Posse member Chris Hall has the latest on the first Chinese manned space flight.
Rand Simberg is underwhelmed by the accomplishment.
[A]s during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese government is wasting valuable state resources on a circus that may, in the short run, provide some small bit of national pride to a government that is stealing those same resources from a people to whom it's unaccountable, but will not significantly contribute to the wealth of their nation. Ultimately, the only way to do that is to harness free enterprise to the task.
Rand says we're not in for a new space race. Read the whole thing.
Posted by Phil at October 15, 2003 09:23 AM | TrackBackI don't pretend to understand why the Chinese government finds it admirable to launch a manned space flight at this time - especially when they have so many other worthy projects they could be working on.
As you well know, I am very much in favor of allocating donations to the orphans in China. Only around 250 orphanages in China are on the books as being certified for international adoption. The other orphanages - I hear numbers anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 orphanages - do not have these agreements. Don't know what the criteria is in order to enter such an agreement. Many of the orphanages without international adoption agreements have budgets of 5 cents per day. Not only are they understaffed and not able to provide adequate food, many do not even have glass or other coverings for their windows or doors on the orphanages. And, of course, many buildings in China are not heated.
There is one woman from Oklahoma City, an adoptive parent, who is working with the Chinese government to set up a fund to help all of the orphans and not just those who stand a good chance of being adopted.
The link is www.lovewithoutboundaries.com
It is fun to think about all the possibilities the future holds. I would like to pause for a moment to think about all the people world-wide who have so little and have to scramble for their very existence. I know that some of the concepts being discussed could very well benefit the people who live in poverty.
It is my hope (dream?) that funds for research and for rescue will be adequately distributed in dealing with the future.
Maryo
Posted by: Maryo at October 20, 2003 01:20 AM