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Articles by Mark Whittington
Don’t trash the International Space Station
The International Space Station is a magnificent human achievement -- and is worth preserving. (Photo illustration.) dima_zel/Getty Images U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei peers at the Earth from inside the ISS's seven-windowed cupola. (Kayla Barron/NASA via AP, File) Kayla Barron, HOGP / Associated Press NASA and its international partners intend to deorbit the International Space Station sometime around 2030.
Would a TikTok ban be constitutional?
Last month FBI Director Christopher Wray raised concerns about TikTok, the increasingly popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Wray is the latest in a long line of government officials who have expressed concern about the influence the Chinese government may have over the app, and the national security implications of the data the app collects on American users. As TikTok’s social media presence has grown, lawmakers are increasingly for a TikTok ban.
Researcher admits electric vehicles have hidden ‘concerning’ environmental costs
Electric vehicles’ batteries “require lots of different mined materials ,” which are causing “concerning” environmental impacts , according to one researcher.
Gavin Newsom goes to Texas despite California’s travel ban
California Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to Texas this past weekend despite Texas being one of the states California has banned as a destination for official government travel. Newsom spoke at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, calling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a “bully” and saying he is more worried about Fox News host Tucker Carlson than former President Donald Trump.
House GOP bill would allow pharmacists to refuse to provide abortion drugs
A group of House GOP members has introduced legislation that would give pharmacists the power to refuse to provide abortion-inducing drugs, undermining recent guidance from the Biden administration warning that pharmacists who do not provide the medications could face legal and financial penalties. The Pharmacist Conscience Protection Act, introduced by Reps.
Josh Hawley blasts credit card companies for threatening Second Amendment rights
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) blasted a recent move by major credit card companies to isolate and track gun purchases through the use of a special code.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency exposed for 'Ministry of Truth' dirty work
[This piece has been published in Restoring America to highlight how the Biden administration is using the Department of Homeland Security to censor information.] The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is supposed to be a government entity that “works with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborates to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future.” Lately, however, it has instead been in the business of...
California’s electrical grid emergency shows its energy policy gamble is a bad bet
[This piece has been published in Restoring America to highlight how California's environmentalist policies are reducing its energy grid's reliability and efficiency.] California may be a trendsetter or bellwether in many ways, but after 10 grid alerts and emergency declarations in as many days, let’s hope that’s not the case when it comes to energy and climate policy.
Biden moves to open up public benefits to illegal immigrants
[This piece has been published in Restoring America to highlight how the Biden administration is undermining Congress's authority with a new immigration rule.] In its latest effort to “remove barriers” to immigration, the Department of Homeland Security is finalizing the long-awaited public charge rule , codifying a weak standard that upends congressional intent, decades of precedent, and the core American value of self-reliance .
Gun groups set sights on New York's 'sensitive locations' law after Supreme Court ruling
Second Amendment advocacy groups are taking aim at New York's novel "sensitive locations" law barring people from carrying firearms indozens of public places around the state, arguing it falls flat in the face of the Supreme Court 's latest ruling over concealed carry permits in the state.
From 'The Red Badge of Courage' to 'The Free State of Jones', Five Great American Civil War Films
May 26, 2020 at 10:51 AM Updated on May 26, 2020 at 11:15 AM Video of the Day: '90 Day Fiance': Big Ed speaks out about Hana Kimura’s death America's bloodiest war was one that it fought against itself between 1861 and 1865 over the question as to whether it would be one single free nation or two countries, one free and one that still permitted the ancient evil of slavery.
Houston Metro’s 20-year transit plan could be obsolete before it’s finished
Advertisement Advertisement Houston, cars, and traffic jams seem to go together and is a vexing problem for those charged with getting people from Point A to Point B. The problem is very common in large cities and the proposed solutions are, unfortunately, all too familiar.
The real reason space aliens haven’t visited Earth
Advertisement Advertisement Bad public policy, pursued stubbornly over a long period of time, causes more civilizations to fall than any sudden disaster. With that in mind, it should be noted that a recent academic study, published in the journal Astrobiology, attempted to solve the Fermi Paradox. According to the study, almost every civilization that has arisen in the universe has been wiped out by climate change.
The Space Exploration Initiative was George H. W. Bush's most magnificent failure
One of the rarely mentioned legacies of President George H. W. Bush was his greatest, but most magnificent, failure -the Space Exploration Initiative. The newly elected president announced SEI, a program to send astronauts back to the moon [VIDEO] and on to Mars, on July 20, 1989, in front of the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. The optics were all but perfect, with the Apollo 11 astronauts in attendance and a cheering crowd witnessing the announcement.
