Our tax dollars are going to these projects because private enterprise is unwilling to take up projects that will produce a guaranteed return for their investors. It is notably unwilling to take on risky projects, or, projects that do not have that clear return. Only an organization that has no profit motive (I.E. The federal government) is willing to invest the large sums in a project that might blow up during the boost phase of a launch. The fact is that the space program is quite profitable - The early years returned upwards of $14 for every $1 invested...yet, in spite of that, SpaceX is the ONLY private company that is interested in taking up the task. Even they are focusing on being truckers - providing transportation for other things into space..they have no interest in putting an exploration robot onto another planet, or sending a probe out into deep space to see what we can see.
          As for the current debt...this article does a good analysis of it: http://useconomy.about.com/od/monetarypolicy/f/Who-Owns-US-National-Debt.htm and, it shows that in terms of the overall debt, China holds about 10% of the total. less than half the debt is held by foreign countries and investors. Not that it means it is good that the country owes that much cash, by any means...but, it is not like China could come in and put a lien on the country....

A good point. The fact of the matter is that school shootings only SEEM to be happening all the time because of the attention that the news media turns on them. If the news were to focus that much attention on traffic accidents, and the injuries and fatalities that come from them, I suspect we would have people calling for a minimum age of 30 for getting a license, and, some really draconian sentences for those caught driving without a license. Also, there would be a huge, ongoing debate about bringing back driver's Ed in schools.
            Pleasant Dreams
            dave

Greetings and Salutations;
          Hum...."he's got to learn that you can't say stuff like that and not have any consequences".
Well, that is a point. However, I would argue that this is an infringement of our first amendment rights of free speech simply because it occurred in a forum where there was a certain expectation of privacy. Now, do not jump all over me about FB...I know how it works. However, it is far different than walking into a movie theatre and yelling "FIRE". That has already been ruled by the SCOTUS as non-protected speech. Totally different case, though.
          No, in my opinion, this was a massive over-reaction by the authorities, and, unless there is more data about the young man, or the situation that adds to the picture, I am going to stick with that opinion. I want to remind you that this is America, where, at one time, a Citizen's Freedom was considered one of the most important rights he or she had. To have it casually taken away because of a thoughtless and meaningless remark craps on the efforts of our Founding Fathers, and, all the brave citizens who have laid down there lives to save this right. The fact of the matter is that it IS punishment for a crime that did not happen. I am not comfortable with the whole kneejerk creation of laws about "terroristic Threats". IN general, it seems as if too many of them are so broadly written that they are little more than excuses for locking up people who express unpopular opinions, or, speak foolishly in the heat of the moment. This kid appears to have spouted off in the heat of the moment, after playing a hack and slash game. According to an interview with his father, he also pays little or no attention to the news, and really does not have the maturity level to understand the impact of his remarks.
          He has been incarcerated for several months now, and, if the judge decides he wants to "make an example" of someone, he could end up in prison for eight years! Eight years in a society rift with felons, being exposed to a lawless but barely controlled environment, where one cannot trust anyone, and, there are many opportunities to learn job skills that do nothing but ensure he will be successful as a parasite on society. Is that what we really want to do? Turn out another predator who, if he was joking about killing kids when he was tossed into prison, will likely NOT be doing so when he gets out? I, personally would rather find another option. For example, I would call for a series of therapy sessions, and, community service, to help build empathy for others.
          YOu may think that his current incarceration is the proper way to handle him. Just remember that the sort of erosion of rights that has happened in the past decade has a tendency to continue and grow. Today it is Justin. Next month it could be you, or one of your family who is caught up in the net.
          Pleasant dreams.
          dave mundt

Hey...you do not know that...it is quite possible that those wild and crazy Canadians had open air breweries.
        pleasant dreams
        dave mundt

