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Why NASA's Budget "Victory" Is Anything But
StartsWithABang (3485481) writes 'Earlier this week, attempts to cut NASA's budget were defeated, and it looks like the largest space agency in the world will actually be getting nearly a 2% budget increase overall. While common news outlets are touting this as a great budget victory, the reality is that this is shaping up to be just another year of pathetic funding levels, putting our greatest dreams of exploring and understanding the Universe on hold. A sobering read for anyone who hasn't realized what we could be doing.'
And you can listen to your favorite radio station only because the Federal Communications Commission brings organization and coherence to our vast telecommunications system.
Time standards that were adequate to their day were around before NIST. NIST has done an awful lot of bad things, too. (Or tried to... remember the Clipper Chip?... oh, and there was that recent thing about encryption standards...)
AM and FM radio haven't been a significant part of our actual "telecommunication system" since maybe 1960. Other than the occasional storm warning.
Like 17 million other Americans, you have asthma. But as you get out of bed you notice that you are breathing freely this morning. This is thanks in part to government clean air laws that reduce the air pollution that would otherwise greatly worsen your condition.
Clean air laws DID clean up our air. Great. But now they ARE much cleaner than before, yet EPA tries to tell us there are "increasing health problems" due to the ever-cleaner air. (That is, of course, because EPA is a huge government bureaucracy that is really only interested in making itself bigger, and really doesn't give a damn about your health. But they pretend well.)
And by the way: the EPA was instrumental in getting Primatene Mist banned last year because it used CFCs as a propellant. There is, as yet, no adequate substitute on the market. There is something called "Asthmanefrin" which is a sorry substitute, and which uses an expensive electric atomizer that is rather prone to clogging when it is needed most.
Because Primatene Mist was the ONLY effective, portable, affordable over-the-counter medicine that could stop asthma in its tracks, the government has probably killed more asthmatics now than it has saved. It damned near killed ME. So pardon me if I don't buy your glowing recommendation here.
You flip the switch on the coffee maker. There is no short in the outlet or in the electrical line and there is no resulting fire in your house. Why? Because when your house was being built, the electrical system had to be inspected to make sure it was properly installed as a service provided by your local government. And it was installed by an electrician who was licensed by your state government to ensure his competence and your safety.
I am pretty sure GP was referring to the Federal government. The Feds don't inspect your electrical system. That's state and sometimes just local.
Your greatest dreams are in the hands of the government everyday.
Bullshit. The government has done more in my lifetime in the way of killing my dreams than any other single entity.