The question is what are we FReepers going to do about it?
You can contact the Space Generation Foundation (a presumably educational 401c tax-exempt non-profit organization and their sponsors (especially NASA and it's contractors, who are using your tax dollars to fund this anti-American political activism.
You can attend the free Exhibition at George R. Brown Convention Center on October 18-19. Complimentary “walk-up” registration for the Exhibition is available to professionals Oct. 14-17.
With the thousands of attendees and media coverage, it would make a good FReep event.
I guess what I don't like about this is that it puts the idea, unexamined, into the kids' heads that they can get a large group together and dictate behavior to anyone they like, and that the justification for this lies in either the size of the group or the purity of their intent. This is not a good lesson, especially not if their aim really is peace.
Yep, as you guessed, I heard this in the car and had to pull over from laughing so hard!
I'll bet they did!
From NASA Watch:
2 October 2002: Why No One From the U.S. Congress Representing Texas Will Be Speaking at the World Space Congress
Editor's note: Word has it that none of the Texas Congressional delegation were invited to speak at the upcoming World Space Congress - and they are not at all happy about it. This was done despite the fact that the event is being held in Texas and is being touted as 'the place to be' to discuss all manner of things associated with space. Go figure.
Editor's note: The AIAA contacted NASA Watch today to say that this was not true and that members of Congress were indeed contacted to attend and that some have declined. The fact remains that some noses are out of joint on the Hill and that some rather prominent members with a deep, daily interest in space - as well as some at the most senior levels of House leadership - were in fact NOT invited - and their staff have told us that.
Update: Editor's note: Michael Lewis from AIAA sent me a statement by email discussing this issue. I sent him an email at 4:15 PM today offering to post his response to me - verbatim - on NASA Watch and am awaiting his reply.
AIAA response from Michael Lewis: "The World Space Congress is a joint gathering of the international space science and engineering communities with representation from over 100 nations expected in Houston from 10-19 October. This event is held on behalf of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). The focus of this meeting is the scientific and technical information exchange between global space professionals. Every member of the Texas delegation received an invitation to attend a celebration of global space achievement in space science and technology for the WSC's inaugural ceremony on 14 October, accompanied by a VIP tour of the international exhibition hall. The remaining activities will be focused around 10 days of more than 40 current scientific and technical sessions, with the largest space-only exhibition display ever held."
Editor's final note: No mention whatsoever is made of involving members of the Texas Congressional delegation in a speaking capacity at this event. In an earlier email - one which was much more blunt on the issue of active Congressional participation (i.e. "speaking") AIAA's Michael Lewis would only admit to one such speaking invitation being made to a member of Congress: Sen. Hutchinson (R-TX), who declined the offer to give an opening presentation. The original point of this posting on NASA Watch referred to the fact that no attempt was made to involve the Texas Congressional delegation in a "speaking" capacity. With the one exception and correction noted above (which AIAA would not officially acknowledge on the record), I stand by my original comments: "Word has it that none of the Texas Congressional delegation were invited to speak at the upcoming World Space Congress - and they are not at all happy about it."