That's a whole different thread. I don't disagree but politicians are the conduit through which national budgets flow regardless of who is actually in control.
On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 8:51 AM, allan deheretic <[email protected]>wrote: > If you think the politicians hold the purse strings ,,,you > have another think coming.. > they are not much more than overpaid sheepeople for sale to the highest > bidder... > with rare exception. > Allan > > > On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 3:45 PM, Chuck Bowling < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Since the politicians hold the purse strings that goes without saying. >> >> >> On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 5:00 AM, [email protected] < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Indeed political and fiscal. >>> >>> On May 19, 1:37 am, Chuck Bowling <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> > I think right now the technology will only allow us to tell if a planet >>> is >>> > rocky or a gas giant. And even then only if it is a relatively massive >>> > planet. The last time I read anything on the subject the smallest >>> planet >>> > found was something like 3 times the size of the Earth. >>> > >>> > IMO, the analogy with Columbus doesn't hold. 17th century technology >>> allowed >>> > humans to travel anywhere on the Earth - albeit slow and wrought with >>> > hazard. If the analogy is that a neighboring star is like a new >>> continent >>> > then we are more like cavemen discovering that a log can float. At the >>> rate >>> > we're going it might be a thousand years before we can actually mount >>> an >>> > expedition to another star. >>> > >>> > I think the primary reason we are so far from actually exploring other >>> stars >>> > is mainly political rather than technological. But, I think you are >>> right. >>> > It is a project worth attaching too. Now if we could just make the damn >>> > politicians see it that way... ;) >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 4:58 PM, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: >>> > > I'm not sure how accurate they can be in revealing planets enough >>> like >>> > > ours to offer possibilities of a new promised land. They claim there >>> > > is one 20 light years away, or 300,000 years at current space travel >>> > > speeds. One can feel that this at least puts us somewhere near the >>> > > position of 'Columbus'. Our current 'tin-foil' technology won't do, >>> > > but at this kind of distance we are talking about something other >>> than >>> > > worm-holes, 'relativity flight' or the kind of physics in which >>> > > distance is an illusion. >>> > >>> > > For someone like me who can't take god-stories seriously and quite >>> > > likes the idea of a human future (or at least the idea of evolution >>> > > not just ending through catastrophe), there is an opportunity to >>> > > believe in something distant in time and a need for us to direct >>> > > ourselves towards it. A time, perhaps in which a form of conscious >>> > > life can live very differently from now, and a project worth >>> attaching >>> > > to - perhaps a reason for spirituality. Comments on this or the >>> > > technology welcome.- Hide quoted text - >>> > >>> > - Show quoted text - >> >> >> > > > -- > ( > ) > I_D Allan > > If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken > Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, > >
