On the Waterfront - Day 132-3: Weekend Edition 6-7 February 2010
Saturday - We had dinner @ Kayul & Rahul's place in Manhattan. Very nice view, great food and the cats provided the entertainment.
Warcraft Sundays - Toast & I lost 1, we & Rigs lost 1, then we won 2 in a row, then Toast & I won a couple more. On my smurf acct, I lost 4 in a row before beating an expert Orc player w/ the shittiest of tactics.
Caprica - Seeing Dr. Fraiser was the only highlight of this ep. Everyone knows you dial in w/ a modem before you engage the wireless. And oh shit, was that an iPad she's got in her hand? Nice! Giving this show 3 more chances before I stop. (It took Lucky Star 5 eps to get good, right?) The music was terrifying, I thought I was watching something on the CW.
Burt Rutan responded to Obama's NASA plan.
Thank you! I'm sick of reading people say this is a good thing when it very clearly isn't. I can't comprehend why Obama, a huge nerd, would slash and burn NASA's budget at such a critical point.That is not a "NASA plan"; it is the proposed budget from the White House. It will likely be revised by the Congress. I am for NASA doing either true Research, or doing forefront Exploration, with taxpayer $.
Ares/Orion is more of a Development program than a Research program, so I am not depressed to see it disappear. I am concerned to see NASA manned spaceflight disappear, since they provided world leadership in the 60s and part of the 70s. The result was America's universities being the leader in Science/Engineering PhDs.
Many American kids will be depressed by the thought that our accomplishments will not be continued and thus America will fall deeper away from our previous leadership in Engineering/Science/Math. I believe our future success depends on our ability to motivate our youth.
I would support a restructuring of goals and funding so NASA can be allowed to perform like the 60s on space Research and on Exploration. There is not a shred of evidence that the President sees any value in those goals.
Burt Rutan
I was deeply disappointed to learn Defense Secretary Robert Gates doesn't have the authority to fire anyone over the Kleine Brogel break-in.
(Emphasis mine.) I have a better idea: dismantle the weapons so we don't have to worry about shit like this anymore.Oh, shut up already!
Some enterprising Belgian military spokesperson has decided to announce to the entire world that of the two sets of 11 hardened shelters at Kleine Brogel Airbase, the activists were in the one without nuclear weapons
…
Just take your lumps, because you can't pretend Belgian security didn't fail. The activist incursion is an alarming anecdotal demonstration of a systemic security problem that was well documented before the February incident.
…
I continue to think that if the Belgian government (and other NATO governments) refuse to provide adequate security at Kleine Brogel, the weapons should be placed at US base where we will.
And a note to our Belgian friends. I was going to keep these to myself, but since Ms. Baeck decided to help out, there isn't much point. But please don't try to get into area A. If the Belgian security is inadequate, the SACEUR has almost certainly assigned additional US security personnel. They will most likely respond very differently than the Belgian sort you are used to.
Jeffrey Lewis
You know what I think of NJ Governor Chris Christie, but I admire this:
Nice. (via)The governor had harsh words for commercial truck drivers, urging them to slow down and "not drive like idiots" while traveling through New Jersey.
"We saw numerous accidents on the way down here (from northern Jersey), and we saw some commercial truck drivers driving like idiots," he said. "They need to stop, stop going so fast, stop driving in a stupid way. They endanger road crews who are working and other drivers on the road."
AP
Moment of BURN
Reading cuts stress levels by 68%
Well now we've solved the difference in approach to the world of Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
Juan Cole
