Power from Space: Come Fry With Me…

By Si Dunn

CNN recently has trumpeted a plan by an Indian engineer with Space Island Group to gather solar power from a gigantic orbiting satellite and beam it down to Earth to provide cheap electricity to rural villages in India.

According to CNN, “American scientist Peter Glaser introduced the idea of space solar power in 1968.” Since then, the concept has been studied several times by several agencies and shelved each time mainly because of potentially massive costs.

But the Space Frontier Foundation, “a group promoting public access to space,” thinks this latest scheme to draw electric power from space basically is peachy keen, CNN adds.

Not to sound like a Luddite here, but there is one fundamental problem with this grand plan, which the CNN article makes sound so simple: “The satellites would electromagnetically beam gigawatts of solar energy back to ground-based receivers, where it would then be converted to electricity and transferred to power grids.”

Here’s the problem. The only way you can “electromagnetically beam gigawatts of solar energy” anywhere is via a microwave radio signal or something even higher in frequency, such as a laser beam. And, no matter how narrowly you try to focus an electromagnetic beam, you’re going to get signal spreading and side lobes of energy--maybe only a few gigawatts or so--shooting down at Earth and hitting people, places, animals and random things outside the energy capture areas.

Hey, and what if your giant energy satellite gets hit by a space rock big enough to knock it slightly off course. Then the main beam will shine down on people, places, animals and random things rather than on the intended capture area. And what if radio communications to the errant satellite are lost and it just starts shooting the energy beam randomly at points on Earth until it can be taken out with nuclear missiles or restored to equilibrium by astronauts?

Gigawatts of power hitting you directly from space probably might be a bit more intense than sticking your head inside a microwave oven for the TV-dinner cycle. But even mere megawatts passing through you over long periods of time possibly could have some very serious medical consequences. People are advised to not stand in front of radar antennas for a reason: The antennas radiate brief pulses of microwave radio power measured in gigawatts, and the pulses can cook you or kill you. A similar technique would have to be used to send energy down from space orbit.

Hey, Jack, need some power for your isolated village? Here, have a couple of minutes of brain-frying microwave radio signals. They were supposed to be received only via the special antennas a hundred miles east of you. But the beast is loose, so the power is free. Capture all you can before the satellite wobbles a bit more and cooks the next village, too.

Instead of spending trillions to put more junk into space, why don't we just spend billions on learning how to live with lower energy consumption and route the saved energy to the rural villages that don't have enough power?

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John McCain: Open Mouth, Insert Foot

By Si Dunn

According to the Associated Press, Arizona Republican John McCain believes Democrat Barack Obama has no right to criticize McCain's position on military scholarships because the Illinois senator did not serve in uniform.

"And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did," McCain said in a statement issued May 22.

McCain lashed out at Obama's personal history despite Obama's repeated praise of McCain's military service, the Associated Press reported.

An Opposing View
Barack Obama has every right to criticize John McCain on this issue. Our nation is shortchanging recently returned veterans at almost every turn, while giving away and throwing away countless billions of borrowed dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, President Bush and John McCain are claiming that current legislative proposals for a new GI Bill would be too expensive for America.

Speaking of “too expensive,” returning veterans are coming home expecting to be able to go to college with their promised benefits, only to find that their vouchers barely will cover a fraction of the costs they will face.

Thousands upon thousands of men and women enlisted on the promise--the guarantee--of a college education after service. So where is it? Currently tied up and hamstrung by misplaced political priorities and unbelievably massive financial waste.

No, Barack Obama did not fly a jet and spend years in North Vietnamese captivity. And yes, John McCain fought honorably in two conflicts—Vietnam and his battle for personal survival in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. But Sen. McCain seems to be forgetting exactly why he was fighting. Didn’t it have something to do--at least vaguely--with preserving democracy and protecting the rights of people--including Senators from opposing parties--to speak freely?

Personal Experience
The GI Bill gave me just enough money to go to college after I served out my enlistment in the Navy and came home from the Tonkin Gulf. Yes, I had to work some part-time jobs, and yes, I sometimes had little more than a few Cokes and a loaf of bread to live on while waiting for the next check. But the money, when carefully managed, was at least enough to pay tuition, to buy books, and to eat. Part-time jobs covered rent, clothing and inevitable extras. Without the GI Bill, I could never have earned a degree and worked at good-paying jobs.

Bottom line: Those few thousand dollars of assistance I received from the Vietnam-era GI Bill have been returned to the U.S. Treasury many times over as tax payments during my 40-plus years of employment.

Not giving today’s veterans enough money to have an equal chance at college is not just unfair. It is politically and socially immoral.

John McCain should be deeply ashamed of his opposition to more funding for American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. He, of all people, should be acutely aware of how much they have sacrificed-—and are still sacrificing--for our country.

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What Now for Hillary?

By Si Dunn

The Democrats’ nominating mess/process effectively could be over by early June. But many political columnists and political leaders want Hillary Clinton to drop out now, while she’s riding high in West Virginia and still--theoretically--has some sort of mathematical chance, visible at least through rose-colored magnifying glasses.

A slim majority of Democrats are ready to nominate an inspiring speaker—Barack Obama—-who won’t have quite enough political experience to pull Humpty Dumpty America back together again and also take on an enormous list of challenges at the same time. Not without one hell of a lot of economic and diplomatic Superglue and significant help from both sides of the political aisle. (And don’t count on much from the Republican Party, of course, except grumpy lip service and petulant foot dragging, once John McCain and many GOP incumbents are trounced at the polls.)

