Media Matters is whining about media bias against Obama. Hilarious.
And (slightly off topic) speaking of Godwin’s Law, is there anyone involved in either campaign who resembles Hitler more than David Axelrod? If I were him, I’d shave the ‘stache.
How Fast Do You Read?
I scored 822 wpm:
Source: Staples eReader Department
New Depths For CNN
This is just pathetic:
Now CNN is put in the unenviable position to be, at best, second on a story involving harassment of one of their own people. Cripes did they hire the same news director as that Newspaper in Norfolk that didn’t find the beating of their own reporters newsworthy?
None of this was necessary. In fact if CNN and the other media entities made the choice to report the news rather than serve as a filter for stories the left wanted killed, not only would it have ratings, but there would be no FOX or Drudge etc because there would have been no market for them.
Instead you have a network so pathetic that Donald Trump is making fun of CNN’s ratings on their own network. I don’t blame him, when a news organization becomes incapable of recognizing a story then that news organization will be a laughing-stock, and rightly so.
Apparently, as with the New York Times, their loyalty to their leftist ideology trumps staying in business. They really could compete with Fox by simply reporting all of the news (not just what they want us to hear), and doing it better, but as long as they insist on being filters in the service of the state, they’ll continue to leave the field to their competitor.
[Update mid morning]
Wouldn’t it be great if the Tides Foundation (among others) lost their tax-exempt status over this? Of course, it won’t happen with this administration’s IRS, but there could still be some interesting congressional hearings.
Enter The Dragon
This is one my pedantic pet peeves. The vehicle is has never entered before, so it’s not true that this is a “re” entry. If SpaceX uses it for another mission (unlikely — I’ll bet it goes to the Smithsonian), then it would be a reentry.
Anyway, either way, it should be down within the hour, and if it is, that will be pretty much a perfect flight (with the exception of the LIDAR issue with Kibo during final approach).
[9:09 PDT update]
Dragon has landed, according to SpaceX. Well, splashed down, anyway. Not sure that “landed” is the right term here.
[Update after reading email]
I only glanced at the subject. In the body of the email, it says “Dragon has (splash) landed.”
Arthel Watson
Rest in peace, Doc.
This is a good obit, but it’s a little strange that the only video they have of someone dubbed the father of flat picking is Deep River Blues, which he finger picks.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here’s a good example of his flatpicking, with Black Mountain Rag. Notice the key change midway through. This is also a good example of my long-standing thesis that this is a form of jazz.
Falcon First-Stage Recovery
OK, back in the office after over a week of travel to DC and the Bay area.
Over in this comment thread, the question arises of the disposition of the first-stage from last week’s launch. I was wondering too, so at the gala banquet at the Air and Space Museum on Friday night to honor John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, I asked Stephanie Badnarek, director of government relations for SpaceX. As I suspected, she told me that they’re not worrying about recovery of the first stage right now, and probably won’t until they start to attempt to fly it back, pending results of the Grasshopper flights. That wouldn’t surprise me — I don’t think they’ve come even close to an intact entry, and the recovery systems are just parasitic weight at this point.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Clark Lindsey has some notes from the SpaceX press conference on the mission so far, and plans for Dragon entry tomorrow.
Leftist Double Standards
It Begins
SpaceX has signed on their first commercial customer for Falcon Heavy:
Washington, DC / Hawthorne, CA May 29, 2012 – Today, Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services, and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the world’s fastest growing space launch company, announced the first commercial contract for the Falcon Heavy rocket.
“SpaceX is very proud to have the confidence of Intelsat, a leader in the satellite communication services industry,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer. “The Falcon Heavy has more than twice the power of the next largest rocket in the world. With this new vehicle, SpaceX launch systems now cover the entire spectrum of the launch needs for commercial, civil and national security customers.”
“Timely access to space is an essential element of our commercial supply chain,” said Thierry Guillemin, Intelsat CTO. “As a global leader in the satellite sector, our support of successful new entrants to the commercial launch industry reduces risk in our business model. Intelsat has exacting technical standards and requirements for proven flight heritage for our satellite launches. We will work closely with SpaceX as the Falcon Heavy completes rigorous flight tests prior to our future launch requirements.”
This is the first commercial contract for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. Under the agreement, an Intelsat satellite will be launched into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).
I’m guessing that last week’s successful Falcon 9 flight sealed the deal.
The Case Against George Zimmerman
There isn’t much of one, and never was:
…in essence, the media — by creating all this “notoriety” via false storylines not supported by the evidence — have hurt Zimmerman’s chances for fair treatment in court. Nice work, folks.
He should sue, starting with NBC, for defamation.
End Of A Long Travel Day
I’m about to watch fireworks over the Golden Gate. #75thAnniversary #OnePercenter