Political Commentary

Albion’s Continued Fall

16 Comments

Mark Steyn, on the decline of democracy in the UK:

So much for those Yank-style televised leaders’ debates only a couple weeks back. Instead, Britain will end up with a leader who didn’t participate in the leaders’ debates, presiding over a coalition that wasn’t on the ballot, implementing a platform no party ran on, yet committed to transformative electoral reform for which there is no mandate.

But other than that, it’s a great plan, and system.

[Update a few minutes later]

Five reasons a Labour/Liberal government will collapse.

[Update a few minutes later]

Looks like the deal has already fallen apart, and Cameron will be the next PM.

Science And Society, Weird

Fountain Of Youth?

17 Comments

This is interesting. A seventeen-year-old girl who has the biological age of one year old. The question is, how does development relate to aging? What will happen to her in another forty or fifty years? It would be nice to not have to wait that long to discover the secret. And of course, it’s tough luck that she didn’t get stuck in a seventeen-year-old’s body.

Political Commentary, Space

An Interesting Letter From Lyles

6 Comments

There are two points about this letter from General Lyles to Frank Wolf about NASA’s funding priorities. First, if I were Congressman Wolf, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. It seems pretty vague on actual recommendations:

The burden of proof thus now lies with Congress and NASA to define and to develop a human spaceflight program that does not re-inflict damage on the breadth of NASA’s activities and that serves the nation well. It is possible to do this.

If you don’t think that such a program exists now, it would be helpful it if were a little more specific about in what way it’s deficient. If it’s possible to make it so, couldn’t the general have provided a little guidance? It’s not clear exactly what the source of his unhappiness is, other than that he thinks that manned space is now “under-resourced.” What does that mean? Just send more money?

The other interesting thing about the letter is that he sent it to Frank Wolf, the ranking member, rather than Alan Mollohan, the chairman (who may lose his primary tomorrow). Is this a sign, like David Obey’s resignation, that he expects Wolf to be committee chairman next year?

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!