A bit off-topic. Can someone tell me what happens to the spent first stage boosters when they are jettisoned? Since Baikonur and Kazakhstan are land locked, I assume they just fall back to earth (not water)? Do people live down range of Baikonur in the drop zone? Thanks.

First off, while I seldom agree with the left, we are not at war with the Palestinians, so we should not be censoring anything. With that said, the world only has two options; keep the status quo and prevent a hot war in the Middle East (maybe) or leave the combatants alone, which will inevitably lead to nuclear war. Hamas and radical Islam (I am looking at you Iran) are bent on the destruction of Israel, and Israel will defend itself to the end. When Islamic clerics begin to preach peace with Israel, I will eat these words. Of course there is the possibility that the Israelis will simply give up and move away - sure they will.

I admit I am ignorant in this case beyond the headlines. Did the judge order the exact wording of the apology? Did the judge order the exact location on a web site that the apology must appear? Did the judge order the exact page of newspapers the apology must appear? Also, we're the quotes attributed to the judge not accurate?

"...Some are concerned over a proposal by European telecom operators seeking to shift the cost of communication from the receiving party to the sender. This could mean huge costs for US Internet giants like Facebook and Google."" The real reason.

Don't forget that when you upgrade past Windows XP, you will have to implement a KMS server to handle your licensing. If you do imaging as a method of updating workstations, you will have to deal with this.

Who in 1936 envisioned Auschwitz or Dachau in 1944? Well Israel has many citizens with tattoos from those very places. Now they hear similar rhetoric spewing from Iran AND see that they are actively working on pieces of a weapon that could unleash an even greater holocaust. I don't know about you, but I would take it VERY SERIOUSLY.

Bravo!

I was not trying to say they would have had to do any manual intervention, and I would fully exept them to NOT have to, just like what happened last night. But as you mentioned, it did not appear like they noticed. Anyhow, I am glad the SpaceX engineering effort paid of. Good job.

Your points are well taken, but in reviewing the NASA feed, the voice-over clearly stated that "all nine Merlin engines ... continue to burn ..." after 2 minutes. I believe this was a NASA voice-over, so that may be where the discrepancy happened. As for your analogy, I agree, but given today's techno-crap most cars are coming with, it would not surprise me if this does not happen in the near future, say for low breake fluid or cylinder misses.

Did anyone here a call of engine cut-off in the NASA TV feed? I did not. Or a call for a longer burn? Seems the SpaceX team would have made those calls. Of course, they could have on private channels. Seems NASA was more transparent. Also, when I fly I like my pilots to be well dressed and professional. The SpaceX team did not. Maybe that is the SpaceX culture, but I am an old fart and I prefer a much more orderly look.

How many "COEXIST" bumper sticks do you thing are on car bumpers in the Middle East?

"And the Crusades created a hatred of anyone non-muslim (thanks, Catholic Church!)." While the Crusades where a big black eye for Christianity, Islam was being spread by force long before they began. In some ways it still is being forces, just look at what would happen if a muslim were to convert.

I grew up in a northern Wisconsin city where the teachers stuck twice times in four years . It was NEVER about the children, always about pay. Chicago is a big Democratic city, you would think there would be no issue with the citizens WANTING to raise their own property taxes to support the schools. As for charter schools, they represent competition, so of course they are evil.

I am not a big tax guy, but someone (I don't remember the name) proposed a small tax on a per trade value basis. While this would increase my tax burden somewhat (I am of course an evil republican stock holder) it may also help reign in this high volume microsecond (nano) trading that these large firms use to basically game the system.

This applies to many programs of this type. Back when I lived in Minnesota there was a big todo over welfare moms having more children simply to get an increase in welfare aid. Same same same. The programs intentions were good, but the outcome was not. And if you make this argument you are called a cold-hearted bastard. Well I guess I am a cold-hearted bastard, and all such programs should be eliminated. Flame suit on.