Global American: Information Americans are Not Getting Today

This Memorial weekend I am pondering a new weekly radio program called "The Global American"...a centrist take on American leadership and American values in the global economy.

The American public needs to know what is really going on in the world if it wants to avoid future disasters and stay ahead in this rapidly changing new global technology race that we are in.

It would be something that is currently missing on radio or even TV. Have you seen an aircraft fly with only one wing? American radio is missing the common sense center and a perspective of an American with experience talking to and working with ordinary people and business leaders in over 50 countries - to give Americans the "big picture" of what is REALLY going on in the world that will impact their future and that of their children.

We already have too many radio shows which are long on emotion and extreme views, like the radio host in Houston who suggested this week that a Mosque being built in New York should be "blown up" (the same mindless act that is the reason we are fighting two wars against!) Does encouraging American violence make us stronger, or does it make us more like the enemy?

The "Global American" radio program is intended to be a "big picture" perspective with a host who has been in 50+ countries, and worked in business and technology for both the Fortune 500 and as an entrepreneur.

Programs will be accessible online 24/7 and cover such things as NASA vs. space entrepreneurs and why the "public option" is not the best choice in that case. Did you know that NASA's recently canceled "Constellation" program is just a larger version of the Apollo program of 50 years ago--nothing really new. And even then it is over five years behind schedule.

The Constellation would take 214 days to reach Mars while a Houston space entrepreneur has a Plasma Engine that would get astronauts to Mars in just 39 days!

We will also cover the potential of nuclear terrorism, 21st Century security technology, etc....Did you know that China has now become the world's largest car market?

Radio show hosts who have never been around the world (and I don't mean on vacation) have no clue about the real world we are competing against. For example, in the mid-90's I produced a video about the potential of a terrorist attack on the U.S. Why? Because I had been in the Middle East and other parts of the world and I was paying attention to what was going on.

It's not rocket science to figure out but you can't be a wise American "by seeing Russia from Alaska." You have to see it in person or you are clueless. You don't really know how China, or the Middle East, or anywhere else will impact us unless you have been there. I've seen China go from a nation transported by bicycles to one that runs on automobiles and the third country in human history that has put people into space - in a span of just 20 years!

Final thought. If I could find this type of programming already on radio, I wouldn't bother. I am working 24/7 already with a rapidly-growing green business that saves energy and protects people at the same time. It is my passion.

But so is making sure Americans are truly informed of the world and how our founding fathers’ principles remain the best foundation for us to be a special, unique country in the world.

We are losing that edge when we think we are leading when we are not. Other countries have superior wireless networks. Over 50 countries have space programs. The tallest building in the world is now in Dubai. China is determined to replace it with a building that is one mile high. What big things are we doing? We cannot succeed based on our past efforts.

We cannot succeed by thinking our healthcare system is No. 1 when it is, in fact, only No. 37 in the world.

We can't lead by chanting "Drill, baby, drill" when our competitors dominate newer clean energy technologies.

We can't lead a space race using fifty year old technology instead of plasma engines built by entrepreneurs sitting on the sidelines.

We can only succeed if our future efforts are on the cutting edge -- not by doing the "same ol same ol" like NASA revisiting half century old space technology when the goal is Mars and beyond. Can you imagine a crew stuck in space for 214 days EACH WAY? Versus 39? It's guaranteed we'd have our first space murder before that voyage ended.

We have teachers who don't want to learn new things. We have business leaders that think credit default swaps are real business while places like China have set out to be the leader in solar and wind power energy manufacturing. Just saying we are great will not keep us from losing our leadership position. We have to be great! And that means having real knowledge of the world around us.

The Global American radio program and this series is intended to help Americans see the big picture and maintain our leadership in this new global space technology age we are in. The Global American will focus on SOLUTIONS.

So I'd like to hear your feedback on whether you would like to see this type of programming.

39 Days to Mars - Plasma Rocket

This article in today's Houston Chronicle proves what I said about NASA needing to change. It is a story about a former NASA employee who has invented a plasma rocket that would make the trip to Mars in just 39 days!

Instead of using it, NASA dropped it in 2005 to make the Constellation, which is another conventional rocket that is not capable of going to Mars.

Doing more of the same didn't make NASA a leader and it won't help us stay as a space leader.

But contracting with the private sector, like this company, would! And it took an immigrant from Costa Rica, who became a citizen and NASA rocket scientist, to do it.

WELCOME TO THIS NEW BLOG "GLOBAL AMERICAN VALUES."

