News Stories

[monir]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

In Paris, the customer is not always right
My God, what a bunch of Jerks the Parisian are. If i ever go to Europe, London is where i'm going, at least the British are friendly.

Loved the read!

[mg1942]

A leading economist said Britain should be seen in the same category as PIGS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8503090.stm

[mg1942]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

But we have worse news....

JAPAN HAS 3.6 MILLION HIKIKOMORIS

sheesh

From Toyota million-recall fiasco to bunch of welfare-draining shut-ins.
I think Japan Inc... is declining. I see Koreans taking over where Japan used to traditionally dominate (electronic gadgets and automotive exports)

It is also documented that Japan Inc. is BAD at managing crisis (at least by American standards)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...s_Most_Popular

[mg1942]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

But we have worse news....

JAPAN HAS 3.6 MILLION HIKIKOMORIS

sheesh

From Toyota million-recall fiasco to bunch of welfare-draining shut-ins.
I think Japan Inc... is declining. I see Koreans taking over where Japan used to dominate in exports (electronic gadgets and automotive.)

It is also documented that Japan Inc. is BAD at managing crisis (at least by American standards)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...s_Most_Popular

[Vexx]

Actually, most of them *aren't* "welfare-draining" .... they're living with their parents. The japanese equivalent of "in the basement" 20-somethings that don't go out much.

Many are rebelling against the hyper-strict corporate business world and extreme expectations of success in a world where "doing the right things" often still means failure now because of events outside one's control.

[Autumn Demon]

Originally Posted by mg1942

bunch of welfare-draining shut-ins.

What kind of welfare pay does Japan have?

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

What kind of welfare pay does Japan have?

Not much of one... traditionally, you went to work for a business rather like you signed on with a feudal lord. It was a two-way loyalty street. When the corporations borrowed the idea from the US of "temp workers" and "layoffs" in the late '90s (offloading the excess labor pool management onto the government), the government was sleeping at the wheel and didn't put 'welfare/unemployment' systems in place.

Hence the escalation in frequency seen in the news reports of large numbers of people who are suddenly homeless or in-trouble in Japan (as well as the increase in 'societal dropout' hikikomori).

[mg1942]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Actually, most of them *aren't* "welfare-draining" .... they're living with their parents. The japanese equivalent of "in the basement" 20-somethings that don't go out much.

my bad... sometimes I interchange the term hikky and NEET
i was actually thinking of Japanese age 20+ who choose NEET lifestyle after high school.
but still... if you're age 20+, NEET & hikky then you're a burden to the family... and to me they're like bunch of welfare recipients that i know and some who can 'game' the system in the state of California

i bet those same hikks n' NEETs would love to have the same system in california so they can splurge on otaku-related merchandise...

[mg1942]

Originally Posted by JMvS

Obama Plan Privatize Astronaut Launching.

So goodbye Constellation Program. Guess the Moon is gonna be Chinese (personally I still root for the old Russian challenger and it's European partners ).


Now that I think about it, isn't that the reverse of what the Russians have been doing? Instead of financing the scientific program with space tourism, they are gonna end funding the space tourism sector with public money!

I think Obama has the right idea about the role of government in science and exploration. Obama is moving NASA on to Mars and unmanned exploration missions while leaving low earth orbit and exploitation of helium-3 on the moon to private industry. NASA has shown there is a rich supply of fuel on the moon to power the world for centuries. It's now up to private industry to step up to the plate. To all the old-timers who remember the oil boon: it's dejavu all over again!

