How To See NanoSail-D From Your Own Backyard

I didn't know about this... How To See NanoSail-D From Your Own Backyard

"The night sky has many wonderful objects to look at on a clear evening, including many man-made satellites, and the always impressive International Space Station (ISS). Now there’s a new addition to these artificial delights: the first ever solar sail to orbit the Earth, NASA’s Nanaosail-D Satellite. Want to know how you can see it?

The 10m x 10m reflective sail is designed to act like a brake and gradually create drag in the upper atmosphere, slowly pulling a satellite down and de-orbiting it at the end of its working life. Nanosail-D is testing the potential of this technology to reduce space junk and debris."

13 States Have Introduced Bills Guarding Against Sharia Law

ThinkProgress reports At Least 13 States Have Introduced Bills Guarding Against Non-Existent Threat Of Sharia Law "Yet despite the injunction of the Oklahoma law, legislators in at least 13 states across the country have introduced or passed similar bills designed to protect us from the non-existent threat of Sharia law being imposed on the United States. Here is a list of the bills being introduced around the country that build off the same ideas as the Oklahoma law."

Seriously? What is wrong with these people? Wouldn't they prefer that government, I don't know, do something to create jobs?

Bristol Palin: I'll 'Probably' Run For Political Office 'Down The Road'

Bristol Palin: I'll 'Probably' Run For Political Office 'Down The Road' "During an interview with E! Online, the former 'Dancing With the Stars' runner-up and possible future author said that she would 'probably' run for office some day, but that the day would be 'further down the road.'"

Now who is going to be the first Republican to say she's as qualified as Barack Obama to be president (because she's a mom)?

The Right Kind of Spending Can Fuel Real Growth

Economist Mark Thoma argues in The Fiscal Times The Right Kind of Spending Can Fuel Real Growth. Investment in infrastructure and social insurance pays off for future generations. There's also a difference in whether the debt is held domestically in the foreign sector (the latter is worse for following generations).

The last 30 years in the labor market in one graph

Ezra Klein wrote The last 30 years in the labor market in one graph "Note that the numbers stop in 2007, so the lines representing the Aughts are reflecting pre-recession trends. If you add in 2008-2011, of course, everything looks much, much worse." Yup, the economy under Bush sucked, even before the crash.

Neal Stephenson on Rockets

Neal Stephenson write in Salon, Space stasis: What the strange persistence of rockets can teach us about innovation. It's a pretty amazing (and for him amazingly short) history of rockets and survey of the current economics of them.

No More Phone Books

You can opt out of Yellow Pages, White Pages & phone books delivery at the National Yellow Pages Opt Out Site. They have a Did You Know page saying how eco-friendly phone books are.

You Can Find Anything on the Internet

NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project. Really?

Bush's Swiss Visit Off After Complaints on Torture

Reuters reports Bush's Swiss visit off after complaints on torture "Former President George W. Bush has canceled a visit to Switzerland, where he was to address a Jewish charity gala, due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture, rights groups said on Saturday."

"President Bush has admitted he ordered waterboarding which everyone considers to be a form of torture under international law. Under the Convention against Torture, authorities would have been obliged to open an investigation and either prosecute or extradite George Bush," Brody said.

Swiss judicial officials have said that Bush would still enjoy a certain diplomatic immunity as a former head of state.

Dominique Baettig, a member of the Swiss parliament from the right-wing People's Party, wrote to the Swiss federal government last week calling for the arrest of Bush for alleged war crimes if he came to the neutral country.

The Full McBain Movie

Gizmodo says. "Did you know that if you put all of the McBain clips from The Simpsons back to back in chronological order, they form a mini-movie with a complete plot and story arc? They do, it's here, and it's incredible."



I know we've seen Rainier Wolfcastle in a bunch of different roles, but I'm not sure this is all the McBain clips. Conan O'Brien is in the credits so this is probably season 4 or 5.

Hackers Penetrate Nasdaq's Computers

The Wall Street Journal reports Hackers Penetrate Nasdaq's Computers "Hackers have repeatedly penetrated the computer network of the company that runs the Nasdaq Stock Market during the past year, and federal investigators are trying to identify the perpetrators and their purpose, according to people familiar with the matter.

The exchange's trading platform—the part of the system that executes trades—wasn't compromised, these people said. However, it couldn't be determined which other parts of Nasdaq's computer network were accessed."

Best Pretzels

Slashfood tested over 100 bags to find the Best Pretzels. I had no idea there were 12 categories of pretzels.

Terrific ABC News Story on Global Warming and Extreme Weather

Climate Progress says Another terrific ABC News story — on the role global warming is playing in extreme winter weather "Kudos to ABC News for doing the basic work of science journalism, in this case, talking to leading climate scientist like, Dr. Richard Somerville, a coordinating lead author on the IPCC’s 2007 review of climate science."

