Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!decwrl!decvax!ima!mirror!frog!john
From: john@frog.UUCP (John Woods)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Where is Challenger?
Message-ID: <1358@frog.UUCP>
Date: 2 May 89 23:20:00 GMT
References: <11360@well.UUCP> <1989Apr23.000034.7797@utzoo.uucp> <6494@homxc.ATT.COM>
Organization: Misanthropes-R-Us
Lines: 56

In article <6494@homxc.ATT.COM>, mrb1@homxc.ATT.COM (M.BAKER) writes:
> Thank you, Henry.  I appreciate the :-) !  I felt that a smiley
> was implied in my message.  However, I did receive the following
> email [sender's identity removed to protect his/her privacy]:
> --------------email message [which I've deleted] follows--------------
What the heck, I'll 'fess up; it's mine.

Back to M.BAKER:
> 	3.) Why can't we trumpet about how we had the best space
> 		program?  How does it hurt anyone?  I'm not promoting
> 		complacency, mind you, but there is a lot to be proud
> 		of (admittedly from a bygone era).
Too many people use that trumpeting as a replacement for rational argument
arguing that "had" is equivalent to "has".  As one who would like a real,
live space program, this annoys the hell out  of me -- I'd like some
FRESH accomplishments to be proud of, too.  Remember, Portugal used to be
a major world power -- where are they now?  ("Just west of Spain." "QUIET!")
(And a question:  how can one be proud of something that one does not care
enough about to maintain?  What sort of "pride" is that?)

> 	4.) "Congressasshole"?  Sounds like you are the anti-American.

In how many countries do you see bumper stickers that read "Love your
country, but never trust its government?"  A profound disbelief that the
government will automatically do the right thing seems a distinctively
(though not uniquely) American touch.

> 	5.) "ITS excuse"?  For all its faults, and there are many,
> 		our system of government does pretty well.  Unless
> 		you were referring to my Congressman.  That kind of
> 		slur doesn't even deserve a response.

("IT" was a gender-neutral, animism-free pronoun, just in case one of your
Representatives happens to be a lump of Silly Putty.)
Congress does, or does not, vote money for the space program.  Generally,
"does not" has been the rule.  SPACEPAC publishes something called "The
Space Activist's Handbook" which lists Congresscritters' voting records.
Or you can write your Congressmen and ask for their voting records; you
might also ask for a list of upcoming bills having to do with space and NASA
and how they plan to vote on them.  Try to raise their conciousness (if any).

> 	6.) I sometimes get tired of the NASA-bashing, too ---
> 		but free and open debate is healthy.  Especially in
> 		a light-hearted form like Henry's signature and my
> 		response.
Well, as I said:
> 
> I'm sorry that the tone of this message is probably more obnoxious than is
> warranted, but I am tired of seeing these ill-thought-out complaints about
> Henry's signature.

And since you intended your response to be light-hearted, I guess I owe you
an apology.
-- 
John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (508) 626-1101
...!decvax!frog!john, john@frog.UUCP, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw@eddie.mit.edu