Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Mars Lander Robotic Arm Completes $420 Million Mission
Images from the Phoenix Mars Lander
After landing near Mars's north pole, the Phoenix beamed back images to Earth. Photographs of Mars's polar region revealed narrow troughs in the bumpy surface of the planet.
In the coming days, the Phoenix will use a 7.7-foot-long robotic arm to dig into the Martian soil.
The robot arm was manufactured by a technology company in Boston, MA., and programmed by scientists working out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
The exact nature of the work the robot arm will carry out has not been revealed to the public.
ÒThe robotic armÕs mission is top secret,Ó said Pnang Nyugen, chief robotics scientist for the project, Òbut make no mistake -- years of work have gone into it, and no expense has been spared to make sure that the robot arm will carry out its important work, even 422 million miles away from Earth, on the dusty red surface of planet Mars.
"It cost $420 million, but it was worth it."
After landing near Mars's north pole, the Phoenix beamed back images to Earth. Photographs of Mars's polar region revealed narrow troughs in the bumpy surface of the planet.
In the coming days, the Phoenix will use a 7.7-foot-long robotic arm to dig into the Martian soil.
The robot arm was manufactured by a technology company in Boston, MA., and programmed by scientists working out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
The exact nature of the work the robot arm will carry out has not been revealed to the public.
ÒThe robotic armÕs mission is top secret,Ó said Pnang Nyugen, chief robotics scientist for the project, Òbut make no mistake -- years of work have gone into it, and no expense has been spared to make sure that the robot arm will carry out its important work, even 422 million miles away from Earth, on the dusty red surface of planet Mars.
"It cost $420 million, but it was worth it."
Friday, May 16, 2008
More To The Point...
Punch-me-faced prep David Brooks wonders:
- "Is Barack Obama na•ve enough to think that an extremist ideological organization like Hezbollah can be mollified with a less corrupt patronage system and some electoral reform?"
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy II
Having nearly completed their efforts at chasing Hillary Clinton out of her bid for the Democratic nomination for President by means of universal acclamation of the deep, divisive racism in her heart -- and in the hearts of her husband, her campaign, her supporters, and everyone who voted for her -- the media have turned their attention to setting the stage for explaining Barack Obama's inevitable defeat in November, which is: the deep, divisive racism in Hillary Clinton's heart, and in the hearts of her husband, her campaign, her supporters, and everyone who voted for her.
Surprise!
The decision on the part of the Obama campaign and its media flunkies to accuse its opponents of racism should be remembered as the defining shame of this election (which is no mean feat.) We say "should," but it won't, because of course the ones who adopted the strategy will be the ones writing the history -- and their story will be what it has been all along: everything is the Clintons' fault.
This not only saves the sages of the pages time and effort, it allows them continue to be all-knowing and worthy of our respectful attention even as their every solemn pronouncement and think-tank talking point fall to earth, like the feathers of a Tlanuwa magically transformed by the engine of a 747.
But no matter how cruel the turbo-blades of reality, the media birds fly on, certain, wingless, unaccountable, and arrogant beyond the comprehension of earth-bound creatures. This is known as the "Friedman Principle."
Which is a nice position to be in, if you think about it. It's like being a delusional king, but without any real responsibilities apart from getting the expense account in on time, and explaining all those three-martini lunches with John McCain's media liaison.
Make no mistake about it: that Obama will lose to John McCain has been clear since primary results started coming in from the states that will decide November's election. McCain will beat Obama like a rented mule in Florida, Texas, and, very likely, Ohio. And that will be game, set, and match.
Yet rather than accept this inescapable reality, Obama's cheerleaders up and down the dial instead embarked upon a vicious character assassination, first of Hillary Clinton, then of her husband, and ultimately of the voters who disobediently chose her over The One Who Was Officially Chosen To Lose This Time.
Yes, having failed to follow orders, Clinton voters are finding out what happens to those who cross the corporate media: for daring to vote for a woman for President instead of the only Democratic nominee who dutifully mouths Republican talking points on everything from Social Security to health care, Clinton voters -- Clinton Democrats -- are being told they're racists.
And that, as much as anything, sealed Mr. Obama's fate. Because people don't like to be told they're racists. And they especially don't like to be told it by a**holes.
