108 Pigs In Spaaaace!!!!

Something else to drag our collective feet about: Space exploration. The latest administration has all but destroyed our beloved NASA and still managed to increase their budget by about 6 percent. No, seriously. Look it up. He's effectively grounded our aging shuttle fleet without having a serious backup. Techs, geeks, engineers, workers--all are being paid for basically shuffling a whole lot of nothing around.

Space exploration has been a boost to our nation that few realize. It has spawned numerous industries here on earth, it has advanced technology by leaps and bounds, out of necessity. Like spawns like, and so we grew as a nation, faster, farther than ever before, and in a shorter time.

A promised exit from a useless war is looking like another broken promise. But wait: we spend enough ON that war to finance, oh...I dont know...Healthcare? Better education? Finding a way to keep Ben Roethlisberger's thingy in his pants? As a former soldier, I am all about keeping a good defense and I'll even go so far as to say that we should help where there are people in need, but this contrived war is pointless. Those people will go on killing one another whether we are there or not. They've done it since antiquity and they'll be doing it when humankind ends. It's in their blood and we arent going to change it by forcing democracy down their throats. I think the American public would even agree to DIVIDE the money between the programs that really need it, as opposed to spending it all in one place.

Man reached the moon with about the same computing power as a smart phone. Less, actually. We sent enterprising, daring men into a void to test their limits and ours. It took me a long time to really appreciate (forgive me) the gravity of what they did. One small step lead to jobs, innovation...industry even. Men went to a place that was marvelled at since the first, sentient humanoid looked up and wondered what else was out there. They inspired generations to innovate and invent and now, that American ideal, that set of hopes and dreams is lost. At least for the foreseeable future.

There is a spartan, miserable promise of a manned mission to Mars, but how will that play out? How will we be viable without pushing the envelope of design? Our space shuttles functioned marvelously for 30 years and probably could for many more, but there is a need for more advanced, self-sustaining craft. Let's get radical,then test them. Let's have a generation of men and women that want to push the envelope and not just be content with utilizing what we already have.

There is always a price. The obvious cost in dollars doesnt matter at this point. The cost in time, well, we need to proceed, but at a pace that ensures good results. There will be a cost in lives. There always is.

I would want peace on our planet, but as long as men have desires and ambitions, there will always be those who twist, manipulate and destroy to get what they want. Some men are never satisfied. They want the world to burn. I dont have a problem putting them in check, but we have attained a part of a goal in Iraq and now we've been mired there for 8 years. We toppled a dictator that butchered his own people and abused his power over people that wouldnt know peace if their own Gods came down, seated themselves into power and started shopping at Walmart. We ticked off more people, especially ones we were there to help, and now we're fighting a futile, pointless, unfathomably-costly war.

The bandwagon is being exited. I digress: I think with a healthy space program, we may at least start back down the road to prosperity. Maybe tech jobs will pick back up. Maybe industry will start to grow. Maybe our standards will go from status quo to strive to be the greatest. Remember, we shouldnt be giving trophies to the losers. Every kid participates, not all of them excel. Reward greatness, not mediocrity. Reach beyond the moon, grab the stars. Sail out into the void, into brave, new worlds. That, and you know, that whole thing about- ridding ourselves of the majority of government and starting over with some fresh faces, fresh ideas and hopefully some honest men and women that wont listen to power and oil lobbyists. Yeah. That.