Sad

I am sad. I chose McCain and he lost. While I do not believe he was the best man for the job, I don't believe Obama is either. There were many things wrong with both as well as many good things. I am proud that I live in a country where a black man was able to run and win the highest position in the country. What I am not proud of is the fact that we live in a country where a woman is still questioned on her commitment to her family, and her ability to serve just because she is a woman/mother. I never heard anyone ask Obama what it would do to his children to be raised without their father present at their dance recitals, or school plays or even at home in the evening to help them with their homework but Palin was asked in some sort of fashion all of these. They questioned her ability to be a good mother but not once did they ever question Obama's ability to be a good dad. What this says to me is that while we live in a country where all men are created equal, it means just that, all men but doesn't necessarily include women. We might have crashed through the glass ceiling for black men, but that ceiling is still very present for women. While they might not be able to ask it, employers still look at women and think how long will she be here until she leaves to raise her children. How much time/money will we loose while she is on maternity leave, the same isn't asked about men. Maybe one day a woman's ability to be a mother and serve her country will not be questioned, just her ability to do an adequate job for which she is applying for.

What upsets me too is the fact that with this Obama win my job is in jeopardy. Obama does not believe in NASA or space exploration. This is good for Russia, China, India, Iran, and Europe but bad for the US. When we step aside those guys will step in to take our place, our pursuit of space is for good, but can we say the same for China or India? The technology that we might invite would be used for good but can the same be said for them? It's like handing the key's to the asylum to the inmates and expecting them not to use them to get themselves out. He wants to cut our budget and it use it for other things because space exploration isn't important to him. I get that, not everyone sees the importance but I do. There are numerous things in our lives that are because of our pursuit of space exploration. If it wasn't for the adventurous spirit, Columbus wouldn't have wanted to find a quicker route to Asia and finding North America instead, man wouldn't have tried to fly and invented the airplane etc. Adventure keeps the human spirit going without it we are just surviving. To say my job is unimportant is just as silly as me saying we don't need doctors or lawyers or social workers. If we just took care of ourselves we wouldn't need a doctor to fix our ills, if we just stayed out of trouble and followed the letter of the law we wouldn't need lawyers, if we took care of our kids and our elderly parents we wouldn't need social workers. We are all important.

Why Space -
Prevention of environmental disaster: Remote sensing satellites allow us to monitor the ozone hole, global warming, air, water and ocean pollution, the effect of oil spills on the melting of the ice caps, the loss of rain forests and other environmental threats to human survival. These systems can help us trace our recovery from the worst environmental threats and improve our quality of life.

Creating a global network for modern communications, entertainment and networking: Advanced satellites provide global connectivity by means of the telephone, fax, the Internet, radio and television extend far beyond the reach of fiber optic cables. Eleven thousand television channels are now available via satellite and well over 200 countries and territories are linked via satellite.

Global education and health services: Over 2 billion of the 6 billion people in our world today lack formal educational systems, health care services, potable water or power. The only way to provide global education and health care services in coming decades at reasonable cost and broad coverage is via space-based communication systems. Socrates once said, there is only one good knowledge, and only one evil -- ignorance. In an age of terrorism and great intolerance the need for global education is ever more important.

Cheap and environmentally friendly energy: NASA scientists and engineers already have gone a long way to develop space technology that can provide unlimited low cost energy from space. The operational systems, however, still need to be developed and proven in practice.

Transportation safety: The 6,000 commercial airplanes that are aloft at one time during peak periods in the U.S. depend on satellite navigation for safe operation. New systems can provide better fuel efficiency, earlier warnings of safety hazards and alert of terrorist attack. This is but one of the ways that future space systems can provide greater transportation safety in decades to come.

Emergency warning and recovery systems: The ability to warn populations of pending dangers from hurricanes, monsoons, tidal waves, fires and earthquakes are increasingly dependent on space-based systems. Further rescue operations, from emergency communications to disaster assessment to recovery operations, are dependent on satellite networks as well. Protection of our information networks from cyberterrorists: Many of our current electronic information networks that control transportation systems, energy grids, banking systems and governmental databases are vulnerable. Public Key Infrastructure systems are in need of upgrade. New types of security systems based on GPS location and encryption systems are dependent on space-based systems.

National defense and strategic security: Space has been called the high frontier. National security systems are increasingly based on smart technologies and instruments that operate in outer space. Ever since Operation Desert Storm, military operations are based heavily on space systems and future systems will be even more so.

Protection against catastrophic planetary accidents: It is easy to assume that an erratic meteor or comet will not bring destruction to the Earth because the probabilities are low. The truth is we are bombarded from space daily. The dangers are greatest not from a cataclysmic collision, but from not knowing enough about solar storms, cosmic radiation and the ozone layer. An enhanced Spaceguard Program is actually a prudent course that could save our species in time.

Creation of new jobs and Industries -- a new vision for the 21st century and a mandate to explore truly new frontiers: Most of the economically advanced countries such as Japan, Canada, Australia and Europe, not to mention China, India and Russia, use their space programs to stimulate their economy, expand their educational and health care networks, improve their agriculture, upgrade their information networks, enhance their entertainment networks and create new jobs. In this respect the
(from SPACE.com)

They said it better than I could -

Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is the built in genetic predisposition to expand into all possible niches.
Culturally nearly every successful civilization has been willing to explore. In exploring, dangers of surrounding areas may be learned and
prepared for. Dangers may be political enemies in neighboring cultures, physical features of the area, a change in the area which might effect
food supplies or any other number of factors. All pose a real danger and all may be made less dangerous if certain preparations are made. Without knowledge, the danger may strike and completely destroy. With knowledge, the effects or consequences may be lessened.
Exploration also allows resources to be located. Resources translate into power and success at survival. Whether the success be
financial, political or genetic additional resources are always a boon when used wisely. In any of the three manners, use of resources allows a
heightened percentage for survival. If the resources have no immediate need, then perhaps later the resources will be used.
Resources may be more than physical assets. Knowledge or techniques acquired in exploring or preparing to explore always filter from the
developers to the general populace. Techniques may be medical applications, uses for drugs or ways of living to increase the quantity of time lived or the quality of that time. Techniques may be social, allowing the people in a society to better understand those within or outside the culture. Better understanding may lead to better use of resources or a lessening of outright competition for the resources.
While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows the creative, the brave, the intelligence of
our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The chance of a large asteroid or comet hitting the earth is small. But given time, it will happen. Several current models of evolution propose many changes in a very short time period. Some explanations for the drastic speed of extinction and evolution include strikes by asteroids or comets.
Human technology is reaching the point where it might be able to detect such a threat and allow us to do something about it. The danger
exist, knowledge can allow us as a species to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.
While Earth is the only planet known to sustain life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow other planets and moons to become
inhabited. True the life style would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future. Our
genetic makeup will allow humans to move into unoccupied niches and flourish.
The culture group holding the high ground, in this case space, has attained a great advantage over other groups. It can see farther, act sooner and be safer from attack. In space all of these things are true. The culture which expands is like and organism which adapts. It may be found everywhere. If one group is eliminated, the species as a whole survives.
The old adage, do not put all your eggs in one basket hold true for humans and cultures. The more a culture expands, the less chance of it
becoming extinct. Space allows us to expand and succeed.