George W. Bush articulated a visionary space policy but then has refused to fund it adequately. John McCain insists on staying the course, spending billions on NASA and yet not really getting anything worthwhile for all that money.
Obama, however, has a plan. Titusville 08/01/08:
At the end of this diary, I shall argue that this plan should include Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon.
The Senate continues debate on whether to grant amnesty to telecoms that turned over Americans phone records to the nation's spooks and helped them spy on Americans' international phone and email conversations. But Findlaw columnist and Cardozo law school professor Anthony Sebok suggests that freeing the telecoms without giving some sort of compensation to those suing the companies would amount to an unconstitutional taking.
This is a quick drive-by diary however it adds what I believe can be a critical talking point to DELAY passing the bill until this aspect is fully explored. I am adding this argument to my fax messages being sent to Washington.
Prior to dropping out, Clinton supporters pointed to Florida's 27 electoral votes as an argument in favor of her nomination even if those arguments and counter-arguments involved enough spinning (by both sides) to make a Maytag salesperson dizzy.
During his speech Thursday at the Washington Space Business Roundtable, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) also spent some time talking about the presidential election and the relevance of space policy to the campaign. He is convinced that space will be critical to winning Florida, and thus the White House. "I am banking on the fact that I believe that Florida is going to be critical again in this presidential election," he said. "And therefore I am going to take this opportunity to educate the two presidential candidates [Obama and Clinton] that if they want to win Florida, this [space policy] is mightily important."
Last week, Chris Bowers posted a thought provoking piece suggesting we may be entering a "once in a generation" progressive window. He later writes this shall be an opportunity to place a lasting progressive stamp on American policy, one we can either seize or squander.
Bowers will also participate on a Netroots Nation panel arranged by Andrew Hoppin: Progressive NASA & Space Policy Under a New Administration. I know Andrew is eager to promote progressive discussion about the future of space exploration and to craft a progressive vision for future American space policy.
Below I will suggest that these discussions can be advanced by adopting Carl Sagan, Gerard O' Neill & Werner von Braun as symbolic representatives of three divergent narratives which offer very different frames concerning space exploration. Examining these conflicting narratives will also offer useful structure for framing concrete policy alternatives.
Please join us at an organizing meeting for supporters of Barack Obama in the aerospace community on Saturday May 31st during the International Space Development Conference.
Daily Kos resident NewSpace blogger FerrisValyn confirms he shall attend. My schedule does not permit me to attend ISDC however there is a slim chance I will head to Washington for Saturday & Sunday only.
Perhaps Obama spoke early and conceded Indiana too soon. Or maybe he is laying a trap. What if Obama's campaign KNOW they might win but leak information that they feel they will come short?
What does Hillary Clinton do now? How long does she wait before coming out to speak, tonight.
Except for the true political junkies, who will continue to watch the coverage on television? With the late night counting of a close race, many viewers will turn off the TV and Hillary loses free coverage if she waits.
But if Clinton does talk now, before Indiana is settled, what does she say? If she comes out too soon, she risks much if her words are poorly chosen.
UPDATE: Lake County is DELAYED! How can she speak to her supporters before we know the results?
When I was growing up, my family lived in a suburban raised ranch. The lower level was used as a family room, TV room & play area & my parents had their bookshelves there. One set of books that captured my young imagination was The Story of Civilization by Will & Ariel Durant, a series that purports to tell the history of humanity.
I never read more than bits & pieces, being more intrigued by the question: "What volume will come next?" So I ask: What title should we give to a 12th or 13th book in this series?
I. Our Oriental Heritage (1935)
II. The Life of Greece (1939)
III. Caesar and Christ (1944)
IV. The Age of Faith (1950)
V. The Renaissance (1953)
VI. The Reformation (1957)
VII. The Age of Reason Begins (1961)
VIII The Age of Louis XIV (1963)
IX. The Age of Voltaire (1965)
X. Rousseau and Revolution (1967)
XI. The Age of Napoleon (1975)
In today's diary I propose "The Age of Contact" as a title.
VIERA - Florida voters could hold the key to the future of NASA's plans for human spaceflight and, with it, the fate of the Kennedy Space Center, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson told Brevard County commissioners and nervous space-industry officials and workers Monday.
"The next president is going to decide a lot [about the space program]," Nelson said during a presentation to a daylong county space workshop. "And East-Central Florida has an opportunity to influence the next president because, at the end of the day, Florida is going to be important this November."
