Bush Was Warned Of "Pending Catastrophe"

Budget Problems Made Safety Improvements "Optional"

lmost seventeen years to the day that the space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, NASA suffered another setback when the shuttle Columbia> exploded early Saturday morning while attempting re-entry. Then as now, controversy surrounds the incident. In 1986, technical troubleshooter Roger Boisjoly and other engineers from Morton Thiokol (the company that manufactured the failed O-Rings that caused the explosion) warned NASA that they could not guarantee the performance of the rings under the weather conditions at launch. But they were overruled by Morton Thiokol management.

NASA, under pressure from the Reagan administration to keep the shuttle launches on a regular schedule, and because of the presence of schoolteacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe, gave the go-ahead for launch despite the warning, and as a result the Challenger exploded shortly after launch. Now, word comes out that gw bush and senior officials were warned that NASA was facing an unprecedented crisis over its safety management and was in danger of a 'catastrophic disaster' during a shuttle mission. In a series of public interventions, senators, aerospace experts, the US government's own general audit office and even former Nasa engineers have warned over the past two years that budget problems at NASA had made safety improvements "optional".

This writer is saddened by the loss of the seven astronauts. One of the main tenets of the Pax Liberalis is to move out into space, and while it's remarkable that there have been so few catastrophes considering the number of shuttle launches there have been over the last fifteen years, even the two we have had could have been prevented were it not for short-sighted politics. The astronauts understand the risks they take, it's a pity that their superiors and the political leadership often do not.

As in so many cases, these should not be political issues. The safety of all the citizens of the world, be they astronauts or the poorest of the poor, should rise above the petty political squabbling that humans excel at. And as long as people continue to put their own greed and ambition ahead of the well-being of others, we should continue to expect these disasters in the future.

Sources:
Challenger Disaster:
Whistle-blower Speaks On Safety Wilfrid Laurier University November 27, 2002

Columbia Disaster:
Disaster In Space Guardian (UK) February 2, 2003

Read Also:
An Accounting Will Be Owed Paul Vitello, Newsday

Columbia Explodes On Re-Entry

Seven Die In Shuttle Tragedy: Tile Loss On Left Wing Suspect

he space shuttle Columbia, streaking across a bright blue Texas sky at about 3.5 miles a second, broke up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere this morning barely 15 minutes before it was to have landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"Sadly, from the video that's available, it does not appear that there were any survivors," said Bill Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space flight.

Readdy said it was too early to speculate about the exact cause. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said the accident was not caused by anything or anyone on the ground.

"We trust the prayers of the nation will be with them and with their families. A more courageous group of people you could not have hoped to know," O'Keefe said.

The six Americans and Israel's first astronaut were 16 minutes from landing when the shuttle broke apart.

NASA

The New York Times

BBC News

CNN


Dubya Dubya Three

US Close To "Pre-Emptive Action"

he Holy War is only weeks away. The invincible military of the United States is poised for an invasion of Iraq. Rumor has it that eight hundred missiles will strike Baghdad in the first two days of the assault, killing perhaps millions of people, most of them innocent. The immediate result of the invasion, apart from the enormous casualties, will be a US occupation, where we will hold the Iraqi oil fields "in trust" for the Iraqi people until a "democracy," that is, a US puppet regime, can be installed.

But when the dust clears, and the thrill of victory has gone away, the consequences of the war will begin to be felt. Terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, far from being awed by the massive display of military power, will say, "See what the United States does to our people? Join us and fight them! As we destroyed the World Trade Center, so too can we destroy their lives! Join us and be a weapon in Allah's hands!" And millions will flock to that call. Having no hope, they will have no fear.

Unless we do something, and do it soon, there will be no turning back from our current path, regardless of who is in charge. Once begun, the process of Empire can't be reversed. The path to that Empire will lead to death and destruction on a scale never seen before. And there are those in this administration who welcome this death, who have forved us on this path: religious fanatics looking to lead us to Armageddon in fulfillment of ancient prophecies. The millions of deaths are justified because they can then be judged.

And assuming the human race survives the ensuing carnage, what kind of world will we leave behind? How far back will we be brought technologically, and how long before a free society can begin again?

Remember these days. Remember them, because ten years from now, the world will be a very different place. Remember them so that you can tell your grandchildren that you were there when the tide turned, when the last vestiges of hate and fear were swept away by a popular uprising that cast out the Old Order and ushered in a new era for the human race, one we all enter into together. Remember them so that you can tell the children of the survivors what life was like before the wars, and perhaps plant the seeds for a future global peace.

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Profits Win Over Poison

NY Times Editorial

ustice Joseph Bataillon of the U.S. District Court in Omaha rebuffed an Agriculture Department effort to shut down the operations of Nebraska Beef, an Omaha slaughterhouse with numerous citations for violating standard sanitary operating procedures. Judge Bataillon was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton in 1996, which means I can't peg him as a loony right-winger. He has an interesting history: in November he ruled against Gregory Cracolice, a community college counselor driven from his job by vicious anti-gay harassment. He was also forced to apologize after making a racist comment that caused a mistrial. But he also ordered a Kansas City, Mo., utility company to pay $1 million in fines after pleading guilty to misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, and also voted in favor of a teacher who was unfairly fired from his job due to a poor "student evaluation."

