Tribal politics

11/16/24:

An update upon the political situation when the blogging here was at a minimum. A few things have changed. A change in party in DC, and the return of Trump.

The original post was questioning why Biden's approval rate was high, when the track of country type polling had been consistently negative for so long.

It would seem that the old patterns should cease, and new patterns should be adopted. One new pattern is to stop with the never-Trumper Democrat oppositional and confrontational approach. Let's see some cooperation. After, Trump has certifiably won twice now. He should get his nominees through without a big obstructionist effort from the losing side that won't accept the fact that the public supports the man, and he should have a chance to enact his program. This includes getting his nominees through the Senate.

Will it be the same-old same-old in DC, or will it finally change?

7/1/22:

 

 

 

Looking at the performance of this president, it is hard to understand what keeps him afloat politically. There has to be only one explanation for that, and that is the tribal component of politics.

What has this president done so well that it rates a positive approval? The Rasmussen Poll have him consistently in the high 30's to low 40's. But if it is for approval, then what exactly do they like about the guy? What exactly has he done that meets with any approval at all?

There are some other polls that indicate that it isn't a partisan phenomenon. Dissatisfation has been high for some time now. The right-track wrong-track poll has been underwater for so long that it is the new normal. Is the fact that so many people are dissatified with the way things are going, is THAT the reason for their approval of this president?

If you cannot get political accountability, then how are you ever going to get some useful things done?

There has been plenty of talk about the "gridlock" in Washington. The gridlock, as such, is not the issue. The issue is why do people insist on giving these politicians a blank check all the time?

It has to be fear of the "other". They managed to convince many in their group that to allow the other side to win is tantamount to "losing our democracy". But it is the ability to "throw the bums out" that makes a democracy. If the guy you voted for doesn't produce, then what is the use of continuing the support? How are you ever going to get rid of a guy who is bad for the country, and even bad for YOU?

The politicians have made an art of avoiding accountability. Nice job if you can get it. No matter how badly you screw up, nobody will fire you for it. That is the state of the Democrat party. I'd like to see what this guy has done that makes him worthy of any support at all. There isn't any. The only reason to support him is that he is not one of the "other guys"; who have been demonized into being fascists, or something akin to it.

It is the biggest scam going, and that is saying something.

Starship Flight 6 delayed until 11/19/24

Aw, shucks! Anyway, that's one bit of news. The other is of particular interest to yours truly. There's a new kid on the block, called Impulse, which will do space tug chores. It has a methylox set up, like the Starship. That means it could be refueled in space. Interesting. It's capabilities seem a bit limited, but that's okay.

I can envision sending a lunar landing module on one of these things, and park it at the Gateway. Then you wouln't need a big Starship to land on the moon. Although it might be useful to have it deliver a lot of payload.

Orange Revolution in DC?

Nope.

There's something I saw yesterday on the web, which I can no longer find on a search. It may have been memory holed, or maybe it just wasn't all that significant. Or perhaps there are those amongst the powers-that-be who think that the "Resistance" has played itself out. In such a case, another Resistance as Orange Revolution would be a bad look, and the word went out to put the kibosh on such doings.

Whatever the case may be, such memory holing could actually be the case. If memory serves, the left got into ridiculous mode right after 9-11. Then the poll numbers came out, and the left realized that their best idea was to play along with the Bushies. So they did, and the Bushies obliged with an ill-advised run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The left saw its opportunity there, and made the most of it.

Such history may repeat itself. The left is far more quiet and reasonable than what one  would've thought they'd be. Indeed, it reminds me of an old line in a Western flick when the Injuns got real quiet. Somebody would say that they were "too quiet". The modern left is just too danged quiet for me to believe in any of it.

One has to distinguish between THE revolution and just A revolution. Now is not the time for "A" revolution. It is always time for THE revolution. Therefore, the Orange Revolution against Trump will have to wait for another day. The left has gone quiet.   They will bide their time for the best time for THE REVOLUTION.  Now ain't it.

