Scoop: a step back for the space elevator

It's friday night, and I plan to go back and retroblog the Conference on World Affairs, but it isn't every day one is explicitly handed a scoop. I'm a horrible transcriptionist, and I identified this as a gist-transcription on Julie's blog (who got the scoop up before I did), but here's Michael Laine's condensed remarks from today's Infosnacking panel:

"I've got a scoop for all the all the bloggers in the room. Other than the X Prize, if you're on the cover of Popular Science or Popular Mechanics then your project is not going to go anywhere. But failure is a critical component of growth.

Two hours ago I lost a three million dollar building. I'd rather pay for this space elevator then pay my mortgage. I'd rather talk to schoolchildren about the project than pay my phone bill. I've been in foreclosure seven times in the last five years. And now I don't have a place to live. I don't have a place to for my staff to go to. I don't have a place to put my cat.

Is this the straw that breaks the camels back? Not quite, I'm pretty tough. I've got to go get a job... I'm not a very good employee. How do you build an elevator into space on the evenings and weekends? I'm counting on the two million people on the network who have referenced the project to make a difference... to put some skin in the game.

I thought I had this fucking problem solved on Wednesday, but I'm not going to let this stop me."

Throughout the conference, I (as others have) noted Mr. Laine's propensity to evangelicalism. I don't want to get into the difference between brainwashed evangelicalism and truly-believing-want-to-change-the-world-for-the-better evangelicalism, but I was on tears' edge during Michael's (decidedly latter) remarks. Michael Laine says he doesn't need any more cheerleaders: he needs a job. I can't give him a job. I wish I could (while I could, it would be more of an unpaid internship going to the post office) and my readership isn't exactly composed of venture capitalists.

LiftPort has the potential to change not just the world, but the entire universe, and what is hopefully a temporary setback makes for an interesting footnote of the story of interplanetary human exploration. Michael seemed on the edge of tears today too. He assures us that on Monday he'll have a plan to deal with this setback. If it requires community intervention, I hope everyone who hopes to escape this planet someday will do their part.

I know I will.