I couldn't get it to play. Possibly a problem at this end.

Try it again, it took several minutes on broadband cable for the data to load, and there is no indicator of this occuring. It eventually did load and played fine. Very great to see Ray so pastionate about getting our government to begin again on a program of exploration to the planets. I hope he does go to Washington and shakes up the crew to get some sponsorship at a meaningful level going again. I vividly remember the moon landing days and I was never more alive than that as I experienced the landing vicariously on TV real time. What a period. And what a disappointment that we have done nothing involving humans since. The robotic successes,, and dramatic failures, have also been great, but nothing can replace the experience of humans on another planet. Go for it Ray!

Give the URL at try again. I have a fairly speedy broadband connection and I was able to get it loaded and running in under a minute. The only negative side of the site is that you have to sit through a :30-second Fox News promo, but the interview with Ray is well worth the wait.

It played fine for me, also; and I loved the interview. Ray looked really vigorous and energetic. Good to see him that way.

For me, his vision and enthusiasm for developing the space program is infectuous. I like the progression from space shuttle, to Hubble, to ISS, probes to other planets, to moon colonies, to unmanned trips to Mars to manned trips to Mars. I'm amazed at what these people are capable of.

I was talking to a financial guy today, who told me that credit card companies made over 50 Billion dollars last year. Imagine if we could spend even a portion of that on the space program!

Just heard from a cyber pal that Ray was on the news. Will try to catch tonight's Fox broadcast and see if this runs.

I enjoyed the interview greatly. My favorite line was when Ray described man as, "too soon from the cave, too far from the stars." I'm so glad that he's feeling well and was able to make it to the White House.

Can't get the video because of some 'plug-in' I'm missing, but then, my measly 10 gigabyte iMac is near capacity with stuff...so it's time for more memory.
Anyway, try this, which may or may not help: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139393,00.html

How disappointing! At work I got the video just fine but do not have speakers on my computer. So here I sit all excited about viewing and hearing Ray's interview and all I get is the neat square where the video would be playing and nothing else.

What to do?

A very interesting interview by Mr. Bradbury. I hope he continues his work to help us reach the stars and farther. If there's anything I can help with getting people excited about space travel again, let me know.

Okay...thru the link I posted above I was able to watch the Bradbury interview.
It came AFTER the Fox News advertising, that ran about a minute.

Some observations:
Ray's Unitarian belief shows thru. This was noticed in his remark that ...
...the world has so many religions, but no one knows why we are here.
This is nonsense.
Of course people thru the vast centuries have known why we are here.

Another observations that there is no life in space and we are it,
we are the aliens, really is something I personally have found impossible
to believe.
This is a personal one.
Even the radio telescopes around the world are not permitted to send super
strong signals into space in
fear that a passing intelligence may pick it up and ...
...well, who knows!?
Ray also in one interview says it is God who put this talent to write into his noggin,
but then right afterwards says it's the demon muse that gives him the stories.

I'd like some elaboration on that.

And then, Ray ends the FOX interview with, "God Bless!"
Well, I'd like to hear his plain facts answer to his definition of God.

Finally, ''''Happy Thanksgiving'''' to All!

Ray might get along well with John Kerry, the way he's flip-flopped on the alien issue. I swear, sometimes he seems to believe in them and sometimes not. Certain statements given around/in connection with "Close Encounters" and "E. T." I'm sure supported belief in the existence of extraterrestrial human life. Maybe his point is there "could" be aliens but it doesn't "matter" if there are--WE are enough. Now let's see if I've interpreted him right on this. Generally I don't seem to even after reading so much of his work.

biplane1, I understand your frustration--out here in the prairie, I was able to get sound, but only herky-jerky picture. Still, it was great to hear Ray promote the advancement of humankind into space. He has always understood that we are at our best when reaching for the stars.

Space exploration is a fire that needs rekindled, and Ray's just the guy to do it. I'd love the X-prize to be renamed the Bradbury prize. In the short term, Rutan, Branson, and more will win--but in the long term, humanity wins.

Also, Go Cavuto! for the interview.

dandelion:

Yes, I think Ray would have given a different interview, say, ten years ago.

Hmmmm. Would Bradbury get along with Kerry? That would be a fun one to talk to Ray about.

As far as flipflops on aliens. I'm not sure he's flipflopped so much as he just seems to think what's important is getting us to become the aliens in space. This is not a new theme -- the idea that we are the martians -- as it's explicit in portions of Martian Chronicles (which has been with us for awhile).

As far as his comment that religion has been around and we still don't know why we're here . . . There are many religions and diverse philosophical schools of thought around, and many of them claim the truth as to what is the meaning of our lives and species-history. Because they often disagree on fundamental points, it's difficult for me to say that we know why we're here -- as a universal statement. Each group thinks they know why we're here. Who's right? Well, obviously, "MY" group is right.

I think that's what Bradbury is recognizing. Even the Bible talks about faith verses certainty (while claiming certainly in many areas), but as individuals -- even if the Bible is certain -- we deal with things from a subjective perspective. While God may be omniscient, we are not. We are limited by the capacities we have. I think what faith means is that we DON'T actually KNOW things -- we believe them, we assert them, we are convinced of them, we are convicted by them, etc. There is always the limitation imposed by the fact that WE are not God.

Where Bradbury gets into truths, he does so through metaphors and imagery. If God exists, it seem likely that he is infinite. If that is true, we can only talk about God through the use of the tool of language -- which is a finite tool. The finite can only point toward the infinite. Hence, Ray's use of metaphor, and the Bible's use of imagery, parable, metaphor, symbolism, paradox, etc. Language can only point to God -- not define him. That doesn't make God unreal or imaginary. Nor does it give us room to -- with a sense of personal omniscience -- define him in a limited way. If God exists, it is likely he is bigger than we are.