"Peter Wiley" wrote in message
. ..

What people - not meaning you - keep forgetting is the cost of the
technology we have *now*. Thousands killed annually in coal mining.
Productive agricultural land trashed. Acid rain. Air pollution.
Radioactive releases (radon). Because we've been doing it for over 100
years, it's ok. By current hypocritical standards, you'd never be
allowed to build a coal fired power plant.

Americans as a rule tend to overreact. Three Mile Island was an example.
No one died from that accident, AFAIK, but it is still touted as the primary
reason to scratch nukes as a power source. Funny, but no one mentions
Chernobyl, which was far, far worse. But the technology in that reactor is
one which we've never embraced, and never will.

All tech is risky. It always can be improved. Matter of cost-benefit
analysis.

It may become a matter of turning on the lights or not.

Let them freeze in the dark. Or broil in the sun. I've never been keen
on people wanting all the benefits while shoving off the costs
elsewhere.

Californians believe they are special.


I don't think the shuttle program will regroup. Not in any meaningful
sense. Indeed, from a long distance, I think it should be killed off
and replaced with a Mk 2 version. Call it an engineering prototype
that's reached its limit of usefulness. Don't keep ****ing money down
that rathole. FWIW I think space is a vitally important strategic
activity so it's not that I think the intention is a waste of money,
just the engineering.

I agree on all points. The Mk2 shuttle is apparently in the works, but the
real benefits of the spacecraft seem to get nixed regularly in favor of
cheaper, but older and inferior technology. An example: a heat shielding
material was developed some years ago that would make the sort of accident
that killed Columbia almost impossible. It was a solid (not tiled) hard
surface of very durable, continuous material. But it was expensive, and
some felt the Mk2 shuttle would never come to fruition, so the heat
shielding material research was scrapped. If the Mk2 shuttle is to become a
reality, it will have to utilize a self-launch capability, wherein it can
take off from a runway with scramjets, and then convert to some type of
thrusters usable in space. Complex, but as you imply the weak link of the
shuttle program in its current iteration is the launch mode with the huge
external tank and all the plumbing. It's costly, inefficient, and
hazardous.


I'm offended. Take it back. LA is LA, and it's like no other place on
the
globe. Chicago is a garden spot by comparison, gorgeously situated on
Lake
Michigan and offering cultural and ethnic benefits not seen anywhere
else,
and NYC is a cultural center beyond reproach. LA is a cesspool with
primitive lifeforms incubating in every nook and cranny of the place.

OK, I retract until I see first hand.

It would be a grievous error to judge American cities by LA. We have some
losers, but LA leads the pack by a wide margin. Some of our cities are
gorgeous and amazingly efficient. San Francisco, for example, is a rather
European-looking city with more aesthetic visual stimulation than the brain
can accommodate in anything under a week's visit. Denver, despite its
****ty air quality, has some fine points, and an impressive mountain range
to its western side. Seattle is also beautiful, if frequently cloudy and
wet. San Diego is among the prettiest cities anywhere, and the weather is
near perfect. I love Chicago, but I'm prejudiced--I live an hour and
one-half from it. Miami is another cesspool--avoid it.

Actually, you are. You're in debt. It's getting bigger not smaller.

Our government is in debt. Most of the private sector does quite well,
thanks, but that's probably because it is constantly changing and adapting.
Some segments of the private sector are hurting, such as the US auto
industry. Labor rates are too high, and American auto companies haven't
quite got it figured out yet that people want reasonably-priced,
economically-operated automobiles, but they want them to be reliable,
dependable, and worth something when it comes time to resell. Toyota has
that one figured out about as well as anyone.

Agree. But you're heading into trouble and have been for a while. I
don't make the mistake of assuming that a trend will continue, but the
first step to changing one is the realisation that there is a problem.

We'd be well-advised not to look to our illustrious government for the
solutions to that problem.


I don't look at your GDP, really. I look at your terms of trade. Reflex
for me as we're a middle sized place with a lot of raw materials and
have developed an export focus, with a floating exchange rate. Your net
foreign debt is still growing.

It is indeed. And that is troubling to most Americans.

An interesting read, in hindsight, because things haven't crashed -
yet. However, living beyond ones means sooner or later ends.

I'm out of here for a few days so carry on the argument without me. Got
a ship arriving back after a 10 week research cruise, people to greet,
gear to fix, money to spend................

I think we've flogged this dead horse sufficiently. Ciao.

Max