Something the Dog Said

So you think that Endeavor and Discovery are the only shuttles flying? Think again, because under as much secrecy as they can manage the United States Air Force is going to launch the X-37B “mini shuttle” this afternoon. They have already missed their first launch window due to weather and it is unclear, as of now, if they make the next one is two hours or not.

The X-37, like all the X- craft is a test bed vehicle. NASA had Boeing build the unmanned reusable orbiter for them. It never flew for NASA and when funding ran out in 2004 it was transferred to the control of DARPA. They also never flew this little orbiter and now it is the property of the USAF.

Happy Friday and Welcome to Friday Constitutional! This is the repost of my series reading through and thinking about the United States Constitution. It grew out of the shameful realization that while I knew some Articles and Amendments, I had never really read the whole  thing end to end. Since I assume that might be a common thing among the Netroots I wrote this series. I am reposting it because it is valuable to read our founding document from time to time.

So, share your thoughts, if you think I am wrong, tell me how, this is supposed to be a learning experience!

If you are coming in at the middle of this series, you can find and read (if you are really that bored) all of the previous Friday Constitutionals at the links below:

The Randites and most Conservatives will go on the whole live long day about the sanctity of a contract. They will tell you how it is of critical importance that people be allowed to freely enter into any kind of agreement and be completely and totally bound by the contents therein.

The reason they like this is that most contracts are made with a vast difference in power and that it lets the party with the most money and power put limits on the party with less. Take cell phone agreements. You probably know (or maybe you don’t) that when you sign up with a phone company you’re generally giving up the right to sue them over any complaint you might have.

Okay, this one could get a little ugly so, I am going to lay down some ground rules. People will disagree in this thread. It is incumbent upon all of us to respect that right to disagree.

Second, morality is often caught up in religion. If you are going to talk about religion, then I suggest you talk about it in regards to how morality is defined by it. I don't think this should be a thread for bashing those with faith, since my fellow atheists all know that it is possible to act morally and ethically without a faith.

Finally, remember that this post is not calling for no morality but rather the private rather than public use of it in political decisions and discussions.

Now, ready, set, GO!

Mississippi Governor and probably presidential hopeful Haley Barbour is a real piece of work. With his Boss Hogg good looks and his penchant for idolizing Jim Crow groups like the Citizens Council (who enforced an economic apartheid on Southern Black citizens)  but thus far that has not stopped him from looking like he might be a viable candidate.

Still the level of mendacity and crypto-racism from the Deep South Governor is not something I think will play in the larger election. Sure whoever the Republican candidate is will be going up against an African American in the general election and the racist minority in this nation is going to be wanting to line up behind anyone (who is white) who will run against him, but the vast majority of the nation is not going stand for that kind of thing.

We think of planetary orbits as one to a customer, but they don’t always have to be that way. When you have on body orbiting another, like a planet around a star or even a nice heavy moon around a planet, you get these nice big spots of gravitational equilibrium, 60 degrees ahead and behind the orbiting body.

These are called the Lagrange points, what you might have seen called L-4 and L-5 in science fiction. If you have a much lighter body than either of the first two and it is placed in either L-4 or L-5 it maintain an orbit there. This is the gravitational equilibrium.

I have never understood the fetish for privatization that has gripped our nation for the 15 years or so. Sure I get it that most of the companies that get the contracts for things that the government used to do are the buddies of the Republican Party and they get a ton of money from it. Still there are something’s that should be inherently the government’s purview.

We have had tons of contractors in the wars zones over the last decade. Some of them are just contracting for things like building things and supplying food and water to the soldiers in field. Others have been shadier like Xe (formerly Blackwater) who where providing protection services to State Department personnel but also performing duties like scouting convoy routes and other less defined activities.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

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As the protests in Madison have continued and even grown in the face of an obdurate Governor and even a major winter storm they have not been alone. This weekend there were rallies in all 50 states in support of the public employees unions.

That first-term Governor Scott Walker has overreached in this labor dispute is beyond question. It is one thing to want to get concessions out of Labor when times are tight (though maybe he should have not given away massive tax cuts in the first place) but to try to end the right of workers to bargain collectively is a bridge too far.

With public sentiment firmly on the side of Labor, and protests growing not shrinking it is hard to see what the Governor can do other than back down. But that is not preventing one union from both planning for the future and turning up the heat.

Happy Sunday Bread Heads!

This week you’re going to get two recipes for corn bread. Why? Because one of the Bread Heads doesn’t have a stand mixer and can’t knead bread with his hands and asked for more than one cornbread recipe that he could make. Since we’re going to be moving on from cornbread this week, that means two recipes for the price of one!

We’ll be making two of my favorite American style cornbreads this week. What I call Regular Cornbread and Jalapeno Cornbread. The Jalapeno bread features not only the spicy peppers but onions, cheddar cheese and creamed corn. You can make them as loaves but I like to make them as muffins. They turn out just slightly spicy and a little bit sweet, with great texture and a complex flavor.

The Regular Corn bread is rich and moist using cream, milk and butter in the mixture. It is moist enough not crumble but still firm enough to serve with stews or chili.

Now that I’ve got your mouths watering, let’s bake!

Happy Friday Constitutionalists! Welcome to the re-post of my series taking a layman's look at the Constitution. This series is intended to act a spring board for reading and thinking about the meaning of the United States Constitution. I am giving my reading of our foundational legal document, but as galling as it is to admit, I could be wrong about some of my opinions. If you have a different take on the Constitution share it! We can all stand to learn new things, no?

Oh, gods! My brain feels like it is burning. Is the quart of Mia-Tia’s from last night? Is it the allergens blowing in the wind this morning? It is that new position that they wife wanted to try with the trapeze and the mayonnaise? I could only wish it were these things! No it is from giving up 77 minutes of my life watching Porter Stansberry’s on line fear mongering investment services pitch!

You may have seen the commercial on TV recently (I spotted it on the prime time MSNBC line up) touting an online video about a prescient investor who is predicting the collapse of the Untied States government this year (italic and bold). You got to the website www.Endofamerica2011.com to see this hour long turd. For the love of all that is good and pure don’t waste your fracking time! I did it for you and I’ll give you a good summary of this piece of ca-ca.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

Imagine a scene from a movie. Above the little town the dam looms in the pouring rain. Ominous thunder crackles through the clouds and we see waves lapping over the top of the earth structure, more and more water  pours overtop the dam. Cut to another shot, some overworked public service employee (who has had his collective bargaining rights removed but stays on the job out of loyalty to the public) speaks into a cell phone “I tell ya Dan, this dam can’t last! You have to get the governor on the horn and order an evacuation.”

A particularly large flash of lightning illuminates the dam above him, and he see the edifice crumbling and millions of gallons of water starting to pour out toward the unsuspecting town. With his last breath he says “I warned them we had to repair it! I warned them, why wouldn’t they listen?”

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"