What the hell is going on in DC????( We pro-space people have got to fight too!)

[Tony Rusi]

I was shocked when I read the "From the Editor" article in Popular
Science, for the July 2003 issue. Pop Sci's editor Scott Mowbray was
lamenting about getting anti-mars mission letters! Just a few weeks
ago on the Space Show, Rand Simberg said that he thinks it is useless
to e-mail pro-space letters.

I must very strongly disagree with Rand.

Anti-Space people in yahoo groups like globenet and
are very well organized and have lots of people
out there actually protesting everything they don't like and writing
letters to everyone.

They are well organized and they will attack anyone or idea they see
as a threat. Right now they are going after CALSPACE and anyone who
has given them money. (See below)

Pro-Space Letters really do matter! Everything matters!

From: sheila baker <pedal4mother@y...>
Date: Thu Jul 3, 2003 11:45 am
Subject: CaliforniaSpaceAuthority:Aerojet, Lockheed, Boeing,
Rocketdyne, Northrup Grumman




http://www.californiaspaceauthority.org/members.html
Got work to do, folks. -sheila baker

Chairman's Circle
Annual Investment: $10,000
Voting Delegates per Organizational Membership: 10
Visibility: Extremely High

Aerojet, Sacramento, CA
Bearing Point LLC, Los Angeles, CA
Boeing Expendable Launch Systems, Huntington Beach, CA

Booz | Allen | Hamilton, Santa Maria, CA
Satellite Industry Association, Alexandria, VA
Scitor Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA
Space Exploration Technologies, El Segundo, CA
Lifetime
Annual Investment: Honorary
Visibility: Extremely High

Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Los Angeles, CA

Partner
Annual Investment: $1,500
Voting Delegates per Organizational Membership: 3
Visibility: High

A.J. Diani Construction, Santa Maria, CA
ACE Clearwater Enterprises, Torrance, CA
ACTA, Inc., Torrance, CA
Analytical Graphics, Inc., Long Beach, CA
Applied Aerospace Structures Corp., Stockton, CA
Astrotech Space Operations, Inc., Titusville, FL
bd Systems, Inc., Colorado Springs, CO
Christie, Parker & Hale, LLP, Pasadena, CA
Civilian Test Flight Center, Mojave, CA
County of Los Angeles, 5th District, Supervisor Mike
Antonovich, Palmdale, CA
DirecTV, Inc., El Segundo, CA
Economic Vitality Corporation of San Luis Obispo
County, San Luis Obispo, CA
Hannover Fairs, Los Angeles, CA
Hernandez Engineering, Vandenberg AFB, CA
Integrated Systems-Northrop Grumman, El Segundo, CA
Lockheed Martin: Missiles and Space Operations,
Sunnyvale, CA
Lockheed Martin: Missiles Systems, Sunnyvale, CA
Ormond, Inc., Sante Fe Springs, CA
Quintron, Santa Maria, CA
Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power, Canoga Park, CA
RS Information Systems, Inc., Lompoc, CA
San Diego DEFCOMM, El Cajon, CA
Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Raytheon, Goleta, CA
Sea Launch Co., LLC, Long Beach, CA
Sensor Systems, Inc., Chatsworth, CA
Space Information Labs, Inc., Vandenberg AFB, CA
Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, CA
Spaceport Systems International, Lompoc, CA
Stellar Solutions, Inc., Palo Alto, CA
Sverdrup Technology, Edwards AFB, CA
Tessera Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA
The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
Trimble Navigation, Ltd., Sunnyvale, CA
Universal Space Network, Inc., Newport Beach, CA
Your People Professionals, Santa Maria, CA

Associate
Annual Investment: $250
Voting Delegates per Organizational Membership: 1
Visibility: Modest

