The Google Lunar X Prize

I generally keep up pretty well on the news, and this week the X Prize Foundation announced the winners of the Progressive Automotive X Prize. As you might guess from the title of this post, I wasn’t really impressed. Sure, some companies were able to make some cars that got better than 100 miles per gallon, driving at speeds between 45 and 70 mph. I suppose that could technically make them vehicles that might actually be capable of commercial use. But looking closer, it doesn’t seem likely. Three vehicles reached the mark. One was a really lightweight vehicle that combined high percentage ethanol fuel with some batteries. The others were basically electric motorcycles. None of these vehicles would realistically be looked at by any consumers.

But I was really excited by the Ansari X Prize a few years back, and I’m also super excited about a new one which is just getting started called the Google Lunar X Prize. Let’s begin my explanation of this competition by simply pasting in the description of it on the official website:

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014.

Simply reading that makes it look like the X Prize foundation has gone nuts. A few years ago, they were holding a competition just to get into space, and now they’re trying to get to the moon?!? But wait! This competition isn’t so much about getting there. The Ansari X Prize has already accomplished that feat for them. SpaceX, founded by Paypal millionaire Elon Musk, grew from the Ansari X Prize competition, and has a rocket capable of getting payloads to a lunar orbit, the Falcon 9. The Google Lunar X Prize actually recommends use of SpaceX launch capabilities for the competition, although competitors could choose to go a different route (NASA, Arianespace, among others) if they chose to do so.

This competition is about creating a privately funded lunar lander, as well as a rover of some sort. The competition also requires that the lander send over one gigabyte of data from the surface of the moon to the earth in the form of a “mooncast”. The mooncast includes high resolution 360º panoramic photographs taken on the surface of the moon, self portraits of the rover taken on the surface of the Moon, near-real time videos showing the craft’s journey along the lunar surface, and High Definition (HD) video. “Teams will be required to send a Mooncast detailing their arrival on the lunar surface, and a second Mooncast that provides imagery and video of their journey roaming the lunar surface.”

The Google Lunar X Prize excites me because of it’s ability to excite the public about space again. With Congressional infighting about NASA’s future budget, we can no longer look to the government for space exploration. The X Prize Foundation has managed to create a true privately owned space industry, and the Google Lunar X Prize aims to take it beyond low earth orbit. Success here could lead to great advancements in space, and I find that truly exciting.

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Wyclef Jean… President of Haiti?

According to multiple news sources, Wyclef Jean, hip-hop artist and former member of The Fugees, is planning to run for President of Haiti. Is this a case of a celebrity making a mockery of the democratic process to promote his new album? Or is Mr. Jean truly interested in helping Haiti?

It is difficult to tell at this point. Democracy, in the United States and in the rest of the world, has often become a celebrity contest, much like those we can probably all recall from grade school. But Haiti is a different place. According to Wikipedia, Haiti:

“… is an impoverished country, one of the world’s poorest and least developed. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti now ranks 149th of 182 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2006). About 80% of the population were estimated to be living in poverty in 2003. Most Haitians live on $2 or less per day. Haiti has 50% illiteracy, and over 80% of college graduates from Haiti have emigrated, mostly to the United States… Poverty has forced at least 225,000 Haitian children to work as restavecs (unpaid household servants); the United Nations considers this to be a modern-day form of slavery.”

And since the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in January of this year, things have only gotten worse.

Could a celebrity be exactly the type of President that Haiti needs? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to put Haiti back in the minds of the world. Simply by running for president there, Mr. Jean’s celebrity may help to bring Haiti’s problems back into the world news, bringing aid and volunteers to the impoverished nation. Maybe that’s his goal. But what if he not only runs… but wins? Would Wyclef Jean make a good president?

Based on Haiti’s past history with presidents, it would be difficult for him to do any worse than them. Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti’s first democratically elected president in February 1991, but was removed from power before completing even the first year of his 5 year term. Raoul Cédras, a military leader, took power and was in charge of the government until October of 1994, when he was basically exiled by the United States. Aristide returned to power and completed his 5 year term (although he hadn’t been in charge for three of those years). In 1996, René Préval became the second democratically elected President of Haiti and in 2001, he also became the second President of Haiti to leave office at the expiration of an uninterrupted term of office, the first since 1874! And then in 2001, Aristide was again elected president, only to be deposed again in 2004. In 2006, Préval returned to office and has served since.

Préval is barred from re-election by the constitution. It seems, based on Préval actually completing two terms of office, that he has been a good president by Haiti’s standards, but he failed dramatically in his ability to lead the government response to this years earthquake.

Haiti is a country rife with problems. I believe Mr. Jean’s soon-to-be-announced campaign for president will be good for the country. However, I don’t believe his election would be. According to multiple reports, he hasn’t even been able to run his charity, The Yéle Haiti Foundation, without accusations of financial irregularities that he himself has admitted to. It seems to me that his heart is in the right place, but he simply isn’t prepared to run a country. But then… is anyone else in Haiti qualified for the job either?

Links:

• Wyclef Jean’s Blog
• Yele Haiti
• Wyclef Jean to run for president of Haiti? Buzz growing (The Miami Herald – 08/03/2010)
• Haiti: Wyclef Jean Said to Agree to Presidential Run (NYTimes – 08/04/2010)
• Haiti (Wikipedia)

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Capital Punishment and Frank Spisak

“He deserves death.”

“Deserves it ! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

I suspect some that read my blog might recognize that quote. It’s fairly famous. And oddly enough it isn’t really related at all to capital punishment. Those are the words of Gandalf, the wizard from JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings. But they certainly remind me of capital punishment.

I’m currently reading The Lord of the Rings again (fantastic books, by the way), and when I came across that quote I felt inspired to read a bit more about it. In the course of my inter-web browsing, I came across some articles concerning Frank Spisak, a man who is currently on death row in my home state of Ohio, and currently set to be executed on February 17, 2011.

Frank Spisak, fairly obviously, is a bad man. He killed three people and shot two others in what he called a guerrilla war against his enemies — blacks and Jews. He is such a bad man, in fact, that at his trial his defense lawyer said the following as part of his closing argument:

“Ladies and gentlemen, when you turn and look at Frank Spisak, don’t look for good deeds, because he has done none. Don’t look for good thoughts, because he has none. He is sick, he is twisted. He is demented, and he is never going to be any different.”

Also worth noting — he dressed like Hitler at his trial, carried a copy of Mein Kampf, confessed to the murders, and showed no remorse. When asked if he could think of any reason the jury would not recommend the death penalty, he replied, “Not offhand. Can you?”

Frank Spisak has twice appealed his case as high as the Supreme Court, most recently claiming his attorneys did not adequately represent him at his trial, in an attempt to stave off the death penalty. I am not denying that Frank Spisak deserves to die. But I am with Gandalf when it comes to capital punishment. I believe capital punishment should be done away with. Even men such as Frank Spisak could yet have something to give to the world from behind bars. I recently read an article concerning the Son of Sam and his contributions to various religious groups since his jailhouse conversion to Christianity. Who is to say that Frank Spisak won’t someday profoundly affect the life of some poor child going through some of the same problems that he has gone through in his madness?

“Deserves it ! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

– Gandalf (from the Fellowship of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien)

Links:

• Killer Frank Spisak, not his attorney, brought on death penalty, justices rule (January 13, 2010) Washington Post
• Murder victim’s son puts on judge’s robe (January 4, 2009) Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
• Backers Give ‘Son of Sam’ Image Makeover (July 12, 2010) NYTimes
• Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction — Death Row Inmates

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Polish Tragedy

The Polish equivalent of Air Force One crashed today in Russia, killing 96 people, including the Polish President Lech Kaczynski. The Russian designed Tupolev 154 crashed as it descended toward Smolensk Airport in a dense fog. While the Tu-154 has largely been replaced in Russia, the older plane isn’t the reason for the crash. According to ITAR-TASS news agency, flight controllers recommended the plane divert to Minsk due to the dense fog, but the pilot chose to attempt to land in Smolensk any way.

Among the 96 killed were President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, Wladyslaw Stasiak (Chief of the President’s Chancellery), Aleksander Szczyglo (Chief of the National Security Office), Slawomir Skrzypek (Chairman of the National Bank of Poland), Jerzy Szmajdzinski (Deputy Speaker of the Lower House), Andrzej Kremer (Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary of State), Stanislaw Komorowski (Deputy Minister of National Defence), Przemyslaw Gosiewski (Deputy Chair of the Law and Justice Party), Franciszek Gagor (Chief of the General Staff of the Polish military, Andrzej Przewoznik (Head of Poland’s Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites), and Tomasz Merta (Chief Historical Conservator).

The sad irony of the crash is that they were heading to Katyn forest in Russia to recognize the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre, in which the Soviet Union killed approximately 22,000 Polish officers in 1940, during World War II, in an effort to entirely wipe out the Polish officer corps. Due to Poland’s conscription policies at the time, all university graduates were required to serve as officers, it had the effect of wiping out many of their brightest young citizens. The Katyn Forest was already a dreadful place for the Polish people, and now it has claimed 96 more of Poland’s best.

President Kaczynski’s predecessor, Aleksander Kwasniewski, summed up what must be the overwhelming feeling in Poland today, “This is unbelievable — this tragic, cursed Katyn.”

For further information see:

• Katyn Massacre (Wikipedia)
• Polish President Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash (BBC World News)

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WikiLeaks Video

WikiLeaks, an organization which according to their website, “publishes and comments on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct”, released a video today which was taken from onboard a US Army Apache helicopter which attacked a group of insurgents on July 12, 2007, in the process killing two Iraqi reporters working for Reuters news agency. Reuters had been attempting to gain access to this video via the Freedom of Information Act since the attack, without success.

The video is fairly damaging to the US cause in Iraq, as it shows not only the deaths of two unarmed reporters, but the injury of two children who were wounded in a van that stopped to attempt to help one of the injured reporters. The soldiers aboard the Apache can be heard speaking to one another, one saying “well it’s their fault for bringing their kids to a battle,” the other replying, “that’s right.”

While I certainly don’t approve of all of the conduct of the Apache pilots as seen in this video, it is fair to point out that several of the men do appear to be armed, and I can easily see how the camera could have been mistaken for a weapon, especially as the reporter is crouched at a corner, reportedly pointing it in the direction of US troops. However, I find it extremely disturbing the way they attacked the van which seemed intent only on helping a survivor of the attack. And if a weapon was pointed at US troops (did they mean the helicopters?) why did it take so long for those troops to arrive? Couldn’t they have fired a warning shot or a flare to warn off the van instead of shooting it? That part of the video really bothered me.

Overall, the entire video shows an unfortunate tragedy.

For further information, see:

• Video Shows American Killing of Photographer (NY Times)
• Web site releases video of Baghdad attack that killed 2 journalists (Washington Post)
• WikiLeaks posts video of ‘US military killings’ in Iraq (BBC World News)

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