"The dividing line between good climate reporting and bad climate reporting is almost always whether the reporter talked to real climate scientists. Typically, the more a reporter talks to, the better the story."

Ezra Sees Citizens United in Unexpected Places

Ezra Klein on Big money, small issues. Tom Golisano is "apparently bankrolling efforts to implement the National Popular Vote plan, a work-around meant to abolish the Electoral College without amending the Constitution. The idea is to have states representing the 270 electoral votes needed to win a presidential election pledge to assign their votes to the winner of the popular vote. A good number of states have passed laws implementing the plan already, but several more would need to sign on for it to take effect."

"That's actually one of the most interesting results I could see coming out of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. Obviously, congressional and presidential elections are higher profile, but they're also very expensive, which limits the bang wealthy or corporate donors can get for their buck. State and local races are small enough that a decent-size expenditure by an outside party could be decisive. This has already happened to some degree in West Virginia, where coal mogul Don Blankenship spent a few million dollars to get a pro-coal state Supreme Court. So instead of seeing wealthy donors spend millions to get "their man" elected to the Senate or House, I expect projects like this, in which the donor cares about a single issue and the cost to back each candidate is low, so electing enough allies to pass the pet bill in question is affordable."

AIG Chief Says Bailed-Out Firm Does Better In 'Red' States

AIG chief says bailed-out firm does better in 'red' states

"American International Group's mortgage insurer does more business in Republican-leaning states, where it signs up more reliable customers than those in 'more liberal' areas, AIG chief executive Robert Benmosche said. 'All of the states where we're a leader, where we're the No. 1 insurer, are red states. All of the states where we're at the bottom are blue states,' Benmosche said Tuesday at a conference in Washington. 'Part of what we found out is that our model is about culture and it's about the attitude in the public. And what we find is where there's more of a tendency for people to be more liberal, more that the government is responsible for what happens to me.'"

"Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC) criticized Benmosche's remarks. "Even if he thought it was true, it's hard for me to believe that somebody who is feasting at the federal trough would say it," Watt said."

Digby says: "If you are buying a house in a Blue State the president of AIG doesn't want your business. He thinks you are a parasite." and includes "a nice table showing how much money each state gets back for each dollar it sends to the federal government."

More Winter

For weather info I like going to weather.gov's 7-Day Forecast. Then again I really didn't want to read something like this:

"Saturday: A chance of rain and snow before 1pm, then rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 36. Southwest wind between 6 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Saturday Night: Rain and freezing rain, possibly mixed with sleet before midnight, then freezing rain between midnight and 3am, then snow after 3am. Patchy fog before 3am. Low around 30. North wind between 5 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. "

I also really like the link at the bottom of that page to the hourly weather graph. This seems clearer to me (though no less depressing).

Glenn Beck and the Fed, 1935

I really liked this short post from Krugman Glenn Beck and the Fed, 1935. The graphs make it, but here's the relevant text:

"But what if Beck and friends had been around in, say, 1935; they would have been demanding tight money then, too. In fact, the Fed did tighten in 1937 — and FDR turned to fiscal austerity, too. The results were not good."

This is What Fox Nation Does

Fox Nation has a story today Obama Botches Bible Verse at Prayer Breakfast. "President Obama misquoted a familiar Bible verse during a faith-based address at the National Prayer Breakfast."

Media Matters for America points out Attention Fox Nation: There Is More Than One Version Of The Bible.

"Somewhat ironically, while Fox Nation appears to be positioning themselves as the arbiters of authentic Christianity, they seem unfamiliar with the fact that there is more than one version of the Bible. Obama was quoting from the New International Version, while Fox Nation was pointing to the King James Version to "debunk" him. This would be funny if it weren't so pathetic."

Why do believe believe anything they do?

Kevin Drum wrote about The Power of Fox News.

Those Republicans

Brad DeLong frequently posts under the meme "Why Friends Don't Let Friends Support the Republican Party". Here are a few recent articles that fit that theme:

The New Republic writes Who Wants To Be Paul Ryan's Press Secretary?. "Hilariously, the result of Ryan's Dave-like search through the budget -- and the only example of a putative budget savings mentioned anywhere in the piece -- is his claim to have discovered a savings in the student loan program. In fact, this example is exactly the opposite of what Ryan (and the story) proclaim. The old federal student loan program guaranteed loans made from private banks to students. This gave the banks incentive to shovel money out the door, knowing Uncle Sam would back them up in case of failure, which of course happened constantly. President Clinton cut, and then President Obama eliminated,the subsidy to the banks, saving taxpayers tens of billions of dollars"

Think Progress wrote Boehner Admits Failing To Raise Debt Ceiling Would Be ‘A Disaster,’ But Takes It Hostage Anyway "Today, on Fox News Sunday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) pulled a similar stunt. He first said that House Republicans aren’t willing to raise the debt ceiling unless doing so is accompanied by deep spending cuts, but then admitted that failing to raise the debt ceiling would be a ‘disaster’"

Waxman and Markey Release Republican Draft of proposed environment legislation. "Legislation Would Substitute Politics for Science, Strip EPA and State Authority to Regulate Carbon Emissions." Waxman said, “The Republicans have a lot of power, but they can’t amend the laws of nature. Gutting the Clean Air Act is only going to make our problems worse. This proposal threatens public health and energy security, and it undermines our economic recovery by creating regulatory uncertainty.”

