Some useful thoughts from Ilya Somin.
Non-Vanishing Rain Forests
They’re actually increasing in size. I blame global warming. Or George Bush (is there a statute of limitations on being able to blame things on George Bush?).
Of course, the new growth doesn’t necessarily preserve the species that were being lost in the original cutting, but it’s unclear what, if anything, had actually gone extinct.
Lies, Damned Lies, And Tax Cuts
I have a piece up at PJM today on the ongoing misleading (if not mendacious) discussion of taxes.
They’re Baaaaaccckkk
George Abbey and Neal Lane have a new white paper on space policy recommendations. I haven’t read it yet, but I expect it to be pretty bad, based on history.
[Update a few minutes later]
OK, I skimmed it. Other than the recommendation to cancel Ares 1, almost everything else is wrong. Certainly turning our backs on missions beyond LEO is, as is a focus on energy and the environment. There are other agencies responsible for this. I was amused by this:
It is distressing to observe the current state of the U.S. space program as the nation moves into a new progressive era with the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009.
Emphasis mine. I don’t think that word means what they think it means.
[Mid-afternoon update]
Like one of the commenters over at NASA Watch, I too am shocked, shocked that John Muratore wants to revive X-38 and come back in a lifting body.
Thank You, Redmond
I just did a Microsoft security update on my Windows 2000 machine, and now it bluescreens (something I hadn’t seen on this machine in years) when it reboots. I booted into safe mode, and removed the update (I think I removed the right one — I’m assuming that the latest one would be highest number, but that might not be right). It still won’t boot. I’m posting this from my Fedora box.
Any ideas?
[Late afternoon update]
Great. Now it blue screens going into Safe Mode.
I’ll have to find my setup disk, but I doubt if I’ll have time before I go to CA on Monday.
Continuing Culture Problems At NASA
Wayne Hale is shocked, shocked to discover gambling in this establishment.
Sorry, but that’s how bureaucracies work, Wayne. It goes with being a federal agency, unfortunately, particularly when what the agency is doing is perceived to be politically unimportant.
More discussion over at NASA Watch, where I found this.
Twitter For The Uninitiated
From Lileks. But “tweeted” for the past tense of “tweet” just doesn’t sound right. Wouldn’t “twat” be better?
Oh. Right.
Iowahawk On A Roll
I’m back in Boca, having a busy afternoon, but Iowahawk has been busy too. He has some multicultural wisdom, and tax advice from the new Treasury secretary. Also, questioning whether the new president took the short bus to the White House.
Back To Boca
Driving down from Orlando this morning. Perhaps more posts this afternoon, but it’s going to be a busy one.
A Taxpayer March On Washington?
It seems like it’s getting to be time for this. The problem is that people who pay taxes are too busy working to earn the money on which to pay taxes to have time to go to Washington. Massive marches on Washington are reserved for those with no jobs, or nothing to do, or because they are on the dole of some kind, sometimes aided by federal subsidization of “community organizers” like ACORN.
That’s one of the reasons that big-government programs are a positive-feedback ratchet that are almost impossible to reverse. The programs have their own built-in constituencies, that are funded by the programs to allow them to agitate for more, while the ever-shrinking rest of us who are trying to actually earn a living get stuck with the bill. It can’t go on forever, of course, but it can go on long enough to ruin a nation.