Here’s what I wouldn’t build. I don’t mind playing fetch. I probably would build a robot to walk him, though.
Phone Upside Downers
A surprising dichotomy. I can’t say which camp I’m in, because a) I have a Droid and b) I keep it in a holster. But I keep it there right side up.
National Socialism
Is Barack Obama introducing it to the U.S.?
Of course he is.
[Update a few minutes later]
The Powerline post reminds me of this post from almost four years ago.
[Update a while later]
Related: the New Left fascists. Not that much different than the old ones, really.
Space Safety On The Space Show
I’ll be talking to David Livingston this afternoon at 2 PM PDT about my space safety project, which seems to be turning into a small book, that I hope to publish this month.
[Update mid-afternoon]
I’ll be on in ten minutes or so.
[Bumped]
[Early evening update]
Well, that was in interesting discussion. It went on for a couple hours. The most important thing to me was that David brought up one of the very best case studies for my thesis — the Hubble decision. I’m going to incorporate it into the book (yes, I’ve decided to just call it a book). This is partly just a reminder for me to do so…
[Evening update]
It’s probably worth repeating this video from the space teddy bears. Or dogs. Or whatever.
Aircraft Carriers In Space
What does Battlestar Galactica get right?
[Update a couple minutes later]
I liked this:
FP: And the worst shows for realistic space warfare?
CW: There are so many that are so bad. Star Wars is probably the worst.
I know that’s heresy for a certain generation.
The Libertarian Case For Mitt Romney
Stephen Green says there is one.
Dear Brother Ali
The flag is not a prayer rug.
The President’s Poker Tells
I hope that the president shows the country what I’ve been seeing for four years:
The president will allegedly be subject to time limits on Wednesday night, but his contempt for most such rules almost guarantees he will blow through every limit and dare the moderator or Mitt Romney to challenge him.
If either does, we will be treated to “tell No. 4,” the president’s feigned outrage that anyone would interrupt or question him. When this happens, his countenance displays a disapproving sneer and his voice clouds with displeasure. It is practiced. It is also profoundly anti-democratic and arrogant, and if he plays this card on this stage, it will backfire.
Watch as well for nonresponsive self-pity, verbal essays on how difficult it was when he took over and how hard he has been working. Self-pity and self-regard are not designed to endear him to the unemployed or even the economically fragile, so he will be coached to try to avoid displaying his sense of outrage at being thought a failure or “in over his head,” but the president’s sense of his own immensity is so great as to blow past such base political calculations.
Finally, watch for the parade of straw men, the president’s favorite rhetorical trick. He will set up arguments that have never been made in the service of Republican goals that have never existed, and then he will denounce both. If the appearance of a straw man serves as a trigger in a drinking game, many bottles will empty by the end of Debate No. 1.
And Romney should call him on them, just as Ryan did the other day. It’s very easy to get under this guy’s skin, and he ought to do it all night.
If Romney’s Losing
…why does the media act like he’s already president?
And if Obama is cruising to victory, as all of the bien pensant insist, then what’s he doing in Madison, Wisconsin?
J. K. Rowling
…and her space fantasy.