Andrea Mitchell interviews Senator Bill Haggerty of Tennessee

I agree that he comes across very well. Good job.

It’s rare that I post a 7 minute video, but this entire interview is fantastic.

Sen. Bill Hagerty drops truth bombs on MSNBC about the weaponization of the DOJ and obliterates every single BS narrative Andrea Mitchell throws at him, even causing her to freeze and stumble over… pic.twitter.com/pCw5riZONU

— Patri0tsareinContr0l (@Patri0tContr0l) November 14, 2024

Rats Flee Sinking DOJ ship

Julie Kelly

Rats Flee Sinking DOJ Ship by Julie Kelly

The scales of justice have a chance to recalibrate following Donald Trump's resounding victory and the departure of key figures at the Biden/Harris Department of Justice.

Read on Substack

Starship Flight 6 approaches

NASASpaceflight YouTube Channel

Bucket brigades in space

Screenshot of delta v map from EML-2 to Low Phobos Orbit (Mars) : map via delta-v map on github

Just toying around with the idea of making a supply line that runs from Earth to Mars. At each node, cargo could be exchanged in order to make kind of a bucket brigade. You could pass along pre-fabbed materials from Earth, while grabbing up fuel at each step. There could be a staging area where these could accumulate while you wait for launch windows to open up.

Musk is planning to build hundreds of these starships. So he could just launch each one with some prefabbed materials to build whatever is needed. If you need to store materials at each node of the way, the first launches will go toward building that node so that it could support the next node, and so forth.

The goal should be to make the entire node structure as self-sufficient as is feasible. If you have a re-filling station, then perhaps the fuel could be made there with raw materials sourced from say Phobos, the Moon, the Earth, and Mars.

Updated with a few back of the envelope calcs and notes (please forgive the informality):

Using the gizmo mentioned above:

Some destinations and their delta-v's please:

These can get from Low Earth Orbit to Geosynchonous Orbit, and out:

Leo to Geo 3.91 km/s

Geo to EML-2 2.6 km/s

Moon to EML-2 2.3 km/s



Loxleo is a topic covered previously on this blog, click on the bolded link below to see:

LOXLEO to LEO ? km/s ; would have to supply it with power

@ EML-2 could intercept and capture near earth objects (asteroids) and return them for processing

can return asteroidal material to the lunar surface along with fuel obtained from phobos and / or mars

lunar surface could process the asteroidal material and make things with it either fuel or solar panels to be used for loxleo

Here's the delta-v's for the trips from the moon to Mars:

low phobos to EML-2 2.78 km/s

low phobos to lmo 1.243 km/s

lmo to Mars 3.6 km/s

phobos to Mars 4.848 km/s



A fully fueled Starship can make the trips, and possibly with exceptionally large cargoes. How 'bout them apples?

Screenshot of pdf file , which lists pages and pages of these asteroids that may be accessed for use in situ resourcing in support of deep space missions

Rob Braxman on the power of privacy ( it beat the Dems, he says)

Well, maybe he didn't EXACTLY make that claim, but he comes pretty close. Just from my own point of view, the Dems were a bunch of friggin' liars, and the lies weren't going to work on ME. Maybe there's an explanation that could explain what happened in this cycle, but if there is one, I'd say that the truth won.

But I could be wrong.

Today's links to chew on

They made their bed, now they get to lie in it.

Biggest political blunder in American history

Libs are having a cow.

Is Joe Biden really as happy as he appears?

The next one is a bit of comic relief...

 

 Wind blowing out of Uranus --- hmmm

"Faster please" could face a slowdown

11/14/24:

It may be desirable to explain what the title means. The term "faster please" is often used on Instapundit in order to wish along (if such is possible) wanted developments.

The term could be applied to the incoming second Trump Administration. Events could forestall many things from happening over the course of time. You may want a lot of the changes being promised, but these may not be deliverable due to circumstances beyond anyone's control.

But it is good to see that Trump really intends to "drain the swamp". Unfortunately, the project may be too big to tackle in the near term, if at all. We'll see.

