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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Though, to be honest, there wasn't really any practical, solid reason to sent a man to the Moon. It's not like we could find water, mind gold or anything.
It was just a cool byproduct of the Space Race.
edited 5th Dec '15 5:01:50 PM by LogoP
It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.There are a lot of good, solid argument for public funding of what's generally termed as "basic research" — things that advance our scientific understanding, but don't have an immediately obvious useful (or profitable) purpose. Space exploration definitely falls under that umbrella.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.When Benjamin Franklin first publicized his experiments with electricity, someone asked him, "What good is your new invention?"
Franklin replied: "What good is a newborn baby?"
It may have no obvious practical or profitable benefits yet, but keep an open mind and give it some time...
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.Donald Trump is still leading the back with 27 percent of the vote. Ted Cruz is in second place with 13 percent of the vote and Rubio is holding on in third with 11 percent.
Christie's rise, however, is significant given that the same poll in October found the governor was in the low single digits with 3 percent of the vote. Christie – who has bet his campaign on success in New Hampshire–won a key endorsement from the New Hampshire Union Leader Sunday. Since the Paris terrorist attacks, he has also worked to contrast his experience as U.S. Attorney who prosecuted terrorists after 9/11 with the death of foreign policy experience coming from Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
Christie's favorability rating now exceeds every other Republican candidate in the race at 61 percent.
Just another reason not to panic over who's in the lead at the moment, especially when we're still almost 2 months away from primaries.
In a decision Wednesday — a follow-up to an earlier ruling from July that threw out much of the state's congressional map because it was drawn with partisan intent — the justices gave another victory to the groups that had sued to strike down the old map.
Five of the state Supreme Court's seven justices essentially told the legislature: If you can't agree on a proper map, we'll pick one for you. They approved a trial judge's ruling accepting the Florida House of Representatives' plan for 19 of Florida's 27 districts — but rejected its proposal for the other eight, which cover South Florida.
...
Back in 2010, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering. The strongly worded amendment, which passed with more than 62 percent support, said that districts "may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party."
Yet Florida's map-drawing process was still left to the state legislature, then controlled by Republicans. And when the legislature redistricted shortly afterward, the maps it came up with seemed to many to be slanted in favor of the GOP. Indeed, in 2012 Republicans got 51 percent of the US House votes — but they ended up with 63 percent of the seats, 17 out of 27.
There are potentially other factors that could explain a pro-GOP slant in House districts. But the League of Women Voters, several media organizations, and some voters saw partisan motivations at play — arguing that in many instances, the public redistricting process was a sham, with the real decisions being made by partisan Republican operatives behind the scenes. So they filed suit to try to get the map struck down.
In July, they won — a five-vote majority of the Florida Supreme Court ruled against the legislature. The majority included two justices appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist (who was then a Republican), two appointed by former Gov. Lawton Chiles (a Democrat), and one whose appointment was the result of an agreement from Chiles and Jeb Bush — so things weren't purely partisan. Two justices dissented, both of whom were appointed by Crist.
As the majority put it in this week's ruling, they concluded that "Republican political operatives successfully infiltrated the redistricting process with the coordination and cooperation of the Legislature, resulting in a redistricting plan that was tainted with improper partisan intent."
The letter was published on the website of HIAS, a venerable U.S. charity once known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society that was originally founded in the 19th century to help bring over emigrants from Czarist Russia.
It marks an important intervention in the American conversation at a time when conservative politicians have used the pretext of terrorism — security fears that followed the Paris terror attacks last month — as an excuse to pass legislation that would restrict the flow of Syrian refugees into the U.S. (Never mind that no Paris attacker has yet to be identified as a Syrian refugee or national.)
...
"We are therefore alarmed to see so many politicians declaring their opposition to welcoming refugees.
Last month’s heartbreaking attacks in Paris and Beirut are being cited as reasons to deny entry to people who are themselves victims of terror. And in those comments, we, as Jewish leaders, see one of the darker moments of our history repeating itself.
In 1939, the United States refused to let the S.S. St. Louis dock in our country, sending over 900 Jewish refugees back to Europe, where many died in concentration camps. That moment was a stain on the history of our country – a tragic decision made in a political climate of deep fear, suspicion and antisemitism. The Washington Post released public opinion polling from the early 1940’s, showing that the majority of U.S. citizens did not want to welcome Jewish refugees to this country in those years.
In 1939, our country could not tell the difference between an actual enemy and the victims of an enemy. In 2015, let us not make the same mistake."
A number of prominent Jewish organizations in the U.S. have already taken the lead in condemning some of the rhetoric surrounding Syrian refugees. Last month, the Anti-Defamation League criticized the dozens of U.S. governors who said they would block attempts to resettle Syrians in their states.
[BBC] Jimmy Carter's cancer therapy seems to have been an unexpected success.
If all goes well, the rumors of his impending demise may have been issued a bit prematurely.
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If right wing groups stopped denying reality it wouldn't apply, they're welcome to change.
As for the British half and half system, the best example is how a car does X miles to the gallon, and you fill it with litres of fuel.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranIt's far from always true, the left has its share of reality denying idiots, look at the anti vax, anti GMO, anti drone and anti nuclear movements. But they are nowhere near as prevalent or powerful and the reality denying idiots on the right are.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

Essentially, exactly the same answer as "Why go to the moon?"
In short, because it's freaking awesome!
Argh. That accent. I can't stop thinking of Clone High now...
Now, imagine if the US took all the money, attention, and effort they expend on competitive/spectator sports, and directed it towards space exploration.
edited 5th Dec '15 4:53:50 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.