Political Commentary

This Can’t Possibly Be True

That well-known metallurgist and structural engineer, Rosie O’Donnell, told us that fire can’t melt steel. It’s never happened before in history. Well, I guess that there’s got to be a first (or second) time for everything:

Heat from the tanker explosion on the westbound 580 melted the upper roadway of the MacArthur Maze. The fire was intense enough to cause the tanker truck to basically melt away, according to crews on the scene.

I think that we need to investigate this. Were there charges planted in the bridge to make it collapse at an opportune time? Were there Enron and Halliburton financial records in a truck driving below? Were the Jews warned to stay off it? And where was Dick Cheney?

More grounds for impeachment, I’d say.

[Via emailer Mike Puckett]

Space

Faster, Cheaper…

…and hopefully at least as good, if not better. Clark Lindsey explains the significance of the successful UP Aerospace launch:

So why is this a big deal? Suborbital rockets have been launched at WSMR and elsewhere since the 1940s. This flight is significant because of the business model, not the altitude attained. The vehicle was designed to serve a consumer market rather than to carry out a task for the military or some other government entity. To do this profitably, the vehicle must be built for as low a cost as possible and must be cheap to fly. Spaceflight for the general public is new to the rocket world.

[Update a few minutes later]

Jon Goff has a very instructive post for those who buy into the mantra about how much more of a problem orbital is than suborbital with respect to energy.

As I note in his comments section, while these are great points when it comes to getting to orbit, the real issue is the energy that has to be dissipated to come home. I think that this will be the far greater challenge for orbital vehicle developers, at least if they’re reusable (and despite progress that can continue to be made in dropping the cost of expendables, ultimately that’s the only way to go for truly low costs, not to mention ability to bring the customers home).

Even Burt claims not to have a solution (though he may be sandbagging us). Certainly his current shuttlecock concept won’t ever scale up to an entry from orbit. As I’ve noted before, though, Burt is not God, and just because he doesn’t know how to do something, doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.

Satire

Is That A Gun In Your Pocket?

Iowahawk has been dumpster diving again, and come up with the first draft of Dan Simpson’s modest proposal:

The disarmament process would begin after the initial three-month amnesty. Then, special squads of police would be somehow formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, BLAMMO! city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building, bedside drawer, farm field, tree, culvert, bush, stalagtyte cave, water tower, and body cavity. The special squads would receive special training in scuba, spelunking and interrogation techniques. All firearms would be seized. The owners of weapons found in the searches would be prosecuted: $1,000 and one year in prison for each firearm. The gun owner prison should probably be put between the museum and the arsenal for efficiency, such as for guard training and so forth.

Clearly, since such sweeps could not take place all across the country at the same time. But fairly quickly there would begin to be gun-swept, gun-free areas where there should be no firearms. After the sweeps are done, the special squads would put big signs all over the swept area that said “NO GUNS HERE” in order to restore public calm. For signs, maybe the special squads could use something like the big inflatable gorilla like the one I saw atop Lakeside Subaru last week, when I was getting the oil changed on my Impreza.

But, just in case any wiseacres in the swept areas somehow figured out how to avoid seizure, anybody carrying guns would be subject to quick confiscation and prosecution. On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for “packing.” The roaming squads of special police have a question for Grandma: do you feel lucky, you depends-wearing punk?

War Commentary

If The Democrats Get Their Way

A view of Iraq’s future. From Basra:

It seems that ever since Britain and Denmark announced their intention to withdraw, the security situation has deteriorated. Troops from both countries now come under fire from the Shi’ite militias vying for power.

This is what happens when abandoning an area with a weak security apparatus in place. Now that the Brits and Danes have given the people of Basra a drop-dead date for their withdrawal, they have set in motion a fight for power that will only amplify as the withdrawal date approaches. Instead of throwing in with the central government, the flight of the Coalition has convinced Iraqis in that area that they have to find the strongest warlord for protection.

We can expect this across the country if the US withdraws precipitately from Iraq. A pullout will embolden the violent and frighten the law-abiding, and the end result will be a completely failed state.

[Late afternoon update]

A plea from Iraq.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!