Why do you think the gov is so reluctant to give new tax dollars to Seti..........OUR money..........OURS...........

Ya wanna know why????????

It's because we are the largest gathering of free thinkers left on this earth........and they cannot have that.........meow.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I don't think it has anything to do with being "free thinkers".

OUR tax money is decided by OUR elected officials and WE the PEOPLE. If you want to increase the amount of OUR tax dollars to SETI, then you need to convince enough of the population to call their representatives and suggest that more dollars be devoted to this cause.

The problem is that there's far more pressing matters these days than SETI@Home. I obviously believe in the SETI cause, but with money being so limited right now, we have to focus our efforts on fixing things. Hopefully then, when there's more dollars to go around, we would have a better chance at convincing people that SETI is a worthwhile cause to give our tax dollars to.

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I don't think it has anything to do with being "free thinkers".

OUR tax money is decided by OUR elected officials and WE the PEOPLE. If you want to increase the amount of OUR tax dollars to SETI, then you need to convince enough of the population to call their representatives and suggest that more dollars be devoted to this cause.

The problem is that there's far more pressing matters these days than SETI@Home. I obviously believe in the SETI cause, but with money being so limited right now, we have to focus our efforts on fixing things. Hopefully then, when there's more dollars to go around, we would have a better chance at convincing people that SETI is a worthwhile cause to give our tax dollars to.

Oh, right.......
They have far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with OUR fn money.......I cannot continue, because my liberal use of expletives and truth does not wash clean here........

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I don't think it has anything to do with being "free thinkers".

OUR tax money is decided by OUR elected officials and WE the PEOPLE. If you want to increase the amount of OUR tax dollars to SETI, then you need to convince enough of the population to call their representatives and suggest that more dollars be devoted to this cause.

The problem is that there's far more pressing matters these days than SETI@Home. I obviously believe in the SETI cause, but with money being so limited right now, we have to focus our efforts on fixing things. Hopefully then, when there's more dollars to go around, we would have a better chance at convincing people that SETI is a worthwhile cause to give our tax dollars to.

Oh, right.......
They have far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with OUR fn money.......I cannot continue, because my liberal use of expletives and truth does not wash clean here........

No, they don't have "far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with our money". They are dealing with our money, but there's far more pressing matters to which our very limited funds should be diverted than SETI@Home.

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I don't think it has anything to do with being "free thinkers".

OUR tax money is decided by OUR elected officials and WE the PEOPLE. If you want to increase the amount of OUR tax dollars to SETI, then you need to convince enough of the population to call their representatives and suggest that more dollars be devoted to this cause.

The problem is that there's far more pressing matters these days than SETI@Home. I obviously believe in the SETI cause, but with money being so limited right now, we have to focus our efforts on fixing things. Hopefully then, when there's more dollars to go around, we would have a better chance at convincing people that SETI is a worthwhile cause to give our tax dollars to.

Oh, right.......
They have far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with OUR fn money.......I cannot continue, because my liberal use of expletives and truth does not wash clean here........

No, they don't have "far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with our money". They are dealing with our money, but there's far more pressing matters to which our very limited funds should be diverted than SETI@Home.

Ozzy........
I think you are living in a dream land........'their' dollars are our dollars.....and so, therefore, we all fall. and will.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I don't think it has anything to do with being "free thinkers".

OUR tax money is decided by OUR elected officials and WE the PEOPLE. If you want to increase the amount of OUR tax dollars to SETI, then you need to convince enough of the population to call their representatives and suggest that more dollars be devoted to this cause.

The problem is that there's far more pressing matters these days than SETI@Home. I obviously believe in the SETI cause, but with money being so limited right now, we have to focus our efforts on fixing things. Hopefully then, when there's more dollars to go around, we would have a better chance at convincing people that SETI is a worthwhile cause to give our tax dollars to.

Oh, right.......
They have far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with OUR fn money.......I cannot continue, because my liberal use of expletives and truth does not wash clean here........

No, they don't have "far too pressing matters to worry about than what to do with our money". They are dealing with our money, but there's far more pressing matters to which our very limited funds should be diverted than SETI@Home.

Ozzy........
I think you are living in a dream land........'their' dollars are our dollars.....and so, therefore, we all fall. and will.

You seem to miss the concept that even though they are our dollars, they have to spend them where most citizens won't be angered. They have to spend OUR money in a way that makes most sense to Americans.

Do you really think that they could divert our tax dollars to SETI@Home with all the jobless out there and not piss someone off?

Besides, there's much more to it than simply giving SETI@Home money. SETI has to go through the same grant process to get money just like every other science project. There's paper work to fill out, and data that needs to be shown that proves this is a worthwhile endeavor to give additional funding to. They can't simply just keep throwing money at it simply because "its a good cause".

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[quote]
And I really am not trying to challenge you, Ozzy.......just want a little earned respect around here.........[quote}

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Please stick to the topic here--financing Seti and whether the government should/shouldn't do it.

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Its not a matter of if the government should or shouldn't fund SETI - I think they should.

I'm just trying to point out that it's not as simple as that. There's much more to our processes here in the U.S. than simply handing out money (though that statement seems foolish with all these corporate bailouts, but that's another topic).

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on topic!
Is it beneficial to scan the heavens for RF emissions to satisfy science inquiries, or more beneficial to study the sex lives of South American Frogs?
I guess it depends on what scientist you talk to. It also depends on whether those scientists have a firm hold on the ear of some politician. Should money go to Presidential Libraries or astronomical studies? Let's remember that hold on the ear! Should we allocate 20K to develop a toilet seat for an AirForce plane - or sponsor a session or so at Aricebo? Grab that ear boys!
OR
why not float a bond in a local referendum (which rarely ever gets paid back) and financial guru's can write off for a tax break, E.G like the Illinois Tollway Bonds which we still pay tolls for 30 years after the bond expired.

Any way you look at it - It took a letter from Einstein to grab a political ear and launch the Manhattan Prroject. We still benefit from the technologies that developed from those science studies. Let's stick that idea into a political ear! P.S. - how many watergate Tapes do we have in one of those Presidential Libraries?

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