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President Bush To Call For Return To Moon?

Brian Stretch writes " According to the National Review: 'When President Bush delivers a speech recognizing the centenary of heavier-than-air-powered flight December 17, it is expected that he will proffer a bold vision of renewed space flight, with at its center a return to the moon, perhaps even establishment of a permanent presence there. If he does, it will mean that he has decided the United States should once again become a space-faring nation.' Here's hoping. The article also includes talk of nuclear engines and using the moon as a testbed for going to Mars."

20 of 1,496 comments (clear)

  1. hoax or no? by potpie · · Score: 0, Troll

    So are we really going there this time? ;)

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    Esoteric reference.
  2. Where are the Slashdot k00ks? by Rotten168 · · Score: 2, Troll

    You know, the tinfoil hatters who will now claim that we never landed on the moon and this is an attempt by Bush to steal the next election and distract us from Iraq.

  3. ...in other news by Nostrada · · Score: 0, Troll

    Bush will also announce further tax cuts for the rich in order to finance the journey to the moon.

    Hey, it worked for the invasion of Iraq!

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    Cheers, Nostrada
  4. Re:The possible reasons why: by DavittJPotter · · Score: 0, Troll

    Or.......

    Fuck, the US economy is in the shitter! People are starting to figure out Bush is a fucking clown! Quick, look over there, America! Isn't the moon pretty!?! Hey, let's "go back" there! While we're there, we can remember to Fight Terrorism(TM), Support Democracy(R), and Be Free(TM)!

    --
    "If there's hope, it lies in the proles..."
  5. Why? by ShallowThroat · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why bother? Establish a permenant base on the moon to do what exactly?
    Explore? Been there, done that.
    Science? Benn there, done that too.
    If this is just to stimulate the economy, then i guess it's better than warring against iraqi civilians.

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    The "Insert Quote Here" line is almost as predictable as inserting an actual quote.
  6. Re:I couldn't agree more by a+whoabot · · Score: 1, Troll

    It owes it to the fed, which is owned by private banks. And the banks don't mind that those debts never get "paid". They get paid in otherways: such as inflation. Inflation is mainly really just the majority population(you) losing purchasing power to the banks. Things don't cost more: if you lived 2000 years ago and had a ounce of gold you could buy a nice toga and a nice pair of sandals. If you have an ounce of gold today you can buy a nice suit and some nice shoes. Inflation really isn't things costing more, it's your money(fiat currency) losing purchasing power. And it is lost to the guys who make the money(the fed: the private banks).

    So yeah, you're totally right it really is imaginary. The banks just invent it(really, they write checks to congress and the money doesn't exist before congress cashes them in for federal reserve notes at the treasury) in the idea that they'll make it back plus interest(inflation) when people spend it.

  7. Re:I couldn't agree more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Troll

    you mean those people?

  8. Re:I couldn't agree more by donutello · · Score: 0, Troll

    Tax Cut
    You mean your one-time "benefit" of somewhere in the vicinity of $300? Real big help there.. Just in time to help boost Christmas spending so he can claim a "recovery" and a "robust, booming economy". Bzzzt.


    No, you fucking moron. The Tax cut is not a one-time thing. The tax cut is for every year. Last year the tax cut was enacted retroactively. The $300 was a "refund" for the additional withholding that would not have happened had the tax cut been in effect the entire year.

    You know, if you're too stupid to know and understand that, you're too stupid to comment on any of the other policy decisions. People like you should do the whole world a favor and not vote - preferably eliminate yourself from the gene pool also. It's because stupid people like you, who think they understand what's going on but don't, vote that we have the problems we have right now.

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    Mmmm.. Donuts
  9. Re:Doom and gloom (not to mention partison politic by ncc74656 · · Score: 1, Troll
    Why would you badmouth Bush?

    You must be new around here...it seems no Slashbot's day is complete without posting something along the lines of "Bush is teh dumb." :-| I wonder how many of them showed up for yesterday's Two Minutes Hate.

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    20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  10. First things first by clem.dickey · · Score: 0, Troll

    Shortly after the first moon landing (1969), then-Vice President Spiro Agnew announced that the United States would put a man on Mars by the year 2000. Lets take care of that first, before we attend to the present Command-in-Thief's fancy.

  11. Re:I couldn't agree more by LS · · Score: 0, Troll

    Ok, you got your taxbreak. The country is still going to shit and Bush is still one of the biggest fuckheads alive.

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    There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
  12. Re:I couldn't agree more by assaultriflesforfree · · Score: 0, Troll

    What makes sense here is that money spent on space is a good short-term waste. Maybe in the long-long run, it'll turn into minute profits for the poor. That means that for the time-being, Bush can continue to divert resources from the poor to the rich. That's why this is an option, just like all the money he's wasted on the military... hugely inefficient for the economy, great for the few folks who stand to gain from it immediately.

  13. Cost Effective by murr · · Score: 1, Troll

    The only way another moon trip is worth the expense is if it's one way and Bush is a passenger.

  14. Re:I couldn't agree more by ccp · · Score: 0, Troll

    If I remember correctly

    You don't.

