There was an interesting blog post at OSTP last week:
Have ideas for massless exploration and bootstrapping a Solar System civilization? Send your ideas for how the Administration, the private sector, philanthropists, the research community, and storytellers can further these goals at massless@ostp.gov.
Needless to say, I don’t expect this to go anywhere with the current Congressional committees.
A brief history of their program, from Joan Johnson-Freese.
I’d note that as long as they follow the Soviets/Russians lead in tech, they won’t be doing anything big. Like the voyages of Zheng He, it seems to be more about prestige than expansion. If and when SpaceX starts to reuse their launchers, that will set the new bar for space activity.
It isn’t the virus, it’s the incompetence. Not to mention the venality.
[Update late morning]
Amazingly, left-blogger Atrios (aka Duncan Black) agrees:
Ultimately the point is that as of now, Ebola is a small problem in the United States overall, if a very serious problem for the people infected by it, and we have failed to deal with this small problem. The lack of clearly established systematic responses to potential deadly disease outbreaks is extremely worrying. If a genuine epidemic occurs, there’s no reason to think the response will be any better.
At least as of now, there’s no reason to be frightened of Ebola. Turn off cable news and go about your day. A small number of infected people is not an epidemic. But there is reason to be frightened of the apparent inability of our institutions to deal with an actual epidemic, or true national emergencies of any kind.
Yes. As has been pointed out ad infinitum. when the government (and particularly the federal government) tries to do too many things, it ends of doing none of them well.
In which a British high-school student is better informed than most doctors.
Probably not. Also (as noted there), a bomber probably never shot down a V-1.
There’s a good article over at Quartz about the company and Elon. It had a few errors, though.
@qz You don't need to reach escape velocity to get into earth orbit. You only need about 71% of it.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) October 21, 2014
@qz Also, the Merlin isn't the first US liquid rocket engine since the 70s. The RS-68 was developed in the 90s. But good article overall.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) October 21, 2014
@qz Oops, another error. First stage doesn't get it into orbit, it just gives it a head start. Second stage generally needed for orbit.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) October 21, 2014
@qz Oops, Senator *Bill* Nelson, not Ben. Ben was in Nebraska, and didn't give a hoot about space. Still reading…
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) October 21, 2014
And the response?
@Rand_Simberg @qz thanks for noting these for us, we've corrected http://t.co/9fuM6UrbHg
— Tim Fernholz (@TimFernholz) October 21, 2014
That’s exactly how it should work.
…warns (ignorant) Democrat voters in North Carolina of lynchings if Republicans win.
If they want to play that game, put together a few thirty-second ads with history lessons about the (Democrat) Klan, and the (Democrat) Bull Connor, and the (Democrat) Lester Maddox, and the (Democrat) George Wallace. And a reminder that Lincoln was a Republican, and that the voting-rights act would not have been passed without Republicans.
[Late-morning update]
Oopsie. Senator Pryor’s college thesis, called desegregation “an unwilling invasion” (as opposed, I suppose, to a willing one?).
Democrats, once the party of racism, always the party of racism.
It’s classist and sexist.
Beyond that, it’s not even healthy. Growing kids need fat and protein. Low-fat milk is terrible for them.
I think that early voting is an abomination. Only those who really can’t make it to the polls on election day should be allowed to do it.
Interstellar style.