THE
USA I LOVE: SPACE, SPORTS AND SMARTS
by EricLafayette on August 7th 2012 www.fordemocracy.com
A black man,
a black young woman and thousands of smart and talented Americans
of all races and genders made history last week.
Sunday 5th August 2012 was a feast for all Americans and for me
it was one of my highest points as an American citizen. The most
complex landing on Mars was achieved and a bouncing 15 years old
African American won 2 gold medals
I am watching the 2012 Olympics a quite a bit. It is a very special
moment. It is one of the rare moments when you cannot feel the slightest
hint of racism or the slightest hint of anti women prejudice. Many
stories of athletes from poor countries read like rag to riches
stories but in some cases it means going from poverty to the ability
to own a few cows on a few acres of land. I cannot emphasize how
much the Olympics are important. THE OLYMPIC GAMES TODAY CREATE
A NEW IDEALISTIC PLANET FROZEN IN TIME AND SPACE FAR AWAY FROM RELIGIOUS
EXTREMISM, RACISM, GENDER BASHING.
I have three
main passions in my life Space exploration, Sports and inspirational
History.
SPACE:
On Sunday 5th of August 2012 at 10.14 PM Pacific Time my country
the USA rewarded me with joy and hope.
An American laboratory on wheels the largest rover that ever landed
on Mars accomplished "Mission Impossible." One of the
most complex and most delicate feats of engineering ever performed
in Space became an American success.
After having traveled EIGHT months and 570 million kilometers a
capsule protected by a heat shield entered the Mars atmosphere then
a supersonic parachute opened. The heat shield was jettisoned and
then a space crane propelled by eight throttle able rockets detached
itself from the capsule and slowed down the rover to 6 km per hour.
The space crane then hovered above Mars and let the heaviest lab-rover
on wheels (almost a ton) glide down suspended from cables allowing
it to land as safely as a feather would do on earth. Five minutes
after the landing we had pictures from Mars.
Nobody in the world can do that but us. A nation must really have
a huge number of intelligent, highly trained and inspired people
to achieve such a difficult task. To be frank I have always been
a big NASA fan and after CURIOSITY and YES it is the name of the
new MARS rover landed everybody in the NASA control room were hugging
each other and crying and yes even seasoned grey haired engineers
were crying like babies and I was crying too because this is HUGE.
Thank you NASA for making me proud of being an American and special
thanks to my friends at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, an arm
of NASA in charge of the Mars mission. It took guts and smarts to
choose such a complex landing system.
Charlie Bolden NASA administrator which in fact is the equivalent
of CEO in a private company is a black man and to top it all the
chief of the lunar landing mission is Charles Elachi originally
from Lebanon who as the head of the Jet Propulsion laboratory a
division of NASA has been in charge of the project since 2001. In
short an African American and an Immigrant achieved the impossible
for the benefit of the US and of humanity at large.
NASA among
other experiments will be looking at microscopic particles that
would show that life could have existed on Mars.
President Obama said, "Even the longest of odds are no match
for America's unique blend of technical acumen and gutsy determination."
For a very detailed description of the mission go to: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/MSLLaunch.pdf
THE OLYMPIC
GAMES
On this story I
am only one among many Americans who fell in love with Gabby Douglas
the American Gymnast who won a team gold medal and an Individual
all-around Gold medal at the London Olympics of 2012.
This is a great story the American way. Gabby was raised in Virginia
Beach by a single mother and started gymnastics at the age of six.
At the time of the 2012 London Olympics she is a slender 15 year
old African American who can bounce and fly like nobody else.
When she was 14 she campaigned to be authorized to train with Coach
Liang Chow. It was her choice and it involved moving to Des Moines,
Iowa and living with a host family the Partons. In the beginning
neither her mom nor her future coach Liang Chow was convinced of
the wisdom of this move. Gabby fought for her goal, won the agreement
of her mom and her new coach and moved to Des Moines. After many
successful competitions she won her selection for the American Gymnastic
Team heading to the 2012 London Olympics.
She went to London and she delivered.
She was part of the team that won the Team Gold Medal in Gymnastics.
In the Individual all-around competition she won an Individual Gold
Medal.
She delivered all these medals with a smile to die for. You will
soon be able to see her smile on Kellogg Corn Flakes boxes.
She is the
second African American woman after Dominique Dawes who won team
gold in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics to win a gold medal in Gymnastics.
She broke the racial barrier again.
In the USA, In Gymnastic a sport dominated by white men and white
women it is always comforting to see a trend.
