For all of their platitudes about Saddam being a dictator, and the theoretical need to remove him, as long as no concrete action was taken to actually do so, the French apparently helped him keep down the opposition.

No one of rank higher than colonel, or Navy captain, will be attending the Paris Air Show.

You know, I consider myself a First Amendment extremist, but I think that all of this incitement is getting out of hand. Fathers, lock up your hoboes–it’s not safe out there.

I’m back from Scottsdale, and will try to report on it today (or more likely tomorrow–lots to catch up on on the home front). But here’s something that happened while I was gone that wasn’t part of the program, but may be the most exciting news yet.

Jeff Bezos, founder and owner of Amazon, has finally started to show his space cards.

I’m off to Scottsdale.

All of the anti-American calls to arms by the mullahs seem to be fizzling out.

All of the anti-American calls to arms by the mullahs seem to be fizzling out.

All of the anti-American calls to arms by the mullahs seem to be fizzling out.

I was going to follow up on the Santorum stuff, especially since Andrew has gotten himself into such a froth over it (there are more posts on the subject above and below the one I linked), but I don’t really have time. Fortunately, Virginia (who has a new car, with which she looks quite pleased) said it much better than I would have anyway.

To reiterate, I don’t agree with Santorum, but it’s silly to think that his position is beyond the political pale. Such positions are one of the many reasons that I’ve never been either a conservative, or a Republican.

I’m driving to Scottsdale, Arizona this afternoon, where I’ll be attending the Space Access conference over the next couple days, and won’t be back until Sunday. I should have mentioned this sooner, but if you’re interested in the latest word in low-cost space transportation developments, this is a don’t-miss conference, with many of the key players in attendance in an informal setting.

I’ll be on a panel on Saturday, with George Herbert, space entrepreneur and moderator of some of the sci.space groups, Henry Vanderbilt, conference organizer and Space Access Foundation founder, and unnamed others, with the subject “NASA And Orbital Space Plane: Revolution, Evolution, Or Business As Usual?”

I suspect you know my answer to that one.

I’m taking a computer, but I don’t know if I’ll be posting much. I’ll have a report when I get back.