Well, not really. But the title of Ed Driscoll’s blog entry was so enticing, that I just couldn’t resist highlighting it.
I didn’t even realize that there were so many of us. Our name, I reckon, is legion.
Now if you’re wondering what it is I’m talking about here, then let me explain. A few people got together to stage a little protest yesterday, the kind that DC sees every so often.
Although it may happen that they keep it up until 2020, NASA wants to decommission the ISS earlier, in 2016. Oddly, this is not news. The ISS has been pretty much a useless endeavour ever since it was downsized to approximate a large tin can in the late ’80s, and has cost the U.S. taxpayers something like $100 billon (yes, billion with a b).
Perhaps I should not hold back so much and say how I really feel. From PopSci.com:
Despite nearing completion after more than a decade of construction, and recently announcing some upcoming improvements to accompany its full crew of six astronauts, NASA plans to de-orbit the International Space Station in 2016. Meaning the station will have spent more time under construction than completed.
With the space shuttle being decommissioned and the Ares is doubt, it was inevitable. This is what happens when the goal is politics, instead of exploration and science.
Al Gore
If you Google Waxman-Markey, the ‘Climate Change Bill’ coming up in Congress this week, you’ll see that opinions on it are all over the map. Waxman-Markey Will Mandate Greener Building, Drive Green Renovation, Waxman’s Economy Killer, Waxman-Markey bill to address indirect land use change, Global warming bill still contains some smoke and mirrors, – no two giving the same opinion.
It’s a difficult topic, because it touches on economics, science and yes, politics. From an economic point of view, Megan McCardle notes that the bill seems to be low-cost.
But the real question, I think, is whether the low cost is a feature or a bug. The only way a bill is going to have an impact is if it causes real financial pain to American households–enough to get them to change their behavior. Waxman-Markey obviously is not going to do that. And indeed, the projections of its effect on global warming are entirely negligible.
Why should that be? Does this economist have the science to back up that statement? No, and she doesn’t need it. She explains that the reason is political, not scientific. The reason is – China.
China is not going to let its citizens languish in subsistence farming because 30 years from now, some computer models say there will be some not-well-specified bad effects from high temperatures. Nor is India. Global warming isn’t even high on the list of environmental concerns they’ll want to attack as they get rich; local air pollution is far more pressing. Thinking that we’re somehow going to lead them by example is like thinking that poor rural teens are going to buy electric cars because Ed Begley jr. has one.
In other words, if you believe that climate change is anthropological in nature, you must believe that nothing is going to change until and unless China and India come on-board.
Well, what about the rest of the world? From RealClearPolitics, Robert Tracinski and Tom Minchin point out that it’s not happening in other countries either.
As the US Congress considers the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, the Australian Senate is on the verge of rejecting its own version of cap-and-trade. The story of this legislation’s collapse offers advance notice for what might happen to similar legislation in the US—and to the whole global warming hysteria.
So what do the scientists say? Dr. James Hansen, the director of the Goddard Institute of Space Science (GISS) said this, as he was being arrested:
I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen. Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient. Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished.
I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I think he’s saying that the science doesn’t matter; it’s what people feel is right that matters. That sort of works, because the science is apparently being ignored. But contra Hansen, it’s being ignored for the politics. The scientists are playing politics.
A source inside the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed many of the claims made by analyst Alan Carlin, the economist/physicist who yesterday went public with accusations that science was being ignored in evaluating the danger of CO2.
The source, who chooses not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said that Carlin was rebuffed in his attempt to introduce scientific evidence that does not accord with the EPA’s view of global warming, which largely relies on IPCC reports.
Kevin Mooney at the Washington Examiner publishes on the story:
Scientific findings at odds with the Obama Administration’s views on carbon dioxide and climate change are being suppressed as a result of political pressure, officials at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) charge.
“This suppression of valid science for political reasons is beyond belief,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman. “EPA’s conduct is even more outlandish because it flies in the face of the president’s widely-touted claim that ‘the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over.’”
