Going in was debatable, but complete withdrawal was the worst strategic mistake.
Yes.
Who The Future Belongs To
It belongs to those of us who mock leftists mercilessly.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here’s a good start: Leftist politicians continue to slaughter innocent and defenseless animals:
Yet another defenseless creature was slaughtered by a left-wing politician, the New York Post revealed on Thursday. Adorable groundhog Staten Island Chuck was “chucked” to his death during an appearance with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a raging liberal, back in February. Officials sought to cover up the creature’s demise, so as not to fuel public outrage over the disturbing trend of liberal politicians murdering cute animals. They even lied about the true identity of the victim. . . . As horrific as de Blasio’s crime was, it pales in comparison to the carnage President Obama routinely inflicts upon the animal kingdom. His victims include: bald eagles, golden eagles, kit foxes, baby tortoises, and baby bats. Obama’s preferred methods of killing are significantly more brutal, including decapitation via wind turbine and incineration via solar panel heat laser. The mainstream media has done its best to ignore this trend, but it’s only a matter of time before the American people wake up and demand an end to the butchery.
And don’t forget that fly he callously and brutally murdered.
Less than six weeks until an election. You can stop the carnage.
Soyuz Mission Problem?
It may be in trouble. Initial tracking data tweeted by Jonathan McDowell indicates that their orbit is off in inclination by about 0.4 degrees, which is about 50 m/s (probably a hundred kg of propellant). Their total budget for the ascent is about 100 m/s, and it seems unlikely that they have that much margin. So it’s possible that they don’t have enough to both get to ISS and then do a later deorbit, which means they’d have to abort without going to the station.
But the most likely explanation is that it’s just bad tracking data (maybe measuring during a burn?). We’ll find out at the next trajectory update.
[Friday-morning update]
Well, they docked, so presumably, they also have enough to get home.
Mark Steyn
His reaction to yesterday’s filings.
Gun Control
How it made England the most violent country in Europe.
Goodbye, Eric Holder
…and good riddance. He should never have been confirmed.
Bash Shellshock
Well, actually, I’m not sure it’s everything. I’m doing a full update on my system, but not sure that will solve it.
[Update a few minutes later]
OK, you may think you’ve patched, but you haven’t yet. Not clear how long it will take to fix it.
The Recovery
…that left out almost everybody.
It’s the worst since the Depression. For the same reasons. Because the same economic ignorami are in charge.
Climate Sensitivity
A new paper that indicates it’s probably much lower than the models think.
Jerry Pournelle
He’s posted a brief but complimentary review of the book (it’s buried deep in the post, after his lengthy discussion of his computer tech upgrades):
Safe Is Not An Option, by Rand Simberg is a reliability expert’s look at the space program. The book is discussed at length on its own web site. Those interested in the space program should read it: the book is quite critical of current space policies. It has endorsements from both astronauts and space policy analysts.
His general thesis is that NASA’s obsession, born of the days when “ours always blow up” and brought back with a vengeance by the Challenger disaster, is eliminating all human risk from spaceflight. That doesn’t work and the obsession is a huge obstacle to progress. There will always be risks, and we will always have heroes.
Simberg is an aerospace engineer with considerable experience and his analyses of various space incidents such as the Challenger Disaster are spot on, which is to say, I agree with them. Recommended.
Thanks!