Business, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Busy Moon Day

18 Comments

First (as he told me last week he planned to do), Charles Miller rolled out his proposal for a return to the moon, using commercial launchers, at the National Press Club. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure it will contain a lot of good info to inform my own project.

Second, Elon had a press telecon to present preliminary findings on the accident. It was apparently a broken strut on the helium tank in the LOX tank, which failed at 20% of the rated strength (it seems to have failed in tension). Return to flight no sooner than September, depending on customer willingness to fly, redesign of strut (and new supplier). Falcon Heavy first flight delayed until Q2 next year. He admitted that it may have occurred due to “complacency” after long string of successful flights. Most current employees had never seen a failure.

[Update a few minutes later]

Alan Boyle (who seems to have retired from NBC, congratulations) has the story at Geekwire.

[Tuesday-morning update]

Here’s a description of what went wrong from the Space Access Society.

[Update a few minutes later]

Here’s Stephen Clark’s takehttp://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/20/support-strut-probable-cause-of-falcon-9-failure/ over at SpaceflightNow.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Socialism In The US

16 Comments

It’s been making a big comeback. And yes, corporatism is socialism. In fact, it could be said to be a form of national socialism. It sure as hell has nothing to do with the free market.

[Update a few minutes later]

Is Donald Trump a fascist?

I just heard Trump speak live. The speech lasted an hour, and my jaw was on the floor most of the time. I’ve never before witnessed such a brazen display of nativistic jingoism, along with a complete disregard for economic reality. It was an awesome experience, a perfect repudiation of all good sense and intellectual sobriety.

Yes, he is. But no more so than Barack Obama.

Or Hillary Clinton.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Political Correctness Kills

24 Comments

It’s time to a) stop pretending that Islamists are not waging war on us and b) allow our unarmed forces to defend themselves. I know this will sound crazy to some, but no, you don’t give up your second-amendment right to self defense when you enlist.

[Update a few minutes later]

An open letter from a military wife:

These incidents, which resulted in the deaths of 35 innocent people and serious injuries to 51 others, might all have been minimized or even prevented by trained, armed military members.

Why is it that these men and women, who carry firearms on our behalf, whom we entrust with the security and well-being of our nation, aren’t allowed to bear arms on military bases in order to defend themselves and others?

Good question.

[Saturday-morning update]
The militia is re-forming. Not any too soon.

[Bumped]

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Hillary’s Emails

1 Comment

The question she didn’t answer:

…it seems beyond dispute that Clinton withheld Benghazi-related information from Congress beginning September 20, 2012. There are laws that govern such behavior. To give two examples: 18 U.S. Code 1505 says that anyone who “obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede…the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House, or any joint committee of the Congress” could face a five-year prison term, while 18 U.S. Code 1001 states that anyone who “falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact” in the course of “any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress” could face a prison sentence of up to eight years.

Laws are for the little people.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The Fascist Abuse Of Prosecutory Power In Wisconsin

11 Comments

The state supreme court has finally brought it to a decisive end.

There should be sanctions and lawsuits, but that probably won’t happen.

[Early-evening update]

More here:

The breadth of the documents gathered pursuant to subpoenas and seized pursuant to search warrants is amazing. Millions of documents, both in digital and paper copy, were subpoenaed and/or seized. Deputies seized business papers, computer equipment, phones, and other devices, while their targets were restrained under police supervision and denied the ability to contact their attorneys. The special prosecutor obtained virtually every document possessed by the Unnamed Movants relating to every aspect of their lives, both personal and professional, over a five-year span (from 2009 to 2013). Such documents were subpoenaed and/or seized without regard to content or relevance to the alleged violations of Ch. 11. As part of this dragnet, the special prosecutor also had seized wholly irrelevant information, such as retirement income statements, personal financial account information, personal letters, and family photos.

The court was not impressed.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

SLS

22 Comments

Let the fisking commence: Continue reading SLS →

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