General, General Science, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

In For A Penny, In For A Pound

5 Comments

It’s about 0230 EDT, and I’m still up, planning home renovations for tomorrow. But I’m in south Florida, about fifteen minutes from the swamp to the west, and the sky is clear for both the Perseids and the Parker Solar Probe Delta IV launch in an hour, 150 miles north-northwest of me. So I might as well stay up a little longer. Hoping I’ll see the Milky Way for the first time in a long time.

[Sunday-morning update]

Well, saw half a dozen meteors, one of them right next to the ascending rocket. No Milky Way, though.

[Update Sunday night]

Given my recent failed attempts to see it, I’m wondering (slightly depressed) if it’s an age-related vision decline. It was very distinct in my youth, but it seems like there are a lot fewer stars than there used to be.

Administrative, General

Back To Florida

22 Comments

No posting until this evening, when I get there. Open thread, be good in comments.

[Update at 2300 EDT]

In Florida, survived both flight and the drive from Miami to West Palm Beach on surface streets, though it took a while (it was rush hour, and my rental car couldn’t affordably deal with turnpike tolls, 95 would have been a nightmare, and I saw some interesting territory between here and there that I never had). Anyway, back in the land of heat, humidity, and flat.

[Update a while later, before going to bed]

I was catching up on the news, including the too-narrow Republican win in Ohio, and I heard a strange noise outside. I went and opened the door and realized that it was something with which I had been recently unfamiliar, being from southern California. I think it’s called “rain.” In fact, the last time I’d heard it, a couple weeks ago, was the last time I was here in Florida.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Chicago’s Crime

29 Comments

It’s time to hold Democrats responsible. But the media won’t.

And as Glenn says, if Trump were to use the Insurrection Act to do something about it with federal troops, the media would call him a dictator.

I heard a Democrat give the standard line this morning that this is about lack of gun control, not in Chicago, but in the surrounding areas, and that (of course!) the only solution is nationwide gun control, to keep the guns out of Chicago. Unfortunately for this “argument,” we aren’t seeing these levels of violence in Gary, or Milwaukee, or even Detroit, which have just as much access to those same guns.

[Late-morning update]

As dozens are killed or wounded in Chicago, Illinois celebrates “Barack Obama Day.”

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!