Aug 14, 2012 – Chaos Manor

View 737 Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The heat wave continues. My office telephone is acting up. I managed to replace a feed line and it is now more or less working properly, but one gets overheated doing anything in this weather. Ah well. Sable finds a cool part of the floor to lie on, and probably wonders why we aren’t taking her for walks. Actually, it’s very nice out at 6AM. We’ll have to think about that.

Incorrect Information: NWS Not Buying Ammo

Dr. Pournelle,

I read with dismay the posting you made today about the National Weather Service buying ammo, primarily because it’s not true and a couple of minutes of research would have shown this. The solicitation for ammo at the link https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=bfd95987a1ad9a6dfb22bca4a19150cb&tab=core&tabmode=list& is filled with errors. There is no such thing as "DOC NOAA National Weather Service – Western Acquisition Division – Boulder". The Department of Commerce has a Western Acquisition Division in Boulder. Further reading of the solicitation clearly indicates that every round of ammo is destined for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is part of NOAA. Why the NMFS needs the ammo I cannot say.

Obviously the individual preparing the solicitation used some previous solicitation as a boiler-plate and didn’t completely excise the no longer relevant data.

I agree with your sentiments that the Federal government should be smaller than it is, but with posts like this, you make yourself sound more anarchist than rational. Perhaps I’m being unfair to you. Maybe Mr. Martin is a trusted correspondent of yours so you felt little need to trust but verify. This touched a sore spot with me because I for one think the Weather Service is actually good value for the tax dollars spent but in the rush to universally condemn everything the Federal government does (a theme that is more and more prevalent in your postings), I’m afraid the legitimate things the Feds do will not get the protection they deserve.

Jay Smith

No, I thought the story was screwy, and possibly satirical, but I saw no great harm in posting it: the horror is that it might be true, just as my fanciful tale of TSA SWAT teams appearing at your house to arrest you for putting out too much CO2 might be thought possible with just a bit of belief suspension. When a guitar company is raided by a guns drawn team of federal agents because it might have illegally imported wood, what is actually impossible? Weather bureau bureaucrats shooting fish seems unlikely, but is it impossible? Presumably someone is going to fire those cartridges.

We still have bunny inspectors, and armed agents still raid vitamin companies. After all, we would have thought it impossible that the Federal Government would arrange for assault weapons and ammunition to be fast and furiously delivered to Mexican drug cartels, or at least that there would have been some kind of adult supervision by constitutionally responsible officers – or that once this came to light the constitutionally responsible officers would be concerned – or something. Yet the response of the constitutional officers seems to be defiance of the Congress. It’s all a puzzlement.

In any event, I haven’t lost my mind, and I don’t think I have deceived anyone. One of the advantages of being me is that if I do post a bit of questionable mail, someone will tell me. Quickly. Thanks. Readers may now be warned.

As to the less whimsical part of your letter, of course the Federal Government does some things well, and some are quite necessary. Adam Smith noted that there are great project whose benefit to any one person is small but which have enormous benefits to all, and those are a proper concern of government. The Framers thought so. They had in mind roads and canals, but I doubt that Franklin would have objected to government research laboratories. I am hardly an anarchist.

On the other hand, transparency is generally desirable.

And aha:

: NMFS Office of Law Enforcement

Dear Jerry,

The National Marine Fisheries Services has an office of law enforcement that deals with poachers, illegal imports of seafood and other laws that the agency is charged with enforcing.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/

Best regards,

Bob Kawaratani

Which makes a fair amount of sense, although I continue to worry about the multiplication of law enforcement agencies. Why can’t the US Marshals take care of such matters? I can understand having an enforcement counsel to coordinate with the Marshals, or the Revenoors, or whatever, but I am not really sure that the Marine Fisheries Service needs armed game wardens. Perhaps so. It is a dangerous world out there and even the game wardens may now need to be armed although they certainly were not when they inspected fishing licenses from those fishing in federal waters (TVA created lakes) on the Tennessee River when I was a kid. I had a shotgun but the warden was unarmed, and neither of us was afraid of the other. But that was a different world in a different time. Still, both for economic and liberty reasons, perhaps some rethinking of enforcement of federal regulations is in order. Did we learn nothing from Waco? But now I am rambling.

Recently a US Marshal (prisoner escort) was allowed through TSA with his weapon and ammunition, but they had to confiscate his bottle of cologne which was too large to take on an airplane. At least that’s the story he tells on the air. Of course the teller may not really be a US Marshall, or he may be making up the story, or – but does anyone believe it is impossible?

