Rowley @Rowley@qoto.org

Sorry, but you can't convince me that the test of a reusable rocket system is supposed to involve destroying the launch site—which was reusable on every prior generation of space flight technology—and launching debris thousands of feet away.

#SpaceX is not a serious company, it's a clown show, and it should not have a single dollar in government funding, much less billions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViAb3vYIh_8

@maxkennerly I am quite certain that they deliberately planned on this Stage Zero being disposable. No diverter, no flame trench, no water system...heck the overall size of the launch site was almost comically small relative to the vehicle! SpaceX KNEW the pad would be destroyed but wrongly hoped/assumed the damage would be more contained and not affect the vehicle itself.

Clearly only the design of the site was considered in the regulatory process and not its use with the starship. Musk did a bait and switch on an uninformed government.

The regulatory process alone to go through to construct a properly designed launch facility was too long to fit into Musk Time so they built something that was just marginally suitable even for Falcon Heavy. Even the location is barely appropriate. The entire facility should be demolished and remediated and a proper new site selected and/or constructed.

I am always amazed over the enormity of #FIRST #FRC worlds. If you want your kid(s) in an accepting, STEM program, search them out. So much fun!

The US should invade the US, set up a framework for democracy, and build roads and schools.

@Incognitim Also, which version of the 10 commandments? https://www.learnreligions.com/different-versions-of-the-ten-commandments-250923

The GOP's only policy initiative, its only mission, and its only hope for maintaining power is voter suppression.
---
RT @washingtonpost
Exclusive: A top Republican legal strategist told a roomful of GOP donors over the weekend that conservatives must band together to limit voting on college campuses, same-day voter registration and automatic mailing of ballots to registered voters, according to a copy of her… https://twitter.com/i/…
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1649074059517231105

Once again, I'm reminded of how much the billionaire space race has absolutely destroyed my love of rockets.

10 years ago, I definitely would have been paying close attention to the current giant SpaceX launch. But because I know it's going to be used to launch hundreds of unregulated, unsafe, polluting, for-profit Starlink satellites at once, I just can't look.

Instead of being excited and awestruck by a new gigantic rocket launch, it just makes me want to puke.

I had a lot of hope that when Dean Baquet ended his tenure as the NY Times' top editor his replacement would recognize -- and respond appropriately -- to the accelerating threats to democracy and freedom of speech.

Sadly, his successor has doubled down on Baquet's ways. The Times' political coverage is nothing more than business as usual. Whether through incompetence or design, it gives comfort to extremists.

That is tragic, and disheartening.

Harlan Crow’s Nazi memorabilia collection is raising a lot of questions already answered by his policy preferences

https://findinggravity.substack.com/p/harlan-crows-nazi-memorabilia-collection

Are we eventually going to learn that Harlan Crow paid off all Brett Kavanaugh’s debt?

It's all fun and games until the robot catches fire...

#FIRSTRobotics #FRC

descriptively, the grammatical distinction between count-nouns and mass-nouns is eroding, as can be seen from the indiscriminate use of "less" in place of "fewer"

i know this happens & i am not a prescriptivist. language changes.

just ignore the twitching nerve under my right eye every time i see it.

You folks were super enthusiastic about my posting more on Mastodon, so let's try this.

RT/boost and let's see if there's interest in a regular #Ukraine thread!

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

For the last year, I've been tracking a notorious Russian unit known for its role in killing 100s of civilians.

This past month we published how we found them.

Speaking as an anesthesiologist that's spent more time in labor and delivery than most non-obstetricians will spend in their lifetimes, I cannot stress this enough: innocent people will die if mifepristone is outlawed. And it won't be in a few weeks or months— it will happen within hours. Judges should not be practicing medicine. Full stop.

listen, if i knew how to play the ukulele you ALL would know

The New York Times is in a newsroom panic over the Trump charges -- "Democracy is Tested" !!! and other such bullshit.

There's a test happening at the Times and the rest of Big Journalism, all right: whether "news" organizations can bring themselves to do their jobs properly, which includes taking a stand to help save democracy.

The Times' panic is reflection of its ongoing failure -- going back decades in the case of Trump, long an obvious crook -- to meet that test.

America, however, is not a functioning democracy, as severe anti-majoritarian distortions and a deeply unhealthy political culture conspire to give disproportional power to a radicalizing minority devoted to a reactionary cause. Until that changes, nothing changes. 18/