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Forum Post: Week of action against space travel.

Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 31, 2012, 12:03 a.m. EST by LowTech (-1)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Week of action against space travel.

May 19-25, 2013

Space travel is the launch of satellites, space stations, space probes, space shuttles, large rockets and other things into outer space. The money that the United States government is currently spending on space travel should be spent on helping the poor. The United States spends more money on space travel than any other country in the world. In 2010 the United States government spent $64 billion on space travel. Tell Congress to decrease funding for space travel, space exploration, NASA, military space programs and private space programs and increase funding for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, disability benefits, retirement programs, unemployment benefits, welfare, aid to the poor, food stamps, food pantries, charities, homeless shelters and affordable housing. Call, email, contact your senators and representatives in Congress between May 19-25. Organize or attend a protest, march or rally against space travel between May 19-25. Donate your money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor between May 19-25. Go to the website http://weeknospace.blogspot.com/ to learn more about the week of action against space travel.

This week of action was organized by Low Tech. Low Tech's website is: http://lowtech2.blogspot.com/

In the United States the number of homeless people is growing. http://news.yahoo.com/hunger-homelessness-rise-u-cities-report-182712758.html

In the United States the number of people living in poverty is growing. http://news.yahoo.com/us-poverty-track-rise-highest-since-1960s-112946547--finance.html

Around the world the number of homeless people is growing. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/apr/10/20050410-105739-5991r/?page=all

Around the world the number of people living in poverty is growing. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMi0zYhypiTs

Around the world the number of unemployed people is growing. http://wsws.org/en/articles/2012/05/pers-m01.html

Around the world the number of starving people is growing. http://www.irinnews.org/Report/87006/In-Brief-World-hunger-increases-despite-growth-in-food-production

In 2012 the World Health Organization predicted that the number of starving people will continue to rise in the future. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2012/06/climate-change-exected-to-worsen-hunger-as-rio20-begins/1#.UOSXrWB5EzU

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, disability benefits, retirement programs, unemployment benefits, welfare, aid to the poor, food stamps, food pantries, charities, homeless shelters and affordable housing are social programs.

The amount of money that the United States government is spending on social programs is decreasing. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/austerity-wall-street_n_1690838.html

The amount of money that governments around the world are spending on social programs is decreasing. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/austerity-wall-street_n_1690838.html

The United States government plans to decrease spending on social programs in the future. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/fiscal-cliff-talks-medicare-social-security_n_2113259.html

Governments around the world plan to decrease spending on social programs in the future. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/07/us-britain-politics-idUSBRE8960BH20121007 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-11/23/content_15952134.htm http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/23/us-germany-budget-cuts-idUSBRE8BM06S20121223 http://www.houseofjapan.com/local/japan-to-slash-welfare-budget-from-fy-2013

The United States spends more money on space travel than any other country in the world. http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

In 2010 the United States government spent $64 billion on space travel. http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

In 2010 governments, companies and other organizations around the world spent $276 billion on space travel. http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

The amount of money that governments, companies and other organizations around the world are spending on space travel is increasing. http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

Governments, companies and other organizations around the world plan to increase spending on space travel in the future. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/22/business/la-fi-0722-space-race-20110722

In 2011 Americans spent $144 billion buying new technology like electronics. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57377104-93/consumer-electronics-spending-hits-$144b-in-2011/

American consumers spend more money on new technology than any other country in the world. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/04/business/20080907-metrics-graphic.html

In 2012 people around the world spent $2.1 trillion buying, using and maintaining new technology. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2094015

The money that people spend on new technology should be spent on helping the poor. Instead of using their money to buy new technology people should donate their money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor.

Tell everyone you know about this week of action. Pass out flyers for it. Email people about it. Tell people on Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo and other websites about it.

