Who Wants to Live on Mars?

Don’t everyone raise their hands at once.

The founders of Virgin and Google are planning to found the first human colony on Mars in the year 2014. Here is the website. It even has a questionnaire you can fill out to apply to be a Virgle Pioneer (kinda like the Western Expansion, only this time you’re strapping yourself to essentially a bomb and hoping for the best instead of fording the river in your wagon).

In the founders defense, the colony is not expected to truly flourish for the first hundred years. This reminds of a science fiction novel in which the colony sounds Utopian in theory, but goes horribly wrong. Who knows, maybe it will work. Or maybe this is a huge practical joke (not fair to the people who have already packed their bags and started training for weightlessness).

I am interested to see if this will really work. Maybe Mars is a good alternative to Earth, especially since we’re crapping it up so much. Personally, I will watch all the action from Earth. As long as there is oxygen in the atmosphere and trees in the ground; my feet will stay planted firmly on the planet in which I was born.

Who Will Tell the People? Great Editorial

This is a great editorial written by Thomas L. Friedman.

It talks about how we need a president who has the courage to tell Americans the truth. Americans need to be told the truth about the state of the economy and realize the reality of the world that we are living in. The author argues that our country can be great once more if we are willing to put in the work to revitalizing our country. And it seems like there is no shortage of young people who are ready make a real different in the world. Maybe this is why Obama is so popular with the 18-25 age group: his message of change and hope and making a difference in the world is the very mindset every 18-25 year old has. Maybe this generation will be the generation to step up and improve the world around us, they certainly have the drive to do so. Just look at the numbers of graduates joining or founding non for-profits, joining Teach for America or the Peace Corp or simply showing up at the polls.

Is Obama the best candidate for the Presidency? It is too early to know. One thing is certain, however, Americans need to take a message of change to heart and start working to make our great country an even better place. If we don’t do it, who will? It is, after all, our country.