Re: Space funding (was Re: Hillary needs to quit)

Derek Lyons wrote:
> "Dano" <janeanddano@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> John Schilling wrote:
>>> On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:13:32 -0500, pv+usenet@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (PV) wrote:
>>>
>>>> John Schilling <schillin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>>>>>> And you'd be right. Obama discussed delaying the Constellation
>>>>>> Project for five years, not shutting down NASA. *
>>>>>
>>>>> What did he say NASA was going to be doing during those five years
>>>>> instead of Constellation?
>>>
>>>> (groups trimmed, subject refocused)
>>>
>> <more trimming...back to the over-riding issue>
>>
>> "When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school,
>> it's more than a problem, it's a catastrophe." - Colin Powell,
>> founding chairman of America's Promise Alliance, which issued a
>> re****t last Tuesday that says 17 of the 50 largest cities have high
>> school graduation rates below 50 percent. (from the Boston Globe,
>> April 5th - Quotes of Note)
>>
>> We can't afford to educate the next generation of NASA employees.
>> We better figure out how to do that first.  It's about spending
>> priorities.
>
> Ever actually compared NASA's budget to those 'other priorities'?
>
> I thought not.  Or you'd note what a vani****ngly small drop in the
> bucket it amounts to.  Someone even more intellectually honest and
> agile would note the vast amount of money we've spent on those 'other
> priorities' over the years, and the astoni****ngly small return - and
> wonder if the problem really was that we aren't shoveling enough money
> into the furnace.
>

I know that education spending *is* a very small drop in the bucket
compared 
to the spending on the havoc we haved wreaked in the Middle East lately. 
I'll certainly agree space exploration is a vastly better way to spend
than 
war.  But as we are constantly told by our illustrious leaders...we are at

war.  Let's end that and I'll be right there with you.

Meanwhile...we have to educate our children...our future...now.  I know
more 
money alone is not the answer.  I also know *less* is certainly not.

This is also most certainly *not* the only item we need to spend on
*before* 
the space program.  This is one area that is absolutely well suited to 
funding from the private sector...and for international cooperation. 
Let's 
get the wealthy oil nations, the Chinese (who are already so 
enthusiastically investing in America), the Japanese to join in this 
exploration.  If we...for example...presented this as an outlet to the 
aimless youth being recruited into terrorist organizations in the arab 
world...we might slow the spread of that type of fanatism.  But let's
start 
thinking outside the box we have placed ourselves in...you know...that 
shoveling money into any furnace is a good thing.