Comments on: Sharpening budget knives

By: David Davenport

David Davenport — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:45:55 +0000

I don’t think the odds of both Shuttle and ESAS surviving are that good. The question I have is to what extent can NASA choose which limb(s) to lose?

Shuttle survives, of course.

By: David Davenport

David Davenport — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:43:05 +0000

I thought the space-libretarian frauds would do damage to NASA by making empty promises like Rutan and his little toy.

Can you explain that statement?

By: Rand Simberg

Rand Simberg — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 02:59:27 +0000

It raises the question of who exactly does call Bush “Chimpy McHalliburton” and why. A search in Google News for the word “chimpy” produces an interesting result (as of this moment): Two anti-Bush blog entries, five pro-Bush blog entries, one pro-Bush newspaper editorial, and one irrelevant item about real chimpanzees.

Greg, I’m happy for you that you have nothing better to do than google satirical references to the equivalent nonsense that sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome spout, even though it doesn’t exactly match your Google search. I wonder if the Dean of Mathematics at UC Davis would approve of this expenditure of your time.

Not that I’d bother to notify him of it. I, in fact, have better uses of my time.

By: Rand Simberg

Rand Simberg — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 02:54:23 +0000

Rand, it has little to do with space policy

The why do you waste people’s bandwidth with your nonsense at Jeff’s site?

By: Donald F. Robertson

Donald F. Robertson — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 00:46:12 +0000

Billg, I agree with both your examples and your conclusions in the above two messages, but “controlled conflict,” please. No holds barred conflict is antithetical to democracy. That is a lesson that Democrats, and particularly Republicans, would do well to recall.

— Donald

By: billg

billg — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 00:32:38 +0000

>>Childish insults against presidents have been a regular part of American democracy at least since Thomas Jefferson.

It goes all the way to Washington, Greg, who was the target of some pretty nasty venom from both the press and members of his own Federalist party and cabinet.

You’re right, of course, conflict, not consensus, is the essence of democracy.

By: billg

billg — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 00:27:56 +0000

Rand, it has little to do with space policy, but I’m referring to people who, as I said, want to use the police power of government to compel other people to behave in ways that accord with their own moral and religious notions. To me, that’s the essence of intolerance. Given your own professed libertarian leanings, I’d think you’d agree.

Here are a few examples: criminalizing abortion (no one who believes abortions are acceptable is trying to force women to abort against their will, but many on the other side feel they are doing God’s work by trying to force women not to abort); seeking to use public money to indoctrinate public school students, against their and their parent’s will, in religious dogma such a creationism and intelligent design; and sending their white children to private Christian academies to avoid integrated schools (I don’t doubt the sincere and non-racist motivation of most parents who use these schools, but, at least where I come from, the impetus for their initial creation in the 1970’s was to avoid integrated schools and to pass their racist legacy to their children.

Those aren’t mindless kneejerk reactions. They’re my considered opinion based on a lifetime’s worth of paying attention. People labeled as liberal often play the same game, but they aren’t in power these days.

And, no, you didn’t accuse me of hating America. Others here did, apparently because i said I didn’t like this particular President. If disliking a President makes you an America hater, then what were conservatives during the Clinton years?

By: Paul Dietz

Paul Dietz — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:34:49 +0000

publius: how do you expect Griffin to do that? NASA doesn’t operate the GOES satellites. Maybe you want him to shoot them down?

By: publius

publius — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:16:12 +0000

I think Griffin ought to shut down GOES weathersats if they try to attack NASA funds. If they won’t fund space they don’t deserve its benefits. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin must use Russian engines in Sea Launch and Atlas V engines–and we have neglected HLLV development under the idiots Goldin and O’Keefe thanks to the EELV hucksters.

We spend more in a few weeks in Iraq than we do on NASA’s yearly budget–and they go after NASA.

I thought the space-libretarian frauds would do damage to NASA by making empty promises like Rutan and his little toy.

Here is to hoping those fiscal conservatives join Proxmire in the grave.

By: Greg Kuperberg

Greg Kuperberg — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:03:29 +0000

Donald: I agree with you that the VSE is politically viable, up to a point. I see nothing technically sensible about the Bush VSE, or the O’Keefe VSE, or the Steidle VSE. All three versions seem either ignorant or evasive at the technical level. I really don’t know what technical strengths you have in mind.