This is a resend, since I posted this yesterday and nothing, so forgive me if you get this twice... Ah, nothing like politics (which is just another form of religion) to make enemies of friends! Let's all take a deep breath and relax. I think it's OK to debate the merits or demerits of the role of government and/or political figures regarding science and science funding, but probably a good idea to omit the name calling and labels (e.g., right-wingnuts, leftist-loonies, etc.). I've been guilty of waxing political, and there's surely a lot of emotion and strong feelings on both sides. For those that want to keep the discussion (and it should be a CIVIL discussion, sticking to facts and on-topic with SCIENCE) going, keep the "OT:" in the subject line so those that want to bow out can just delete them if they are only interested in utah-astronomy related posts. Carry on...