Obama “stimulus: funds went to a dam in good shape, but not to the one with issues.
My FISO Telecon
I talked about the book in the context of recent events. The slides and audio are available for download now. There was a glitch partway through in which everything was echoing, not sure if they edited that part out or not.
Dream Chaser
Could it be used for a Hubble repair mission?
Theoretically, not sure how practical it is. First they have to test it to see if it can even get to and return from orbit.
Winston Churchill And ET
A recently discovered document with his speculations about extraterrestrial life.
The Climate Cover Up
I was amused to hear about the panic of “scientists” in the government “protecting” from the Trump administration data they’ve been hiding for years. But here’s a comprehensive round up of their rewriting the past.
A Taxonomy Of Uncertainty
This is a beautiful taxonomy. The root of a great deal of suffering is people believing their field is level 3, when it's actually level 4. pic.twitter.com/8yg2sRocNL
— Will Wilson (@WAWilsonIV) February 15, 2017
Climate science is currently somewhere between levels 4 and 5, but many (particularly ignorant adherents of the climate religion) think that it’s at 2 or 1.
SLS/Orion
NASA is thinking about putting up crew on its very first flight.
The hubris and hypocrisy of this is breathtaking. https://t.co/KsfsIbUM0X
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) February 15, 2017
And yet they continue to delay commercial crew because “safety is the highest priority.”
[Update a couple minutes later]
This is also the kind of thing you might do as an agency with Falcon Heavy/New Glenn and Crew Dragon/Starliner breathing down your neck.
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) February 15, 2017
[Update a couple minutes later]
A congressional staffer told me about this last week: A hearing on NASA’s past, past, past and present, no future.
[Update a few minutes later]
More from Eric Berger.
[Update a while later]
Joel Achenback weighs in.
[Update a while later]
@SpcPlcyOnline NASA's version of the Hail Mary three quarter court shot buzzer beater pull the goalie in the last minute maneuver.
— Parabolicarc.com (@spacecom) February 15, 2017
[Update a while later, just before noon Pacific]
Thoughts from Keith Cowing. Yes, it’s a Hail Mary. And reckless, in my opinion. If it was to save the world, OK, but to save a bloated jobs program?
[Update early afternoon]
[Update a while later]
And here’s the story from the Chrises at NASA Spaceflight.
[Update a few minutes later]
And Jeff Foust’s take. Excellent point in comments:
If NASA agree[s] to this (putting astronauts on 1st flight of brand new rocket), they better not whine about SpaceX loading astronauts before fuel.
Indeed.
The Window Shade
Reflections from Wayne Hale on the apparent new anti-social activity in airplanes: Looking out the window.
I have actually been requested to put my shade down on an occasion in which the sun was beaming right in the window. On my trip to Israel a couple years ago, the sun came up as we were approaching the French coast, but the plane remained dark. I had to crack the bottom if I wanted to see, as we crossed the French then Italian Alps and Monico, and then Italy and Greece. Last week on the way to DC I ended up with a window seat with no window (the seat in front of me had two). It was almost claustrophobic. When I hear about these new aircraft coming along without windows, I think “No way.”
Long-Time Blogger Kim Dutoit
…has lost his wife. Help him move on.
Muslim Slavery
A Georgetown professor says it’s not so bad. Meanwhile, at least fifty million Muslims support violent defense of their religion.
Seems low.
[Update a few minutes later]
A fourth Muslim group refuses federal funds to fight Islamic extremism. Gee, it’s almost as though they don’t have a problem with it.
And more on the joys of Muslim slavery from Rod Dreher:
Just past the 1:00 mark, Brown says that slavery under Islamic law was not comparable to chattel slavery in the American South, in part because the slaves of Muslims had rights. He said it was in fact comparable to feudalism in medieval Europe — something “social,” not “economic.” When the questioner persists in his challenge to Brown’s take on slavery in Islam, Brown goes on to say that it’s an undeniable fact that Muhammad held slaves.
“Are you more morally mature than the Prophet of God?” Brown says. “No, you’re not.”
So, there you have it. If Muhammad held slaves, how bad could slavery really be?
It’s a challenging point, actually: if the Prophet behaved in a certain way, who are Muslims today to stand in judgment of him and what he did? If we say that slavery is evil, are we not implicitly condemning the Prophet as an evildoer? Can a Muslim do that and still be a good Muslim? I don’t know.
It’s worth pointing out that in the New Testament, St. Paul doesn’t condemn slaveholding, which was common in his day, nor does he explicitly endorse it. He simply recognizes it as a fact of life, and tells slaves and slaveholders how to treat each other. (See here for more information.) However, the principles of Christianity led in modern times to the rejection of slavery among Christians. To canonize someone as a saint does not mean that they led perfect lives, only that the led lives of heroic Christian virtue. The only perfectly sinless life was that of Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless, it is worth considering whether or not Islam today has within it the resources to oppose slavery, which continues to exist in some Muslim countries. The line I quote above can be used to justify slavery (if Muhammad held slaves, who are Muslims to condemn other Muslims who own slaves?), or, I suppose, to undermine confidence in Muhammad and his teaching.
One of these religions is not like the other.
One of the infuriating things about the Zinnization of education is the notion that too many young people have that America invented slavery, rather than sacrificing over half a million men to end it, at the urging of Christians.