You got that right. As much disrespect as I had for Bush 43, he didn't stick it to NASA. On that subject, while it all worked out OK, the Russian Pioneer spacecraft overshot the space station, hours ago. What happens , starting in 2011, if the Russians have a serious problem like we have had with a couple of shuttles, one blowing up at launch and another disintegrating on re-entry ? In each case the US manned flight program was shut down for about a year. If the Russians shut down for a year how will humans get to the station ? It has taken about 28 years to build the station. How can anyone even think about cutting back on manned space programs ? The WH policy is irresponsible beyond belief. Now because of President Clueless we are going to become dependent on the likes of Putin to as much as get to the station. This is a damned outrage. And it is damned stupid, to boot. I'd be all for gutting Fannie and Freddie, but as you know, do that, and we all get a serious set of problems. Any bright ideas about how to dismantle F & F and not send the finance markets into a tailspin ? I mean, who is in he mood for a repeat of September 2008 ? Looks like we are stuck with an albatross. Billy ===================================================== In a message dated 7/4/2010 5:28:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Our government is too busy pumping billions into Freddie and Fannie, GM, Chrysler, TARP, that they have to scale down NASA (and fire more people in Red states Texas and Alabama) and devote money to more political agendas like health care and cap and tax. David If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.*--**Mark Twain* On 7/4/2010 7:15 PM, [email protected] wrote: > China is also unburdened by the myth ( falsehood ) that government is > an impediment > to technological innovation. BR > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > China investing billions to become a superpower in science > > By John Pomfret, *Washington Post* | July 4, 2010 > > SHENZHEN, China — Last year, Zhao Bowen was part of a team that > cracked the genetic code of the cucumber. These days, he is > investigating the genetic basis for human IQ. > > Zhao is 17. > > Centuries after it led the world in technological prowess — think > gunpowder, irrigation, and the printed word — China has barged back > into the ranks of the great powers in science. With the brashness of a > teenager, China’s scientists and inventors are driving a resurgence in > potentially world-changing research. > > Unburdened by social and legal constraints common in the West, China’s > trailblazing scientists are also pushing the limits of ethics as they > create a new — and to many, worrisome — Wild West in the Far East. > > A decade ago, no one considered China a scientific competitor. Its > best and brightest agreed and fled China in a massive brain drain to > university research labs at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. But over the > past five years, Western-educated scientists and gutsy entrepreneurs > have conducted a rearguard action, battling China’s hidebound > bureaucracy to establish research institutes and companies. Those have > lured home scores of Western-trained Chinese researchers dedicated to > transforming the People’s Republic of China into a scientific superpower. > > “They have grown so fast and so suddenly that people are still > skeptical,’’ said Rasmus Nielsen, a geneticist at the University of > California Berkeley who collaborates with Chinese counterparts. “But > we should get used to it. There is competition from China now, and > it’s really quite drastic how things have changed.’’ > > China has invested billions in improving its scientific standing. > Almost every Chinese ministry has some sort of program to win a > technological edge in everything from missiles to medicine. Beijing’s > minister of science and technology, Wan Gang, will visit the United > States this month and is expected to showcase some of China’s > successes. In May, for example, a supercomputer produced in China was > ranked as the world’s second-fastest machine at an international > conference in Germany. China is now in fourth place, tied with > Germany, with the most supercomputers. China has jumped to second > place — up from 14th in 1995 — behind the United States in the number > of research articles published in scientific and technical journals > worldwide. > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