If this story was about anthrax, possible political manipulation in Congress and scientific intrigue, the story would not sell. It is a mess, too convoluted, too unbelievable. And there it is. We buy it, we believe it’s plausible – why exactly?
Let Them Eat Ice Cream
Clearly. If you’re following only the MSM, that is, TV, the papers, even radio, then you’re not getting it.
Then learn all you can about Twitter.
Years, yea, decades ago, I had a “Social Studies” teacher (I put “Social Studies” in scare quotes intentionally) who left an impression. J.T. is no longer with us, having died relatively young. And that’s a pity. Although a lifelong democrat, liberal and supporter of teachers unions, I suspect that despite our diametrically opposed viewpoints that we would have had great respect for each other and our positions. Let’s say he was a liberal in a classic sense, which is indistinguishable from mainstream conservatism today.
He recognized me as having a conservative bent even as far back as 1970, when I was busy figuring out how to radicalize my fellow high school students and resist the draft. I never succeeded, btw.
I bring this up because he first introduced me to a pearl of wisdom that I have never forgotten. We’re always ready to trade our freedom for a feeling of safety. Of course we are. People don’t (or shouldn’t) mind that when they buckle a seat belt. And people reflexively support curbs and outright bans on cigarette smoking in public (and sometimes in private) places. But is there a point at which we stay “stop” to this?
Homeland Security has instituted a requirement that private aircraft operators seek government permission each time we propose to take off if we are planning to depart for Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. We must provide advance detailed information about where, when, and who, including the names, social security numbers, addresses, etc., of all persons who will be in the aircraft. The justification for this, they say, is that we, our spouses, family or friends might be on their mysterious and top secret “No Fly List.” The most significant aspect of this is that Homeland Security has indicated that this is a preliminary step toward their ultimate objective of requiring this data submission prior to EVERY aircraft takeoff in America, regardless of destination. Keep this in mind as we continue.
It is important to understand that this requirement breaks entirely new ground. While ENTERING any country requires formalities, never, ever, has it been necessary to seek and receive government permission to LEAVE America, the “land of the free,” much less to travel within its borders. And never, ever, has it been proposed that such permission is somehow necessary to preserve “national security.” This is a requirement only previously seen in Iron Curtain dictatorships.
It’s only one data-point. Add it to the complaints that gun owners have had for years, that smokers have had for decades, and that businesses have had forever. The question is legitimate – Are we regulating ourselves out of our God-given rights? Have we already? I know the mechanism by which this is done – it’s done one baby step at a time. What I don’t know, is why.
…can be found pretty instantly online these days. From Iran, a person going by the handle “Change_for_Iran” is leaving these messages in the hours before midnight of Sat. 13-Jun. Because they’re twitter, the messages are time-ordered with the latest on top.
# my brother thinks they are after a student council activist. the council known as Tahkime Vahdat and belongs to president era. #iranelection 3 minutes ago from web
# I guess the Intel ministry guy is trying to convince university’s security to open the gates #iranelection 11 minutes ago from web
# I’m currently on rooftop with my laptop, most of the city is now looking calm except university of Economy building. #IranElection 15 minutes ago from web
# there were more troops inside the vans and now starting to create a line in front of the only entrance of the building #iranelection 20 minutes ago from web
# no reports from any other part of Tehran, we’re all waiting for a move from mousavi or karoubi. #iranelection 25 minutes ago from web
# Internet barely works, Speed is near 2kbps #iranelection33 minutes ago from web
# they are joining with police motorcycles in front of student’s dormitory buildings firefighters are leaving the area right now #iranelection 35 minutes ago from web
# black riot guards with black vans, it’s my first time seeing this people, no badges! probably Intel ministry #iranelection43 minutes ago from web
# 7am news, still nothing about protests & clashes on TV. #iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
# all cellphones now read: Emergency only – No Service! #iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
# 6:47 am, police is speaking with students inside dormitory buildings of university of Tehran with speaker. #iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web
# @matthew951 we’re using twitterfox! thanks for the note!about 1 hour ago from web in reply to matthew951
# Ahmadinejad & his supporters will celebrate their victory today at 5pm local time in Valiasr square & we will try to ruin his party!about 2 hours ago from web
# Major General Jafari, commander of IRG said he will not let mousavi’s green movement to harm Islamic revolution’s ethics #iranelectionabout 2 hours ago from web
# @LovLesmile Internet access in Iran is based on land lines not sat dishes!about 2 hours ago from web in reply to LovLesmile
Chilling. How do you know these are from Tehran? You don’t. But the source is fairly credible.