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by mg1942

I think Obama has the right idea about the role of government in science and exploration. Obama is moving NASA on to Mars and unmanned exploration missions while leaving low earth orbit and exploitation of helium-3 on the moon to private industry. NASA has shown there is a rich supply of fuel on the moon to power the world for centuries. It's now up to private industry to step up to the plate. To all the old-timers who remember the oil boon: it's dejavu all over again!

obama is completely wrong regarding nasa and space exlporation. Yes Nasa is bloated and ineffecient but you don't completely scrap the new generation of man exploration unless there is something else to replace it. As amazing as the mars rovers are and the next gen of remote robotics will be even better, there is absolutely nothing like having a real person. Obama isn't reforming Nasa he gutting it.

as for private enterprise stepping up. are you joking? the amount of money and risk just isn't there in private sector. People are going to die building a base on the moon, is it a given. No private sector company is going to want the liability form something like that. And most importantly private don't engage in venture that does promise a immediately, they will not invest in something because it is good for the country or humanity. A moon base or refinry will not show any profit for a long time. There is absolutely no reason for private enterprise to built one.

i always thought jfk was full of hot air but obama is proving to be a blimp. At least jfk manage to inspire people with his speeches:

"I ask not what my country can do for me but what I can do for my country"

"We go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard"

Obama hasn't even manage to do that. his campaign can say "change" all they want but i still havn't seen or heard what change he is suppose to bring about or has done.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

obama is completely wrong regarding nasa and space exlporation. Yes Nasa is bloated and ineffecient but you don't completely scrap the new generation of man exploration unless there is something else to replace it. As amazing as the mars rovers are and the next gen of remote robotics will be even better, there is absolutely nothing like having a real person. Obama isn't reforming Nasa he gutting it.

as for private enterprise stepping up. are you joking? the amount of money and risk just isn't there in private sector. People are going to die building a base on the moon, is it a given. No private sector company is going to want the liability form something like that. And most importantly private don't engage in venture that does promise a immediately, they will not invest in something because it is good for the country or humanity. A moon base or refinry will not show any profit for a long time. There is absolutely no reason for private enterprise to built one.

i always thought jfk was full of hot air but obama is proving to be a blimp. At least jfk manage to inspire people with his speeches:



Obama hasn't even manage to do that. his campaign can say "change" all they want but i still havn't seen or heard what change he is suppose to bring about or has done.

But does funding "ineffecient" Nasa solve the current economy crisis in medium or short run? I think space exploration can take a few cuts. What ppl need right now is the economy fixed.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

But does funding "ineffecient" Nasa solve the current economy crisis in medium or short run? I think space exploration can take a few cuts. What ppl need right now is the economy fixed.

Thats typical corporate management thinking these days. I wonder where these guys learned economy related things.
If you cut down NASA you will not be able to hold the people and their knowledge there. This will transfer knowhow elsewhere. The problem is, once they settled down somewhere else it is hard to get them back. Therefore this is equivalent to an expertise sellout.
So once that process is completed, it will be hard to regain the expertise and knowhow that was there before (assuming the economy will be fixed by then).
If you try to get those people back it will cost a lot more money later. On the long run such a business strategy is just stupid... provided that the economy crisis is only a short/medium term occurrence (maybe Obama/aides know whats really coming - well just a funny/ridiculous thought).

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Jinto

Thats typical corporate management thinking these days. I wonder where these guys learned economy related things.
If you cut down NASA you will not be able to hold the people and their knowledge there. This will transfer knowhow elsewhere. The problem is, once they settled down somewhere else it is hard to get them back. Therefore this is equivalent to an expertise sellout.
So once that process is completed, it will be hard to regain the expertise and knowhow that was there before (assuming the economy will be fixed by then).
If you try to get those people back it will cost a lot more money later. On the long run such a business strategy is just stupid... provided that the economy crisis is only a short/medium term occurrence (maybe Obama/aides know whats really coming - well just a funny/ridiculous thought).

Plus, their field of expertise is almost a niche market. Like Xellos said, not many private companies even dare to invest in space exploration, and these NASA employees have a limited field of expertise, that being spacecraft engineering, astronauts and so fourth. If the govt cuts on space exploration costs, it would inevitably lead to unemployment and these former employees will find it nearly impossible to go elsewhere. Cutting costs wouldn't be the best idea in this instance. Relocating them to other military sectors and providing appropriate training for instance (Navy helicopter support) would be a better idea, given there are vacancies in them. If not, it's better to keep them where they are.

