Once again I tend to agree with EQF although I think he(she?) goes a bit too far with oil industry running the country. And, I disagree a bit less with Barbara than one would think. Barbara does manage to shift all the blame for the current problems from W. Bush to Obama, but I suppose liberals such as myself and Obama himself go pretty far to shift all the blame to Bush. I'm sure that Barbara does not watch "the Daily Show", which made fun of people who think that 1 or 2 trillion is so insignificant that we should not bother (letting Bush tax cuts expire, for example). Sorry, Barbara, that you lost your job. I am also "without funding" = without salary until November, when I go to 50% for at least 2 months. This was partly self-inflicted (deliberate to get caught up: no time to write proposals with 20% chance of funding, the average). I can afford to be without salary for a while as long as HW keeps her job and health insurance. But, Barbara, unless you are wealthy, I kind of think it bizzarre that you and many others want to protect the rich from paying taxes at 1990s rates (or, the upper middle class for that matter). Are you benefitting from government plans like unemployment behefits (state benefits?) or planning on Social Security and Medicare when you retire?

But, to the science points, since that was my excuse for posting here (although I think I get a "pass" to a point from Canie because I make very few posts like this and a lot of science posts). Yes, with the debt and deficit the budget will have to be cut. So, yes, USGS and NSF will take a hit. Unfortunately, I am not a "star" and so budget cuts there will likely cut out funding for most of the proposals I am involved in, since I assume I am commonly in the "gray area". Obama, and I, and many others would like deficit reduction to be balanced. Maybe I better watch Obama's speech next week on jobs.

Back to working on my rejected manuscript on Palos Verdes California after 2 years. I think working on that was just too depressing and the anonymous reviews too frustrating.

Chris