This whole situation is really odd. Coupla months ago bush and his administration woere talking about fewer nasa missions for the next 20 years. They even ordered some programs put on indefinete hold. Bush is a wierd lil texan
I'm all for it. Other people have already summarized why it's good: scientific progress, exploration, industrial development, etc.
To be fair, I think it's going to be hard to get some serious dissenting opinions here. This is, after all, a NS message board, and sci-fi is one of NS's main selling points.
<!--QuoteBegin--Insignus+Jan 16 2004, 12:03 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Insignus @ Jan 16 2004, 12:03 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> This whole situation is really odd. Coupla months ago bush and his administration woere talking about fewer nasa missions for the next 20 years. They even ordered some programs put on indefinete hold. Bush is a wierd lil texan <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Well, they are probably going to have to axe some programs to make room for the manned moon mission...i don't see how 11 billion a year will cut it.
I wrote this editorial for the school newspaper. Tell me what you think about it... <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Stephen Chen “Moon shot 2004”
“Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea.” Bush continued his speech with something about the human tendency to explore, but we can ignore that. Mankind is driven to explore out of desperation: “necessity is the mother of invention,” says the old adage. The way this planet’s being treated, we’re going to have to plan an exodus sometime soon.
As if to answer our prayers, President Bush unveiled a plan to increase NASA’s funding and begin new space programs recently. According to his speech, $12 billion dollars would be allocated to NASA programs in the next five years. And with what aim? Nothing other than building a base on the moon and landing humans on Mars!
Wait a minute. If we look closely, $11 billion out of the $12 total would be merely money from the existing NASA budget shifted to these new programs. That’s $1 billion in new money. I hate to say a billion dollars is a measly amount of money, but didn’t a refuel for the Iraq war cost $87b? How about $695b in tax refunds? A billion dollars is a drop in the bucket for Bush’s drunken sailor spending.
Since Bush’s 2000 election, the United States’ budget has fallen into a $500 billion deficit. It has negative money. At the end of the decade, baby boomers will begin drawing on Medicare funds. This country does not have enough money to be merely bankrupt. It surely doesn’t have enough money to sustain an ambitious space program that’ll cost more than the promised funds. And that’s exactly what this entire program is – an empty promise.
We know, and Bush knows, that there are more important issues and hand than putting a base on the moon. Paying off the deficit is only one of the monumental tasks facing us. How can Bush claim to have dedication to the future at heart when our generation is going to have to pay for his financial irresponsibility? The fact is, this space program is nothing but a pipe dream and a slick election ad. Notice that funds were only promised for five years? In five years, Bush’s presidency will be over, and the matter will be out of his hands forever. He could cut the program in 2005 and nobody would be the wiser.
The moon shot is a cruel deception of the American public and money-starved NASA. This program is a joke, and certainly it isn’t going anywhere after a Bush reelection. Its sole purpose is to create short term excitement for the 2004 election. Bush could tell us “vote for me” without having to make a joke out of the legitimate interests of our generation. After all, where will we go when the ice caps melt?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Your <logic> is flawed at several points, as the harbinger explains.
You see, the human desire to explore is not based out of necessity. This can be seen in our children. Ask yourself, why does a child incessantly push buttons, even when their parents scream and pull their hair out. Why do they hover, asking millions of questions "What does that do?" "Whats that for?" In every human being, there is an basic curiosity. It is almost as if it is genetic. But it is not, for many have abandoned it. But apparently, the desire to explore is specific to certain people. Some people are drawn to the depths of the sea. Others find themselves intrigued by the inner workings of the human mind. Others are fascinated by the pursuit of physics, or chemistry. Some are drawn to frontiers, places where they know they will see things that no other man has seen. Others, people like me, are drawn to the stars. I cant explain why I am drawn to them, but when i look at the stars, I ask, whats out there? Will there be strange creatures, waiting to pounce on us (i.e. skulks <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->), or will there be merely endless tracks of untamed planets? Will we find earth-like planets out there? Or will we find merely dried-up, empty shells of planets? Will we see stellar artwork, nebulae and particle clouds, joining, twisting, creating an unparalleled masterpiece of nature? Or will there simply be cold, dark, void space. I've seen these things, they are what draw me to the unknown, to the areas outside our understanding, our sight. Places that currently exist in my imagination, waiting to be fulfilled at some distant date, ever growing more complex, more wonderous. I grow frustrated, wanting to fufill my dream, a dream that i know is buried to some extent in every human heart, and having it delayed and denied by a careless few, willing to fritter away humanity for their own ends. I dream of the day when my dream comes true, yet like a child at christmas, I fear I will be disappointed. What if i do not live to see that day, what if I die, only to find out that there is no heaven, no skybox to watch how humanity unfolds. I believe others share this fear, and from that fear breeds the desire to cheat death, or to try and cause that day to unfold before its time. I am among the few who have an urge to do both, even though the little voice in the back of my head says that its wrong. That voice ebbs and flows every day, and i fear, for my fellow humans sake, the day when that voice falls silent. For now, I am content with baby steps. I allow my thoughts to roam farther down the road, exploring the possibilities before the actions set them in motion. But for now, I dream also of the next step. Therefore, I dream of Mars.