[Noctis Lucis]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

Obama hasn't even manage to do that. his campaign can say "change" all they want but i still havn't seen or heard what change he is suppose to bring about or has done.

He spent the WHOLE of 2009 on HEALTHCARE.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Noctis Lucis

He spent the WHOLE of 2009 on HEALTHCARE.

Because Obama knows people need it as a right, but most others think they can only have healthcare if they deserve it. Obama tried to do the right thing here at least. Healthcare shouldn't be a luxury.

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

But does funding "ineffecient" Nasa solve the current economy crisis in medium or short run? I think space exploration can take a few cuts. What ppl need right now is the economy fixed.

One rather big issue with NASA, IMHO, is that it is a government agency, and its budget is at the mercy of politicians who, at their hearts, are more interested in re-election. That mean soundbites, PR wins and *cough* pandering to their electorates. Quick wins are good for these guys, but space exploration isn't normally fast or exciting. NASA's responsibilities in aerospace research almost feel like they are put onto the agency as an afterthought. Not to mention there is competition to NASA's work in, say, the military in addition to the private sector.

It's too bad you couldn't split off NASA's research aspects like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory into some kind of a "charity" organization funded by a research trust instead of relying on the public funds. Those go away at whim.

Originally Posted by Noctis Lucis

He spent the WHOLE of 2009 on HEALTHCARE.

Which, unfortunately, is virtually dead on arrival these days...

[Noctis Lucis]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

Which, unfortunately, is virtually dead on arrival these days...

My point exactly. Especially after what happened in Massachusetts.

[chikorita157]

First it was AT&T, and now Verizon blocks 4chan again... and getting backlash. Another good reason to pass Net Neutrality?

Verizon Wireless, Meet 4Chan
4Chan claims they've been blocked...
08:23AM Monday Feb 08 2010 by Karl Bode
Last summer you might recall that 4Chan users collectively cried out that they'd been blocked by AT&T, and began firing their trademark digital barbs at the carrier's direction. As it turned out, the website had only been temporarily blocked as AT&T worked to resolve a distributed denial of service attack. Now in a post to their status blog, 4Chan says they've been blocked by Verizon Wireless. "We've received confirmation from Verizon's Network Repair Bureau (NRB) that we are 'explicitly blocked,'" says 4Chan founder Moot in a status update. "After investigating, we found that Verizon is dropping traffic to/from boards.4chan.org, only on port 80 (HTTP)," he says. Despite the proclamations sure to come, an intentional block of any website seems unlikely as the FCC sits crafting network neutrality rules; we've fired off an inquiry to Verizon to see what's causing the problem.

Source: Broadband Reports

[SeijiSensei]

boards.4chan.org still available on Verizon FiOS, so I'd suggest we wait to see there is a technical explanation for the problems with VZ wireless before getting too agitated about ISP filtering.

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

People are going to die building a base on the moon, is it a given.

Five people died yesterday while building a power plant in Connecticut. Some projects are hazardous, but there are brave people who choose to take them on anyway. I don't think privatization would change that.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Five people died yesterday while building a power plant in Connecticut. Some projects are hazardous, but there are brave people who choose to take them on anyway. I don't think privatization would change that.

A good point. However, a powerplant in Connecticut will be far cheaper than a power plant on the moon. Unless Drax Corporation becomes a reality, I doubt any private firm has enough money to build anything on the moon. There are the transportation costs for materials and the cost of professional personell to worry about in addition to the actual infrastructure and maintenance of a powerplant, and the creation of a whole new sector in the labor market. I would also guess that employees wouldn't easily come back home on earth after working on the moon, so they would also need shelter, and the firm would have to provide housing for them. The list goes on but those are just a few things that will add on to the cost of such a massive project.