Critical space projects are suffering or dying and India reaps NASA windfall despite political danger all to feed Bush's "back to the moon" ego.
In what appears to be a Bush attempt at out-Kennedying JFK, ‘ol GW apparently is slashing NASA’s research funds by $59.8 billion in order to make budgetary room to salvage his pompous and extravagant scheme to get a moon base in his name set up by 2020 and a Mars mission soon after. Of course financing it will become another administration’s problem, having no choice but to find a way to fund it long after he’s gone due to the money already spent on it by then. His pet moon project has already cost us taxpayers dearly, and it is estimated to grow to $3.98 billion by 2007. (Funds in my opinion that could definitely be better used armoring soldiers' vehicles in Iraq or saving our vanishing middle class from extinction.)…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Jet in Columbus
PS thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
27 - Jet in Columbus
Yeah Chantal but where's Lily Tomlin when you need her?
28 - Joey
Right on Chantel.
40 years ago it may have been a priority. It's not now. Let's fix the earth. Then worry about the moon.
29 - Jet in Columbus
thanks Joey. what did you think of the article?
30 - Joey
"After all look how old the tech is on the Shuttle? lol" -- Jet #8
Jet, there is a reason the computers are so outdated on the shuttle.
And it has to do with testing the chipsets against operating conditions in areas of high radiation. I think they're operating on 486 technology... up from 386, however the pentium threw them a loop. Totally different design, and perhaps prone to failer in environments containing high rates of radiation (i.e. outside of the Van Allen belt).
That's the answer. And the Scientists are not going to approve anything until it has been carefully studied. It's been going on for years, and really has nothing to do with expenditure. How costly is a new box? Nothing.
Here's another factoid... the computer chips in your car, are far and above the technology employed in the lunar excursion module (LEM) i.e. the lunar lander.
31 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Joey but I meant about how Bush is so hellbent on his pet project that he's sacrificing more important projects.
Thanks for the computer info. I'm thinking of doing an article on Microsoft's new operation system Vista soon.
32 - Joey
Jet,
As much as I love science, space exploration etc... Now is not the time. I see Bush's point in keeping the JFK flame alive (I almost said KFC).... and science needs money to keep ahead of the technology game.
Look at submarines. The U.S. has bar-none the most advanced underseas capability ever... should be scrap it? Think about the science involved, about the technology developed, about futhering technology to the civilian sector. It's not going to happen with corporate America involved. They are only concerned with profit.
What happens when the FEDGOV starts throwing money around is that Universities start receiving project grants, our youth become involved, technology advances and those within those university programs... advance their learning. It's significant. It involves alot of people. It is good for America.... So now we involve India. As much as I like India... is it good for the American researcher (i.e. the university student)? I don't know. Is India wearing out the shoe leather on this? Or, are American University's doing the traditional grunt work and sending the design work to India for manufacture?
I don't know. India's capability of machining the design's is not a big stretch... but shorting American University's in grants etc... and abusing the mind trust involved in that work to outside sources... on the taxpayer's dime is not correct.
So, what exactly are we doing? Sending R & D work to India, or production work?
In my mind, that's the meat of the issue.
33 - Jet in Columbus
Joey, as I see it Bush isn't trying to keep the JFK flame alive; he's trying to replace it with his own.
He's also bowing to creationalist fundumentalists by trying to supress science and astronomical proof of just how old the universe actually is.
34 - Jet in Columbus
Since Bush cut funds for students to pour over data from space probes, did you want Indian university students doing that too?
35 - RJ Elliott
"While you're at it, eliminate aid to Egypt, as well as Israel. I agree with eliminating aid to Israel, BTW."
Okay, I agree with that. No funding for Israel OR Egypt...even more savings! :)
36 - RJ Elliott
"Bush has stated repeatedly that he's a religious fatalist and believes that God is coming soon to reclaim us."
Uh, cite? I mean, complete with Armageddon and all...
37 - Jet in Columbus
RJ#32 So you're advocating more cutback so he can build his moonbase?
38 - Jet in Columbus
Chantal#24 The only thing I can figure is that Bush wants his name on the Moonbase or to have Kennedy space center named after him.
When everything is tallied, he's as mediocre a president as his father, though he's doing thing that in the long haul are either going to take a lot in the future to undo (constitutional changes) os he needs something named after him like an airport or something.