Some would call me a dreamer. Some a fanatic. Crazy. Off kilter. "A bit inbalanced, nothing that cant be corrected with a healthy dose of normal life, maybe a few pills here and there" Some fear my dream. They fear, that it may grow beyond their control. They fear a loss of power. They do not consciously fear it. They probably dont even know why they should oppose it, but they do. To those that fear my dream, I am but a harbinger.
Addendum : This was written roughly 30 minutes. I did in fact write this myself, the words came out almost in a flood. I do believe in this. And if you dont, i dont mind, because when it comes true, you will believe. Even if you are dead, it will come true.
Addendum #2: ok im gonna stop now........... that last lines is scaring mea . i dont know WHERE is cam from. but i betterl og b4 myf head starts spinning around on mh neckn
BTW: A note on plagiarism That lil rant i wrote is mien personal properteh. You can keep a copy if love it (ill feel o so special) but if you ever put your name on it, i will hunt you down, skin you alive, and then use your liver as football.
<continue your discussion as before, but be aware that <first-thought//pwner of skulks> is watching you> <forgive this offtopic intrusion> <but this issue has begun troubling us> <our rants are composed by different ones, but those ones are part of many> <and that <entity//container> does not brook theft> <CONTINUE DISCUSSION AT YOUR LEISURE>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beware, IN- IN - INSECT, the thoughts in that brain are the only things of value in the pitiful sack of Meat you call a bodyyy -------SS revived anyone?
I like what the voices in your head are saying, how about they get together with the voices in my head and polish the guns <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
To put it simply the future of man is in space. If we dont reach for the stars when we can, we'll be rooted to the earth and the fate of all previous species: Extinction.
{Edit}
Yes, SS rocks my world <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Comments
Coupla months ago bush and his administration woere talking about fewer nasa missions for the next 20 years. They even ordered some programs put on indefinete hold.
Bush is a wierd lil texan
To be fair, I think it's going to be hard to get some serious dissenting opinions here. This is, after all, a NS message board, and sci-fi is one of NS's main selling points.
Coupla months ago bush and his administration woere talking about fewer nasa missions for the next 20 years. They even ordered some programs put on indefinete hold.
Bush is a wierd lil texan <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, they are probably going to have to axe some programs to make room for the manned moon mission...i don't see how 11 billion a year will cut it.
Tell me what you think about it...
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Stephen Chen
“Moon shot 2004”
“Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea.”
Bush continued his speech with something about the human tendency to explore, but we can ignore that. Mankind is driven to explore out of desperation: “necessity is the mother of invention,” says the old adage. The way this planet’s being treated, we’re going to have to plan an exodus sometime soon.
As if to answer our prayers, President Bush unveiled a plan to increase NASA’s funding and begin new space programs recently. According to his speech, $12 billion dollars would be allocated to NASA programs in the next five years. And with what aim? Nothing other than building a base on the moon and landing humans on Mars!
Wait a minute. If we look closely, $11 billion out of the $12 total would be merely money from the existing NASA budget shifted to these new programs. That’s $1 billion in new money. I hate to say a billion dollars is a measly amount of money, but didn’t a refuel for the Iraq war cost $87b? How about $695b in tax refunds? A billion dollars is a drop in the bucket for Bush’s drunken sailor spending.
Since Bush’s 2000 election, the United States’ budget has fallen into a $500 billion deficit. It has negative money. At the end of the decade, baby boomers will begin drawing on Medicare funds. This country does not have enough money to be merely bankrupt. It surely doesn’t have enough money to sustain an ambitious space program that’ll cost more than the promised funds. And that’s exactly what this entire program is – an empty promise.