Robert Francis 'Beto' O'Rourke being touted as the next president
By any conventional measure, Robert Francis ‘Beto’ O’Rourke should be headed for political obscurity. He was an undistinguished three-term congressman from El Paso who tried and failed to take Ted Cruz’s Senate seat away from him. He ran in Texas with a conventional far left agenda [VIDEO] and with a lot of personal baggage, including a DUI incident in which he was reported to have tried to flee the scene of the accident.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes to Washington
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 29, has to be one of the more unlikely, but nevertheless, entertaining, members of the new Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. She first came to public prominence by defeating a member of the House Democratic leadership [VIDEO] in a surprise upset during the primaries. Since her Queens district was drawn to elect a Democrat, her victory in the midterms was assured.
Eric Swalwell's nuclear option for gun control blows up in his face
The gun debate in America has always been a heated one, especially after a mass shooting occurs such as the most recent one that took place at Thousand Oaks [VIDEO]. On one side the gun control advocates demand measures such as enhanced background checks and bans on assault weapons to diminish the possibility of high casualty shootings reoccurring. On the other side, 2nd Amendment advocates wonder why law-abiding gun owners should bear the brunt of such laws when, in their view, they do not work.
First Man omits American flag raising on the lunar surface
By all accounts, “First Man” (the biopic of Neil Armstrong staring Ryan Gosling as the first man to walk on the moon) was a big hit at the Venice Film Festival. The film depicted the quiet courage of Armstrong, an introvert, as well as the human cost of the drive to land the first man on the surface of the moon. However, an iconic moment was excised, airbrushed as it were, from the moon landing sequence. The raising of the American Flag at Tranquility Base is not seen in the film.
Lunar geologist Paul Spudis has passed away
In a happier reality, one in which the Apollo program was the beginning of lunar exploration, Dr. Paul Spudis could have looked back on a lifetime of studying the geology of the moon first hand, bounding about the surface of Earth’s nearest neighbor with a geologist’s hammer and a keen mind. As it is, Spudis was obliged to study the moon from afar.
Bill Nelson touts his space shuttle junket in Senate digital ad
Sen Bill Nelson, D-Florida, who is in a tough reelection fight for his Senate seat against Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, has released his first digital ad for the campaign, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The ad touts his adventure in the mid-1980s as a space shuttle astronaut, which he arranged to have as a House member. The ad is already facing pushback from the right-leaning Sunshine State News.
Zack Snyder may remake Ayn Rand’s ‘The Fountainhead’
“The Fountainhead,” the film version of Ayn Rand’s first novel, was a box office and critical failure when it was first released in the late 1940s. Rand’s uncompromising story in which the hero, an architect named Howard Roark, blow up a building he designed because a committee of government bureaucrats changed the design, has had a reappraisal in recent years with some modern critics considering it a classic. The movie certainly made the careers of its two stars, Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal.
Jeff Bezos made another announcement at ISDC
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com and Blue Origin, made another announcement at the recent International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles. Besides saving the show “The Expanse,” [VIDEO] Bezos proposes to go back to the moon. He has a plan about how to do it and a vision as to why it should be done, according to Geek Wire. Bezos stated that his space company Blue Origin has a vehicle on the drawing board called Blue Moon that can deliver five tons to the lunar surface.
Michael Bay comes to Netflix with 'Six Underground'
Michael Bay, the director of such big-screen blockbusters such as “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor,” and the “Transformers” movies has become the latest Hollywood A-lister to make the leap to Netflix [VIDEO]. Bay’s first project for the live streaming service is called “Six Underground.” The premise of the film is that six billionaires fake their own deaths and form a group dedicated to taking down bad guys.
Matt Groening subverts the fantasy genre in 'Disenchanted'
“Disenchanted,” [VIDEO] Matt Groening’s sendup of the fantasy genre, is due to drop on Netflix on August 17, according to Deadline Hollywood. The series is set in the Kingdom of Dreamland where Princess Bean, who likes to drink to excess when she is not having adventures, resides. Her companions include a little green elf named Elfo and her own personal demon named Luci who looks more like an imp. The three adventurers are voiced by Abbi Johnson, Nat Faxon, and Eric Andre respectively.
NASA’s Jim Bridenstine begins to win over Democrats
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine had his first congressional hearing before the Senate subcommittee that funds the space agency. He discussed various aspects of the NASA budget that the subcommittee is due to mark up, including the lunar exploration initiative and the troubled James Webb Space Telescope. However, the most critical exchange came with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii on the subject of climate change.
What Jim Bridenstine said and did not say about climate change
Recently NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine conducted a televised town hall during which he took questions from space agency employees about a variety of subjects, ranging from the return to the moon program [VIDEO]to the need of diversity in the workforce to the necessity of holding down the costs of projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope. However, virtually every media account of the town hall focused on one answer to a particular question.
