China Wants the Upper Hand In Space

The race to the moon between the United States and China is getting tighter and the next two years could determine who gains the upper hand.

So says NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who warns that Beijing could establish a foothold and try to dominate the most resource-rich locations on the lunar surface — or even keep the U.S. out.

“It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” the former Florida senator and astronaut said in an interview. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’”

He cited an Earthly example in the South China Sea, where the Chinese military has established bases on contested islands. “If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands.”

Nelson’s hawkish comments follow NASA’s 26-day Artemis I mission, in which an uncrewed Orion space capsule flew around the moon. That mission, widely regarded as a success, was the first big step toward NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface to begin building a more permanent human presence — which could come as early as 2025.

It also comes on the heels of Congress’ passage of a full-year budget for NASA. The agency did not get all the funding it requested, but Nelson insisted that the “have to haves” were not shortchanged. That includes the key components for the next two moon missions, Artemis II and Artemis III.

But looming ever-larger is China’s aggressive space program, including its recent opening of a new space station. Beijing has announced a goal of landing taikonauts on the moon by the end of this decade. In December, China’s government laid out its vision for more ambitious endeavors such as building infrastructure in space and creating a space governance system.  READ MORE...

Gerrymandering

The districts that will determine the House majority were crafted not only by fellow Republicans protecting their incumbents but by courts and commissions that drew many of the nation’s battleground districts — and by Democrats who may have reached too far with their own maps. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images




Republicans are trying to flip control of the House this week. And their paths to victory were meticulously fashioned via redistricting long before the votes were cast.

The districts that will determine the House majority were crafted not only by fellow Republicans protecting their incumbents but by courts and commissions that drew many of the nation’s battleground districts — and by Democrats who may have reached too far with their own maps.

The main consequences of redistricting this year: There are fewer tightly divided districts than ever. Partisan control of redistricting in dozens of states allowing lawmakers from both parties to shore up incumbents at the expense of competitive seats.

Republicans are likely to benefit from redistricting more than Democrats, after they pushed through aggressive, seat-flipping gerrymanders in states such as Florida. Meanwhile, some Democratic attempts to draw maps to their advantage, including in New York, were struck down by the courts.    READ MORE...

Manchin Unloads on Biden

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Saturday slammed President Joe Biden for pledging to shut down America’s coal plants in a speech in California.

“President Biden’s comments are not only outrageous and divorced from reality, they ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of rising energy costs,” Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in a statement just days ahead of the midterm elections.

“Comments like these are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden. … It seems his positions change daily depending on the audience and politics of the day.”     READ MORE...

Europe Faces Historic Drought

Water levels in rivers across Europe are dropping in the historic drought, revealing “hunger stones” 

carved with centuries-old warnings of famine and hardship. PETR DAVID JOSEK AP

Water levels have dropped in major rivers across Europe as the region suffers under a historic drought. In those dry riverbeds, centuries-old warning messages have emerged, locals report. 

The “horrifying” boulders are known as “Hungersteine,” or “Hunger Stones,” local German reporter Olaf Koens said in an Aug. 11 tweet. 

One of these stones is embedded in the Elbe River, which runs from the mountains of Czechia through Germany to the North Sea, POLITICO journalist Aitor Hernández-Morales tweeted the same day.

The stone, dating back to a drought in 1616, is once again visible in the dry riverbed, Hernández-Morales said. The warning reads, “Wenn du mich seehst, dann weine” – “If you see me, weep.” 

“Hunger stones” like this one were used as “hydrological landmarks” across central Europe, NPR reported when the stones last surfaced during a 2018 drought.

These stones are “chiselled with the years of hardship and the initials of authors lost to history,” a team of Czech researchers wrote in a 2013 study. “The basic inscriptions warn of the consequences of drought. 

It expressed that drought had brought a bad harvest, lack of food, high prices and hunger for poor people.” The stones commemorate historic droughts, the researchers said.  READ MORE...

Women to Register for Draft

The Senate Armed Services Committee included language in its version of the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to require women, for the first time, to register for the draft.

Congress has debated for several years whether to require women to sign up with the Selective Service, as men must do between the ages of 18 and 25. No American has been drafted in nearly a half century, but the Selective Service provides the government with information that could be used if a new draft were to occur in a time of national emergency.

Six years of debate
Congress’ previous efforts to require women to register for the draft have fallen short despite widespread bipartisan support for the move.

The debate over registering women picked up steam in 2015, when women were permitted to perform so-called combat roles in the U.S. armed services.

In 2016, both the House and Senate Armed Services panels approved the change, but it did not make it into the final fiscal 2017 bill.

In the House that year, Republicans effectively stripped the provision out of the defense authorization measure on the floor without a vote, when the Rules Committee adopted a so-called self-executing rule that turned the required registration into a mandate for a study of the issue.

Last year, a National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, which was created by Congress, recommended that women register.

Politico reported earlier this week that Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, would push to include the provision requiring women to register for the draft in this year's bill.

House push
On the Selective Service website, one of the "frequently asked questions" is: "Why aren't women required to register?"

The response is: "The Military Selective Service Act, as it is written, only authorizes the registration of 'male persons.' In order for the Selective Service to be authorized to register women, Congress would have to pass legislation amending the current law."  TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS, CLICK HERE...