The attitude of the judge aside, the most telling paragraph from the editorial was this one:

Reacting to the new ruling, the Agriculture Department has decided to reach a settlement with the meat packer that allows the plant to continue to operate. It is hard to fault the department's lawyers for wanting to avoid a drawn-out court fight likely to result in an adverse final decision by the judge. But even now, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman refuses to acknowledge the grievous damage inflicted on her department's food safety efforts by the courts' suggestion that the government has no authority to close a plant based on public health considerations. She still hesitates to get behind legislation sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa and Richard Durbin of Illinois, Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and others that would close this and other gaping holes in the nation's food safety system. That is inexcusable.

Ms. Veneman is enthusiastically pro-business. In her private law practice, she represented the interests of loggers, miners and off-road vehicle enthusiasts who pushed for fewer protections for wild forests and wildlife. (The Agriculture Department oversees the Forest Service). As California's Agriculture Secretary she opposed efforts to ban methyl bromide (a toxic ozone-depleting pesticide), and, while stumping for gw Bush, told farmers and ranchers they would no longer be subjected to "unnecessary and burdensome" government environmental and safety protections. Veneman also has played a major role in promoting free trade agreements without adequate environmental, safety, labor and human rights standards. And Ms. Veneman is just one of many like-minded officials appointed by this administration.

In a slower and meaner way, this administration's domestic policies are just as dangerous to Americans as their foreign policy is to the "dangerous, dangerous" children of Iraq. While the war drums beat on and the country is distracted, the hardcore right is busy destroying the federal government's power to safeguard Americans from unfair and unsafe business practices. Food safety is an issue that should be beyond partisan squabbling, but as we can see from the ideologically driven right-wing, nothing is sacred except money. It's more than inexcusable: it's sickening and disgusting for a government entrusted with the safety of all of its citizens to so blatantly disregard people's health and well-being in favor of profits.

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Iraqi Slum Vows to Fight U.S.

ven in the huge slum of Saddam City, there is no crack in the official line. "We are ready to confront the United States," said Halima Nebi, 57, matriarch of a family forced by poverty to pack 21 people into one apartment in Saddam City. "We will use stones, bricks, guns, our own hands." Asked for comment by a reporter, gw Bush pursed his little lips and said "I can see them...please don't kill me!" he mocked. He then began to laugh heartily, thinking of all the money he, his family, and his friends were going to make.

Blair, Bush Split On U.N. War Role

s US soldiers prepare to move into Iraq, gw Bush met with his biggest foreign supporter, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, holding a joint press conference where Bush acted like the spoiled brat that he is; sniping at a reporter for breaking "the two question rule", whatever the hell that is. While both leaders are convinced of a need to strike at Iraq, Blair is more insistent that the UN is involved. He said bringing the issue before the United Nations again amounted to "a test for the international community" in enforcing the demands in the original resolution. Bush was slightly more dismissive: "Who cares what they think?" he said. He then rang a bell and sent for house slave Colin Powell, who brought Bush and Blair some coffee and doughnuts.

India Joins Anti-War Chorus

hile countries like Italy and Bulgaria are coming out in support of the Bush administration's policy of murdering Iraqi children for oil profits, India, a nuclear power with more than three times the population of the United States, urged the United States not to attack Iraq, even if it has evidence Baghdad is hiding weapons of mass destruction, saying a war must be avoided at all costs. "Iraq must give up its weapons of mass destruction, but even if it fails to do so the action that should be taken should be decided by the United Nations, not by any country unilaterally," Indian Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani told a news conference in Bangkok. In response, the Bush administration set to work trying to figure out how many nuclear missiles it would take to wipe out a billion people.

Ashcroft: Kill 'Em Even If They Cooperate!"

ederal prosecutors, against their wishes, are being forced by illegally appointed Attorney General John Ashcroft to seek the death penalty in the case of Jairo Zapata, even though Zapata had agreed to testify against others tied to a deadly Colombian drug ring in exchange for a life sentence. The decision will, in the long run, hamper efforts by prosecuters to widen their probes of drug rings and other criminal organizations. If a defendant knows he's going to be executed no mattyer what he does, he's less likely to be cooperative. The only real difference in this policy as opposed to the Bush adminiatration's policy in Iraq, is that in this case only Zapata will be executed, and not thousands of innocent people. Of course, considering the fact that our military is already intervening in oil-rich Columbia and neighboring oil-rich Venezuela, the point is probably moot.

North Korea Cranks Up The Volume

eanwhile, North Korea, which, as you all know, has both nuclear warheads and missiles to carry them, has stepped up its anti-United States propaganda, calling on people to engage in what is described as a "sacred battle" against the US. According to unofficial sources, North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il is only doing this so he can get a few more blowjobs from gw Bush.

UN Inspector Says Bush Is Lying

esponding to comments made by the Bush administration that Iraq was "not cooperating," chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix challenged the administration's assertions about Iraqi cheating. "I did not tailor my report to the political wishes or hopes in Baghdad or Washington or any other place," he said. Officials from the Bush administration could not be reached, as they were busy trying to figure out how much money they were going to get in this land-grab.

US "Evidence" Is Ambiguous At Best

n what sounds like the plot for a bad college prank movie, the "smoking gun" of evidence that the US intends to use in their prosecution of Iraq consists entirely of intercepted cel phone calls between Iraqi officials during the inspections. "They’re saying things like, ‘Move that,’ ‘Don’t be reporting that’ and ‘Ha! Can you believe they missed that’," said a US administration official. "It’s that kind of stuff. They've been on double-secret probation for the last year, that's how we got it."

Bush, screaming incoherently at an auditorium filled with right-wing lemmings, said that the war with terror would never be over "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??" He asked. "They are evil! Evil! Evil! Evil!" He then began frothing at the mouth and had to be carried away by Secret Service agents to a nice, padded room where he was given milk, cookies, and sedatives.