I’ve always wondered that myself. If we want to go back to the Moon, we have the BLUEPRINTS to do so! One or two manned missions… knock out a few scientific errands, tie up a few computational loose ends, snap a few selfies, then call it a day.
It almost seems like a wasted opportunity not to do some location scouting, while we work on a machine that can be used as a reliable workhorse for establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon.
“It’s the way in which the WORLD has moved on since the engineers first created those F1 engines.”
Screenshots from the YouTube video
Every piece of that machine was HAND CRAFTED, custom fit, built to order. A one-of-a-kind that could not be replicated TODAY… the skills and knowledge of the process, now LOST to the passage of TIME.
Still one of the most powerful rocket engines ever made. Still one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of human history. 400,000 people, years of planning and design, trial and error, countless hours manufacturing each part… the Saturn V stands as a testament to the ingenuity of the American People.
“… because engineers can do just about anything.”
5,600 individual pieces, hand crafted, precision welded by skilled American Engineers.
Now, with the knowledge gained over half a century, aided by computer assisted design…
… we can build it with only 40 pieces.
“It’s sometimes easier to redesign something from SCRATCH, than it is to try and remake the PAST.”
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At some point it becomes detrimental to hold on to the past simply out of nostalgia. Even the Space Shuttle, as amazing as it was, began to show its age by the end of its service.
Once the cracks have been found, turning a blind eye to potential danger is unacceptable… especially when we know we can do it BETTER.
I’ll admit it… I may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but I am smart enough to know when I am wrong… and, I want to ensure I don’t act a FOOL in the future! So I make sure I learn all I can, about what led to that mistake and why I made the decision I did…
So it won’t happen again.
From a policy standpoint, I did not care much for the George W. Bush Administration. But he did have ONE redeeming quality: he established task forces and inquiries to gather knowledge AFTER he made his mistakes. Not for HIS benefit, but for the benefit of future Administrations… for the benefit of ALL Americans.
Through the actions taken by past Administrations, we have studied and trained for events like the current spread of the Novel Coronavirus, and communities in every State have benefited from the resources we’ve developed. Emergency Preparedness plans, data collection and information sharing, first responder training, community outreach and education efforts… all of these tools STILL EXIST, entrusted in the hands of THE STATES.
Because that is a VITAL part of our nation’s success… because the Framers of Our Constitution knew what could come.
This is NOT a test, THIS is the moment we have been preparing for. The History of Humanity is plagued with challenges, and yes… this moment may try to leave its mark upon us on that scale. But this is not the time for panic. In fact, it’s not necessary… because every one of us is already PREPARED. From the moment we began our training we knew this moment would come, and if not TODAY, we know… someday it WILL. That is WHY we train.
Ever vigilant, because we are PREPARED.
Why is it that I can see it, yet the current President does NOT? Right now, EVERY American Citizen knows better how to handle the spread of Coronavirus than Donald J. Trump… why is that? It’s not the first time this has happened, and it’s not simply a lack of intelligence:
Puerto Rico. The size and scope of the devastation was apparent immediately. A massive response would be necessary to SAVE LIVES… and instead, the President politically attacked the Mayor of San Juan.
California. Higher temperatures and changing weather patterns have fueled some of the most devastating wildfires in the State’s history… and the President PULLS FUNDING from FEMA. Funds designated to help fight those fires. Then he suggests that its all their fault… they should have spent more money on RAKES.
The Flood of 2019. Farmland across the Midwest was inundated by flooding equal to that of the historic Flood of 1993. Stores of grain housed in silos and million dollar farm equipment, all destroyed by the rising waters…
Donald J. Trump and the GOP acted to kill a Disaster Relief Bill created to help family farmers… MULTIPLE TIMES. The man who lives in a GOLDEN PENTHOUSE could not extend a hand to the people who elected him, while their LIVELYHOOD was drowning under floodwater.
And now, in this moment, when we should be focused on TESTING every American showing symptoms and gathering more data… the President calls it “a hoax”. A Democrat strategy to take down the President.
