A CANCER is overtaking our space agency: the routine acquiescence to immense cost increases in projects.

this man comes across as a fool
all major spending projects go massively over budget - that's not a cancer - he's just trying to position himself to get a new job at NASA under the new administration
major spending projects go over budget - accept that and when they do you are forced to make choices between projects
I think he has a point that sometimes this is due to mission creep which is a more controllable factor but it is also a reality of political infighting between projects if the author lost some battles and left NASA don't cry about it now
plus when the spending control pencil pushers take charge NASA and science tend to be the losers

Op-Ed Contributor - NASA’s Black Hole Budgets - NYTimes.com

The odd expletive escapes most people's mouths in times of stress, but when we fall back on swear words just for effect have we really just run out of ideas, asks Clive James.

a plea for not puritanism but a little quality language
I regard Gordon Ramsey and his incessant swearing as the worst sort of bully
an essay about shock value, its diminishing returns and a plea for a wider range of registers, subtlety and nuance
I swear and I am no puritan but I love language and ideas and would contrast Oscar Wilde's wit and cutting remarks that still bring a smile, using language as a rapier, with Gordan Ramsey's blitzkreig storm signifying nothing, not adding to the world, just adding to his own cult - he is "the expert" and that somehow legitimates his behaviour - he (and Simon Cowell) are Emperors with no clothes. (I got off the subject but nevermind - a little rant)

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Turning the air blue

Barack Obama’s most difficult international test in the next year will very likely be here in Pakistan. A country with 170 million people and up to 60 nuclear weapons may be collapsing.

Op-Ed Columnist - The Pakistan Test - NYTimes.com

WHEN President Bill Clinton pardoned a billionaire fugitive from justice on his last day in office, even usually loyal Democrats were dismayed. Representative Henry Waxman of California called it “bad precedent” and “an end run around the judicial process.” He said it appeared to set a double standard for the wealthy and powerful.

Op-Ed Contributor - A Pardon to Remember - NYTimes.com

With so much attention understandably focused on the economy and the incoming administration, the struggles being faced by G.I.’s coming home from combat overseas are receding even further from the public’s consciousness.

Op-Ed Columnist - Help Is on the Way - NYTimes.com

"Scientific American is reporting that 'data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter point to vast glaciers buried beneath thin layers of crustal debris.' Data from the surface-penetrating radar on MRO revealed that two well-known mid-latitude features are composed of solid water ice. One is about three times the size of the City of Los Angeles. This certainly makes the idea of establishing a station on Mars far more plausible."

Slashdot | Massive Martian Glaciers Found

Afghanistan’s swift unraveling has created new — and in some quarters unrealistic — enthusiasm for talks with the Taliban.

Editorial - Talking With the Taliban - NYTimes.com

SAY NO! to a bailout of the automakers.

Here, here! Online petitions are getting a slow start, so email your reps directly.

Senator Chambliss contact form
Senator Isakson contact form
District 6 Representative Tom Price contact form

Granted, these guys are all Republicans from GA, so accordingly they only sponsor bullshit legislation, but its worth emailing them anyway. My email text is below.

Dear So-and-so,

Please vote against the bailout of the US automakers. They have been operating inefficiently for 30 years and are finally being brought to bear. They need to file for bankruptcy, purge their management pool, eradicate the bloated unions, and streamline their operations, all of which they can do probably quite successfully without my tax money. They need bankruptcy to encourage them to finally innovate and quit lobbying against every major safety and fuel efficiency advance in this country. They’re already making efficient cars, they’re just not selling them here!

This is capitalism, and this is what companies do in this country, they don't fly to DC and beg for alms. It’s a waste of money in an already wasteful government and will only prolong the inevitable since the companies will have absolutely no impetus to avoid future bailouts. Also, I reject the notion that Detroit workers are worth more than other workers at other companies. This will only snowball into a feeding frenzy among failing companies. In this economy, we need to encourage strong, viable companies, not propped up puppet-companies.

Regards, your-name-here.

-janelane

Update: Chambliss speaks!

Dear Mrs. Hoffman :

Thank you for contacting me regarding a financial rescue of the automakers. It is good to hear from you.

The automobile industry has deep seated problems that cannot only be solved by more money. Instead, a restructuring of the industry is needed. I am not in favor of using taxpayer funds to bailout the industry.

Obama asks Bush to provide help for automakers - International Herald Tribune

Scientists in Spain have carried out the world's first tissue-engineered whole organ transplant - a windpipe - made with a patient's own stem cells.

BBC NEWS | Health | Windpipe transplant breakthrough

There is nothing meh about the journey of the latest entry in the Collins English Dictionary. Rather, it illustrates how e-mail and the internet are creating language.

“Meh” started out in the US and Canada as an interjection signifying mediocrity or indifference and has evolved, via the internet and an episode of The Simpsons, into a common adjective meaning boring, apathetic or unimpressive in British English.
...
"..People are increasingly writing in a register somewhere in between spoken and written English.”

Meh chosen for 30th anniversary of Collins English Dictionary - Times Online