THIS NEW BLOG "gLOBAL AMERICAN VALUES" IS WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN WITH EXPERIENCE WORLDWIDE.

Its purpose? TO GIVE AMERICANS INSIGHTS AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS ON GLOBAL EVENTS THAT IMPACT AMERICANS AND OUR GLOBAL NEIGHBORS.

oUR MOTTO?

"THE GLOBAL AMERICAN SERIES" PROMOTES AMERICAN VALUES GLOBALLY. OUR MOTTO IS SUMMED UP IN 4 POINTS (WHICH ROTARIANS WILL RECOGNIZE):

OF THE THINGS WE AMERICANS THINK, SAY AND DO:

1. IS IT THE TRUTH?

2. IS IT FAIR AND JUST TO ALL CONCERNED?

3. WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4. WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?

THESE ARE THE TRUE AMERICAN VALUES of JUSTICE AND EQUALITY. fOLLOWING THEM AS MADE US GREAT. fAILURE TO FOLLOW THEM HAS COST US DEARLY.

THESE aMERICAN PRINCIPLES SHOULD BE APPLIED IN OUR LIVES AND ACTIONS GLOBALLY.

OUR FIRST ARTICLE WAS ON NASA (iS IT THE TRUTH? iS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?) MORE TO COME.

FEEL FREE TO SHARE THESE ARTICLES WITH FRIENDS AND SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW...

COMMENTS ARE ENCOURAGED AND WELCOME. KEEP THEM CIVIL AND INTELLIGENT.

you can also become a fan on facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Global-American/365009967820?ref=ts

Why NASA Needs to Change for America to Have a Chance in Space

Photo: Falcon 9

It costs NASA $65 million per astronaut to launch them into space but a private company can do the same job for $20 million (and still make money.) That would benefit America’s private entrepreneurs, the taxpayer benefits and so does our economy. It would also produce more flying opportunities for astronauts then the present course.

It would take NASA nearly another decade to build the Constellation on the course started under the Bush administration, which allowed a 5-year gap from Shuttle retirement to its replacement vehicle (which it failed to fully fund.) Ten years is way too late for America to truly compete in the present world of space-faring nations. Europe, India, China, Japan, Russia – all are racing past today’s NASA which does business at a snail’s pace.

The reality is that our only hope to maintain a lead is for private companies to become major space players. We have to change our approach to space – from government led to privately led.

Time is not our friend and we have to make up for lost time. Only the private sector can do it faster-better-cheaper than a lumbering government or Fortune 500 bureaucracy that needs reorganizing to compete. Instead of picking a simple design to replace the Shuttle, NASA chose a slow, complex design that was so thin that it vibrated dangerously on its first test, requiring more years of redesign, tests, meetings, etc.

NASA could have chosen a simpler, quicker design to replace the Shuttle - using the existing shuttle tank and solid-rocket boosters – with a crew compartment on top – but rejected it. It chose the pondering, slow approach.

In the meantime, private entrepreneurs managed to put SpaceShipOne on the edge of space for a mere $10 million! At $20 million, the Falcon 9 will cost 1/3 of a NASA launch. Each Shuttle launch cost $500 million! All this proves that entrepreneurs can make safe vehicles that get the job done for less.

Do you think NASA, or even Boeing, could have built SpaceShipOne for only $10 million?

I grew up as the space age began and I will always be a NASA supporter – I live only five minutes from the Houston JSC. But as someone who has worked with technology issues worldwide from the 1970’s I believe that NASA needs to restructure just like many American Fortune 500 companies have done for America to have a chance at competing with a world of space-faring nations.

I believe that more astronauts will get a chance to fly if we use private launch vehicles than would have a chance at NASA. Right now, none of them will get to fly for ten years – and then only a tiny handful. I’d like to see us get from today’s Falcon 9 to tomorrow’s “Millennium Falcon” of Star Wars fame.

People are focusing on building one particular vehicle, the Constellation, instead of finding the cheapest, fastest technology to accomplish a mission to go to Mars involving our best private minds and money.

Our space program should not to just build a Constellation rocket in Florida. It will take American entrepreneurship in space to make up for lost time. It begins with transport but the next phase will be space manufacturing and even tourism. We need it to keep out technical edge.

The President is right on this one – private companies are needed to transport America into 21st Century lead in space. Space is the ultimate high ground. It costs too much and takes too long to get there with the present NASA.

We aren’t going to lead the space race without the American entrepreneurs making it a faster, cheaper, profitable -- and accessible to the many instead of the few.