Who knows
39 - Victor Plenty
Mars first. Then the asteroids. Mine the asteroids so we can stop mining Earth. Harvest He-3 from the gas giant planets to fuel fusion reactors so we can stop burning up all our oil and coal. Use the wealth of the solar system to make human civilization healthy and sustainable on both Earth and Mars, so we don't have all our eggs in one basket.
After we've done all that, then, maybe, it could be worth the effort to go back to the moon.
40 - Jet in Columbus
Victor #39 I agree, but in order to do that we need the telescopes and scientific intruments that the Bush administration is cutting the funds for so he can have his moon base.
41 - Victor Plenty
We can reach Mars without telescopes pointed at distant star systems. We can mine the asteroids without attempting to refine our understanding of the age of the universe. We can expand human civilization throughout our solar system without needing to measure gravity fluctuations around distant black holes.
Don't get me wrong. I believe we'd benefit in many ways if we had the vision to carry forward both sets of missions. In fact I believe the long term benefits would far outweigh the costs, and be a much better investment in humanity's future than listening to the short term thinkers who want us to divert space science and exploration funding into military programs or social programs.
However, I cannot in good conscience claim we need the cosmology science missions in order to successfully establish human settlements on Mars, to mine the asteroids, or to bring back the energy wealth waiting for us in the atmospheres of the gas giant planets.
42 - Jet in Columbus
Help me conprehend why everyone is so totally unconcerned about the Bush Administration handing over missile tech to India, which will be undoubtedly be used to make ICBMs to threaten China, Pakistan and others, making India a major world power.
Why is everyone so damned unconcerned that millions of reams of scientific and astronomy data is sitting wasted, because the Republican administration won't fund student help so that overworked scientists can benifit from knowledge we already have.
Why is it that no one seems concerned that the Bush administration is allowing "unInteligent design" to be force on our schools, and that for some reason Evolution and Ecology have been branded "theories" and no one is putting up a fight about it!
I can't believe that no one cares how much of our national pride and reputation is being handed to India because they're the lowest bidder on it.
Maybe I had my hopes too high when the editors here praised me for doing astronomy topics when the last guy wandered off; but I'm beginning to see why!
I'm quickly becoming discouraged as the editors of this site have told me that this is the best work I've done yet, and yet no one seems to care except for a few who only want to argue side issues instead of the main topic in the title of this post!
Fluff I get published on Cleveland.com and silliness articles on music I get hundreds of responses.
I'll write articles where very little research is done, and I'm critisized for it, yet pieces like this an no one cares.
What am I doing wrong people?
Should my next article be on B5 or Disney's Highschool musical?
43 - Victor Plenty
Is B5 going to be in Disney's High School Musical??!?!!!1!! (That should get you some more commenters in here...)
44 - Matthew T. Sussman
More comments != Better writing
45 - Victor Plenty
Actually many articles here get no comments at all, so this one's doing fairly well, even if you insist on measuring success by counting comments.
46 - Joey
"Help me conprehend why everyone is so totally unconcerned about the Bush Administration handing over missile tech to India, which will be undoubtedly be used to make ICBMs to threaten China, Pakistan and others, making India a major world power" -- Jet #42
You mentioned that? I didn't read that in the article. What I read was that NASA is outsourcing to India, not that NASA is complimenting India's first strike capability model. China has missile capability, North Korea too. India's launched before, they have some capability already, India also has nuclear capability. India is also the world's largest democracy, India is also threatened by China and Pakistan.
You disguised the ICBM threat very carefully in your article. One could suppose that readers aren't aligned with India's fighting spirit and lust for world domination. Perhaps George Harrison had something to do with that.
47 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Jet, please do not take offense, but articles like this are for the nerds (like me) who care about them. So us nerds comment on them.
BC's focus is on TV, movies, books, even. Read the title again. BLOG CRITICS! I know I'm seriously dating myself here, but the Beverly Hillbillies is NEWS here! So, if I write on Iran, for example, I better take a point of view that hasn't been regurgitated endlessly in the "mainstream" press, something that the talking heads don't talk about. I happen to have a different point of view from most others, and I do honestly believe what I write.
But were I to endlessly regurgitate the huge amounts of trash that come from "moderate right wing Jews", even if it were better written than the other vomitus, it would be as boring as all hell, and would generate one comment, if that.
You're not doing anything wrong, Jet. You're building up your skills as a science writer, so that what you write is sharp, well researched, clearly understandable to Joe Six-Pack and funny as well. Don't worry about the commnents.
