Two Points of View Same Conclusion: Scrap the Shuttle!

So I'm obviously not the only person who feels NASA is wasting money on the Shuttle program. In a recent opinion piece, Retired Space Scientist Jeff Bell makes the point that Allied bombing crews during WWII faced a better chance of survival than our current Shuttle crews.

Starlife Director, Cosmica Network, Hans L.D.G., makes a similar point in his piece, but he takes the Media to task for painting a dismal picture every time there's a Space-based hiccup.
Speaking as a member of the Media I remind Hans, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and therefore any attention NASA gets is probably a good thing.

I believe and I feel certain NASA engineers understand, the odds the Shuttle will complete its mission (constructing the International Space Station) are not very good.
But for those courageous men and women at NASA-- engineers, scientists, administrators and astronauts--it has never been about the odds. It's been about the adventure...
Just ask them.