Robert Reich rants about Why the Republican Budget Plan is a Hairball. "The federal budget is $3.8 trillion. The Republicans have just come up with their plan to cut the federal budget. They’ve found $32 billion of cuts. What happened to John Boehner’s $100 billion budget-cutting commitment? What became of Paul Ryan’s big ideas? Where did all the roaring and raging on the right during the 2010 election go?"

Update: Here's another. David Frum thinks we should improve our infrastructure, but "Unfortunately, infrastructure investment has been a victim of our broken politics. The money does not go to the best projects. The money is earmarked by the most powerful politicians. We need a new tunnel under the Hudson. We get a bridge to nowhere." Angry Bear points out, "The transportation bill which included funding for the bridge to Gravina island was a monstrosity -- passed by a House and Senate with Republican majorities and signed into law by George Bush Jr. Also Republican governor Christopher Christie's decision to cancel the project to build a new tunnel under the Hudson was idiotic. There is an easy solution to both problems noted by Frum. Never vote for a Republican again. Maybe maybe if there were no elected Republicans Frum could find a decision made by a Democrat to criticize."

Republicans Give Up On Redefining Rape

TPM wrote Report: Republicans Give Up On Redefining Rape "After pressure from women's groups, Democratic politicians and Jon Stewart, the authors of the controversial abortion bill in the House will drop language that appeared to exempt some rape victims from seeking federal help to pay for an abortion."

I thought Stewarts bit was very close to being over the line. The ending saved it. I'd say Jon Stewart is being very effective between the 9/11 responders bill and this. Then again:

"The altered bill language will be undoubtedly be seen by some as a victory for pro-choice activists. But the bill still contains numerous provisions that appear to dramatically expand federal limits on abortion funding. The new version of the bill apparently retains the clause that limits the incest exemption to girls under the age of 18 and language that makes it tougher for women to obtain abortion coverage through their private insurers."

Digby has more.

A Preliminary Breakdown of the GOP Contenders

Jon Chait posts in How Many Sane Mormon Republican Presidential Candidates Are There Room For? this wonderful graph:



"The entry of Jon Huntsman into the Republican primary field has created strong competition for what has to be a tiny number of Republican voters who want a nominee who's both sane and Mormon"

When the Mayor of Boston asked MIT for anti-snow flamethrowers

Boing Boing writes When the Mayor of Boston asked MIT for anti-snow flamethrowers "In this 1948 letter from the MIT archives, Mayor James Curley of Boston asked MIT President Dr. Karl Compton to task his engineers with designing an anti-snow technology, using flamethrowers or whatever else they had handy."

I found this. The 1947-48 season was a lot of snow, the third worst on record. It totaled 89.2 inches which is almost 20" more than we have now. But their season was front loaded. They got 26.8" in December and 32.5" in January which is 59.3" total, about 10" less than we have now. It was the second worse December of all time and the eighth worst January. They lucked out as Febrary was the 31st worst and March the 26th worst. Maybe MIT came up with something?

The Computer Attacks You've Never Heard Of

Lifehacker describes The Computer Attacks You've Never Heard Of.

"We've all heard of worms, Trojan horses, phishing, and other common computer security attacks that aims to infect your system and steal your data. But what about bluebugging, smishing, and scareware? Brush up on your computer security terminology with these lesser-known attackers. Here are nine that stand out, followed by seven most people have heard of."

Six of the nine terms were new to me.

A Food Manifesto for the Future

Mark Bittman has a good column in the New York Times, A Food Manifesto for the Future "Here are some ideas — frequently discussed, but sadly not yet implemented — that would make the growing, preparation and consumption of food healthier, saner, more productive, less damaging and more enduring."

Boston Magazine: Your Website Sucks

I found an interesting article in Boston Magazine this month (the Feb 2011 issue) about the financial problem of the T (Boston's subway) and I'd link to it, but their website is useless.

If you go to the main site, bostonmagazine.com you find a list of articles but it's not complete. I didn't see the article listed. The tabs at the top are all guide (or maybe Best of Boston) stuff. To the right is a cover of this month's issue with text "Take a look inside our latest issue". If you click on the title "February 2011" you find it's a broken link "http://issues/in_this_issue.html/archive/index.html?year=2011&month=2". Yeah that looks like a DNS name. I also found one like this: "http://boston_home/issue/index.html/archive/index.html?year=2011&month=2"

And once you find the valid Table of Contents for the issue, the article isn't there.

Update: Maybe they heard me. I now see the article online here.