Instead of a call for ALL Americans to be vigilant and informed, his ACTING Chief of Staff tells people they should turn the TV off for 24 hours.
In a few weeks, TORNADO SEASON starts here in Kansas.
Communities WILL be devastated, lives WILL be lost. It is inevitable… how many are lost is up to us RIGHT NOW. If we remain ignorant and TUNE OUT, we will lose MORE LIVES…
… needlessly.
There is no American who benefits from IGNORANCE or SILENCE. Every American Citizen knows this. No one working in GOOD FAITH would continue to subject themselves to the same institutional failures, over and over again, without making significant changes in their strategy.
Donald Trump knows this.
His STAFF knows this.
The career Public Servants surrounding him know this.
Partisan political rhetoric is a TOOL used to secure power in order to enact a particular legislative agenda. Partisan political rhetoric is NOT a legislative agenda.
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What is the FIRST THING any Commander in Chief would do when facing a large scale threat posed by an eminent Natural Disaster?
They would declare a National Emergency.
This would instantly free up FUNDING for preparedness and it would inject massive amounts of money into the economy… but the President continues to downplay the possible severity of this disease, and publicly provides facts and figures about the situation that are provably FALSE.
These actions do not protect Americans. These actions do not act to reassure a volatile Stock Market. The repeated inaction and errors do not benefit Donald J. Trump this November either… that is, unless the disease remains UNCHECKED. If no one knows the extent of the threat, and the American People are caught off-guard as the disease starts to re-emerge after summer has come and gone…
IF we are not careful and don’t stay FULLY INFORMED, this fall we could see a situation similar to what they have in China RIGHT NOW.
How do we run our National Elections if large indoor events are PROHIBITED?
How will we know the facts and figures used to justify such an act are SOUND…
… would that even matter to him?
Our future has not yet been written, our fate is not carved in stone. Our ACTIONS will determine our fate… and the choice is always OURS. Whatever the future may bring, we must act with knowledge, preparedness, and COMPASSION. If we are to stand the test of time, we must STAND UNITED.
I find a lot of my inspiration when I’m lost in nature… always have. In high school, I would spend the two hour gap between classes and work exploring the coves lining the shore of Lake Olathe. On my days off, I would drive up to Shawnee Mission Lake and build a fire in the old limestone fire pit, cook up some hot dogs, and watch the sparks fly off into the night.
Being a space nerd, I would think random thoughts… like how amazing is it that Earth is the only body in the solar system that can sustain an open flame in its atmosphere; or what would wind sound like on the surface of another planet; or simply… fireflies. What evolutionary side-step caused THAT trait to be a success? AND… did you know, there are no fireflies in France?
(My step-dad’s niece came from France to visit him one summer. As we sat on the patio, enjoying the sunset on her first evening in Kansas, her expression suddenly changed to shock and disbelief as she was staring at a group of trees off in the distance. She said something to my step-father in French and he started laughing, “She’s never seen a lightning bug before!”)
As an artist and musician, I found the peace I needed to let my mind go. To explore the nooks and crannies of thought… to search for meaning, looking for that glimpse of something no one has ever seen. In the sprawling concrete and asphalt jungle of suburban Kansas City, these parks and lakes provide sanctuary for wildlife being pushed out of their natural habitats. More importantly, they are a gift given to us, providing the community a space to reconnect with nature, and share that beauty with our children.
Every Father’s Day I take the boys out to Wyandotte County Lake and feed the geese.
This is Garrett doing his best impression of a goose. (… he’s the one wearing a blue shirt.)
In recent days, I’ve spent time contemplating the task at hand. Searching for words to convey a message and create a vision of something… no one has ever seen. Instinctually, I’m drawn back to these familiar waters, once again searching the depths of my soul. I drive the loop around the lake, sometimes twice… allowing the day’s events to show me where I should look…
Inspiration found at the water’s edge is a fairly new phenomenon here in the Great State of Kansas. Judging from the limestone cliffs… there hasn’t been this much shoreline here in a few million years! Even as recently as 100 years ago, in the Kansas that Eisenhower grew up in, the only significant shorelines were those of the untamed rivers, the Kaw, the Arkansas, and the Mighty Missouri.
