Astronomical... In Two Flavors

I didn't watch The One deliver his elebbenty-lebbenth speech on ObamaCare last evening, this time to a joint session of Congress… his second speech to that august body assembled (<=== snark)… but I DID watch a lil bit of the analysis, more specifically the hour Charlie Rose devoted to the subject.

(Brief digression:  I've mentioned this before, but I REALLY like Charlie Rose.  Charlie probably ain't cool in some circles, given he lives and works in New Yawk, his show is on PBS (Gad!  PBS!), and he tends to feature more liberals on his show than a shouter like young Mr. Hannity or the bomb-throwing Glenn Beck.  But the man IS thoughtful, organized, and devotes at least half of his hour-long show to the subject at hand… when the subject is politics.  Mr. Rose is low key and asks probing questions of the sort rarely found on political shows in these United States these days.  Moreover, he engages his guests in actual dialog, inasmuch as dialog with politicians and other poohbahs… like generals and ambassadors… is possible.  Moreover, Mr. Rose is something of a Renaissance Man in that he is just as well-versed in the arts and technology as he is in political arcana.  I will admit, though, that I tune Mr. Rose out when he does things like opera and movies… two subjects about which I have little or no interest.  If you're not watching Mr. Rose… well, you should be.  You can check out a lot of his stuff on his website.)

Well… that digression wasn't very "brief," now, was it?  Especially since I really don't have much to say about ObamaCare, other than the fact nearly all the Talking Heads seem to agree the "public option" is dead.  None of the pundits I watched last evening were reading the public option's eulogy, but all seemed in agreement that it is something that just won't fly this time around… which is a great good thing as far as I'm concerned. 

And about my "great good thing" comment: Seeing as how I live in the Glass House of Military Health Care it's hypocritical of me to throw stones at gub'mint health care, in general.  The military's health system has been very, very good to me and it is one of my most prized… which is to say valuable… benefits.  The only stone I can throw… and throw it I will… is the fact I don't believe we can afford public health care beyond what we already provide to the military and seniors (Medicare).  If you don't buy into the "we can't afford it" argument, then I invite you to take a look at this:

That's just a snapshot of what you'll find at US Debt Clock.org.  There's more, a LOT more, and it's updated in real-time… which is to say the numbers are spinning around like an odometer in a 1940s Bugs Bunny cartoon.  It's actually pretty damned scary, in that the numbers are nearly incomprehensible in their magnitude.  Now… what was that about Universal Healthcare?  Hmmm?

(h/t for the Debt Clock: Lex)

―:☺:―

In other news… NASA released the first pictures from the newly-refurbished Hubble telescope yesterday, and they are spectacular.  Here's a sample:

The cool thing is the images are available for download in various sizes, up to and including "stupendous." 

Another digression: didja see "Saving Hubble" on PBS/Nova's Science Now series?  If you click on the link you can watch it... or parts of it... on your peesee.  Amazing stuff, in the most literal sense of the word.  (And yes… it IS a PBS kinda day here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington.  Why do you ask?)