[FPSPACE] NASA wary of relying on Russia

[Jens Kieffer-Olsen]

-----Original Message-----
From: James Oberg [mailto:jeoberg at comcast.net] 
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 5:25 PM
 
> I'm am sure that if the Beijing regime had the
> governing methodology of the 'outlaws' in Taipei,
> there would be no call to being nasty. Or if you had
> the tolerance of tyranny so popular in many cultural
> niches in Europe (and the US) these days, no need for passing
> judgment at all. As for Beijing, it would also help
> if they had the industrial contamination standards of.
> say, Thailand <that's an intended tease>.
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Phillip Clark" <phillipclark at btinternet.com>
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 10:33 AM
> 
> > I am sure that if the United Stated stopped being nasty to 
> > the Chinese, then there might be the offer to fly NASA
> > astronauts on a Shenzhou.
> >
> > Phillip Clark

 Democracy is a good thing it seems, except when an election
 result gets muddy. Many Goreniks - both within the US and in
 Europe - thrive on a myth of their man being robbed from
 victory in November 2000, when in fact reality was that the
 inaccuracy generated by jittery voting machines in Seminoleland
 was larger than the tiny surplus of Bushnut votes. 

 On one occasion Cuban president Fidel Castro - peace be with
 him - characterized two US presidential candidates by saying:
 "One is bad, the other one is worse". ( I guess a NASA center
 is named after the bad guy, and that the even worse fella was
 one Barry G. from Az. :-)

 But for democracy to succeed there must be seen to exist
 a choice between a good guy and an even better guy or gal.

 While the West is keen to export the idea of democratic
 elections, there seems to be no provision for hung results
 in the package. Lately, Kenya has shown how dangerous and
 fragile democracy really is, when elections end up too
 close to allow either candidate to acknowledge defeat. 

 It's to be hoped and expected that China will hold free
 elections some day, but not as long as an indecisive result
 may result in bloodshed. It can hardly be reassuring for
 them to witness the negative reactions from the West to the
 stability that Vladimir V. Putin vouches for in Russia. 

--
Jens Kieffer-Olsen
Slagelse, Denmark