According to this piece at Popular Mechanics, the new regime at NASA seems to be well disposed to DIRECT.
I remain an indifferent agnostic, because I think that any money spent on a heavy lifter is money wasted that would be better directed toward orbital infrastructure. And the big question that I have is how such a vehicle would be “commercial,” since there are few non-government customers for it.
I sure hope that something comes from this. History indicates that it won’t, unfortunately.
The Saints and Colts are still hoping to avoid having to play a football game:
“Playing this Super Bowl is our last resort,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who was flanked by the coaches and quarterbacks for the opposing teams. “Yes, there are some difficult issues that need to be hashed out, such as who will be the game’s MVP, the number of total passing yards for each quarterback, and which team will be named Super Bowl champion, but I think we made progress today.”
“The Colts and the Saints are unwavering in their commitment to avoid any violence and wish to resolve the Super Bowl peacefully, without a single football being thrown,” Goodell added.
I think that they should meet without preconditions.
Who owns it?
I would think that this is pretty straightforward. The owners, after all, sustained the damage when it hit. Why wouldn’t they also accrue any benefits?
How “public servants” became our masters.
The most trusted name in news.
Of course, it’s not like it has a lot of competition, at this point.
…it is a self-evident truth that all animals are created equal and endowed by their creator with unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But it takes little thought to know that of these three rights, that to life must be primary, for without it the others are null and void. It is perfectly obvious that you can’t be free or pursue happiness if you’re dead.
This surely means that, if you are an animal lover, you should try to reduce any animal that you see in the wild at once to captivity, at least of the Edinburgh Zoo variety. Failure to do so is de facto condemning that animal to an early grave. The animal will be better fed, have fewer parasites, and be sheltered from the bad weather if you capture him. Above all, he, or it, will have much better health care than in the wild. Indeed, in the wild animals are even worse off than Americans without health insurance.
Dry humor is the best kind.
Neither wiretapping, or tampering. We’ll see what the actual charges say, if there’s an actual indictment.
To yesterday’s. Is racism a characteristic of the “right wing,” or the “left wing”?
[Update mid morning]
One of the biggest disappointments of my life to date is that Keith Olbermann has never designated me the Worst Person In The World. I’d love to be so honored before his dozens of viewers.
And I don’t know why. I’m sure that I’m at least as racist as Jay Nordlinger is.
[Update a few minutes later]
OK, the topic is drifting a little now, but Jonah (who has been so honored by KO) has some further thoughts:
I think it would be interesting to catalog all of the Worst Person in the World winners and see what percentage of them the average person A) likes more and B) would be more likely to trust babysitting their kids. My hunch is that Olbermann would rate pretty low on both scores.
Hey, I just realized, for a second there I forgot Olbermann is white. For what that’s worth.
Heh.
If so, I’m only surprised that it’s taken this long, given his history. Someone should get him a Barbie that says “Governing, like math, is hard…”
[Update a few minutes later]
Is this presidency like a sitcom? If so, I hope it doesn’t run for more than one season.
[Update a while later]
He’s not doubling down. He’s letting it ride:
Obama came into office with stratospheric poll numbers and supposedly unstoppable majorities in both houses of Congress. The press has given him every benefit of the doubt, quickly propping him up after every stumble. The Beltway bureaucracy and intelligentsia have swooned like teenagers for the man. He has given more speeches, lectures, press conferences, and tutorials on his policies than any president in modern memory. In response, independents have abandoned him, conservatives have steeled their resolve against him, and liberals have lost faith. And yet, like the drunk in a bowling shirt at the craps table who insists his losses don’t disprove his “system” for winning, Obama stands behind his bet.
And he’s betting against the house.
[Update mid morning]
He’s not letting it ride, either. It’s a Martingale.