"After the announcement, President Trump tweeted, “Space Force all the way!” For months, Trump has been calling a Space Force, a new, free-standing military department, with its own chain of command and uniforms. The White House intends to work with lawmakers in submitting legislation by early next year, a senior Administration official said, with the hopes of standing up the department as early as 2020."Be still, my heart...
And speaking of tax dollars, Charlie Pierce has a nice little piece that draws a pretty bright line between what the American Right and American Left have on offer.
Speaking for the Right, Laura Ingraham reminds us how scary foreign dark people are;
"In some parts of the country, it does seem like the America that we know and love doesn’t exist anymore. Massive demographic changes have been foisted on the American people, and they are changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don’t like."This is, let us remember, about an "immigrant crisis" that is not a crisis because it does not exist.
And, as Pierce notes, it probably sounded better in the original Algonquin.
From the Left...well, I'll let Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez speak for herself as a final comment on the relative value of "Spaaaaace Foooooorce!!!!!";
“We write unlimited blank checks for war. We just wrote a $2 trillion check for that GOP tax cut and nobody asked those folks how they are going to pay for it...Why is it that our pockets are only empty when it comes to education and health care for our kids? Why are our pockets only empty when we talk about 100 percent renewable energy that is going to save this planet and allow our children to thrive?...We only have empty pockets when it comes to the morally right things to do. When it comes to tax cuts for billionaires and when it comes to unlimited war, we seem to be able to invent that money very easily."As we should always recall when the number of people who subscribe to InfoWars is mentioned, We the People includes some very great fools.
Great recruiting poster!
ReplyDeleteI read that the Trump administration is about to allow absestos insulations again...Russia produces them.
ReplyDeleteA "space force" may be expensive, but asbestos reintroduction would be a massacre.
Since I'm in both the geology and construction biz I have a dog in this fight, so I've been following the story, and it seems that 1) yes, the idiot Trumpkins WANT to revive the asbestos industry, and 2)no, it's unlikely that they can. The cancer-asbestos linkage is WAY too strong, and any attempt to reintroduce a significant amount of asbestos products into construction would result in a series of brutal litigation losses that will likely bankrupt the company doing to.
DeleteThis isn't to say that the Trumpkins aren't dumb enough to want this, just that the market conditions are such that they're unlikely to succeed.
Reminds me of ("clean") coal.
DeleteBut keep in mind they can push for asbestos in government buildings, including military barracks.
US Navy was aware of studies that asbestos was a serious health risk for 40 years before they stopped using it. And even though asbestosis or mesothelioma sufferering sailors were never able to sue Uncle Sam they did sue 26 different contractors. Many were forced out of business.
Delete"According to a recent Mealey's Litigation Report, the average mesothelioma trial award is estimated at $2.4 million. The average mesothelioma settlement is between $1 million and $1.4 million and typically paid by multiple defendants. However, no cases are alike."
Getting back on message:
ReplyDeleteMy personal opinion is the AF is doing a pretty good job already in space. That despite the fact that they and the other services have long needed a more streamlined procurement system for space equipment.
And since spaceborne systems are for the most part unmanned, Trump and FDChief can fuggedabowt the Space Marines. Any task that needs a man in space is going to need a scientist or a top-tier technician.
Congress would need to approve a separate Space Force. Have they done that yet?
The odds are probably better than with the wall.
DeleteThe real problem is probably not in organisation or attitude, but in the risk that the moron might withdraw from well-establishd and valued internatioanal agreements to not weaponise satellites.
His current tariffs on Turkey appear to be an obvious and severe breach of GATT.
I wrote long ago that it's pointless to negotiate with the moron because he's not respecting obligations anyway. The only agreements that would make sense would be about U.S. obligations first met (and non-retractable) before the agreement partner follows with his obligations.
The U.S. is not trustworthy on any high profile diplomacy nowadays.
For fun check this link to one of FDChief's neighbors. This amateur space enthusiast, an anthropology professor @ Portland State U has built his own space suit not waiting for the Space Force. He is going to test it at 60,000 feet. Still technically within the atmosphere but high enough to boil away bodily fluids without protection.
ReplyDeletehttps://medium.com/the-journal-of-critical-space-studies/pacific-spaceflight-ab25c5b4347c
The Space Force is going to need men like him and maybe some of the Boffins from Space-X. Not Elon himself, perhaps some of his key lieutenants.
Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, USAF Ret., dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, discusses establishing the US Space Force:
ReplyDeletehttps://defaeroreport.com/2018/07/03/mitchell-institutes-deptula-on-standing-up-a-us-space-force/
Same thing, but short version and more informal for a tabloid audience:
https://tmz.app.box.com/s/sugdybq7d4006g9gr1qgu8c75rxmprqa