Whether you like your science hard or with a bit of fiction on the side, Barack Obama has the Right Stuff to take America into the future. Obama has long praised and supported NASA, recognizing that it has been crippled by eight years of underfunding and programs designed for political expediency. He knows that NASA has fallen on hard times and has detailed plans for turning it around. These forward thinking policies have won him the support of many in the aerospace industry. Obama has never waivered from his promise to increase spending at NASA and has set a clear vision for its future.

Obama has the right stuff to take us into the future.

As for John McCain, despite recent comments that NASA would not fall prey to his federal spending freeze, he is now waffling on funding. Just this week, he made confusing statements that NASA would have it’s budget frozen. Given his indecisiveness, and the fact that he has not laid out any clear vision other than the same-ol-same-ol of the Bush administration, there is little doubt that a McCain administration will be no friend to space flight.

Human space-flight is vital to this country! And Barack Obama knows that. That’s why veteran astronauts like John Glenn and Bill Nelson have long endorsed him. Now former Space Shuttle astronaut Dr. Dan Barry, founder and past president of the Association of Space Explorers Rusty Schweickart, and former Space Shuttle astronaut Dr. Kathy Thornton all signed on to be Obamanauts in order to show their support for Sen. Barack Obama’s space policies.

Other Obamanauts, like the first American woman in space Sally Ride, are speaking up for Barack Obama, because they know the stakes are just too high. We need someone in the White House who can lead us into a future of peace and prosperity in space, not drag us back into the mistakes of the past. She says in her editorial:

Obama also has impressed me with his grasp of the challenges our space program faces and his agenda for where we go from here. Obama clearly understands the importance of human spaceflight and exploration.

Even noted pointy-eared alien, actor Lenord Nemoy seems to have a fondness for Obama, talking about meeting him at an event where they exchanged the hopeful Vulcan greeting “Live Long and Prosper.”

There are a lot of reasons to vote for Barack Obama, and even reasons not to vote for him. However, If you simply do not trust Barack Obama, if you are paranoid that he is not what he seems to be,  then there is little I can say to you. But I can at least ask you to open your mind for a moment and know that Obama’s vision of the future is one of hope, exploration, inclusivity, and, yes, adventure, the same vision that Gene Rodenbery had for our future in Star Trek. In Star Trek, Rodenberry asked us to believe that humanity would boldly go into space to make our own world better.

Isn’t it time we elected a president with the right stuff to get us back on the right track?

Tags: Culture, Politics, Science, Technology by Jason Cranford Teague
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Join Us!

A few weeks ago, my friend Tim Baily was looking for a logo to use for a new group supporting Barack Obama’s Space Exploration Policies called the Obamanauts; I immediately volunteered. We took the standard Obama “O”, then added a star field in the background and a swooshing space-ship (inspired by the old Loony Tunes cartoons with Ralph Phillips saving the earth from alien invasion.) I matched the fonts as closely as I could and then created a bumper sticker to be given out at an upcoming Obamanauts rally in Florida. It was a big hit.

If you are a US citizen, you need to consider a lot of important issues when deciding who to cast your vote for in the upcoming US Presidential Election. The economy, energy, education, health-care, and the security of this country from attack are all crucial.  Yet everyone has issues that are more important to them than others, which will often help tip your vote in favor of one or the other candidates. For myself and many others, one of the most vital issues facing the US is its place in space exploration.

Why Space Exploration? Aren’t there more pressing issues? When you think about it, America’s role in space exploration touches on the most pressing issues that are being discussed:

• Security: We increasingly rely on satellite technology to allow us to know what is going on in the world without the need to put people into harm’s way.
• Health-care: New medicines are being developed in zero-g laboratories that cannot be mimicked on earth.
• Education: Space Exploration relies on an educated population, one that understands science and its role in our lives.
• Energy: Space Exploration has always pushed the boundaries of our energy sources. In fact many of the “alternative” fuel sources today were initially developed by NASA for use in space.
• Economy: What makes our economy strong is a secure, healthy, and well educated population that is not dependent on foreign governments for the energy that powers that economy (see above).

Compare Obama’s and McCain’s plans side by side, and I believe that you will find on all of these issues Barack Obama has the best, most forward thinking, plan.  Whereas McCain gives the same lip service to NASA that previous presidents have always given (while also ominously stressing its military importance), Obama talks about the need to fundamentally restructure an institution for the 21st century.

