Billionaires Battle for Space - Bezos & Musk Companies Vie for Launch Pad

Billionaires Battle as Bezos-Musk Companies Vie for Launch Pad

 @Bloomberg By Jonathan D. Salant & Kathleen Miller - Sep 26, 2013 11:01 PM CT

In a battle of billionaires, space ventures owned by Internet pioneers Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are relying on prominent former lawmakers as they jockey for control over a historic launch pad at Kennedy Space Center 


The Florida launch pad was mothballed after the U.S. retired its shuttle fleet in 2011 and turned to countries such as Russia to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. It’s now coveted by Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, and Bezos’s Blue Origin LLC, which are trying to fill the void for the U.S.

Launch Video of Space X Dragon
Space X Dragon Music Video

SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the station under a $1.6 billion National Aeronautics and Space Administration contract, has former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott on its lobbying team, Senate filings show. Blue Origin hired two ex-lawmakers, including the former House Science Committee chairman, in May to lobby. In Congress, dozens of lawmakers with opposing views on the issue sent letters to NASA.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re making buggy whips or rockets, the way to get Congress’ attention is to hire a lobbyist,” said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based research group. “Lobbyists can take comfort in the fact that there will be place for them even beyond the final frontier.”

Billionaires

Bezos, chief executive of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), is the bigger of the billionaires. He is No. 17 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of $29.4 billion. Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) and co-founder of PayPal Inc., is No. 135, with an estimated net worth of $8.8 billion.

The competition began after NASA in May began seeking proposals to operate the launch pad, the departure site for the manned Apollo missions to the moon. The agency plans to spend about $8.7 billion on transporting crews and cargo to the station in the next five years, according to budget documents.

SpaceX and Blue Origin applied for the launch site lease.

“There are a limited number of East Coast established launch sites,” Chris Quilty, an analyst with Raymond James and Associates in St. Petersburg, Florida, said in a phone interview. “Given the fact that both companies intend to ramp up their launch volume, they need to secure enough launch pads to handle that volume.”

Closely held SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, has spent $540,000 in the first six months of 2013 to lobby, compared with $500,000 during the same period in 2012, Senate filings show. Its team at Washington-based Patton Boggs LLP includes Lott, a Mississippi Republican.

 Read More at Bloomberg:

Pigs in Space

FINDER: Radar for Locating Disaster Victims in Rubble

Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble: DHS and NASA Team up to Save Victims of Disasters

When natural disasters or man-made catastrophes topple buildings, search and rescue teams immediately set out to recover victims trapped beneath the wreckage. During these missions, time is imperative, and quickly detecting living victims greatly increases chances for rescue and survival. 

A new radar-based technology named Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) has been developed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the National Aeronautics Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to detect a human heartbeat buried beneath 30 feet of crushed materials, hidden behind 20 feet of solid concrete, and from a distance of 100 feet in open spaces. In the past several months, S&T and JPL have been testing and developing several FINDER prototypes. Last June, DHS and first responders used the prototype to conduct more than 65 test searches with two Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams: the Virginia Task Force One (VA-TF1) at the Fairfax County Fire Department training center and Virginia Task Force Two (VA-TF2) in Virginia Beach, Va. 

“Testing proved successful in locating a VA-TF1 member buried in 30 feet of mixed concrete, rebar, and gravel rubble from a distance of over 30 feet,” said John Price, S&T program manager. “This capability will complement the current Urban Search and Rescue tools such as canines, listening devices, and video cameras to detect the presence of living victims in rubble.”

In disaster scenarios, such as earthquakes and tornadoes, the wreckage is made up of twisted and shattered materials. Radar signals bounce back so signals are complex. “Isolating the relatively weak signal of a heartbeat within the noisy signals becomes a difficult task,” said Edward Chow, JPL program manager. “JPL's radar expertise helps in this challenge.”

JPL uses advanced data processing systems to pick out faint signals. The microwave radar technology is sensitive enough to distinguish the unique signature of a human's breathing pattern and heartbeat from other living creatures.  The advantage of this technology is in allowing first responders to quickly ascertain if a living victim is present in the debris. The technology is sensitive enough that victims, whether conscious or not, can easily be detected, which helps responders decide the most efficient course of action.
“It is anticipated that a commercialized technology could be ready to be used in search and rescue operations as early as spring 2014,” Price said.

 Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble: DHS and NASA Team up to Save Victims of Disasters

A Glance at America’s New $100 Bill

The Associated Press

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013 | 2:20 p.m.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will begin distributing on Oct. 8 a new-look $100 bill with enhanced security features as part of its design. Here's a look at some of what's on the new note:
_ A blue, 3-D security ribbon running down the bill near its center.
_ Text from the Declaration of Independence printed in script next to Benjamin Franklin's portrait.
_ A copper-colored ink well in which the ink changes to green when the bill is shifted.
_ A gold "100" stamped on the back of the bill to help the visually impaired.
_ A raised texture on Franklin's portrait and throughout the note.

New $100 bill has ink well, more color, 3-D

The Associated Press

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013 | 2:20 p.m.

America's new $100 bill will feature a color-changing ink well, a 3-D security ribbon, and more texture on Benjamin Franklin's collar.
The new C-note that goes into circulation next month is aimed at fighting back against counterfeiters with improved printers and technology.

It still carries the image of Franklin, one of America's Founding Fathers. But it adds part of the Declaration of Independence from Franklin's left shoulder to the right edge of the bill. A quill and an ink well are printed behind the text, and a blue ribbon runs near the center of the bill.
The ink in the well changes colors when the bill is turned.
The new $100 bill is scheduled to enter circulation on Oct. 8 after years of delays due to production issues.

Money is not our god : Killing Joke

GOP Chairman: Regulations were 'Root Cause' of Economic Crisis

GOP chairman says regulations were 'root cause' of economic crisis

 By Ben Goad - 09/24/13 01:12 PM ET   +The Hill 

'The Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee argued Tuesday in an op-ed that federal regulations helped create the financial crisis.
“The great tragedy of the financial crisis … was not that Washington regulations failed to prevent it, but instead that Washington regulations helped lead us into it,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) wrote in an an op-ed published by American Banker.

Hensarling pointed to the Community Reinvestment Act, which he said required banks to “abandon their traditional lending standards” for a small number of home loans.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also are to blame for the national housing meltdown, Hensarling said, noting that a large portion of the risky loans that led to the crisis were backed by Freddie and Fannie, who, in turn, were backed by taxpayers. '

 Quick background:

 Subprime mortgages have existed for decades. But they were a small percentage of the mortgage market (well under 10%), until Fannie and Freddie reduced credit standards to increase market share and meet low-income and minority home ownership targets mandated by Congress. By 2007, nearly 50% of all mortgages that originated in the U.S. were subprime, with Fannie, Freddie and other agencies guaranteeing about 70%.  @CNNMoney December 20, 2011

   
President Clinton Takes Credit for Community Reinvestment Act Loans

 ' "Given their prominence in the market, investors and underwriters came to believe that if Fannie or Freddie touched a loan, it was safe, sound, secure and most importantly, 'sanctioned' by the government,” he wrote. “If anyone is looking for a root cause of the financial crisis, this is it.”

Earlier this month, President Obama marked the fifth anniversary of the crisis with a speech in which he touted his administration’s efforts to shore up the financial sector with needed regulations, many required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

“We put in place tough new rules on big banks, rules that we need to finalize before the end of the year, by the way, to make sure that the job is done," Obama said during remarks at the White House.

More than half of hundreds of rules required under Dodd-Frank are still in the works.

On Tuesday, Hensarling criticized the landmark law for failing to reform Fannie and Freddie.

“What you will find in Dodd-Frank, however, are provisions that make bailouts permanent, enshrine 'too big to fail' into law and give Washington bureaucrats more power, more authority and more control over personal financial decisions that Americans should be making for themselves,” Hensarling wrote.'

Former  Democrat Rep. Barney Frank (Dodd Frank)blames LACK of regulation



Read more about the housing crisis:
CRATERED: Democrats Caused the Housing Crisis and Recession

Obamabots Permeate News Site Comment Sections

Posting comments on news sites is something I do on a regular basis. I have always followed  politics and current events and never really looked for media bias. The extent of the bias should be the news.

