Dollars are fungible (and see here). So what's the better value? Space exploration or a 10 year military occupation? Believe it or not, the U.S. has been spending a similar amount on each, year after year. Come to think of it, does endless war have any value to anyone other than politicians and military contractors?
I had long thought of Ireland as being a country where most people followed a religion. That's changing fast, according to a recent article in the Telegraph:
The Republic of Ireland is abandoning religion faster than almost every other country worldwide, a massive global survey on faith reveals. An overwhelming 69% of Irish people declared themselves to be "a religious person" in the last survey conducted in 2005, but this has now plummeted to 47%.
The 2012 Missouri primary had several important lessons to impart. The first, which I may have discussed in previous election years, is that the way to bring the "correct" voters to the polls is to have an apparently innocuous but important candidate or issue and a loud, contentious issue or candidate that only seems to matter to one side.
In this primary cycle, there was a preponderance of hotly contested Republican seats, and a very dangerous, never advertised Tea Party constitutional amendment. Republicans came out to vote overwhelmingly, and the Amendment passed resoundingly.
The full body of the amendment is at the bottom of this article.
Basically on the ballot it read as if it was just reinforcing the first clause of the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Oatmeal has presented a series of lessons on "How to Suck at Your Religion." This should be required reading for all parents and religious leaders.
Congratulations to the brilliant scientists at NASA!
I hope the Tea Partiers realize that this unprecedentedly complex MARS landing was accomplished by NASA, which is part of the GOVERNMENT.