Cargo Ship - International Space Station

I already wrote about how Russia decided to charge an arm and a leg for us to send supplies to the International Space Station. 

In the form of capitalist pigs, the cavalry has arrived. One thing I find interesting in the story is it is a multinational effort.

Orbital's Cygnus space freighter embarks on maiden voyage

The new Cygnus commercial cargo ship has launched on a demonstration voyage to the International Space Station.

Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), the robotic vessel lifted off atop an Antares

rocket from the Wallops spaceport in Virginia, US.

Cygnus is one of two private systems seeded by Nasa to meet America's ISS re-supply requirements following the retirement of the space shuttles.

A successful mission will see OSC begin a series of operational cargo flights.

Nasa has awarded the company a $1.9bn (£1.2bn) contract covering eight sorties to the station.

Lift-off occurred at 10:58 local time (14:58 GMT).

The two-stage Antares appeared to work flawlessly. Its aim was to put the freighter in an orbit more than 240km above the Earth.

Cygnus will have to use its own thrusters over the course of the next four days to raise its altitude and chase down the space station.

FULL STORY - BBC NEWS

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During Recession, Political Class in Washington D.C thrives

We all are affected by the continuing recession, or well maybe not all.  There is the privilege class, the class of people who work in the nations's capitol. To be blunt, I speak of the folk with connections and political pull.

Well, that Hope 'n Change thing can only be spread so far, even in Washington D.C.

Washington Sees Incomes Soar as Most of U.S. Declines

American incomes have tumbled over the last decade. But for many people in Washington, D.C., it’s been something of a party.

The income of the typical D.C. household rose 23.3% between 2000 and 2012 to an inflation-adjusted $66,583, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, its most comprehensive snapshot of America’s demographic, social and economic trends. During this period, median household incomes for the nation as a whole dropped 6.6% — from $55,030 to $51,371. The state of Mississippi, which had one of the biggest declines, dropped 15% to $37,095: Nearly one in three people there have an income that is near the poverty line.

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But D.C. — which wasn’t hit as hard as other major U.S. cities by the 2007-2009 recession — is a different story. Its local economy is expanding faster than the broader nation, and its property market is soaring , thanks in part to increased federal-government spending and an influx of federal contractors, lawyers and consultants.

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The share of people in D.C. experiencing what’s called “deep poverty” — incomes that are 50% below the poverty line — actually rose between 2000 and 2012 from 9.4% to 10.4%. Forty-five U.S. states saw this rate rise over the same time period. But D.C.’s rate is the highest in the country, beating out Mississippi.

WALL STREET JOURNAL