The late Michael Hastings talks about 'covering' Obama and more

The bias of reporters and news organizations is well known and it even permeates their comment sections of their news stories. Some sites are moderated, but all have a group of trolls. The battle for the political narrative will be won at any cost by the left. These trolls, which I call Obamabots, have
THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of posts. Their disqus accounts are almost always locked for privacy so you cannot see the followers and who they are  following. These Obamabots are easy to spot.

At McClatchy News the 2 most active members are responsible for 8 percent of the total posts. The usual MO is to target the conservative poster as a 'teabagger'. The usual argument style is to deflect and project.  The up arrows or likes also show who liked or up voted the posts.

Trolls  travel in packs and appear to use sockpuppet accounts too. These 2  I call  McClatchy  Muppets.  Using a hyperlink to source or a youtube video to prove your point is reported as 'spam' and the leftist moderator deletes your comment. If they complain enough, you will be banned. If you comment on and post similar screenshots, you will be banned.  Here is an old thread that shows the one sided 'moderated' comment section.    Is it Syria or Obama? GOP turning anti-war

Posts appear as new comments (time stamp), and the Obamabots posts will already be  liked or voted up already. The frequency to which that happens is worth noting when commenting or replying on an article. It is usually wise to not feed the trolls. 



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each website is infested with trolls and sockpuppets. . The Hill is no exception. The Obamabots there go by a few different names, but Dumbfuckistan and Francis are the most prolific, and lame. .

The discredited Dumbfuckistan was a subject of a previous blog.

The Left Attacks Gun Rights Fast & Fuhrer-iously

The subject of the article usually indicates a possible origin of the troll. The Obamabots main mission is to never have the subject about Obama. The teaparty is the main target of the online propaganda machine. Obamabots like SPAMISTAN  use limited propaganda techniques. The repetition of their disinformation is key to controlling the narrative. Never accept their false premises in a debate. It is the most common technique. It will start with 'So what you are really saying' Control the narrative.


"You aren't that good with your propaganda thing, are you, Spamistan…" — BoogieFinger http://disq.us/8f3qvc

 
I recommend finding an appropriate image to reply with.
As a last resort, I use .my agree to disagree video.

FOPEYDUCKER

                                    #sockstars http://disq.us/8f8tsf

Update photo Sept 22- After pointing out the sockpuppetry to Spamistan, 'fopeyducker' is gone and now we have......

Obamabots on the hill

Obamabot #Sockstars Arbar http://disq.us/8f7rs9

Update September 25  2013, Sockpuppet identity crisis

Busting a muppet  http://disq.us/8fct4l

 "#sockstars http://disq.us/8fdobo" — BoogieFinger http://disq.us/8fdofh


"When Quack Medicine Man isn't claiming to be a writer for the Daily KOS in one post or a disabled…" — BoogieFinger http://disq.us/8fe6io

====
Update  9/30/2013  neoconhater 

"Nice double down on the drivel and LIES #Obamabot. Thanks for admitting now, that they do accept…" — BoogieFinger http://disq.us/8fe6g8

New Video Update 10/4/2013
ne



Updated 05/21/2014 Below.....

Emails Undercut the Official IRS Story on Targeting Conservative Groups

The IRS's targeting of conservative groups needs to be ignored by the left and the Obama sycophants in the media. Another textbook case of cognitive dissonance by the leftists.  Keep repeating phony scandal, or they were all targeted just the same.

Lois Lerner's Own Words

Emails undercut the official IRS story on political targeting.

A version of this article appeared September 11, 2013, on page A18 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Lois Lerner's Own Words.
Excerpted:

Congress's investigation into the IRS targeting of conservatives has been continuing out of the Syria headlines, and it's turning up news. Emails unearthed by the House Ways and Means Committee between former Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner and her staff raise doubts about IRS claims that the targeting wasn't politically motivated and that low-level employees in Cincinnati masterminded the operation.

In a February 2011 email, Ms. Lerner advised her staff—including then Exempt Organizations Technical Manager Michael Seto and then Rulings and Agreements director Holly Paz—that a Tea Party matter is "very dangerous," and is something "Counsel and [Lerner adviser] Judy Kindell need to be in on." Ms. Lerner adds, "Cincy should probably NOT have these cases."