Pundits such as E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post also want Sen. Clinton to forgo any thoughts of the vice presidency in favor of becoming “a powerful figure in the Democratic Party”—-which, in case he hasn’t noticed lately, she already is. Dionne wants her to clear the way for a “Clinton supporter” such as Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, or Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania to become the vice-presidential nominee.

Any of these gentlemen no doubt could be reasonably good veeps. But now is not the time for “reasonably good.”

Whether Obama and Clinton secretly like each other or hate each other, millions of people from many diverse corners of this nation have voted for them in almost equal numbers. They want inspiration—-“Yes, we can!”—-but they also know the challenges ahead demand deep ranges of national and international experience, much of which Hillary Clinton (and well-picked advisors) can provide.

Many voters also believe the time is long overdue to break two glass ceilings at once in the White House: race and gender.

We can’t have a co-presidency, of course. But an Obama-Clinton (or Clinton-Obama) ticket would present the strongest possible combination of inspiration and experience. We will need that—-and we will need them--to help get us off our dispirited butts and start cleaning up the massive wreckage left behind by Hurricane Bush.
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Indiana Limbaugh and the Temple of Gloom

By Si Dunn

The Washington Post has reported that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh is claiming smashing success for his “Operation Chaos” in the Indiana Democratic primary.

In several recent primaries, Limbaugh has urged Republican listeners “to vote for Clinton to ‘bloody up Obama politically’ and prolong the Democratic fight.”

According the Post: “Limbaugh crowed about the success of his ploy all day Tuesday, featuring on-air testimonials from voters in Indiana and North Carolina who recounted their illicit pleasure in casting a vote for Clinton.” Limbaugh contends that “his” voters cast the votes that gave Hillary Clinton her narrow, 14,000-vote win.

Now, in his own “Mission Accomplished” moment, however, Limbaugh is telling his 20 million listeners that Barack Obama actually will prove to be the weaker of the two Democrats against John McCain. (Meaning: “I know I told you I wanted that Devil incarnate, Hillary, to win. But now that she can’t win and I’m beginning look stupid, I want Obama to win, so I’ll look smart again.”)

Meanwhile, supporters of Obama, Clinton and a possible Obama-Clinton ticket may be tempted to respond: "Hey, wake up and smell the change, Rushmore. Once the Democrats unite and line up their new waves of registered voters, it’s gonna be tsunami time for anything resembling neoconservative Republicanism. Your signal’s gonna take a big-time fade, bud."

I had a Rush Limbaugh-Indiana moment a few years ago while driving through some of that state’s rural areas. I turned on my car’s AM radio, hoping to get some sense of the local, small-town news or music. Instead, on every audible channel from 540 to 1610 kilohertz, it was all Rush Limbaugh all the time, amplitude-modulating his spleen.

It was hot outside in the Indiana sun, and almost no one was visible doing any work in the great fields of corn. There seemed to be no life, either, in the widely scattered farmhouses. Yet, Rush Limbaugh’s radio rants were flowing over and through thousands of acres of corn, from horizon to horizon. And the stalks seemed utterly unmoved by his vitriol.

For just a moment, it reminded me of a grim movie scene where emaciated prisoners stand huddled inside a barbed-wire compound while loudspeakers blare “Achtung! Achtung!” and warn against trying to escape.

American politics has long had its share of colorful scoundrels, thieves and fools. Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos,” however, is just one more sad example of how small-minded people can become once they convince themselves that they are completely right and anyone who doesn’t agree with them is completely wrong.

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Democrats for McCain: Are You Crazy?

By Si Dunn

Pollsters analyzing the Indiana and North Carolina primary results are again reporting a disturbing trend that has been seen in earlier primaries.

A number of voters in the Democratic elections are saying they will switch to John McCain if Barack Obama or (to a much lesser extent) Hillary Clinton is not the nominee.

Of course, some of these party-hoppers are Republicans who have showed up at Democratic polling stations specifically to vote against Clinton or Obama. They are hoping to help steer one candidate or the other into the general election in the belief that John McCain can beat them.

Others are Republicans so disgruntled with the Bush Administration that they are willing to back "an inspiring speaker"--Obama--despite his unabashed liberalism and somewhat thin record. Yet, if Obama is not the nominee, most of those Republicans say they will slink straight back to McCain rather than vote for Hillary Clinton and her slightly more conservative agendas. Never mind that John McCain basically is George Bush in an older--and, okay, yes, genuinely battle-scarred--flight suit. (And never mind that neither one of them could possibly outfly the embattled president in Independence Day.)

Some Democrats completely enamored of one candidate, however, say they will abandon the party and vote for John McCain in November if Obama (mostly) or Clinton (to a much lesser extent) is not the nominee.

Which raises three questions for these voters: (1) Are you crazy? (2) Have you paid any attention to these past eight years? And (3), do you always choose political petulance over practicality and common sense?

We need true change this time, not another pilot who will keep up the bombing runs on Iraq and the nation's economy.

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Burning Manuscripts: A Poem

BURNING MANUSCRIPTS
No words gather meaning
While they flame. No phoenix
Rises. Cold, the ashes collapse.

The poet smirks at his pyre:
A genre of smoke,
Published by the wind.

-- Si Dunn