Apparently, things are starting to get more serious over there, though the EADS/Astrium concept remains a bad joke. Rob Coppinger has a roundup from across the pond.
Category Archives: Business
Free-Market Health Insurance
An FAQ. All of the campaigns should read it, though I suspect the very concept is anathema to both Senators Clinton and Obama.
News You Can’t Use
You know, if you really need these job interview tips, they probably won’t do you much good, because even if you follow them, you’re likely to do something equally or more stupid.
News You Can’t Use
You know, if you really need these job interview tips, they probably won’t do you much good, because even if you follow them, you’re likely to do something equally or more stupid.
News You Can’t Use
You know, if you really need these job interview tips, they probably won’t do you much good, because even if you follow them, you’re likely to do something equally or more stupid.
Some Questions For John McCain
From George Will:
You say that even if global warming turns out to be no crisis (the World Meteorological Organization says global temperatures have not risen in a decade), even unnecessary measures taken to combat it will be beneficial because “then all we’ve done is give our kids a cleaner world.” But what of the trillions of dollars those measures will cost in direct expenditures and diminished economic growth–hence diminished medical research, cultural investment, etc.? Given that Earth is always warming or cooling, what is its proper temperature, and how do you know?
You propose a “cap and trade” system to limit the carbon dioxide that many companies can emit. Is not your idea an energy- rationing proposal akin to Bill Clinton’s BTU tax?
He has more, not related to climate change.
What Could (And Should?) Have Been
Rob Coppinger has some thoughts on SpaceShipOnePointFive.
I suspect that Alex, and perhaps Sir Richard, are now regretting their decision to not take advantage of the bird in the hand, holding out for the flock in the bush. They probably (in fact, almost certainly) didn’t anticipate the development problems they’d have with the propulsion system, though they were warned. I suspect that they (like Burt) drank too much of the hybrid koolaid, and were lulled into complacency by the success and (apparent, though this was an illusion) safety of the SpaceShipOne engine.
As for the comment that a passenger wouldn’t have paid the costs of the flights, I don’t buy it. They could have charged much more than a couple hundred thousand for the first several, perhaps even few dozen, flights. But we’ll never know.
Solar Singularity
Is it approaching? A nickel a kW-hr would be pretty hard to beat.
Like Phil Bowermaster, this kind of thing is why I don’t lose much sleep over peak oil.
[Update a few minutes later]
A lot of comments on the subject over at Randall Parker’s place.
Broken Logic
There’s an interesting discussion in comments over at Selenian Boondocks on the value of microgravity processing (that veers into other subjects, such as utility and value of propellant depots). I think that Jon gets the better part of the argument, and that “Googaw” is overreacting to overhype. Not to mention ignorant of orbital mechanics. As Jon says, I don’t think that he’s thought through the concept of a propellant depot in GTO.
What Goes Down, Must Come Up
Has the dollar hit the bottom?
Given that the Fed is signaling no more rate cuts, I think that it’s a pretty good bet. Which means that it’s also a peak for oil prices (at least if they remain denominated in dollars). And (more) bad news for the Dems in the fall.