News of the Absurd

NASA's new mission: Building ties to Muslim world

In a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera, NASA head Charles Bolden said:

"When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things." One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering." (text bolded by me for emphasis)

Silly me. I thought NASA's fundamental mission was space exploration. You know, the "S" in NASA stands for "Space", the moon landings, the space shuttles, satellites, and all that other non-terrestrial stuff. But, as Bolden explained,

"NASA is not only a space exploration agency," Bolden concluded, "but also an Earth improvement agency."

Of course. I should have known. Everything obama does is to improve Earth - fighting global warming climate change, plugging up the oil spill, welcoming illegal immigrants new democrat voters, improving the global economy, and so forth. But what about that pesky "Space" thing?

Bolden gave a bleak assessment of the space part of NASA's mission. More than 40 years after the first moon landing, he told al-Jazeera, the U.S. can no longer reach beyond Earth's orbit without assistance from abroad. "We're not going to go anywhere beyond low Earth orbit as a single entity," Bolden said. "The United States can't do it."

That's right. Under obama the U.S. is no longer capable of doing anything on it's own. Instead, we must act in concert with people who are dedicated to destroying us, our way of life, and everything we stand for.

Fortunately, not everyone agrees with Bolden and the clueless one.

Former NASA Director Says Muslim Outreach Push 'Deeply Flawed'

The former head of NASA on Tuesday described as "deeply flawed" the idea that the space exploration agency's priority should be outreach to Muslim countries, after current Administrator Charles Bolden made that assertion in an interview last month.

"NASA ... represents the best of America. Its purpose is not to inspire Muslims or any other cultural entity," Michael Griffin, who served as NASA administrator during the latter half of the Bush administration.

He also said that while welcome, Muslim-nation cooperation is not vital for U.S. advancements in space exploration.

"There is no technology they have that we need," Griffin said.

He said the U.S. can still [travel in space] without international aid if it wishes, and that, "To the extent that we wish to go to Mars, we can go to Mars."

How truly sad. I remember the glory days of NASA. We used to watch the manned flight launches in school on black-and-white TVs. It was a special occasion, and inspired us to study math and science. I remember the entire country being glued to the TV set during the Apollo 13 crisis - "Houston, we have a problem" - and the great surge of national pride when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. And now?

Its space initiatives junked, its administrator rhapsodizing about helping Muslims "feel good" about themselves: That is the new NASA. 

obama strikes again...

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Mexico Joins Suit Against Arizona's Immigration Law

In a stunning example of "do as I say, not as I do,"

Mexico on Tuesday asked a federal court in Arizona to declare the state's new immigration law unconstitutional, arguing that the country's own interests and its citizens' rights are at stake.

...

Mexican law, however, requires law enforcement officials "to demand that foreigners prove their legal presence in the country before attending to any issues."

Amnesty International recently issued a report claiming illegal immigrants in Mexico -- typically from Central America -- face abuse, rape and kidnappings, and that Mexican police do little to stop it.

The irony and absurdity of this should be painfully obvious to even the most left-leaning moron. I can't believe that a U.S. court would even consider this nonsense. What's next? Is Mexico going to sue us because we put Mexican drug smugglers in jail for breaking our laws? GMAFB!

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Postal Service Proposes Another Rate Hike

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed increasing the price of a first-class stamp by another 2 cents in the face of slumping mail volume.

If approved by regulators, the increase to 46 cents for a standard letter would go into effect Jan. 2 and be the seventh increase in a decade. As of Jan. 7, 2001, the cost of a stamp was 34 cents.

The Postal Service said it has faced "plummeting mail volume traced to the recession and increased use of the Internet," resulting in a projected deficit of nearly $7 billion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The proposed increases would raise about $2.3 billion for the first nine months of calendar 2011.

That's a great idea. Volume is decreasing, so let's raise rates. That's like the old joke about the kid selling lemonade for $10,000 a glass. A passer-by tells the kid that he probably won't sell a lot of lemonade at $10,000 a glass. The kid replies, "That's okay. I only need to sell one." Sounds like that kid grew up and is now in charge of the post office.

Just for comparison purposes, UPS' net income for 2009 was $2.152 billion; FedEx's was $1.184 billion. I wonder why private enterprises can make money, while a government agency can't? Hmmm...