Friday, September 01, 2006

NASA's multi-billion dollar duplication, and other stuff

Five items from the Stone Age to the Space Age...

5. Andre Agassi's final tennis tournament continues after he defeated Marcos Baghdatis. usopen.org.

4. New manned mission to the moon: Apollo Redux. A new generation of rocket, NASA's Ares, will carry astronauts in a one-time-use space capsule to the moon, hopefully in 2014. The new setup will be bigger, with newer technology, and hopefully safer, than Apollo, but the reality is that the configuration of the new moon scheme is a carbon copy of 1960s ideas. Lockheed will lead a consortium to produce the primary moon vehicle. Time.

What I haven't heard about is why we're going back to the moon. We already have moon dust and rocks from the 1960s missions, so why get more? I could see building a lunar research base, or an outpost to collect water and minerals for deep-space missions, but why go through all the expense to collect more rocks? It makes no sense.

Meanwhile, the Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off for the International Space Station this coming Wednesday. ABC.

3. File this one under Every Sperm is Sacred. Mitt Romney (and what kind of name is Mitt?), Republican governor of Mass., says stem cell research is "Orwellian". He's beating the pre-presidential-run drum with stone-age morals. Reuters.

2. Yesterday I heard NPR play a soundbite from an Iraqi. He said something like, "We want the Americans to leave. Enough is enough. They have destroyed our people."

I know several Iraqis who were born and raised in Iraq, and who travel there every year, and they think the war is the greatest thing that ever happened to their country. They don't want American troops to leave yet.

How many people did NPR interview to get the anti-Bush comment they sought?

To my knowledge, no Iraqis wanted to remain living under genocidal chemical attacks (and mass graves accumulating at a rate of nearly three per year), rape rooms, disappearing family members, a press entirely owned and run by one of Saddam's murderous sons, and outlawed satellite dishes and cell phones.

Unfortunately, the average moronic member of the American public, casually tuning into NPR, will think the far-left news source is giving a balanced view of world events.

1. New California law would require manufacturers of WiFi devices to include a reminder to users that they should secure their network. TechDirt wonders if it's the first step towards outlawing piggybacking.

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