August 26, 2024

OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

Posted at 9:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Amazon expands Kennedy Space Center facility to accelerate satellite deployments.

Plus: SpaceX Private Spacewalk Mission Launches Tonight. Or maybe it counts as early tomorrow morning. “The Polaris Dawn mission, a commercial spaceflight backed by American billionaire Jared Isaacman that will attempt the first private spacewalk, is currently scheduled to launch on Tuesday, Aug. 27, on a Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule Resilience. Liftoff is scheduled for 3:38 a.m. EDT (0738 GMT) from Florida’s Cape Canaveral.”

Posted at 9:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

FIRST RFK, NOW THIS: Tulsi Gabbard Endorses Trump.

Hey, she won more delegates in the Democratic Primary than Kamala did.

Posted at 7:57 pm by Glenn Reynolds

NO SH*T, SHERLOCK: Meta Platforms CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted on Monday that the Biden administration “repeatedly pressured” his team for months in 2021 to censor content related to COVID-19, including content from ordinary Americans.

Just the News is reporting that:

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg continued. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

The Facebook founder also admitted that Facebook demoted the Hunter Biden laptop story, because it was warned by the FBI about a potential Russian disinformation operation regarding Burisma and the Biden family leading into the 2020 election.

“It’s been since made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we should not have demoted the story,” Zuckerberg said.

Too little, too late, Zuck.

We all knew District Court Judge Terry Doughty was correct.

Posted at 7:50 pm by Charles Glasser

SPRAY, BABY, SPRAY: 10 Massachusetts communities at high risk of mosquito-spread virus ‘Triple E.’

The threat of Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus has prompted several Massachusetts towns to implement targeted mosquito spraying to protect residents.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this virus, often called Triple E, is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito and can cause a “rare but severe illness.” Although the number of annual cases is low, the virus can pose a significant health risk.

The CDC says most people infected don’t have any symptoms, but symptoms can range from a febrile illness to more severe neurological problems.

The disease is particularly dangerous if it leads to encephalitis, or inflammation in the brain, with approximately 30% of people with encephalitis dying.

Many survivors experience long-term neurological issues, according to the CDC, which notes there are no human vaccines or specific treatments available, making prevention crucial.

Die, skeeters, die.

Posted at 6:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

OLD AND BUSTED: Trump Will Destroy Democracy!

The New Hotness? We’ll do the job ourselves: Human Rights Campaign president says we must “reimagine” democracy to be “more revolutionary” than the “little piece of paper“ our founders drafted.

Flashback: Kamala Harris Dismisses Kavanaugh’s Pocket Constitution: ‘That Book You Carry.’

Piers Morgan could not be reached for comment: Piers Morgan gets owned by Ben Shapiro, refers to Constitution as “your little book.”

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

DEEP DIVE: Inside Boeing’s factory lapses that led to the Alaska Air blowout.

The door plug that blew out on Alaska Flight 1282 at 16,000 feet over Portland had sealed a hole cut out of the fuselage for an optional emergency exit door installed by only a few airlines.

Most 737 MAX 9s, like the Alaska jet, have a plug there, not a real door. To a passenger seated at that location, it looks like just another cabin window.

And the mechanics in Renton assembling the airplane don’t typically have to do anything with a door plug. It comes fully installed from Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., and there’s usually no reason to open it in Renton.

A specialized door crew in Renton of about 20 to 25 mechanics covering three assembly lines is dedicated to the work of rigging passenger, cargo and other doors. They work first shift, 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

They are the only mechanics that do such work, and even they rarely deal with a door plug. A Boeing manufacturing record lists door plug work performed in Renton just four times last year, one time in 2022 and twice in 2021.

A 35-year veteran on the door team told NTSB investigators that he is “the only one that can work on all the doors” and he was typically the only mechanic who would work on door plugs.

That mechanic was on vacation on the two critical days, Sept. 18 and 19 last year, when the door plug on the Alaska MAX 9 had to be opened and closed.

It’s a lengthy read but worth your time.

Posted at 3:48 pm by Stephen Green

HEALTH: Breakthrough medical treatment kills prostate cancer, study finds. “Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery that could revolutionize the treatment of prostate cancer. By targeting a single enzyme called PI5P4Kα, scientists have found a way to potentially kill prostate cancer cells, offering new hope for patients who face the growing challenge of treatment resistance.”

Posted at 2:46 pm by Stephen Green

TO BE FAIR, BUGOUTS ARE WHAT KAMALA AND JOE DO BEST:

Such moments are no laughing matter — unless you’re the vice president, alas:

Posted at 2:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

WHAT A MONSTER. Pitt cardiologist Norman Wang was demoted, had an article retracted, and was told he was “unsafe” for students because of maniac statements like “Ultimately, all who aspire to a profession in medicine and cardiology must be assessed as individuals on the basis of their personal merits, not their race and ethnic identities.” He’s suing. (In the meantime, if you need a cardiologist, I suspect he’s a safe bet.)

Posted at 2:35 pm by Robert Shibley

OLD AND BUSTED: “Queers for Palestine.”

The New Hotness? Islamists Are Reenacting the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and the Green Crowd Couldn’t Care Less.

Do America’s environmentalists oppose the Houthis’ blowing up oil tankers because it results in massive spills and a “severe ecological disaster,” or quietly support them because they represent attacks on the fossil-fuel industry?

It’s easy to wonder about the latter, as life stateside is full of people who will give you grief about your Big Mac, your SUV, your gas stove, and now your air conditioning. Meanwhile, these kidnapping, humanitarian-aid-obstructing, cholera-exacerbating Islamists who carried out a “partial and limited reintroduction of slavery” are reenacting the Exxon Valdez spill, and you barely hear a peep from the green crowd. It’s easy to conclude their movement is primarily focused upon hassling you, not about protecting the Earth.

The current president of the United States — that’s Joe Biden if you’ve forgotten. I know it’s easy to forget when he only does one public event per week — has not made any substantive remarks about the threat from the Houthis since January. The Biden administration would probably prefer if you forgot that one of its first actions was to remove the Iranian-backed Houthis from the U.S. list of global terrorist organizations.

As with those who attack Christianity but steer very far away from attacking Islam, now we know the limits of the crowd that glues themselves to the floor and throws paint at priceless artwork.

Posted at 2:22 pm by Ed Driscoll