WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 29 Jul 05 Washington, DC

WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 29 Jul 05 Washington, DC

1. SHUTTLE: THE SPACE SHUTTLE DOESN'T WORK IT NEVER DID WORK.
Why is everyone afraid to say so? The real problem isn't foam
falling off the fuel tank. The shuttle was sold to Congress as a
way to launch things into space more cheaply. On the contrary,
it's the most expensive way to reach space ever conceived. The
problems we're facing now result from the refusal to acknowledge
that reality. Initially, anything that went into space, including
commercial and military satellites, was required to be launched
from the shuttle. With the total cost of the shuttle program at
about $150B, the average cost/flight is about $1.3B. The shuttle
was strangling space development before the Challenger disaster.
Then it was declared to be a science laboratory, but no field of
science has been affected in any way by research that has been
conducted on the shuttle or space station. The last scheduled
research mission was the final flight of Columbia in 2003. The
shuttle's only mission now is to supply the ISS.

2. ECHINACEA: THE THEME THIS WEEK IS "THINGS THAT DON'T WORK."
There is no reason why herbal remedies couldn't work. The bark
and leaves of the angiosperms are packed with biologically active
chemicals. Surely, among the thousands of herbals on the market,
one must work. With a budget of over $100M, and under pressure
to show it's not biased against alternative medicine, the new
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH
set out to find it. Well, ephedra worked, but side effects were
fatal http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN04/wn010204.html. Why not
ask herbalists what would be a sure thing? Answer: "Echinacea."
Millions of Americans use the purple cone flower to prevent or
treat colds. Native Americans used it, and we all know that
primitive societies had wondrous cures that today's narrow-minded
scientists can't explain. But in initial tests, it didn't seem
to work http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN04/wn052804.html. This
week, the New England Journal of Medicine published a convincing
NCCAM funded test: Echinacea does not prevent or cure colds.

3. PRAYER: FOLLOW-UP STUDY FINDS NO BENEFIT FOR HEART PATIENTS.
Prayers for the sick are probably the most widely practiced
healing tradition in the world. An earlier study with the same
lead author, Mitchell Krucoff, MD, at Duke University Medical
Center, continues to be widely cited as scientific evidence for
the power of prayer. In a much larger follow-up study, however,
748 patients who had common cardiac procedures were not helped by
intercessory prayers of groups throughout the world, drawn from
Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Buddhist denominations. You will
not be surprised that the authors conclude that so-called
"noetic" therapies, defined as therapies that don't involve the
use of tangible drugs or devices, deserve further scientific
scrutiny. Science assumes that all events result from natural
causes http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN04/wn120304.html.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
---

Sam, for once, I think you need to read the S.A.A. Charter.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 31 - Aug. 5, 2005, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

David Knisely wrote:
Sam, for once, I think you need to read the S.A.A. Charter.

OK--

"Sam Wormley" wrote in message
newsCxGe.195000$x96.86830@attbi_s72...
David Knisely wrote:
Sam, for once, I think you need to read the S.A.A. Charter.

OK--

Another stunning one word retort from sam. Why doesn't this "sam" ever
talk about any telescope observing or astronomy here other than post reports
of solar activity from web sites? Odd..very odd.

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 22:02:30 GMT, "Virtigo" wrote:

Another stunning one word retort from sam. Why doesn't this "sam" ever
talk about any telescope observing or astronomy here other than post reports
of solar activity from web sites? Odd..very odd.

I can't help but to notice that four of your last five posts served no
purpose but to attack people in some way, and none of your posts is
particularly relevant to astronomy.

I'm willing to cut Sam (a long time member of our community) a little
more slack if he drifts a bit off the charter than I am you (either a
newbie here or an old troll in a new skin).

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

PLONK!!!

You need to be more specific as to who is the plonkee!


"Jan Owen" wrote

PLONK!!!

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...
You need to be more specific as to who is the plonkee!


"Jan Owen" wrote

PLONK!!!

I surmise one of you that comes rushing to 'sams' defence is son of sam or
actually THE "sam" spam.

Virtigo wrote:
"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...

You need to be more specific as to who is the plonkee!


"Jan Owen" wrote


PLONK!!!

I surmise one of you that comes rushing to 'sams' defence is son of sam or
actually THE "sam" spam.



Into the killfile you go along with your other aliases.
*Plonk*

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...
You need to be more specific as to who is the plonkee!


No I don't.

It was attached directly as a response to the post/poster being PLONKED.
If I were plonking Sam, it would be attached to HIS message (though I
think we know by now that I wouldn't be plonking him)... I don't respond
to these zeros, I just plonk them (usually more quietly, except for the
more deserving ones); that's why I don't leave anything there for anyone
to interpret as a response, other than the plonk itself. But now, by my
explaining this to you, in effect, YOU have caused me to respond to the
troll...

Tsk! Tsk! TSK, Howard!!!

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272


"Jan Owen" wrote

PLONK!!!