Awesome Apollo XI Launch Footage

Life under the greatest hot rod America ever built.

This clip is raw from Camera E-8 on the launch umbilical tower/mobile launch program of Apollo 11, July 16, 1969. This is an HD transfer from the 16mm original.

Decline of the West, Cont’d

Douthat nails it.

This is what decadence looks like: a frantic coarseness that “bravely” trashes its own values and traditions, and then knuckles under swiftly to totalitarianism and brute force.

You thought the TSA was bad?

Congressman Duncan of Tennessee tried last June to make the case that the Federal Air Marshal Service was a bigger waste of money. It includes a couple of claims I have not checked out yet, but which I’m inclined to believe:

In fact, more air marshals have been arrested than the number of people arrested by air marshals.

and

Their thousands of employees are not making one arrest per year each. They are averaging slightly over four arrests each year by the entire agency. In other words, we are spending approximately $200 million per arrest. Let me repeat that: we are spending approximately $200 million per arrest.

Clueless Bimbo?

Or rapier-like parody? I honestly can’t tell. There’s so much pro-Obama stuff out there that looks like parody that I just can’t tease it apart.

What do you think?

So Much for that Party Crashing Idea

Didn’t work out quite like the Lefties hoped.

The Price We Pay

Smile

Update:

Now watch this. Stick with it. It’ll pay off.

Does God Have a Future?

The quick answer is “not if Deepak Chopra is his best defense.” Recently ABC Nightline held a “face-off” to debate the question. ABC really stacked the deck against God by choosing Chopra (the idiot who thinks his meditation caused the Easter earthquake) and the personable but vacuous Jean Houston to take the affirmative .

Michael Shermer is a hero in the world of skepticism, having founded the influential Skeptic Magazine. He comes off well on substance, but not so much on TV skills this time around. To be fair, if I had been debating that charlatan Chopra I would have done worse than bury my head in my hands one too many times. The biggest laugh of the event for me was hearing Deepak Chopra literally invoke the “god of the gaps” argument. But don’t miss the moment he’s questioned by an actual physicist during the Q&A.

I already knew that Chopra was a fraud. What was surprising was seeing what an inconsiderate, rude fraud he is. Check out the part where he’s tugging on the moderator’s arm like a toddler begging for attention.

The real winner of the evening was Sam Harris, who was new to me. His TV skills are very good, and on substance he really kills. A friend forwarded a link to a talk he gave at an Atheism conference which is really worth a listen – especially if you aren’t an atheist. He makes a very good case that the “atheist” label is worse than useless; it’s counterproductive. Do you know of a word that means “not a racist”? Neither does Harris. While I don’t agree with him 100%, and he falls for the false mormonism vs. christianity dichotomy, he’s a very thoughtful and thought-provoking speaker.

Parenthetically, if you think that a skeptical atheist is going to out of hand reject meditation or all things spiritual, then do yourself a favor and watch. In a bit of synchronicity a recent study seems to back him up on that.

Best Cooking Show Ever

Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

So far this looks almost as good as the last review. There are at least moments of brilliance. The same caveats about language apply, of course.

Handy Chart

I hope this clears up the differences for you between criminals and congress.