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House Democrats Propose National Park On the Moon

MarkWhittington writes "Two House Democrats, Reps. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), have proposed a bill called Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, H.R. 2617 (PDF), that would establish the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park at all the Apollo lunar landing sites, according to a story in The Hill. 'The park would be comprised of all artifacts left on the surface of the moon from the Apollo 11 through 17 missions. The bill says these sites need to be protected because of the anticipated increase in commercial moon landings in the future.'"

14 of 255 comments (clear)

  1. A spacey idea... by mendax · · Score: 5, Funny

    This idea is absolutely nuts. But if they're hiring park rangers I'll be in line!

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    It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
  2. Re:how about by mooingyak · · Score: 5, Informative

    they go fuck themselves since the moon isn't America's

    From TFA:

    “The government would also have to submit the Apollo 11 lunar landing site to the United Nations for designation as a World Heritage site.”

    I'd think they've got a legitimate case for that being accepted. Terminology gets a little interesting though, with "World" referring to the moon as well.

    --
    William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
  3. Re:No one has territory on the moon by Capsaicin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe the folks proposing this didn't think too hard about how the word 'national' will be read outside the US.

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    Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
  4. Of all the stupid... by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of all the stupid, hare-brained ideas we've seen, this one has to be the stupidest so far.

    We're close to exponential runaway on government spending (borrowing more, and more often). The economy is barely moving despite drenching it in money, jobs are part-time with no benefits, we jail more people than China, the government plainly tramples over all our civil rights, oil is running out, tax law is a joke, IP law is a joke, immigration law is a joke, H1B visas are a joke...

    ...so of course let's put a park on the moon!

    I'm half inclined to start a new political movement: the "Boot" party.

    Let's give these people "the boot" - vote the incumbents out! Keep turnover high until we get good people who can accomplish something worthwhile.

    1. Re:Of all the stupid... by artor3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Congress can't do anything else, on account of the gridlock, so why not spend a few minutes voting on this?

      And by the way, if you just indiscriminately vote out incumbents every cycle, you'll never get anyone good in office. You'll just get wave after wave of naive freshmen, easily exploited by lobbyists.

  5. Bill passes and .... by codepigeon · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Bill passes and...the park is immediately closed due to budget cuts.

    Tell you what though; I will be first in line to apply for the position of park ranger for this one.

  6. Re:how about by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, the Russians got there first.

    --
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  7. I certainly hope by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That they come up with an original name...

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  8. Re:how about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    they go fuck themselves since the moon isn't America's

    Oh but it is! Here, this terrifying truth was uncovered right here on slashdot, but since the Democrats have been trying to cover it up, many haven't heard. The current generation needs to read this, so I'll repost it now.

    The Moon - A Ridiculous Liberal Myth

    It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)

    Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors .. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.

    Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!

    Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.

  9. Re:how about by Sir_Sri · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But how is anything the UN says gonna affect private enterprise?

    Countries are subject to national laws. Countries are all part of the UN, and even the ones that aren't can be more or less forced to go along with it by the ones that are.

    do all countries obey UN mandates

    Insofar as anyone obeys the laws they themselves have agreed to follow (which, I take your point, is not as often as one might hope).

    sooner or later SOMEBODY is gonna grab 'em.

    So... making an effort towards later rather than sooner is probably worthwhile.

    Certainly the UN is only as capable as its member states, who are only so capable, and eventually I'm sure law and order will break down enough for whatever reason that anyone who feels like it can go pillage historical artefacts from everyone else. But for the moment we try and avoid that.

    There isn't an infinite time horizon solution. We could simply say 'free for all, first come first serve' and let the artefacts get sold, but eventually notions of private property will break down long enough for someone to steal them from their owner of the day and if they have bigger weapons than the other guy, I guess that makes it legal. But for as long as there is lawful authority (insofar as such a thing exists at all) we can make laws to try and do the best possible for now, and when we're dead the next group of people can deal with whatever their problem of the day is. Lets face it, if they find the 25th century equivalent of oil under the apollo landing sights, they're getting moved to museums, and I wouldn't begrudge my greatx20 grand children whatever choice they think is best. For the moment 'don't touch' seems like the best bet.

  10. Re:how about by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It only counts when somebody licks the surface with their bare tongue.

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  11. Re:how about by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, the moon landings WERE faked, but they were filmed on the moon.

    We've had a base up there since 1958. It's just on the far side so you can't see it from Earth.

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    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  12. Re:how about by stenvar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If a private space entrepreneur does the job of flying to the moon, collecting the artifacts, and returning them before the US government gets its act together, perhaps ending up in his private collection is a fitting outcome.

  13. Re:how about by GrumpySteen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nonsense. That's where the Nazis are hiding out. Didn't you see the documentary about it?