A Golden Oldie?

Clark Lindsey points out this “new” book, but it’s not clear whether it’s really new, or just an update on the old one. SpacePac, the political action committee affiliated with the National Space Society, used to publish a book by this title back in the eighties and early nineties. I know this because I edited (and wrote parts of) it for a few years back then (I think that 1990 was the last year I was involved). So I’m curious if the current author simply picked up that ball, or if it’s a new, unrelated work.

A Quiet Revolution

Clark Lindsey has some useful thoughts on the pace of technology development. What I find frustrating is that from a technical standpoint, there’s no reason that all of the current progress in NewSpace couldn’t have all been happening fifteen years ago. I recall talking about rocket racing with Bevin McKinney and Jim Bennett back in the late eighties and early nineties. But apparently society itself wasn’t ready for it.

Starving The Poor

…for “energy independence.”

“Famine,” observes Dennis Avery, the director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues, “is a human society’s ultimate failure. Tightening the world’s food supply by diverting major quantities of its grain stocks into fuels will drive up the prices of all food. This will inevitably hit hardest at the poorest people in the world’s food-shortage regions. This would not be ethical even if there were no other sources of energy.”

But then, the world’s poor do not participate in Iowa’s presidential caucuses.

Hey, morons! Just in case you didn’t notice (which seems likely, based on the history of my being accused of going only after Democrats), this is a criticism of Republicans.

What’s Really Going On In Diyala Province

Strategy Page:

Both the terrorists and U.S. troops know that victory has been defined as several weeks with no bombs going off in Baghdad. The media is keeping score, and they use their ears and video cameras. No loud bangs and no bodies equals no news. That’s victory.

Not really. The real war is within the Iraqi government. The terrorists lost two years ago, when the relentless slaughter of Moslem civilians turned the Arab world against al Qaeda. Journalists missed that one, but not the historians. The war in Iraq has always been about Arabs demonstrating that they can run a clean government, for the benefit of all the people, not just the tyrants on top. So far, there have lots of victories and defeats in this, and no clear decision overall. Elections have been held several times, but the people elected have proved to be as corrupt and venal as their tyrannical predecessors. Everyone admits that this bad behavior is not a good thing, but attempts to stop it have been only partially successful. Changing thousands of years of custom and tradition is not easy. The clay tablets dug up in the vicinity of Baghdad, reveal similar scandal and despair over four thousand years ago. Most Iraqis realize, however, that if the chain of corruption is not broken, the dreary past will again become a painful present.

What’s Really Going On In Diyala Province

Strategy Page:

Both the terrorists and U.S. troops know that victory has been defined as several weeks with no bombs going off in Baghdad. The media is keeping score, and they use their ears and video cameras. No loud bangs and no bodies equals no news. That’s victory.

Not really. The real war is within the Iraqi government. The terrorists lost two years ago, when the relentless slaughter of Moslem civilians turned the Arab world against al Qaeda. Journalists missed that one, but not the historians. The war in Iraq has always been about Arabs demonstrating that they can run a clean government, for the benefit of all the people, not just the tyrants on top. So far, there have lots of victories and defeats in this, and no clear decision overall. Elections have been held several times, but the people elected have proved to be as corrupt and venal as their tyrannical predecessors. Everyone admits that this bad behavior is not a good thing, but attempts to stop it have been only partially successful. Changing thousands of years of custom and tradition is not easy. The clay tablets dug up in the vicinity of Baghdad, reveal similar scandal and despair over four thousand years ago. Most Iraqis realize, however, that if the chain of corruption is not broken, the dreary past will again become a painful present.

What’s Really Going On In Diyala Province

Strategy Page:

Both the terrorists and U.S. troops know that victory has been defined as several weeks with no bombs going off in Baghdad. The media is keeping score, and they use their ears and video cameras. No loud bangs and no bodies equals no news. That’s victory.

Not really. The real war is within the Iraqi government. The terrorists lost two years ago, when the relentless slaughter of Moslem civilians turned the Arab world against al Qaeda. Journalists missed that one, but not the historians. The war in Iraq has always been about Arabs demonstrating that they can run a clean government, for the benefit of all the people, not just the tyrants on top. So far, there have lots of victories and defeats in this, and no clear decision overall. Elections have been held several times, but the people elected have proved to be as corrupt and venal as their tyrannical predecessors. Everyone admits that this bad behavior is not a good thing, but attempts to stop it have been only partially successful. Changing thousands of years of custom and tradition is not easy. The clay tablets dug up in the vicinity of Baghdad, reveal similar scandal and despair over four thousand years ago. Most Iraqis realize, however, that if the chain of corruption is not broken, the dreary past will again become a painful present.

Good Excuse To Go To Bordeaux

A private space passenger conference in, of all places, France.

Looking at the description provided by Jack Kennedy, it doesn’t look much different than many similar ones that have been held here over the past few years. The difference, of course, is the location. I think that if this doesn’t show that the “giggle factor” is gone, nothing does.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!