The lakes and reservoirs of the Great State of Kansas were constructed out of necessity, to mitigate the damages caused by a changing climate in the face of historic drought. The vicious circle of economic disaster and climate change helped give rise to the Great Depression, and in order to solve those problems, the Roosevelt Administration put people to work modernizing our nation’s infrastructure.
A 505 foot by 255 foot American Flag was flown from the downstream face of the dam. The flag weighed 3,000 pounds and was hoisted by three separate cables located at the top of the dam. The flying of the flag was part of a ceremony in which the 1996 Summer Olympic torch, on its way to Atlanta, Georgia, was carried across Hoover Dam.
Projects like the Grand Coulee Dam and Hoover Dam, electrifying rural communities, making sure every community had access to water… but most importantly, these projects made it possible for Americans to get back to WORK. By providing the FUNDING to get these projects off the ground, the Federal Government helped bring new opportunity to communities that desperately needed an economic boost.
Wyandotte County Lake is one of the many projects funded by the WPA.
Roosevelt didn’t envision the Marshall Creek Dam… he created the vehicle necessary for that project to take shape. He empowered Americans to envision what could BE, and then STOOD BEHIND THEM, confident because we work in common cause.
He didn’t work the levers of government just so he could say, “See what I have done!” He didn’t create the WPA for the benefit of the United States Government. He saw a way that he could direct our government toward helping THE PEOPLE… to help make the lives of EVERY AMERICAN better. Because more participation makes better outcomes for everyone.
I do not seek power for myself, I seek power so that I might give it away. Securing it in the hands of THE PEOPLE… its one true safeguard.
“No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.” – John F. Kennedy
When we guarantee access to the ballot for ALL citizens of this nation, EVERY issue will gain CLARITY. The solutions to our nation’s problems will be realized once THE PEOPLE have UNIVERSAL ACCESS to the ballot.
As a representative government, the people give their consent to be governed by the elected at the ballot box. Any system that allows selective access to the ballot or relies on an intermediary interpretive process to determine the outcome of an election, is susceptible to CORRUPTION of its integrity. Does our current election system produce a CLEAR MANDATE from the people? If we created a NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEM, what would we want that system to BE…
A political system in which candidates run for office based solely on the merits of their ideas. An election system in which the winning candidate is decided by the people at EVERY step of the process, from the Primary to the General election. When you walk into the booth in November, you already know every candidate on the ballot because every candidate has already faced MULTIPLE statewide primary elections and they have been fully vetted… not by a group of wealthy individuals or entities who stand to profit off of a particular candidate, but by EVERY REGISTERED VOTER in EVERY STATE.
Right now, how do candidates for office make it on to the ballot? MONEY. And that effects EVERY aspect of our daily lives, in the form of the legislative agendas pursued by the winning candidates.
In our current Primary Election Process, KANSAS has just as much Electoral Power as CALIFORNIA… because neither of us are IOWA, or NEW HAMPSHIRE, or SOUTH CAROLINA. By the time the first handful of States have decided who they think should be on the ballot, the impression of being a “viable candidate” has been cast. Any candidate that doesn’t win in those first States, in the eyes of the voters, is irrelevant.
But, then again… it really doesn’t matter what the voters decide at the ballot box. ALL decisions are made at the convention by the DELEGATES. The long days, shaking hands, eating corn dogs, promising this and that… if the DELEGATES can’t agree, it’s all up for grabs.
The Constitution does not outline our current system. It’s a patchwork of precedent and legislative guardrails passed to prevent misdeeds from reoccurring, while ignoring wrongdoing that goes “undetected”, and failing to prevent future abuses of a largely unregulated system.
We should not stifle candidate’s voices or limit their possibilities, but we should more clearly define the parameters in which they are allowed to operate.
