Backyard Rocketeers Keep the Solid Fuel Burning

Jamie Clay points out a New York Times article about one sticky wicket faced by members of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, whose members are some of the private citizens trying to bust into the space-launch business (or just having fun) by financing and building their own rockets. An excerpt: "On Tuesday, lawyers representing Tripoli and the National Association of Rocketry and officials of the firearms bureau will head to Federal District Court in Washington to resolve the seven-year-old dispute over the hobbyists' use of a flammable propellant, ammonium perchlorate composite, or APCP. The chemical is the main ingredient on the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters. ... The firearms bureau classifies APCP as an explosive and, amid post-Sept. 11 security concerns, requires that anyone who uses more than two ounces of propellant undergo federal background checks."

Comments

Annoying sig alert

[Lord Kano]

If you do not read the contents of a link before you click it, start. This asshat's sig will log you out.

LK

Re:Annoying sig alert

[TheLink]

And while you're at it, be careful when clicking on tinyurl and other similar links.

At least tinyurl has an option to prevent the immediate display of a page. If you are vulnerable to such things you should use it.

the NRA is controlled

[Anonymous Coward]

The NRA is a severely compromised and "controlled opposition" effort. It's a big con now,a scam, it's a mouthpiece for the elite establishment and mostly the neocon fascist party. It's also a lucrative jobs program for their executives and they can continue to rake in the money by picking and choosing extremely dubious and trivial cases to "defend" in court, using even lamer lawyering techniques.

  It is designed to fail *slowly* (boiling frog approach) and to keep sucking dues out of people while simultaneously bringing about more and more loss of second amendment rights,and that's about it. Look at the status of the actual enforced law (read and grok the second amendment, there are supposed to be basically no laws , zero) between the period of establishment of the NRA and today. A huge failure.

  I was a member going way back and followed the internal politics versus realities and finally "got it", what was going on, it really hit me with the gun control act of 68 and that is when I quit them. A lot of other people finally noticed as well. Hmm...very similar to how some big labor unions are controlled at the top by compromised people who actually make sure the unions stay ineffective and lose power, while maintaining an illusion they are for the workers, even though "the workers" keep losing more and more jobs to the wallstreet con artists globalization "a world of willing serfs to keep us rich" theory. Here, this one is easy, look at the top blue collar unions in the US and notice they all are apparently in favor of illegal aliens at any number-apparently millions and millions, they support blanket amnesty and wide open borders- coming in, even though that quite clearly and without any doubt whatsoever keeps diluting the local labor pool and drives wages down for the existing members while simultaneously driving up local property taxes and lower and mid level housing prices. The "controlled opposition" in practice.

  It's a time honored technique this "controlled opposition" for political/power/social/economic purposes. You don't need to control the entire opposition, just a few key people at the top. Works well.

  Another, look at some of the worst industrial corporate polluters out there, then see what "earth friendly" orgs they support in the background. Heck, that one is easy, look at the sponsors on PBS nature shows.

  This sort of thing is fairly rampant in politics now, even the D and R political parties are all run at the top as controlled opposition to each other keep the (well meaning but mostly quite naieve) grass roots activists satisfied they are "doing something about it", whatever "it" the individual is interested in, when all the real decisions are made far above anything or anyone debated or elected in public. Con games, and effective, as most cons are at that level.

    Hip gunowners and second amendment rights enthusiasts with any sort of clue have switched for the most part to other orgs like GOA, RKBA and JPFO, although some still maintain membership in the NRA just to act as reality needles to the other members there and to make the executives squirm sometimes.