Note to Jesse Walker. The California comsat thing was one of the reasons for the “Governor Moonbeam” appellation, but a more significant one (as was mentioned) was the Stewart-Brand/Whole-Earth-Catalog connection. Stewart was one of those promoting the ideas of Gerry O’Neill and L-5, and Brown was reportedly quite fascinated by the concept, and space in general. The only time I saw him in person was in April, 1981, when we shared a flight to Orlando from LAX (though he was in first class) for the first launch of the Shuttle (I flew back to see it land as well — he may have as well, but if so, it was on a different flight). And in an “n degrees of Jerry Brown” thing, I sat next to Linda Ronstadt at a concert at McCabe’s in Santa Monica a few years later, but I think they had broken up by then.
One thing not mentioned was the ignominious end to his governorship, in which he took a lot of flak for the fruit-fly spraying, first dithering and delaying it, and then changing his mind and infuriating his supporters on the left. It probably wrecked his chances for Senate. But as the article notes, he’s a resilient guy.
Someone in the AO-100 aviation section of the FAA, who was previously unaware of Armadillo, saw video of their NGLLC flights and decided that while Armadillo had proper permissions to fly above the airport, they did not have permission to fly from a federally subsidized airport. The AST section was surprised to learn about this issue. John says it will be worked out eventually but unfortunately in the meantime they cannot even do tethered tests because of the crazy ruling last year that labeled such tests as launches.
As a commenter notes, imagine if the government had required the Wright Brothers to get permission to fly from Kitty Hawk. It is a shame that the Armadillo team has to waste time and resources learning how to negotiate bureaucracies instead of how to develop safe and effective vehicles.
When Europeans talk about peace and human rights they mean it for themselves only, and not anyone else. As their history of imperialism has proven, they are the number one enablers and supporters of the oppressors and violators of human rights the world over.
It’s quite disgusting, really. We really should move the UN to Brussels. Or Oslo.
An initial bailout of state governments eases their pain and makes them feel better for a little while, after which they’re going to crash without another fix.
It’s all part of the goal of making us all dependent on them.
The student audience, which at first clapped enthusiastically as Reich started to tell his unspeakable “truths” stopped clapping by the end. Reich had uttered the fundamental heresy. You really can’t have something for nothing. Pulling in one direction meant giving way in another. He went on to say that America was hopelessly addicted to fantasy; that anyone who got up on stage and reeled off the points he had made was politically dead.
Although I may disagree with many of the public policy positions that Robert Reich takes, his point that the truth makes piss-poor politics seems valid. Things come down to choices: lower costs versus death panels; torture versus intelligence; equity versus growth. And politicians, ever eager to garner votes, never want to say this. They will always try to have it both ways. Even when politicians choose one road over the other, they take pains to suggest they are simultaneously proceeding down two paths. One can disagree with the choices Reich makes but he is right to say that choices are unavoidable.
Yes, “progressives” do seem to be allergic to truth, and reality.
Thoughts on Osama bin Laden’s extreme misogyny. Were female troops really the catalyst for 911? Those who have fought for coed armed services should ask themselves “Why do they hate us?”