    Cheers,

  15. Lunatic by GerardM · · Score: 0, Troll

    Can we now all agree that Mr Bush is a lunatic? I do appreciate that some serious flaming is required to achieve this goal..
    Thanks,
    Gerard

  16. Re:I couldn't agree more defcon4 by big-giant-head · · Score: 1, Troll

    'Which was dumb of him, since we later found out that a statewide recount would have given Gore the election. Not that it mattered, since the supreme court stepped into something that was none of their business and handed Bush the election..'

    Don't know what time-space continuium you live in, but a couple liberal Fla. newspapers paid for a recount of all COUNTABLE BALLOTS ( note this different than democrats who considered any ballot with conflicting votes cast to be obviously in favor of GORE) showed that Bush still would've won by a thousand or so votes.

    I don't really care for Bush or GOP, I view both parties as badly flawed, but the truth is the truth. For whatever it's worth Bush's tax cuts seem to be fueling the economy and I have a job now because of that, I don't know that Gore would've done any better.

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    So Long and Thanks for all the Fish.
  17. David Letterman: George Bush, being stupid by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1, Troll


    It's not hate-filled to say that George Bush does not seem intelligent. Watch David Letterman. (For those of you not in the U.S., he is a talk show host who is on TV every weekday night.) Letterman has been regularly showing video clips, taken from that day's news, of our President, George Bush, doing something stupid.

    For example, in one David Letterman clip George Bush read a speech and when he was finished gave a cough and a jerky movement that David Letterman characterized as, "That was boring. Now I'm out of here."

    I'm tired of having a president that other foreign leaders characterize as an "idiot". That reference is just one example.

    There is a part of the Republican party composed of people who will do anything to sell the U.S. government to those, mostly their friends, who have money. They are truly not a political party; they can rightly be characterized as criminals. George Bush is their figurehead. For example, look at this CNN article, "Vice President Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton." Quoting David Letterman, "When you write the check for your part of the $83 billion to rebuild Iraq, remember that there are two Ls in Halliburton."

    According to someone I know who was in Vice President Dick Cheney's social circle while he was at Halliburton, Cheney was (is) an alcoholic with a history of boozing and womanizing. This was not different from George Bush, of course.

    I'm not the only person who is looking for an alternative to President Bush. I think that maybe Howard Dean is the best alternative.

    Also, note that this post is on-topic. We are talking about the politics of the U.S. government spending billions of money it doesn't have to send people to the moon. Others have characterized this as intended to be a distraction from the serious problems the present U.S. government administration has caused.

  18. Re:What's the real reason by glrotate · · Score: 1, Troll

    Does that include the number of discourged workers who aren't even counted in the "benefit rolls", because their benefits have run out? No.

    That's why BLS measures unemployment not just by the household survey, which is what you are referring to, but also by tyhe payroll survey. Learn all about it here Employment Situation Summary

    Note both of these may actually overestimate unemployment because they don't account for workers payed underthe table in cash.

    The reason for the recesion is clear. Clinton/Gore kept pumping and pumping the bubble. Where were they when Enron / Worldcom / Wall Street were up to their shenanigans? That's right hitting, up the ChiComs for campaign donations and hitting up interns for BJ's.

    We will never forget Gore claiming that Bush was "talking down the economy" in 2000. Everyone in the world except to D's realized the mess they had gotten us in.

    and FYI

    Bush's approval rating is at 61%

    And some Democrats (Dean, Kucinich) do have an agenda

    We know what it is.

    1. Raise taxes.
    2. Surreder to Hussein.

    Good luck with that platform.

  19. Bush to call for return of troops to 'Merica by frankmanowar · · Score: 0, Troll

    jk. The moon is waaaaaay more important.

    --

    "Other bands play, but Manowar KILLS"
  20. Re:I couldn't agree more by willtsmith · · Score: 0, Troll

    The problems in those countries were caused by the US. The problem is the precarious nature of their semi-democratic societies.

    If the US was cut off from the world economy, we would be much better off. We would experience immediate inflation. But, we would also experience 100% employment.

    A strong democracy and vast resources of the US produced our wealth and prosperity. That democracy created levels of wealth equality unparallelled in near history. That is what creates prosperity.

    The system falls apart when wealth distribution becomes too schewed. The wealthy make investments for the sake of greed. When there is no potential return on investment, they will stop investing.

    In other words, when people are too poor to buy stuff, factories close. Put another way, when the rich have all the money, they needen't bother with the poor anymore. The supply for labor far outstrips the demand. The price of labor plummets. Less consumption follows and the cycle ends in a devastating depression.

    This is the lesson of the 1930s. The speculation and money traders certainly helped things along. However, the vast concentrations of wealth was the true cause of the problem. The super-wealthy already had most of the money. What could possibly be gained from investing?????

    This is what supply side econ leads to. It did so in the early part of this century. It is leading us their right now. We are bartering away are freedoms through WTO and NAFTA. We are spiralling back towards the bottom as wages fall. We are sending are machining equipment overseas to China.

    This of course is the dream of the supply siders. No longer can our democracy save us when our country is dependent for basic necessities from overseas dictators (China). The Newer New Deal won't help us when are defense intrests are heavily sub-contracted in China.

    When mega corporations hold all the cards, including democratic institutions, depression will be perpetual. Autocracy will reign.

    Thats just the way the Bushies would like it.

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