The O.P. mentions "...monopolistic arms of companies such as Verisign."
Okay, look. The word "monopoly" has as its prefix the stem "mono-," from the Greek, meaning "one." That means there can only be ONE "monopoly."
A phrase such as "monopolistic company LIKE Versign..." is absurd on the face of it. If there are other companies LIKE Verisign, then there is no monopoly.
Is it REALLY that hard to understand?
This is an example of how the rising generation is so used to "buzz words" chosen for shock value, etc., and has gone completely away from clarity of speech and writing. What the O.P. means to say, really, is "I don't want to pay the going rate for this service, so I'll call Verisign 'a monopolistic company' because everyone knows 'monopolies' are bad, and that will communicate the 'badness' of 'companies like Verisign.'"
Oddly, the word "rhetoric," also from the Greek (rheteros, "a speech") used to be a positive appellation for the study of good, clear communication of thoughts and ideas. But it has also succumbed to the buzz-word dementia, and now usually means "empty words."
Actually, if Sagan were to come back to life, he'd say: "Hey, never mind that cr*p! You atheists, get over here and huddle up! I've got some REALLY URGENT NEWS for ya...!"
This change to NASA's architecture completely removes the costs & risks associated with developing and operating a second launcher system, saving NASA $19 Billion in development costs, and a further $16 Billion in operational costs over the next 20 years.
$35 Billion in savings? How much is that in napkins?
The POS system at the Firestone dealership where I take my cars for service has some sort of system that is Windows CE based, according to the "floating screensaver logo." The owner tells me they have been promising to "upgrade" it for years, but there it is.
Interestingly, they only went from a dial-up modem to VPN-over-Internet about a year ago for credit transactions on this system.
I just KNOW that every time I post my genetic information up there, some wise-a** leftist is gonna "correct" it to give me more "compassion," "understanding," and "desire to eat foreign cuisine."
I'll be sitting there in my recliner watching The History Channel's week-long series on "Hitler's Secret Weapons" when I'm seized with an overwhelming desire to change the channel to "Oprah."
The Left rules Wikipedia; I'll be d*mned if there gonna get at MY genome!
"It looks like you're trying to search for bondage-related pornography. May we present you a list of some of our business partners who specialize in that sort of content?"
..."I've been working on this for about eighty years now, and we've only made a bit of headway. I expect that I've got a few more decades of research to do before we have something we can hang our hats on. I may even be retired by that time."
Your victory in the space race was in part due to the fact that World War 2 drove the best rocket scientists out of Europe.
Oh, surely. I mean, it was just by a WHISKER that we beat all those Euros into space, wasn't it? The proof, of course, is in all those successful European space flights that came soon after, the European moon mission, etc.
I mean, just how big a deal is national will and determination, and a can-do attitude, anyway?
The US has always relied on immigrants.
Wilbur and Orville would certainly be surprised to hear that. As would Robert Goddard.
Unless you want to say that all Americans are immigrants. But that's true of a LOT of folks all over the world, isn't it?
I don't remember Mercury, but I sat on the floor in front of our black-and-white TV, in my pajamas, with a bowl of cereal, watching every Gemini launch.
Same for the Apollo launches up through about Apollo 14. After that, being in my teens and more interested in girls than space (for awhile, anyway), I stopped paying attention - just as most of the American public did.
I remember vividly standing inside a Sears store at the mall in Birmingham, Alabama, and applauding with about fifty others as we watched the touchdown of the first shuttle.
But soon after that, I realized that there was no point to the U.S. space program anymore. I realized there was no coherent plan for anything, no reason for being.
Gradually, I realized that a government monopoly on space was the worst possible thing that could happen to the notion of humanity going to space to work and live.
And subsequent events have proven me correct.
So I'm not sad. I hope NASA's budget gets cut every year, and it is moved out of the way to allow private enterprise to conquer space.
That's the only way it will get done, and done right.
I'd just LOVE to see the U.N. trying to enforce it's stupid "laws of space" when it can't even figure out how to stop and African tribal war.
Me, I'm FAR more interested in the exploits of SpaceShipTwo et seq., and all the other private-enterprise efforts. Those projects are actually going to get us into space to STAY.
The fact that NASA has a plan to "get us back to the moon" in about 20 years tells you all you need to know about how government space programs' relevance went out with the death of the "Buck Rogers" television show.
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The O.P. mentions "...monopolistic arms of companies such as Verisign."
Okay, look. The word "monopoly" has as its prefix the stem "mono-," from the Greek, meaning "one." That means there can only be ONE "monopoly."
A phrase such as "monopolistic company LIKE Versign..." is absurd on the face of it. If there are other companies LIKE Verisign, then there is no monopoly.
Is it REALLY that hard to understand?
This is an example of how the rising generation is so used to "buzz words" chosen for shock value, etc., and has gone completely away from clarity of speech and writing. What the O.P. means to say, really, is "I don't want to pay the going rate for this service, so I'll call Verisign 'a monopolistic company' because everyone knows 'monopolies' are bad, and that will communicate the 'badness' of 'companies like Verisign.'"
