How about a race to the moon?

US to send four astronauts to moon in 2018 via Yahoo

How about a race to the moon - the private sector versus NASA? Think Celera Genomics versus The Human Genome Project. Is Burt Rutan listening?



Technorati Tags: genetics, nasa, moon, space, burt rutan

Tax Funded Prostitution for the Disabled

I can't imagine my tax dollars being spent this way.

Danish activists for the disabled are staunchly defending a government campaign that pays sex workers to provide sex once a month for disabled people.

Opposition parties call the program, officially known as ''Sex, irrespective of disability,'' immoral.

''We spend a large proportion of our taxes rescuing women from prostitution. But at the same time we officially encourage carers to help contact with prostitutes,'' said Social-Democrat spokesperson Kristen Brosboel.

Three cheers for socialized medicine...err prostitution?

Technorati Tags: prostitution, socialism, denmark, healthcare

The Maine Pork Barrel Busters

Instapundit and the NZ Bear are urging bloggers to highlight pork barrel spending from our home states - and suggest to our congressional leaders to cut this waste from federal appropriations in order to fund the Hurricane Katrina reconstruction.

How are we going to mobilize the blogosphere in support of cuts in wasteful spending to support Katrina relief? Here's the plan.

Identify some wasteful spending in your state or (even better) Congressional District. Put up a blog post on it. Go to N.Z. Bear's new PorkBusters page and list the pork, and add a link to your post.

Then call your Senators and Representative and ask them if they're willing to support having that program cut or -- failing that -- what else they're willing to cut in order to fund Katrina relief. (Be polite, identify yourself as a local blogger and let them know you're going to post the response on your blog). Post the results. Then go back to NZ Bear's page and post a link to your followup blog post.

The result should be a pretty good resource of dubious spending, and Congressional comments thereon, for review by blogs, members of the media, etc. And maybe even members of Congress looking for wasteful spending . . . .

Here is a quick list of federal funds being wasted in my home state of Maine.

- $4,000,000 for a multi-use trail and snowmobile accommodations for the Route 116 Bridge in Medway
- $3,000,000 for the replacement of the Route 201-A "covered" bridge in Norridgewock
- $2,800,000 for bicycle trails, "amenities," and "traffic circulation" improvements in Bangor
- $1,000,000 for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Stillwater River in Orono
- $500,000 for bike and pedestrian trails in Katahdin
- $250,800 to purchase new buses to improve the commute to Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor
- $250,000 for construction the Great Falls Parking Garage in Auburn
- $220,000 to the Blueberry Hill Farm in Jonesboro for renovations
- $97,000 Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston

TOTAL = 12,117,800

I am sure there is more waste - if you know of any, please contact me.

Technorati Tags: porkbusters, katrina, pork barrel, instapundit, taxes, new orleans

Wal-mart versus FEMA

Burt Flickinger III, managing director for Strategic Resource Group in New York, noted that Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott was groomed as a trucking manager and said Scott used his expertise to make sure the company was ready for the crisis.

"Unlike local, state and the federal government, which didn't react until days after the hurricane hit, Wal-Mart was at work around the clock before Katrina even hit land to have the stores fully stocked with full pallet positions of water, flashlights, batteries, canned soup, canned meat," Flickinger said.

"Wal-Mart served the city far better than any private or public institution," he said.

Of course it did...

...media coverage wasn't the focus for Wal-Mart, though the company drew a prominent mention when it sent trailerloads of goods to New Orleans that were turned away early on by Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

Of course it did...

Tags: fema, new orleans,bureaucracy, katrina, wal-mart

Fema Disaster Rap for Kids

Your tax dollars at work…

FEMA for Kids Rap

Disaster . . . it can happen anywhere,
But we’ve got a few tips, so you can be prepared
For floods, tornadoes, or even a ‘quake,
You’ve got to be ready - so your heart don’t break.

Disaster prep is your responsibility
And mitigation is important to our agency.

People helping people is what we do
And FEMA is there to help see you through
When disaster strikes, we are at our best
But we’re ready all the time, ’cause disasters don’t rest.

audio (requires real audio)

Tags: fema, new orleans,bureaucracy, katrina

In Katrina's wake, a tidal wave of blind hatred spewing from the mystical Left

I am getting sick tonight reading these responses...These people are clearly seeking to incite violence - an uprising against a "racist" America. True colors are coming out - but those colors can also be very scary.

According to Drudge:

KANYE WEST ON NBC FUNDRAISER: 'GEORGE BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE... They're saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food...they're giving the (Army) permission to shoot us'... Actor Mike Myers asked people to donate... then Kanye West went on a tirade about Iraq... MORE...

Self-proclaimed human rights advocate Randall Robinson calls America a monsterous fraud.

My hand shakes with anger as I write. I, the formerly un-jaundiced human rights advocate, have finally come to see my country for what it really is. A monstrous fraud.

Was George Bush the one who was looting? Was it Karl Rove raping children? Was Condi Rice the person shooting at rescue vehicles? Asking such questions to the kind of person who believes that this country is a "monstrous fraud" is useless.

These people harbor a disease of mysticism - this disease blinds them with a hatred that is nearly equivalent to that which foments inside the mind of a radical islamist. The need to blame something, anything, for their insecurities and self-loathing in the face of something they can not explain trumps all other desires.

Emboldened by a mainstream media that has subtly hinted that racism is the root cause of this catastrophe, it is hardly surprising in an era where voices of all sorts have the loud microphone of new media to trumpet their ideas, that the crazies being heard. Those who are guided by reason, now more than ever need to step up to match and pound down the voices of the desperate, though still dangerous, mystical anti-american Left.

Update: Here is a link to the Kanye West video (click the image).

"George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People"


Tags: katrina, new orleans, kanye west

Katrina aftermath - a disaster by way of the State

Most Americans have sat by their televisions all week in disbelief, seeing the tragic and sickening depths of humanity on display in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because no one seemed to be talking about the cause of this sub-human behavior, I was going to write about it here, but Robert Tracinski beat me to it - and he did such a perfect job summing it up, I'll just pass you on to his article instead.

An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State

When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).

...

No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In fact, some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush, for example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.

What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.




Tags: Katrina, New Orleans

"The terrorist Katrina' is a soldier of Allah"

Comforting words from the Religion of Peace.