I for one admit I had no idea the Voyager spacecraft were still transmitting, much less still out there learning stuff for us.  Now they’re headed for interstellar space, the first craft of mankind to do so.

Yet another h/t to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit is my hero lately.  He gets credit for pointing to this post by Roger Kimball expressing the same contempt I’ve long had for the TSA.  Seriously, folks, this is America; is the TSA really how far we’ve fallen?

Another one from Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.  Amazing stuff.

I couldn’t help but be vexed and frustrated by the hullaballoo over a single message on a bag sold by Lululemon, a purveyor of yoga-oriented soft goods.  The message was “Who is John Galt?”  Some of you may recognize it from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

And the wails that one item has raised!  The New York Times felt compelled to weigh in here, and there was this commentary at the Just Marketing blog.

Well, here’s the comment I left at that blog site:

Milton Friedman was absolutely correct in his devastating critique of what we now laud as “corporate social responsibility.” So in an ideal world, I’d agree with the argument that Mr. Wilson is misusing his shareholders’ money.

But that debate is long since lost, and we’re now constantly pummeled by foolish and destructive left-wing activism from almost all sizable corporations. It’s deeply disingenuous at this point to accuse Wilson of establishing some negative new precedent.

Or is it? Because I suspect that the reason this particular bit of corporate activism is raising such hackles is that CSR is perfectly acceptable to those doing the complaining now — just so long as it adheres to the already-established precedent that it ALWAYS serves the destructive progressive agenda. Mr. Wilson’s touting of a message that instead supports free markets and individualism threatens to crack the current rigid ideological uniformity of the CSR racket, which is why you hear so much screeching about this one tiny instance of independent thought and action.

I shouldn’t be surprised at the shamelessness and hypocrisy of those forcing CSR down our throats, and yet I am.  For those unfamiliar with Friedman’s commentary on the matter, it’s here.

H/T to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.

The debate over where China is headed is picking up steam.  As with our own markets, it’s fascinating to see reasonably intelligent people look at the same set of data and evidence and come up with diametrically opposing predictions.

As is the case with these two recent articles:  Steve Rattner’s “Will China Stumble?  Don’t Bet on It” from the New York Times, and the editorial from The Wall Street Journal, “China’s Hard Landing:  The state-led growth model is leading the country into trouble.”

Whom to believe?  The Journal has certainly gotten plenty wrong.  Still, their case is much more predicated on data versus mere opinion, I think.  Plus, Steve Rattner, Obama’s former “car czar,” loves state direction of industry, so of course he’s a Red China fan.  However, his appalling wrongness on the auto bailouts makes his whole use of GM’s China operation as evidence that China is on the right path a joke.

Plus, as I read Rattner’s cheerleading, I can’t help but wonder if he’s paid any attention at all to Japan the past fifteen or twenty years.  Because on Rattner’s own telling, China sounds an awful lot like the last Asian powerhouse we all fretted about, and we all know how well that turned out.

There’s been a thread going around some of my favorite sites about whether physical strength is the most important thing.  I like the answer given here by Jim Tynan – he hits on a number of points I thoroughly agree with.  But I think there’s another key component to the equation.

My buddy Dan came up with that thought out of the blue just yesterday.  It’s one that I’ve had in my head for ages: the importance of routinely causing our own selves pain.  Sure, having physical strength is important for all the reasons Mr. Tynan mentions.  The process of getting physical strength by causing yourself suffering is equally important.

Here’s why:  the ability to react well when things get difficult is often the difference between living and dying when things get seriously bad.  Key to that ability is the concomitant ability to suffer but push on.  How are you going to have that ability when the you-know-what hits the fan if your main focus in day-to-day living is comfort?

Mentally and physically, then, it’s vital that we become accustomed to making ourselves hurt.  Really hurt.  Really regularly.

I’ve always liked this quote, supposedly from an unknown Marine gunny sergeant:

Comfort is an illusion.  A false security bred from familiar things and familiar ways.  It narrows the mind.  Weakens the body.  And robs the soul of spirit and determination.  Comfort is neither welcome nor tolerated here.

Gizmag had this story about watch company Hublot creating a reproduction of the Antikythera mechanism, a celestial clock dating back to ancient Greece.  The story of how the mechanism was found and studied is amazing; the story of its origins is nearly incredible.

I’m happy the medals got there while he could still appreciate them.

Thanks for your service, Capt. Harrison.

Of the many places my wife and I have lived, we agree Buffalo is our favorite, barring each of our hometowns.

Our friend Mark sent a link to this video, which captures almost everything I love and miss about that dear town.

My buddy Dan has an interesting take on the colossal failure of our elites in every walk of life.  He believes it comes down to the disconnect and value difference in credentials versus achievement.  He points to the products of our elite universities and corporations, along with our government, and their lengthy resumes of merely being in the right place or school or organization or activity to build what looks to be an impressive c.v.  Except on closer inspection it becomes clear they never actually did anything of any note.

So I figured he’d really like this blog entry by Paul Caron on his TaxProfBlog.  I was right — he did.