When I was growing up, NASA united Americans to a common purpose and inspired the world with accomplishments we are still proud of.  Today, NASA is an organization that impacts many facets of American life.  I believe NASA needs an inspirational vision for the 21st Century.  My vision will build on the great goals set forth in recent years, to maintain a robust program of human space exploration and ensure the fulfillment of NASA’s mission.  Together, we can ensure that NASA again reflects all that is best about our country and continue our nation’s preeminence in space.

Barack Obama

When I was growing up, NASA was the pride of this country. The National Air and Space Administration had taken the US and the World  to the moon and was poised for yet greater missions. Then a series of mostly Republican Administrations scaled NASA back, first removing the luster and then the pride from this important organization. Over the years, what once represented the future and greatness of the US  has increasingly become the butt of jokes.

Although we are facing difficult financial times, Obama still talks with pride about NASA and what he will do to put it back on track. This is why I am proud to tbe an Obamanaut.

If you want to be an Obamanaut, you can get bumper stickers, buttons, and T-shirts from Zazzle.

Tags: Culture, Politics, Science, Technology by Jason Cranford Teague
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Was John McCain Brainwashed?

Was john McCain braiwashed by the Chinese while he was a POW in Vietnam? Was he programmed to destroy the American way of life by reaching the highest levels of power and then subverting the foundations of our democracy?

Some think so. Let’s look at the facts:

• John McCain was a POW in Northern Vietnam for years where he was tortured and could have been programed by his captors as a deep cover agent to be triggered at the opportune moment.
• John McCain turned his back on the military traditions of his family to follow a less than certain career in politics.
• John McCain abandoned American POW/MIAs in order to normalize relations with Vietnam.
• John McCain has voted to extend most favored trading status to China, a Communist government.
• John McCain choose as his VP running mate a woman who who hates America so much that she hangs out with Militant Alaskan separatists.

So, is John McCain the Manchurian candidate who will, when the trigger is given, leap up and destroy this “Country First?”

No, he is not.

I can support all of the statements I made above, but all of the statements above are complete crap, just like all of the statements that Sarah Palin is making about Barack Obama are complete crap.

John McCain is no more a deep cover operative for the Chinese government than Barack Obama is a sleeper agent for Al-Qaeda. Anyone making or implying either of these accusations is suffering from paranoid delusions so great that they should seek professional help immediately.

Of course, the fact that both claims are absurd does not stop Sarah Palin from saying that Obama “hangs out with terrorists.” She then gives us one of her patented little winks to let us all know what she really means: Barack Obama is a closet Muslim terrorist who will steal your Bible and kill you in your sleep.

If you are even entertaining the possibility that the venomous madness that Sarah Palin is spewing could be true, please stop and think about your own friends and work mates and whether–just by knowing them–you should take accountability for everything they have ever said or done. Yeah, I didn’t think so. But that is all that Sarah Palin is saying, and, like everything else she says, it is a hollow message born out of desperation.

Tags: Culture, Politics by Jason Cranford Teague
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Who will end the war on science?

ScienceDebate2008 is committed to discussing today’s most important scientific issues and the candidate’s stand on each. To go even further and allow for public feedback, ScienceDebate2008 will allow you to read each position statement and then rate McCain’s and Obama’s responses with a letter grade from A to F. There are 14 topics and a 15th open discussion topic where you can post your own question for the candidates.

With all of the events of the past few weeks in the U.S. economic markets, many vital issues  are being overlooked by the majority of voters thinking about who they want for President. Although the collapse of huge multi-national investment firms may seem important now, where the candidates stand on scientific and technology issues will have a greater impact on on your daily life in the long run.After all, Wall Street might collect wealth, but it’s science and technology that makes it.

There is little debate amongst scientists that the Bush administration has waged a war on science. This Republican administration is infamous for ignoring or undermining scientific consensus and cherry picking scientific results that support their ideology. The next administration will have to correct this trend for the US to remain a leader in the 21st century.

We need to know what the candidates say now on these issues so that we can hold them accountable later for their actions. ScienceDebate2008 places both McCain’s and Obama’s position statements side-by-side for easy comparison.

Go, vote now, and let me know what you think, and if you posted a 15th question (mine is the third in the list) tell us about it here.

The 14 topics covered are:

1. Innovation
2. Climate Change
3. Energy
4. Education
5. National Security
6. Pandemics/Biosecurity
7. Genetics Research
8. Stem Cells
9. Ocean Health
10. Water
11. Space
12. Scientific Integrity
13. Research
14. Health

Tags: Politics, Science by Jason Cranford Teague
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