Vice President Heads for Moon

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From today's Washington Times:

Quote:

Vice President Boards Shuttle for Moon Base
Ground Beaking Ceremonies Tomorrow

by Allen Follet special to the Times

Vice president Rutelli boarded Beta Shuttle today to represent the United States at the much anticipated opening of the new wing of the lunar base tomorrow. The four year construction project will add a total area of more than 300,000 square meters to the Sea of Clouds facility. Louise Colliex, a representative for French construction company Spie Batignolles, said that the new area will add 30 new small offices as well as the new Hilton Hotel building and an embarkation area. To date, 80% of the project has been booked, with 100% occupancy expected to be reached within a year. The complex will have stores of brand-name products, cosmetics, clothing, a restaurant, eletronic products, and a new office for the water reclamation agency. No new living area is planned until 2051. The present population of the base is about 1450, expected to increase to 1550 by late next year. Construction on a martian base is scheduled to begin early next year at Hellas Planitia.

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@Brandon9000,

Brandon9000 wrote:

From today's Washington Times:

Figures.

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Joe Biden mooned somebody?

That guy is just a loose cannon.

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@Brandon9000,

http://combatblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ralphkramden.jpg

Vice-President Alice Kramden (right) listens as an advisor explains the manner in which she is about to travel to the moon.

1 Reply

@joefromchicago,

joefromchicago wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:

From today's Washington Times:

Figures.

joefromchicago wrote:

...Vice-President Alice Kramden (right) listens as an advisor explains the manner in which she is about to travel to the moon.

The opening post took some effort and was intended to provoke discussion of space travel, a subject in which I'm interested. If you don't have anything germane to contribute, kindly have the decency at least not to post distractions.

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Space travel and exploration needs a greatly increased infusion of free enterprise.

While I think it is in our national interest to spend tax dollars on a US space program, I certainly appreciate the argument of those who believe the money can be spent better elsewhere, and their argument has been steadily gaining traction over mine for some time now.

Commerce has driven the great ages of earthly exploration and it can also drive an invigorated age of space exploration.

Whether by sharing (or selling) technology and infrastructure with/to American entrepreneurs or by providing financial incentives related to tax breaks (much cheaper than direct funding) the US government should be focused on vigorously promoting a US space industry.

Let entrepreneurs take the financial and physical risks and let them fully reap the rewards. We will all benefit from the commercialization of space.

In order for this to happen however, we need to step off our current path to The Socialist Nanny State.

Our government will need to resist the urge to impose restrictive OSHA regulations when the inevitable disaster occurs and people with fully informed consent die.

It will also need to resist the urge to violate the first rule of parasites: Don't kill the host.

The hell with so-called "Green Jobs," which kill two other jobs for every one they provide, promote "Space Jobs" that don't depend on leeching other industries and can actually lead to a more rational solution to some of the eco-problems Green Jobs are supposed to address.

2 Replies

@Brandon9000,

Brandon

Don't let Old Chicago Joe bother you. He can't help himself you see. He has a neurological disorder. Certain stimuli send his knees into an uncontrollable frenzy.

Mention "Washington Times" and he just about kicks himself in the head.

Those who actually care about ChiJo know better than mentioning words like Fox, Palin, Profit, and Exceptionalism in his presence.

Take pity on Joe...please.

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

You're a lot funnier when you're high.

1 Reply

@Brandon9000,

Brandon9000 wrote:

If you don't have anything germane to contribute, kindly have the decency at least not to post distractions.

You're not the boss of me.

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@Brandon9000,

I honestly am completely confused by this.

Reads as satire/ parody -- you seem to be taking it seriously or is that itself satire/ parody? I looked for the original article but couldn't find anything. (Google searches keep taking me back here.)

1 Reply

For people who take themselves as seriously as Finn or Brandon, mentioning satire or parody is nothing more than an insult.

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@sozobe,

sozobe wrote:

I honestly am completely confused by this.

Reads as satire/ parody -- you seem to be taking it seriously or is that itself satire/ parody? I looked for the original article but couldn't find anything. (Google searches keep taking me back here.)

It was an attempt to provoke a discussion of space travel by giving an indication of what could be done.

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@Brandon9000,

Oh... so you created it as a fake news item? OK. Clearer, thanks.

As for the topic -- I'm just not enthused. The money and resources that would go towards uncertain outcomes makes me itch -- I'd much rather spend that money on keeping Earth (and the people who live upon it) in good shape.

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Space travel and exploration needs a greatly increased infusion of free enterprise.

While I think it is in our national interest to spend tax dollars on a US space program, I certainly appreciate the argument of those who believe the money can be spent better elsewhere, and their argument has been steadily gaining traction over mine for some time now.

My own position is very pro-NASA (except for maybe manned space flight, and I'm pro-manned-space-flight too if that's what it takes to grab imaginations and get dollars for other elements that are much more worthy IMO). But not pro-colonization of the moon and Mars.

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@sozobe,

sozobe wrote:

Oh... so you created it as a fake news item? OK. Clearer, thanks.

As for the topic -- I'm just not enthused. The money and resources that would go towards uncertain outcomes makes me itch -- I'd much rather spend that money on keeping Earth (and the people who live upon it) in good shape.

Would you have recommended funding Columbus? Sounds like the answer is no. We live on this tiny little speck of dust in a galaxy of two hundred billion stars (many of which are thought to have planets) in a universe with hundreds of billions of galaxies. Take the blinders off. Colonizing other worlds would be a good thing. And our speck of dust is not immune to disasters of various sorts, just because it hasn't happened lately. If the criterion were to wait until everything is great at home, even the surface of the Earth wouldn't have been explored.

4 Replies

@Brandon9000,

Again, I'm very pro-exploration. The colonizing thing is something else. (And in general, yes, I think that we've sprawled over too much of the earth and less of that would've been good.)

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Space travel and exploration needs a greatly increased infusion of free enterprise.
...
Let entrepreneurs take the financial and physical risks and let them fully reap the rewards. We will all benefit from the commercialization of space.

I think the issue with this approach is that a rational entrepreneur will look at the real and obvious risks, the nebulous potential rewards and the time frame for payback and decide to invest on Earth instead. In order for space exploration to work, you need some level of irrationality and an extremely long world view, neither of which are present in our society in general or in entrepreneurs in particular. Other societies are not so limited. I think any real hope at space exploration will come from China, Japan or Korea.

0 Replies

@sozobe,

sozobe wrote:

Again, I'm very pro-exploration. The colonizing thing is something else. (And in general, yes, I think that we've sprawled over too much of the earth and less of that would've been good.)

You're seriously putting out the opinion that Man shouldn't have colonized the Earth? To my way of thinking, such a bizarre opinion merely discredits anything in this area you have to say.

2 Replies

@Brandon9000,

Not what I said.

1.) I am very pro exploration of space. While I am for exploring space, I am not enthused about colonizing space.

2.) I am pro exploration of Earth. However I think we've sprawled over too much of it and less colonization would've been good -- which is different from no colonization.

1 Reply

@Brandon9000,

Jesus, here we go with that Columbus bullshit again. For the umpteenth time, Isabella did not fund the Columbus voyage. She seized the property (ships) of private individuals by royal fiat, and gave them to Columbus. The rest of the cost of the voyage was funded by private individuals.

If you know how to pull off the same thing in our contemporary world, then by all means, go for it.

1 Reply

Vice President Heads for Moon

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