I wonder why this story broke on a Friday afternoon?
In a rare occurrence, the CIA fired an officer who acknowledged giving classified information to a reporter, NBC News learned Friday.
The officer flunked a polygraph exam before being fired on Thursday and is now under investigation by the Justice Department, NBC has learned.
Intelligence sources tell NBC News the accused officer, Mary McCarthy, worked in the CIA
The Sanity Inspector says that we don’t have to worry about the offensive buildup–we have plenty of time:
Former French prime minister Pierre Laval said Monday that Germany is a least five years away from developing an offensive military capability, leaving time to peacefully negotiate a settlement.
“But there is a chance that the Western powers will use bombs or artillery against several sites in Germany,” he was quoted as saying. “Then, the reactions would be strong, and would contribute to increased war fever.”
As Jeff Foust notes, there hasn’t been a lot of breaking news at this conference, but he has recovered sufficiently from last night’s pistonless-pumped margarita party to put up a summary of yesterday’s sessions.
I haven’t seen a lot worth reporting since the wireless came back up, but I did run across this piece, in the “bears use the woods as a toilet” category, which claims–hold on to your hats, now–that men influenced by attractive women don’t always make great decisions:
“We all think we are rational beings, but our research suggests … that people with high testosterone levels are very vulnerable to sexual cues. If there are no cues around, they behave normally, but if they see sexual images they become impulsive…”
What would we do without researchers?
Wireless is up. There was an announcement from Space Frontier Foundation that the Teachers in Space program has had the donation of 3 suborbital spaceflights, one each from Armadillo, Rocketplane-Kistler and XCOR. The sponsors hope to find federal sponsorship for hundreds of educator flights.
— Update 6:07 MST —
Alan Boyle has more.
The wireless is up in the room. For now.
George Nield of FAA-AST is talking, and describing the new rules for human spaceflight.
Here is Jeff Foust’s first post from the conference.
I’m posting this from the lobby after lunch. In theory the wireless is supposed to be up in the room Real Soon Now.
Clark Lindsey has some stuff up from the proceedings so far. And more here.
At least for a Space Access conference. There’s no broadband in the rooms. There is a wireless connection in the lobby, from which I’m posting this. Michael Mealing is attempting to set up a wireless connection in the room in which the proceedings are occuring, so we can blog from there, but there’s a problem with the network connection to the router, and there will be no resolution before tomorrow morning. The restaurant took half an hour to take out orders, and an hour to deliver them, then screwed up the check. Not to mention that my linguini was spaghetti., and overcooked.
Other than that, everything is great. Hopefully better news on the morrow.
And it looks like a beautiful day for a drive. Often when I leave LA heading east, there’s a thick marine layer, and clouds that don’t break up until Palm Springs, but it’s blue sky and mountains all the way from the beach today.
This is the most beautiful time of year in southern CA. There’s been a lot of rain and the hillsides are green in a way that they only get for a few weeks, spangled with yellow mustard flowers that make their greenness look all the brighter from a distance.
If I see anything worth taking a picture of on the trip, I’ll post later.
I don’t know if this is a Marriott thing in general, or just TownePlace Suites, but the staff there have taken to the habit of asking me upon checkout, “Did you have a perfect stay”?
I never know how to respond to this question. Perfection is a platonic ideal, never to be achieved in real life–it is a goal only to be sought. To ask someone whether or not they have achieved it is to put one on the spot. I can lie, and say yes (which no doubt many do, just to get out and on their way). Or I can tell the truth, and say no, or in an attempt to avoid the quandary, to inform them that perfection isn’t possible. This doesn’t get me off the hook–the inevitable response to either of the latter is “…well, if it wasn’t perfect, what could we have done to make it perfect?”
I don’t know.
Make it so the teevee can be viewed while working on the computer? Have wine glasses? A slightly firmer bed? Protein with the overcarbed muffins in the breakfast room? A quieter room, away from the street? Move the entire hotel to the beach? Move the entire hotel to Cabo? Open bar happy hour? Hot and cold running nymphomaniacs?
It’s an unreasonable question, and whatever marketing genius came up with it should rethink it, because it’s gotten to the point of making me not want to stay there. I think the next time they ask, I’ll say, “My stay would be perfect if you wouldn’t ask me if my stay was perfect.” Ask if it was good, if it was great, if there were any problems, but please don’t place the burden of your failure to achieve the unachievable on me.