The immediate cause of what appears to be street riots in Tehran is the possibility (probability?) that the elections held there yesterday, elections that returned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, were utterly fraudulent.
Laura Rozen writing at the Foreign Policy Blog The Cable:
“I don’t think anyone anticipated this level of fraudulence,” Reuters cited the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour. “This was a selection, not an election. At least authoritarian regimes like Syria and Egypt have no democratic pretences. In retrospect it appears this entire campaign was a show: (Supreme Leader) Ayatollah (Ali) Khamenei wasn’t ever going to let Ahmadinejad lose.”
“I’m in disbelief that this could be the case,” Reuters cited Trita Parsi.
They continue:
Rozen also reports that “Iran hands have used words like “coup” to describe what they believe may be taking place.”
The whole world seems to be watching.
Update: Allahpundit at HotAir is now reporting 50 to 100 dead in the city.
The regime shut down text messaging across the country yesterday too to hamper organization of the protests they knew would follow the results. Even so, the Beeb says street violence today is the worst Tehran has seen in 10 years, replete with Iranian cops beating women with nightsticks.
The White house “is monitoring and watching the situation closely.“ I’m a little underwhelmed.
Update x2: Hours later, the MSM, at least, in the guise of the NYT, is reporting on the violence in Iran this morning, as is the Washington Post (I’m no longer registered there, so I cannot link to the article). The nets (CNN, ABC, NBC, but not Fox or CBS) have decided to highlight the story on their front pages. My personal bias says that all these stories are oddly muted:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday his re-election was “real and free” and cannot be questioned — despite accusations of mass voter fraud.
Slates Mickey Kaus points us to an article in the National Journal by Ron Brownstein. It asks one question about my home town (and “rust belt” cities in general), and about the hopes that these town have to rebuild and revitalize on waves of “Green Manufacturing”. The question is: What are they smoking?
For officials at every level, the great hope is that these fading car towns can move from rust to green, from building autos to manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels or buses and subway cars. These places offer many advantages for such production: factories, supply chains, transportation links, and a skilled workforce “that knows how to do metal,” as Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio says.
Well, those seem like pretty good reasons. Brownstein continues:
But there are few examples of such conversions succeeding in the auto plants already closed, notes Dan Luria, research director for the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, a government-business partnership. And although Obama’s policies ensure that the U.S. will buy more alternative energy and transit equipment in the years ahead, Luria says, there’s no guarantee that those products will be built in America, much less in these particular communities, unless Washington encourages it through an integrated set of carrots and sticks beyond anything under discussion. Brown, likewise, is urging a national manufacturing policy.
Well, given their advantages, why wouldn’t autos be built in Detroit, and subway cars in Wayne, and wind turbines and solar panels in Buffalo? Kaus throws a clue brick.
Hmm. Why might manufacturers of “alternative energy and transit equipment” want to avoid locating their factories in the heavily-unionized rustbelt? Do you think the ongoing example of Detroit’s Big Three might have a cautionary effect on their decision-making?
The research director, Laria, quoted by Brownstein above, encourages the Obama administration to use “an integrated set of carrots and sticks” to overcome this – um… hesitation. In English, Kaus notes that it’s also called a “national manufacturing policy”. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Make them stay in Detroit if they want to build “alternative energy and transit equipment”. They use policy like that all the time. In communist China and Cuba.
From Space.com
In a move that reflects the uncertainty surrounding NASA’s current strategy for replacing the space shuttle and returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020, House appropriators slashed by 16 percent the space agency’s $4 billion request for manned space exploration in 2010.