Firefox has started another of its rounds of updates, worries, compatibility checks, and general annoyances. Coupled with Adobe’s insistence on updates when and how it feels like. And were I not conscientiously complying with the frantic please for energy conservation by trying to operate without air conditioning I would probably not notice. It’s the dog days of the silly season.

Mail 737 Monday, August 13, 2012

Ryan selection

From a Democratic and liberal perspective:

Well, Ryan certainly makes this election a clear choice.

From where I sit, Mr. Romney has apparently chosen to run for President of the Republican Party rather than President of all the people. By which I mean, I tend to doubt that any political party (included my own) has all that firm a grip on reality, so I favor sloppy compromises rather than insistence on principles pursued so consistently that it involves ignoring other people’s principles. Better to seek approaches in which as many of us as possible can, at least to some degree, see our own values.

I had thought that was part of the conservative approach, along with a reluctance to overturn slow historical developments for a swift, untested change of course. But apparently, these days, not.

Allan E. Johnson

I would greatly prefer a time when elections were not crisis situations. It is not good for any one faction to govern for long. Unfortunately we have come to the point where neither party is satisfied with the trends and want to change them. Freedom and entitlements are not compatible. Entitlements make for dependence.

My preference is for government at local levels to be responsible for the safety net. I am not responsible for Iowa’s unemployed farm hands, nor should Iowa be responsible for failed aspirants to a position as a movie star. Subsidiarity and transparency and the knowledge that local resources is all you will have will suffice while limiting dependence. Or so I would prefer.

In 2008 the American people chose Hope and Change. They got change but it may not have been what they hoped for. The selection of Ryan for VP makes the meaning of this election clear. That is to be preferred. What I would really prefer is that the election be so decisive that everyone understands we are abandoning the road to serfdom and returning to liberty and responsibility. That is probably too much to hope for, but I remain stubborn.

‘If one reads the Federalist papers, one understands that the Founders feared capture by self-interested "faction" above all else, and most fearful of all was capture by a faction that made up a majority.’

<http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/political_legitimacy_and_the_special_interest_state.html>

Roland Dobbins

Limiting the power of government is the only remedy: a government that can do great good can do great harm in the wrong hands. But that invites a far longer essay than I have time for tonight.

I disagree with your choice of words — or word in this case.

You wrote:

"But I have some reason to believe that both Romney and Ryan are closer to my views of American foreign policy – we are friends of liberty everywhere but guardians only of our own, and if you would have peace be prepared for war – than to the neoconservative imperialisms. And whatever their foreign policy views they are likely to be superior to what we are doing now. There isn’t a good simple description of our current foreign policy, which seems to be based on finger wagging, stating that something is unacceptable while clearly accepting it, telling everyone what they ought to be doing without paying much attention to what they are doing, and in generally promoting democracy by wishing for it without quite realizing what it would mean if implemented. Perhaps I am overly harsh, but I don’t think so."

It seems to me that "harsh" was not the right word. You might have placed "sober" or "sensible" in there and the paragraph would have been more correct and true. Of course, I would agree with you that I do not think you are being overly sober or sensible — were you to make that change.

—–

Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

Oddly, you are not the only reader who has said that.

And Now It’s The Weather Service

Dear Jerry –

Since you have commented on the Department of Education SWAT teams, you will be interested to read https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=bfd95987a1ad9a6dfb22bca4a19150cb&tab=core&tabmode=list&=

It seems the NOAA is in the market for 46,000 rounds of handgun ammo.

A macho bunch, those weathermen.

Regards,

Jim Martin

Great heavens. Imagine TSA officers with SWAT gear outside your door at 4 AM. Only it’s the Weather Bureau and you’re accused of breathing out too much CO2?

‘If you are insured by Progressive, and they owe you money, they will defend your killer in court in order to not pay you your policy.’

Some adult language:

<http://mattfisher.tumblr.com/post/29338478278/my-sister-paid-progressive-insurance-to-defend-her>

Roland Dobbins

A remarkable story. I have not seen this one before.

The coldest fusion of all.

<http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-martin-fleischmann-20120813,0,1303946.story>

Roland Dobbins

It was a remarkable story at the time. The Navy has quietly continued to fund fundamental research into cold fusion. I have seen no credible results.

