Dream of the Dragon

Tag: event horizon

April 29, 2010

Slick.

by Justin

The federal government finally sprang into action to address the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Preliminary estimates fell well short of how rapidly the oil is spreading and recent projections suggest it will make landfall on Friday afternoon. All that elevated the crisis from one of probable ecological disaster to a certain threat against Louisiana’s natural resources – cue Homeland Security and the EPA to kick things up a notch.

First off, spill is inaccurate. In the sense that the oil was intended for a specific container and ended up missing that target completely, sure. But spill tends to mean from one container to another – implying that there’s a finite amount in the source spiller. What’s happening right now is more like an oil hemorrhage. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments
April 16, 2010

Old-fashioned spacemen.

by Justin

When the Constellation program was launched, I’ll admit that I was completely behind George W. Bush’s plan to get us back onto the moon. I was excited exclusively because it sounded exciting and sort of idyllic, like a return to a more glorious age. Forget the deficit, let’s get back into outer space.

Now that program has been cancelled, the Ares rockets abandoned, and President Obama unveiled a vision that looks far beyond the moon. He said himself, conceding that it was a blunt statement, that we’ve already been there. And you know, I’m really not sure about the benefit of dedicating billions to revisiting the Sea of Tranquility.

Neil Armstrong (and two other Apollo shuttle commanders) wrote an open letter to the administration, condemning the new vision for NASA and challenging Obama’s judgment. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment