How do they salute?
Translation: "we need a big, fat, new government bureaucracy. Successful or not, it shows we're making an effort." Barf!
Actually, this one is easy to answer: because there's no perceived crisis in the supply of oil. We have enough proven reserves for about the next 100 years and suspect that actual reserves are even larger.
We get "Manhattan projects" only under intense pressure, such as a major war. Absent such pressure, there's no political rationale for a crash program. BTW, that also happens to be the reason why the current space program sucks.
The Vagina Army...wonder if they earn The Purple Vulva for bleeding on the battlefield?
In addition to the fine points brought up in this article, does anyone else see the incredible hypocrasy in Time makeing Coleen Rowley a "Person of the Year" for her whistle-blowing efforts? Coleen Rowley, prior to 9/11, was investigating a middle eastern individual later determined to be close to the 9-11 hijackers. Before 9-11 she wanted to conduct sweepeing searches of this person, focused on his laptop computer, with virtually no probable cause. She was denied this request by the FBI because they did not believe there was sufficient probable cause. After 9-11, Rowley's whistle-blowing consisted of leaking to the media a letter she had written to the FBI Director complaining how she may have been able to crack the hijacker ring but was prevented by the FBI brass.
What makes this so hypocritical is that Time Magazine has been railing against the civil liberty and privacy intrusions they say are contained in Bush's anti-terrorism legislation. Time has called these intrusions facist and racist in that Middle Easterners are unfairly profiled. These type of intrusions, however, are exactly what Rowley wanted the FBI to do on its own, prior to 9-11. Time is honoring a person for complining that she wasn't allowed to do what Time considers to be racist and facist.
I hope she was treated like a yeast infection.
The newest proposal I've heard is to carpet the moon with thin-film solar panels, beam electricity earthside in a gigawatt microwave beam, and aim the beam at Abdul's falafel shop a giant collection/conversion facility.
2) When was the concept of a Palestinian state transformed from the sparking third rail of politics into a seemingly non-negotiable plank of every political party?
Because no one has taken an iron broom to the State Department, home of the arabist/pinko/appeaser mob.
3) Why isn't the potentially revolutionary (counter-revolutionary?) student movement in Iran getting the attention it deserves?
See above.