I think the actors who play the staff on the television show The West Wing should all just play their characters and do the jobs for real. (Too bad the incredible wealth of knowledge the characters possess is probably not available to the actors.)
In the episode entitled "Ghengis Kahn," Josh Lyman, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, gains new respect for NASA and space exploration. A character goes so far as to mention Mars Direct by name, and Josh is intrigued enough to listen. He doesn't believe Congress would ever support it, but if someone like that was actually in the White House, Mars Direct could become a reality.
The argument hinged primarily on the incredible inspiration manned space exploration creates. At one point, Josh had to convince his assistant of it, and the dialogue was very nice.
All this from an episode not written by Aaron Sorkin.

What an accomplishment. I played the entire game through on "Heroic" difficulty, and re-played the last level on "Legendary." The alternate ending was cute. I wonder if there's another ending for playing the entire game on Legendary.

I recently sent this email to KTVU, a local Fox affiliate:

From: Rick Mann
Date: September 18, 2004 20:46:17 PDT
To: Lori.darnell@ktvu.com
Subject: I didn't know KTVU was an evangelist TV station
I was dismayed to come across your programming this evening, a movie
called "Last Plane Out." I only saw the last portion, but the
commercial break I saw contained nothing but Billy Graham
advertisements. The movie itself was an undisguised Christian sermon.
It seems somehow wrong for a public television station to broadcast
such a specific religious message, and worse, to promulgate the
deceptive and exploitative practices of something like the Graham
conglomerate. This was nothing but a two-hour advertisement for them,
helping them prey on the weak-minded viewer, no doubt raising millions
in the process.
Despite Republican's and the religious right's wishes the contrary
(and subsequent practice), the United States is a secular society,
with a clearly mandated separation between church and state.
Programming and advertising such as tonight's is unwarranted and
unethical, and certainly irresponsible.
Given the general trend in Fox network programming (canceling
intelligent, well-written shows and promoting "reality" fodder), Fox's
propagandistic, right-wing news, and now (what I assume to be locally
determined) religious programming, I think I will remove KTVU from my
channel lineup.

Wow. Your friends can always surprise you. Today, Tantek and Amber showed up with a new Xbox for me, from Tantek, Mike and Patrick. It was a very nice gesture, and a huge surprise coming the day after my birthday. Thanks, guys!
By the time my Dad was my age, he owned a home and had a son (me). I rent an apartment and have a video game console. I'm certainly not complaining, but I wonder if he would have owned a video game console had they existed when he was 35.
In any case, I love it. Thanks again!

I just had a few people over, people who filled my home with warmth and friendship. The day was overcast and chilly, but once we got off the roof and inside, it didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits.
A big thank you to all who came by...