Spin by NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams.

New Post (154) : Spin by NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams.

News item : Quote (Open)
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Title : US leaves space for Russia

By the end of this year, NASA will no longer be able to send humans into space.
According to Barack Obama’s plan, responsibility will go to private companies, which are expected to come up with cheaper ways to ferry astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
“They know they have a big step to take if they are going to put humans into space… They have a lot of work to do,” says NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams.
No one can say for sure when the private American companies will come up with a new spaceship.
For years to come, it will be the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which is going to be the only means for people to reach the International Space Station, which is perfectly fine with the leaders of Russia and the US, but does not sit well with many Americans.
“How could this happen? We could make it to the Moon, there was wonderful equipment, and now we are reduced to being passengers on a Russian ship. That’s a wounded pride thing,” says Marianne Dyson, an author and former NASA flight controller.
Wounded pride also revealed itself in comments by some American lawmakers, astronauts, scientists and former NASA officials.
"We will be largely dependent on the Russians, and that is a terrible place for the United States to be," former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told the Washington Post.
"For the 'world's greatest space-faring nation', this is hard to accept", says John Glenn, the first American to be sent into Earth orbit.
Comedians in the US did not miss out on poking fun at Americans’ sense of pride.
“With the end of manned space flights, America has to ride on the hump in the back seat while the Russians take the wheel to space,” said Stephen Colbert.
But those in NASA who now actually work with the Russians, like astronaut Sunita Williams, have different sentiments.
“I couldn’t imagine when I was going walking on the Red Square or going to a Russian company and working hand in hand with Russian colleagues. We are not competing but we are working together. It’s time for joint collaboration and learning from one another. That’s just as healthy as the competition that we had in the past,” says Williams.
But it is not the first time Americans have had to rely on the Russians to take their crew to space.
They depended upon Russian rockets during a two-year grounding of US spacecraft after the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Columbia exploded during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and all seven crew members died.
Shuttle’s track record includes another tragedy: in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight.
The Russian Soyuz proved to be the safest way to deliver people to space and now, with the shuttle retiring, it will be the only way.
“We are no longer in a space race. What was once a global competition has become a global collaboration,” said President Barack Obama.
The leaders of both Russia and the US are saying that space is no longer a place for competition, it is a platform for co-operation, but the question remains: is everyone in the US ready to fully accept it?

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News item : Quote (Close).

In this instance, the author has held back his comment ! With all regard to his intelligent set of readers who are quite capable of arriving at their own conclusions.

Charlie Brown

Hop, Lampedusa & Jump.

New post (153) : Hop, Lampedusa & Jump.

Lampedusa ?

Lampedusa (Italian: Isola di Lampedusa, Sicilian: Isula di Lampidusa) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, part of the Province of Agrigento, in the region of Sicily, Italy; it is the largest of the Pelagie Islands. Tunisia is the closest shore to Lampedusa. It is situated 205 kilometres (127 mi) from Sicily and 113 kilometres (70 mi) from Tunisia, and is the southernmost point in Italy. Its population of approximately 6,000 subsists on fishing, agriculture and tourism.

It has lately been known primarily for its role as an entry point to Europe for impoverished illegal immigrants from Africa.

Hop, Skip & Jump.

And why are they, "the impoverished illegal immigrants from Africa" --- “hopping, Lampedusaing & jumping” (to Europe) ?

Because some "democratic" countries have been individually & collectively stealing their mined natural resources for --- FAR TOO LONG !

The temptation to learn about democracy directly, first-hand from the teachers n preachers of democracy........must have been too hard to resist.

So here they are.............the eager Afro-Arab students (of democracy).
Just where are those high brow European teachers n preachers (of democracy) now ?

Political seers claim:
The erstwhile colonizers are now seeing themselves being colonized.
The trickle will turn into a tidal wave...and then a tsunami.

Charlie Brown

Reject --- the trashing of multiculturalism.

New Post (152) : Reject --- the trashing of multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism is a body of thought in political philosophy about the proper way to respond to cultural and religious diversity.

Mere toleration of group differences --- falls woefully short of treating members of minority groups as equal citizens.

Recognition and positive accommodation of group differences are required through --- “group-differentiated rights”.

