I Agree

…with Ramesh, on who should replace Gonzales (and yes, I think he should be replaced–I never thought he should have been appointed in the first place):

I just want it to be somebody the president has never met.

The biggest flaw of this president is selecting cronies and people he knows and trusts for key positions, rather than looking for those most qualified (Harriett Myers being the most prominent example). Unfortunately, it’s a failing of almost every president. (Anyone remember Craig Livingstone?)

The Continuing Insanity Of The War

The War on (some) Drugs, that is. In the real war. In Afghanistan:

We are winning in Afghanistan – that is the clear view on the ground. In contrast to Iraq, the Taliban are heavily on the back foot. Continued success, however, will be hampered by attempts to eradicate opium poppies…We are winning precisely because we are fighting the Taliban with “hearts and minds”, not just militarily might. Success hinges on not driving the locals into supporting the enemy. Yet this is precisely what poppy eradication is starting to do. Farmers grow poppies in Helmand for the same reason farmers decide what to grow the world over – because it is the rational thing to do. It is not part of a cunning scheme to flood the infidel West with cheap heroin. To a Pashtun farmer, poppies mean an instant cash-crop. Advocates of poppy eradication like to argue that narcotics fuel the insurgency. The truth is the precise opposite. Farmers carry a financial risk when they grow poppies having already been paid for their unharvested crop. Destroying their crop will make it impossible to pay their debts. As a direct consequence, they then become much more likely to accept work as hired-guns for the Taliban. Fear of poppy eradication is mobilising local farmers to side with the Taliban. In the poppy growing Sanjin valley, the locals have teamed up with the Taliban and so that is now where our troops face the fiercest fighting. As Americans say, “Go figure”.

Another Attempt

Apparently SpaceX had a computer timing glitch that caused an unnecessary abort yesterday. Launch is back on for 7 PM Eastern.

[Update at 6:25 PM EDT]

The launch is apparently still on, but no webcast yet.

[Update at 7:04 PM EDT]

It’s about an hour before the new schedule for the launch. 8:05 PM EDT. Webcast still hasn’t started, with no explanation as to why.

[Update after schedule launch time]

Wow. Aborted after engine start?

That’s a new one.

But Clark says that there still may be a launch tonight.

[Update at 9:30 EDT]

So far the launch seems succesful.

[Another update]

Complete success seems uncertain at this point, but it’s a huge improvement over the last attempt.

We’ll know more on the morrow. Too late to evaluate for us East Coasters.

More thoughts tomorrow, with more information.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!