Go here to download a flyer for the week of action against space travel: http://www.scribd.com/doc/118353472/flyer-no-space

Go here to find out how to contact your senators and representatives in Congress: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Go here to see a list of some events related to this week of action: http://weeknospace.blogspot.com/p/some-events-related-to-week-of-action.html

The Facebook page for this week of action is: http://www.facebook.com/events/583072725042929/

To join the email list for this week of action send a message to: lowtech1980@gmail.com

To contact Low Tech send an email to lowtech1980@gmail.com

10 Comments

10 Comments


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[-] 1 points by arturo (3169) from Shanghai, Shanghai 11 years ago

To help the poor in a sustainable way, industries are needed that generate revenue for the government. Space exploration created a whole new industry, aerospace, that created good paying jobs for both blue and white collar workers, and also provided substantial money to the government.

Generating revenue through projects like a space program is the way to help the poor.

[-] 1 points by Builder (4202) 11 years ago

Space tech brought us lithium ion batteries.

For that alone, all us builders and tradies salute you.

And that smart phone or PDA you love? It would weigh five times as much, and require charging ten times as often, if not for space tech.

Be gracious in your humble thanks.

[-] 1 points by arturo (3169) from Shanghai, Shanghai 11 years ago

How are lithium batteries used in the trades? To power tools like drills?

[-] 1 points by Builder (4202) 11 years ago

Even jackhammers are on Li-ion batteries now, arturo.

I have an 18 volt cold saw that cuts 16 mm steel no probs at all. (that's about 3/4inch in US speak)

[-] 1 points by arturo (3169) from Shanghai, Shanghai 11 years ago

Quite impressive. When I was a boy, long ago, I built, with my father, an electric bicycle. Back then, all those batteries must of weighed around fifty pounds.

[-] 1 points by Builder (4202) 11 years ago

Yeah, even toyota is switching to Li-ion for their hybrid cars.

TOKYO--Toyota soon will use lithium ion batteries in a standard hybrid vehicle for the first time, as it slowly moves from older nickel metal hydride technology.

The lithium ion batteries will debut "in the very near future" in a Japan-market hybrid, a person familiar with the matter said. He declined to name the model or give a launch date.

But Toyota is turning to lithium for the model because it will free up more interior space, he said. As an example, he cited the dilemma of wedging more bulky nickel metal hydride batteries into the center console of the current hybrid version of the Japan-market Estima minivan.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20030072-48.html

[-] 1 points by arturo (3169) from Shanghai, Shanghai 11 years ago

Electric cars sound good, but still its fossil fuels that are charging the batteries, and some day, we'll be all out of that stuff. I think we need to jump to an even higher level of technology, solve the problems of nuclear energy, than we can be driving the hydrogen cars.

[-] 2 points by Builder (4202) 11 years ago

Hmm, you might be confusing two power sources. Hydrogen comes from water. Nuclear has been repeatedly shown to be way too dangerous to consider. Geothermal is one, passive saline/solar is another, and nano-film solar is also a huge breakthrough, along with liquid battery "ambri" storage tech.

Nuclear is over seventy years old now, and completely unacceptable, considering startup costs, maintanence issues, water usage, and risk factors. Look at the long-term damage done to Japan recently; not to mention the atrocious pollution of the Pacific ocean food-chain from this disaster.

[-] 1 points by arturo (3169) from Shanghai, Shanghai 11 years ago

Yes, hydrogen comes from water, and the electricity generated from nuclear power can be used to separate hydrogen from water. Some countries may consider nuclear power to be too dangerous, but others are trying to develop it as fast as they can. The Japanese tried to go without it, but found that they could not.

The world is aligning itself into two camps now, those that are developing nuclear energy and those that are scaling it back. Those that are developing nuclear energy are mostly in the developing countries, in Asia and South America, those that are scaling it back are mostly in Europe and North America. I suppose that only the future will tell us conclusively which side made the right choice.

[-] 0 points by GirlFriday (17435) 11 years ago

The sheer idiocy of these threads proves that that there is no hope for humanity.