NASA's View of Earth

On Thursday, President Obama addressed the United States about the future of NASA. That same day, European flights were grounded due to an Icelandic volcano eruption. There is a connection.

President Obama’s recent support for NASA has been met with many opinions about the direction of our space program. His vision for NASA includes a push to Mars in the next 25 years, continued support of current space science endeavors, and increased support for partnerships with private space organizations. It also includes the scrapping of the constellation program at a time when we are retiring the space shuttle program - and any chance of a return to the moon.

My opinion is that the space program is of utmost importance. It is my belief that one day – many years from now - when students learn about the great civilization known as the United States, the first bullet-point discussed will be the achievements of our space program - highlighted by our six visits to the moon’s surface. As stated previously on this blog, I believe that our country’s scientific endeavors are the key to our country’s economic power and future. I personally would like to see funding increase for NASA. I know that at this time many people are concerned about government spending, but spending on NASA (one tenth of one percent of our GDP) is one of our best investments.

What does this have to do with volcanoes in Iceland? NASA teaches us as much about our Earth as it does about space. Currently, the world is monitoring Iceland’s volcanoes from our space satellites and space station. Our understanding of the volcano, the glaciers that feed the large plume clouds, and the weather patterns that carry the ash, are all because we have funded NASA. American satellites will help scientists tell the world when it will be ok to return to air flight. They will also help scientists understand how the volcanic ash will affect our atmosphere and environment. Above is a satellite picture of the volcano from space.

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I'm where?

On Sunday, this baby seal was spotted in the Hudson. According to CBS news, the seal did not appear to be in distress. I hope it makes its way back to safety - and away from the prying eye of the Jersey City Paparazzi. Good luck little fella.

Paddler Politics

Lately, the only thing more unpredictable than the weather is politics. We have a liberal President who wants to drill off-shore, and a conservative governor who wants to protect our shore lines. Yes, you read that correctly.

Here’s my take on the drilling:
Our President is conceding to off shore drilling. This may be for multiple reasons. One, it is a gesture to reach across the aisle in an effort to drum up support for soon-to-be-released legislation on climate change. Face it, this keeps the “drill, baby, drill” conservatives happy. Two, Russia is already wild-catting our east coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine a Russian version of Daniel Day Lewis' character in There Will Be Blood: “I drink your milkshake”! Although it will take years before any oil comes online from this endeavor, this is a huge environmental gamble for our president. There are millions of acres off our coastline and 130 more million acres of arctic land at stake. I’ve always been a supporter of Mr. Obama, but hope the decisions he makes today aren’t regrettable years from now.

How do you make a conservative governor an environmentalist? Simple, have the democrats propose off-shore drilling. Come on, Chris Christie, now isn’t the time to be a hypocrite.

I know I’m an environmentalist, and I know I lean slightly left, but remember, I also pay taxes (a lot of taxes) in this city and state. So here are a few opinions on the topic of spending:

On union contracts – both locally and state-wide:
I admire Chris Christie’s attempts to cut state spending. Our largest costs, simply, are our state and local workers – from teachers to fire fighters. Gov. Christie has been getting photo-ops in municipalities that have had their unions cut or freeze spending. I personally think that in this time of recession (which, in my opinion, would have been a depression if not for the actions of our president) the local labor unions should take pay freezes. Whenever times are tough, we expect our unions to take pay cuts, though I also believe that when times get good again, we should say these same people deserve increased pay. So that is what I am proposing. Unions should take the cuts now, but have an incentive for when the good times return. Is it that hard to have pay increases written into contracts that are equal to the rate of inflation?

On the Tea Party:
The tea party's arguments would hold more water if only they were throwing tea into rivers when the previous presidential administration was running up a seven trillion dollar debt. I'm all for fiscal responsibility, but the party's hypocrisy is laughable.

On local politics:
I did it. I watched all five hours of channel 78’s coverage of March 17’s city council meeting. I’m disgusted – and not just because the meeting went on until 2am. Dawn Zimmer and Beth Mason were supposed to be the type of politicians that would change Hoboken for the better. Instead they bicker and attack each other through talking heads like Michael Lenz, Hoboken Revolt, and Lane Bajardi.

The truth is, the budget couldn’t be fixed in a year. A 25% tax decrease was not only improbable, but impossible. Dawn Zimmer should never have promised such a decrease knowing full well it could not be delivered.

Believe it or not, I think the politicians of our city (Dawn Zimmer, Beth Mason, Michael Lenz, Michael Russo, Lane Bajardi [he's not an elected official - yet], in particular) are all very intelligent AND well intentioned. Further, I think the city is on the right track.

I hope that our elected officials can put their differences aside and get our taxes under control. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to move to another town - and paddle in rivers free of tea and oil!