Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Four legs? good! two legs? we’re not so sure…

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week.

We survived Breitbartpocalypse!

Naturally gregarious and alpha

This really is a full service blog.

We need fewer warriors in public service and more gardeners.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

We have all the best words.

Shelter in place is one thing. Shelter in pants is quite another.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Shocking, but not surprising

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Dinky Hocker shoots smack!

Gastritis broke my calculator.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

I can’t take this shit today. I just can’t.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Women: they get shit done

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

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Space

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Blast Off

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Assuming the weather cooperates:

… NASA and SpaceX are targeting 4:33 p.m. EDT May 27 for the launch of the first commercially-built and operated American rocket and spacecraft carrying astronauts to the space station. NASA and SpaceX will provide joint, live coverage from launch to arrival at the space station.

Full mission coverage will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website, as well as numerous other platforms…

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and is scheduled to dock to the space station at 11:39 a.m. Thursday, May 28.

This will be SpaceX’s final test flight for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will provide critical data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, and landing operations.

The test flight also will provide valuable data toward certification of SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX currently is readying the hardware for the first space station crew rotational mission, which would happen after data from this test flight is reviewed for certification…

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Not A Tough Choice, Actually

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This afternoon:

Speaking of space cases…

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Late Night Clownshow Open Thread: To Infinity, And BEYOND!

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Preznit Babyfingers threw screaming tantrums till they let him play with the coronavirus task force, but (just as predicted) it was too haaaard, well beyond his limited capability, so he’s back to screaming and throwing things.

As a distraction, they pulled out a somewhat battered old favorite: SPACE FARCE!

Beam me up, Scotty…

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Markers Thrown

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I may actually have to subscribe (briefly) to Disney+, just to see the masterpiece for myself:

And speaking of revolutionary actions…

… The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said there is no “urgency.” The Senate will wait until after Memorial Day to consider options.

“We must think big, for the people, now,” Pelosi said from the speaker’s office at the Capitol.

“Not acting is the most expensive course,” she said…

The Democrats’ Heroes Act is built around nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs, focused chiefly on $375 billion for smaller suburban and rural municipalities largely left out of earlier bills.

The bill will offer a fresh round of $1,200 direct cash aid to individuals, increased to up to $6,000 per household, and launches a $175 billion housing assistance fund to help pay rents and mortgages. There is $75 billion more for virus testing.

It would continue, through January, the $600-per-week boost to unemployment benefits. It adds a 15% increase for food stamps, new subsidies for laid-off workers to pay health insurance premiums under a COBRA law and a special “Obamacare” sign-up period. For businesses, it provides an employee retention tax credit.

There’s $200 billion in “hazard pay” for essential workers on the front lines of the crisis…

The latest package extends some provisions from previous aid packages, and adds new ones.

There is $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. There is help for the 2020 Census, including the bureau’s request to delay deadlines for turning over apportionment and redistricting data. For the November election, the bill provides $3.6 billion to help local officials prepare for the challenges of voting during the pandemic.

The popular Payroll Protection Program, which has been boosted in past bills, would see another $10 billion to ensure under-served businesses and nonprofit organizations have access to grants through a disaster loan program…

#MoscowMitch can’t even pretend to care any more about his so-called (voting) constituents:

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We Can Rebuild Him… The Actual Origins of the Six Million Dollar Man

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On May 10, 1967 NASA test pilot Bruce Peterson crashed the M2-F2 lifting body, which is the footage you see recreated in the opening credits of The Six Million Dollar Man made for TV movie pilot and series.

The real “Steve Austin”, test pilot Bruce Peterson, was born in 1933 and was from Washburn, North Dakota. Peterson joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1954 through the naval cadet program and became a 2nd lieutenant. He went on to accumulate an extensive academic engineering background from the University of California (UCLA) and California Polytechnic State University. During his academic career at UCLA, Peterson also worked as an aircraft assembler for Douglas Aircraft Company. Peterson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Cal Poly in 1960.

In August, 1960, Peterson joined NASA’s flight test program as an engineer at the Dryden Flight Test Center. In 1962, he graduated from the prestigious Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and transferred to flight testing.

But it was his 16th test flight on May 10, 1967 in the Northrop M2-F2 that solidified Peterson’s place in pop culture history. Peterson was attempting a landing in the M2-F2 when the aircraft entered a series of side-to-side oscillations seen in the famous film of his crash.

In the intro to “The Six Million Dollar Man”, pilot Steve Austin is heard to say, “I’ve got a blowout, damper three!” Austin goes on to say in the script, “Pitch is out. I Can’t hold altitude. Correction, alpha hold is off. Trim selectors- emergency!” And then the final famous line, “Flight Com, I can’t hold it! She’s breaking up! She’s breaking…”

In real life, test pilot Peterson says just prior to the crash, “Boy, there’s some glitches…” “Get that chopper out of the way!” “That chopper’s gonna get me I’m afraid!” Peterson was concerned about the proximity of a helicopter during his landing approach and, when he entered a series of oscillations in the essentially wing-less lifting body, the aircraft became uncontrollable. After impact, the M2-F2 rolled violently six times, the dramatic visual seen in the video. The rest is a matter of aviation, and television, history.

Peterson sustained serious injuries from the crash including the eventual loss of vision in his right eye from a staph infection, but it did not stop him from continuing his successful flight test career. Even without six million dollars’ worth of bionics, Peterson went on to fly nearly 6,000 total flight hours in 70 different aircraft. He was an early flight test engineer on fly-by-wire advanced flight control systems and went on to work for Northrop on the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber program. Bruce Peterson died after a long illness on May 1, 2006 at 72.

Much more at the link.

Open thread!

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Monday Morning Open Thread: President Biden, ASAP

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Semi-Respite Open Thread: Happy Leland Melvin Day!

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A man who has professional experience working in confined conditions, now sheltering in place with his doggos…

Plus, a note for later tonight!

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