jackson33

think spinning a craft moving .5C and capable of carrying all that would be needed would be a little more than "just spin". NASA, as i understand it has pretty much dropped the idea. if centrifugal force could be useful, space stations in the future will no doubt take advantage.

there is no reason to feel CO2, as produced by mankind, is a problem. the total CO2 in all the atmosphere that man produces is apx. .0023 of all there is at any given point. all animal life is dwarfed by plant life which requires CO2 and the real victim of a potential over reaction. there is no point, just some facts which i rarely see in any of these discussions. keep in mind as a world society, we produce the food, which all humans require. this has increased in total growths for this one sole purpose, several hundred %, since 1900.

Cap'n; what you suggest is every student, some 30 million or so are the responsibility of the total national population. government IMO, has no business in education to begin with; however since there so deep into it already, the idea of funding the gifted seems a little overboard. to make myself clear, i do not think results of bad or poor parenting or the under achiever in the systems should be there responsibility. back to one of my points, this underachiever in Des Moines, could well be the gifted in NYC. many things going into the educating of a human. there is no reason to listing what failures governments have already had, but this is one, as a society you do not want.... lets take one example; food stamps in the US are given out like candy. even a quick glance in any urban area, will tell you food is not a problem. however these very same people, for the most part get free breakfast and lunches every school day. by the way, if i had a gifted child, my thought would be to assist him/her, not complain and find a solution. if its alone at home or in a private school, the effort should be well worth while to any motive...to say nothing of not being dumbed down by their piers.

if CO2 is the primary problem, then at any given time .03 to .046% of the total atmosphere is your point. of this man contributes 5% of this total. if your a tree or any form of plant life, then yes, you should expect a little more surplus if you expect the massive forest and agriculture farms to be maintained.

as said, the District of Columbia, along with the city of Washington are the responsibility of the US Congress, in all areas. that is Senators and Congress people, are responsible, each to their state and also WDC.

there are about 25 stars, 4 to 20 light years from our solar system. in theory then, if we achieve .5 C the travel time to the closest would take about 8 to 10 years to reach the closest. as for manned space flight outside our system, for a number of reasons other than time will need addressing. number one, some real form of gravity to keep the body in tack, from both acceleration and long time zero gravity effects. think for obvious reasons actual manned missions will be a very long time coming. probes, especially as equipment for testing and observations are improved these efforts will increase. as for over population, of the planet earth; we are far from this limit IMO. at 6.5 billion, we have plenty of unsettled space. people in general seem to have little problem living in dense population areas. last i heard all the planets humans could live in Texas, yet not be as dense as NYC, Mexico City or a number of current urban areas...

thank you for the link. w/o having gone over all of it at this time, i have some trouble in no end of a this universe. space yes, i think is infinite and i am not talking about curved or any version. i might wonder about "the smartest man to ever"; certainly from what i have read, many such thoughts have been offered for a very long time. i will also add, a good many feel BBT, is not only wrong but ill conceived and certainly lacks explanation. however the outline is articulate, a quality i dearly lack....

of course the question is one that may never be answered, IMO to even a 50% accuracy and then with little or no proof. big bang and steady state, seem to be the current primary theories, even here with various ideas. under both scenarios however something or the entire has always been someplace.

the short answer is; this is what was to be under the constitution. as for representation, they are by far the most represented city in the world by a government, the entire Congress. they also are represented, however with no vote. they do vote for the president. as i said above, the city of Washington, has refused the notion to be part of another state. 25% of city funding is provided by congress, which would need to come from the choice of states. these states do not want this and the city politicians also do not want. the efforts to become a 51st state, has been defeated, in short by the 50 states. the idea of my way or no way, for 1/600th of the total, is not a good approach. i won't bother you with, the crime, educational and other worst of statistics...

this subject is very complex, but one i feel is vital to the future of any society. not in particular for the advancement of science or any particular subject matter. the purpose of education, should be to give person an understanding to evaluate and establish an opinion. what goes on today, is not with this in mind, but to establish what society feels is the established opinion a child should have. Luke; job well done on your education. the important factor is you alone or with good parental guidance, took responsibility for yourself. no amount of government aid, would have helped you or any person to achieve what you did. likewise the public school systems, today, would never encourage the actions you took. long ago such actions were rewarded; as a drop out, i joined the service, took every course i could handle with my duties. the high school i dropped from, rewarded me with a diploma, a formal congrats and so on...in those days, there was no GED and any formal education required a past. there are far to many people in school, to learn things they do not wish to know, much less use. if the person changes goals, the education is always available. obviously most folks prefer to leave to others the obligations of owning and operating a business. in fact very few, even those that try accomplish the feat. on the other hand many of those drop outs from HS or even earlier, have done pretty well. the list is long, but these guys and gals followed their dreams, ambitions and with the passion it takes accomplished much more than all the education in the world could provide. self pride....

plants will only pick out H2O, from the salt water, not even iodine from table salt would get picked up. lightning is devastating on trees, killing many every year, but think the process would short circuit the power company before an equal effect could be applied, if a larger tree...

you are 100% correct, up to the word "America". a fraction of people do and these tend to be liberal thinking, self righteous and in the end have socialism in their minds. however this is NOT YET, America.

