Free Republic

The Cult of Contraception doesn’t exactly enjoy an overabundance of brain power, but when it comes to truly insipid commentary, PolicyMic has always been in a league of its own. This weekend, Marcie Bianco wrote that the birth control market is—what else?—even more sexist than you think. Opening with a comedy video from Buzzfeed (now there’s a font of deep cultural analysis) that purports to illustrate that “society places the burden of birth control on women rather than men,” whose condoms just don’t come with the cost and “cultural stigmas” of female birth-control options. The justification process alone — to...

A new report on NBC News by radical feminist Marcie Bianco argues that “heterosexuality is just not working.” Women are increasingly opting out of heterosexuality because it is “the bedrock of their global oppression,” NBC News asserted in a bizarre opinion piece this week. “Men need heterosexuality to maintain their societal dominance over women,” writes Marcie Bianco for the NBC News website. “Women, on the other hand, are increasingly realizing not only that they don’t need heterosexuality, but that it also is often the bedrock of their global oppression.” Ms. Bianco lumps together a series of recent news stories, “from...

What is the difference between liberty and freedom in the eyes of many Americans? Absolutely nothing. And therein lies not only the problem driving the culture war around coronavirus shelter-in-place orders but also arguably the crux of all fronts of America's culture wars, from guns to religion to speech to - now, it seems - haircuts. It is a slippage skillfully leveraged by conservatives. This week in Michigan, armed protesters are heeding the call. But the petulant rallying cries echo across the United States. "Give me liberty or give me death!" - so goes the universal whine, lifted from Patrick...

Pres. Trump at CA Marine base: "Very soon we're going to Mars. You wouldn't have been going to Mars if my opponent won." https://t.co/7t9dGZXwSH pic.twitter.com/a3Cw5OIsue — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 13, 2018 President Trump told troops in California on Tuesday that the U.S. would be going to Mars in the very near future. "Very soon we're going to Mars. You wouldn't be going to Mars if my opponent won, that I can tell you. You wouldn't even be thinking about it," Trump said. Trump signed a directive in December aiming to send Americans to the moon, and eventually Mars....

“As we once again lead in space exploration, we will continue to make the investments and presence in space to ensure the safety and security of the American people,” Pence said. “Space is vital to our national security. I saw it firsthand when I visited Schriever Air Force Base just a few weeks ago. And I can assure you, under President Donald Trump, American security will be as dominant in the heavens as we are here on Earth.” “We will beat back any disadvantage that our lack of attention has placed and America will once again lead in space,” Pence...

It's in its early stages, but the idea is to replace modern rovers — which are slow, bulky and very expensive — with swarms of sensor-studded, fast-moving micro-bots that can cover much more ground at a relatively low cost. Literally called Marsbees, the little bots are "flapping wing flyers of a bumblebee size with cicada-sized wings," NASA officials wrote. The planet has just one-third of Earth's gravitational pull, offering the Marsbees an advantage despite the thin atmosphere. Flapping-wing bots are pretty uncommon on Earth, the NASA statement noted, because rotary-wing bots like quadcopters are much more popular. But the flapping-wing design allows the team...

Future Moon and Mars colonists will already be facing a life underground, to hide from the surface radiation, micrometeorite bombardment, extreme temperatures and to create a usable atmosphere. These natural tunnels will save them the hard work of needing to dig the tunnel. The natural roofs on these caverns are thought to be 10 meters or more thick, with one site estimated to have a roof that’s 45-90 meters thick. This would be more than enough to protect against solar radiation and galactic cosmic radiation. While the surface of the Moon varies in temperature from -180 C to +100 C,...

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who Putin had placed in charge of Russia’s space effort, today said in a television interview that it makes no sense for them to try to compete with SpaceX in the launch market...

Podcast in 2 Parts: "SpaceX Supremacy," & "ESA/Roscosmos Rehearsal for Mars Landing 2020."

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to grab Mars like President Donald Trump reportedly grabbed — well, you know. That’s according to Marcie Bianco, editorial and communications manager at Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research.

What does a midlife crisis look like in the 21st century? Frittering away your life savings on a red sports car is so last century. Instead, today’s man who is grappling with the limitations of his mortality spends $90 million on a rocket to launch a $100,000 electric car, helmed by a robot by the name of “Starman,” into space. “We want a new space race,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in a press conference shortly after the launch of his company’s Falcon Heavy rocket — and his Tesla Roadster — into space earlier in February. Like a child, he...