Some group-differentiated rights are held by individual members of minority groups, as in the case of individuals who are granted exemptions from generally applicable laws in virtue of their religious beliefs or individuals who seek language accommodations in schools or in voting.

Other group-differentiated rights are held by the group qua group rather by its members severally. Such rights are properly called group rights, as in the case of indigenous groups and minority nations, who claim the right of self-determination.

Multiculturalism ought to be celebrated ! (…NOT trashed).

Trash the manipulative trashy politicians who are telling you otherwise.

Do not just open the doors. Open the hearts and minds too...........(THAT's where WE have failed).

Question/S: What do you do with a new kid who joins your class at school ? Bully him or welcome him ? What does your response to that question say about you ? What if that kid was destined to go on to become your "democratic" country's President or Prime Minister or Chancellor (whatever) ? Ha ha ha...........

Charlie Brown

Let vegetable patches crop up in all city parks.

New Post (151) : Let vegetable patches crop up in all city parks.

1. Vegetables can be just as attractive as garden plants.
Newly planted raised beds must be installed in parks all across town as part of a drive to encourage a taste of the good life.
Next to the pedestrian and jogger and cycle path, the edible gardens will add to the more formal flower displays and natural landscaping.
As part of a pledge to encourage more people to grow their own vegetables and to demonstrate how easy it is to turn a small patch of land into an opportunity to grow and eat home-grown fruit and vegetables.
Create edible garden patches to show how easy it can be to grow vegetables, even in the city center.
Look at all other city parks and work with park groups and communities to see if this vegetable patch idea can be extended more widely to other areas.

Allow micro-mini-farms to creep BACK in to the city.

I think it's a good idea, especially if School Children get involved and “plant and tend” these patches.
[ …I would not trust adults with this. (or with any-thing). An adult will give you 101 reasons why just about anything should NOT and can NOT be done. ]

2. The Japanese run a fairly successful program called---FARM CAMPUS.
You may want to learn more about the idea. Research it.

Charlie Brown

Bringing up a generation of morons.

New Post (150) : Bringing up a generation of morons.

What do you have available to “C” on TV :

C ricket (talking) stars
C ine stars
C hef (cookery) stars
C orrupt political & business stars
C at fighting stars (on reality shows)
C ompeting singing & dancing stars
C rime busting stars
C omedy wannabe stars
C ircus stars
C ommentator (know it all post facto) stars
C asino (gaming) stars
C aring (part time) philanthropic stars
C arnage (justifying & rationalizing) stars

So many stars ! My eyes are squinting from their "C"ombined glare.

As an aside:
You’d be hard pressed to find even one program on PRIME TIME on :
“cSCIENCE & cTECHNOLOGY”.

No further "C"omment.

Charlie Brown

Virtuality is our new reality !

New Post (149) : Virtuality is our new reality !

In a manner of speaking……we……..

“Are selling fictional forests for big real money,

even while real farmland can’t find even a virtual Cent”.

I am told this game goes by the name of “Investment banking”.

These are exciting /unprecedented /perilous times.

Fable has it that a con artist sold the Taj Mahal many times over to several gullible Mr.Richie-Riches. But, a “real” Taj Mahal is what he sold to them. For all to see.

The new era con men are selling non-Existent assets. With nothing more than the hot air of ambiguous inflated promises of worth.
Resurrected with HUGE bail out funds they are shamelessly, back at the game again.

Ignorance+greed is the flip side of this coin.
Pity for the buyer is a wasted emotion.

It takes "2 to Tango".

Before the "other" currency wars "scam" hots up-------put your surplus money in GOLD. Rush...........

***Meanwhile…
An obese gen-Next fed on a staple diet of crispy fries is playing ice hockey on their computer screens without having learnt to skate in real life. It’s bizarre !

Virtuality is here to stay.

Charlie Brown

Go Go Goa !

New Post (148) : Go Go Goa !

Holidaying in Goa…………….

It’s as easy as this:

1 of 4 steps
to book hotel rooms
in Go Go Goa.

http://www.goahotelsindia.com/

http://www.goahotelsindia.com/text/Calangutebeach.htm

http://www.goahotelsindia.com/text/Peninsula%20Beach.htm

http://www.goahotelsindia.com/text/bookingform.html

That’s all.

Go Go Goa !

Charlie Brown