Gravitation Assist

Just now on the shitter I was reading about gravitational assist; apparently in the late 70s scientists used a once-every-176 years phenomena of the outer four planets lining up in such a way to allow Voyager 2 to be slung-shot from one planet to the next, thereby conserving fuel. According to what I was reading, the skill of the aiming necessary to perform such a feat is equivalent to making a 4-ball, four-pocket shot on a pool table 22 miles long.

Jesus christ; whenever I read something like this I grumble goddammit, why can't THESE motherscratchers be running the country?

Of course I then realize to hope that the governmental equivalent are in fact running things; shooting spaceship through outer space is simply more romantic and exciting than, say, trying to come up with a way to reduce the national student/teacher ratio.

Which makes me think about Timothy Geithner. I keep hearing a lot of grumbling that whenever he speaks, he doesn't "arouse a lot of confidence." Which drives me crazy - I want somebody in charge of saving our econmy to be a hyper-nerd with a freakish acumen for numbers and economic theory; I don't really give a shit if he's not great at giving speeches. Yeah maybe he's not great at pep talks, but then I'm not interested in giving Bill Parcells a whack at ending the recession either.