Louis makes some good points about “The Surge:”
Statistically speaking, the surge had little or no effect in the time it was working–the drops in casualties came after the Mahdi Army called a cease fire. There were peaks and valleys during the surge, but the lasting decrease in violence came only after the cease fire had […]
Entries Tagged as 'Ministry of Politics'
“The Surge” is Working Because Of Al Sadr’s Ceasefire
March 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments
Tags: Ministry of Politics
Spy Sat Pieces, Where Are They Now?
March 1st, 2008 · No Comments
It has been about 10 days since the US Navy shot down a failed spy satellite. Here is a great article about the 48 pieces of the satellite that are still in orbit and being tracked. There is a bunch of great diagrams of the orbits of the fragments diverging and then converging along the […]
Tags: Ministry of Politics · Ministry of Astronomy
Spy Satellite Hit by Missile
February 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Early reports state that the Navy successfully launched a missile that struck the failed US spy satellite over the Pacific Ocean. More details were not available but debris should begin reentering the atmosphere along the next few orbits. Ostensibly, the shootdown was supposed to rupture a hydrazine fuel take but many believe that the shootdown […]
Tags: Ministry of Technology · Ministry of Politics · Ministry of Science
Spy Sat Shootdown May Be Delayed Due to Weather
February 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment
News reports state that tonight’s spy satellite shootdown may be delayed due to rough seas affecting the area where the US Navy cruiser Lake Erie. Here is a Pacific ocean wave height map from Weather Underground.
It’s good to see that the ballistic missile defense tests need perfect and contrived conditions for there to be success. […]
Tags: Ministry of Technology · Ministry of Politics · Ministry of Science · Ministry of Weather
First Shot at Failed Spy Sat on Thursday
February 19th, 2008 · No Comments
The Shuttle has undocked from the Space Station and is scheduled to land in Florida or California tomorrow. The Navy is probably going to take its first shot at the satellite on Thursday. Meanwhile, some modeling on population densities where the satellite could come down (basically between 58° N and 58° S latitude), agree with […]
Tags: Ministry of Technology · Ministry of Politics · Ministry of Astronomy
Pentagon to Shoot Down Errant Satellite
February 14th, 2008 · 3 Comments
Today, the news media reported that the Pentagon has decided to “shoot down” an spy satellite that failed to reach orbit. The satellite is in a very low orbit and is hitting the tenuous upper atmosphere enough to cause it to come down on its own in a few weeks. The problem is, that no […]
Tags: Ministry of Technology · Ministry of Politics · Ministry of Astronomy
NPR Funny Slip
January 9th, 2008 · No Comments
When I was pulling into work, the top of the hour newscast began with Carl Kassel saying “Violence continues in New Hamp… Ahem. Voting continues in New Hampshire.” I haven’t laughed that hard at NPR since the last episode of Car Talk.
Tags: Ministry of Politics
Scooter Libby Commutation
July 2nd, 2007 · 1 Comment
Today, President Bush commuted Scooter Libby’s prison sentence saying that ” I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.” However, the punishment meted out by the judge fell within federal sentencing […]
Tags: Ministry of Politics
UK Terrorist Attacks During a Change in Government
June 30th, 2007 · No Comments
After hearing about todays bizarre “drive the burning car into the airport terminal” attack in Glasgow along with the fortuitous discovery of two bomb laden cars in London yesterday, the one thing keeps coming to my mind as very significant is the fact the Gordon Brown just took over as Prime Minister on Wednesday. Although […]
Tags: Ministry of Politics
US Government To-Do List
March 6th, 2007 · 2 Comments
The New York Times editorial staff just published a to-do list for the United States government. It addresses many important changes that should be done to address the illegal and immoral policies of the Bush administration.
I used to think of the USA of being “the good guys.” Sadly, the current administration has been the […]
Tags: Ministry of Politics






