[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Yoko Takeo

And private firms are out for profit. If they start trying to build anything on the moon, they're gonna be operating at a severe loss and will end up going bankrupt before anything gets done. You'd end up with an incomplete skyhook somewhere in Texas, which isn't good for the scenery. Not many people are going to try getting involved in a project that has more than the average risk of death when they're trying to make money. If someone really wanted to build something on the moon, the govt would have to deal with it first. They're the only ones who can back such a project financially and from the labor point of view (training and provisions). But even govt's wouldn't be able to do such a thing for another few centuries, not with the way the economy is right now.

The only people capable of building a lunar "base", IMHO, are (1) a rich country and (2) a unified group of idealists/dreamers/mavericks with a charismatic leader. #1 is that while a coalition of countries can do this, internal differences among them will mean either the project will be delayed or canceled in the end. #2 will have people working together (although with some differences), and funding might be easier to get - although people's ideals may have to be sacrificed.

Spoiler for A bit off-topic and save space:

A government - unless we are talking about a dictatorship type - will not be able conscript and send construction workers and engineers to the moon. The idea of building a base on the moon is... idealistic. Aside from childhood dreams of living on the moon, you need to have a distinct purpose aside from, say, tourism. Few can afford the price of a trip anyway. For research into, for example, genetics, having it done on a small space station, which can be isolated and/or destroyed easily in case of an industrial accident, would be better. The same goes for low-G manufacturing, although having to then ship the parts back to Earth makes it impractical and better done on an orbiting station instead.

Putting a mass driver way station on the moon to get people to the belt faster and easier is better, IMHO, but it's not as "pretty" an idea as putting a base there.

Dubai skyscraper (Burj Khalifa) now closed to the public

The observation deck on the Dubai building's 124th floor, which had been open since the building was formally named on Jan 4, has been closed indefinitely because of unspecified technical problems.

After just a month...

The Euro's final countdown?

The introduction of the euro in 1999, it was claimed, would narrow the economic differences between the member countries of the monetary union. Unemployment rates would converge, as would other important macroeconomic variables, such as unit labor costs, productivity, and fiscal deficits and government debt. Ultimately, the differences in wealth, measured in terms of income per capita, would diminish as well.

After the common currency’s first decade, however, increased divergence, rather than rapid convergence, has become the norm within the euro area, and tensions can be expected to increase further.

I don't see the Euro disintegrating, but the European Union may, in bits and pieces, fall apart, esp. if the richer countries find themselves needing to prop up the ones worse off. Taking care of Greece's problem is, from earlier reports, a no-no, and Spain is already on people's radar as a future problem.