A Rebuttal to the August 23 post

See below, Sat Aug 23, 11:33:36 PM Hey Todd, I'm not really sure I see the connection between the current US foreign policy and Indian aspirations to go to the moon. While I would certainly agree that India is a nation with many problems to be solved, I would at least applaud their space program for having the vision to realize that some of our world's solutions may lie in our willingness to realize our potential as explorers. Compare that kind of vision to one where a nation spends $200 billion to drop bombs on a wretched country in the desert, and you start to see that at least returning to the moon is a project that seeks a more lofty and worthwhile application of considerable intellectual and financial resources. Also, it is not entirely difficult to imagine such projects being pursued by India. I don't know if you've ever been there, and if you have, what parts you have visited, but India is an emerging nation where things change for the better every time I visit. The pace of improvement is not fast enough for some, (myself included), but I for one strongly feel that it is ambitious and visionary programs like this one which might really galvanize the minds and passions of many in the that country to think harder about how to bring prosperity to those in India who so desperately need it. It certainly requires more imagination than unprovoked live-fire exercises on medievalist Islamic nations. My 2 cents. Arka C. Todd: Good points!