Every candidate’s message should be fully accessible to every voter INSTANTLY via a universally trusted source. Without the filter of the media. Without the filter of moneyed interests. If a question of substance arises during the campaign, a voter should have easy access in order to ask that question, and how the candidate chooses to address it will be seen by EVERY VOTER. On the FIRST DAY. On the LAST DAY. Every voter. Every candidate, regardless of party.
No legally binding limitations on candidates’ ability to engage in debate. The vision and direction of the campaign should be decided by the candidate and judged by the voters, not first judged by the FUNDRAISERS and THEN the voters. The current system gives rise to deception, in fact it is REQUIRED to be successful. Candidates are forced to run a campaign that appeals to a majority of HALF of the electorate FIRST, to display PARTY LOYALTY… in order to secure FUNDS.
“The presidential contest — primaries and all — accounts for $2.4 billion of that total. The other $4 billion or so went to congressional races. The tally includes spending by campaigns, party committees and outside sources.”
All Federal Elections should be 100% FUNDED by the TAX PAYERS. The candidate directs the message and creates the VISION, the PEOPLE fund its creation.
Yes… that is a lot of money. But just consider the amounts currently spent on advertising and appearances on media outlets. The United States can leverage a better deal when purchasing ad blocks for EVERY CANDIDATE and air-time for ALL EVENTS… equally. It unlocks multiple possibilities for SAVINGS, but also for GROWTH.
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All of the effort dedicated to changing the way we choose our candidates would be wasted if we did not address the other side of this issue… who should be allowed to vote in our elections.
Voter suppression. Through threat of violence, through fear and intimidation. Through misinformation and misappropriation. MILLIONS of dollars are spent every year to stop people from casting a vote. To paint a picture in the minds of select groups of voters that says, ‘Your vote doesn’t count’ or ‘Send a message by NOT voting’… all while knowingly aiding their preferred candidate just by keeping people OUT of the process.
LOWER participation in their eyes, means VICTORY on Election Day.
The War on Drugs has created a PERMANENT way to disenfranchise millions of voters through the legal process. Laws carrying punishments that take away voting rights, written by legislators that are BEHOLDEN to campaign DONORS, both of whom will never be targeted by such laws. Even if they were, they could easily afford the legal fees necessary to evade punishment.
Felony convictions, YEARS behind bars… for possession. MILLIONS of people who cannot vote while serving their sentence, and are unable to regain their right to vote once released. The requirements in some States are vague, unattainable, or discretionary depending upon who stands before the governing body that decides their fate.
Elected officials represent ALL of the people in their districts. Right now, prison populations are INCLUDED in Census numbers, deciding how much federal funding goes where.
For-profit legislators, beholden to for-profit organizations who FUND their campaign…
Sounds like an easy way to stack the deck.
Every prisoner should have the right to vote, while serving their sentence and after they are released. If the goal is rehabilitation and a successful transition back into society, then they should feel like they are a part of the system and have a say in their destiny.
At the very least, they should be able to hold their representatives accountable when they have failed to protect their interests:
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What should be required to vote?
CITIZENSHIP.
That, and age.
The age of enfranchisement was lowered under President Nixon from 21 to 18. As the Vietnam War raged and the draft was sending citizens 18 years and older off to war, it made sense to give them a VOICE on who was making that decision. From another perspective, I would not want to send someone off to war without their having a say in the matter, just as I would not want a CHILD deciding my fate.
But our definition of the word “war” has evolved. Since that time, we’ve invaded a country unilaterally without evidence supporting our decision. We’ve declared a war on an “idea” that has no clearly defined objective, and we’re currently under attack in an undeclared VIRTUAL WAR where NO ONE can be charged with aiding and abetting our adversary.
In 2019, more CIVILIANS died in mass shootings than SOLDIERS were killed on the battlefield in the War on Terror.
“The latest fatality brings the number of U.S. deaths in Afghanistan this year to 20. There have also been three non-combat deaths in 2019. More than 2,400 Americans have died in the nearly 18-year conflict.”
End The Electoral College NOW!! 