From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sun Jun 01 2003 - 20:08:38 MDT
Alex,
> I have just purchased it through paypal, along with 500 tonnes of sand to
> cover the deck and a few palm trees in really big pots to scatter around. It was
> an impulse purchase, So please don't tell my wife.
Har, har, har.... :-)
> Afterthought: Robert, this scenario could make a great book. A mismatched
> band of nerds and techies take to the seas in search of scientific freedom. In a
> decommissioned Warship.
> What do you think ? :o)
Ask Damien -- he's the "author" on the list. I'm just a wierd creative techie.
The only thing I see as necessary as some plot scheme to differentiate it
from Egan's "Distress".
Now, with regard to Russell's comments he is correct -- I'm probably about
35% serious. With enough "force of will" we might just pull it off.
But as Christian pointed out offlist there may be significant problems
in determining if a ship that old is worth the $4.5M. Probably some
serious study would need to be done with regard to the life expectancy
of "hulls", "boilers", "engines", etc. to know whether or not one is
purchasing a lemon. We might also need to consult with Amara as to
whether the telescope idea holds water -- I'm reasonably convinced
one can earn revenue based on clear sky remote telescope access but
I'm not so sure how stable one can keep the viewing on an aircraft
carrier in the middle of an ocean (which of course varies in
relative stability).
With regard to the ideas of doing something on land -- one of the
points of the exercise is to escape "local" laws. We have several
examples in the U.S. over the last 15-20 years as to what happens to
"cults" that try to go against "local" laws. So one wants
something that one can park in international waters where
"local" laws do not apply. That doesn't keep the U.S. Navy
from taking you out with a few cruise missles -- but it would
be the first instance of an unprovoked attack on an "independent"
state -- something the U.S. would have to think very seriously
about from a diplomatic perspective. [You mean you killed
a thousand people because they were doing stem cell research
that you object to based on some strange belief system that is
2000 years old that 3/5 of the world population does not
believe in??? Kind of creates problems with any claims for
a fair or reasonable government]. [If you think fair &
reasonable are unimportant, see my recent post regarding
the implications of the competition between China and India
to attain supremacy in space.]
Robert
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