Science And Society

Not One Sided

Chris Mooney emails me to tell me that his book, about the so-called “Republican War On Science,” has been released in paperback today, with a new introduction and call to arms against ID.

As I told Chris, while I disagree with a lot of the things that Republicans do with respect to science, I think that the war is more than bi-partisan. Democrats and so-called “progressives” peddle a lot of junk science toward their own agendas, and arguably (and historically) do it even more than Republicans (e.g., think the eugenics movement). Lysenko wasn’t a “right winger,” after all…

In fact, it might be interesting to have a blog debate on this topic. I don’t think we’d resolve quantitatively who is worse, but I suspect that we could convince a lot of people that there’s plenty of guilt to go around.

Anyway, go get the book, if you haven’t, and judge for yourself.

[Update in the evening]

Chris has kindly offered to consider a debate. But if I do that (not definite yet) I’d have to read his book first. A review copy is on the way.

Space

Killing Themselves With Safety

NASA needs to get on with the program and get rid of the daylight restriction:

NASA could reconsider restricting this flight to times when the shuttle and external tank, upon separation, are lit by the sun. That was a post-Columbia rule intended to provide good pictures of the tank and its insulating foam to make sure safety changes worked to eliminate dangerous debris. It was supposed to be in place for the first two post-Columbia launches. After the 2005 return to flight mission saw a large piece of foam debris, NASA decided this third post-Columbia flight also would be limited to daylit launch opportunities. If NASA sticks to the rule, there could be just three days the rest of 2006 meeting all safety requirements. Indeed, it could be February before another viable launch window exists that meets the daylight and other flight rules. NASA officials on Sunday were given the opportunity to rule out the possibility of simply eliminating the daylight launch restriction for this flight, the agency did not rule it out. That could open many more days in the latter half of the year to avoid a potential five-month delay in the resumption of space station construction.

Emphasis mine.

They know they have the capability to inspect at ISS now, and most of the major foam fears should be laid to rest. They need to fly as often as possible, particularly given that it’s hurricane season.

Space

Is She Or Isn’t She?

I’ve seen a number of references to Anousheh Ansari being the first Muslim woman in space, including this piece on space tourism in today’s issue of The Space Review, by Taylor Dinerman. I know that she’s Iranian, but this is the first time that I’ve heard that she’s a practicing Muslim. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course, but I was doing a search on “Anousheh Ansari Muslim” and I can’t find any primary source to that effect.

For instance, in this roundup at Muslim World News, all the story says is:

Moscow, May 8 (DPA) An Iranian-born US businesswoman is tipped to become the first woman “space tourist” to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), Russian media reported Monday.

Telecommunications manager Anousheh Ansari, who was born in 1967, may make a short flight to the orbiter next spring as part of a Russian crew, space officials told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Nothing about her religion. Looking at her web site, there’s no mention of her religion. She talks about wanting to inspire Iranians, but says nothing about Muslims. One would think that one’s religion would be described in an “about” section, unless she’s concerned about negative perceptions arising from it. That doesn’t mean, of course, that she’s not Muslim, but I can find no actual evidence that she is.

So is it true, or is this just an assumption that many are making because of her birth nationality?

I would also note, per this statement by Dinerman:

The industry has a long way to go to get there. The problem is still the cost of access to orbit. Some in the space industry believe that NASA

Space

Is She Or Isn’t She?

I’ve seen a number of references to Anousheh Ansari being the first Muslim woman in space, including this piece on space tourism in today’s issue of The Space Review, by Taylor Dinerman. I know that she’s Iranian, but this is the first time that I’ve heard that she’s a practicing Muslim. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course, but I was doing a search on “Anousheh Ansari Muslim” and I can’t find any primary source to that effect.

For instance, in this roundup at Muslim World News, all the story says is:

Moscow, May 8 (DPA) An Iranian-born US businesswoman is tipped to become the first woman “space tourist” to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), Russian media reported Monday.

