Special Counsel Patrick Fitgerald was granted authority to investigate criminal attempts to interfere with his probes into any unauthorized disclosures of the identity of a CIA operative within weeks of his appointment.

Just in case anyone wanted to dispute the validity of any indictments that may come.

This site (from Australia, the first line of which is, “Welcome to my site about the Energia Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLLV). ) makes a compelling case for the superiority of the Energia/Buran system over the US Space Shuttle.

The only improvement I can see would be in putting the Buran shuttle on the top of the stack rather than the side to completely eliminate the possiblity of ice or insulation falling off to damage the shuttle component.

Ironcially, the Buran shuttle was regarded as a “knock-off” of the Space Shuttle whose design was achieved through Soviet espionage. However, a rudimentary examination will reveal that similar specifications resulted in a similar design, but the Soviets made several improvements that gave the Energia/Buran system a significantly higher cargo capacity than the Space Shuttle, and possibly a higher maximum orbit.

Sadly, the technology developed for this program has been neglected and in large part the infrastructure to replicate it no longer exists.

In my early days in the semiconductor industry, I encountered directly the results of a lot of the research done by the Soviet Union, in my case, specifically, the growth of high quality magnesium fluoride crystals for use in transmission of very short wavelength UV light to create reactions on the surface of a silicon wafer. The Soviets (or rather, those living under the Soviet regime, including the Russians, Ukranians, and many other nations) did some incredible work, not despite but because of their limitations. They understood theory better than anyone else, because they didn’t have the luxuries that those of us in the West had of money to perform a lot of experiments.

I suspect they are still ahead in understanding the fundamentals.

We have neglected this expertise, and this neglect has resulted in a loss that while not fatal is certainly a setback to the progress of humanity as a whole.

…come the most unexpected inspirations.

From Tedrow Drive, the author (with the nom de plume of Vavoom) of which had his thirtieth birthday a scant five days before my 41st, today:

No, it didn’t happen that way. In fact, it was just the opposite. Take the antithesis of the above and that was my 30th birthday. I came home tired and monumentally unhappy. My parents called, I heard the story, but this time I had a different response. “Mom, who cares? Who cares about people? They’re nasty, selfish and worthless. Why should I help anyone? Look at all the terrible people I work with… should I really help them? Aren’t they just like everyone else in this world? I mean, what’s the point? I can be as good as I want and that’s not going to change anything…”

There was a long pause on my parents end. It was as if both were taking a deep breath. My Father responded, “What drives you, Vavoom?” “Huh?” “What drives you?” “Dad, what does that have to do with anything?” “What drives you? What keeps you around?” “Honestly, I don’t know… I honestly don’t know…” I broke down sobbing on that, my 30th birthday, “I just don’t think life is worth it anymore…”

My Mother said, “Breathe, Vavoom. Breathe.” My Father then said, “Find your center, son. Calm yourself.” He continued, “You are right, there are plenty of bad people and no, the world is not necessarily a good place. I wonder though, what would it be like if people like you give up? What drives you, Vavoom?”

I thought for a while. I still didn’t have an answer.

My Mother picked up the conversation, “When you were young, you used to put a cape on and jump off of our furniture and pretend you could save the world. Can’t you still live that way, just focusing on one person at a time?”

I smiled. Something about that rang true. Maybe the world is bad. Maybe some people truly suck. Still, what’s stopping me from doing my best and being good? Nothing.

The conversation ended with, “You know Dad, I do know what drives me.” “Good,” he responded. Funny, he didn’t ask what that something was. I guess that wasn’t the point of asking.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve just put my cape on. It’s time to find some furniture to jump off of.

I repeatedly fail in my attempts to gain the optimism of the last line.

I never stop trying, though.

Perhaps that is the best any of us can do.

Happy 41st to me.

I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS.
   -Robert Bakker

Politics is the diversion of trivial men who, when they succeed at it, become important in the eyes of more trivial men.
   -George Jean Nathan

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.
   -Henry David Thoreau

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face — forever.
   -George Orwell

Given the level of political “discourse” today, perhaps instead of “talking points” they should be called “screaming points” because no one is talking, everyone is screaming at and past each other…