Oddly, the word "rhetoric," also from the Greek (rheteros, "a speech") used to be a positive appellation for the study of good, clear communication of thoughts and ideas. But it has also succumbed to the buzz-word dementia, and now usually means "empty words."
How sad.
Actually, if Sagan were to come back to life, he'd say: "Hey, never mind that cr*p! You atheists, get over here and huddle up! I've got some REALLY URGENT NEWS for ya...!"
In fact, it's so bad that he'd probably die BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of deaths.
"Fear-Grunt"
Well, it ain't exactly Pushkin...
From a psychological perspective, humans have difficulties with numbers, especially larger numbers.
That's why they mixed up letters and four-digit numbers in the world of THX-1138.
Now THAT'S the way to run an oligopoly!
I can't get any of my kids to answer email. "Oh, I only check it about once a month," they tell me.
I've tried SO hard NOT to become technologically irrelevant, alas, to no avail!
Nyet, but haf you conzidered ze amazing affordability uff zer timezhare at Lake Baikal? Operatorz iz schtanding by!
From the project website:
$35 Billion in savings? How much is that in napkins?
How can anyone whose project is in the design stage, scoff at another that is in the conceptual stage? Neither of them EXIST yet!
Where is Ares? Oh, it's in AUTOCAD! Well, that makes ALL the difference!
Meanwhile, their brilliant project isn't expected to get anyone to the moon before, what, twenty years?
Sheesh.
Taste wasn't bad. Texture was a little runny.
The POS system at the Firestone dealership where I take my cars for service has some sort of system that is Windows CE based, according to the "floating screensaver logo." The owner tells me they have been promising to "upgrade" it for years, but there it is.
Interestingly, they only went from a dial-up modem to VPN-over-Internet about a year ago for credit transactions on this system.
Also goes to show you that old isn't always 'bad'.
It's a good rule of thumb, though. I just found a cabbage in the fridge that I think we bought three months ago.
OMG, the stench!
...will my "Bob" license still be valid?
I just KNOW that every time I post my genetic information up there, some wise-a** leftist is gonna "correct" it to give me more "compassion," "understanding," and "desire to eat foreign cuisine."
I'll be sitting there in my recliner watching The History Channel's week-long series on "Hitler's Secret Weapons" when I'm seized with an overwhelming desire to change the channel to "Oprah."
The Left rules Wikipedia; I'll be d*mned if there gonna get at MY genome!
"It looks like you're trying to search for bondage-related pornography. May we present you a list of some of our business partners who specialize in that sort of content?"
I think that's an acronym for "Military File System." Very hush-hush.
Unless you pay the $39.95 for "instant access," that is.
..."I've been working on this for about eighty years now, and we've only made a bit of headway. I expect that I've got a few more decades of research to do before we have something we can hang our hats on. I may even be retired by that time."
...they call 'em "liberals." The Latin root "liber" (free) does not compute.
Your victory in the space race was in part due to the fact that World War 2 drove the best rocket scientists out of Europe.
Oh, surely. I mean, it was just by a WHISKER that we beat all those Euros into space, wasn't it? The proof, of course, is in all those successful European space flights that came soon after, the European moon mission, etc.
I mean, just how big a deal is national will and determination, and a can-do attitude, anyway?
The US has always relied on immigrants.
Wilbur and Orville would certainly be surprised to hear that. As would Robert Goddard.
Unless you want to say that all Americans are immigrants. But that's true of a LOT of folks all over the world, isn't it?
Same for the Apollo launches up through about Apollo 14. After that, being in my teens and more interested in girls than space (for awhile, anyway), I stopped paying attention - just as most of the American public did.
I remember vividly standing inside a Sears store at the mall in Birmingham, Alabama, and applauding with about fifty others as we watched the touchdown of the first shuttle.
But soon after that, I realized that there was no point to the U.S. space program anymore. I realized there was no coherent plan for anything, no reason for being.
Gradually, I realized that a government monopoly on space was the worst possible thing that could happen to the notion of humanity going to space to work and live.
And subsequent events have proven me correct.
So I'm not sad. I hope NASA's budget gets cut every year, and it is moved out of the way to allow private enterprise to conquer space.
That's the only way it will get done, and done right.
I'd just LOVE to see the U.N. trying to enforce it's stupid "laws of space" when it can't even figure out how to stop and African tribal war.
Me, I'm FAR more interested in the exploits of SpaceShipTwo et seq., and all the other private-enterprise efforts. Those projects are actually going to get us into space to STAY.
The fact that NASA has a plan to "get us back to the moon" in about 20 years tells you all you need to know about how government space programs' relevance went out with the death of the "Buck Rogers" television show.
See here: The Domesday Book, especially the last paragraph of the introduction.
...are less about "undersea fiber-optic cable" availability, as far as I'm concerned, and much more about packet-throttling by the local ISP.
N.B. I'd hate for anyone to try and gauge my "hottitude" based on what for all intents and purposes is a driver's license photo.
...I've had the voice of Reagan inside my head.