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From: szabo@sequent.com
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Fred's Operatic Death
Message-ID: <1991Jun17.222205.15504@sequent.com>
Date: 17 Jun 91 22:22:05 GMT
References: <1991Jun14.083756.1@vf.jsc.nasa.gov> <1991Jun17.055344.8332@sequent.com> <0094A42A.866932C0@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU>
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Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
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In article <0094A42A.866932C0@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU> sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) writes:

>I go out to Andrews Air Force base, talk with the fighter pilots,
>and have respect for their accomplishments? 

Good for you.  Fighter pilots have a vital role in defense, and 
it takes only a tiny fraction of the defense budget to support them.
The same cannot be said for astronauts.


>He pays taxes too.

From his paycheck which is 100% funded by the IRS, he pays perhaps
30% back to the IRS.  BFD.  I said his pro-astronaut posts were 
"self-serving" and they are; they serve to provide revenue for the
paychecks of himself, his boss, and his co-workers at JSC.  The same cannot 
be said for my postings.  My employer sells computers to voluntary
purchasers. I do not derive revenue from any of the subjects discussed.  

Of course he has a right to his self-serving propaganda; I also have
a right to point it out for what it is.


>Personally Nick, I think if we were pouring money into Asteroid Hunting 

I don't propose to "pour" anything more than a tiny fraction of what the
astronauts are wasting.  Even that small fraction the astronaut groupies 
want to keep for their own programs, as the recent Freddy Krueger war 
so sadly confirms.



-- 
Nick Szabo			szabo@sequent.com
Embrace Change...  Keep the Values...  Hold Dear the Laughter...
These views are my own, and do not represent any organization.