NASA and Obama

NASA's new mission: Building ties to Muslim world

By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
July 6, 2010

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in February. (Gerald Herbert/AP)

You'd be hard-pressed to find an American who doesn't know that the "S" in NASA stands for "Space." Since the race to the moon in the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been one of the most storied agencies in the U.S. government. Now, under President Obama, its mission is changing -- and space isn't part of the story.

"When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things," NASA head Charles Bolden said in a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera. "One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/politics/NASA_s-new-mission_-Building-ties-to-Muslim-world-97817909.html#ixzz0t3AyDq3d

Arizona immigration law sponsor blasts feds over 'political' lawsuit

By Ethan Harp, CNN

July 7, 2010 2:57 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- The Arizona lawmaker who sponsored the state's controversial new immigration law blasted Tuesday's lawsuit by the Justice Department, saying, "The misinformation out there is outrageous."

Appearing on CNN's "Campbell Brown" hours after the suit against the state was filed, Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican, said, "The Obama administration simply is filing suit, a political lawsuit if you will, (be)cause they have no leg to stand on."

"They are simply trying to enforce their current policy of no enforcement and amnesty. That's what it's about. They're not worried about (racial) profiling and this bill prohibits it," Pearce said.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/06/arizona.immigration.law.sponsor/index.html?section=cnn_latest