A & M Model Makers, Baldwin Park, CA
Advatech Pacific, Inc., Redlands, CA
AEC Able Engineering, Goleta, CA
Aero Astro, Solana Beach, CA
Aerocon Systems, San Jose, CA
Aeroflex Motion Controls, Valencia, CA
Airtime Aviation, Inc., San Luis Obispo, CA
Application Technology Strategy, Inc., Thousand Oaks,
CA
AR Tech, Fontana, CA
Bennett Optical Research, Inc., Ridgecrest, CA
Boeing Satellite Services, Los Angeles, CA
Business Development Division, Vandenberg Federal
Credit Union, Lompoc, CA
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis
Obispo, CA
California Space Institute, La Jolla, CA
California State University - Sacramento, CA
California State University - San Bernardino, CA
Caltrans Aeronautics Program, Sacramento, CA
Chambers Group, Inc., West Hills, CA
City of El Segundo, CA
City of Lancaster, CA
City of Lompoc, CA
Composite Optics, Inc., San Diego, CA
Constellation Services International, Inc., Woodland
Hills, CA
Continental Development Corp., El Segundo, CA
County of Kern, Bakersfield, CA
Creative Pathways, Inc., Torrance, CA
CSA Engineering, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Customer Relationship Resources, Ventura, CA
Department of Economic Development, City of Long
Beach, CA
El Camino Community College, Torrance, CA
Electronics Systems Innovation, Los Angeles, CA
Empirical Systems Aerospace, Arroyo Grande, CA
Forme Consulting Group, Inc., Alta Loma, CA
Frontier Consultants, San Lorenzo, CA
Frontier Technology, Inc., Goleta, CA
FTI/Anamet, Hayward, CA
Gardner, Carton & Douglas, Washington, DC
Garner Holt Productions, Inc., San Bernardino, CA
Garvey Spacecraft Corporation, Huntington Beach, CA
General Atomics, San Diego, CA
Harris Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
HHD Architects, Inc., Santa Maria, CA
HMX, Inc., Menlo Park, CA
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, Santa Maria, CA
Integrinautics Corporation, Menlo Park, CA
Intercim, Inc., Hermosa Beach, CA
International Spaceplanes, Lancaster, CA
JENTEC, Lawndale, CA
Kelly Space & Technology, Inc., San Bernardino, CA
L3 Communications, El Dorado Hills, CA
Laurel Shockley, Consultant, Tujunga, CA
Lortz Manufacturing Co., Bakersfield, CA
Lunar Rocket and Rover Company, Inc., Los Alamitos, CA

Martinez & Turek, Incorporated, Rialto, CA
MATECH Advanced Materials, Westlake, CA
Microcosm, Inc., El Segundo, CA
Mid-State Bank and Trust, Arroyo Grande, CA
Moog, Inc., Chatsworth, CA
National Space Society, Lake Isabella, CA
Next Intent, Inc., San Luis Obispo, CA
Northrop Grumman Space Technology, Redondo Beach, CA
Office of the City Manager, City of Long Beach, CA
Office of the CEO, Vandenberg Federal Credit Union,
Lompoc, CA
Optimax Systems, Inc., Ontario, NY
Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA
Pegasus Logistics Group, Irvine, CA
Perspective Technologies, Inc., San Marcos, CA
Practical Innovations, Solvang, Ca
Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion, San Jose, CA
Primary Standards North America, Inc., Los Angeles, CA

R. C. Electronics, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA
RGO Media Associates, Venice, CA
Rocket Propulsion Engineering Co., Mojave, CA
San Bernardo International Airport, San Bernardino, CA

San Luis Obispo Builders Exchange, San Luis Obispo, CA

Santa Maria Fairpark, Santa Maria, CA
Santa Maria Public Airport District, Santa Maria, CA
Satellite Educators Association, Pasadena, CA
Solaren, Manhattan Beach, CA
Southern California Edison Co., Rosemead, CA
Southern California Gas Company, Santa Barbara, CA
Space Camp Southern California, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Sparta, Inc., El Segundo, CA
Spectrum Astro, Inc., Manhattan Beach, CA
Square Tool & Machine Co., Inc., South El Monte, CA
SRS Technologies, Huntsville, AL
Stanford Mu Corporation, Harbor City, CA
Swales Aerospace, Inc., Pasadena, CA
Systems Technology, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
TDS Europe Limited, United Kingdom
Tetra Tech, Corp., Santa Maria, CA
The Aerospace Office, Inc., Lancaster, CA
Universal Space Lines, LLC, Newport Beach, CA
Wyle Laboratories, Inc., El Segundo, CA
XCOR Aerospace, Mojave, CA
Xenologix, Inc., Westlake Village, CA

