Good morning, Whitewater

There is a 7:00 p.m. FFA meeting scheduled at the high school this evening.

Longtime readers know that I am a libertarian, and like all libertarians, not fond of Richard M. Nixon, a big-government Republican if ever there were one. (I am not fond of local versions of Nixon either, as I have remarked before. Nothing hurts the Republican Party — what’s left of it — more than state-oriented solutions.)

A sound Republican?

Goldwater.

Some may doubt, of course, that Nixon was all wrong. They’re mistaken — he really was all wrong. I can prove it, too. A recent story from Wired reminds readers that Nixon mucked up everything, even American space exploration.

Nixon authorized the oh-so-solid-and-reliable Space Shuttle as America’s next space craft, on January 5th, 1972:

1972: President Richard M. Nixon announces that NASA will develop a space shuttle system, touting its reliability, reusability and low cost.

The Mercury and Gemini programs had put Americans into Earth orbit. Apollo had been to the moon seven times — landing four times — and would return to land twice again later in 1972.

But NASA wanted a reusable rocket ship to explore Earth orbit and to supply and staff a space station. Nixon gave the go-ahead:

I have decided today that the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier of the 1970s into familiar territory, easily accessible for human endeavor in the 1980s and ’90s.

This system will center on a space vehicle that can shuttle repeatedly from Earth to orbit and back. It will revolutionize transportation into near space, by routinizing it. It will take the astronomical costs out of astronautics. In short, it will go a long way toward delivering the rich benefits of practical space utilization and the valuable spinoffs from space efforts into the daily lives of Americans and all people.

NASA director James Fletcher’s remarks referred once again to the shuttle’s “modest budget” and reduced complexity. The plan was to make 48 flights a year (.pdf) at about $50 million per launch ($250 million in today’s money).

Starting in 1981, the shuttles have made 124 space flights in 28 years, averaging four or five missions a year. The years immediately following the Challenger and Columbia disasters saw no flights. 1985 had a record high nine missions, and 1990 to 1997 averaged eight flights a year.
University of Colorado researcher Roger Pielke Jr. calculated in early 2005 that the shuttle program to that point had cost $145 billion, or about $1.3 billion per flight. (Based on a 1995 midpoint, that’s about $1.9 billion per flight in today’s dollars.)

The Apollo program cost a total $19.4 billion from 1960 to 1973. That averages almost $2.2 billion for each of the nine lunar missions. (Based on a 1967 midpoint, that would be about $13 billion each today.)

So, space shuttle flights have certainly been less expensive than Apollo lunar missions. But even adjusting for inflation and despite their many achievements, shuttle launches cost seven or eight times what was promised.

Yep — all wrong.

Good morning, Whitewater

Tonight, at 6:30 p.m. there’s a Common Council meeting. The Common Council is down one member, but there are still community treasures, public servants, and the ambitious left to care for you. Just you, don’t you see?

An agenda, to follow the proceedings, is available online.

There is a 6:30 p.m. PAT meeting scheduled for Lakeview School.

In Wisconsin history on this date, in 1921, a mood-killing moment, if ever there were one: the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that “Janesville Women Abhor Salacious Entertainment”:

On this date the Janesville Federation of Women decided to “censor” movies and vaudeville in the city. Members of this organization praised and promoted what they considered “better offerings.” They were zealously critical towards those of a “salacious” nature. No follow-up ever determined whether the women were successful in their quest or if the increased publicity for “salacious” shows backfired

No one kisses well and lovingly through pursed lips.

I know very well that Janesville is not like this now — welcome, neighbors, to a new and freer century.

Good morning, Whitewater

Here is the beginning — the first full week — of your new year.

There are no scheduled public meetings in the City of Whitewater today. One never knows, though, if something terribly important, and offered as an exception to Wisconsin’s open meetings law, will arise.

School’s back in session. Hope you enjoyed your break as much as I did mine. Back to studying for you, and posting for me.

In Wisconsin history on this date, in 1813, the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that “Utopian Community Leader Kevin Brunner Warren Chase was Born”:

On this date the founder of a Fourierite Utopian community in what is now Ripon was born. Their inspiration came from the writings of Charles Fourier, a French Socialist who urged the rebuilding of society from its foundation as the only cure for economic ills such as the depression of 1837. The idea was supported by Horace Greely in New York and caught the eye of Warren Chase.

Chase and others built a successful, non-religous communal society in which everyone recieved wages according to their skill, need, and work ethic. The community reached their greatest population (180) in 1845 but soon dissipated when members began moving toward agriculture as an economic tool.

Families gradually left the community to live in their own houses and work their own land in the same area.

In 1850, the community disbanded and $40,000 in assets was divided among the remaining members. Warren Chase moved around the country and finally settled in California, where he held many public offices.

Oh dearie me, the story of so many efforts where an official exists to build a better community —

High hopes, initial success, community rejection of idealistic socialism for private property, collapse of the scheme, and the retreat of the community leader into — what else? — public office (at public expense!).

Thank you, Wisconsin Historical Society, for your apt account of this asinine scheme! You have made me deliriously happy, really you have. I admire your organization 22.9% more than I did last month, for this account alone.