Administrivia

I lost my internet connection on Thursday night, and only now got it restored. In addition, I’ve had a family problem come up that will necessitate a trip to Europe as soon as possible, so posting may continue to be sparse here for another several days.

Rewriting History

The folks at ABC News apparently need to go back and read their history books. They seem to fantasize that it was Republicans who blocked the Civil Rights Act. In a piece on the current filibuster debate, they write the following, titled “Historical Perspective”:

The filibuster has been used historically by the minority party, which can’t win with a vote count. Democrats have opposed the filibuster before

Short Memories

Ann Coulter reminds us of some Michael Isikoff stories from the past that Newsweek was in no hurry to run:

…apparently it’s possible for Michael Isikoff to have a story that actually is true, but for his editors not to run it.

Why no pause for reflection when Isikoff had a story about American interrogators at Guantanamo flushing the Quran down the toilet? Why not sit on this story for, say, even half as long as NBC News sat on Lisa Meyers’ highly credible account of Bill Clinton raping Juanita Broaddrick?

Newsweek seems to have very different responses to the same reporter’s scoops. Who’s deciding which of Isikoff’s stories to run and which to hold? I note that the ones that Matt Drudge runs have turned out to be more accurate

At The Crossroads

Clark Lindsey has a good rundown of yesterday’s meeting in Washington on space policy.

A couple of strong impressions came through. Firstly, the end of the Shuttle in 2010 is now taken for granted by everyone. Weldon wants NASA to assign a manager full-time to monitor the transition so that the community disruptions as happened after the end of the Apollo program don’t hit the KSC area again.

I also noticed a widespread awareness of the existence of an entrepreneurial space industry and that it is becoming a force to reckon with.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!