11/13/24:

⚠ How disruptive would a Chinese invasion of Taiwan be? by James Pethokoukis

The risk of a Warring '20s squashing a New Roaring '20s

Read on Substack

Mining the Sky, Revisited

11/12/24:

If you could mine the moon, what would you want to mine the most? Would it be for precious metals? Or just rocket fuel? A review of Mining the Sky suggests solar power, with the panels constructed out of lunar materials. It would certainly be useful for getting a reason to go back to the Earth from the Moon.

For that matter, you could do BOTH. Send back fuel and materials used in construction of solar panels, or the panels themselves. They could be emplaced near GEO, and the recovery of a Starship for future launches from the ground, could be used for transport. You would probably want to bring Starships back to Earth for servicing and repairs.

But there's a lot of stuff on the moon that could be useful.

A special orbit could be used for getting back into Earth orbit, with a minimal use of fuel. The moon base could pay for itself.

Update:  The special orbit would be a High Earth Elliptical Orbit, which is similar to the one being used around the Moon for the Artemis program.  The delta-v from the lunar orbit to the earth orbit might be small.  This means less fuel needed to make the trips. .

11/11/24:

The political warfare of recent times has diverted us all from thinking more constructively about our problems. After reviewing the link in this post, I note how much that the hostility seems to distract from real problem-solving. It is a pity.

The reference here was barely mentioned. It so happens that I needed some information about how to extract large amounts of oxygen, as well as other useful materials from the lunar soil. But why re-invent the wheel? Did I not post about this very thing before? It turns out that this particular aspect I did not, or probably not post about it.

But I did re-locate the book I had, and began to consult it. The exact information is not readily apparent yet, but there are ways to extract the materials desired. At least, I am sure of such existence that it must exist somewhere in the literature. Or, it will have to be dredged up somehow.

If you are going to go back to the moon to stay, you're going to need this information. As for the Starship, it is the vehicle needed to transport a large amount of cargo to the lunar surface. This could provide the start to getting a base established that can be expanded in time so that it can do the trick.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the potential exists to extract huge amounts of cargo that could be lifted off the lunar surface with this Starship. I will review the book further to see if I can find more detailed answers for my questions.

The book was a real inspiration. It was nearly forgotten. There's a lesson somewhere in there for anybody to take note of. I know that I have.

11/15/21:

A stroll down memory lane here. This was one of the early influences upon the writings in this here blog way back when. Elon Musk may want to go to Mars, but he may want to visit the moon first. The reason being is that the moon has resources that can be used for his Mars ambitions. Mining the moon for its resources is on par with the spirit of that book.

The moon has abundant amounts of oxygen. It may not be made of cheese, but there's plenty of other good things there. One thing that just came to mind is that the solar wind could be responsible for the water on the moon. What if it was possible to mine vast stretches of the lunar surface for its particles coming via the solar wind? Would it be enough?

Over the course of time, yes. But over the time scales that we live in, which could be a matter of days or weeks, maybe not. It could be made up for, maybe, with the use of the materials at hand, which could capture the charged particles which can be used as a resource.

The solar wind exerts a definite pressure. It is the pressure of charged particles traveling at high velocities. This may be the reason for the water traps on the moon. The highly charged hydrogen nuclei could've been initially trapped and converted into water with the oxygen available on the lunar surface. In cold places where there is no sun, the water froze, and couldn't escape. It accumulated over time. It is believed that there could be vast resevoirs of water trapped in these permanently shaded craters.

I was also thinking that since these are electrically charged particles, could it be possible to mine them for electricity? The particles could induce an electrical current if they could be concentrated somehow. It may also be possible to collect them in the metal hydride devices discussed in an earlier post. The hydrogen could be mined to produce electricity and water.

With these resources, you could leverage them into additional resources, such as food. It is much less energy intensive to launch from the moon than from Earth. If there is sufficient reason to stop at the moon on the way to Mars, it may be worth it.

