What Caught My Eye Today - Space, Petitions

Space - Not much commentary on this one. I just think it's really cool that something man-made has managed to get to the far reaches of the solar system. NASA's long-lived Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is heading out of the solar system, has reached a "magnetic highway" leading to interstellar space. Scientists believe Voyager 1 is in an area where the magnetic field lines from the sun are connecting with magnetic field lines from interstellar space. Voyager 1 hit the outer sphere of the solar system, a region called the heliosphere, in 2004. That phase of the journey lasted for 5.5 years. Then the solar wind stopped moving and the magnetic field strengthened. Voyager 1 and a sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977 for the first flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 1 is now about 11 billion miles  from Earth and will be the first man-made object to leave the solar system. Voyager 2, traveling on a different path out of the solar system, is about 9 billion miles from Earth and thought to not yet have reached the magnetic highway. Seriously folks, we're talking 1970s technology here. 11 billion miles and counting, and we are still getting data from a thing that has a fraction of the computing power of an iPhone. You cannot help but be impressed by this.

Petitions - One final mention of an item I covered in my Nov 13 and Nov 16 postings on state petitions to secede from the United States after President Barack Obama won re-election. Turns out these petitions are just the tip of the iceberg. The White House's "We the People..." website (click here) allows Americans to petition the Obama administration on a variety of issues citizens believe need addressing. Requests range from serious to self-interested to completely absurd. Most are angry with the administration, with roughly 70% of current petitions asking that individual states — like Texas — be allowed to peacefully secede. What's more: Anyone can create a petition, with the caveat that each request must garner 25,000 signatures in order to be considered for an official White House response. Here are some of the most ridiculous White House petitions awaiting signatures. As is often the case with such content, I wish I could claim creative credit for these, but alas, they are all legitimate. Kind of makes you wonder what sort of person has enough time in their day to go through the effort to 1) create one of these petitions, and more disturbingly, 2) who takes the time to read through these petitions and add their signatures to them.

• Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016
  By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.
  Total signatures: 1,428
  As absurd as this sounds, the Pentagon already has a program that covers this. You may recognize the Strategic Defense Initiative by its more popular nickname--"Star Wars". SDI was created by the Reagan administration in 1983 and is still going strong.
• Allow United States military service members to place their hands in their pockets
  The service members of the United States military respectfully request the President of the United States to restore our sacred right to place our hands in our pockets — on or off duty.
  Total signatures: 3,730
  How about a petition to provide something a little bit more useful to service members? Maybe something along the lines of functional body armor.
• Deport everyone that signed a petition to withdraw their state from the USA
  Deport Everyone That Signed A Petition To Withdraw Their State From The United States Of America.
  Total signatures: 25,879
  You might laugh, but the White House will have to respond to this at some point, what with the minimum threshold of signatures having been met. I can't wait to see that press release.
• Nationalize the Twinkie industry
  We the undersigned, hereby request Barack Obama to immediately Nationalize the Twinkie industry and prevent our nation from losing her sweet creamy center.
  Total signatures: 3,998
  Is it just me, or does the description of this particular petition conjure up some rather disturbing mental images?  I don't know about you, but I'm completely cool with our nation keeping her sweet creamy center to herself.
• Establish new legal system of motorcycle riding "judges" who serve as police, judge, jury, and executioner all in one.
  This is a petition to dissolve the current legal system and replace it with a single Hall of Justice, run by Judges; motorcycle-riding law officers who act as police, judge, jury, and executioner.
  Total signatures: 2,972
  It just so happens that 2,972 is the same number of people who admit to have seeing both Judge Dredd movies (yup, some idiot thought it was a good idea to make a sequel to the original bomb). Coincidence?
• Give us back our incandescent light bulbs!
  The federal government is phasing out incandescent light bulbs by law and the last incandescent light bulb factory in America has closed. The free market should decide which light bulbs succeed, not the government. Total signatures: 1,358
  To be honest, I would have thought this would have garnered way more signatures. Petty? Of course. But compared to the other items on this list, this one almost seems rational.
• Provide university graduates ability to trade their diplomas back for 100% tuition refunds
  College graduates should have the ability to return the diploma and not make any reference to receiving education from the college in exchange for a 100% refund of college tuition.
  Total signatures: 1,193
  I'm pretty sure this is related to the difficult job market that college graduates have confronted in recent years. But here's the thing. Do you really think the job market for individuals with no college education is any better?  Sure, you'll have your tuition money back, but how long do you think that will last?
• Shut down White House petitions, since they never get a sincere response, few read them and they are ultimately worthless.
  Since the White House never actually responds to any petitions in sincerity we should immediately de-fund and dismantle the White House petition website. In recent days it has become a mockery with petitions for secession from almost every state, and cities wishing to de-secede in such events. We ask Barack Obama to admit that this is a mockery of democratic process and immediately dissolve this joke of a website.
  Total signatures: 852
  The First Amendment might make this particular petition a bit difficult to act upon.  Freedom of speech is a bitch, ain't it?