The water on the moon story seems to be pretty big today (NASA will be showing the press conference on NASA TV at 2PM Eastern). The story on Fox News just now had the title “NASA Unearths Water On The Moon.” Emphasis mine.
Category Archives: Media Criticism
The UN Loves Barack Obama
…because he is weak. Just the way they wish all US presidents were.
Of course, that’s only when dealing with our enemies. On the home front, it’s the Chicago Way.
[Update a few minutes later]
Obama’s time warp — the US is still the bad guy.
[Late morning update]
Obama’s most naive speech ever? I don’t know, that’s a pretty high bar. But could be.
Health Care And Longevity
John Tierney explains why those promoting socialized medicine should stop ignorantly (if not duplicitously) claiming that it is the cause of greater longevity in countries that have it. If you want to argue that we should be more like Europe, find a better argument, or you’ll just continue to make yourselves look foolish.
Still All Sham, No Wow
Turning the presidency into an infomercial.
[Tuesday morning update]
Well, my quip has become a bumper sticker.
I should have done that. Guess it’s why I’m not rich.
[Bumped]
But Don’t Call It Fascism
Did the NEA break the law?
Public funds are not supposed to be expended to support partisan projects. Beyond that, it is unconstitutional to grant or deny federal funds on the basis of the recipient’s political actions or opinions. National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley. The NEA is the single largest funder of the arts, and several participants in the August 10 conference call had recently received NEA checks. It would have been entirely reasonable for those on the phone call to conclude that future NEA funding could be influenced by their willingness to play ball with the Obama administration’s political agenda. Moreover, the Hatch Act limits the ability of federal employees to engage in partisan politics. Sergant’s sending of the email invitation to artists and arts groups, using his government email account, could be considered a bright line violation of the act, as could his apparent solicitation of political support from any arts group that had an application for funding pending before the NEA. Likewise, Ms. Wicks’ participation in the call would appear to be illegal if she was “on duty” and if the call was deemed political in nature.
It would take a thorough knowledge of the facts and more legal research than I’ve had time for to draw a conclusion as to whether the White House or NEA violated the law in connection with the artist outreach, but at a minimum an investigation is in order.
Why not? This administration, and its defenders, doesn’t seem to be all that fastidious about either the law or the Constitution. So how long does Yosi Sergant keep his job?
You’ll Be Even More Shocked Than I Was
…to hear about shoddy and libelous reporting at the WaPo:
“I’m missing some important context: what did Woodward’s father do for a living? Hard to pin down his motivation otherwise. And Bernstein’s mom, what was her deal?”
As noted, if they had gone after a “right wing” organization, they’d be up for Pulitzers. But because it’s the leftist thugs at ACORN, they get slimed. And they’re aided and abetted by those “layers of fact checkers and editors.”
Crowd Size Update
PJM has a piece this morning on the current state of play: half a million seems to be a lower bound (as Henry originally estimated).
Why “Liberals” Are Still Angry
Frank J. explains:
…with Democrats having complete control of the government, you’d think liberals could be dismissive of conservatives and be calm themselves. But no, they’re still crazy angry. Maybe even angrier than before. Biting-fingers-off angry. They’re screeching about how all the people opposed to Obama are racists and neo-Nazis and stupid, and they’re using sexual slurs against protesters and boycotting everyone who disagrees with them. They’re still nuts, but why?
See things from their point of view. The most fundamental principle liberals have is that they are all very, very smart, and everyone should listen to them. Nothing angers them more than something that challenges them to reexamine that core tenet. And that’s why they were so delighted by the election of President Obama and further wins in the House and Senate. For a moment they thought the American people had recognized liberals as their superiors and said to them: “Please! Smart people! Lead us and tell us what to do!”
Of course, it is quite obvious right now that that’s not at all what the election was about. The Republicans had been screw-ups for a while, and with the failing economy (people tend to vote for the president based on the economy, which is only a tad smarter than voting based on the weather, but whatcha gonna do?), most people just felt they couldn’t reward the Republicans with leadership again. Also, many people were tired of the hostility between conservatives and liberals (though I’m not sure why Republicans got the blame, since we could have had bipartisanship if at any time liberals had decided to stop being a bunch of screeching ninnies who mindlessly opposed whatever Bush was for). Then came along Barack Obama, who promised non-specific hope and change, and everyone was like, “Non-specific hope and change sounds like a great idea!”
There’s more.
I’m angry mainly that they’ve purloined the word “liberals.”
ULA’s Heresy
I have a piece up at Popular Mechanics about the AIAA conference this week, and ULA’s non-heavy-lift architecture. Hell hath no fury like a rocket company scorned.
Meanwhile, it looks like there may be a battle in Congress to preserve the Ares pork. At some point, though, they’re going to have to confront budgetary and programmatic reality.
[Noon update]
Here is the permalink.
[Another update a few minutes later]
Paul Spudis has a longish essay on the history of the VSE, how NASA mangled it, and what we need to do going forward.
A Rare Moment
President Obama just called Kanye West a jackass…
I don’t know why the White House would want this off the record. Seems like a great “Sister Souljah” opportunity. Of course, I’ve always thought that Kanye West was a jackass. Glad to see the president has finally come around.