Dangerous neighborhood

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON – Space shuttle Atlantis is now in a rough orbital neighborhood — a place littered with thousands of pieces of space junk zipping around the Earth at nearly 20,000 mph. There are more pieces of shattered satellites and used-up rockets in this region than astronauts have ever encountered. As soon as the job is complete, the shuttle will scamper to safety - all those tiny projectiles raise the constant threat of a potentially fatal collision. NASA now puts the risk for a catastrophic collision with junk during the mission at 1 in 229 — greater than typical flights to the space station but lower than the agency's initial estimates. The Air Force is tracking more than 19,000 objects in all sorts of orbits — most of it junk. The dirtiest spots are at 525 miles up where a Chinese satellite was destroyed and 490 miles, where an Russian-American satellite collision occurred. And the higher the space junk orbits, the longer it stays aloft because there's even less drag from the ultra-thin atmosphere pulling stuff down. For example, a 4-inch object 490 miles up will stay in orbit for more than a century, Johnson said. Objects between one-tenth of an inch and 4 inches are dangerous enough to cause major and even fatal damage, but cannot be specifically tracked.” So, why are all the green revolution people not saying anything about this? And, we want to travel to Mars? What for? To pollute it? Please.

Bias in Science???

From a Yahoo! News story: “A new review of studies finds 29 percent of cancer research published in high-profile journals had disclosed a conflict of interest. While it's a good thing that the conflicts were disclosed, the review also found conflicts affect the research outcomes. The results, announced today, will be published June 15 in the journal Cancer. The findings add to a mountain of evidence suggesting you should be skeptical of health and medical advice.” Really??? This comes as no surprise – there is so much self-serving stuff out there one cannot keep up with all the posturing and pretense and hypocrisy. Good luck.

Very funny

From a Yahoo! News story: “CARACAS, Venezuela – Prominent Venezuelan nongovernmental organizations warned Thursday that a bill being drafted by lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez could be used to financially strangle groups that criticize the government. Ruling-party lawmakers argue the proposed law is necessary to increase oversight of foreign funding destined for NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), although they've promised to hear concerns from critics before taking up the bill for likely approval in the coming months. A draft of the bill says foreign donations for NGOs would no longer be sent directly to organizations but instead would be deposited in a government-controlled fund. Officials would dole out the money at their discretion.” This is really funny. As the saying goes, “He who has the gold makes the rules,” no? Once the government gets its hands on the money, it will be next to impossible to shake it loose. Who knows?

Scandalous

From a Yahoo! News story: “PRETORIA, South Africa – Jacob Zuma became president of Africa's economic powerhouse Saturday, vowing to work to fulfill the dreams of all South Africans after he overcame corruption and sex scandals to reach the nation's highest office. Zuma, 67, is a former guerrilla fighter and intelligence chief of the African National Congress who has since survived corruption and sex scandals and an internal power struggle within his party. Tens of thousands had broken into spontaneous song when Zuma arrived, beaming, accompanied by his senior wife, Sizakele Khumalo. Zuma's unabashed polygamy has raised questions about which of his three current wives may act as first lady. On Saturday, all three were reported present but only Khumalo accompanied him to the stage.”

There is nothing new here. It just seems like high political office and scandal go together, whether in Russia, France, Pakistan, Japan, the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Afghanistan, China, Germany, Guatemala, Brazil, and even tiny, little Switzerland. The scandals either have to do with money or sex. Always. So, what else is new? Please.

Diplomacy is funny

From a Yahoo! News story: "PRAGUE – Despite deep Russian misgivings, the European Union and six former Soviet republics formally agreed on Thursday to pursue a new partnership meant to draw the eastern nations closer into the EU orbit. The agreement approved by presidents, premiers and their deputies from 33 nations is meant to extend the EU's political and economic ties in exchange for commitments to democracy from beneficiary nations. But already riled by NATO's eastward outreach, Moscow views the so-called "Eastern Partnership" plan with suspicion. Kremlin ally Mikhail Margelov, the chairman of the International Affairs committee in Russia's upper parliament house, said Thursday the Prague meeting was a geopolitically motivated effort by the West to increase its influence over former Soviet republics, Russian news agencies reported.
"This Eastern Partnership is directed against no one, including Russia," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among 17 heads of governments attending, along with four heads of state. Javier Solana, the EU's top diplomat, chided unidentified Russian leaders by saying their comments "have not been very constructive vis a vis the meeting of today." "This is not against Russia," he told reporters.

This, of course, is a bunch of nonsense. The deal is aimed at Russia, plain and simple. Politicians and diplomats can NEVER be honest. That would spell disaster for everybody, no?

Plutonium

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON – NASA is running out of nuclear fuel needed for its deep space exploration. The end of the Cold War's nuclear weapons buildup means that the U.S. space agency does not have enough plutonium for future faraway space probes — except for a few missions already scheduled — according to a new study released Thursday by the National Academy of Sciences. Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can't use solar power because they're too far from the sun. The National Academy report says it would cost the Energy Department at least $150 million to resume making it for the 11 pounds a year that NASA needs for its space probes. Solar power is preferable to plutonium because it is cheaper and has fewer safety concerns, but solar power just doesn't work in the darkest areas of space.” To begin with, I have not the slightest clue why we need to be exploring outer space when we need to explore solutions to serious problems we have here on this planet. Secondly, I really don’t need to be told that solar power does not work in the dark and that it’s cheaper than plutonium. Please. Either way, the woman at left does not seem to care.

SwineFluential

I saw this picture of a guy who looked sort of like a peacock and thought it was funny so now I am sharing it with all those who haven't caught the swine flu yet - 99.999999999999% of the world's population. They are the ones who might find this amusing. Of course, the drug companies absolutely adore the new flu - it means millions of extra dollars in their accounts by next Fall. Does anyone remember Bernie Madoff? Or Governor Spitzer? Or the Russian war against Georgia? This swine flu thing is a blessing for anyone caught up in a scandal. Too bad that by next month it will be a thing of the past. We must wait until next Fall for the next installment. Please.