Posts filed under “news”
Phoenix on Mars
Phoenix, NASA/JPL’s new Mars polar lander, has successfully touched down in the Martian north polar region. This landing was more of a nail-biter than usual, given that the last polar lander mission was lost during descent in 1999; but Phoenix (rising from the ashes of the Mars Polar Lander mission, I guess) performed wonderfully, going [...]
USA 193 Intercept
Popular in the sensational space news spotlight last week was the Navy’s shootdown of satellite USA 193, internally known as NROL-21, an experimental reconnaissance satellite which suffered post-launch computer failure so it was trapped in a rapidly decaying low earth orbit, and could have crashed with many large parts intact. Carrying a full tank of [...]
Peninsula Standoff
So a jailed senator being tried for a previous attempted military mutiny walks out of his hearing, joins with his band of rebel soldiers and political supporters, and once again initiates another mutinous standoff in a swanky Makati hotel, with Guingona calling on the people to start yet another EDSA-style revolution. Bad move, bad timing. [...]
Luzon Earthquake (Nov 2007)
The text message from Mom came around 11:30pm: We just had a strong earthquake here in Makati. I checked the USGS Latest Earthquakes Map and list and found that preliminary data for the quake was already available in an event report: Magnitude 5.8 – LUZON, PHILIPPINES, 2007 November 27 04:27:00 UTC. The reported magnitude jumped [...]
Batasan Bombing
Another explosion in the Philippines: the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, home to Congress. Police are pretty sure that this was an actual bomb targeted to kill Basilan Congressman Wahab Akbar as he left the building (unlike the Glorietta blast which they now say was an accident). (Note that the Batasang Pambansa is the House [...]
WaPoRums.jpg
Philippines on front page of Washington Post, cited in Rumsfeld memo with Somalia as example of ‘violent extremism.’ Somalia. You suck, Rumsfeld! More on Rumsfeld’s “snowflake memos.” (WaPoRums.jpg uploaded by brownpau.)
Glorietta Bombing
There was a mall bombing in Metro Manila on Friday afternoon. Eight deaths, lots of injuries. Initial reports that it was a propane tank explosion have been updated — a deliberate TNT or C4 explosive device is now the likely culprit. Update: Now eleven deaths, dubious claims of responsibility via text message, and “accident, no, [...]
Pastor in the Times
In the Washington Times: “Find Christ in the least of these,” a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Jim Somerville, pastor of my church, First Baptist DC (and a co-officiant at our wedding, I might add). He doesn’t want us to treat Him any differently than we treat anyone else. He wants us to treat everyone [...]
Erap Guilty
Back in the Philippines, six years after Joseph Estrada’s impeachment and popular ouster for corruption, the Sandiganbayan has finally delivered its verdict on the accused ex-President — guilty of plunder, though not guilty of perjury, and his co-accused son and ex-Senator has been found not guilty of complicity. The sentence is life imprisonment. As expected, [...]
Tiles, Cavuto, and Contractors
While Endeavour STS-118 was in orbit and tile damage was on NASA’s mind, I noted with some amusement a link from Space Pragmatism to this op-ed on Fox News: “Earth to NASA: Fire Someone!” — in which Neil Cavuto demands that NASA dismiss whichever contractor manufactures the Space Shuttle’s thermal tiles, since they keep getting [...]