SyFy’s cancellation of ‘The Expanse’ represents short term thinking
The cancellation of “The Expanse” by the SyFy Channel is the latest chapter of a story that is all too familiar to science fiction television fans. A favorite show with a loyal following gets canceled because it has not met ratings numbers. After all, science fiction programs, especially those set in space, tend to be expensive to produce because of special effects costs.
How Mitch McConnell used Netflix to taunt a political enemy
Rarely does Netflix, the well-known live streaming service, enter into contemporary American politics. However, in the aftermath of the West Virginia Republican primaries, a graphic for “Narcos,” a program on Netflix about drug traffickers, was used to taunt one of the losers. Social media was, naturally, appalled.
Is Netflix ruining your sex life?
Netflix [VIDEO]has revolutionized the way that we consume video content, with its myriad of original content and system of dropping every episode of a single season of a TV series at once, thus giving rise to binge watching [VIDEO]. Indeed, the live streaming service seems to have altered the way couples spend the evening. The Urban Dictionary has a phrase, “Netflix and chill,” which means watch some Netflix and then have some sex.
This time it looks like America is really returning to the moon
NASA held an industry day for its plan for a commercial return to the moon [VIDEO], meeting with a group of interested companies. The space agency related its thoughts about what it would like for business services to the moon. In return, it solicited ideas from the commercial sector about a draft of a Request for Proposals (RFP). The final RFP will be issued on July 19, 2018. Companies will be required to respond 30 days later.
Jeff Bezos getting hate for wanting to explore space
All of the sudden Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and Blue Origin, is getting a lot of hate on social media. The reason seems to be that he is spending a lot of money in an attempt to open up the high frontier of space rather than making his business empire into a private poverty program. Typical is a tweet by Matthew Chapman who had some interesting suggestions about what Bezos should spend his wealth on.
John McCain’s unkindest cut of all to Sarah Palin
Sen John McCain, R-Arizona, former Navy pilot, prisoner of war, and twice failed presidential candidate has the awful knowledge that he is going to die soon. The approaching abyss must daunt even a man of his considerable courage. On the other hand, McCain has time to prepare, to put his affairs in order, to say goodbye to family and friends, and, being who he is, to start settling scores.
John Kerry caught conspiring with Iran
It seems that former Secretary of State John Kerry has been colluding (though the term conspiring also comes to mind) with officials of foreign powers, including Iran, to try to preserve the Iranian nuclear arms deal [VIDEO] that he helped to craft. The effort, on its face, seems to be mainly brazen coming as it does in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netaynahu’s revelation [VIDEO] that the deal was a sham from day one.
NASA’s Kilopower experiment paves the way to powering lunar bases
With #NASA starting to get serious about sending astronauts into deep space, beyond low Earth orbit, with bases on the moon and eventually expeditions to Mars, the space agency is developing a technology called kilopower to give them enough power to operate. Kilopower is a small-scale #Nuclear Reactor capable of delivering one to ten kilowatts of energy. As a means of comparison, the typical American private home uses five kilowatts of power.
Fly Me to the Moon, Mr. Bridenstine
If the Latin phrase ad astra per aspera—“to the stars through difficulty”—applies to anyone, it’s Jim Bridenstine, the newly confirmed administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. After a lengthy and bitterly partisan confirmation fight, the 42-year-old former naval aviator takes charge of an agency that has been whipsawed by the policy reversals of recent presidential administrations. The George W.
Beto O’Rourke steps in it by defending the Iran nuclear weapons deal
Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas [VIDEO] has been touted as the great hope to knock #Ted Cruz out of the Senate. The trans-ethnic candidate has been relying on charisma, good looks, and a lot of cash from outside the state. However, he has taken quite a few policy positions on issues ranging from drug legalization to immigration that most Texans would tend to find off-putting.
Congressman Culberson offers a warning about the Space Launch System
Rep John Culberson, R-Texas, visited an aerospace contractor called Oceaneering Space Systems in Houston, the Houston Chronicle noted. The congressman, who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee, expressed concerns about delays that have occurred in the development of the heavy-lift #space launch system and the Orion spacecraft. Then, Culberson asked a strange question to an Orbital ATK executive that exposed the SLS’s potential obsolescence before it even flies.
Infinity War’ a comic book supervillain confronts overpopulation
“Avengers: Infinity War” [VIDEO] is a big, sprawling movie that depicts a struggle against a supervillain named Thanos, confronting a great many characters from the Marvel Comics Universe, including the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor. Strange, and Spider-Man. Thanos is an interesting character because his motives are a bit different than those of the usual superpowered bad guy. He does not want to rule the universe, but rather kill half of the intelligent beings in it.
