Tag: a step farther out

ASFO 2026–01–17

NOBODY is going to Mars this year, for better or worse. I tell you how I know that. The launch vehicle for the NASA Artemis II mission is on its way to the launchpad, in preparation for a manned circumlunar flight which may launch sometime in the next three months, and a possible landing sometime in the coming years. Colour me unimpressed. Chancellor Merz of Germany admits that the nuclear exit was a mistake — again, colour me unimpressed. And I let you know of my upcoming travels, and my continuing anxiety over the US domestic and international political situations.

ASFO 2026–01–10

CRIMES against Peace — Lord Voldemort? — Nietzsche’s Superman as fast–food mascot — a brief discussion of the complicated situation in Venezuela — Putin working hard to get the spotlight back — escalating stupidity in Cowley County, Kansas — “carbon pollution”, literally — colossal stupidity in Japan — further progress, of a sort, with blast.

ASFO 2026–01–03

Senator Floyd Haskell provides an example of how not to do representative government ; controversy erupts in Cowley County, Kansas, and I suggest a rule which would substantially change the way “renewable energy development” is approached ; and some good news from Japan and South Korea, bad news from Belgium, and downright stupid news from the European Commission.

ASFO 2025–12–20

When the 30th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convenion on Climate Change spends virtually all its efforts on “Adaptation Finance”, you might be forgiven for thinking that plans for adaptation were already delineated and merely required financing ; and that, over the course of 30 years, plans for emissions reduction have been made and financed, and are well underway. Given that the Euratom Treaty is one of the three foundation documents of the European Union, you might be forgiven for expecting the European Commission to treat its obligation to produce, from time to time, an Illustrative Nuclear Program with utmost gravity and care. And yet…

ASFO 2025–10–25

Light Railway Orders were never meant as a way to extend your 381 mm gage live–steam garden railway 22 km to provide access to a nuclear power station, but here we are. Or, a day out on the Romney, Dymchurch, and Hythe. (More photos here — the best ones are free.)

ASFO 2025–10–18

The future should look like the future — all right, but what kind of future? Billions for defense, billions more for infrastructure, but to what avail? Also, novel forms of morality with nothing to recommend them, served piping fresh.

Supplementary Show

2025–10–24 Starting late and frequently interrupted, a ramble around London Saint Pancras and King’s Cross railway stations in search of a Folkestone bus pass. I swear it makes some kind of sense in context!

ASFO 2025–10–11

Greetings from the “Dengie Hundred” in the marshy east of England, where bus service is minimal, Lamborghinis compete with farm equipment for room on the roads, and there seems to be more public concern about power pylons than about the much larger and more obtrusive wind turbines. Unfortunately, my best attempts to put out a show ran into technical troubles, which did not get fixed until about 22 minutes in.

ASFO 2025–10–04

Deutsches Museum in Munich, the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, a consideration of the potential role of a “very light rail vehicle” and the true nature of the harm done by the Beeching Axe, a video showcasing the famous Flying Scotsman steam locomotive and the horrifying dietary habits of British railwaymen (with some blink–and–you–miss–it nuclear–energy content), and a brief appearance by Drax the Destroyer… also an invitation to SDFers in Britain who might like to meet up.

ASFO 2025–09–27

Are the working poor of today better off than the kings of old? I provide one reason to think they are, and describe some of my adventures in international travel, and a really nifty pair of cuff links I bought in a charity shop for the princely sum of £2. Also a discussion of the finer details of nuclear waste disposal, in the context of asininity at Asse. Unfortunately this show was interrupted in the middle by some kind of network failure.