According to this piece, it can be done.

I think he’s right.

In The Blank Slate, Pinker points out the flaws in our societal thinking about violence–that it is unnatural, that it is irrational.

Of course, it’s entirely natural–it was the way of our ancestors (and remains the way of our closest cousins, the non-Bonobo chimps), and only relatively recently have we come up with institutionalized means of using other of our human traits to suppress it.

It’s also often quite rational, and in the case of the terrorists of the Middle East, it was quite successful for them, right up until September 12th, when they miscalculated. It continues to be successful in Israel, because we continue to reward it with “peace processes” and “roadmaps” and promises of homelands.

Until the carrot/stick incentive/punishment structure is changed, it will continue.

It’s amazing (and obviously just a coincidence) how many prisoners who might be able to tell us about Al Qaeda’s plans and operations (and Saudi complicity in them) seem to have unfortunate accidents.

As hoped, C. Blake Powers finally responds to my slightly-snarky comment about his posts on space business plans.

A hundred and forty one years ago, the prelude began to the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, to those south of the Mason-Dixon line). Many focus on Gettysburg as a turning point in the War Between The States, but this was another, and an earlier and in some sense a larger one.

It was the biggest bloodbath of the war to date, and it was a cusp, in the sense that the Army of the Northern Virginia (and hence the Confederacy itself) was on the ropes in the aftermath of it. A steadfast follow through by McClellan could have ended the war there, and preempted three more years of it, but he always saw the enemy as ten times the height of reality, and reluctant (as always) to use his army, he refused to finish Lee off.

And so the carnage continued.

Since I’m not king, and can’t do it by diktat, this is a plea to all of the reporters and columnists out there who are writing about NASA. Can we please have a permanent moratorium on the hed “Lost in Space”? Same thing for “The Right Stuff.”

It’s really, really old.

And yes, I know that the latter was the title of my guest column in NRO a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t come up with it–they did. The original title was “The Right Thing.”

I just got the following email from a “Joe Wander” (joe_1der@hotmail.com)

Hello There,

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Joseph Wander and I am an Advertising Coordinator for an Internet Company. I am currently working on increasing our products and services presence on the internet. I came across your site and found it to be very useful. I am very much interested in advertising my product on www.interglobal.org/weblog/ and any others that may be part of your network.

We can pay you $20/month for 2 static text links or if you already have your media kit or advertising rates I will appreciate it if you can send it to me. Thank you again and I hope to hear from you soon.

Best Wishes,
Joseph Wander

It’s clear that he hasn’t actually visited my site. At least there’s nothing in the email to indicate that–it reads like a form letter. Note that it doesn’t address me by name. Also note that the email address is hotmail.

Any other bloggers out there gotten one of these, and do you have any idea what the deal (or catch) is? I’m hesitant to reply, because it may just be confirming my email address to a spamlist.

Discovery Channel has an interview with Jim Oberg about NASA’s culture problem (you’ll need a media player).

Discovery Channel has an interview with Jim Oberg about NASA’s culture problem (you’ll need a media player).

Discovery Channel has an interview with Jim Oberg about NASA’s culture problem (you’ll need a media player).

Mitchell Burnside Clapp, of Pioneer Rocketplane, has started an interesting discussion on regulatory issues for space transports over at sci.space.policy.

I respond, as well as Henry Spencer (and Dan DeLong, Chief Engineer of XCOR). And no, I don’t really think that Mitchell is an ignorant slut…

And for those interested in this issue in the DC area, there’s a meeting on the subject of suborbital spaceflight on Capitol Hill tomorrow. The public is invited, and you can listen in on the web via a link at the Pro-Space site.