#Politics #NASA

The #Trump administration tried to kill NASA's climate change programs, but Congress stopped him. It will be a different story this time; we know they intend to try to sell off NOAA and the National Weather Service. I'm sure Trump will try to end NASA's climate observation satellites; Elon will see a new profit center for Starlinks and probably support it.

So the question becomes ... (5/x)

#Politics #NASA

That's where it gets interesting, because #Vance was a tech venture capialist. Vance and Elon are kindred spirits.

As VP, Vance will head the National Space Council, an advisory body. Some NSpCs have been more effective than others; the #Trump NSpC passed a number of policy changes and turned meetings into spectacles.

Representing Ohio as a senator, one can also expect Vance to try to direct NASA pork to the Glenn Center in Cleveland. (4/x)

#Politics #NASA

If they try to reform NASA as the #ArsTechnica article suggests, the political fireworks on the Hill will be a true must-see 🍿 event.

Of course, Elon will be entirely self-serving. He will try to angle things so Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos) and other competitors are left out in the cold.

My suspicion is that, by the time any reform gets to the Hill, #Trump will have quit and been succeeded by #Vance. (3/x)

#Politics #NASA

Apollo created a space-industrial complex that motivated members of Congress to protect NASA legacy employees and infrastructure in their districts and states.

#Obama tried to change that but suffered terrible political blowback as a result.

Backed by Elon Musk, will #Trump try to return NASA to its NACA roots?

I doubt Trump knows, much less cares, what NACA was. But Elon sure knows. (2/x)

#Politics #NASA My two credits' worth ...

NASA's bureaucracy has been bloated, hidebound, and inbred for far too long.

NASA was originally intended to be a space version of the old National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA was a think tank for developing technologies to transfer to the private sector. NASA was supposed to do the same for space, until JFK created Apollo as a global propaganda organ. (1/x)

https://www.nasa.gov/history/history-publications-and-resources/nasa-history-series/naca-to-nasa-to-now/

#Politics #NASA #SpaceX #Trump

From #ArsTechnica:

"Musk is unquestionably in a position for self-dealing. Normally, such conflicts of interest would be frowned on within a government, but Trump has already shown a brazen disregard for norms, and there's no reason to believe that will change during his second go at the presidency."

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/11/space-policy-is-about-to-get-pretty-wild-yall/

#Politics #NASA From #NYTimes:

"Even before Donald J. Trump was re-elected, his best-known backer, Elon Musk, had come to him with a request for his presidential transition.

"He wanted Mr. Trump to hire some employees from Mr. Musk’s rocket company, #SpaceX, as top government officials — including at the Defense Department, according to two people briefed on the calls."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-benefits.html

@LindaWisner Kamala ran a great campaign. History was against her, for many reasons, not the least of which was a civilly ignorant electorate.

They're about to get an education.

#Politics A friend posted a short essay on Facebook that made a very good point about the presidential election.

In US history, it's pretty rare for a sitting Vice President to be elected President. The last time it happened was George H.W. Bush in 1988. Humphrey lost in 1968. Gore failed in 2000. Biden flamed out in the 2016 primaries.

Some former VPs have come back to win president in a later election, e.g. Nixon in 1968 and Biden in 2020.

@MLClark A majority of the US electorate just agreed to give up their individual liberties in exchange for the promise that their grocery bills and gasoline prices will be lower.

Won't they be surprised when they lose their liberties but prices go up while they wages go down.

Hey, but the trains now run on time.

@Razdawg22 I'm weighing what to do with my 401(k)s. I've no doubt the economy will collapse next year. I need to figure out how to minimize my losses. When inflation takes off again, my life savings will be worth less and less.

And when the Republicans cut Social Security and Medicare, I'll be even worse off.

#Space #SpaceCoast

I drove up to #KSCVC, my old work place, to remind myself that life goes on, for now.

#Politics #Ukraine #Russia

From #CNN ... Joe #Biden is president until January 20, 2025. #Trump and Elon Musk negotiating with Zelenskyy seems to me illegal ... oh wait, #SCOTUS said Trump can do no wrong ...

My suspicion is that they delivered an ultimatum from #Putin -- capitulate on Putin's terms by January 20, or the US withdraws all support and Ukraine is on its own.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/08/europe/ukraine-trump-elon-musk-zelensky-intl-latam/index.html

@singlemaltgirl About all we can hope is that his bad eating habits and sedentary lifestyle catch up with him sooner than later.

Personally, I think he'll miss the golf course so he'll bail once he assures he's not going to prison and he's exacted vengeance on his perceived enemies.

Then we get JD Vance, perhaps the most incompetent VP candidate since Dan Quayle. Yippee.

@singlemaltgirl Why have a SCOTUS at all? They have ruled against him at times. He can order the lot of them sent to Gitmo for "protective custody" claiming some illusory threat.

You're right, he probably won't do that, but he could. That's my point.

@singlemaltgirl I wonder if any of the SCOTUS majority who gave him immunity are having second thoughts. They probably did this thinking they were keeping him out of prison. They may not have thought through what would happen if he returned to power as a vengeful madman.

For all we know, he'll order the military to arrest them all and send them to Gitmo as an "official act."

#Baseball

I worked in local government budget and financing, so I know what the City of St. Pete is going through right now ... Much of the restoration will be covered by insurance. Any impact on the taxpayers should be minimal.

The people saying, "Spend the money on more important things" are missing several points. The Rays bring a lot of business into the area; without the games, those businesses will die. There's also a place for the commuunity to go to unite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnQM0BUVaMU

#Politics

I'm starting to realize just how screwed we are ... #Trump comes back to office with a #SCOTUS get-out-of-jail-free card. The Republican SCOTUS majority ruled he can commit crimes so long as they're labelled an "official act."

So when he starts the roundups, when he starts the executions, when he loots the federal treasury to line his pockets, when he sells secrets to Putin -- he'll have a piece of paper declaring it an "official act" and that's that.

This is really really bad.