Potpourri CII

Working on clearing my inbox while I do laundry and pack for Europe. One week to go. HOO-wah!

This is important and disturbing, so it's moving to the top of the pile: aides to Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) are drafting legislation that would give the president power to disconnect private-sector computers from the internet during a "cybersecurity emergency," whatever the heck that is. An amazing amount of commerce is performed via internet. If this bill passed, a large segment of the population and the private sector might find itself unable to conduct busines or communicate electronically. How's that hope and change working out for ya?

The first image of a complete molecule has been captured. Amazing!

Don't try this at home or on safari!

More from the animal kingdom...painting elephants. I can't help wondering if these elephant artists have started smoking and complaining about how the bourgeois tourists don't understand how they suffer...

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad wants to prosecute his political opponents in the recent Iranian election for stirring up trouble (e.g. daring to question him)...you know: kinda like prosecuting Bush administration officials after the last election.

From @skytland, a panel summary from "South by Southwest" (a.k.a. SXSW), one of the largest new media events in the country. The panel topic? "Moon 2.0," which is to say, participatory space exploration of the moon. My buddy Doc might be going to this event. I'll get my media fixes vicariously through him.

Someone else is looking to build a space hotel. I've got to confess: the more I think about the effects of weightlessness, the more I think staying the heck here sounds like a great idea. Is it heresy for a space advocate to say that? Probably, but there ya go. Happy to have the opportunity to go, but really, I've got laundry to do. Or something.

CNN is reporting that some sectors of the economy are reviving themselves without government assistance. You know: that whole "invisible hand" thing that some of my liberal friends don't trust or don't believe exists. My question is: if that's the case, can we stop with the bailouts already and not spend the rest of that trillion-dollar "stimulus?" As Father Dan puts it to me when I ask silly rhetorical questions, "Get a grip!" The stimulus isn't about stimulating the economy. We already had proof when Bush did it that government stimulus spending does not work, and that was $700 billion worth. Then Obama doubled down with over a trillion. So the answer to my question is, yes, we can stop with the bailouts, but we won't because President Obama has a different agenda in mind. So here's the game plan:

1. Jack up government spending to show that he's "doing something."
2. Admit after the fact that the deficit is too high.
3. Raise taxes to pay down the deficit, which is what Obama wanted to do in the first place because he's a strict redistributionist.

As usual with government-centered attempts to redistribute wealth in an economy, this plan will fail because rich people will either move out of the country, stop working, or eventually run out of money. Once that happens, he goes after the middle class and raises their taxes so that their money can be used to "make things more fair." And when there are no more rich people or middle class (except, of course, the government officials dispensing this "social justice"), well then we'll all be equal...in our misery. How's that hope and change working out for ya?

Michael Vick played his first game in Philadelphia and got a standing ovation from the fans. Which more or less proves what I was grousing about when he first got his gig with the Eagles: social stigma and bad publicity don't have any force anymore. Shame on them and shame on us when all that matters is victory without considering the character of those achieving it. If the fans in Philly don't have any shame about hiring this thug, will the fans of the teams playing against the Eagles reject Vick and not show up for the games? To repeat Father Dan's comment, "Get a grip!"

Laundry is still in progress, but I'm done clearing out the inbox. Never mind my grumpiness, have a great day!

Potpourri XCV

First, something to brighten my rather rough week: the Ares I-X rocket has been stacked fully in the Vehicle Assembly Building, all 327 feet of her. Saaaaaa-lute!

Here's the official press release:

NASA COMPLETES ASSEMBLY OF ARES I-X TEST ROCKET

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- For the first time in more than a quarter-century a new space vehicle stands ready in NASA's Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The Ares I-X rocket, its simulated crew module and launch abort system are assembled on a mobile launch platform at Kennedy in preparation for launch this fall.

The final segments of the Ares I-X were stacked on Aug. 13, completing the 327-foot launch vehicle and providing the first look at the finished rocket's distinctive shape. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

"More than three years of hard work with the NASA and contractor team has brought us to this historic moment," said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. "This flight test is a critical step in continuing our design process for the Ares vehicle and the first flight for the Constellation Program."

The Ares I-X is wired with more than 700 sensors to gather data during the two-and-a-half minute flight test. The launch will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I crew launch vehicle. The data collected during the launch will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the integrated Orion spacecraft and the Ares I rocket.

Now that the Ares I-X is assembled, numerous evaluations will be run on all the rocket systems, including complex instruments that will constantly measure the vehicle's movements as it launches and the first stage separates. The evaluations include a process called "modal testing," which will shake the stack slightly to test stiffness of the rocket, including the pinned and bolted joints.

CEOs should stay quiet on politics? Right. Like Michael Eisner kept quiet about sending money to Hillary…

The Miami Herald has a story on the Augustine Panel…

A dog cloning business has started in South Korea. This is not a good sign. Once again, our technology advances are outstripping the ability of our culture to absorb, slow, or stop them.

Michael Vick has found a new gig in Philadelphia after spending time in jail for running a dog fighting ring from his home. You know, I think the man was punished enough legally. One would have thought that the social stigma and bad publicity about his bad actions would be enough to keep him out of professional football. This not a good sign for the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles, or the culture at large. Shame on them and shame on us. Eagles fans still have a chance to stop this by not showing up for games when Michael Vick shows up to play.

And while I do have concerns about the advances our technologies make, it is nice to see that some tech is being used for constructive (or at least neutral) purposes. This site has some very intriguing work.

From the office, a story on Mars not being an immediate plan, but a goal.

Got this from Doc, and just had to share because it is oh so true about my line of work:

1. Ask engineer how the damn thing works.
2. Deafening silence.
3. Crickets.
4. Tumbleweeds.
5. Just start writing something. Anything.
6. Give this something to the engineer.
7. Watch engineer become quite upset at how badly you’ve missed thepoint of everything.
8. As the engineer berates you, in between insults he will also throwoff nuggets of technical information.
9. Collect these nuggets, as they are the only reliable technicalinformation you will receive.
10. Try like hell to weave together this information into somethingenlightening and technically accurate.
11. Go to step 6.

Sigh...yet another story on the dismal prospects for what might come out of the Augustine Panel. I must confess that even if I understand what options the panel will offer to Obama, I have no clue what option he will take, what its full impact will be, or how long it will take for said course to be taken. I'm just along for the ride, albeit I'm one of the folks at the front of the roller coaster, so I'll see the next curve before some folks, but that doesn't make the ride any more fun.

In other space news, India has started an astronaut training center, while Bulgaria's scientists want that nation to join the European Space Agency. So while we're debating in this country if we should even have a space program, dirt-poor former Eastern Bloc countries are trying to do what we seem willing to throw away. Why don't our leaders pay attention to these things? Perhaps it would be worth asking those nations, "What do you know about space that we don't?"

Congressman Mike Rogers (R-MI) has a good take on government healthcare on his site.

And that'll do for now.