In the wake of STS-107, the NY Times examines the deteriorating institutional culture of NASA. As I said earlier, it’s this type of post-Columbia muckraking that might best help America get the space program back in order (although it’d be nice if the piece was less descriptive and more prescriptive, but oh well.)
Month: February 2003
On the Bandwagon.
Come on aboard, I promise you, you won’t hurt the horse… The Democratic field in 2004 continues to grow, with Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Rep. Dennis Kucinich joining the ranks of the contenders. At this point, the more the merrier, I say – it’s just too bad a that frontloaded primary season is going to make it all about money in the end.
Not Dark Yet.
Kestrel’s Nest points out this extraordinary video for Johnny Cash’s version of NIN’s “Hurt”, which plays like an early eulogy for and from the Man in Black. (And sit down, Duvall. Cash is definitely more grizzled.) A powerful tribute to a lion in winter.
Old School Knicks, New School ESPN.
In the midst of finding the appropriate Knicks beat Lakers at home link, I discovered that ESPN.com’s gone hi-tech. I’m really not too big on registering for anything, of course, but since I’m there pretty much every day I’ll give the Motion bit its chance. Hopefully it’s more useful than the annoying Bottomline they were offering a few months ago.
Post-President for Life.
The James Fallows interview with Bill Clinton I mentioned earlier is now online at TheAtlantic. Slightly out-of-date by this point, but interesting nonetheless.
The Revolution will be Googlized.
Google buys Pyra(!) (First seen at LinkMachineGo.) Congrats to the Blogger crew [or should I say cabal? (3/28)] If weblogs aren’t mainstream enough already, they will be in very short order.
Happy President’s Day.
“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.” – George Washington
“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington
“As the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first to be laid aside when those liberties are firmly established.” – George Washington
“Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” – Abraham Lincoln
“People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.” – Abraham Lincoln
“It is not merely for to-day, but for all time to come that we should perpetuate for our children’s children this great and free government, which we have enjoyed all our lives.” – Abraham Lincoln
Your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker…
It is very, very cold.
To me, my X-Men.
Probably the biggest thrill of the Daredevil experience, the X2 trailer is now online. I’m not sure how they’re going to introduce all these characters enough for a layperson’s liking, but it looks like great fun for fans of the comic. Update: Faster than a Wolverine-Colossus fastball special and brighter than a Dazzler stage show, it’s now officially online in Quicktime.
Twenty-First Century Scopes.
A Texas Tech biology professor gets in hot war for refusing to recommend creationists for medical school. And as you might expect, the Ashcroft Justice Department stepped in. Pretty pathetic, really…I can’t believe this case will go anywhere. However you feel about creationism, we’re not talking about grades here – we’re talking about recs. A professor is well within his or her rights to refuse a recommendation to anyone he or she so desires. If Prof. Dini here thinks creationism and faith healing make lousy prerequisites for med school, then so be it…get a rec from the bible-thumping biology professor down the hall. And, as for the Justice Dept…well, if another student was denied a rec because she believed in the efficacy of bloodletting, would the Justice Department be getting involved? I doubt it. But somehow Ashcroft still finds time enough outside of spreading panic and buying duct tape futures to prosecute his theocratic agenda. Sad, sad, sad.