Rick Perry: The 2nd Coming of Reagan?

I don't think so. But this line, toward the end of his announcement, was very Reaganesque:

And I’ll promise you this: I’ll work every day to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your life as I can. And at the same time, we’ll be freeing our families and small businesses and states from the burdensome and costly federal government so those groups can create, innovate and succeed.
I believe in America. I believe in Her purpose and Her promise. I believe Her best days have not yet been lived. I believe Her greatest deeds are reserved for the generations to come. With the help and the courage of the American people, we will get our country working again. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

President Reagan couldn't have said it better.

On Wisconsin!

So I've been humming this all day, since the news of the Democrat defeat in the recalls crossed the wires.

On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Plunge right through that line!
Run the ball right down the field, a touchdown sure this time.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Fight on for her fame,
Fight! Fellows! Fight! Fight, fight, we'll win this game.

On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Stand up, Badgers sing!
'Forward' is our driving spirit loyal voices ring.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Raise her glowing flame!
Stand, fellows, let us now salute her name!
The union thugs and their leftist buddies pumped millions in to the recall for the 6 most vulnerable districts, and lost in all but two of them by large numbers. Conservative GOP Senators still control the agenda, and Wisconsin is beginning to see what leftist rule has done to them...and taking steps to change course.

Godspeed, Juno!

Okay, I have a confession to make. Jupiter scares me. A lot. Weird, right? Well, it all started at the Kirkpatrick Planetarium in Oklahoma City. I was in 2nd grade, staring up at the round ceiling, when all of a sudden Jupiter, with that huge red eye, filled the dome. Yep, that did it. Have the same reaction every time I see it on T.V.. And I'm a space junkie.

Now, the next mission to the giant planet, a failed star really, has been launched. And I'll follow every moment with awe. But every once in awhile, I'll be back in the planetarium at age 8, and freak out just a little. And, yes, I've intentionally let the picture overflow the borders. That's just how big Jupiter is...

Dem Pollster to Obummer: Become a Tea Partier if you want to be re-elected...

Dem Pollster to Obummer: Become a Tea Partier if you want to be re-elected...
It's amazing how much the Obummer administration is mirroring the Carter years. Let's pray there's a Reagan waiting in the wings to take over in 2013.

Really? I blame her constituents for this. They're the ones who voted her in....

Well here we go again. Facebook is simply not the forum for political conversation. So, I've returned to my roots at LJiC. Stop by and say hell.

Space, The Final Frontier...someday

I have strong opinions. Overall, Obama will go down in history as, at best, a mediocre President. As strong as my opinions are on Obama, they are even more solid on manned space flight. To put it succinctly:

We need to go there. NOW. We should have had Lunar colonies since the 1960's, and should be establishing thriving colonies on Mars by now. The first manned missions to Titan should have launched about two years ago. The population in low to mid Earth orbit should be in the tens of thousands by now.

NASA was a mistake, born out of panic and politics. Don't get me wrong. The men and women of NASA were true heroes. My earliest memory is watching a Gemini mission. But the X-Plane pilots called Mercury "spam in a can" for good reasons. We sacrificed the amazing strides of the X-Plane missions for a quick, dirty, expensive, bureaucratic way to beat the Soviets.

Had we continued the amazing progress, a combination of military and civilian greatness, of the X-Plane series, we would have accomplished all the things in my second paragraph, and then some.  We were well on our way to reusable flight to low earth orbit in the late 1950's! Sputnik brought all that progress to a halt.

So now, here we are, with three Space Shuttle flights left. After those flights, the United States will have no capability to enter low Earth orbit, let alone go back to the Moon, Mars or anywhere else. For the forseeable future, we will be paying for rides from the people who created Sputnik all those decades ago.

This was not Barack Obama's fault. The short-sightedness of America's space program dates back 60 years. While I wanted more, much more, than what Obama proposed, the proposed plan may be the best we can do right now.  Sad, very sad, but true.

Obama has decided to fund private space industries. It's about time.  Had the decision been made to pump money in to private space flight sixty years ago, we would not be talking about a Mars trip in 2035. Men, women and children would already be there.

The key will be for the Obama administration to fund the private enterprise, and then LEAVE IT ALONE. Government meddling will only slow down whatever progress is made. It would be a change in style and philosophy for a big government liberal like Obama to actually leave anyone alone. But that's what needs to happen. If he does, the jobs lost at NASA will quickly be gained as individuals, private individuals, take the necessary steps to the planets, then the stars.

Glad That's Over:

President Barack Obama's advisers plan to remove terms such as "Islamic radicalism" from a document outlining national security strategy and will use the new version to emphasize that the U.S. does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terrorism, counterterrorism officials say.

 And here I thought those 19 hijackers were Islamic Radicals. Whew! Good thing they were just common criminals. Common criminals who killed nearly 3000 people, destroyed the World Trade Towers. It'll come as a relief to the passengers of who took down the Islamic Rad...er...terrori...er...criminals, keeping them from destroying something else...like The White House. 


Of course, those passengers are dead. Sorry, Mr. Beamer. It appears we've stopped rolling.