We know, and Bush knows, that there are more important issues and hand than putting a base on the moon. Paying off the deficit is only one of the monumental tasks facing us. How can Bush claim to have dedication to the future at heart when our generation is going to have to pay for his financial irresponsibility? The fact is, this space program is nothing but a pipe dream and a slick election ad. Notice that funds were only promised for five years? In five years, Bush’s presidency will be over, and the matter will be out of his hands forever. He could cut the program in 2005 and nobody would be the wiser.
The moon shot is a cruel deception of the American public and money-starved NASA. This program is a joke, and certainly it isn’t going anywhere after a Bush reelection. Its sole purpose is to create short term excitement for the 2004 election. Bush could tell us “vote for me” without having to make a joke out of the legitimate interests of our generation. After all, where will we go when the ice caps melt?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You see, the human desire to explore is not based out of necessity. This can be seen in our children. Ask yourself, why does a child incessantly push buttons, even when their parents scream and pull their hair out. Why do they hover, asking millions of questions "What does that do?" "Whats that for?" In every human being, there is an basic curiosity. It is almost as if it is genetic. But it is not, for many have abandoned it. But apparently, the desire to explore is specific to certain people. Some people are drawn to the depths of the sea. Others find themselves intrigued by the inner workings of the human mind. Others are fascinated by the pursuit of physics, or chemistry. Some are drawn to frontiers, places where they know they will see things that no other man has seen. Others, people like me, are drawn to the stars. I cant explain why I am drawn to them, but when i look at the stars, I ask, whats out there?
Will there be strange creatures, waiting to pounce on us (i.e. skulks <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->), or will there be merely endless tracks of untamed planets? Will we find earth-like planets out there? Or will we find merely dried-up, empty shells of planets? Will we see stellar artwork, nebulae and particle clouds, joining, twisting, creating an unparalleled masterpiece of nature? Or will there simply be cold, dark, void space. I've seen these things, they are what draw me to the unknown, to the areas outside our understanding, our sight. Places that currently exist in my imagination, waiting to be fulfilled at some distant date, ever growing more complex, more wonderous. I grow frustrated, wanting to fufill my dream, a dream that i know is buried to some extent in every human heart, and having it delayed and denied by a careless few, willing to fritter away humanity for their own ends.
I dream of the day when my dream comes true, yet like a child at christmas, I fear I will be disappointed. What if i do not live to see that day, what if I die, only to find out that there is no heaven, no skybox to watch how humanity unfolds. I believe others share this fear, and from that fear breeds the desire to cheat death, or to try and cause that day to unfold before its time. I am among the few who have an urge to do both, even though the little voice in the back of my head says that its wrong. That voice ebbs and flows every day, and i fear, for my fellow humans sake, the day when that voice falls silent. For now, I am content with baby steps. I allow my thoughts to roam farther down the road, exploring the possibilities before the actions set them in motion. But for now, I dream also of the next step. Therefore, I dream of Mars.
Some would call me a dreamer. Some a fanatic. Crazy. Off kilter. "A bit inbalanced, nothing that cant be corrected with a healthy dose of normal life, maybe a few pills here and there" Some fear my dream. They fear, that it may grow beyond their control. They fear a loss of power. They do not consciously fear it. They probably dont even know why they should oppose it, but they do. To those that fear my dream, I am but a harbinger.
Addendum : This was written roughly 30 minutes. I did in fact write this myself, the words came out almost in a flood. I do believe in this. And if you dont, i dont mind, because when it comes true, you will believe. Even if you are dead, it will come true.
Addendum #2: ok im gonna stop now........... that last lines is scaring mea . i dont know WHERE is cam from. but i betterl og b4 myf head starts spinning around on mh neckn
That lil rant i wrote is mien personal properteh.
You can keep a copy if love it (ill feel o so special) but if you ever put your name on it, i will hunt you down, skin you alive, and then use your liver as football.
<continue your discussion as before, but be aware that <first-thought//pwner of skulks> is watching you>
<forgive this offtopic intrusion>
<but this issue has begun troubling us>
<our rants are composed by different ones, but those ones are part of many>
<and that <entity//container> does not brook theft>
<CONTINUE DISCUSSION AT YOUR LEISURE>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beware, IN- IN - INSECT, the thoughts in that brain are the only things of value in the pitiful sack of Meat you call a bodyyy
-------SS revived anyone?
To put it simply the future of man is in space. If we dont reach for the stars when we can, we'll be rooted to the earth and the fate of all previous species: Extinction.
{Edit}
Yes, SS rocks my world <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
I don't buy the battlefield earth crap.