Luke; what really worries me on this subject and the post i see, are the referance to government help. government help, in this area has never helped, cannot nor could it ever help. the NYC school systems or LA and the vast majority in small town, where ever have nothing in common. to think some guy or gal, sitting behind some desk in Washington DC, can solve my kids problems or your is at best a joke. additional the cost/effective ratio are so far out of line already any additional effort is at best a politically motivated, empty thought. this can be related to national competitions just as well. as for the brightest, dropping out of school; i doubt they are that bright if this is their remedy. even if they do so, in the US, a quick GED test would qualify them for anything a HS diploma would. whether 13 or 17, they could go on. i might add however most places, you can't just quit until your 16 or so. many of the corporations, in the US and assume the world, offer scholarships for students as well. these cannot solve the problems however, that government places on any system it attempts to help. IMO; the original purposes of learning anything is lost, when the subjects are reduced, altered or taught in such a manner to influence a particular point. called social engineering and very common in the US government school system. these issues are argued daily by each group with a view of whats right or wrong. actually, science has suffered the most with this attitude and math (along with all the lead in subject matter) which lends to the science field has been lost. my personal favorite, US and World History, currently make up a fraction of what was, just 30 years ago, even then diluted in content.

in the past 40 years or so, government, in the US, has with the aid of unions, attempted to substitute for the parents involvement in the subject matters taught. the end results being a lowering of the levels to a point more and more of the brightest students feel, as the post i addressed, boredom in the classroom.

it would be hard to argue, government involvement has not hurt the over all system and in particular the brightest students. the actual results are as detrimental to the slower learners far more than the best. to receive government money or even acceptance these are the folks that are passed on from very low grades and in some cases receive HS diploma's with a fifth grade mentality. i won't get into the mentality of *teacher unions*, who to keep credibility do the passing... as for the brighter students, they are passed on early if really bright. many students clear high school at 13 to 16 and go on into higher education, generally under some paid program. additionally if affordable or under many government and industrial programs, many go into private schooling. if for some reason this is not appropriate, many self taught individuals have done just fine. any one can go on line learn whatever, generally making things easier in the advanced schooling years.

i have no idea, the motive for being discrete. i simply agreed with you on *why*... the clearing of trees, for pools or personal reasons would seem to be expensive, generally not and my only point. in many cases, such as on a farm you can actually receive monies from a logging company, get some acreage clear cut and plant a crop and harvest all in a year. my answer was based on legitimate reasons, not some neighborhood dispute or political agenda.

we know of microscopic life on earth from 3.6 billion years ago. we do not know how long it or its past could have been. we think heat, pressures and some electrical involvement could produce life, but then this is true in formation of matter. we think from these microscopic entities, life evolved to complex and finally to us, as conditions changed on the planet. from these thoughts and IMO, life could form as matter is formed, certainly early in the life of any matter. the conditions and directions for life to evolve the primary question....

years ago, they cut the tree and tar covered. i have to agree however, why trying to be discrete in clearing of a tree. any landscaping service can remove all signs of any tree in a short time, at low cost. especially if they can use it elsewhere or benefit from the wood product.

certainly, i hope so...but; my continuous problem with the federal government involvement in all educational institutions lay in effectiveness. then i have problems with religious and private schooling which chose there own curriculum. i would like to see a general guide, where all institutions are subject to certain subjects and to a specific degree. there is another problem in College preparation. all students, certainly the near 50% drop outs in some high school systems are not going to attend which would be best handled in some form of career education, the last 2-3 years of schooling.

in theory, members of a party should be allowed to pick the candidate of choice in their party. this purpose has been lost for several reasons, including disruption of the intent. as a voting republican, my philosophical choice would be libertarian. however in the recent past, especially in Congress, i see little if any difference. the trend *Big Government* has been adopted by both major parties in an effort to buy votes. additionally there is an on going attempt by congress to take power from the presidency. this too, is from both major parties. the 08 elections, will probably set up an atmosphere where a third party can be effective. not only in the obvious sway of the winners, but to become a viable choice. a Rudy/Hillary or any combination of the current declared field will easily produce this atmoshere....IMO.

that attitude is common, makes sense and for us in the US would be just fine. our problem is *World Commitments*, on political, security and economical issues. it may be this isolationist principle, which was in the fiber of US policy, until the early 20th century could no longer work. an example would be; our interest are now worldwide, even our people. these same groups that fight against human rights, influence of the US or declare the rights of other nations (as Israel) will not just go away. the same is true for the opposing philosophy. militant Islamic elements, are in the mode, which lost them their power in total by the same early 20th century and the dominate power for much of the mid-evil period. there would be no reason to attempting to explain each, but the two are currently on a collision course. solve it now, by any means. to put it off and leave it for the next generation, by each is no longer an option.

the energy we call light or that energy which reflects off an object, has little to do with its source. those two objects traveling away from each other (at .99C) would be seen by each at locations that were. the sources no where near where observance is made. even in our observance of galaxy from distant places are not current reality, only that which was in accordance to how long ago it was emitted. the technical meaning of Universe is all things. if space itself is infinite, then all thats in space is our universe. the entity we call a universe no doubt ends someplace, but the space beyond, not this entity and would have different meanings. even the so called, expansion reflects the idea, our universe is going into this other entity.

IMO; no candidate expressing immediate withdrawal for the Mid-East, will win the election in 2008, regardless of party. the idea of some form of retreating or backing out to a location, not in Iraq, would not fly as no Nation would want this war to follow into theirs, so total involvement or withdrawal the only options. if by chance a pro-isolationist were to win the election, with elections 4 years away, would change nothing. politically speaking, terror is still the object, which needs attention. the only solution is to continue the rebuilding of Iraq, which a great deal of untold progress has and continues to be the rule.

Reid, has in effect told the radical factions or those that oppose actions made by the US, that they have won. anyway you look at that its an incorrect and libelous attack on the policies which are not of his making, nor was he elected to make such decisions. the president has stated the commanders on the field, have his authority to make ground decisions, which he in effect assumes responsibility. congress has only the right to with hold funds, which Reid nor any member of congress would allow to happen. even in votes toward such actions, the voters are politically motivated and aware prior to the vote it will not pass.

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