May the President of the United States lawfully retaliate against Iran if it attacks Israel (or Saudi Arabia for that matter) without one of:
(a) Congressional authorization;
(b) Treaty ratified by Senate explicitly authorizing same; or
(c) Other ideas?
What exactly was Hillary Clinton proposing, yesterday? An extension of the inherent powers of the President as well as a radical extension of the US nuclear umbrella?
Can POTUS unilaterally take us into war (NUCLEAR WAR!) to retaliate for an attack on another nation absent Congressional authorization? Or not?
Pennsylvania will send 187 Democratic delegates to the party’s national convention in Denver this August, and most of them — 103 to be exact — will be allocated according to the votes the candidates receive in each of the state’s 19 congressional districts.
And a CQ Politics analysis of the political circumstances in Pennsylvania’s congressional districts, detailed below, projects an edge to Clinton — but by just 53 district-level delegates to 50 for Obama under the Democratic Party’s proportional distribution rules.
Add in 29 super-delegates and that leaves 55 delegates based on statewide popular vote. Lets divide those 55 delegates 60 - 40 in favor of Clinton, a terrible result for Obama that equals 33 for Clinton and 22 for Obama.
Net? 86 for C and 72 for O and at this pace, she can't possibly catch up AND 72/158 = 45.5%
And if Obama wins 45.5% of the ~888 remaining delegates (pledged and supers)he crosses the 2024 finish line.
In imitation thereof, I wish to propose a contest in honor of Sinbad and the Bosnia sniper fire kerfluffle and as a shout out to today's lenzkrafterz diary.
Via comments, simply complete this sentence:
You Might be a Comedian If . . .
The comment with the most mojo wins and that commenter can honestly claim to be a genuine comedian. Just like Sinbad.
This is NOT a candidate diary. I have strong opinions on the candidate but will save those for the comments section.
Will national space policy be strategically important to the Democratic Presidential nominee? Will national space policy be an important area of concern for our 44th President?
I answer "Yes" to both questions even though I would also admit and assert that there other issues that have greater significance. Nevertheless, Presidents must address EVERY issue they face and at times seemingly "small" issues can have large consequences. Space policy fits this description, IMHO has potential to offer HUGE headaches for our next POTUS.
If you are a Democrat and if you care at all about space, I encourage you to join Space Democrats. Continue reading for my answers to why we need to address space policy NOW and why space policy cannot be ignored or postponed.
Before Hillary Clinton was declared the winner in Texas, most American voters had read, seen, or heard about her 3:00 a.m. telephone commercial. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 43% had seen at least part of the commercial which was played incessantly on news networks and other outlets for days. Another 16% had heard something about it and the overwhelming majority (81%) correctly identified Hillary Clinton as the candidate whose campaign ran the commercial.
The commercial was credited as one factor enabling Clinton to turn her campaign around in Texas last week. But, 42% of all voters said the person they’d most want to answer the phone was John McCain. Among all voters, 25% picked Clinton and another 25% named Obama as the person they’d want in the White House when a foreign policy crisis call arrived.
At lessig08.org, you can watch a 10 minute video explaining the launching of a Change Congress movement, and the decision I am trying to make about whether to run for Congress. That decision will be made soon. I've been spurred to consider it seriously by the enormous support of many at draftlessig.org and facebook (and by the cool swag at zazzle). Those three I had nothing to do with. But this I do.
UPDATE: It appears he lives in Tom Lantos district
On space exploration, the energy industry and the Latino vote, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dispelled any impression Friday that they are policy twins inside different outer shells.
Concerning space exploration:
"I intend to pursue an ambitious agenda in both space exploration and earth sciences," Clinton said. "I want to support the next generation of spacecraft for a robust human spaceflight program."
Obama agreed that NASA, which employs thousands of Houston-area voters who work at or with the Johnson Space Center, should be a tool for inspiring the nation.
But, he said, the next president needs to have "a practical sense of what investments deliver the most scientific and technological spinoffs — and not just assume that human space exploration, actually sending bodies into space, is always the best investment."
IMHO, this is an ideal subject for a Netroots Nation track.
WASHINGTON - Taking a page from Hollywood science fiction, the Pentagon said Thursday it will try to shoot down a dying, bus-size U.S. spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel on a collision course with the Earth.
What is odd and arcane is that the Navy will use a system first proposed by a Doobie Brothers guitarist. And there is some real Pretzel Logic at work here, as well.
