XKCD has the other contingency letters.
Extreme-Left Democrats
Are pushing Middle America away:
“It always strikes me as funny that the folks on TV call Republicans ‘extreme,’ and pretty much ignore that Democrats have left no room for people like me in my own party,” said Yvonne, a Youngstown native who did not want to give her last name.
To Yvonne, who has lived all of her 30-plus years in that eastern Ohio city, being a Democrat is like listing your religion, the part of town where you grew up, and the school you attended.
“It’s a part of my identity,” she said, adding after a pause: “Or was.”
When Ryan made his announcement last week, the national press offered no questions or headline-grabbing adjectives — just praise.
That was an interesting departure from the media reaction when then-candidate Cory Gardner, a Colorado congressman running for U.S. Senate last year, changed from support to non-support of “personhood.”
“Bombshell,” “extremist” and “cheap election-year stunt” were the words in some of the milder headlines.
Gardner moved to the center. Ryan moved to the left wing.
Ryan was praised. Gardner was hammered.
Now think about that for a moment: One politician moved to his party’s wing, not its center, and it was as if a tree fell in a forest — with no one listening. Another politician moved to his party’s center, and hair collectively caught fire.
Apparently, “extremism” is only bad when it’s in favor of liberty and limited government.
Netanyahu
Did the administration lie about him?
At this point, it’s easier to ask, does the administration ever tell the truth about anything?
The Best Steak House
…is your house.
I don’t eat out much if I can avoid it, but you know what I almost never order when I do? A steak. Nothing is simpler to cook at home.
On Climate Change
…the science battle rages.
It would sure be nice if some of these self-identified climate “scientists” would learn some statistics. And stop calling people who understand statistics names like “denier” and “anti-science.”
[Monday-morning update]
Inside the latest global warming scandal:
This kind of thing is going on all over the world. It is one of the reasons why the satellite data (which, however, go back only to 1979) are so important: they have not been corrupted.
Yup.
[Bumped]
[Update a few minutes later]
Soviet-style disinformation dominates the climate “debate”:
Why is it that when a political figure makes a misstatement about a global warming-related issue, which happens many times every day, no government scientific agency or leading university scientist ever corrects them?
For example, all climate modelers correctly label their speculations of future world temperatures as “projections,” meaning that they have no validated forecast skill. Yet politicians, mass media, and the public treat the models as providing temperature forecasts or predictions. Because this misusage is never corrected, politicians cheerily continue to base expensive public policy on it.
Another example: carbon dioxide, as an essential factor in photosynthesis, is the elixir of planetary life, yet politicians dub it a “pollutant.” Similarly, badging the theoretical global warming problem as a “carbon” issue represents scientific illiteracy because it fails to distinguish the element “carbon” from the molecule “carbon dioxide,” and deliberately encourages the public to confuse a colorless, odorless, beneficial gas with soot. Again, climate-alarmist scientists say little or nothing to correct these mistakes.
Many in the public understand that Hendricks’ behavior is typical of politicians everywhere. But most people do not recognize that fraud is also being directly committed in support of this travesty by many of today’s self-appointed “leading climate scientists.” For when they are not directly massaging the data relied upon in their scientific writings, these scientists often report their findings in ways that are intended to deceive the reader into believing that dangerous global warming exists, or will shortly exist. The UN’s climate reports are the magnum opus of this style of operation.
Yes.
Homer Hickam’s Blog
I just noticed he has one. Just added to the blogroll.
SpaceX
They got the go-ahead a while ago to start fueling. Things are on schedule, as far as I know.
[Update a little over an hour before launch]
Everything still progressing nominally.
Here’s some good technical background on SpaceX’s quest for reusability. Assuming it’s accurate (and I didn’t see any obvious problems), that is a great, detailed description of the Falcon 9 (and its history).
[Update after scrub]
They scrubbed, primarily (it seems) due to a range radar problem.
This is why SpaceX wants to go to Brownsville. Tired of depending on antique improperly-maintained hardware at CCAFS.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) February 8, 2015
The Cape was down for weeks last spring for exactly the same radar issue: http://t.co/JLi4nC2sVQ This is unacceptable in 21st century.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) February 8, 2015
A little background on the antiquity of range radar at both Eastern and Western Test Ranges: https://t.co/z8ThcgECuB Goes back to 50s.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) February 8, 2015
In the 21st century, range tracking should be via GPS, not radar. For example, Kodiak Launch Complex doesn't require radar tracking.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) February 8, 2015
No, I don’t have strong opinions about this at all…
Strength Training
I think that women should do it, as well as men, because as Mark Rippetoe says, strong people are harder to kill. But I’m particularly in favor of vaginal weight lifting.
A High Minimum Wage
How it closed down a San Francisco book store.
Unexpectedly!
On The Radio
OK, actually, on the telephone. I’ll be having a Ricochet discussion with John Walker in half an hour to talk space stuff (probably including today’s Falcon fly-back attempt, and the ASAP report).
To participate, call +1 712 432 0375, then enter the access code 139584# and confirm by pressing 1. To enter the access code, you may have to put your phone into tone dialing mode, which may not be the default if you’re on ISDN.
Here’s the link for Ricochet members (it’s behind the paywall).
[Update a couple hours later]
Here’s the audio, for those interested.