Individual
Annual Investment: $250
Votes per Membership: 1
Visibility: Modest

Barry, Dominick, Santa Maria, CA
Biezad, Daniel J., San Luis Obispo, CA
Claassen, Frank, Hamburg, Germany
Coglitore, Sebastian F., Coto de Casa, CA
Conner, Victoria, Santa Maria, CA
Cromer, Donald L., Lake Arrowhead, CA
D'Ambrosio, Andrew, Torrance, CA
Davis, Robert M., Santa Maria, CA
Dettelis, Peter F., Santa Maria, CA
Douglas, Stanley W., Denver, CO
Dunn, Janice M., Arroyo Grande, CA
Gooch, Lawrence, Santa Maria, CA
Gorbell, Michael, Santa Maria, CA
Guernsey, Pete, San Luis Obispo, CA
Haile, Allen, San Luis Obispo, CA
Hayde, Herb, Newport Beach, CA
Hutchinson, Ernest F., Santa Maria, CA
Resa, Jolinda, South El Monte, CA
Robinson, Cheryl K., Ventura, CA
Rosen, Stanley, Los Angeles, CA
Saputo, Joe, Shell Beach, CA
Schoep, Michael J., Poway, CA
Seastrand, Andrea, Santa Maria, CA
Stephens, Richard (Rick), Seal Beach, CA
Tilenius, Eric, Hillsborough, CA
Von Kalinowski, Penny, Los Angeles, CA
Williams, Antony, Santa Maria, CA
Williams, Carl B., Sacramento, CA

[OM]

On 7 Jul 2003 12:37:07 -0700, (Tony Rusi) wrote:

>From: sheila baker <pedal4mother@y...>

....More like pedophile mother from the sound of it.


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

[John Ordover]

Rand Simberg said that he thinks it is useless
> to e-mail pro-space letters.

I think emailing letters, whether on this topic or to save a TV show
that's being cancelled or for any other reason isn't as effective as
sending a physical letter.

Physical letters take time and show you really care. Emails can be
dashed off, and many people have multiple email addresses so could
presumably be pretending to be a lot of people. Also email form
letters can be sent around with no effort and then just forwarded,
changed or unchanged, very simply.

So if you want to make an impact on a politician or influence any kind
of person in power who responds to the public, send a physical letter.
One physical letter equals thousands of emails, no matter what the
topic.

[Allen Thomson]

(John Ordover) wrote

> So if you want to make an impact on a politician or influence any kind
> of person in power who responds to the public, send a physical letter.
> One physical letter equals thousands of emails, no matter what the
> topic.

This is the conventional wisdom, and I suspect it's true. One reason
that I believe it is that my congressbeings don't accept e-mail.

Note that, if you have a printer and a rudimentary word processor and
a 37-cent stamp, sending a letter isn't a lot more difficult than
sending e-mail.

Do, though, check out the various sites that tell how to compose a
congressional letter, how to engage the interest of the junior
staffer who will first read it and, hopefully and subsequently,
the interest of the congresscritter.

Engage, explain why you're writing, amplify, say what you want
the congressbeing to do. Use reasonably grammatical English and
limit it to one page, maybe two. If you have someone around with
good editorial skills, engage his/her services. Editors are very
important, if sometimes a pain.

(Rather to my own surprise, I sent a letter to my Representative last
week. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes back.)

[Joann Evans]

Eric Pederson wrote:
>
> Allen Thomson wrote:
> >
> > (John Ordover) wrote
> >
> > > So if you want to make an impact on a politician or influence any kind
> > > of person in power who responds to the public, send a physical letter.
> > > One physical letter equals thousands of emails, no matter what the
> > > topic.
> >
> > This is the conventional wisdom, and I suspect it's true. One reason
> > that I believe it is that my congressbeings don't accept e-mail.
> >
> > Note that, if you have a printer and a rudimentary word processor and
> > a 37-cent stamp, sending a letter isn't a lot more difficult than
> > sending e-mail.
> >
> > Do, though, check out the various sites that tell how to compose a
> > congressional letter, how to engage the interest of the junior
> > staffer who will first read it and, hopefully and subsequently,
> > the interest of the congresscritter.
> >
> > Engage, explain why you're writing, amplify, say what you want
> > the congressbeing to do. Use reasonably grammatical English and
> > limit it to one page, maybe two. If you have someone around with
> > good editorial skills, engage his/her services. Editors are very
> > important, if sometimes a pain.
> >
> > (Rather to my own surprise, I sent a letter to my Representative last
> > week. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes back.)
>
> One point, the process of scanning and sterilizing all incoming
> government snail-mail delays things quite a bit. A fax is faster, and
> easier for the staff to deal with, and appears to represent an
> equivalent
> amount of effort on the part of the sender. The requirements for form
> and signature are the same, and you should use a mid-size simple font to
> make sure the fax is readable on the other end.

