today's Reality Check

[colt45]

> > > > Subj: today's Reality Check
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a
> > > > > > Courthouse.
> > > > > > You
> > > > > > cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit
> Adultery"
> > > > > > and
> > > > > > "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and
> > > > > > politicians!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > It creates a hostile work environment.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ZERO GRAVITY
> > > > > >
> > > > > > When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly
> > > > > > discovered
> > > > > > that
> > > > > > ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12
> > > > > > billion
> > > > > > developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside-down, on
> almost
> > > > > > any
> > > > > > surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below
> > > > > > freezing
> > > > > > to
> > > > > > over 300 C. The Russians used a pencil.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Your taxes are due again--enjoy paying them
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------
> > > > > >
> > > > > > COWS
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our
> > > > > > government
> > > > > > can
> > > > > > track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the
> > > > > > stall
> > > > > > where
> > > > > > she sleeps in the state of Washington. And they tracked her
> calves
> > > > > > to
> > > > > > their
> > > > > > stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens
> > > > > > wandering
> > > > > > around our country.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Maybe we should give them all a cow.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of
> really
> > > > > > smart
> > > > > > guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it
> > > > > > anymore.

[Rufus Rhastus J]

Sometimes, reality ain't so funny, is it?

[colt45]

thats why i didn't put it in the humor forum.

[Rave]

Now THAT IS awsome!Gonna print it for postarity. :nod:

[Despoiler]

The last one is the best.

[Rave]

Yes,that last one is the funniest,now who whould have ever thought it would turn out this way?

[Stopper]

I liked the pencil post.

[Oxford]

Well...I liked the cow joke...And that's no bull!

[NRAJOE]

Originally Posted by Stopper

I liked the pencil post.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Origins:
The lesson of this anecdote is a valid one, that we sometimes expend a great deal of time, effort, and money to create a "high-tech" solution to a problem, when a perfectly good, cheap, and simple solution is right before our eyes. The anecdote offered above isn't a real example of this syndrome, however. Fisher did ultimately develop a pressurized pen for use by NASA astronauts (now known as the famous "Fisher Space Pen"), but both American and Soviet space missions initially used pencils, NASA did not seek out Fisher and ask them to develop a "space pen," Fisher did not charge NASA for the cost of developing the pen, and the Fisher pen was eventually used by both American and Soviet astronauts.

Here's how Fisher themselves described it:

NASA never asked Paul C. Fisher to produce a pen. When the astronauts began to fly, like the Russians, they used pencils, but the leads sometimes broke and became a hazard by floating in the [capsule's] atmosphere where there was no gravity. They could float into an eye or nose or cause a short in an electrical device. In addition, both the lead and the wood of the pencil could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere. Paul Fisher realized the astronauts needed a safer and more dependable writing instrument, so in July 1965 he developed the pressurized ball pen, with its ink enclosed in a sealed, pressurized ink cartridge. Fisher sent the first samples to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Director of the Houston Space Center. The pens were all metal except for the ink, which had a flash point above 200°C. The sample Space Pens were thoroughly tested by NASA. They passed all the tests and have been used ever since on all manned space flights, American and Russian. All research and developement costs were paid by Paul Fisher. No development costs have ever been charged to the government.

Because of the fire in Apollo 1, in which three Astronauts died, NASA required a writing instrument that would not burn in a 100% oxygen atmosphere. It also had to work in the extreme conditions of outer space:
In a vacuum.
With no gravity.
In hot temperatures of +150°C in sunlight and also in the cold shadows of space where the temperatures drop to -120°C
(NASA tested the pressurized Space Pens at -50°C, but because of the residential [sic] heat in the pen it also writes for many minutes in the cold shadows.)

Fisher spent over one million dollars in trying to perfect the ball point pen before he made his first successful pressurized pens in 1965. Samples were immediately sent to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Manager of the Houston Space Center, where they were thoroughly tested and approved for use in Space in September 1965. In December 1967 he sold 400 Fisher Space Pens to NASA for $2.95 each.

Lead pencils were used on all Mercury and Gemini space flights and all Russian space flights prior to 1968. Fisher Space Pens are more dependable than lead pencils and cannot create the hazard of a broken piece of lead floating through the gravity-less atmosphere.

[Rufus Rhastus J]

I find it hard to laugh at something this serious. But, the humor is not lost on me. Too bad we continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. Aren't we supposed to learn from our mistakes? I recall when I worked for the city of Charleston....thier purchaseing department would spend $5.00 to save $.65. What idiots!

[Rave]

Kind of like old brother Dave Gardner said,"We can go four years of Kennedy and still be number one!"
I guess we figure we are big enough that we can't do enough to really hurt ourselves.

[colt45]

don't bet on it.