Category Archives: Technology and Society

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society, War Commentary

The Unmasking Probe

18 Comments

Sharon Atkisson asks what ever happened to it?

I’d like to think that Sessions is doing more than appears, and perhaps there will be an October surprise.

[Monday update]

As noted in comments, Strzok was (finally) fired today.

[Bumped]

General, Technology and Society

Lake Okeechobee

9 Comments

For a change of pace, and a break from the house renovation, I took a drive around it today. It didn’t seem much different than the last time I did it, over a decade ago. It’s an interesting lake, in that it has very few views of it from the road; you have to drive up toward it, park and climb the dike. One of the few (and best) is from the bridge at Canal Point. It’s not that big, but it’s big enough that you can’t see the shore over the horizon, so it’s kind of weird to look at an endless lake that’s not one of the Great Lakes.

[Monday-afternoon update]

The north side of the lake has a lot of cattle ranching. It was kind of funny to see a herd of cattle sharing the pasture with egrets. The white birds would follow the cattle around as they grazed. I wonder if there’s some symbiotic relationship there?

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society, War Commentary

Space Force

36 Comments

Yes, we need one, or at least some entity dedicated to space. I don’t understand why they keep saying a “sixth branch of the armed services,” though. Are they calling the Coast Guard an “armed service”? I don’t think that’s right.

[Update a while later]

Only Nixon could go to China, and only Trump could go to space.

Not sure he’s being entirely serious.

[Update late Sunday evening]

OK, one more: How we can own the libs on space.

By the way, Jim Bennett’s analogy in comments is useful, and I did a Twitter thread on it.

BTW, for those who corrected me legally in comments on whether or not the USCG is an armed service, my concern is that by lumping it in, it fails to make crucial distinctions. It’s certainly a uniformed service with an academy, but it is more intrinsically civilian.

General, General Science, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

In For A Penny, In For A Pound

5 Comments

It’s about 0230 EDT, and I’m still up, planning home renovations for tomorrow. But I’m in south Florida, about fifteen minutes from the swamp to the west, and the sky is clear for both the Perseids and the Parker Solar Probe Delta IV launch in an hour, 150 miles north-northwest of me. So I might as well stay up a little longer. Hoping I’ll see the Milky Way for the first time in a long time.

[Sunday-morning update]

Well, saw half a dozen meteors, one of them right next to the ascending rocket. No Milky Way, though.

[Update Sunday night]

Given my recent failed attempts to see it, I’m wondering (slightly depressed) if it’s an age-related vision decline. It was very distinct in my youth, but it seems like there are a lot fewer stars than there used to be.

General, General Science, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Lions In The City

1 Comment

A new mountain lion has been spotted in the Verdugos. It’s interesting that LA is so big and geographically diverse that it can have not just parks within it, but a wilderness. Unfortunately, urban encroachment is going to make it harder and harder for these animals to make it there. They’re building a tunnel under the 101 to allow them to move back and forth between the Santa Monicas and the mountains above Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, but I’m not sure if it will be sufficient, and it looks like they need one under the 210 to allow safe passage between the San Gabriels and the Verdugos.