n2doc

n2doc's Journal

January 27, 2018

NASA's $55 million GOLD satellite, feared lost, successfully reaches orbit

NASA’s GOLD instrument has made it into orbit around Earth after fears of disaster as launch officials lost communication with the first stage of the rocket carrying the $55 million instrument shortly after liftoff.

Later Thursday evening, NASA and launch provider Arianespace breathed a sigh of relief when they finally tracked down the rogue payload.

Probe the closest edge of space

Launched by an Ariane 5 rocket and strapped to a commercial satellite, the mini-fridge-sized instrument will probe the closest edge of space, where intense solar radiation meets Earth’s chaotic weather.

more
http://www.newsweek.com/nasa-gold-orbit-lost-contact-791689?utm_campaign=NewsweekFacebookSF&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social

January 26, 2018

The Mueller Bombshell Proves Republicans Are Running Out of Time

BY CHARLES P. PIERCE
JAN 26, 2018

It came with the wind through the silence of the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad moan in which it died away. Again and again it sounded, the whole air throbbing with it, strident, wild and menacing.

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1902.

So, if I read the state of play correctly, special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the president* and the president*’s administration* for obstruction of justice, and Mueller has been running this investigation for seven months knowing that the president* came within an ace of firing him last June for the purposes of, ah, obstructing justice. He’s had this information in his back pocket every time a member of the administration* came before him under oath. I’ve never been a criminal defendant charged with obstruction of justice, but this seems to me to be a bad situation for an obstructor of justice to be in.

The major scoop in The New York Times that has shaken up the world can be read in a number of different ways that all lead to the same conclusion. Right from jump, the president* has been scared right down to his silk boxers of what Mueller would discover regarding his campaign’s connections to Russian ratfcking and regarding his business connections to freshly laundered Russian cash. This conclusion does not change even if you think that White House counsel Don McGahn leaked this story to make himself the hero or to cover his own ass. This conclusion does not change even if you think the ratlines off the listing hulk of this administration are thick with fleeing rodents. This whole thing remains a product of the president*’s guilty mind.

more
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a15893218/trump-fire-mueller-russia/

January 26, 2018

Solar company puts hold on $20M US investment following new tariff

U.S.-based solar energy company SunPower announced it's putting a hold on a $20 million plan to expand factories and create hundreds of new jobs in the U.S. until it can guarantee an exclusion from the new federal solar technology tariff, according to Reuters.

SunPower's decision to halt its growth in California and Texas follows President Trump's announcement Monday that a 30 percent tariff would be placed on all imported solar technologies.

The administration said the decision would protect American manufacturing jobs but some solar companies, like SunPower, argued that it will hurt their bottom line and result in fewer jobs in the industry.

The tariff was seen as a major blow for America's $28 billion solar industry, which gets about 80 percent of its solar panel products from imports.

more
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/370895-solar-company-puts-hold-on-20m-us-investment-following-new-tariff

Thanks Trump!

January 26, 2018

Trump plans to ask for $716 billion for national defense in 2019 a major increase

By Greg Jaffe and Damian Paletta January 26 at 1:20 PM

President Trump is expected to ask for $716 billion in defense spending when he unveils his 2019 budget next month, a major increase that signals a shift away from concerns about rising deficits, U.S. officials said.

The proposed budget is a victory for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who recently unveiled a strategy that proposes retooling the military to deter and, if necessary, fight a potential conflict with major powers such as China and Russia.

And it represents a setback for deficit hawks such as Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who last year pressed for an increase in defense spending that could be offset by cuts to domestic programs.

The $716 billion figure for 2019 would cover the Pentagon’s annual budget as well as spending on ongoing wars and the maintenance of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It would increase Pentagon spending by more than 7 percent over the 2018 budget, which still has not passed through Congress.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-plans-to-ask-for-716-billion-for-national-defense-in-2019--a-major-increase/2018/01/26/9d0e30e4-02a8-11e8-bb03-722769454f82_story.html

War Pigs

January 26, 2018

Jerry Falwell Jr. defends Trump: Jesus never told Caesar how to run Rome

This week, evangelicals have been debating how to respond to challenging aspects of Trump’s presidency.

