NASA's New Bold Plan?
NASA has announced a bold plan to put people back on the Moon a mere 49 years after Apollo 11 made the first ever landing there. Yahoo News AP wire excerpt:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - It will cost $104 billion over the next decade to send astronauts back to the moon, NASA's chief said Monday, defending the price tag as an investment the nation can afford despite the expense of Hurricane Katrina.
Described as "Apollo on steroids," the new moon exploration plan unveiled by the space agency will use beefed-up shuttle and Apollo parts and aims to put people on the moon by 2018.
"There will be a lot more hurricanes and a lot more other natural disasters to befall the United States and the world in that time, I hope none worse than Katrina," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said at a news conference.
"But the space program is a long-term investment in our future. We must deal with our short-term problems while not sacrificing our long-term investments in our future. When we have a hurricane, we don't cancel the Air Force. We don't cancel the Navy. And we're not going to cancel NASA."
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Well, that report certainly makes me feel better about the United States as a spacefaring nation. Mr. Griffin is either ignorant of history, or he is unbelievably optimistic. He should know that for decades NASA has been the main target of politicians who want to cut "pork" from the budget, despite the fact that these same politicians (Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin to name the most egregious offender) often use the money they steal from NASA to fund their own favorite boondoggle projects.
NASA has a yearly budget of $16 billion allocated to make it run, and, to put that into perspective, President Hasn't Got A Clue has spent over $300 billion to fight a useless war in Iraq. By my math, that money could have funded NASA for nearly 19 years under current economic conditions.
We've watched in horror as two space shuttles have exploded due to this cost cutting crap. Now is not the time to scale the budget back for this so-called bold initiative. We are either serious about establishing a presence in space, or we are sitting ducks waiting for the next large asteroid/comet strike to wipe us out like the dinosaurs. But since a group of dinosaurs is currently leading our nation, it should come as no surprise that these anti-science ass clowns think $104 billion until 2018 will be sufficient to get us ready to go back to the Moon.
Former Bush GSA Head Arrested
In another shining example of the Bush camp's "most ethical administration ever" bullshit, we find his former General Services Administration chief of staff arrested for lying about the deals he made with infamous lobbyist Jack Abramhoff in 2002. Yahoo News AP wire excerpt:
WASHINGTON - A former Bush administration official was arrested Monday on charges he made false statements and obstructed a federal investigation into his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to court documents and government officials.
David Safavian, then-chief of staff of the General Services Administration and a former Abramoff lobbying associate, concealed from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with GSA when Safavian joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in 2002, according to an FBI affidavit and the officials.
At the time, FBI agent Jeffrey A. Reising said in the affidavit, a lobbyist — identified separately as Abramoff — had enlisted Safavian's help in trying to gain control of 40 acres of land at the Federal Research Center at White Oak in Silver Spring, Md., for a private high school that Abramoff helped establish and supported.
Full StoryIt is getting so that this kind of news report no longer surprises anyone who knew Bush and his gang were a bunch of crooked bastards. I just wish the "liberal" press would do the same job of lambasting Bush and Co. about these transgressions as they did when Bill Clinton looked at a woman for more than eight (8) seconds at a fundraisier.
Bill Clinton - Helpful or Hurtful?
Speaking of Bill Clinton, the "liberal" press is in a complete uproar over his harsh criticism of the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. On "This Weak With That Backstabbing Little Prick" this past Sunday, the former President offered some astute observations about the response and the relief effort that, while painful for Bush and his supporters to hear, need to be examined. AOL / New York Slimes excerpt:
WASHINGTON (Sept. 18) - Former President Bill Clinton, asked by President Bush to help raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, offered harsh criticism of the administration's disaster-relief effort on Sunday, saying "you can't have an emergency plan that works if it only affects middle-class people up."
Mr. Clinton's comments in an interview on the ABC News program "This Week" could prove awkward for the White House, given President Bush's eagerness to involve his Democratic predecessor in a high-profile role to raise money for the hurricane's victims. His remarks came days after the president gave a televised speech from New Orleans, trying to seize the momentum amid other attacks on the administration's performance.
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There is a transcript that provides more meat to this story. Please read it before jumping on the Clinton Is A Monday Morning Quarterback bandwagon.
This Weak Transcript
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