Government downsizing

A lot of bureaucracy could be obsoleted with such a ruling. We'll see how it holds up, though. The government will not take kindly to having itself cut in size and power.

Huge decision holding that CEQ never had authority to issue the National Environmental Policy Act regulations that have been used for nearly half a century https://t.co/8Jn5TF4kT5 pic.twitter.com/KRn0ZDIbIS

— James Coleman (@EnergyLawProf) November 12, 2024

Did Kamala Harris pay for endorsements?

The endorsements were as fake as the candidate.

But as a legal matter, how are secret bought-and-paid-for endorsements even legal? If you can’t run a paid ad without a clear disclosure, how on earth can you run a paid endorsement without disclosure? https://t.co/J92bjYUgrJ

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 11, 2024

She sure did pay for entertainers to draw an audience that she couldn't draw herself.

No more nonsense from Hamas

Our new Secretary of State will not be anything like Tony Blinken pic.twitter.com/mEWWZM092j

— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) November 12, 2024

Trump's victory and what it could mean for SpaceX

I didn't click on any of the articles.

Instead, I've already offered my opinion on a previous post. As for the future, anything can happen. If I laid any odds, I'd say that the government isn't likely to give up all that pork. That means SLS will probably stay on, and the Artemis project will move forward as planned.

Artemis may not get done as quickly as is planned though. SLS has been notorious about schedule slippages, and SpaceX's Starship isn't ready yet.

Scott Jennings

Gets after them. Good.

#BREAKING: Pentagon officials are already discussing how they can countermand an order from President Donald Trump if they disagree with it.

Scott Jennings absolutely ripped them to pieces.

"[They're] already having discussions to countermand the commander-in-chief! [...] I… pic.twitter.com/CyyGD1aE4N

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 9, 2024

Get ready for the moon rush

Updated:

Paul Spudis (book for sale on Amazon) :

Thought I'd buy it, but held off for now. I've got another book to re-read.

Moon mining approach that could actually work:

I clicked through these before I posted them. But I got lazy and didn't comment upon them.

Mining the moon for propellant ( pdf ) :

This pdf file has an executive summary at the beginning, if you're in a hurry. It says that mining the moon for propellant is feasible.

lunar gold rush:

If you can get there, they will come.

lunar rush mining the moon:

Everybody likes money.

lunar colony photos:

Everybody loves pictures.

If that's too dry for ya, here's some music. But it sounds to me like HAL wrote it. Where's the monolith?

Everybody thinks they are a comic. yuk, yuk.

More conspiwacy tearwies

As the late comedian Richard Pryor would say: "Who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?"

Counting votes a week after the election is over invites doubt in voter integrity, therefore, the practice needs to be banned.


Drop-Off in Democratic Votes Ignites Conspiracy Theories on Left and …
archived 10 Nov 2024 13:27:39 UTC

Dems are going to try to claw back the loss of Senate seat in Pennsylvania

Sen Schumer won't allow the new Senator-elect to attend orientation. According to the WSJ article shown below, this is what to look for if a steal is in the works.




Democrats for Election Denial in Pennsylvania - WSJ
archived 10 Nov 2024 21:50:03 UTC

Weird Al

No Sting this time.

Trump did something that hasn't been done since FDR

It was a realignment election. ( Unless something happens to reverse it.)

Kari Lake has a chance?

Update: The race called for Gallego, Lake loses! A big dump from Maricopa County ended Lake's bid to overtake Gallego. She's toast. Now the accusations will flying the other way. Arizona is FUBAR.

If she wins, it might be a case of poetic justice. But there's a lot of weird sheet in going down in Arizona, main. I can already hear the pinks crying and moaning about a stolen election. Feex jor cheet, main!

Guys, I am running through the voters left to count in Arizona and between that and the voters that we know we ballot chased, Kari Lake is in an incredible spot.

This thing is going to be close and every ballot matters, but I feel really good about what we know we have left.

— Tyler Bowyer (@tylerbowyer) November 8, 2024