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Debunking the Trillion-Dollar Space Myth
jfoust writes "When the President and NASA announced the agency's new space initiative, including sending humans back to the Moon and on to Mars, many news reports claimed that the plan could cost as much as $1 trillion. According to this Space Review article, that trillion-dollar price tag is a myth: it was based on erroneous data and analysis, in large part by a single Associated Press reporter, and propagated by many other reporters too busy -- or too lazy -- to check on the facts. Could this kill the plan before it has a chance to start?"
Oh, I'm a Republican
I got a small schling
I like to bomb niggahs
and make a lot o' bling
I got a bunch o' friends
in high up places
They helps me get dem
government graces.
You think I'm smart
I just know who's who
I couldn't run a fruit stand
without the red white & blue
I fancy myself
A brilliant tactician
But neither me nor m'buddies
Could even pass basic trainin'
See, I'm above all that
A fightin' and shootin'
I just say "Sic em!"
Then run the other direction
Don't need no history
Don't need no schoolin'
I got my ideology
To keep me a shootin'
If I get caught screwin'
Or tellin' wicked lies
"Hypocrisy!" I holler
And that justifies the crimes
Liberals! Faggots!
Commies and queers!
Socialist hippies
Full o' pussy tears!
I'll drop some crap
about Jesus the Christ
You'll buy it all
and vote for me twice
'Fact, Jesus is comin'!
Real soon, now!
So we gotta prop up Israel
That ol' sacred cow
Propaganda's m'friend
But I calls it "fact"
Even though I don't read
'Cept for Chick tracts
Facts? No! Don't need em here!
We're conservatives! We work on FEAR!
Don't like what we say?
Well FUCK YOU, bud!
We'll shove it down yer throat
and tell ya it's good!
personally, I eat a trillion dollars for breakfast each morning. If only I could bring myself to go hungry for just one morning...
perl -e '$_="\007/4`\cp%2,".chr(127);s/./"\"\\c$&\""/gees
What the hell is it with you Americans that makes you bend all over backwards to take it up in the ass from the jews? Even us in the UK are getting fed up with the troublesome 21st Century Apartheid South Africa in the Middle East.
Don't you realize how much this will hurt you? The boneheaded support of Israel was the reason for 9/11, the boneheaded support of Israel is the reason why the muslim world hates you, the boneheaded support of Israel is the reason why you will eventually get hit by a worse terrorist strike than 9/11. Why the hell do you keep it up?
I know, I know, I hate those f***ers who do that FP s**t. But I had to do it.
Not only did you fucking fail it, you also god modded down trying to explain yourself! YOU DOUBLE-FUCKING FAIL IT DOUCHEBAG!
3,000 people, mostly children will starve to death this year in the US. Do we really need to go to Mars right now? Can't it wait a few years til things are running smoothly down here?
I'm all for boosting our space program, but I think it's a luxary at this point in our history, not a necessity.
They lied to us through "facts" [note the quotes].
Simply astounding..... Next you'll tell me Linux isn't a complete operating system, Germany wasn't annexed in the 60s and Bush is a war criminal!
I mean... shit I need some sleep...
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
A none-too-complimentary view of "Bias" can be found at http://www.fair.org/articles/bias-op-ed.html.
Jayson Blair? The reporter who got sacked for making up news? The one that gave the NYT a credibility problem that it still hasn't fully overcome? If anything, he would be a data point in favor of the idea that the media has some interest in reporting the news in a factual manner.
Who released this study? How substantiative was it? Did it get any peer review? Maybe, just maybe, the study didn't get much play because there are more important things than acting as a megaphone for some right-wing think tank with bad science. I can't pass judgment on a study I haven't seen, but you haven't provided compelling evidence that it deserved to get attention.
It may also be that the major news outlets are giving us the news we're interested: The war in Iraq, not global warming. Global warming hasn't been in the headlines much since the furor over the Kyoto Treaty died down. Finally, whether you side with the pro-war or the anti-war side, it's pointless to call all the Iraqi guerillas attacking an invading army on their home soil "terrorists." They have their own political agenda, and they are using force to move it forward, just like we are.
Let's reserve the term "terrorists" for those who target non-combatants.
Finally, you can't think of the number of terrorists as a zero sum game. We can't say, "Okay, there are 100,000 terrorists inside Iraq, so if we kill 60,000 terrorists, we've reduced the threat by sixty percent." More terrorists are created and eliminated by political maneuvers than the U.S. could ever hope to take out with bullets and missile strikes.
Just look at the recent killing of Shiek Ahmed Yassin--a Hamas leader--by Israel. Did he coordinate suicide bombings? Probably. Did he deserve to die? Probably. Can Israel scratch one terrorist off the scorecard? Nope. The public reaction to the killing will probably increase the number and willpower of the Palestinian militants.
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
Sooo two trillion then?
When everything is said and done, it will likely end up being much more than people can project now. This is the government yes? And a long term project?
Do you think eisenhower would have/could have had the feds take on the Interstate project if they knew how much it costs today to build and maintain them?
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.