Ask not what your private industry can do for you...

Sputnik was launched in 1957, as the Cold War raged on.
The U.S. Space Program was born in 1958, when the newly-formed NASA launched Explorer 1.
Just 11 years later, we put Americans on the Moon.

Just a few months more than 50 years since the first U.S. satellite was launched, the first successful space-launch by private enterprise has been accomplished.

This is a historical moment. This proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is possible and feasible for the private sector. If this is handled right, and developed right, the possibilities are incredibly broad. We could see the cost of launching hardware reduced to a fraction of what it has stood at for many years (many, many thousands of dollars per pound, which is something considering that satellites are often the size of a small bus). We could see space-based delivery services.

One thing's pretty sure at this point though- the private-sector space race is on for real, and a likely winner has already pulled away.

Sunday Humor

It's been a heavy few weeks. Russia and Georgia come to blows and stir up Cold War fears for everyone watching, America's signs the missile defense deal with Poland, Afghanistan heats up and Sarkozy pledges his commitment, Maliki lays out plans to disarm the Sons of Iraq, and the Olympics nears a close.

So, here's a humorous look at British diplomacy courtesy of a wonderful British political comedy, Yes Prime Minister:

From the Digg: Hack the Olympics!

It borders on being off-topic, but nobody can claim that the Olympics isn't an international event. Both the athletic prestige for the athletes, and national recognition of hosting the Olympics in one's country, have a powerful sway in international affairs.

As such, it's ridiculous that China, after making impressive strides of development (and air-clearing) to host the games this year, has endangered it all by using underage gymnasts. They denied it. The IOC gave them the all-clear.

And now, it's in the open:

"There's been some widely publicized controversy regarding the competition age of the Chinese women's gymnastics team recently. I have an Internet connection, that means I should be able to verify the age of the gymnasts in question with primary state-issued documents and find out for myself if someone's cheating, right? Right. Let's go to work." read more | digg story

Follow these links to the relevant Baidu cached pages (scroll down, look for the yellow-highlighted characters), and keep this story going. Digg it, repost it, do something to get the message out that China can't get away with editing the truth.

Thanks to the blog Stryde Hax for pulling this out of the net.

Georgia and Russia - A Path to War?

As news of Russia's military incursion into South Ossetia today spreads, mixed reports are already coming in.

Expect more written on this later, when I've time to sit down and look at the pieces. Until then, here's a collection of news links to read:

Cleveland Leader - Russia invades Georgia
Telegraph - Georgia invades Russian Region
Ballgunner.freedomblogging - doesn't hate to say 'I told you so.'

and Sky News has a good overview article up on the history of the Georgia- Russia issue, although it's lacking for links.

Here's a Google newsfeed for general Georgia-related news

and the AP posted some powerful raw video footage:



EDIT:
Here's a video from a few months ago, of RFE/RL's Georgian Services Director talking about Russia-Georgia tensions in the Abkhazia region, where fighting has yet to break out (a Georgian drone was shot down there by a Russian fighter jet earlier this year)

Nuclear Weapons Protocol (is so borked.)

After reading quite a few books and articles on the subject of nuclear deterrence and strategy,
and with reminiscences of Able-Archer (1983, google it.) fresh at hand-

articles like this one on sleeping Air Force officers in control of nuclear launch codes
make me feel realllllly safe.

Al-Quaeda, the IRA, and the option of negotiation

There's an interesting article and discussion over at Danger Room on Sir Hugh Stephen Orde's statement that Britain should start negotiating with Al-Quaeda.

I'll keep the commentary short, since I think the debate is more interesting than either side at the moment. Go read for yourself, and chime in:

Danger Room's article

and the source article

Happy 50th Birthday, DARPA

DARPA is 50 years old as of February, 2008.

They're the people who, among other things, brought you the internet and GPS, and developed stealth technology. Its role in the U.S. military structure is to fund "blue sky" research projects that could keep up America's military edge, but are seen as too risky or out-there for a traditional defense research department to pursue.

Their model has worked well enough that IARPA, a similar agency but with an intelligence focus, has been created recently with the same goals.

In recognition of their 50th, NewScientist and Popular Mechanics have both published articles. NewScientist's article highlights the successes, failures, and current projects, while the PopSci artcile is a short piece outlining the agency's method.

DARPA themselves posted a video of their history as well, on the site page for their 50th event: Here