The Cost of Rocket Science
Posted By: Citoyen, 9/5/2023 11:06:10 AM
I was listening to John Derbyshire's long-running Radio Derb the other day, and was rather touched to find myself with a bit part in the opening segment: I'll come back to the bit Derb referenced later in the week, but first, to return the compliment, I was very struck by an aside he had about halfway through the show re India becoming the fourth nation to make a "soft landing" on the moon (by "soft", they mean the spacecraft doesn't get totaled on impact). The cost of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was about US$75 million, which, as John pointed out, is less than the cost of the Barbie movie.
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Students across France returned to school on Monday amid ongoing tensions between the federal government and Muslims over a recent decision to bar girls in public schools from wearing abayas, loose-fitting cloak-like garments that cover every part of the body except the face.
Of the nearly 12 million students across the country, nearly 300 girls wore the long Islamic garment and were asked to change into something else. The vast majority complied and were allowed to return to class, however, 67 did not and were subsequently sent home.
The Cost of Rocket Science
3 replies
I was listening to John Derbyshire's long-running Radio Derb the other day, and was rather touched to find myself with a bit part in the opening segment:
I'll come back to the bit Derb referenced later in the week, but first, to return the compliment, I was very struck by an aside he had about halfway through the show re India becoming the fourth nation to make a "soft landing" on the moon (by "soft", they mean the spacecraft doesn't get totaled on impact). The cost of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was about US$75 million, which, as John pointed out, is less than the cost of the Barbie movie.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin slammed the Italian government this week, claiming Italy behaved as an “enemy country” of France after rejecting a migrant “taxi” that ended up docking in Toulon.
Darmanin levelled the accusation against the Italian government during a session of the French parliament, claiming that the Italian government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni behaved as an enemy of France for denying the migrant “taxi” NGO ship Ocean Viking access to a port in Italy.
The Utah Senate race between conservative Republican Sen. Mike Lee and Independent Evan McMullin has emerged as a potential wild card in the battle for the Senate.
Recent polls show the race is close, with McMullin trailing Lee by only a few points in a state where Republican victories are usually all but guaranteed.
Lee, a conservative who supported then-President Trump’s effort to challenge the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, is a star among many members of Utah’s Republican base, but his unpopularity among moderates and Democrats has driven his approval rating down to the low 40s.
A Texas school district will restore a graphic novel edition of Anne Frank's Diary to its classrooms following protests against orders to remove it. The version of the famous Holocaust memoir, by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman and illustrator David Polonsky, was first published in 2019. It was adapted from Frank's unabridged journal, which contains sexual references and mentions of homosexuality.
One of the biggest donors in Democratic politics this year isn’t sure if he really wants to be a Democratic megadonor — at least not on the party’s terms. But then, part of life as Sam Bankman-Fried is about embracing paradoxes. The 30-year-old, who has amassed an estimated $20 billion fortune over the last four years through cryptocurrency, drives a hybrid Toyota Corolla. He shares a penthouse with about 10 roommates and cooks for himself.
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Pence: "It Should Not Take That Long"
To Defeat The Russians; U.S. Must Spend
More In Ukraine 45 replies
To Defeat The Russians; U.S. Must Spend
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Mike Pence explains why he favors sending more money and weapons to Ukraine, telling FNC's Shannon Bream that it won't take "that long" to defeat Russia.
"Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that we're there as long as it takes... I'm going to tell you, it shouldn't take that long," Pence said during an interview on "FOX News Sunday" (full interview here).
"I really do believe that what we need is to provide the resources, the -- the equipment, the missiles, the aircraft that Ukraine needs to repel that Russian invasion in a much more rapid pace than the Biden administration has done."
Harris says she's ready to step into role
of president if Biden is unwell: 'May
have to take over' 38 replies
of president if Biden is unwell: 'May
have to take over' 38 replies
Vice President Kamala Harris said during an interview Wednesday that she was ready to fulfill her constitutional duty to assume the presidency should President Biden be unable to govern as questions swirl around his health and age. Biden, who is 80 and is turning 81 in November, continues to be the oldest serving president in U.S. history. Should Democrats win again in 2024, he will be 82 before he is sworn into a potential second term and would be 86 at the end of it. Harris described the idea of possibly stepping into the role of president as "hypothetical" but
Watch: Biden Leaves Everyone Confused
as He Walks Out in the Middle of a Medal
of Honor Ceremony 38 replies
as He Walks Out in the Middle of a Medal
of Honor Ceremony 38 replies
An incredibly odd scene unfolded at the White House on Tuesday during a ceremony to award the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam veteran.
Army Captain Larry Taylor flew UH-1 Huey and AH-1 Cobra helicopters during the war. During one harrowing mission, he rescued a four-man reconnaissance team that was under heavy fire. Because his Cobra attack helicopter only had room for the two pilots onboard, the soldiers clung to the skids until Taylor was able to drop them off at a nearby American position. Taylor flew around 2,000 combat missions and is one of the most decorated helicopter pilots in U.S. Army history.
