Artemis II astronauts arrive at Florida launch site for first moon trip in 53 years
NASA is aiming for liftoff as soon as Wednesday.
apnews.com
The Cold War space race, & NASA's Apollo program against the Soviet Union
and multiple successful Apollo moon landings may have helped stare down Soviet aggression. By demonstrating our superlative skill at engineering, and notably, rocketry (ICBMs are rockets)
we may have dissuaded a Soviet gamble to risk a preemptive nuclear first strike / surprise attack.
The Cold War "space race" was expensive, but a bargain compared to the cost of human genocide, the nuclear extinction of humanity.
Fine.
Can't unring the bell. Both the second millennium Cold War, & space race are over. BUT !
It's a new millennium.
Russia / Putin don't need ICBM's for global domination. They're munching off as much as they can swallow, one feast at a time.
Editorial Opinion:
The Cold War is over.
We won.
Returning to the moon is soooo 1960's.
The United States of America is $deeply in $debt: $38,994,707,974,689.oo
That's $trillion with a T, over a third of the way to a quadrillion in $debt.
Thus, it's not merely that we're squandering unwisely when our infrastructure is collapsing around us.
The $money we're squandering belongs to our grandchildren.
If they want to fund space adventures, they'll be free to do so after the U.S. federal debt is paid in full.
For the Trump administration to inflict this upon them is irresponsible.
So what's to be done?
a) Eliminate the U.S. federal debt ceiling.
Deficit hawks may vehemently advocate against deficit spending. And the debt ceiling may have been intended to ameliorate deficits.
It doesn't work.
What the U.S. federal debt ceiling accomplishes is periodic government shutdowns, playing economic chicken with outcome a foregone conclusion. They're fooling no one.
These periodic federal shutdowns punish mostly low level government employees such as TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers.
b) Limit federal budgeting to not exceed the previous year's revenues, excluding sources like Social Security, which should never have been slushed into the general treasury in the first place.
Maintain this standard until the U.S. federal debt is $zero.
edito·ri·al (ĕd′ĭ-tôrē-əl)
n.
1. An article in a publication expressing the opinion of its editors or publishers.
2. A commentary on television or radio expressing the opinion of the station or network.
adj.
1. Of or relating to an editor or editing: an editorial position with a publishing company; an editorial policy prohibiting the use of unnamed sources.
2. Of or resembling an editorial, especially in expressing an opinion: an editorial comment.
ed′i·tori·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
NASA is aiming for liftoff as soon as Wednesday.
Artemis II astronauts arrive at Florida launch site for first moon trip in 53 years
The astronauts set to become the first lunar visitors in more than half a century have arrived at their launch site.
apnews.com
The Cold War space race, & NASA's Apollo program against the Soviet Union
and multiple successful Apollo moon landings may have helped stare down Soviet aggression. By demonstrating our superlative skill at engineering, and notably, rocketry (ICBMs are rockets)
we may have dissuaded a Soviet gamble to risk a preemptive nuclear first strike / surprise attack.
The Cold War "space race" was expensive, but a bargain compared to the cost of human genocide, the nuclear extinction of humanity.
Fine.
Can't unring the bell. Both the second millennium Cold War, & space race are over. BUT !
It's a new millennium.
Russia / Putin don't need ICBM's for global domination. They're munching off as much as they can swallow, one feast at a time.
Editorial Opinion:
The Cold War is over.
We won.
Returning to the moon is soooo 1960's.
The United States of America is $deeply in $debt: $38,994,707,974,689.oo
That's $trillion with a T, over a third of the way to a quadrillion in $debt.
Thus, it's not merely that we're squandering unwisely when our infrastructure is collapsing around us.
The $money we're squandering belongs to our grandchildren.
If they want to fund space adventures, they'll be free to do so after the U.S. federal debt is paid in full.
For the Trump administration to inflict this upon them is irresponsible.
So what's to be done?
a) Eliminate the U.S. federal debt ceiling.
Deficit hawks may vehemently advocate against deficit spending. And the debt ceiling may have been intended to ameliorate deficits.
It doesn't work.
What the U.S. federal debt ceiling accomplishes is periodic government shutdowns, playing economic chicken with outcome a foregone conclusion. They're fooling no one.
These periodic federal shutdowns punish mostly low level government employees such as TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers.
b) Limit federal budgeting to not exceed the previous year's revenues, excluding sources like Social Security, which should never have been slushed into the general treasury in the first place.
Maintain this standard until the U.S. federal debt is $zero.
edito·ri·al (ĕd′ĭ-tôrē-əl)
n.
1. An article in a publication expressing the opinion of its editors or publishers.
2. A commentary on television or radio expressing the opinion of the station or network.
adj.
1. Of or relating to an editor or editing: an editorial position with a publishing company; an editorial policy prohibiting the use of unnamed sources.
2. Of or resembling an editorial, especially in expressing an opinion: an editorial comment.
ed′i·tori·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.