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#1
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
A Verge article about delays in the publication of installments of _A
Song of Ice and Fire_ says Russia charges $80 million per astronaut ferried to the Space Station. While there are good reasons for the U.S. to have its own manned spaceflight capability, if money were the only consideration, that is immensely cheaper than actually having a space program. |
#2
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Thursday, 26 April 2018 00:44:07 UTC+2, Quadibloc wrote:
A Verge article about delays in the publication of installments of _A Song of Ice and Fire_ says Russia charges $80 million per astronaut ferried to the Space Station. While there are good reasons for the U.S. to have its own manned spaceflight capability, if money were the only consideration, that is immensely cheaper than actually having a space program. But at what cost? You provide increased wealth to a corrupt and authoritarian despot with known human rights abuses and who thrives on propaganda. You fail to educate your scientists in the steadily advancing arts of rocketry. You are subject to their timetable and their industrial and scientific espionage. Upside? They have to buy their own $0.25 million dollar screwdrivers. |
#3
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Thursday, 26 April 2018 13:47:41 UTC-4, Chris.B wrote:
On Thursday, 26 April 2018 00:44:07 UTC+2, Quadibloc wrote: A Verge article about delays in the publication of installments of _A Song of Ice and Fire_ says Russia charges $80 million per astronaut ferried to the Space Station. While there are good reasons for the U.S. to have its own manned spaceflight capability, if money were the only consideration, that is immensely cheaper than actually having a space program. But at what cost? You provide increased wealth to a corrupt and authoritarian despot with known human rights abuses and who thrives on propaganda. You fail to educate your scientists in the steadily advancing arts of rocketry. You are subject to their timetable and their industrial and scientific espionage. Upside? They have to buy their own $0.25 million dollar screwdrivers. Take the Chinese rare-earth industry. 95% of the world's supply controlled by them. Some of them strategic metals. Thankfully, the Chinese would sell their own mothers for a buck so there is still a steady supply, for a price. But that could change. |
#4
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
Since rare-earth ores are as common as dirt, the Chinese monopoly is an
artifact of their willingness to refine them cheaper than anyone else, so it's less serious than the news stories imply. |
#5
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Friday, 27 April 2018 18:35:00 UTC+2, Quadibloc wrote:
Since rare-earth ores are as common as dirt, the Chinese monopoly is an artifact of their willingness to refine them cheaper than anyone else, so it's less serious than the news stories imply. How true! I found a rich seam of Unobtainium in my back yard, only today. |
#6
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Friday, 27 April 2018 12:35:00 UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
Since rare-earth ores are as common as dirt, the Chinese monopoly is an artifact of their willingness to refine them cheaper than anyone else, so it's less serious than the news stories imply. Yes, so common the U.S. moth-balled their mines in the 1960's. Lets just say the Chinese mines are to rare-earths what Shinkolobwe was to uranium. |
#7
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Saturday, 28 April 2018 02:45:11 UTC+2, RichA wrote:
On Friday, 27 April 2018 12:35:00 UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote: Since rare-earth ores are as common as dirt, the Chinese monopoly is an artifact of their willingness to refine them cheaper than anyone else, so it's less serious than the news stories imply. Yes, so common the U.S. moth-balled their mines in the 1960's. Lets just say the Chinese mines are to rare-earths what Shinkolobwe was to uranium. The perceived dangers of mining are measured by a nation's leader's respect for basic human rights. Personal profit over worker's survival usually wins. All it takes is to mentally dehumanize the workers to slave status. Slavery by proxy is as common and unforgivable as scrambling over burnt and crippled bodies to snatch the loot with our own blood-stained hands. Our obscene Western wealth is largely built on slavery. It continues to this very day as we grasp our new toys and labelled clothing in our brightly lit stores. As soon as China's child and slave-made products become too expensive for our tastes then Africa becomes the next Uranium boom economy. Economic invasion and suppression is as old as history but without risk to our own [usually disposable] cannon fodder. No headlines of more losses to disturb the Pavlov election process. Nobody remembers the names of the foreign factory workers who died chained to their benches while stitching designer labels. If it occurred nearer home, in a conflict, it would be called a massacre. Prestigious European building projects are routinely built with slave labour. Western children are routinely cared for and supervised by slaves. Smart Western homes and smart hotels are routinely cleaned by slaves. It just shows how we value our own safety and that of our [precious] children. Have you had your own children's, slave made toys checked for toxins? In a time of acute vulnerability to online crime all it takes is for the lowest common denominator to open an email. The weakest link in any economic chain is the lowly slave which nobody ever values. Save a dollar on wages. Lose a vast empire overnight to ransomware. |
#8
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Saturday, 28 April 2018 02:26:00 UTC-4, Chris.B wrote:
On Saturday, 28 April 2018 02:45:11 UTC+2, RichA wrote: On Friday, 27 April 2018 12:35:00 UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote: Since rare-earth ores are as common as dirt, the Chinese monopoly is an artifact of their willingness to refine them cheaper than anyone else, so it's less serious than the news stories imply. Yes, so common the U.S. moth-balled their mines in the 1960's. Lets just say the Chinese mines are to rare-earths what Shinkolobwe was to uranium.. The perceived dangers of mining are measured by a nation's leader's respect for basic human rights. Personal profit over worker's survival usually wins. All it takes is to mentally dehumanize the workers to slave status. Slavery by proxy is as common and unforgivable as scrambling over burnt and crippled bodies to snatch the loot with our own blood-stained hands. Time to get rid of your smartphone, you flat-screen TV, any hard drives you have, none of which can exist without rare-earths. |
#9
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NASA is robbing the Russians blind
On Saturday, 28 April 2018 18:04:47 UTC+2, RichA wrote:
Time to get rid of your smartphone, you flat-screen TV, any hard drives you have, none of which can exist without rare-earths. My equipment is quite modest and kept in use for years until it dies. By that token any blood or tears spilled by slaves is diluted. I also drink [organic, Fair Trade] tea but water that down to dilute other's guilt for drinking slave-picked tea. |
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