Posts Made By: Joe Lentz

Actually, I think politics and religion belong in the same forum. They are both deeply subjective and controversial by nature... and although that may seem unfortunate to some, it is also what keeps the dialogue interesting. Obviously viewpoints coming from various directions are necessary to help keep some kind of balance as well. I remind myself of this whenever reactionaries and fundamentalists are making me grind my teeth. ;-) And yes, of course it is possible to discuss politics and religion without resorting to expletives and name calling.

I'm sure this fact doesn't bother some of the more vocal supporters of this war; in fact Bush once referred to the large number of detractors as being "irrelevant". Typical questionable word choice from him btw... almost borg-like ;-) But whether you agree with the impending war or not, that nearly 80% figure should be sobering to anyone who isn't an out and out isolationist.

Thanks Maurice for the heads up on the possible auroral activity! I hope the clouds around here clear off soon enough... Also, solar observers might also want to check out the large sunspot group which has been developing lately. It is large enough to observe with the naked (but NOT unprotected) eye.

Good question Gerry. I think it would be great if someone would do a comparison test with the Orion filter and the Sirius filters!

Mark, my rule of thumb when shipping anything breakable, whether UPS, US Postal, or Fed Express is to pack the heck out of it. And I mean OVERpack. Why take chances? Just assume that anything you ship is going to get slammed around and then take suitable precautions.

>>>The problem is I suppose, that people believe and hear what they want to.<<<

Truer words were never spoken James. For my part, I'm still waiting to see good evidence of a sound rationale for going into Iraq. Based on the reasons given so far, (and they have morphed as we've gone along) we might well be justified in starting wars any number of places if the administration in power gets a wild hair. And if you have control of the white house and the legislature, why let a little thing like the will of the american people become a factor? After all, you can bring them along later, especially if you have Fox news at your disposal ;-) Some people seem to be relieved when they are told what to think; also I think it's fair to say that most of us would LIKE to believe that our government isn't misleading us.

Even so, many of us are not convinced that the motives for this action have been adequately examined. My desire for clarification has nothing to do with partisanship, being unpatriotic or not desiring strong national security. What it DOES have to do with is my need to have faith in the credibility, competence and judgement of those people who are in power here. As far as Iraq goes, it still remains to be seen whether or not our action there will improve our security in the long run. That part of the world is far from stable, and the application of blunt force alone will not gain us much except in the short run. Knowledge of the region and an understanding of the people and their history is critical to any lasting success there. I wish I was more confident that Bush and Co. understood the importance of this. The jury isn't in by a long shot..

>>>>Doesn't that give you chills?<<<<

Heck Vincent, what's new about that? I've had chills ever since W walked into the white house. This present outfit has strange ideas about what our country is supposed to stand for. Guess that doesn't matter though if a thriving democracy is secondary to your agenda. Just keep buying up your power base and covering your tracks, that's what really matters.

(I hope I'm not being too subtle about my postion on any of this. ;-)

Right James, Somalia was an extremely negative experience for the US. The information I've heard on Liberia though is that the vast majority of people there really WANT the US to come in, and yes, probably as a main part of a UN operation. Needless to say, the size of a force effective enough to deal with Charles Taylor would be miniscule compared to the Iraq business.

It becomes black and white in a hurry when one party moves into power, deliberately chooses to represent considerably less than half of the electorate, and then essentially turn it's back on the rest. I believe that accounts for much of the present ill will felt by many in this country. Nonetheless, I agree that most political and social issues are not black and white. We would all be serving ourselves and our country better if we considered issues more and parties less... but there is such a tendency to line up on one side or the other, opt for labels, and point fingers. The resulting polarization gets in the way of good constructive dialogue and balanced solutions (except here on AstroMart of course ;-). I don't know why this tendency to divisiveness is so pervasive. Are we just a contentious citizenry, or is there some kind of real or imagined battle for the soul of the country? But I'm digressing; maybe we're just past due for a strong third party... if such a thing is possible.

>>>>I'm sure there must be some very good reasons for the seemingly Saudi immunity from President Bush's wrath, even though the vast majority of 9/11 "terrorists" were Saudi citizenry.<<<<

There are reasons allright, but how "good" they might be depends on how closely you want to look at the relationship. My understanding is that the royal family doesn't represent the sentiments of most Saudis by a long shot when it comes to the amount of affection the country has for the USA. But we know this relationship is all about business$$$, not consistancy in applying human rights standards, or consistancy in identifying the roots of terrorism. Seems to me that if we want to develop any REAL credibility in these matters, we need to establish a serious and coherent national energy policy. Of course that would require long range thinking and maybe even a little sacrifice among consumers. How politically feasible is this in a country where everybody and their cousin wants to drive a big SUV, but still thinks they should be entitled to cheap gas? And how likely is this kind of progress to occur when the country's president has as much oil flowing in his veins as he does blood? The issue of our credibility in dealing with the Saudis is a small part of a much bigger problem.