Telecommunications manager Anousheh Ansari, who was born in 1967, may make a short flight to the orbiter next spring as part of a Russian crew, space officials told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Nothing about her religion. Looking at her web site, there’s no mention of her religion. She talks about wanting to inspire Iranians, but says nothing about Muslims. One would think that one’s religion would be described in an “about” section, unless she’s concerned about negative perceptions arising from it. That doesn’t mean, of course, that she’s not Muslim, but I can find no actual evidence that she is.

So is it true, or is this just an assumption that many are making because of her birth nationality?

I would also note, per this statement by Dinerman:

The industry has a long way to go to get there. The problem is still the cost of access to orbit. Some in the space industry believe that NASA

Space

Is She Or Isn’t She?

I’ve seen a number of references to Anousheh Ansari being the first Muslim woman in space, including this piece on space tourism in today’s issue of The Space Review, by Taylor Dinerman. I know that she’s Iranian, but this is the first time that I’ve heard that she’s a practicing Muslim. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course, but I was doing a search on “Anousheh Ansari Muslim” and I can’t find any primary source to that effect.

For instance, in this roundup at Muslim World News, all the story says is:

Moscow, May 8 (DPA) An Iranian-born US businesswoman is tipped to become the first woman “space tourist” to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), Russian media reported Monday.

Telecommunications manager Anousheh Ansari, who was born in 1967, may make a short flight to the orbiter next spring as part of a Russian crew, space officials told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Nothing about her religion. Looking at her web site, there’s no mention of her religion. She talks about wanting to inspire Iranians, but says nothing about Muslims. One would think that one’s religion would be described in an “about” section, unless she’s concerned about negative perceptions arising from it. That doesn’t mean, of course, that she’s not Muslim, but I can find no actual evidence that she is.

So is it true, or is this just an assumption that many are making because of her birth nationality?

I would also note, per this statement by Dinerman:

The industry has a long way to go to get there. The problem is still the cost of access to orbit. Some in the space industry believe that NASA

Space

Arrogance

Eric Hedman has concerns about the VSE (really, ESAS–I wish that people would be more careful to make the distinction). This is a new one that I hadn’t previously considered:

Michael Griffin recently said two things that significantly bother me about the Ares architecture. He said that the Ares 5 is being designed with the requirements of a Mars mission in mind. He also said that he didn

War Commentary

Being Killed By False Guilt

Shelby Steele has an important essay on the false consciousness of the left, and Europe:

The West is stymied by this extremism because it is used to enemies that want to live. In Vietnam, America fought one whose communism was driven by an underlying nationalism, the desire to live free of the West. Whatever one may think of this, here was an enemy that truly wanted to live, that insisted on territory and sovereignty. But Osama bin Laden fights only to achieve a death that will enshrine him as a figure of awe. The gift he wants to leave his people is not freedom or even justice; it is consolation.

White guilt in the West–especially in Europe and on the American left–confuses all this by seeing Islamic extremism as a response to oppression. The West is so terrified of being charged with its old sins of racism, imperialism and colonialism that it makes oppression an automatic prism on the non-Western world, a politeness. But Islamic extremists don’t hate the West because they are oppressed by it. They hate it precisely because the end of oppression and colonialism–not their continuance–forced the Muslim world to compete with the West. Less oppression, not more, opened this world to the sense of defeat that turned into extremism.

But the international left is in its own contest with American exceptionalism. It keeps charging Israel and America with oppression hoping to mute American power. And this works in today’s world because the oppression script is so familiar and because American power cringes when labeled with sins of the white Western past. Yet whenever the left does this, it makes room for extremism by lending legitimacy to its claim of oppression. And Israel can never use its military fire power without being labeled an oppressor–which brings legitimacy to the enemies she fights. Israel roars; much of Europe supports Hezbollah.

Fortunately, at least in England, the left may be finally waking up to reality:

It is amazing how a few by-election shocks and some madmen with explosive backpacks can concentrate the mind. At any rate, British citizens, black and white, can move onwards together

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!