Even though Howard is first, I agree with Cat's rant. Trying to find common ground with your opponents is usually a good thing, but you have to stand up to bigots.
Sweet, moderate day. Sunny, a bit of cloudy, a little breezy, warm. The last of August is being very pleasant.
Rick went in for the rib resection drainage (the for dregs of the pneumonia he got in the hospital in June). Should be in a week, and then a month of physical therapy to get him back where he was before he went in (this is just historical, could be better). And of course, also historically, it's possible to get a lot worse. . . .
Yesterday I got distracted and forgot to mention something very interesting Richard Holbrooke said on The News Hour last night. Some people think - I think he mentioned the head of USAID - that the flooding in Pakistan is due to global warming, unusually high melt off the Himalayas, and also connected to the fires in Russia. I had wondered about that, actually, but my grasp of Geography is a bit tenuous. Anyhow, it's interesting. Holbrooke said that disasters like this are likely to become more frequent.
It was just on the news tonight that there's terrible flooding in China...
You know, for the past few years, I've been wondering with increasing frequency if maybe the Evangelicals have it right and the End Times are coming. Certainly, the stupid, shortsighted politicians who oversee NASA have made sure we're trapped here on Earth, with no bases and colonies on the moon or anywhere else. You know, I heard on a TV show a few years ago, that the Apollo program was going so well, NASA had plans and projections many years out. They confidently believed a base on the moon was feasible by 1978. And then the goddamn politicians decided that we'd won the Space Race and there was no need to continue it. Morons!
Well, now, let's be fair. The way Kennedy ammounced a definite timeline for the moon landing forced Congress to throw whatever money it took at the problem. Cost-effectiveness was never a consideration. Once the goal had been reached, it was both reasonable and proper to ask if there wasn't a cheaper, more efficient, way to do things. "Sure thre is," NASA said. "Give us a reusable space shuttle and we'll fly dozens -- socres! -- of missions a year for what we're now spending on two or three throw-away Appolo rockets." That sounded as good to me as it did to Congress.
Of course, somehow the space shuttle never quite lived up to its sales pitch. If it had, we would not only have had permanent (orbital) space colonies before the turn of the century but would probably be back on the moon as well.
I loved the space program, but. . . . I think I'm just as glad it's way toned down for the moment. *Our* race -- the one that started out in Iraq, made a desert out of it, moved on to Europe, over crowded that, moved here, and in less than two hundred years murdered most of the locals, stole their land, and started working on turning it into a desert. If *this* people, us, thought there was someplace else to go burn and pillage. . . . The Chinese now, have pretty much stayed put, and *not* shit in their own nest. Maybe they'll make it. . . .
Even though Howard is first, I agree with Cat's rant. Trying to find common ground with your opponents is usually a good thing, but you have to stand up to bigots.
ReplyDeleteIt is very Dean to stand up to people who are deliberately being unfair and unkind!
ReplyDeleteUnder the Wing...
Tomorrow is a busy day of packing to go visit the granddaughters. -)
:-)
Thanks, Bill.
ReplyDeleteSweet, moderate day. Sunny, a bit of cloudy, a little breezy, warm. The last of August is being very pleasant.
ReplyDeleteRick went in for the rib resection drainage (the for dregs of the pneumonia he got in the hospital in June). Should be in a week, and then a month of physical therapy to get him back where he was before he went in (this is just historical, could be better). And of course, also historically, it's possible to get a lot worse. . . .
Sending good vibes to Rick!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I got distracted and forgot to mention something very interesting Richard Holbrooke said on The News Hour last night. Some people think - I think he mentioned the head of USAID - that the flooding in Pakistan is due to global warming, unusually high melt off the Himalayas, and also connected to the fires in Russia. I had wondered about that, actually, but my grasp of Geography is a bit tenuous. Anyhow, it's interesting. Holbrooke said that disasters like this are likely to become more frequent.
ReplyDeleteIt was just on the news tonight that there's terrible flooding in China...
You know, for the past few years, I've been wondering with increasing frequency if maybe the Evangelicals have it right and the End Times are coming. Certainly, the stupid, shortsighted politicians who oversee NASA have made sure we're trapped here on Earth, with no bases and colonies on the moon or anywhere else. You know, I heard on a TV show a few years ago, that the Apollo program was going so well, NASA had plans and projections many years out. They confidently believed a base on the moon was feasible by 1978. And then the goddamn politicians decided that we'd won the Space Race and there was no need to continue it. Morons!
Thank you, sweetie ~~ I needed that.
ReplyDeleteHugs for you too, Puddle.
ReplyDeleteWell, now, let's be fair. The way Kennedy ammounced a definite timeline for the moon landing forced Congress to throw whatever money it took at the problem. Cost-effectiveness was never a consideration. Once the goal had been reached, it was both reasonable and proper to ask if there wasn't a cheaper, more efficient, way to do things. "Sure thre is," NASA said. "Give us a reusable space shuttle and we'll fly dozens -- socres! -- of missions a year for what we're now spending on two or three throw-away Appolo rockets." That sounded as good to me as it did to Congress.
ReplyDeleteOf course, somehow the space shuttle never quite lived up to its sales pitch. If it had, we would not only have had permanent (orbital) space colonies before the turn of the century but would probably be back on the moon as well.
Yeah, sure, be reasonable, Bill. Humph! I'm feeling grumpy at the moment, not reasonable.
ReplyDeleteI loved the space program, but. . . . I think I'm just as glad it's way toned down for the moment. *Our* race -- the one that started out in Iraq, made a desert out of it, moved on to Europe, over crowded that, moved here, and in less than two hundred years murdered most of the locals, stole their land, and started working on turning it into a desert. If *this* people, us, thought there was someplace else to go burn and pillage. . . . The Chinese now, have pretty much stayed put, and *not* shit in their own nest. Maybe they'll make it. . . .
ReplyDeleteThank you again, friend. ♥
ReplyDelete