And software might well have come free with your modem (if you have
one) that will let you generate faxes from a plain text file. If so, it
may be little harder than sending e-mail....

[John Ordover]

> > One point, the process of scanning and sterilizing all incoming
> > government snail-mail delays things quite a bit. A fax is faster, and
> > easier for the staff to deal with, and appears to represent an
> > equivalent
> > amount of effort on the part of the sender. The requirements for form
> > and signature are the same, and you should use a mid-size simple font to
> > make sure the fax is readable on the other end.
>
> And software might well have come free with your modem (if you have
> one) that will let you generate faxes from a plain text file. If so, it
> may be little harder than sending e-mail....

Faxes are, in fact, easier than writing a letter, putting it in an
envelope and maling it out, plus they cost the reciever paper, so they
sure don't beat the old fashioned method.

The letters that get the most respect are those that are legibly
hand-written, as 1) It shows maximum effort and 2) it implies you are
older - and older people vote in larger numbers than younger people.

[Allen Thomson]

Eric Pederson > wrote

> One point, the process of scanning and sterilizing all incoming
> government snail-mail delays things quite a bit.

Do you have any sense of what the delay is? Are we talking about
days, weeks, months...?

[Rand Simberg]

On 7 Jul 2003 12:37:07 -0700, in a place far, far away,
(Tony Rusi) made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

>Just a few weeks
>ago on the Space Show, Rand Simberg said that he thinks it is useless
>to e-mail pro-space letters.

I still think that, and most people familiar with the lobbying process
agree with me.

>I must very strongly disagree with Rand.

<shrug>

>Anti-Space people in yahoo groups like globenet and
are very well organized and have lots of people
>out there actually protesting everything they don't like and writing
>letters to everyone.
>
>They are well organized and they will attack anyone or idea they see
>as a threat. Right now they are going after CALSPACE and anyone who
>has given them money. (See below)
>
>Pro-Space Letters really do matter! Everything matters!

Not much. Staffers rarely take (or have) the time to even read them.
Snail mail and phone calls they pay attention to, but not email.

--
simberg.interglobal.org * 310 372-7963 (CA) 307 739-1296 (Jackson Hole)
interglobal space lines * 307 733-1715 (Fax) http://www.interglobal.org

"Extraordinary launch vehicles require extraordinary markets..."
Swap the first . and @ and throw out the ".trash" to email me.
Here's my email address for autospammers:

[John Ordover]

sim
> Not much. Staffers rarely take (or have) the time to even read them.
> Snail mail and phone calls they pay attention to, but not email.

Which is reasonable, because someone who is fanatical on any issue you
care to name could easily fill up their email boxes with a thousand
emails a day supporting his position. :)

[John Ordover]

(John Ordover) wrote in message >...
> sim
> > Not much. Staffers rarely take (or have) the time to even read them.
> > Snail mail and phone calls they pay attention to, but not email.
>
> Which is reasonable, because someone who is fanatical on any issue you
> care to name could easily fill up their email boxes with a thousand
> emails a day supporting his position. :)

Wow, Rand and I agree on something - who'd have thought?

[PBlase]

<< > > Snail mail and phone calls they pay attention to, but not email.
>><BR><BR>

I'll disagree. I've gotten some very thorough and considered responses to
e-mail to congress-critters.

[OM]

On 15 Jul 2003 03:42:08 GMT, (PBlase) wrote:

><< > > Snail mail and phone calls they pay attention to, but not email.
> >><BR><BR>
>
>I'll disagree. I've gotten some very thorough and considered responses to
>e-mail to congress-critters.

....They're few and far between. One of the major stumbling blocks is
that quite a few skirtchasers in DC are totally ignorant as to how to
check their e-mail, much less hire anyone *qualified* enough to know
how to sort through the cranks and crackpots and sift out the letters
worth noting. The best chance of being heard is *still* sending an
actual letter through the USPS, and not surprisingly a *handwritten*
letter carries more weight, especially if it's legible.

Which is why I'm sending Joe Barton a "you're a ****ing idiot" letter
chisled in stone...


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr