H20 - No!!!

With all of the recent outrage in the battle over health care for the uninsured, I was truly amazed that, aside from a few late-night talk show jokes, nobody said a word about NASA's attempt to explore the moon for water. Just how much did money did we waste to send a missile, followed by a probe to smack into the moon? And was there more than scant evidence that anything other than a mere trace of H2O could be not just found but exploited there? So, I got to thinking about water issues for our planet. Then my thinking changed from global to a bit more local. Then it hit me: Hey, dear government, what about all that unwanted water that destroyed most of New Orleans? How much of the money that NASA spent on a pipe dream of finding a cache of water on the moon could have been spent rebuilding and repairing the lives and businesses and homes that were destroyed here at home? I have never been a big fan of the space program as I am one of those pragmatic people who thinks that perhaps we should get this planet back in to move-in condition before we go spreading more garbage in the rest of the universe. Of course, some people may feel that what I consider to be practical, they feel is backward thinking. But seriously, can anyone really look at planet Earth and say that "Yep, we got it right down here. Now, on to outer space!" Should we take a much longer look at our priorities here?