In contrast I saw women from Qatar and Saudi Arabia dressed in conservative
Muslim dress from head to toe including head scarves. They failed
miserably. It was obvious they had been sent only to diffuse critics
who had been saying that Muslim religious states oppressed women
and were not allowing them to compete in sports events. It was pathetic
but there was a tiny spec of hope as these women were at least allowed
by their countries to compete but only after “the International
Olympic Committee threatened to bar all Saudi athletes if the team
did not include women. Brunei and Qatar, which had also barred female
athletes in past Olympics, were quick to give in to the I.O.C.’s
arm-twisting.” (NYT) Let us who live in countries whose Constitution
asserts the separation of Church and State continue to assert pressure
on people who wage war on women.
SMARTS AND INSPIRATIONAL HISTORY
In the past week ending on Sunday August 5th 2012 I have seen much
hope as an American and even more as a progressive American.
We all needed to renew our hope after a decade of oppression by
anti women, racist, right wing Conservatives who are in the process
of destroying their own nation if it is what it takes to win an
election against a black President.
A black man Charles Bolden showed that he can lead a team of many
thousand scientists into one of the most complex and ambitious scientific
projects in space and achieve success. The Boss of these two Administrators
is another African American named President Barack Obama. This mission
shows that Americans can be smarter than any other people on earth
if given the right opportunity.
In the 2012 Olympics a talented and beautiful 15 year old African
American girl broke a racial barrier again by winning two gold medals
in gymnastics a sport predominantly white. What I like as an Historian
is that although many racial barriers due mainly to Conservatives
must still be conquered. I can feel that the trend towards a less
racially unjust America is there, and it makes me happier because
we can see that hope is becoming more and more tangible.
CONQUERING SPACE AND CONQUERING GOLD MEDALS, SHOWS THAT A NATION
OR AN INDIVIDUAL CAN BE JUDGED ONLY ON MERIT AND ACHIEVEMENT, WHAT
CAN BE BETTER FOR DEMOCRACY.
Eric Lafayette
More progressive and Historical articles on
www.fordemocracy.com
UPDATE ON MY
JOY OF BEING AN AMERICAN by Eric Lafayette
Visiting
the California Science Center and Specifically the Air and Space
Exhibits.
I have been there before but thanks to new additions On October
2nd 2015 I had a Fantastic day because I saw many other proofs
that Human kind and my fellow Americans can achieve the Impossible.
I was able to see and come very close, so close to the Aircraft
and Spacecrafts that I could almost touch them.
The pictures
below will show you the 3 best Aircraft and Spacecrafts ever built:
The Apollo Capsule/Module
US Astronauts were the First Humans to walk on the Moon and come
back
thanks to this Apollo module/capsule part of a 3 elements Spacecraft
that went to the Moon.
This
Huge American
Space Shuttle one among a fleet of other Shuttles that were crucial
in building
The International Space Station and could carry a crew of Seven
Astronauts
SR 71 the Fastest
Plane in the Air
The SR71
was the fastest plane ever built at 3 times the Speed of sond and
established an Unbeaten Record when it flew
from Los Angeles to Washington DC in 64 Minutes ( One hour!!!!)
I feel at home and so Happy at the Air and Space exhibit in Los
Angeles
Eric Lafayette
----------------
THE USA MUST GO BACK TO THE MOON VERY SOON
Eric Lafayette February 19th 2015, L A
President Vladimir
Putin is grabbing every piece of land he can at any cost disregarding
international laws. In addition he constantly vilifies the USA and
shows hatred for the USA and President Obama. President Putin is
taking a page from the book of the Cold War and gathering around
him all the malcontent leaders of developing countries who do not
fit in the sphere of Democratic leaders but are dictators or respond
to his promises of business and money.
The next land
that Putin's going to grab to show that he is better and more powerful
than the USA is the MOON and if he succeeds in claiming the Moon
for Russia and its allies he will have the additional pleasure of
humiliating the USA. He will be able to sing a song that will be
listened to by many countries and the title is : “How pathetic
the USA have become”
IF Putin's Russians Astronauts do not reach the Moon first due to
recent economic problems and claim it for them then Chinese Astronauts
will land on the Moon sooner than a New wave of Americans Astronaut
could and will claim the Moon for China as China is investing enormously
in her quest for the Moon
Remember
the USA had Americans walk on the moon more than 45 years ago
Since then
although NASA is one of America’s most valuable assets, American
strategy for exploring and conquering outer space has been a Unadequate.Today
the situation is even worse because no one has been able to articulate
strong plans and intelligent priorities for NASA.
Now is the time for President Barack Obama to put his intelligence
and influence in the service of NASA. NASA needs to be more than
a group of wonderfully talented engineers and well trained scientist
astronauts having too many changing goals. It si time NOW to integrate
the fact that Russia have a fervent patriotic approach that is lacking
in the USA. It needs to be a purposeful and strategic organization
focused on specific strategic goals. One reality is that the Moon
could become a very crucial military base for Russia or China.
Without a revamped strategy for NASA the Moon after China or Russia
lands on the Moon the USA may have to start a fight with China or
Russia to be able to live on the Moon in addition of becoming a
second rank nation that can be treated with contempt.
Some of NASA’s
programs such as lassoing an asteroid and landing a man on it seem
not important when compared with protecting US interests on the
Moon.Vladimír Putin must be delighted to see such a scattering
of efforts going in so many directions at such a gigantic cost without
resulting in boosting the leadership of the USA.
Think how devastating
it would be for the American people to see Russian landing on the
Moon and claiming it as Russian territory. If it is not Russia it
will be China, both nations have increased enormously their space
budget with the goal to land on the Moon.
REMEMBER: RUSSIAN GRABBED AND STOLE FROM UKRAINE THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA
AT THE COST OF A WAR AND DESPITE A INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ALLOCATING
CRIMEA TO UKRAINE AND CHINA IS TRYING TO GRABB ISLANDS FROM JAPAN.
GRABBING THE MOON FOR RUSSIA AND CHINA WILL BE VERY EASY WITHOUT
THE COST OF A WAR.
If the
US president does not step in and helpS NASA’s leadership
in a significant way, the first government of the Moon will be a
Russian dictatorship or a Chinese dictatorship
The two most
advanced Democratic entities in the world, the USA and Europe, are
letting the Moon slip into the hands of dictators who will install
military bases on the moon aimed at threatening the USA and Europe.
THE USA MUST LAND AND LIVE ON THE MOON BEFORE 2020 PREFERABLY
IN 2018 AND OF COURSE NOT AFTER CHINA OR RUSSIA
LANDED AND GRABBED THE MOON AS PART OF THEIR DICTATORSHIP. THE FIRST
TERRITORY OUTSIDE THE EARTH OUR MOON DESERVE A DEMOCRACY NOT A DICTATORSHIP
Of course I have a plan for landing on the Moon in 2018
Eric Lafayette
Addition October
7th 2015
NASA programs for going back to deep space is not progressing in
a streamlined efficient way but as an entity progressing by hicups
in a variety of directions. Let's reset the goals and this time
the absolute imperative goal is Americans landing and establishing
a permanent small colony with at least one American living on the
Moon 24 hour a day without one second of interruption even if it
means that the first American Residents on the Moon will be camping
on the Moon going from one Camping Capsule to an other Camping Capsule
that the US landed on the Moon in sufficient quantity. These capsules
will be relatively light, relativelly small and allow living inside
in a cramped space for days.This first landing of Americans on the
Moon must happen MUCH MUCH SOONER that the predicted date of 2025.
American landed on the Moon more than 45 years ago then Americans
abandoned the Moon and now they Must land on the Moon before December
2020 or sooner to beat Russia or China appropriating the Moon for
themselves and building military entities there and grabbing the
Moon for their country.
I am not exagerating when I write that China and Russia will grabbed
the Moon for themselves and their friends.
Adding an extract of a previous article
As Early as September 7th 2007 I wrote an article on the necessity
for the US of Landing on the Moon
FIFTH ACTION: LANDING ON THE MOON.
Problem
The USA is loosing its aura of invincibility and dominance and is
being looked down on by many if not most of the world.
The
USA is not a rock star or a giant as it was as recently before 2007.
This
perception of weakness is detrimental to the USA on all fronts.
Solution: FIX IT ALL BY LANDING ON THE MOON AGAIN
Landing on the moon was a feat that only a mega-power like
the USA could achieve more than 40 years ago July 20, 1969.
Landing
on the moon again will frame the USA as a giant again, and it will
make people now under the Islamic Fundamentalist yoke think about
the strength of a democracy that interacts with a celestial object
that controls theiralendars. In addition such a show of strength
and demonstration of cutting edge science will send a message to
ambitious and aggressive countries such as China and Russia. The
message is: The USA is still the leader in scientific exploration
and a Gentle giant way ahead of you.
It
will also be a giant advertisement for American products no competitor
can yet match.
Letting
Russia or China which is the nation working the hardest at landing
on the moon succeed in their landing on the Moon before the US returns
on the Moon is pure folly
Funding: Already funded but on a wrong direction plus money from
the Department of Defense.
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