NASA clarifies the Lunar Resource Prospector situation
The day before, the space exploration community was roiled by the news that the #Lunar Resource #Prospector, a long developed mission to send a rover to one of the moon’s poles, had been canceled [VIDEO]. The decision seemed to be somewhat at odds with President Donald Trump’s mandate for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface.
Outrage over Alfie Evans gets push-back from British newspaper
Just as with the case of Charlie Gard last year, the saga of a nearly two-year-old boy named Alfie Evans [VIDEO] has shocked the conscience of the world. Alfie is suffering from an unknown degenerative brain disease and has been judged by his doctors to be beyond saving. An Italian hospital has offered to admit the boy to continue his care, but this option has been blocked by the British court system.
Why George W. Bush is more deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize than Obama
One of the curious events that took place at the beginning of the Obama presidency was the #Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded for 2009 for the stated reason, “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Considering Obama’s record since the award, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who got it and deserved it less. Al Gore and Yassir Arafat come to mind. However, Obama’s predecessor, President George W.
To protect the Earth ignore the environmentalists
#Earth Day, the holiday founded by Ira Einhorn, most famous for having murdered his girlfriend and then composting her body in the approved environmentalist fashion, has come and gone unnoticed by most people. The day is usually accompanied by virtue-signaling pronouncements about how we should preserve the Earth, illustrated by photos taken of our home planet by NASA.
Randa Jarrar’s insatiable hatred of Barbara Bush
Former First Lady #Barbara Bush was so universally beloved that President Trump [VIDEO]. Barack Obama, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Nancy Pelosi all united in expressing grief and condolences at her passing. She was the very personification of a grandmother, tart-tongued at times, but still brimming with compassion. However, as an English professor at Fresno State named #Randa Jarrar proved, there is always a jerk ready to grab 15 minutes of infamy with the help of social media.
R. Lee Ermey has fallen to complications of pneumonia
The legend has it that when Stanley Kubrick [VIDEO] hired R. #Lee Ermey, an 11-year Marine Corps veteran [VIDEO], to be a technical adviser on his Vietnam War epic, “Full Metal Jacket,” he was so impressed by a demonstration of what a drill instructor does to recruits that he hired him to play a character in the movie.
Art Bell, host of ‘Coast to Coast,’ has been found dead
Art Bell was one of those strange one person phenomena that had to be heard to be believed. He started his broadcast career as a conventional political talker before veering into conspiracy theories, sort of like Alex Jones only less hysterical. By the mid-1990s he settled into his niche of discussing the paranormal and related topics with an eclectic number of guests.
National Geographic Channel developing ‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘The Right Stuff’
The #National Geographic Channel is dipping its toe into two possible scripted series based on popular films that depicted the early years of the space program, each from a slightly different perspective. “Hidden Figures,” the story of three #African American Women math geniuses whose efforts were crucial to America’s success in flying into space is being executive produced by Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping of Chernin Entertainment. They also produced the movie.
Beto O’Rourke’s three big mistakes with Bill Maher
Beto O’Rourke, the handsome, charismatic congressman who is trying to take away Senator #Ted Cruz’s seat was recently obliged to apologize for agreeing with #Bill Maher that his opponent is a “giant a—hole. O’Rourke thus made his third mistake. As both John Wayne and Mark Harmon tended to say, “Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.” O’Rourke’s first mistake was to be on Maher’s show [VIDEO], to begin with.
Joss Whedon wishes that President Trump would ‘Just quietly die’
Famed film and TV director #joss whedon recently let loose with an angry tweet in which he wished that President Donald Trump would die. The message has, understandably, elicited a great deal of pushback. Whedon is most famous for having created such shows as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly” as well as having directed the first two “Avengers” films. To say that his politics skew toward the left would be to put the matter mildly.
‘The Americans’ return for the end game of the Cold War
Season six of “The Americans” starts in late 1987, during the run-up to a crucial summit in Washington. Three years have passed since the end of season five, and everything has changed. Philip has been living the free and easy life of a happy capitalist, having expanded the travel agency, driving a fancy car. Elizabeth is starting to feel the strains of being a deep cover operative for a country that, whether she knows it or not, is embroiled in its final days.
Houston contemplates massive flood control projects
Last August, Hurricane Harvey [VIDEO] turned the Greater #Houston area into a vast lake, inundating homes and businesses that had never flooded in previous storms. Experts called the disaster a 1,000-year event. However, due to urban development in floodplains, Houston tends to flood in any case during heavy rainstorms, turning streets into impassable rivers and wreaking havoc.
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