A new right to defend your home in Ireland?
The EU Code Of Space Conduct
Michael Listner has the current state of play of US participation. And yes, election-year politics are probably involved. That we aren’t signing on is good news as far as it goes, but there are doubtless other shoes to drop.
Tatooine Planets
There may be a lot of them. I think that this is a good example of how little we know about planet formation.
“Settled Science”
…is an oxymoronic phrase, and a myth. Anyone who uses it is simply demonstrating that they don’t understand science.
The Constitution And The Coot
Thoughts on Ron Paul, from Rob Long.
Gun Control In New York
It’s corrupt and racist origins. And the modern “progressives” defend it.
Facial Rejuvenation
Will it be the free-market route to broader life extension?
Ameritopia
A review:
That Levin wrote this book now demonstrates not his passion for the United States, but his awareness that he is a statesman defending natural law at a pivotal moment in human history: the United States in decline represents a far different thing than the failure of Europe’s utopianism. The key lies in recognizing John Locke’s accomplishment for what it objectively is, which Levin does with Part Two of Ameritopia. John Locke’s Second Treatise is properly understood as the “black monolith” moment for human history.
Utopian thinking has never represented brilliance or historical greatness; if it did, there wouldn’t be utopians in every age and nation and we wouldn’t be littered with the evidence of their perfect failure rate. Utopianism instead represents the simplest of philosophical thinking: trying to make survival easier not with innovation but with brute force. Indeed, a defining characteristic of utopian thought is neglect of the math and economics of the idea — details for the philosopher class to hammer out later while the leader poses for portraits.
But Locke is different — there is only one Locke. His recognition of natural law did not occur soon after man had the time to think, but 9700 years later; much trial and error of society came before his discovery. Which is: man feels violated if he is to lose his life to another, or if he has his liberty or property taken, and no system of laws can prevent that emotion or halt actions taken because of it. Therefore laws cannot be arbitrarily chosen by men, but must exist only to defend the rights of the individual. Under this we necessarily thrive, otherwise we are doomed.
Utopians have always otherwise been in the position of trying to replace a tyrannical system. But now, post-Locke and de Montesquieu and the Founders, the utopians are in a position of destroying that pivotal discovery, which presently exists nowhere else on Earth or in time but in the U.S. Constitution. Levin, with Ameritopia, shows that he recognizes this urgency: he is criticized for his “anger” on the air — how do you keep your voice down once you understand what is presently being threatened?
If you’re going to purchase the book, I hope you’ll do it here
The Next Dragon Flight
I would never have put money on their launching on February 7th, the current official target date, and now my instincts are confirmed with a brief release from the company:
In preparation for the upcoming launch, SpaceX continues to conduct extensive testing and analysis.
We believe that there are a few areas that will benefit from additional work and will optimize the safety and success of this mission.
We are now working with NASA to establish a new target launch date, but note that we will continue to test and review data. We will launch when the vehicle is ready.
Hard to know if that means a week delay, or a month, or more. But it’s definitely better not to rush it; it’s a very important mission for the future of affordable spaceflight.
High-Speed Rail
…and the broken state of California and its political class:
The blue social model can’t produce great results anymore. If you want to think big, you can no longer think blue. This is Governor Brown’s problem in a nutshell. The political coalition that backs him cannot produce coherent and workable plans anymore. The greens, the unions, the planning bureaucrats, the mayors and so forth each bring so many requirements to the table that the only designs that make them all happy are so cumbersome and expensive that they cannot be built. The political imagination of the blue coalition can no longer visualize the future: it can only project its nostalgia ahead.
Jerry Brown is stuck in the sixties. What a tragedy that the Republicans can’t put up decent statewide candidates in California. And I very much fear that Mitt Romney will be Meg Whitman on a national scale.