That’s how Obama got bin Laden. It is one of the ironies of history that it’s Richard Nixon’s name on the plaque at Tranquility Base, because he happened to have become president a few months before the flight. Of course, it would be a stronger analogy if bin Laden had been captured two years ago.
There Goes Another Hundred Million
The next (and penultimate) Shuttle flight is now no earlier than May 16th.
John Shannon said last year that it costs about two hundred million a month to extend the program, so this two-week delay cost another hundred million dollars (note that four months of that burn rate would provide enough resources for another entire SpaceX). That assumes, of course, that this delay will also push out the the schedule of the final flight. I don’t know enough about KSC flows to know if that’s the case, or if they can be parallel processing Atlantis, currently scheduled for the end of June.
It’s Definitely Hitler
Richard Littlejohn tries his hand at my game:
This is the BBC Home Service. Here is the news for today, May 1st, 1945, read by Alvar Liddell. Confusion continues to surround the last moments of Adolf Hitler, who died yesterday in his bunker in Berlin.
Incredibly, the world’s most-wanted man had been living in the heart of the capital of the Third Reich, in plain sight of millions of Germans who maintain they were not supporters of the Nazis and had no knowledge of the Fuhrer’s crimes again humanity.
It’s not bad, but the biggest problem with it is that we actually had no knowledge of Hitler’s fate that early. I don’t think that the west discovered what had happened to him until November, and in the interim there were many rumors that he was alive and regrouping with other diehards in some last bastions in Germany (this also helped feed the Werwolf movement). My version has the history much more accurately.
America’s Persistence
Thoughts from Austin Bay. Also, the kids are all right.
Asking The Important Questions
What should denizens of Wyoming be called?
What Does He Know?
Jeff Bezos is investing in a fusion company (though as commenters there note, the technical explanation is pretty confusing). Maybe he wants to use it to power his spaceships.
Is This The Death Of Journalism?
Well, I’d like to think so, but on the evidence, if it is, it’s got more lives than a cat. On the other hand, it doesn’t bode well for the future of CNN.
I Did Not Know That
Whenever I hear an unemployment number, and particularly the statistic of how many people are in the labor force or looking for jobs, I wonder where they get the data. Well, here it is, explained.
Why Does Eric Holder Still Have His Job?
The gun running scandal in Mexico just gets worse and worse. Of course, I’m amazed that he was confirmed in the first place. The Republicans shouldn’t have rolled over the way they did, even if they didn’t have the votes.
[Late morning update]
Here’s more from Michelle Malkin.
Also, what did he know, and when did he know it? Just how much damage could this do to the administration?
Honoring Osama
The Washington Times is wondering the same thing I did:
All of this goes to show that President Obama is walking a fine line in what he wants two different groups to understand about bin Laden’s burial. There are those who question why a millionaire mass murderer who was disavowed as practicing a reputedly inauthentic version of Islam received an Islamic funeral. Sea burial itself is an American honor for which only service members, their dependents or outstanding U.S. citizens are eligible. This group is to trust that the decisions made by the Obama administration are the correct, “appropriate” ones and stop asking impertinent questions.
Meanwhile, the other group is subtly being courted with the emphasis on “conformance to Islamic requirements” throughout administration briefings. By reiterating, as Mr. Brennan did at least seven times in his Monday briefing, that the burial was done according to Islamic requirements, he has communicated that the President is more concerned about placating the feelings of Muslim extremists than closure for the American people. Families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks who want to see photos of bin Laden’s corpse must be satisfied with a presidential victory lap at Ground Zero, while radical Islamists can be comforted by Mr. Brennan’s repetitive assurances that the burial was conducted according to rites with which they’re familiar—ones which inherently confer dignity and respect to the dead.
I’ve had three radio interviews on this subject this week (including one at 6 AM this morning).