Greetings and Salutations;
          I feel as if I am feeding the trolls here, although this is such a fantasy trip that it almost is insulting to trolls to compare it to them. Your re-writing of history is neither accurate nor anywhere near the facts. The fact of the matter is that the previous administration (a REPUBLICAN one) truly scared the world because it was so random and irrational. After all, Dubya, in response to a terrorist attack used bad data to justify an 11 year war on a country that did not have a bloody thing to do with 9/11. However, there was one telling conference where he spoke the truth about his motivations for going into Iraq. In the conference, when pressed on why Iraq and Saddam were a target he said "...he tried to kill my daddy...".
          America's image in the world has taken many hits in the past few decades, thanks to the two-faced dealings we have had with many countries, and, the brutal dictatorships we have supported. When Pres. Obama was elected, there was dancing in the streets in other countries because they thought, finally, a very intelligent, rational person was at the controls, and, the actions that caused America to lose face would change. They, did not realize that America is a huge ship, and, it takes a lot of time an ocean to turn it around. They also did not realize how much the Republicans hated Pres. Obama, and, how they would do anything they could to force him to fail. These, and other factors, have caused his presidency to be far less effective than it could have been.
          So...do not fool yourself. America has not been the "most loved" country in the world for a long time. We might still have a chance to get there, but, it will take time, and a change in attitudes of the representatives in the Federal government away from competition and towards actually doing things that are good for the country as a whole.

Greetings and Salutations;
          Big thumbs up to this! WHile scale explosions CAN provide useful data, I am not sure that (other than the coolness factor) there is any reason for this to show up on Slashdot.
            Pleasant dreams
            Dave Mundt

Greetings and Salutations;
          Well, if this fellow is going to register a printer, perhaps he should also insist that lathes, drill presses, files, and other hand tools be registered too. He apparently does not realize that I could go into the shop, and in fairly short order turn out weapons that would be far more accurate than the plastic ones from the printers, and, will last for thousands of rounds.
        Beyond that, it is also not that hard to make ceramic weapons that are equally hard to find and have the same abilities.
        I would suggest that the better course of action would be to work on making America a place where people do not think of guns as the first course of action to resolve a situation.

Eric, I get the feeling that you have no practical experience with the tax revenue boys in the states. Not only would the merchant have to deal with an amazing chaos of taxes to collect, but, there is a good chance that at least once a year, the tax boys will screw up your information, and either (at best) send you a testy note billing you for some fictitious number that is half again as much as you have ever billed and sent them, or, (at worst) will, without warning yank every penny you have out of every bank you have it in, even if the total amount is WELL beyond the fictitious amount they claim you owe. That sort of trouble can take months to clear up and much correspondence.
          Do not fool yourself that states will not "bother" with small payments. If they can collect at least $5.00 they will expect the paperwork and check on time. They are not going to exempt anyone, unless forced to.
          My general rule about politicians, which I formulated several decades ago, is that money to a politician is like crack to an addict. It does not matter how much they have, they want more, and, they want it badly enough that they would sell their grandmother and baby daughter into S&M prostitution to get more of it.
          Pleasant dreams
          dave mundt

Greetings and Salutations;
            There is a simple way to deal with this problem. Instead of buying the software and doing it yourself, print all the information off and take it to a Block office. Pay them to do the work. There are several reasons for doing this:
          1) Block has a strong training program, and, a large percentage of their people do nothing else besides study the tax code. There are a significant number of Enrolled Agents that work for them. These are folks that, basically know more about the tax code than the IRS does. So..the bottom line is that they are far more likely to ensure that you pay the minimum tax necessary. Programs are great tools, but, people are better at this, because it is a pretty fuzzy and constantly changing area.
          2) The cost of having Block prepare your return is likely going to be LESS than the amount you quoted above for preparing your tax info.
          3) The cost of having Block prepare your form is directly deductible from the tax amount you owe. If you do the work, you can deduct the cost of the software, but, you will have a hard time justifying the remaining chunk of that $300 you quoted, if the IRS decides to look at you.
          4) If you ARE audited, Block will go with you to the audit, and will work to clear up any problems. However, as long as your data is good, that should not be a problem.

            And, no, I do not work for Block (I do not have the kind of mind that can deal with sorting through the plate of spaghetti that is the tax code), but I do have a relative that is an enrolled agent and has worked with them for many years.
          Pleasant dreams
          Dave Mundt