When you are getting paid per word, then you can worry about an audience. If you really want to fight over this article, become a Desicritic, post this piece where Indians can read this and get as mad all hell at you for trying to take the outsourcing bread that is feeding them out of their mouths. There, this piece is controverisal. Here, it is just another piece on how Republocrats shortsightedly screw over scientists. This is news?
48 - Victor Plenty
Some of us are glad India has a space program, not just a missile program (like certain other national governments in Asia). In many ways it's actually a good idea to encourage India to use its rocketry capabilities for launching peaceful research and communications satellites.
Many people in the space advocacy community have been wanting something like this for a long time. Human space travel won't really take off (pun intended), they argue, until most of the work is being done profitably by private corporations. And that won't happen until the basic costs of space launches have been brought down to much lower levels than they are now. While I don't agree with the view that this is the only way to go, it is one of several approaches that could work.
On the political level, I'm really not too worried about India getting its hands on better launch technologies. India is one of the world's few functioning democracies. (I'm defining democracy, for this context, as a state where the people's power to change governments without violent revolution is not only a theoretical possibility, but where ruling parties have in fact peacefully stepped down after losing elections.) If India can't be trusted with space launch technologies, then nobody is trustworthy enough to have them.
49 - Jet in Columbus
Jet #42, well this proved your theory, they're reading the comments and not the article. Why read the whole thing when you can use the comments as cliff notes?
Solus mei sententia
Jet
50 - Jet in Columbus
Victor #43 Tell me that isn't all you got out of the article?
51 - Jet in Columbus
Suss#44 is that constructive critisism or just taking another editiorial shot a shitting on my best effort so far?
52 - Jet in Columbus
Joey #46 That's laughable.
You wrote "You mentioned that? I didn't read that in the article. What I read was that NASA is outsourcing to India, Bb>not that NASA is complimenting India's first strike capability model.
Obviously you didn't read the article or you would've read a couple of paragraphs down from Georgie's photo...
Everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that India's four-stage Chandrayann-1 rocket that's going to be used for this mission is also potentially the same device being developed for carrying possible nuclear warheads, and that the research and technology provided by the U.S. could help them toward that end
53 - Jet in Columbus
Joey #46 No not George Harrison, George Bush. India's working sith 10-12 year old missile technology that'll have to be upgraded in order to carry those intruments up for his pet project on the moon. It's not coming from China or Russia, it's coming from us. They're motivated to protect themselves from threats from Pakistan. We're supposed to be allied with Pakistan in the search for bin Laden, but we're giving our friends India rocket tech so India has a first strike capability.
What kind of foriegn policy is that?
54 - Andy Marsh
I'm curious about your answer to comment #36. I've never heard gwb say anything about the end of the world...shouldn't be to hard...you said he's stated this repeatedly.
I thought the congress wrote the budget...and the pres approved or vetoed it...isn't that how it works?
55 - Jet in Columbus
Ruvy 47, no offense is ever taken from you Ruvy, because even if I did feel some I'd know it was unintentional.
I'd say that what draws people to this site is the opinions posted in the comments, not the "Book reviews" wouldn't you?
People keep joyously coming back to see if someone can top the snide remark they just made, or to dispute what they think is an indisputable argument.
Well, that was my impression anyway.
The point is, this article wasn't getting much attention till I had my little self-pitty party.
I've said it before, as a writer I get frustrated that people seem to comment on the comments written here, and it seems most people haven't even bothered to read the article they're based on. I feel really strongly about how Bush is gutting this country's science base in favor or relitious drivvel, and the only reason he's going to the moon is to put money into the pockets of the fat-cats in the aerospace industry, instead of the scientists that are fleeing to other countries because of the "brain drain" we're suffering.
Solus mei sententia
Jet
56 - Jet in Columbus
Victor 48, at the expense of our national pride. At the expense of ignoring NASAs place in world history?
Yes India is a great democracy, but they're also defending themselve against what they percieve as an invader in Kashmir, and having nuclear missile capability and new-found economic mite can do strange things to countries.
57 - Jet in Columbus
Andy 54; Do you really believe that the republican dominated congress is going to say no to that power-mad man, and admit they're not behind him with mid term elections coming up.
CAN WE PLEASE END THE END OF DAYS DISCUSSION FOR CHRIST'S SAKE-IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS ARTICLE.