That's a different tune than the IRS sang in May when former IRS Commissioner Steven Miller said the agency's overzealous enforcement was the work of two "rogue" employees in Cincinnati. When the story broke, Ms. Lerner suggested that her office had been unaware of the pattern of targeting until she read about it in the newspaper. "So it was pretty much we started seeing information in the press that raised questions for us, and we went back and took a look," she said in May. 

 Earlier this summer, IRS lawyer Carter Hull, who oversaw the review of many Tea Party cases and questionnaires, testified that his oversight began in April 2010. Tea party cases under review are "being supervised by Chip Hull at each step," Ms. Paz wrote to Ms. Lerner in a February 2011 email. "He reviews info from TPs, correspondence to TPs etc. No decisions are going out of Cincy until we go all the way through the process with the c3 and c4 cases here." TP stands for Tea Party, and she means 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

The emails also put the targeting in the context of the media and Congressional drumbeat over the impact of conservative campaign spending on the 2012 elections. On July 10, 2012 then Lerner-adviser Sharon Light emailed Ms. Lerner a National Public Radio story on how outside money was making it hard for Democrats to hold their Senate majority.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had complained to the Federal Election Commission that conservative groups like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity should be treated as political committees, rather than 501(c)(4)s, which are tax-exempt social welfare groups that do not have to disclose their donors.

Background testimony and video on the IRS scandal











More blogs on the IRS targeting of conservatives:
Democrats Justify Using IRS to Target Political Opponents
Obama's IRS Targets Conservative Groups-Leaks Info
Targeting Conservatives: An IRS Political Timeline

Barack Obama's Organizing for Action operates as a 501C4 tax exempt organization

DNC's Wasserman Schultz Explains Colorado Recall Election Defeats Over Gun Control

 Colorado Lawmakers Ousted in Recall Vote Over Gun Law

COLORADO SPRINGS — Two Colorado Democrats who provided crucial support for a package of state gun laws were voted out of office on Tuesday in special elections seen as a test of whether swing-state voters would accept gun restrictions after mass shootings at a Colorado movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.

*How was this issue covered in May?



*Gun control was forced on the voters of Colorado and their first chance to voice their opinions on the subject finds TWO Democrats out of a job.  Voters sending a message to those that 'serve' them isn't lost on many people, unless your name is Debbie Wasserman Schultz and you are the Democrat National Committee Chairwoman. What could have happened in the recall election?

Top Dem: Colorado losses due to 'voter suppression, pure and simple'

Successful recall elections Tuesday of two Democratic state senators in Colorado were because of “voter suppression, pure and simple,” Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Wednesday.

Wasserman Schultz blamed lawsuits filed by opponents of gun control to prevent voters from mailing in ballots, the late announcement of polling locations, and “efforts by the NRA, the Koch brothers and other right wing groups who know that when more people vote, Democrats win.”

“The recall elections in Colorado were defined by the vast array of obstacles that special interests threw in the way of voters for the purpose of reversing the will of the legislature and the people,” Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic lawmaker from Florida, said in a statement. “This was voter suppression, pure and simple.”

 * Of course, foul play. Backers of popular measures could only lose if the NRA and the GOP cheated. Everyone knows that more gun control was very popular and these Democrats were blindsided by these recall results. Clearly the polling was in their favor. Dirty tricks are the only answer, right?

Firm suppressed Colorado recall poll

Public Policy Polling (PPP) sparked controversy Wednesday after the left-leaning firm declined to release a survey it conducted last weekend that accurately forecasted the successful recall of a Democratic state senator from Colorado.

The survey PPP conducted, but did not release, showed Colorado District 3 Sen. Angela Giron (D) would be recalled by a 54 percent to 42 percent margin.

“In a district that Barack Obama won by almost 20 points I figured there was no way that could be right and made a rare decision not to release the poll,” Director Tom Jensen wrote in a post on the firm's website. “It turns out we should have had more faith in our numbers because she was indeed recalled by 12 points.”

*It turns out the leftist polls were suppressed.