Earlier this week, responding to allegations that Donald Trump had a 2006 extramarital affair with an adult film actress — and paid her for her silence — Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins said Trump got a “mulligan” on the affair.

The most striking take yet, however, came from Jerry Falwell Jr., president of evangelical Liberty University. He defended the president by arguing that Christian ethics and American politics should be kept separate. Thursday, Falwell tweeted:

y Falwell
✔
@JerryFalwellJr
Jesus said love our neighbors as ourselves but never told Caesar how to run Rome-he never said Roman soldiers should turn the other cheek in battle or that Caesar should allow all the barbarians to be Roman citizens or that Caesar should tax the rich to help poor. That’s our job.

more
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/26/16936010/evangelicals-jerry-falwell-trump-caesar-rome

January 26, 2018

A giant Putin portrait is on display and it's made from bullet shells

(CNN)It's a striking image. A 7-foot-tall portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin made from bullet shells.

The piece is on display as part of an exhibition that opened in New York on Thursday -- and it's meant to be a sobering reminder of the horrors of war.
The shells are all from the 2014 Ukrainian uprising known as the Maidan Revolution, one of the bloodiest European conflicts since the early 1990s.
And the two Ukrainian artists who created the portrait fiercely believe Putin is to blame for the violence that tore apart the eastern part of their country.

more
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/25/us/putin-portrait-ukraine-bullet-shells-trnd-cnntv/index.html

January 26, 2018

Batshit crazy editorial on "winning" nuclear war

Only Trump can restore America's ability to win a nuclear war
BY ROBERT MONROE, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 01/26/18 12:40 PM EST

When the Cold War ended in 1991, America made an unwise decision. No enemies were in sight, so our leaders — with the strong concurrence of the American people — decided it was safe to dismantle much of the superb nuclear weapons capability that had won that half-century of poised armageddon.

Ongoing nuclear programs were stopped. Budgets were cut. New nuclear capabilities were prohibited by law. A presidential moratorium denied underground nuclear testing. No research into advanced nuclear technology was allowed. Essentially, America went into an unannounced a nuclear freeze, and we have progressively increased its restrictions and denials for a quarter-century.

As a result we have lost most of our essential nuclear weapons capabilities. All of our nuclear weapons are far beyond the end of their design lives. Not one has been tested for over 25 years to make sure they still work. Designed for the nuclear threat of a past century, our much-reduced nuclear stockpile is unable to deter most of the nuclear threats we face today.

more
http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/370901-only-trump-can-restore-americas-ability-to-win-a-nuclear-war

January 26, 2018

Michigan State AD Mark Hollis resigns

Source: ESPN

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis resigned Friday, becoming the latest university official to step down from his post in the wake of the Dr. Larry Nassar scandal.

“It’s been an absolute honor to guide the Athletic Department for the last decade. That being said, today I am announcing my retirement,” Hollis said in a statement released by the university.

“This was not an easy decision for my family, and you should not jump to any conclusions based on our decision — listen to facts. I am not running away from anything, I am running toward something. Comfort, compassion and understanding for the survivors and our community; togetherness, time and love for my family,” Hollis said.

Hollis oversaw athletics on the campus where Nassar sexually assaulted his patients and others at Michigan State’s sports clinic for nearly two decades. Although no one has alleged that Hollis had direct knowledge of Nassar’s abuse prior to the disgraced doctor’s arrest in 2016, at least six women have said that they alerted an athletic trainer, coach or staff psychologist about Nassar’s behavior and that no significant action was taken. Some of those warnings came as early as 1997.

Read more: http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/22223678/michigan-state-athletic-director-mark-hollis-resigns