Some readings.
Evoloterra
One of the saddest things about the atrocity (not “tragedy” — does no one know the meaning of that word any more?) in Colorado (for me personally, of course, obviously not for the friends and families of those involved) is that it completely derailed any commemoration of what we accomplished forty-three years ago today. But while we have done a segment on The Space Show on the subject this time of year every year for the past half dozen, today was the first time that we did one a) with Margaret Jordan, one of the other authors and b) actually performed the ceremony live on air (or rather, on line). It got a good response, with several callers calling in to say that they were moved in listening to it, and were going to perform it themselves. If so, that’s great, because that’s why we wrote it. Perhaps we should have done it years ago. Anyway, here is the link, and the podcast is available now. You might also want to check out The Space Show blog.
“Smart Diplomacy”
The administration is throwing away an opportunity in Syria.
You Are Not Allowed To Defend Yourself
…in Cinemark theaters. Yeah, the guy was armored up, but someone could still have gotten in a head shot, if they’d been allowed to have a gun. I wonder if any of the victims has CCW, and can sue?
Do People Kill People?
Or do movies kill people?
[Update a while later]
So he was reportedly working on graduate degree in neuroscience before he dropped out. I wonder if he was attempting to self diagnose?
Obama’s “Gaffe”
Some history and context. It’s nothing new. He was raised as a Marxist, and he’s never changed.
[Afternoon update]
No, Adam Gopnik, Adam Smith would not have agreed with Barack Obama.
Tom Brosz
…has written a book
Good News For Those Worried About China In Space
If this is true, they’re wasting their money on a heavy lifter.
That Didn’t Take Long
It hasn’t been twelve hours since the latest massacre, and people in the media are already using it to call for gun control that would be very unlikely to have prevented it. And of course, it goes without saying that it’s Rush Limbaugh’s and the Tea Party’s fault. I predict that Sarah Palin will be fingered by the end of the day.
Idiot demagogues and rhetorical ambulance chasers.
I will say that it might be useful not to allow costumes in movie theaters, though. Something like this was inevitable.
[Update a while later]
ABC News: “Oops, sorry about that.”
Note that their first instinct is always to blame “right wingers” and (more recently) the Tea Party, whereas they always go to ridiculous lengths to downplay any possible connection to jihad. And if the guy turns out to have connections to the Occumorons, we’ll never hear about it. Most likely, though, it will just turn out to be a nut, like Jarred Loughner.
Not Just A Pseudoscience Guy
Bill Nye is also an Obama guy. But I guess pseudoscience and pseudoeconomics go together.