OK, now Obama seems to like guns. At least as long as he’s the only one allowed to have one.
But you have to admit, it is the Chicago way.
You Have A Right To Vote
…but only as long as you vote the right way:
“We’re told we can vote no, that the system requires unanimity. But when (a `no’ vote) actually happens, every time, the EU tells us: You really only have a right to vote yes,” said Dublin travel agent Paul Brady, who voted against the treaty. “You know, I love traveling through Europe, but I don’t really want to live there all the time. I’d like to stay as close to America as Europe.”
Perhaps the Irish have saved western civilization again. But only until the next attempt to undemocratically foist it on European citizens.
How Far Will They Go?
Some interesting legal speculation on the upcoming Heller decision to rule on the constitutionality of DC’s gun ban, and on the meaning of the Second Amendment.
What Is The New Space Suit?
In all of the reports I find on the award of the new suit contract to Oceaneering, I can’t find any technical details on it (I suppose a lot of the info for both competitors is embargoed for proprietary reasons). But from the pictures, it looks like a hard suit. Does anyone know? If so, that would be the second revolution. The first, of course, is Ham Standard/Sunstrand finally losing their decades-long monopoly, going back to Apollo. It’s nice to see David Clark back in the game as well, after all those decades. I wonder if they’ll be using a glove concept based on Peter Homer’s?
[Update in the afternoon]
Louise Riofrio has more thoughts. Apparently, though, this wasn’t a design competition–it was a competition to see which contractor was more generally qualified to build suits. Process over product…
Ceding The High Ground
Jeff Krukin writes that Europe is leaving NewSpace to the US, out of (among other things) foolish class envy:
the views expressed by European Commission Vice President Guenter Verheugen speak volumes about the attitudes of the European political establishment toward entrepreneurial space activity (NewSpace). Referring to public remarks by Guenter, Astrium Chief Executive Francois Auque said, “I was even told that this project was morally blameworthy because it targets an audience of the rich people.”
Well, that’s why many of our ancestors left Europe.
Irony
The only question, really, is whether or not it was intended…
Facts Matter
Jennifer Rubin reports on a very interesting briefing on Iraq:
I asked O’Hanlon whether his previous criticism that Barack Obama was in denial about facts on the ground still stood. In a lengthy answer he and then Pollack avoided a partisan hit on Obama and I think revealed their true purpose: to inform the public and policy matters about the real situation in Iraq and allow Democrats to in essence climb back off the surge opposition policy limb they have crawled out on. (This is my description; they were quite tactful and even optimistic that this is a time when political leaders can reorient themselves to new facts.) Both indicated that it would be a mistake with critical provincial and national elections upcoming in 2008 and 2009 to begin an abrupt withdrawal in 2009. O’Hanlon offered that Democrats could take credit for having pressured Iraqis on a political front with the clear message that our presence would not be indefinite and that they should accept that “the good news is you may be able to leave earlier than proposed based on progress and not on defeat.”
Shocking News News
Tim Russert has apparently died of a heart attack. Condolences to his family.
I suspect that given how unexpected this was, it will shake up NBC news quite a bit.
Schizophrenic
Jeff Foust has a tale of two bills. As he notes, the language in the authorization bill is great:
It is further the sense of Congress that United States entrepreneurial space companies have the potential to develop and deliver innovative technology solutions at affordable costs. NASA is encouraged to use United States entrepreneurial space companies to conduct appropriate research and development activities. NASA is further encouraged to seek ways to ensure that firms that rely on fixed-price proposals are not disadvantaged when NASA seeks to procure technology development.
I wonder if the part about fixed-price contracts was in response to pressure from XCOR specifically, or perhaps from the Personal Spaceflight Federation?
Anyway, nice as it sounds, the only bill that really counts is the appropriations bill, which (again as he notes) cuts COTS funding.
More On ANWR Versus The Grand Canyon
From Jonah Goldberg, who has been to both:
This isn’t to say that the Grand Canyon isn’t a beautiful place; it inspires awe among those who visit it. ANWR (pronounced “AN-wahr”) inspires awe almost entirely in those who haven’t been there. It is an environmental Brigadoon or Shangri-La, a fabled land almost no one will ever see. That is its appeal. People like the idea that there are still Edens “out there” even if they will never, ever see them.
Indeed, if Americans could visit the north coast of Alaska, as I have, as easily as they can visit the Grand Canyon, the oil would be flowing by now.
[Afternoon update]
McCain’s attitude: Let them eat honor:
At a town-hall meeting in Philadelphia, McCain said he could no sooner drill in ANWR than in the Grand Canyon. This is like comparing a roadside flea market to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Five million people a year visit the Grand Canyon, whereas 1,000 visit ANWR. Why would anyone want to go? It’s a frozen wasteland during the winter and a mosquito-infested bog during the summer.
McCain opposes drilling off the shores of Florida and California as well, saying that the states should be able to decide. But Alaska desperately wants to drill in ANWR. Its opinion apparently doesn’t count. In an interview on the Today show, McCain ridiculously held out the prospect that advances in alternative energy might lower the price of gas by November. He’s touting fanciful revolutionary breakthroughs within months without acknowledging the real technological advances that make it possible to drill with minimal environmental impact.
He’s blowing a huge political opportunity.