Lost in space
Much has been made of President Bush’s recent remarks about the future of America’s space exploration activities. I think having an American walk on Mars is cool and all, and I realize that President Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice Stadium may have contributed both to the end of the Cold War and to the tech boom that this country enjoyed through the 1990s. But aren’t there more worthy goals and more pressing problems down here on earth?
If a fraction of the many billions of public dollars that would be spent on an interplanetary junket were directed toward, say, eradicating sex trafficking and sex slavery, the world would be a better place. (If you dare, read an article in the latest New York Times Magazine for a view of how horrendous and close to home this problem is. That I’m getting over the flu today is not the reason I feel nauseated.)
Or how about eliminating cancer deaths even earlier than 2015?
Granted, neither of these endeavors bears directly on the two major election-year issues, national security and the near-term economy. But ditto for manned space flight. 