Subj: OSCON 2012: Kaitlin Thaney calls for open science

http://opensource.com/life/12/8/oscon-2012-kaitlin-thaney-calls-open-science

>>Some of the most expensive research that has been done is managed by post-it notes and poorly annotated excel spreadsheets… Where is my ability to reproduce experiments?<<

http://www.oscon.com/oscon2012/public/schedule/speaker/128467

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv5tsyPb5Og

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLVsexWAvzQ

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

I can hardly quarrel with that.

Subj: _Thrust Into Space_ PDF on the Web

www.askmar.com/Spaceflight/Thrust%20Into%20Space.pdf

The hosting site doesn’t look like a pirate site; it looks like a wannabe e-publisher whose day job is marketing consulting:

http://www.askmarpublishing.com/books/thrust.html

Strange that the book-description page has no link to the book, but does have links to slide decks associated with the book.

http://www.askmarpublishing.com/authors/hunter.html

http://www.askmarpublishing.com/index.html

http://www.askmar.com/

It does seem a tad peculiar, though, for an epublisher to give only a street address on its contact page. The consulting site’s contact page also gives a phone number, and if you look closely at the bottom of the consulting site’s page, you’ll see a "ContactMe" link to a page that offers a fill-in-to-email form.

Anyone know any of the author’s heirs, to check whether the PDF is authorized? There seems to be only one or two reasonably-priced used copies of the book-on-dead-trees, plus a bunch of copies offered for $200. each.

Personally, I’d gladly pay a reasonable amount for the PDF, if I knew where to send the money.

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

Max Hunter’s Thrust Into Space is still an excellent introduction into rocket propulsion science. Max and I discussed getting Thrust Into Space back in print, but he wanted to rewrite some parts, and nothing ever came of it. I have no idea who has scanned and published this, which appears to be the same as the copy Max gave me when we worked together on SDI and the DC/X. Perhaps the National Space Society has better information. Max and I corresponded irregularly until his death.

Mamelukes eviscerated, or at least emasculated

Jerry:

Check this out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/world/middleeast/egyptian-leader-ousts-military-chiefs.html?_r=1

Just as the heirs of Kemal Ataturk who safeguarded Turkey’s fragile, secular, democracy for almost a century have been purged, the Egyptian military is being subjugated by a militant Islamic government.

I need to start mass producing and marketing fallout shelters.

Jim Crawford

Democracy in Egypt will not be friendly to Israel.

Wireless connectivity

Hi Jerry,

Take a look at the mi-fi from either Verizon or AT&T. They connect to the cellular network, and then create your own wireless hotspot. I used the Verizon one (before I got my iPad 3 that does the same thing), and would get 10mbit connections when in LTE.

And, there is no carrier software to install. Phones, iPads, computers just connect to the wifi network (up to 5 devices).

With the new shared data plans, it’s actually pretty affordable.

Cheers,

Doug

It is more than I need, but for those who do need it it can be a good deal. If I were on the road more I would seriously consider it. As it is, the USB 3G works well, is simple to carry, and I buy what I need.

Mr. Heinlein’s letter to you and Larry Niven

…about The Mote In God’s Eye appears in this sample of the Virginia Edition of his collected works:

http://www.virginiaedition.com/ve/TheVirginiaEdition-sample.pdf

Happy birthday, sir, and may you see many happy returns of the day!

Thank you.

Subj: Microsoft’s Lost Decade

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2012/08/microsoft-lost-mojo-steve-ballmer

>>By the dawn of the millennium, the hallways at Microsoft were no

>>longer home to barefoot programmers in Hawaiian shirts working through

>>nights and weekends toward a common goal of excellence; instead, life

>>behind the thick corporate walls had become staid and brutish.

>>Fiefdoms had taken root, and a mastery of internal politics emerged as

>>key to career success.<<

Did not W. Edwards Deming predict that a corporate culture based on internal competition, ranking of individuals and short-term thinking would lead to destruction?

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

I think Microsoft lost its soul when Bill Gates left. It may regain it.

On helping the Iraqis, or anyone else, to democracy

I don’t believe it’s possible. We’re not willing to occupy Iraq long enough to ensure that at least a generation grows up with us in control, making over Iraq in our image, much like England has managed in a number of places, most notably, India. Which we did after a fashion in Germany, Japan and S Korea. All the welfare mommas spitting out welfare babies with made up names that comprise the Democrat party base won’t put up with it. It’ll cut into their EBT payout.