First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for coronavirus, her office confirmed on Monday night - as the White House said Joe Biden has tested negative.
The 72-year-old is 'experiencing only mild symptoms' and will remain at the couple's home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a statement said.
Meanwhile the White House said the president has, so far, tested negative for COVID, as cases of the virus are on the rise again globally. The couple spent Sunday night together at their Rehoboth Beach home before Joe flew to Philadelphia Monday to mark Labor Day with a speech to union workers.
A four-day workweek at full-time pay, a 46% wage increase and a share of company profits are among the demands of the union representing approximately 150,000 workers at the Big 3 U.S. automakers -- General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The United Auto Workers, or UAW, has vowed to launch a strike on Sept. 14 if the union and the automakers fail to reach an agreement by then.
Even UAW President Shawn Fain last month described the workers' set of demands as "audacious." He has defended the ambitious agenda in a series of public statements, citing billions in profits enjoyed by the
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday called on his party to turn away from what he described as a growing threat of populism led by his former White House boss Donald Trump and “his imitators.”
In a speech delivered at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, Pence said that “Republican voters face a choice” between conservative principles and the rising populist movement within the party.
In his sharpest language to date against the Trump wing of the GOP, Pence said that the populists were substituting limited government and traditional values for “an agenda stitched together by little else than personal grievances and performative outrage.”
If you needed another reason to hate Bud Light, here you go.
Bill Gates is putting some serious chips on the beer making a comeback after he bought a whopping 1.7 million shares of the anti-American brand’s umbrella company. (snip) If you’re wanting to see an outright collapse of Bud Light like yours truly, you gotta be loving this, because this doesn’t do anything but inject more poison into a brand that’s crumbling more and more with each passing day. (snip) This is worse than Dylan Mulvaney from where I’m sitting.
The Biden administration quietly rescinded a Trump-era regulation allowing companies to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) via rail in a victory for environmental groups.
In a federal filing Friday ahead of the holiday weekend, the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) formally suspended the 2020 authorization of LNG transportation in rail tank cars. The rule will remain in effect until either a permanent rule regarding LNG rail tank car transportation is proposed and finalized — a process that may take several months — or June 30, 2025.
Economic success must have a price and a global tax on carbon emissions can help redress Africa’s chronically low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rates, Kenya’s President William Ruto declared Tuesday as the first Africa Climate Summit began.
He pointed to “climate change” driven by successful, dynamic economies in Europe, North America and Asia, as a drain on Africa’s economic progress and it’s time to have a global conversation about a carbon tax on the world’s richest nations.
“Those who produce the garbage refuse to pay their bills,” Ruto said, according to AP, echoing others who have also called for carbon tax impositions
Is there anyone less fit to be around men of authentic valor than cowardly, self-dealing Joe Biden?
Breaking all protocol as well as common decency, he wandered off the set during a Medal of Honor ceremony, leaving the honoree, Capt. Larry L. Taylor, awkwardly on the podium alone.
Here's what he did: (Snip) Seriously, he wandered off, leaving Capt. Taylor, the White House's guest of honor, to fend for himself, well before the closing prayer and other protocol niceties.
Why the hell did he do that? Your guess is as good as mine given that all the White House will give on such a matter is gaslightings. Here are a few possibilities:
One, Biden
Liberty Safe Confirms They Gave Feds Access
Code to Gun Safe During Raid on January
6 Protester 25 replies
Code to Gun Safe During Raid on January
6 Protester 25 replies
Liberty Safe, "America's #1 heavy-duty home and gun safe manufacturer," according to their website, issued a statement late Tuesday night confirming that they'd given the FBI an access code to a customer's gun safe in response to a request on August 30, 2023. That request came during a raid on the home of a man who'd attended a protest on January 6. The statement reads:
On August 30, 2023, Liberty Safe was contacted by the FBI requesting the access code to the safe of an individual for whom they had a warrant to search their property. Our company protocol is to provide access codes to law enforcement if a warrant
The finger-pointing among Donald Trump’s inner circle has begun.
And as his four criminal cases march toward trials, some of his aides, allies and co-defendants are pointing at the former president.
In court documents and hearings, lawyers for people in Trump’s orbit — both high-level advisers and lesser known associates — are starting to reveal glimmers of a tried-and-true strategy in cases with many defendants: Portray yourself as a hapless pawn while piling blame on the apparent kingpin.
“History has shown the 18 co-defendants that Donald doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” said Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer,
Comments:
Steyn's point is that India ran three years of moon shots for less than the cost of the Barbie movie. He also mentions something we all pay for called the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a federal program that costs nearly one half billion per year. Along the way he contrasts the 1,100 years of the Venetian Republic with our republic, already decadent after only 250 years. Some swipes at Haley, Tim Scott and the odious Christie are included.