Soyuz vs. Space Shuttle

Anonymous Coward writes: "In the recent article on Slashdot about the sale of one used Soyuz space capsule, there was at least one comment along the lines that it was sad that cash-strapped Russia is selling off its spacecraft for "playhouses." The Soyuz is not reusable, therefore it is irrelevent that a used one be sold. The cost to build and launch a Soyuz is cheaper than a Shuttle launch. It is also safer. The Russians don't have to worry nearly as much about the weather at their landing sites as NASA does. One added benefit of Soyuz is that as the Russians keep building new ones, they perfect the manufacturing process. What would it take to build a new shuttle? We definitely don't have the experience manufacturing spacecraft that the Russians have. If, God forbid, we were to lose another shuttle, we would be left with only three and no plans to replace them. I have always leaned toward the "keep it simple, stupid" attitude. While the shuttle is really cool looking, especially when it lands, I feel it is over-designed and the Spaceplane is just a bigger step in the wrong direction. Maybe the shuttle should exist in addition to a simpler non-reusable capsule and be used only for a small percent of manned space missions. I think this would be an interesting discussion for us nerds, and I'm sure that there are NASA nerds who read Slashdot."