Curiosity is an antidote to fear––and it has all sorts of unintended excellent consequences:
overall the improvements to veterinary science due to curiosity far outweigh the risks to individual cats.
Along those lines, I approve of my country spending tax money on space exploration... AND on social well-being.
It's not a zero-sum game--we could do both.
We could use some of the $6.4 trillion* we've spent on war on those things instead.
I mean, it's insane that my county healthcare system has to ask the public to send them nickles and dimes during this crisis.
(I sent them $50.)
* * * I'm curious:
Are you donating to different causes than you usually do at this time, or otherwise supporting them (buying gift cards, etc.)?
If so, which ones?
Anyway, I like NASA, and I like stories about space exploration, especially when they include Average Folks.
I. "Missing pieces are part of the puzzle."
I don't like puzzles, but HM does. She's worked all of hers, so I offered her this "Astronauts of Apollo 11" puzzle from 1969. (I got it from the thrift store because I like the box.)
"It's probably missing pieces," I said.
"I consider missing pieces part of the puzzle," she said.
As it turned out, the missing spots are nicely spread out, and nowhere too important. (Michael Collins didn't need that cheek.)
The girlettes cheered its completeion this morning: "We have landed!"
II. "Sputnik landed here...Why don't you?"
SPUTNIKFEST???
Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has a Sputnikfest?
How did I not know this? I'm from Madison, Wisc., and Manitowoc is near(ish) where my auntie still lives.
This year's fest is Saturday, September 12.
That's near my auntie's 95th birthday--pandemic permitting, maybe bink and I can take a trip and celebrate both!
The fest celebrates the crash landing of a 20-lb. piece of Sputnik IV onto a Manitowoc street, on September 5, 1962:
I learned about this from comic Charlie Berens, host of the online "news" Manitowoc Minute, (in this episode)--who has been doing quarantine videos. I've mentioned his "How to Make a Bloody Mary" inspired me.
III. Bringing Columbia Home
Speaking of debris, I picked up this book from a Little Free Library:
It's a first-hand account of experts and locals searching for the debris of the Columbia space shuttle,
which fell apart with its seven-person crew on February 1, 2003.
From the SpaceNews review:
* "$6.4 trillion", via www.cnbc.com/2019/11/20/us-spent-6point4-trillion-on-middle-east-wars-since-2001-study.html Also:
overall the improvements to veterinary science due to curiosity far outweigh the risks to individual cats.
Along those lines, I approve of my country spending tax money on space exploration... AND on social well-being.
It's not a zero-sum game--we could do both.
We could use some of the $6.4 trillion* we've spent on war on those things instead.
I mean, it's insane that my county healthcare system has to ask the public to send them nickles and dimes during this crisis.
(I sent them $50.)
* * * I'm curious:
Are you donating to different causes than you usually do at this time, or otherwise supporting them (buying gift cards, etc.)?
If so, which ones?
Anyway, I like NASA, and I like stories about space exploration, especially when they include Average Folks.
I. "Missing pieces are part of the puzzle."
I don't like puzzles, but HM does. She's worked all of hers, so I offered her this "Astronauts of Apollo 11" puzzle from 1969. (I got it from the thrift store because I like the box.)
"It's probably missing pieces," I said.
"I consider missing pieces part of the puzzle," she said.
As it turned out, the missing spots are nicely spread out, and nowhere too important. (Michael Collins didn't need that cheek.)
The girlettes cheered its completeion this morning: "We have landed!"
II. "Sputnik landed here...Why don't you?"
SPUTNIKFEST???
Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has a Sputnikfest?
How did I not know this? I'm from Madison, Wisc., and Manitowoc is near(ish) where my auntie still lives.
This year's fest is Saturday, September 12.
That's near my auntie's 95th birthday--pandemic permitting, maybe bink and I can take a trip and celebrate both!
The fest celebrates the crash landing of a 20-lb. piece of Sputnik IV onto a Manitowoc street, on September 5, 1962:
"The impact of the piece embedded it three inches in the blacktop pavement.
Later, small charred fragments were found on a nearby church roof, but despite an intensive search, no other fragments of Sputnik IV were ever found."
III. Bringing Columbia Home
Speaking of debris, I picked up this book from a Little Free Library:
It's a first-hand account of experts and locals searching for the debris of the Columbia space shuttle,
which fell apart with its seven-person crew on February 1, 2003.
From the SpaceNews review:
"That work ultimately involved a diverse group that included ... volunteers who helped search for debris spread across a long path in east Texas._______________________________________
"The small towns that became staging areas for the recovery efforts also offered tremendous support, taking care of the search and investigation teams."
* "$6.4 trillion", via www.cnbc.com/2019/11/20/us-spent-6point4-trillion-on-middle-east-wars-since-2001-study.html Also:
"The United States has spent $6.4 trillion on wars that have killed 480,000 people since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, says a new report.The fighting... has created 21 million refugees and displaced persons, says the report by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. The U.S. government is conducting counterterror activities in 80 countries, it said."
No comments:
Post a Comment