John S Allison

I have said this for decades. But the examples of our success in Japan and Germany dance enticingly before our eyes. What man has done man may aspire to. But we will not pay the full price. See Kipling.

Subj: Capitalism in Space

http://www.openmarket.org/2012/08/10/capitalism-in-space/

which links to a longer piece by the same writer at National Review Online.

I remember seeing a video of an interview of Elon Musk, of SpaceX, in which he observed that all the Russian rocket programs are run by Cold-War-vintage engineers, who will be either retiring or dying over the next few years, with no competent younger engineers stepping in.

Consequently, Musk expects Russian space-launch capability, especially in reliability, to take a steep nose-dive soon.

In another interview, Musk expressed profound disinterest in having anything to do with the Chinese, since the Chinese would immediately steal any technology they learned anything about.

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

Political Ramblings from Wisconsin

Hi Jerry,

My job affords me the opportunity to talk with people in a technical support capacity across the country (indeed around the world) and sometimes locations will come up in the conversation. When Wisconsin is mentioned, almost always I’m asked "How do you feel about Scott Walker?" and "Can you send him over to fill-in-the-state, we need that kind of leadership."

I usually reply that I’m a strong supporter, and I’m sorry, but no, you can’t borrow Governor Walker, because we still have more work to do in Wisconsin.

Much to my suprise, while on a family vacation out east, last week, – touring the 911 Memorial, Statue of Liberty & Times Square – the above conversation took place several times on the streets of New York City!

While unscientific in the extreme, these examples perhaps can give hope that there is a stronger conservative sentiment waiting to be tapped than one might believe.

On the VP process – WI Representative Paul Ryan has lately been mentioned as a "strong" possible candidate (for what that’s worth). If so, I hope that Mr. Romney will select someone else. While Rep. Ryan is the conservative’s darling – assuming that Mr. Romney wins the election, Rep Ryan will be in a position to accomplish considerably more in the House than he ever could as V.P.

Belated Birthday Wishes!

Tony Sherfinski

Joshua Robinson receives PhD from OSU

Dear Friends,

Joshua, working primarily under direction from Professor Michael Hartman, designed and built an award-winning neutron spectrometer that is now a part of the Oregon State University nuclear reactor facility. He has received his PhD for this work.

After a long struggle (where Joshua was targeted without regard for his excellent student and research performance) and with help from OSU Professor Jack Higginbotham and also the dean of the OSU graduate school, Joshua Robinson has received his PhD degree in nuclear engineering from Oregon State University. He would have graduated sooner and at significantly less expense if these unprincipled actions had not been taken against him, but we are very pleased that he was able to finish and we are very thankful for all of you who helped him.

The other two Robinson students who were targeted by Art Robinson’s opponents at OSU, are Matthew Robinson and Bethany Robinson. It is hoped that they, too, will complete their degree work. Concerned OSU alumni and OSU staff members are making efforts to help them.

Professor Jack Higginbotham, a distinguished nuclear engineer (and 25-year faculty member at OSU) who recently served as President of the OSU Faculty Senate, has suffered both personally and professionally from unprincipled attacks made against him in retribution for his efforts on behalf of the Robinson students and for his efforts on behalf of other students who were being treated improperly. His position has, however, improved because of the public pressure from supporters.

While tragic for the students, for their professor, and for OSU, these events should benefit OSU in the long run. All large institutions, even those with the noble goals of OSU, must learn to deal correctly with the occasional misdeeds of individuals within their organizations.

The Robinson family of six young people and their father now includes Dr. Art Robinson, Dr. Zachary Robinson, Dr. Noah Robinson, Dr. Arynne Robinson, Dr. Joshua Robinson, Miss Bethany Robinson, and Mr. Matthew Robinson, with Matthew and Bethany still to complete their formal educations. All seven have unusually outstanding academic records.

The Robinson family is deeply grateful for the help of the thousands of Oregonians who stepped forward to help Joshua, Bethany, Matthew, and Professor Higginbotham. Your help has made it possible for these four outstanding Oregonians to continue with their life’s work.

Sincerely,

Art Robinson

This was sent by Dr. Robinson to his friends and supporters.

Daily Archives: Aug 14, 2012

It’s the Marine Fisheries, not Weather Bureau, needing the ammunition. The Silly Season continues.

Ryan, cold fusion, Thrust into Space, and other matters

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