And for all the technological military marvels, all the billions spent on stealth bombers and tens of thousands of H-bombs capable of vapourising all the major cities on the planet if people really x, really x really hate you for being a global bully then they’ll find ways to attack and hurt you with whatever little they do – have even knives and their own living bodies.

The events of September 11th 2001 should have been taken to heart as a key example of this – of why military spending and power does NOT & cannot bring you security.

Ultimately, the best way to end “terrorism” (other peoples as well as your own “shock & awe” & Guantanamo Bay / Abu Ghraib variant) is to admit the error of trying for arrogant, ignorant “full spectrum dominance” – ie. every counry on the planet being intimidated into doing what you want – and start acting co-operatively as a good global citizen to make everyone’s life better.

That’s not “fluffy bunny” but common sense. Its also common sense to know the limitations of brute force and the advantages of “soft power” duiplomacy.

Among the many multifold advantages of the latter course is no needless wars & money to spare for what’s really important – space exploratuion and scientific research!

————————————————

Sir Lancelot : Hail King Arthur, I’m back triumphant from raping and pillaging your enemies in the South!

King Arthur : Lancelot you moron! I told you to rape & pillage my enemies in the North not the South! I don’t _have_ any enemies in the South!

Sir Lancelot : You do now, Sire!

Let’s look at the results :

Public enterporise
1) – Communist even not just socialist – launched the first satellite 50 years ago &
2) put the first men & women into orbit,

3) Plus put the first space station (Salyut then later Mir & with others the ISS) up,

4) US public enterprise landed the first men on our Moon, launched and still runs the first re-usable spacecraft – ie. the space shuttle (& there’s also Russia’s ‘Buran’ equivalent),

5) , has sent robot spaceprobes to Neptune and beyond, incl.

i) fly-past’s all the classical planets – Mercury, Venus (many incl. Russia’s ‘Venera’ Landers), Mars (numerous orbiters and fly-by’s plus landesr & rovers), Jupiter (both Pioneers , Voyagers & Galileo), Saturn (pioneers Voyagers & Cassini), Uranus & Neptune. (Voyager II)

ii) has landed robot probes & rovers on Mars, Venus, Titan, our Moon & asteroid (catalogue numbers) Eros. (NEAR-Shoemaker mission)

&

6) still launches satelites and people into space. (Incl. paying tourists.)

versus Private enterprise :

1) just a couple of sub-orbital flights a few brief years ago …

Good on Burt Rutan & all but I think Public -government funded – space exploration is, thus far, a very clear winner & the track record speaks for itself ..

When private enterprise has achieved points 2 to 4 above then (& only then) can they really talk!

Public enterporise – Communist even not just socialist – launched the first satellite 50 years ago, put the first men & women into orbit, landed the first men on the moon, put the first space station up, launcged and stillruns the first re-usable spacecraft -ie. the space shuttle & Russia’s ‘Buran’ equivalent, still launches satelites and people into space, has sent spaceprobes toNe[tuen and beyond, has landed robot probes & rovers on Mars, Venus, Titan, our Moon & asteroid (catalogue numbers)Eros.

Vs Private enterprise – a couple of sub-orbital flights a few brief years ago …

Good on Burt Rutan & all but I think Public – Government – enterprise has “the right stuff” whereas profiteering “free” enterprise yet at least has still got a very, very looo-ooong way to go …

The bloke I’d like to see run NASA (& his Mars programmre) tho’?

Robert Zubrin.

Helioprogenus thanks for your post of 06 Oct 2007 at 2:41 pm I concur .. If only we (or people who represent our views) got to run things eh.. ?

If you’d consulted the Library of Congress and read his remarks, they state:
…
I wished to spend a few minutes talking about the bill overall. I think even though the chairwoman and ranking member have done a great job with the bill in terms of priorities, I am concerned at the overall spending level, and I think the administration probably will be too. Inflation, last year, was less than 3 percent. In title I, the Commerce portion of the bill, it grows by 13.88 percent, which is 4 1/2 times the rate of inflation. In title II, the Justice portion, it grows 6.1 percent, which is over two times the rate of inflation. In title III of the bill, in the Science portion, it grows by 8.1 percent over last year’s actual appropriation, which is almost three times what the rate of inflation was.
…

So, please don’t complain about your taxes when the Democrat party wins the Presidency and increases your tax burden to pay for NASA.

How I wonder what would have happened in the world had Heinlein been right and space exploration was a commercial venture instead of controlled by the government.

That’s how we got to the Moon in the first place though yep?

But yes, Mena is dead right. In fact I really do believe that the one sure way to line up extra funding is to chant the ‘China will get there first’ mantra until sufficient numbers of ‘America First’ types take it on board. Sure it’s slack-jawed. Sure it’d be downwardly dumbing, pandering to the sensibilities? of nationalist knuckle draggers, but we’re the nerds right? What do we care if we have to manipulate the droolers into action? Once this critical mass is achieved it’ll be “Why aren’t we there (Moon, Mars) already”? Result!

As a spin-off, there’ll be less funding for ‘killing people from somewhere hot’.

Bob

The following are quotes from an AP story on the funding bill:

“The funding was added to a $56 billion measure funding science programs and the departments of Commerce and Justice for the fiscal year that began Monday. . . . The White House had already vowed to veto the underlying spending bill because it exceeded his budget request for the agencies covered under the legislation, one of 12 spending bills funding the agency budgets that Congress passes each year. . . The bill already contained $17.5 billion for NASA, a 7 percent increase over 2007 funding. . . . The underlying measure is popular with lawmakers in both parties for funding anti-crime programs, including restoring almost $1.5 billion that Bush sought to cut from popular grant programs for state and local police. . . . Bush wanted to virtually eliminate funding for Community Oriented Policing Services grants that pay for police salaries, overtime and new equipment.”

NASA is only part of the story. If Bush Vetos the bill, then he upsets the pro-science voters, and the law-and-order voters, and their reps in Congress on both sides of the aisle. This looks like the beginnings of a power struggle. The House and Senate are no longer rubber stamps for Dubya–and they were: Six years in office before he ever Vetoed a bill. Now it seems some of our elected reps don’t want to march lockstep off to Valhalla with their fearless leader.