The last man on the moon
The short version
Commander Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to leave footprints on the moon, died quietly at his home in Houston yesterday, surrounded by his family. He was 82. Commander of Apollo 17, he spent 75 hours on the lunar surface. Cernan left there on December 14, 1972, and no one has ever been back, something that bothered him greatly. A native of Chicago and a Purdue University graduate, Cernan was the epitome of overcoming obstacles and doing one’s best.
What else you should know
Gene Cernan was born in Chicago in 1934, right smack in the middle of the Great Depression. Neither of his parents went to college, but they taught Gene the value of working hard and reaching for something better. That lesson stuck. The Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering he received from Purdue University in 1956 was the first of multiple academic achievements.
Cernan joined the Navy right after college and became a naval aviator, something that was a bit of a challenge because of his height. At six feet tall, Cernan’s was a common height for astronauts, but a bit large to fit in the cockpit of a Navy jet. Not only did he manage to do so, however, he recorded over 5,000 hours of flight time and some 2,000 aircraft carrier landings, one of the most difficult things to do in an airplane.
Cernan made three trips into space and his first, aboard Gemini 9, may have been the most harrowing. During that trip, Gene became only the second person to attempt a space walk. It didn’t go well. He had difficulty controlling his body in the weightlessness. The visor on his space suit fogged over from the condensation in his breath making it difficult to see. He struggled to pull himself back into the orbiter. Cernan lost 13 pounds on that trip, calling it the “spacewalk from hell.”
Offered positions on other Apollo missions, Gene held out for one where he was Commander. He wanted to be in charge of the mission and be able to walk on the moon himself. While none of the lunar missions were easy, Cernan made it look that way and made the most of his 22 hours on the lunar surface. He later wrote: “To go a quarter of a million miles away into space and have to take time out to sleep and rest … I wished I could have stayed awake for 75 hours straight. I knew when I left I’d never have a chance to come back.”
Most recently, in 2014 Cernan completed his documentary film, The Last Man On The Moon, which received general release just last year. The documentary chronicles the trip to the moon and Cernan’s life afterward. Throughout his life he was an active advocate for continued space research and returning to the moon, despite opinions of those in Congress who feel such trips are a waste of time and funding.
A little bit of trivia
Before leaving the moon, Cernan wrote “TDC,” his daughter’s initials, in the dust of the moon. Those initials, along with Cernan’s footprints, are still visible on the moon’s surface.
If there is an industry that is currently in decline more than fashion retail, please let me know what it is. Just two days after Macy’s and Sears both announced large layoffs and store closings, The Limited, headquartered here in the Midwest in New Albany, Ohio, announced that it is closing all of its brick-and-mortar stores at the end of business this Sunday
Making Enemies Of Friends
No one likes a bully
The short version
The president-elect is not making himself popular among our European allies. He has criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel, called NATO outdated, and threatened the German auto industry with a 35% tariff. Europe is not responding positively to such aggression and is making it well known that they have every intention of standing up and not taking any bullying from the president-elect once he’s in office. The rhetoric is getting tense.
The actual offense
This whole mess started over the weekend when the Great Orange president-elect criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her country’s acceptance of a large number of refugees from Syria and other countries. His remarks were part of an interview with the Times of London that appeared in Sunday’s edition. In that interview, the president-elect said, the European Union had become “a vehicle for Germany” and predicted other countries would leave the EU. He also criticized Ms. Merkel specifically, saying, “I think she made one very catastrophic mistake, and that was taking all of these illegals … And nobody even knows where they come from. So I think she made a catastrophic mistake, very bad mistake.”
That one would be bad enough. Germany is a critical ally in Europe, both economically and in terms of defense. Unfortunately, the president-elect wasn’t done.
The Great Orange told German newspaper BILD that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is obsolete. He said, “It’s obsolete, first because it was designed many, many years ago. Secondly, countries aren’t paying what they should.” He also said NATO didn’t deal with terrorism.
Finally, there was this gem, again published in BILD: “If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax,” the president-elect said. “I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the USA, without a 35 percent tax, then you can forget that.”
The fallout
Understandably, no one in Europe is taking the president-elect’s words too kindly, especially the Germans. I’ve heard a lot of German over the past 34 years and I heard some words yesterday I’ve not heard before. If the president wanted to make enemies of our closest allies, he’s doing a very good job. Europe understands what happens when bullies are allowed to have their way. They fought that war long before we got into it. They’re not keen on letting it happen again.
Francoise Holland, President of France, plans to hold the Great Orange accountable. He told CNN: “[Europe] has no need for outside advice to tell it what it has to do. I thought, frankly, it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the United States to be stepping into the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner. He’ll have to speak for that. As of Friday, he’s responsible for that relationship.”
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s Foreign Minister spoke to the anxiety among NATO members: “I’ve spoken today not only with EU foreign ministers but NATO foreign ministers as well and can report that the signals are that there’s been no easing of tensions.”
As to the whole auto tariff thing, Matthias Wissmann, the president of Germany’s VDA automotive association, said, “In the long term, the United States would be shooting itself in the foot by imposing tariffs or other trade barriers.” He noted that German carmakers have quadrupled light vehicle production in the United States over the past seven years to 850,000 units, more than half of which are exported outside the US.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that rather than trying to penalize German carmakers, the United States should instead respond by building better and more desirable cars.
Evercore ISI analysts said: “It is surprising that Trump singles out the carmaker that exports more vehicles from the United States than any other manufacturer.”
What happens next?
Of course, no one can predict the future, but the president-elect’s words are extremely inflammatory and sound dramatically protectionist. If he continues this level of rhetoric as president, a couple of things are likely to happen.
First, he’s going to find other world leaders resistant to anything he proposes, no matter what it is. He now has a reputation as a bully and no one trusts a bully to be true to their word. As president, he and his Secretary of State will have to work hard to win back that trust if they want any cooperation from our allies at any level.
Second, equally crippling tariffs could come from the EU and other countries, such as Mexico. The US imports more than it exports, which is already an economic problem. World leaders have historically gone tit for tat any time the US threatens or imposes tariffs. Don’t expect this round to be any different. Unfortunately, higher tariffs hurt Americans as they force prices higher on many every-day goods.
The alliances formed during and after World War II are strong and no one is likely to completely walk out on the US just yet. However, our allies will not allow themselves to be bullied.
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