The proposed legislation, marked up June 4 by the House Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee, trims $483 million overall from U.S. President Barack Obama’s $18.7 billion budget request for NASA next year. The $670 million cut to the 2010 manned exploration request would leave $3.21 billion, which is less than is available for the effort this year.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), the subcommittee’s chairman, described the move as a “time-out” in the budget process as the White House awaits the findings of a 10-member panel tasked by the White House to reassess NASA’s post-shuttle exploration plans.
It’s funny how then candidate Obama’s proposals for NASA looked so much better last fall.
During the Democratic primaries, he planned to cut into the Constellation program to pay for increased educational spending. Yet by the general election he had reversed himself and promised increased funding to close the gap between shuttle retirement in 2010 and Constellation’s arrival in 2015. Does this change represent a true change of heart and the beginning of a commitment to our future in space, or an opportunistic campaign tactic to appeal to voters along Florida’s important space coast? That remains to be seen.
And it’s not exactly what the Obama administration told NASA just a month ago.
NASA officials said Thursday that the Obama administration will increase funding for the US space agency by five percent in 2010 and will conduct a review of its programme for manned space flight.
The $18.7-billion budget represents a $903.6-million increase over 2009 and includes money given to NASA under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan.
That, was then. This however, is not.
The Magic 8 Ball might read “The signs say yes.”
Michelle Malkin and the NYT report that two state senators, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, have joined New York State Republicans to give them majority control of the Senate.
From the NYT City Room:
Republicans seized control of the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party, which controlled the chamber for barely five months.
Interestingly,
After the results of the vote were read aloud, the in-house television station that carries Senate proceedings live in the Capitol went dark. All that appeared on the screen was a still photo of the Senate chamber and the words “Please stand by.”
Okay, it’s time for me to make a silly, meaningless comment. NY politics is in extreme disarray, and has been since Sept. 11, 2001 (before then, it was merely in disarray). SSM is not the issue upon which mid-term elections will turn in 2010, but the issue most emphatically does not help the Democratic party with any but the smallest part of its constituent base. SSM supporters have overreached in NY, as they have in California.
They may be overreaching in Maryland, too.
Jack Kemp
Saw it first on twitter, and then here.
WASHINGTON – Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described “bleeding-heart conservative,” died Saturday. He was 73.
Kemp died after a lengthy illness, according to spokeswoman Bona Park and Edwin J. Feulner, a longtime friend and former campaign adviser. Park said Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs.
If anyone deserved the title “Mr. Buffalo Bill”, he did.
Jack Kemp was 73.
It’s being reported (in Bulletin form only, at this moment) that Captain Richard Phillips has been freed, and that three of the pirates holding him are dead.
This is most emphatically not the latest incident involving pirates off the Somali coast. It is probable not even the test of which Vice-Pres. Biden spoke during the presidential campaign.
It’s odd living in an era when the goings-on in Capital Hill affect you directly. It’s one of those times. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was talking about me just the other day…
The proposed cuts in space and missile defense programs reflect a retreat in emerging environments that are increasingly critical in modern warfare. The termination of the Airborne Laser and Transformational Satellite programs is especially discouraging.
The Airborne Laser is the most promising form of defense against ballistic missiles in the “boost phase,” the moments immediately after launch when the missiles are most vulnerable. This project was also the military’s first operational foray into directed energy, which will be as revolutionary in the future as “stealth” technology has been in recent decades. The Transformational Satellite program employs laser technology for communications purposes, providing not only enhanced bandwidth — essential to fulfill the value of all kinds of information networks — but increased security.
Well, Okay – I’ve been working on the Transformational Satellite proposal. He’s proposed its termination. Congress has yet to act, and Pres. Obama has yet to sign. The former, in particular, is not a done deal.
Nothing happens until it happens, and the only constant is change. In this case, there’s a decent chance that the form of the change will actually increase the work headed to the company for which I’m contracting.
Or not. We’ll see.
North Korea has launched a rocket over the Sea of Japan. Both the first and second stage have been reported to have come back to earth harmlessly.
More as we find out.
