Disaster Area

Amy Winehouse Dead - Wow

It was all too easy to make fun of her, what with her amazing propensity for self-destruction and numerous trips to rehab, but it's still sad to see this happen. RIP

Rick Perry for President - Let's Not Go There

Remember the last time we had a Texas governor for President? Didn't that go well?

Well, let's not repeat that egregious misstep.

Rick Perry has opined about many things and shown himself to be less than smart, but his latest tirade attempts to blame the current president (in office 2 years and 6 months) for decisions that are the result of decades of poor political leadership on space issues and gross mismanagement at NASA.

"Forty-two years ago yesterday, America captured the world's imagination by putting a man on the moon, highlighting an era of excellence in space exploration. Unfortunately, with the final landing of the Shuttle Atlantis and no indication of plans for future missions, this administration has set a significantly different milestone by shutting down our nation's legacy of leadership in human spaceflight and exploration, leaving American astronauts with no alternative but to hitchhike into space.

"The Obama Administration continues to lead federal agencies and programs astray, this time forcing NASA away from its original purpose of space exploration, and ignoring its groundbreaking past and enormous future potential. It is time to restore NASA to its core purpose of manned space exploration, and to define our vision for 21st Century space exploration, not in terms of what we cannot do, but instead in terms of what we will do."

Yes, how dare President Obama shut down a shuttle program (photo: Shuttle re-entry to earth taken from the ISS) that features hardware that was conceptualized in the 60's, designed and built in the 70's and flown for 30 years! The flight computers on the shuttle are less powerful than a Commodore 64. They are barely better than a four function calculator. When you consider all the other systems on the airplane that cost a fortune to maintain and the fragility of the shuttle overall, it's remarkable that it has been as successful as it has been and that it lasted so long.

Is Rick Perry driving a 1981 Chevy Monte Carlo with a tank of rocket fuel in the trunk that could explode any minute? I don't think so.

Programs like the Space Shuttle take 20 years to come to fruition, so the time to be working on it was... 1990. Even 1980. But was it? Hell no. The political process gets worse and worse for pushing through visionary programs that look ahead decades. In retrospect it's amazing the shuttle managed to stay funded through the turmoil of the seventies.

So if there's blame to be laid at anyone's feet it should be laid at the feet of Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr. and the Congressional members of the same era for 20 years of a spectacular collective failure to see a way forward and fund it. It wouldn't have hurt them to appoint NASA amdinistrators who weren't political flacks either. 

And let's not forget where NASA Mission Control is located... Pork barrel politics coninues unabated.

I Hope He Was Wrong About Eternal Damnation!

...aka a plug for my friend Tim Mathis' ebook, available for a mere $0.99 on Amazon.

The proper title is:

I Hope I Was Wrong About Eternal Damnation! or, Losing Faith for the Avant-garde Christian

Tim Mathis

An interesting read in these tumultuous times...

Oh, Now All Of a Sudden We're Concerned, Eh?

The imminent encroachment by fake African-ordained priests is about to hit the Church of England, and all of a sudden, the Archbishop of Canterbury begins to see the light on why this might not be such a great idea...

From the Archbish himself:

The announcement of the creation an 'Anglican Mission in England' prompts concern for a number of reasons. New mission initiatives are, as such, always good news; and the declared intention of the spokesmen for this new initiative to remain faithful to the structures of the Church of England is welcome.

Cautious opening - not wanting to just come out guns blazing (but then, politeness is what the AMiA/E rely on - hoping not to get called on their antics.)

However (ah, you knew there wuld be a "however), it is not at all clear how the proposed panel of bishops relate to the proper oversight of the diocesan bishops of the Church of England. Nor is there any definition of what the issues are that might be thought to justify appeal to such a panel rather than the use of normal procedures. Furthermore, the ordination of three English candidates to the diaconate in Kenya with a view to service in England is problematic. It is not clear what process of recognised scrutiny and formation has taken place and how, in the absence of Letters Dimissory (the relevant formal letters from the sponsoring bishop), they have come to be recommended as candidates for ordination by the authorities of another province.

OK, here's the disingenuous "I wonder how they came to do this?" line.

The issue is one of episcopal collegiality.  There needs to be some further discussion of this development between those involved and the diocesan bishops of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury has had the opportunity to speak with the Archbishop of Kenya about the situation: the good faith and fraternal good intentions of our Kenyan colleagues are not at all in question, but it seems that there were misunderstandings of the precise requirements of English Canon Law and good practice as regards the recommendation of candidates for ordination and deployment in mission. It is hoped that an early opportunity will be found to clarify what this new initiative seeks to achieve if it is truly to serve God's mission in the most effective and collaborative way.

"Misunderstandings", eh? Either the ABC is the most naive man on the planet, or there will be some consequences. From my vantage point it's about a toss-up at this point.

Welcome to the world of TEC, Archbish!!!