There’s an update at the Space Access Society, per current events.
Merde Just Got Real
Rogozin is cutting off sales of RD-180s, and threatening to end ISS participation in 2020.
The former is much more concerning than the latter. 2020 is a long way off, and we have time to resolve that one way or the other. But Atlas V is out of business in a couple years if they don’t come up with a solution. Which is bad news for Boeing and Sierra Nevada in terms of commercial crew.
Off The Air
I’m heading up to Alaska for a couple days, but I’ll take a laptop, so probably check in tonight.
[Update a while later, somewhere over northern California]
OK, they have wireless on the flight. So I may do some updates.
Michael Mann
Boy, Mark Steyn is really asking for it:
So Mann’s work “did not fall within the remit” of Lord Oxburgh’s investigation …but somehow it “exonerated” him anyway. Mann lies easily, smoothly, glibly, using small, sly lies to support bigger, bolder ones. But his entire career is a pile-up of contradictions like these.
Mann might sue him for this.
Oh, wait.
The Douchenozzle
I’ve kind of gotten tired of its moronic trolling. I haven’t banned many people from this site, but does anyone think that the creature contributes anything of value, other than demonstrating how moronic leftists are? Which needs little demonstration?
Armadillo
Looks like the little critter’s hibernation is coming to an end on Wednesday. At least that’s what I’m inferring, based on the fact that I just got a request for a Facebook like from Phil Eaton. Here’s the event announcement.
A New Space-Settlement Initiative
…will be announced on FridaySaturday. I’ll probably be there, since I’m speaking the day before.
Death At Sea
…is never very far.
I discuss this in the book. It’s even closer in space.
Truth Seeking In Benghazi
The Democrats need a Howard Baker.
Unfortunately, Democrats with principles (other than political victory) seem to not exist.
I would note that the Republicans took a long time to finally get on the ball, compared to Watergate. This August will be the fortieth anniversary of Nixon’s resignation, at exactly the same time in the presidential cycle that Obama’s in now.
[Update a few minutes later]
Americans have a right to know where their president was while a terrorist attack was taking place — and the daily diary will provide that information. There will be a record if Obama held a secure video teleconference (SVTC) with his military commanders in the region or even spoke with them by phone. There will be a record if he met or spoke with his national security adviser to discuss the unfolding attack, and how many times he did so. If properly kept, the logs will show precisely what Obama was doing — whether he was carefully monitoring events on the ground or was otherwise occupied.
…During Watergate, Richard Nixon had his infamous 18 1/2-minute gap. When it comes to Benghazi, Obama has an eight-hour gap. That gap needs to be closed.
If Obama has nothing to hide, then he has nothing to fear.
I think it’s similar to his unwillingness to release his college transcripts. Or let people see the Khalidi birthday-party video. There’s something there they don’t want us to see.
Nutritional Ignorance
The federal government has excluded only one fresh vegetable from the WIC program: the fresh white potato. This makes no sense and, in fact, ignores the latest nutritional science.
Because some people don’t differentiate between french fries and baked potatoes, the potato has gotten a bad rap. We believe a balance can be found that preserves the integrity of programs such as WIC while also ensuring that the most updated facts are being used to determine the best nutrients for Americans — including from the potato.
Sorry, senators, but this is nonsense. The problem with french fries isn’t the fat (particularly if it’s saturated fat, though unfortunately McDonalds got mau maued into ending the use of tallow decades ago): It’s the potatoes themselves, which are high glycemic.