Sunday, December 25, 2005
Euro-Peons Continue to Pee On the United States, And Then Demand Their Own GPS Network
The Euro-peons, who depended on the United States in two world wars, costing us hundreds of thousands of lives, not to mention the billions of dollars we gave them free of charge after the Second World War, consider the US not a friend but a rival - a threat, something to be challenged. Why? Who knows - paranoia, some mental disease infecting its leaders (then again, many of Euro-peon citizens suffer from the same disease, called US Derangement Syndrome) - and, who cares?
The latest hilarity from the Peons is too funny to even describe. The US invented the Global Positioning System (GPS) to track anyone and everyone on the planet. No one bitches about GPS - in fact, everyone from governments to the militaries all use it in one way or another.
However, the Euro-peons are distressed, pissed, sickened, that they have to rely on a system invented by the US. So, in what the BBC calls a spirit of "independence" from the US, the Peons have decided to spend at least $4 billion to invent their own - called Galileo. The first part of this new system launches this coming week.
Hmmm...can someone remind me why the Euro-peons weren't so distressed, pissed, and sickened when they put out a hand after WWII and sucked billions of dollars out of US taxpayers? Where was the spirit of "independence" then?
Q&A: Europe's Galileo project
Interesting - the cost is "some" $4 billion. Which means, with Peon corruption and waste, the cost should be about $6-7 billion.
But notice that this project will "assert" Europe's "independence."
Here's a note to Peons: next time you need our help (wars, disasters, fucked up economies, etc.), we will tell you to "assert your independence" and then tell you to drop dead.
The Euro-peons, who depended on the United States in two world wars, costing us hundreds of thousands of lives, not to mention the billions of dollars we gave them free of charge after the Second World War, consider the US not a friend but a rival - a threat, something to be challenged. Why? Who knows - paranoia, some mental disease infecting its leaders (then again, many of Euro-peon citizens suffer from the same disease, called US Derangement Syndrome) - and, who cares?
The latest hilarity from the Peons is too funny to even describe. The US invented the Global Positioning System (GPS) to track anyone and everyone on the planet. No one bitches about GPS - in fact, everyone from governments to the militaries all use it in one way or another.
However, the Euro-peons are distressed, pissed, sickened, that they have to rely on a system invented by the US. So, in what the BBC calls a spirit of "independence" from the US, the Peons have decided to spend at least $4 billion to invent their own - called Galileo. The first part of this new system launches this coming week.
Hmmm...can someone remind me why the Euro-peons weren't so distressed, pissed, and sickened when they put out a hand after WWII and sucked billions of dollars out of US taxpayers? Where was the spirit of "independence" then?
Q&A: Europe's Galileo project
Europe is building its own satellite-navigation system called Galileo. BBC News looks at why such a network is deemed necessary when we already have the US Global Positioning System (GPS).
What is Galileo?
Galileo will be a global network of 30 satellites providing precise timing and location information to users on the ground and in the air. It is costing some 3.4bn euros (£2.3bn; $4bn) of public and private investment and represents the biggest space project yet undertaken in Europe.
Galileo's first demonstrator spacecraft is being launched on 28 December; a second platform will follow in the New Year. They will trial the in-orbit technologies needed to run the system. These include atomic clocks, the heart of any global positioning system.
If all goes according to plan, a full constellation of Galileo satellites will be in operation by the end of 2010.
Why does Europe want Galileo?
On an important level, Galileo is a political project.
Like Airbus and the Ariane rocket programme, the new sat-nav system will assert Europe's independence. It will give EU countries guaranteed access to a service that is currently provided by a foreign (US) power.
Interesting - the cost is "some" $4 billion. Which means, with Peon corruption and waste, the cost should be about $6-7 billion.
But notice that this project will "assert" Europe's "independence."
Here's a note to Peons: next time you need our help (wars, disasters, fucked up economies, etc.), we will tell you to "assert your independence" and then tell you to drop dead.