Update: Breaking News Online reports: Launch is posing “a serious threat to the Northeast Asian region and to the international community”, US State Department tells BNO News.
The US is calling this a “provocative” act. The Japanese government is calling the launch “regrettable”.
The Japanese have requested an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council.
Despite the statement from the NHK saying that the missile did not place anything in orbit, the U.S. State department is saying that this has not yet been determined. There will be a State Department press briefing at 11:40 PM EST.
More: Via Drudge, JEAN H. LEE, Associated Press Writer reports at Yahoo:
North Korea defiantly carried out a provocative rocket launch Sunday that the U.S., Japan and other nations suspect was a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology.
From President Obama: BNO now reports the statement made by Pres. Obama moments ago.
“North Korea’s development and proliferation of ballistic missile technology pose a threat to the northeast Asian region and to international peace and security. The launch today of a Taepo-dong 2 missile was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind. With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations.
We will immediately consult with our allies in the region, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, and members of the U.N. Security Council to bring this matter before the Council. I urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and to refrain from further provocative actions.
Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a high priority for my administration. The United States is fully committed to maintaining security and stability in northeast Asia and we will continue working for the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the Six-Party Talks. The Six-Party Talks provide the forum for achieving denuclearization, reducing tensions, and for resolving other issues of concern between North Korea, its four neighbors, and the United States. North Korea has a pathway to acceptance in the international community, but it will not find that acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and abides by its international obligations and commitments.”
Indeed. Now if only I had any faith at all in the U.N.’s ability or willingness to enforce their own resolutions.
Final Edition: If you’re wondering how this played out last night and this morning, I’ll let the expert pundits explain. First, Belmont Club.
Reuters quotes diplomatic sources as saying that UN Security Council is unlikely to impose any sanctions on North Korea for firing a missile in defiance of earlier Security Council Resolutions.
In other words, look for the UN to do nothing.
Unless something drastically changes, then the likely outcome of a diplomatic offensive to make North Korea pay for its missile launch is nothing. “Stephen Bosworth, Washington’s special envoy for North Korea, said ahead of the launch last week that he hoped to bring the North back to the talks once the ‘dust’ had settled.”
Right.
And the response from our President? Ed Morrissey figures it’ll be about the same as we’ve seen all week at the G20 summit.
No one will accuse Jackson Diehl of being a right-wing neocon, but even from his center-left perspective, the Washington Post columnist recognizes disaster when he sees it. After watching Barack Obama abdicate all responsibility for Porkulus to Nancy Pelosi, Diehl wondered whether Obama was tough enough for the presidency. Obama’s Grand Tour of Europe leaves Diehl more convinced that Obama is a weak sister, unable to stand up for America’s interests:
Yeah – it’s “of a piece”.
I was taught that the power of the federal government is limited. We all were (or should have been) taught that. I’m starting to wonder ’bout that, and so is John Hinderaker at Powerline.
I’m stupefied to find that some people are defending the constitutionality of Nancy Pelosi’s discriminatory, confiscatory and retroactive tax on people who receive bonus income from companies that got TARP money. I would have considered it a bright line rule that the government can’t identify a class of unpopular people and impose a special tax on them. What’s next? A 100% income tax on registered Republicans, retroactive to last year? If Pelosi’s bill passes muster, why not?
He provides a great example to demonstrate that this is indeed happening.
Wells Fargo didn’t want any TARP money, but the government forced it to take more than $5 billion worth, so Wells Fargo employees who receive bonuses would be subject to Pelosi’s proposed tax. Say you’re a teller at a Wells Fargo branch in Minnesota and you’re married to a lawyer who makes $250,000 this year. You get a $10,000 bonus for your good work during 2008. The government steals it all (90 percent federal plus 8.5 percent state plus, unless it’s included in the 90 percent, 3 percent Medicare). That is simply insane.
Actually, I think the word he’s fighting for at the end is “unconstitutional”.
But what do I know? I’m only the taxpayer.
And this comic is really, really, unfair.
But he’s got a point.
And it’s really, really. good.
Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).
In Other Words 