Go to Google, put in "Bush religious end of days" and hit enter, you'll come up with 24,000,000 entries take you pick... here's mine
Think of Bush's constant reference to "Evildoers" and insistant and constant reference to god's will and then do this...
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
Bush's Armageddon Obsession, Revisited
by MICHAEL ORTIZ HILL
"We are lived by forces we scarcely understand," wrote W.H. Auden. What forces live us now as America again torques toward war?
George W. Bush is certainly the plaything of such forces as the geopolitics of oil but it seems that he is susceptible to other even darker archetypal concerns. Let me be blunt. The man is delusional and the shape of his delusion is specifically apocalyptic in belief and intent. That Bush would attack so many vital systems on so many fronts from foreign policy to the environment may seem confusing from the point of view of realpolitik but becomes transparent in terms of the apocalyptic worldview to which he subscribes. All systems are supposed to go down so the Messiah can come and Bush, seemingly, has taken on the role of the one who brings this to pass.
The Reverend Billy Graham taught Bush to live in anticipation of the Second Coming but it was his friendship with Dr. Tony Evans that shaped Bush's political understanding of how to deport himself in an apocalyptic era. Dr. Evans, the pastor of a large Dallas church and a founder of the Promise Keepers movement taught Bush about "how the world should be seen from a divine viewpoint," according to Dr. Martin Hawkins, Evans assistant pastor.
S.R. Shearer of Antipas Ministries writes, "Most of the leaders of the Promise Keepers embrace a doctrine of 'end time' (eschatology), known as 'dominionim.' Dominionism pictures the seizure of earthly (temporal) power by the 'people of God' as the only means through which the world can be rescued.... It is the eschatology that Bush has imbibed; an eschatology through which he has gradually (and easily) come to see himself as an agent of God who has been called by him to 'restore the earth to God's control', a 'chosen vessel', so to speak, to bring in the Restoration of All Thingss." Shearer calls this delusion, "Messianic leadership"-- that is to say usurping the role usually ascribed to the Messiah.
In Bush at War Bob Woodward writes, "Most presidents have high hopes. Some have grandiose visions of what they will achieve, and he was firmly in that camp."
"To answer these attacks and rid the world of evil," says Bush. And again, "We will export death and violence to the four corners of the earth in defense of this great nation." Grandiose visions. Woodward comments, "The president was casting his mission and that of the country in the grand vision of Gods Master Plan."
In dominionism we can see the theological source of Bush's monomania. Not to be distracted by the fact that he lost the popular election by a half a million votes, that the Joint Chief of Staff at the Pentagon were so concerned about his plans to invade Iraq that they leaked their unanimous objection, that he has systematically alienated much of the world, that roughly seventy percent of Americans remain unconvinced of the imminent threat of Saddam Hussein and the same percentage object to war if there will be significant American casualties--none of this is in the least relevant. He believes his mandate toward action is from God.
As humans we live within stories. Some stories, like apocalypse are thousands of years old. The scriptured text that informs Bush understanding of and enactment of the End of Days (Revelations 19) depicts Christ returning as the Heavenly Avenger. Revelations is the only New Testament book that justifies violence of any kind, and this it takes to the limit: Christ himself the agent of mass murder.
"I saw heaven open and there before me was a white horse who is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war...He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the word of God...Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the Nations. And I saw an angel standing in the sun who cried in a low voice to all the birds flying in midair--come gather together for the great supper of God, so you may eat the flesh of kings, generals and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."
Such is "the glory of the coming of the Lord." Truth, carnage, and the ecstasy of vultures. In a ruined world the Messiah slays the antichrist and creates "a new heaven and a new earth." The dead are judged, the Christians saved and the rest damned to eternal torment. The New Jerusalem is established and the Lord rules it "with an iron scepter."
It is not inconceivable that Bush is literally and determinedly drawn, consciously and unconsciously, toward the enactment of such a scenario, as he believes, for God's sake. Indeed the stark relentlessness of his policy in the Middle East suggests as much.
It dishonors the profundity of the Christian tradition if one doesn't note that Revelations has always been a rogue text. Because of its association with the Montanist heresy (which like contemporary fundamentalists took it to be literal rather than allegorical) it was with great reluctance that it was made scripture three centuries after the death of Christ. Traditionally attributed to St. John, most Biblical scholars now recognize its literary style and its theology has little in common with John's gospel or his epistles and was likely written after his death. Martin Luther found the vindictive God of Revelations incompatible with the gospels and relegated it to the appendix of his German translation of the New Testament instead of the body of scripture. All the Protestant reformers except Calvin regarded apocalyptic millenialism to be heresy.
