In about 6 - 18 months (hopefully sooner) these guys are going to start flying commercial passengers into space. Now, while current regulations require that the spaceships land at the same place they took off, those regulations are surely going to be changes very soon.
And by regulations I mean insurance regulations and policies. With every ticket you buy on an airplane, a huge chunk of it is just plain ol' insurance. Insurance that if there's a problem with the flight and you die, if the airline is sued, the insurance will pay for it and the airline can keep functioning. All airlines need that. Even ones that go into space.
As of right now, no insurance company will insure an airline that goes above the 100km barrier that legally defines space from the atmosphere due to the stigma of flying astronauts into space. The only exception to that is that in New Mexico, legislation was recently signed into law that makes it virtually impossible for anyone, no matter how deep their lawyer buying pockets, to sue an airline operator for any damages if something goes wrong. As long as the operator only lands in the same spot you took off at, it's legally flying for sport, be it if you pay for the flight or if you fly your own airplane. Once you're doing it for sport, that's a whole different ballpark. These laws won't take too long to change though.
It's kindo sucky that the biggest limiting factor in getting regular airline service into space is just that the airlines all need to save a bundle by switching to Geiko, but it's the sad truth. The real problems with getting a space operating airline going isn't the technical aspects of making an airplane that can go into orbit. It's a financial one. The airline needs to have a profitable business model or no one's going to dump their money into it to fund development of the spacecraft.
Well, unless you're nuts like Sir Richard Branson. I like that guy. If I ever stop working at the place I'm at now, I wanna work for his company. I don't care if he actually is nuts and his companies aren't fiscally viable. The guy's got balls, and I like that.
Oh, at some point in this journal entry you might have thought "the fuck does this have to do with the end of the world?" Well, quite simply, you've never known a world where you can go anyplace on the planet within a half hour. I mean, shit. It takes me a half hour to get to work and I work just 6 miles from my house. Just wait until it only takes that long to get from Los Angeles to Sydney. It's going to make just as significant a change to our world as the internet, the car, and the Boeing 707 did. I'm extremely fucking excited about this.
JUL 21, 2010 05:41 AM
JUL 21, 2010 09:35 AM
JUL 21, 2010 11:07 AM
JUL 21, 2010 05:09 PM
hes actually just eating grass. 
but it is pretty darn cute isn't it?
JUL 22, 2010 09:33 AM
that stuff is amaze-za-zing! but to be honest, i hope i dont have to have it!
AUG 05, 2010 07:20 AM
AUG 12, 2010 06:18 PM
AUG 24, 2010 03:54 PM
AUG 28, 2010 08:46 AM
AUG 28, 2010 10:57 AM
i think i finally got all the virus out of me on wednesday. so i was fighting it for a week and a half. too long and too hard of a rebound for me this time. my nurses are great and usually put on new gloves every time they help me. but i will keep an eye out on the hand washing and glove changing. i am not looking forward to mondays dr appt, partly due to chemo and partly due to the check up i get. i havent weighed myself, but i know i am down from last time. 
AUG 28, 2010 02:01 PM
AUG 29, 2010 01:59 AM
SEP 03, 2010 07:01 AM
SEP 04, 2010 12:27 PM
just read your blog and saw the video...damn..that plane is awesome and fuck, it even can fly!!!
and you and me know both very well, that the technology exists already for a long time, to be able to fly with an enormous speed...alien technology my friend...but this is one of the biggest secrets, our governments live with and one of the biggest lies, too 
whatever, the truth will come out, soon enough
soooo, now to your comment:
first of all...thank you for your positive feedback! i loved it
second of all... yes, i created each sculpt with my own hands and in my own head...i did not try to copy anybodies ideas with a maybe similar look of some lil creepy faces. 
third of all... i had no idea, what you do for living till now and that you can be a bit creative, too. at least at the computer 
do you sculpt at all in your private time? if yes, is there any work, that i can see???? i would love to!
so, and now i go in chat, cause i try to take your advice to work on cam. i will see how much distraction chat will cause. i start a new project today, since i am finally done with my old one let the claying begin
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