Light that candle!

Well, looks like if we're lucky, the Shuttle might launch Sunday. Probably not but maybe. Apparently they had some thingamajig problem with this really complex doohickey that connects to whatsit... and... it just won't go.

So, the first reason for my post today is to express some frustration. I have been waiting for 2 1/2 years for a shuttle launch, and I am READY to see that great bird back into the sky.



My second reason for posting is that I am totally amused and disgusted simultaneously by our mainstream media. I actually read this headline on CNN.com two nights ago:

"SPACE SHUTTLE: IS IT REALLY SAFE?"

OK, I am going to keep this short and sweet.

Of course it's not safe you [insert choice expletive here] morons.

You are taking 4.5 million pounds of equipment and fuel, lighting external solid rocket boosters and hurtling 115 to 400 miles into space at a speed of 17,321 miles per hour on dual columns of white-hot flame.

Safe? Not freakin' hardly. In fact, there is probably very little on our planet that is more dangerous. No matter how many safety improvements they make, space flight is 100% dangerous, all the time.

Not only that, but As the Shuttle cannot fly unmanned, each and every safety improvement that has been designed - has been "tested" on operational flights. Can you say Guinea Pigs? That's kinda like crash testing your own car.

And here begins the rant.

SINCE WHEN does everything we do have to be so safe? Our government and the media pundits seem to think that if it's not safe, we shouldn't be doing it. I am so sick of this mentality. The United States was founded by men and women who took risks. Some lived, many died, but all built a strong country with a legacy of bravery that will never be equalled.

It's just what we do.

Now we see images of the Challenger and Columbia astronauts and so many wimps wring their hands and wonder aloud if it's all really worth it. Of course it's worth it, unless you want to become stale and stagnant as a species.

But in 2005, the government and our wimpy media pundits just don't think heroism and bravery are cool. Go figure. Perfect in an age of OSHA and our nanny-state.

Someday, I hope to take a space flight. I really want to see the planet that way before I die. In the meantime, I am more than happy to enjoy the exploits of our last strain of true heroes - our astronauts and members of our military (often one in the same) - and teach my son to admire them and aspire to their greatness.

It's amazing to think that taking risks has become such a shocking and politically incorrect thing to do. What would we be without heroes?

Here's to a launch sooner than later - good luck and Godspeed to our astronauts.