Some interesting discussion (and fodder for potential new “Routers” pieces) over at Winds of Change.
A Conspicuous Absence
Stephen Hayes provides more reason to think that we need a commission to investigate the 9/11 Commission:
Why would the 9/11 Commission fail to mention Abdul Rahman Yasin, who admitted his role in the first World Trade Center attack, which killed 6 people, injured more than 1,000, and blew a hole seven stories deep in the North Tower? It’s an odd omission, especially since the commission named no fewer than five of his accomplices.
Why would the 9/11 Commission neglect Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, a man who was photographed assisting a 9/11 hijacker and attended perhaps the most important 9/11 planning meeting?
And why would the 9/11 Commission fail to mention the overlap between the two successful plots to attack the World Trade Center?
The answer is simple: The Iraqi link didn’t fit the commission’s narrative….
…From the evidence now available, it seems clear that Saddam Hussein did not direct the 9/11 attacks. Few people have ever claimed he did. But some four years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and one year after the 9/11 Commission released its final report, there is much we do not know. The determination of these officials to write out of the history any Iraqi involvement in terrorism against America has contributed mightily to public misperceptions about the former Iraqi regime and the war on terror.
While we’re at it, it would be nice to complete the investigation of the OK City bombing, and find who else was involved besides McVeigh and Nichols.
More On Michoud
Thomas James has a lot more discussion of the ET manufacturing facilities that were in the path of Katrina. There was also a story at Space Daily about it.
Cylon Colony
Michael Huang tries to smooth over ruffled feathers in the Human vs. Robot space exploration debate by playing the colonization card. I vote humans. Nevertheless, there can be self-replicating nanobots or, before those develop, self replicating macrobots. If we are too busy or craven to leave the planet, then maybe we can settle the universe with ‘Cylons’ (the future human-created silicon cum wetware nemesis race from TV show Battlestar Galactica).
Come to think of it, DNA makes us digital life. An argument for Intelligent Design is that if you were trying to colonize a new world like Earth, you would probably arrive at something very much like life as we know it. Genetic algorithms work pretty well at solving ecological problems. Are we some other race’s expendable robot explorers?
Off To California
And dodging a hurricane on the way from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas.
No posting until tonight.
Good News For Injured Vets
And other people missing limbs, or organs. They may be on the verge of being able to regenerate them.
Going For The Trifecta
So now Mother Sheehan has support from the communists, Al Sharpton, and Nazis.
I don’t know about her but, like Indiana Jones, I hate those guys.
Pictures From The Future
If you want to know what the Gulf Coast will look like on Tuesday, take a look at the past. Anyone who’s still considering staying for this storm should be persuaded otherwise by these pictures of the effects of Camille in 1969. Unless this storm weakens considerably, it will scrub many buildings right down to the foundations. Here are some more.
A Shuttle Killer?
Thomas James asks a question in comments that I’ve been wondering about as well. If the manufacturing facilities for the external tanks in Michoud, Mississippi are destroyed, maybe Shuttle will be retired sooner than we think. It may also put paid to Mike Griffin’s ambitions about Shuttle derivatives. It wouldn’t be as devastating as a hit on the Cape, though. They could probably rebuild tank manufacturing facilities, but if the orbiters were wiped out, the program would truly be dead.
[Update late on Sunday night]
Thomas James points out correctly in comments that Michoud is in Lousiana. That’s what I had thought, but I made the mistake of checking it on line. That’s what I get for relying on NASA web sites for information.
Potential Catastrophe In The Big Easy
We got off very lucky from Katrina down here in south Florida. But the storm is now a category four or five, and headed for the worst possible place–New Orleans, much of which is below sea level. This could be the worst natural disaster since Andrew, and there’s a good chance of it being the worst in US history. I hope that everyone can get out–the odds aren’t very good for anyone who stays. But experience shows that many will, thinking or hoping that it will turn, until it’s too late for them. Brendan Loy is covering it closely, with lots of graphics.
[Update a few minutes later]
Isobars are lines of constant pressure. Check out this forecast of the storm.
[Update at 8 AM EDT]
It just occurs to me that if bin Laden got hold of a nuke, and set it off in New Orleans, it would be a trifle compared to what this storm may be about to do. They’ve been dodging these things for years–Betsy, Camille, Andrew…but their luck may have finally run out.
And this is heading for prime oil-production (and gasoline production) country. Expect a big jump in both oil futures and gas prices tomorrow.
[Update ten minutes later]
I’ve never been to New Orleans, but always meant to. I particularly wanted to see the French Quarter. If the worst happens, I may not ever get the chance, now.
[Update at 8:37 AM EDT]
I’m flying to Los Angeles tomorrow from Fort Lauderdale via Dallas. The route usually goes over the Gulf, coming over land just west of New Orleans, but I suspect that we’ll be flying a lot further to the south.
[Almost 11 AM]
Winds are now at 175 mph, with gusts well over two hundred. A lot of people are going to die, because they started the evacuation too late.