General, Philosophy, Social Commentary

Connections

11 Comments

…some meditations:

I’m thinking: no dog, no bag hoarding instincts, no barf-containment. No iPod location mystery, no sorting through the glove compartment, no instantly-available barf bag. The reason this day didn’t end with a stinky car can be directly traced to the moment I walked past a pet shop in Uptown in April 1996, looked in the window, and saw my dog.

Wife took him for a walk later. He was slow. Very slow. “He’s not going to be with us much longer,” she said. Resigned. Then hopeful: “But I’ve been saying that for three years.”

“You saw him when the food showed up. Annoying as a puppy. Where did he take you tonight?”

“Well, I let him go where he wanted, and we went up the hill to the water tower, and then back down, and when we got home he didn’t want to go up the steps so he went down the street, and I thought he would go up the back steps, but he looked at me, like ‘I’m not done,’ and we walked east and around the neighborhood again. But it was dark and he can’t see anything.”

“But he can smell.”

Nearly deaf and nearly blind, and the world is still a story, every scent a character, every strong odor a twist in the plot. The dog walks outside and the world is his iPod, and it’s always set on shuffle. So it is for us all, really. If you have a dog you know how they come to the door and stand there waiting for you to let them out. Standing at the glass door. The wall that keeps the odors out. They can see, but they can’t smell. Daily life for us is just like that. If you’re lucky someone opens the door and all the glories rush over you.

It’s days like these that you realize how much you miss. For once, you saw all the connections. You suspect there are just as many threads between the now and the then every other day. Probably more. Would you go mad if you considered them? Would you exult to discover how everything braids itself together, fear for the action ten years gone that will explode down the road, anticipate the bloom that grows from a casual act last month? Sure. All of that. All these things. You can’t act if you remember everything. You shouldn’t act if you remember nothing.

What a writer. And he does it almost every single day.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Technology and Society

The Smart

16 Comments

…and the dumb:

The president’s reaction? “He turned to me and said, ‘Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.’” Mr. Hamm holds his head in his hands and says, “Even if you believed that, why would you want to stop oil and gas development? It was pretty disappointing.”

I guess I’d be disappointed, if I had had any expectations of brilliance on his part. But I never had any reason to, other than the bien pensant telling me I should.

Administrative

New Theme

57 Comments

I may use this as the basis for a new blog theme. It obviously needs a lot of tweaking in the style sheets.

[Evening update]

Folks, if you want to complain about the new theme, do it here, not at the previous post. I don’t want to have to carry on two discussions.

And as I’ve said repeatedly, I’m just trying to move it from circa 2005 to modern times, in terms of functionality. I’ll worry about aesthetics later. Not that I don’t want suggestions on the latter, but don’t expect a response to them immediately.

For instance, I now have “Like” buttons, and “Reply” to comments. I don’t want to go back.

Also, if someone with graphic talent wants to come up with a new header graphic similar to the old one, I’d appropriate it gratefully. It doesn’t have to be the same, and I’m open to upgrades, but I’d like it to have some heritage. 980×100, please…

[Update early evening, before settling in to watch Verlander and the Tigers against the Yankees]

Yes, I do hate the blockquote style — why do you ask? It will be the second thing I tackle in the style sheets after colors.

Business, Space

Falcon Heavy

25 Comments

A detailed technical and cost analysis.

[Update mid-afternoon]

Some thoughts on reusable Falcons from Henry Spencer.

[Update late afternoon]

I just received a press notification from SpaceX on potential launch dates for the ISS demonstration mission:

NASA is working with SpaceX on our technical and safety data for this mission while coordinating with its international partners to sort out a launch schedule once a definitive decision is reached on the next Soyuz flight to the International Space Station.

As a result, we’ve submitted December 19th to NASA and the Air Force as the first in a range of dates that we would be ready to launch.

We recognize that a target launch date cannot be set until NASA gives us the green light and the partnership of the International Space Station make a decision on when to continue Soyuz flights.

Our flight is one of many that have to be carefully coordinated, so the ultimate schedule of launches to the ISS is still under consideration.

So, likely no earlier than Christmas for the actual docking, and it could slip into next year. Note that this delay is not SpaceX’s fault.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Satire

The Telephone Transcripts For “Fast And Furious”

Iowahawk has found them:

Now… now Juan… let’s just calm down here a minute. Just, okay.. okay… let me please explain, okay? See, the funny thing is, it turns out, a couple years back there was, well, this stimulus program money, and then there were these brainstorming sessions, where, well, there were some ideas what to do with it. So, anyhoo, one of the ideas that happened was, ‘hey, what if there were, say, 2000 machine guns that got sent to Mexican drug lords?’ and so forth.

Well no, of course we couldn’t tell you. It would have ruined the surprise.

Well, okay, I guess the gato is out of the ol’ bag-o. You know that drug cartel war problem you’ve been having? So, well, the idea was, hey, wouldn’t it be great if somehow we could put a trace on the machine guns, and then, surprise! It’d be a like a whole pinata full of drug lord information.

Mmhm.

Why? Well see, if we traced all the machine guns we gave to your drug lords, then we could all learn how your drug lords get their machine guns.

Well, Juan, yes, certainly, that’s one hypothesis. But I mean besides from us.

Tracers?

Oh, those tracers. See, the funny thing is – and this is such a hoot – someone forgot to buy batteries for them. You know how it is when you buy those Christmas presents, and it’s like “batteries not included,” and…

Now, Juan – Juan – now, just a minute here, you don’t have take that tone of voice. This isn’t all about you.

Well, come on now, Juan, imagine how terrible I feel about this whole situation! And not just me. Eric, and all the bureau heads, all down the line. Look, I didn’t want to spoil another surprise, but we were all planning to chip in and get you a comprehensive immigration reform package to help cheer you up.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, there amigo! Let’s not get carried away there with the blamestorming. Just because I feel bad about this, don’t go trying to pin this one on me!

Huh?

Well, frankly, I don’t know. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, can anybody say that anybody else is to blame? Even if that were possible, would it bring anybody back to life? Believe me, if I could build some magical time machine and go back to 2009 and say, ‘hey guys, let’s stop this thing,” I would. But both of us need to stop living in fantasy world.

Let’s not bicker and argue over ‘oo killed ‘oo.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Thoughts On “Soft” America

1 Comment

An open letter to the president.

[Update a few minutes later]

More thoughts:

The Obama brand of liberalism not only is likely to contribute to a “softer” America, but a soft-headed America as well. We condemn tea-partiers and veterans as racists and potential terrorists but we release actual terrorists from Guantanamo because the evident cruelties of that country-club facility are too terrible to bear. We demonize the hard-won, self-made success of risk-takers, but shovel millions of their hard-earned dollars to prop up the uncompetitive but politically correct enterprises of the well-connected. Government policies proliferate that punish effort, risk, and success but reward sloth, identity, and failure.

Soft America calls a 26-year-old a “child” under Obamacare, but court martials him if he’s a Navy SEAL who slaps a vicious terrorist in the course of capture. Soft America promotes the expansion of speech codes on college campuses so as not to give offense to anyone or anything but the First Amendment. Soft America spends $4 trillion to no effect and then asks for more. Soft America works diligently to turn the societal safety net into a hammock. Soft America bows to tyrants but lectures allies. Soft America waters down our history to give minor or even inconsequential figures as much play as giants. Soft America eschews absolutes, derides standards, ridicules heroes, and scoffs at virtue.

Say, didn’t Michael Barone write a book about this? I think he did!

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!