That so many well-meaning Democrats didn't wonder, even for a moment, why the same corporate media mouths that gave us George W. Bush and "The War Against Terror," (TWAT) loved Mr. Obama almost beyond sanity will puzzle us here for some time. But the result of their gullibility will hurt them as much, if not more, than the rest of us.
The aggressive race card played by Mr. Obama against other Democrats surely helped him win some delegates; race is a touchy subject among progressives -- one that can cause even the surest to lose their footing, however unfairly. But it is a far less effective weapon against those who will decide the general election in November.
In fact, it will very likely drive undecideds away from Obama and towards McCain. And Obama's media pals know it. That's why the more astute among them are already getting the story straight to explain his defeat: "Racism! Clintons' fault! Racism!"
It defies reason that Democrats could have blown this chance at regaining the presidency, but they have. And the fault lies with one side, and one side alone: the Obama campaign, and its media supporters. They stopped at nothing, literally, to get their guy the nod, knowing full well he could not win in November.
The question those who truly wanted a Democratic president need to ask is: why?
Surprise!
The decision on the part of the Obama campaign and its media flunkies to accuse its opponents of racism should be remembered as the defining shame of this election (which is no mean feat.) We say "should," but it won't, because of course the ones who adopted the strategy will be the ones writing the history -- and their story will be what it has been all along: everything is the Clintons' fault.
This not only saves the sages of the pages time and effort, it allows them continue to be all-knowing and worthy of our respectful attention even as their every solemn pronouncement and think-tank talking point fall to earth, like the feathers of a Tlanuwa magically transformed by the engine of a 747.
But no matter how cruel the turbo-blades of reality, the media birds fly on, certain, wingless, unaccountable, and arrogant beyond the comprehension of earth-bound creatures. This is known as the "Friedman Principle."
Which is a nice position to be in, if you think about it. It's like being a delusional king, but without any real responsibilities apart from getting the expense account in on time, and explaining all those three-martini lunches with John McCain's media liaison.
Make no mistake about it: that Obama will lose to John McCain has been clear since primary results started coming in from the states that will decide November's election. McCain will beat Obama like a rented mule in Florida, Texas, and, very likely, Ohio. And that will be game, set, and match.
Yet rather than accept this inescapable reality, Obama's cheerleaders up and down the dial instead embarked upon a vicious character assassination, first of Hillary Clinton, then of her husband, and ultimately of the voters who disobediently chose her over The One Who Was Officially Chosen To Lose This Time.
Yes, having failed to follow orders, Clinton voters are finding out what happens to those who cross the corporate media: for daring to vote for a woman for President instead of the only Democratic nominee who dutifully mouths Republican talking points on everything from Social Security to health care, Clinton voters -- Clinton Democrats -- are being told they're racists.
And that, as much as anything, sealed Mr. Obama's fate. Because people don't like to be told they're racists. And they especially don't like to be told it by a**holes.
That so many well-meaning Democrats didn't wonder, even for a moment, why the same corporate media mouths that gave us George W. Bush and "The War Against Terror," (TWAT) loved Mr. Obama almost beyond sanity will puzzle us here for some time. But the result of their gullibility will hurt them as much, if not more, than the rest of us.
The aggressive race card played by Mr. Obama against other Democrats surely helped him win some delegates; race is a touchy subject among progressives -- one that can cause even the surest to lose their footing, however unfairly. But it is a far less effective weapon against those who will decide the general election in November.
In fact, it will very likely drive undecideds away from Obama and towards McCain. And Obama's media pals know it. That's why the more astute among them are already getting the story straight to explain his defeat: "Racism! Clintons' fault! Racism!"
It defies reason that Democrats could have blown this chance at regaining the presidency, but they have. And the fault lies with one side, and one side alone: the Obama campaign, and its media supporters. They stopped at nothing, literally, to get their guy the nod, knowing full well he could not win in November.
The question those who truly wanted a Democratic president need to ask is: why?
Friday, May 09, 2008
The Pieces are Falling into Place
Well, George McGovern has endorsed Barack Obama.
Any word from Dukakis?
They might as well start playing "Hail to the Chief" when John McCain walks in the room now.
Any word from Dukakis?
They might as well start playing "Hail to the Chief" when John McCain walks in the room now.
