And I Thought I Was Too Cynical

Okay, so, The Shrub has put some ideas on the table about space exploration. Bug stuff about going to the Moon and Mars. Skeptics wonder why - my own first thought is that it's mostly to get some space-junkies to vote for him in November.

But, given some of the policy decisions of the current administration, one is tempted to ask, "What does Halliburton get out of it? Drilling rights?"

Unfortunately, that may not be far from the truth...

From Petroleum News: NASA Ames Center looks at problem of drilling on Mars

Post-Arisia Thoughts...

Some less pleasing things:

In retrospect - those staff and con-com members who are expecting or planning long vacations in December really need to either have a well-informed assistant, or need to step down and be replaced. Putting large jobs on hold while you gallivant around for three weeks on X-mas Break really isn't acceptable. The fact that the con seemed to carry on well enough is not justification or allowing people to go AWOL. It worked well this time. In the future, it might not.

I think the con needs to take another look at it's dealers. I was hoping to see lots of geeky and nerdy stuff to buy, and I was surrounded by bodices, earrings, and books that I could get any day of the week. I saw not a single replica phaser, few toys in general, very little filk music for sale. Basically, there was too much vendor overlap - we only need so many purveyors of paperbacks, fantasy-clothes, and jewelry.

And some well-earned kudos:

The Con Security Staff deserves some thanks for acting in a rational and helpful manner. A less on-the-ball crew would either have shut down or ignored the Guerilla Dance Party. But they did neither. They supported us - to the point of terming us an "sanctioned impromptu convention activity", but they also kept reasonable watch - asking for a head count so we didn't drastically overfill the room we were using, giving us a security man to watch us for a while at the peak of the party, keeping us up to date on what was going on in the ballroom dance, and so on.

These folks did good by us. Thank you!