. This discussion would be comical if not for the fact that Egypt is about to run out of money to pay for any sort of food.

It’s going to get a lot uglier. Especially for the Copts. And perhaps Israel.

Political Commentary

The Administration’s Strange Reasoning On Al-Awlaki

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John Yoo:

Let’s give partial credit where it is due. Apparently the Obama administration argues that al-Awlaki was a legitimate target because he is a member of an enemy engaged in hostile conduct against the United States. At least Obama has figured out that the war on terrorism is in fact a war, and that it is not limited just to Afghanistan. We should be thankful that Obama officials have quietly put aside the arguments they made during the Bush years that any terrorist outside the Afghani battlefield was a criminal suspect who deserved his day in federal court. By my lights, I would rather the Obama folks be hypocrites in favor of protecting the national security than principled fools (which they are free to be in the faculty lounges both before and after their time in government).

Let’s hope the “after” comes soon.

Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Space

She Knew The Job Was Dangerous When She Took It

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Sorry, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for this woman:

…the situation has pitted Ms. Douceur and her family against Raytheon Polar Services, which manages the station through a contract with the National Science Foundation. Both Raytheon and the science foundation say that it would be too dangerous to send a rescue plane to the South Pole now and that Ms. Douceur’s condition is not life-threatening.

“During the winter period, extremely cold temperatures and high winds make an extraction dangerous for all involved, passengers as well as crew,” said Jon Kasle, a Raytheon spokesman, “and such an extraction is considered only in life-threatening conditions.”

So, here’s my question. NASA was recently considering abandoning the International Space Station because they didn’t have a reliable lifeboat to extract astronauts in an emergency. But Amundsen-Scott is inaccessible for half of the year, every year, and yet people winter over there. Why isn’t the NSF spending billions to develop an Emergency Crew Extraction Vehicle for the south pole? Or, why are astronauts’ lives worth so much more than those of Antarctic researchers? Or is the research they’re doing on ISS worth so little that they’re unwilling to risk lives on it?

This to me is a perfect example of the irrationality of our space policy.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

What If The Tea Party

59 Comments

…had been pooping on police cars, stealing soap from local businesses and flooding their bathrooms, shutting down the Air and Space Museum on a Saturday while attacking its guards, preventing anyone from moving in downtown New York for days? Especially if they were as white as these leftist clowns are? Can you imagine the hyperventilating by the media over the violence and racism? And hey guys, if you really want to show you’re opposed to Wall Street, why not go over to Lafayette Park and demonstrate against President Goldman Sachs?