…on bubble gum:
I thought
Boeing 797 Flying Wing
Looks like window seats may be harder to get soon. Last week New Tech Spy said this.
Texas Space Authority
Bill Hulsey and various other concerned Texans are forming the Texas Space Authority. We meet next week at University of Texas at Austin.
I found a couple of documents about Texas space plans. They are from 2003 and 2004. The Texas 2003-2007 strategic plan is here. Another is a 12 MB spaceport plan file. Email at dinkin@space-shot.com if you want me to share it with you on xdrive.
ISDC Update
I’m not blogging the conference–I’m too busy schmoozing, and I’m not staying at the conference hotel, so it’s a PITA to haul a laptop around there. But Clark Lindsey has already built a page of links to his and others’ comments so far. I may have some thoughts on the conference early next week, after things have calmed down and I’ve had some time to gather some. Anyway, there are three days remaining (though I will only be attending today).
The Blogwar
…between Juan Cole (who I hope goes to Yale soon, so he ceases damaging the reputation of my alma mater in Ann Arbor) and Christopher Hitchens continues. One of the Iranian readers at Winds of Change says that Professor Cole’s Farsi isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And Iowahawk has hacked Juan’s outbox, and found a first draft of one of his emails to Hitchens. As Joe points out, it’s difficult to parody the professor, since he does such a good job of it himself, but Mr. Burge manages it.
Splog Update
Joe Katzman has some thoughts (and a useful comments section) about the comment and trackack spam problem that (among other things) keeps people from posting Blogspot URLs here. It’s not your father’s Internet.
Friends Of The Dictators
Instapundit has an interesting roundup of links and discussion about the notion of the morality of allowing the Saudi and Iranian governments to control their oil, and the hypocrisy of the left in defending their right to do so.
Heading Off To ISDC
Posting has been light, because I’ve been busy helping someone help Mike Griffin get us Back To The Moon, And Beyond, but I’ll be heading over to the hotel tonight to schmooze with early arrivals at the conference. There should be quite a few, since the festivities start at 9 AM tomorrow.
The Cultural Wars In Europe
Here’s a long, but vital essay by George Weigel:
Earlier this year, five days short of the second anniversary of the Madrid bombings, the Zapatero government, which had already legalized marriage between and adoption by same-sex partners and sought to restrict religious education in Spanish schools, announced that the words
European Carbon Market Crisis
The carbon emission offset market in Europe is in crisis because of an unexpected 50% price drop in the last couple of weeks. True to Europe, the traders are demanding government intervention to prop up the price(!) of carbon offsets. While it is true that the governments can afford to buy more, why would they want to? The high price of hydrocarbons will curb carbon emissions.
Assuming that the coal/methane/nuclear balance continues to move toward nuclear for electricity, high gasoline prices mean less carbon. So either we will run out of oil or we will have high CO2, not both.