But Revelations is also a rogue text because it is unmoored from its origins, which are far from Christian. It is a late variant on a story that was pervasive in the ancient world: the defeat of the wild and the uncivilized by a superior order upon which a New World would be established. Two thousand years before Revelations depicted Christ slaying the antichrist and laying out the New Jerusalem, Marduk slayed Tiamat and founded Babylon.
This pagan myth recycled as a suspiciously unchristian Biblical test found new credence in the 19th century when John Darby virtually revived the Montanist heresy of investing it with a passionate literalism. Given to visions (he saw the British as one of the ten tribes of Israel) Darby left the priesthood of the Church of Ireland and preached Revelations as both prophecy and imminent history. >b>In this he inaugurated a lineage in which Bush's mentors, the Reverend Billy Graham and Dr. Tony Evans are recent heirs. Revelations is much beloved by Muslim fundamentalists and like their Christian compatriots they also thrill to redemption through apocalypse. Jewish fundamentalists of course do not believe in Revelations but have nonetheless made common cause with the Christian Right. "It's a very tragic situation in which Christian fundamentalists, certain groups of them that focus on Armageddon and the Rapture and the role of a war between Muslims and Jews in bringing about the Second Coming, are involved in a folie a deux with extremist Jews," said Ian Lustick, the author of For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel. The Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition (and yes it is a single tradition) is being led by its fringe into the abyss and the rest of us with it.
The world has been readied for the fire but the critical element is the Bush Administration. Never in the history of Christendom has there been a moment when this rogue element has carried anything like the credibility and political power that it carries now.
58 - JR
Jet in Columbus: We're supposed to be allied with Pakistan in the search for bin Laden, but we're giving our friends India rocket tech so India has a first strike capability.
What kind of foriegn policy is that?
I'd say the flaw in our foreign policy is in the alliance with Pakistan.
If India puts nuclear warheads on missiles, they're almost certainly going to aim them at Pakistan and China. I don't have a problem with that.
59 - Jet in Columbus
JR if you're trying to tell me that a nuclear skirmish between India and China won't escelate into world war III, you're not as in intelligent as I thought you were?
An inexperienced India with a "finger on the button" is not something that would be good for world peace.
And Bush is handing it to them because they're the lowest bidder to get him his name on a moon base?
60 - Matthew T. Sussman
Comments are hardly a major draw to to the site. Which is maybe why we have 1 editor dedicated to comments and over 20 dedicated to the copy.
But the comment discussions we do have are normally inhabited by a small core of people who do nothing but comment.
61 - Jet in Columbus
Fair enough Matt.
Does a writer have some method of ascertaining how many times an article has been read without being commented on?
62 - Matthew T. Sussman
Not that's article specific -- we have the Sitemeter which tracks hits on all pages and the Most Popular on the sidebar but that's about it.
63 - JR
An inexperienced India with a "finger on the button" is not something that would be good for world peace.
I just don't see that at all. Unlike Pakistan and China, India is a democracy at least as functional as the U.S. (with arguably more qualified leadership at this point). China has demonstrably more aggressive territorial aims and an authoritarian culture far more threatening to our values than anything I've seen or can imagine seeing out of India.
If there is any threat to world peace and, more important, world freedom, it's Red China. I'm far less concerned with avoiding WWIII and far more concerned with making sure China doesn't win it.
64 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Jet at #57. I was looking over the comment and have to note that it seems that you feel tht Bush is a fitting partner to Ahmadinejad in amessianic delusional lalaland... The two can dance us to hell together.
From what you say, we're not partners in the dance, of course, we're the helpless idiots in the pockets of Bush and his poodle Olmert...
The Jewish version of all this has Bush as Gog. In plain English, this means that he finds some reason to come to Israel, along with an army, and winds up dying on the mountains here to be eaten by the buzzards. So he winds up as high quality birdfood.
In short, the blessing for Bush is that he remain well fed. I want to see the good birds of Israel well fed, too. I'm an animal lover, you know.
65 - Christopher Rose
Sheds new light on the expression a bird in the hand is worth two in the Bush!
66 - Jet in Columbus
Mr. Sussman #62, Okay thanks for the info sir.
