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Can
we talk!!
Do you like to talk about politics or current
events? The web is great, posting is okay, but sometimes don't
you want a real time response? If you do, come talk to us
on the IRC channel #news_garden. Connect to
Undernet IRC, type /join #news_garden, hit enter and
there we'll be.
If you aren't familiar with IRC (Internet Relay Chat) the
best way to get to it is to download mIRC at www.mirc.com.
(It's shareware which means you can try it until you decide
you want to buy it.)
Download mIRC and install. (It installs
in a snap.) Then fire it up while you're connected to the
internet. In the mIRC menu go to File > Options
and you'll get a dialogue box. The first heading is Connect.
There you'll find a scrolling menu with LOTS of different
IRC servers. Scroll down toward the bottom and choose one
of the Undernet servers. I find those in Scandinavia
work best. Then hit "Connect to IRC Server"
and in a minute you'll be there. Then type /join #news_garden
and all your political chat dreams will be come true! The
first time shouldn't take but about 10 minutes total. After
that less than a minute.
Come see us. We chat mostly about politics
and current events and our chatters represent all points of
view.
We even have a pretty nice website here at
www.newsgarden.org
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Columns:
Note: Anyone who wishes to
become a columnist
or submit a column or a response
to a column
please contact Alllie.
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Lunar Cheese And Federal Pork
By KG4ZMP
In what has got to be one of the most obvious examples of political
pandering and pork barrel spending in ages, President Bush recently
announced his goal of sending the U.S. back to the moon by 2015
and on to Mars by 2040. Since about 75% of you seem to think it's
a grand idea, let's dispense with the Hollywood generated fantasy
that has been pumped into our collective psyche for over half a
century just long enough to really examine the president's proposal.
The President's proposal is for robotic landers to begin working
on the lunar surface by 2008, the creation of a new space vehicle,
the Crew Exploration Vehicle, to begin manned lunar landings by
2014 and replace the aging shuttle fleet, the construction of a
permanent lunar base and a manned mission to Mars at an unspecified
date in the future, possibly some time around 2040. In the words
of our President, "Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the
same reason we were once drawn to unknown lands and across the open
sea," he said at NASA headquarters. "We choose to explore
space because doing so improves our lives and lifts our national
spirit. So let us continue the journey."
Given these facts, what can we say about the President's proposal?
First of all, take careful note that none of the dates set forth
for the achievement of this grand plan fall during Bush's term of
office, even if he gets re-elected. He gets all the upside and risks
none of the political downside. As for improving our lives, other
than tang and Velcro, I can't think of much in the way of improvements
that are the direct result of the space program. Before you start
pointing out all the advancements in electronics that resulted from
the effort to land a man on the moon, honestly ask yourself if most
if those technological advancements came from the lunar program
or were they, indeed, spin-offs of national defense and intelligence
programs such as missile guidance, communications and code breaking
technologies? About the only thing the President has gotten correct,
in my opinion, is that this new space initiative "...lifts
our national spirit." Put another way, it's one big ego trip
for the nation. After all, why have the people bogged down with
the war on terror and a sluggish economy, slogging it out here on
good ol' terra firma, when you can have them daydreaming about stretching
forth their hands to the stars? Hollywood is sure to feed this national
ego trip with plenty of science fiction eye candy. They'll be raking
in the profits hand over fist, all the while convincing us that
in just a few short years we'll all be tooling around the universe
at warp factor one.
Meanwhile, back in harsh old reality, the damage has already begun
with NASA abandoning the Hubble space telescope program. Who can
afford to continue with good science and solid astronomy when two-thirds
of NASA's budget will soon be diverted to our return to the moon?
I wonder which social programs will have to be axed over the course
of the next two or three generations so we can say that not only
did we return to one dead rock in space, but we also managed to
set foot on another? And let us not forget who the main beneficiaries
of this new, bold initiative will be... That's right - the military
industrial complex. The same people who will send us back to the
moon and on to Mars are the very same people building the next generation
of fighter jets and smart bombs to smite the "enemies of freedom
and liberty."
In the end, what the president is hoping to accomplish is to distract
John and Jane Q. Public from the nasty reality of a post 9/11 world
while simultaneously diverting even more of our tax dollars into
the hands of the weapons industry. He can't give the military-industrial
complex the money it wants by way of the defense budget, which has
now ballooned to over $400 billion, without facing intense scrutiny,
vigorous opposition and harsh criticism. He can, however, accomplish
this goal via the space program, all the while receiving cheers
and kudos from a starry-eyed public.
Dam the photon torpedoes, Scotty, and warp speed ahead - we've
got uncharted space to conquer! It sure beats the hell out of dealing
with our problems back here on Earth.
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Articles
of Interest
Bush and the Assassination
of JFK by Paul Kangas
ANNALS
OF DEMOCRACY : COUNTING VOTES by Ronnie Dugger (Nov
7, 1988)
Computerized
Systems for Voting Seen as Vulnerable to Tampering by David
Burnham,
The New York Times (July
29, 1985) plus emphasis, links and comments
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Sigmund Aas
The
Terrorist's Achilles Heel: An Alternative Blow to Terrorism
(June 24, 2004)
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Apocalypse
Number Nine
(mp3,
2.9 meg, Oct 4, 2002)
Souces:Artist: Kumi Tanioka
Album: Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack (CD
TWO)
Track :The Awakening
Vocals: George W. Bush
Plus Additional sounds & subliminal track
Editing by Aleister
Fun
with Paperdolls
(May 19, 2003)
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Arachne & TaoUrso
TURTLE
TALES: Exodus in a Tin Can on Wheels
Part
1 -
Part 2 -
Part 3 -
Epilogue
Turtle
Tales II: The Road Warrior (November
2004)
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Jimmy2k^
What
is the American Way of Life
(Jan27, 2003)
America is Under Siege
(Dec 3, 2002)
Ozzy Osbourne - American Idol (Nov 26, 2002)
Thomas Jefferson
and Ann Coulter - Comparison and Contrast (Nov 21,
2002)
Some Thoughts on American
Media (Nov 11, 2002)
Some Thoughts on Addiction (Oct 28, 2002)
What Color is the
Sky? (Oct 25, 2002)
The End is Near - And Other
Truths (Oct 7, 2002)
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Hoopie
News_Asylum
(Sept 15, 2002)
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ItsMarty
Virtue
is not chosen, the chosen becomes virtuous
(October 14, 2003) Conspiracy
Theory This!(November 18, 2003)
Black & White (November
21, 2003)
From Cordoba to Jerusalem
(November 25, 2003)
Free Speech and Intolerance
(January 20, 2004)
State
of the Old Union seen from the New Union (Febuary 2,
2004) |
KG4ZMP
Lunar Cheese And Federal Pork (January
20, 2004)
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Lester
Michaels
Morality
& Ethics: A case study of the Carlyle Group |
Marij
Bush's
Folly
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Samurai_Liberal
Election
2000-Highway Robbery and a Supreme Court Disgrace-
Part
1 (May
23, 2003)
Part 2 (May
29, 2003)
Part 3 (June 12,
2003)
Part 4 (July 8,
2003)
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TaleWgnDg
Bush
Is Packing The Federal Courts: What Can I Do? (June
28, 2003)
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Thargor
The
Rantings of an Angry, Fed Up Conservative
BUSH
BASHING DONE WITH LACK OF EVIDENCE OR CONCERN FOR ACCURACY
(July 1, 2003)
A
RECAP OF THE USSC'S 2002 TERM (July 5, 2003)
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Warpster
The
Myth of Free Trade (Febuary 3, 2004)
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More Columns |
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