67 - Jet in Columbus
JR just suppose for a moment that Mexico got really pissed at us for militarizing our border and acquired nuclear technology. Now suppose Mexico wanted New Mexico back, like Pakistan wants Kashmir back from India. With India having "the bomb" suppose bin Laden figured they didn't have the balls to use it and encouraged Pakastini rebels to invade Kashmir.
You're saying that all hell wouldn't break loose politically in the whole region?
I give up pal, we two sides of a different coin, not the same one.
68 - Jet in Columbus
Thank you Ruvy, as always. Now we have to figure how that helps Bush's dilusional efforts to be remembered at the greatest president to take office, instead of a dork with a messiah complex and as inept in foriegn affairs as his father was.
69 - Jet in Columbus
Mr Rose, two birds in the hand just means a lot of shit on the floor.
Thanks for contributing sir. :-)
70 - Victor Plenty
Jet, we needn't fear losing our national pride just because our space agency cooperates with other space agencies around the world. (I'm responding to comment #56 here, by the way.)
We've been partners with the European Space Agency, the Russian space industry, and the Japanese space industry for many years now, without suffering any terrible losses to NASA's capabilities nor to its place in world history. I see no reason to fear a similar partnership with ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization.
71 - Jet in Columbus
Victor we're turning the first moon mission in almost 40 years over to India. You're beginning to sound like you wrote the book that's being promoted at the beginning of this piece next to the title.
Solus mei sententia
Jet
72 - Victor Plenty
Jet, people last visited the moon just 34 years ago. Japan sent two robotic probes there in the 1990s, and the most recent robotic lunar probe, Lunar Prospector, was programmed to impact with the moon's surface in 1999. So this hardly qualifies as "the first moon mission in almost 40 years."
If you're going to accuse me of lying just because I won't swap out all my opinions and replace them with yours, at least check your facts when making your accusations.
Our astronauts placed a plaque on the moon declaring: "We came in peace for all mankind." Now you seem to wish the plaque read "Property of USA, foreigners keep out" (or maybe the more simply worded and familiar sign "Whites Only" could achieve the same effect, and remind India of the good old days).
73 - Raj
I am not aware of the details of the partnership between NASA and ISRO - the Indian space agency , but the writer and the commentators seem to be very ignorant about India.
#India already has ICBMs capable of launching nuclear weapons. Called 'Agni-1,2,3 ' and the 'Brahmos'. Get that clear first. India does not need any help from US in the space program to enhance its nuclear strike capabilities - that is ridiculous.
#India has a very successful space program and has over the last 30 years launched more than 50 satellites in space. For variety of purposes - communication , weather forcasting , military , media etc.
# The writer makes the mistake of viewing relations with India vis-a-vis Pakistan. This is an insult to India because India is much more advanced technologically , is a much bigger country with an eonomy that is more than 10 times bigger than that of Pakistan's. This is the big realisation the Bush administration has had and they are the first US administration to treat India with the respect it deserves.
I am so amused at the writer's concern at the bad effect an increased co-ordination with India will have on US relations with Pakistan.
#India has been a nuclear power for the last 3 decades. And proudly so. No going back on that one. Security of the Indian people depends on the deterrence that bearing nuclear weapons provides , given the nature of the hostile neighborhood that India lives in.
74 - Raj
Further - I think the writer should demand Microsoft , Google , Yahoo , GE , IBM , Cisco , Adobe and the rest of the American hi-tech companies who have R&D labs in India , to open R&D centers in Pakistan as well. For the sake of US-Paksitan relations.
Besides, Pakistani engineers are even cheaper than Indian engineers. Much cheaper infact. That should take care of the cost factor. What do you say ?
Perhaps the writer should stand outside silicon valley buildings carrying placards - 'we want to lose our jobs to Pakistan , not to India'....
75 - Raj
I have a big problem with the ignorant condescension that a poster called 'Columbus' displays with regard to India.
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"
An inexperienced India with a "finger on the button" is not something that would be good for world peace.
And Bush is handing it to them because they're the lowest bidder to get him his name on a moon base?"
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Hello !! Use google search sometime. India exploded its first nuclear bomb when Mrs.Indira Gandhi was the prime minister - way back in early 1970s.
So India is hardly as 'inexperienced' in matters of nuclear as you make it to be , and has had its "finger on the button" for the last 30 years.
Boy - you Americans are really ignorant about India and really underestimate us , dont you ?