henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (02/12/91)
The following is a message Allen Sherzer was asked to post; he's having
software problems with his news system, so he's asked me to post it...
(No replies to me, please!)
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***** NEWS FLASH ***** NEWS FLASH ***** NEWS FLASH *****
The Roadblocks to Space
As many of you may know, Space Travel Services, Corp. was founded in
1990 to give the average American citizen a chance to get into space.
To that end, its organizers started a sweepstakes in which the winner
would win a free trip to the Soviet space station "Mir".
Unfortunately, the district attorney's office in Harris County, Texas,
had the company officers arrested on Wednesday, Feb 6th for felony
gambling promotion. They were handcuffed and held in a police car for
an hour -- two blocks from the jail -- and then paraded before the
media, who coincidentally happened to be there when they finally
arrived. At this staged media event, the DA issued a rediculous
statement denouncing the company as "evil".
According to Jim Davidson (who I've known for about three years), six
lawyers have advised him that the DA's office does not have a legal leg
to stand on. Unfortunately, the DA has frozen Space Travel Services'
checking accounts, so they cannot defend themselves with company
funds. And they need $20,000 within a week (for work that the
criminal lawyers have already done).
To solve this problem, the Space Frontier Foundation, with the help of
the Houston Space Society, is instituting a legal action fund for
space activities whose first project is to aid the defense of
these two space entrepenuers.
The Space Frontier Foundation is a media-oriented public interest
pro-space group whose goal is to change how the American people think
about space. Space should be viewed as an open frontier of opportunity
for everyone, and not the private domain of an elitest bureaucracy.
(example quote: NASA should *open* the door - not *be* the door). SFF
can be reached at 612 641-1930. The officers include: Jim Muncy,
Chairman; Rick Tumlinson, President; Greg Barr, Vice Presicent; Tim
Kyger, member of the board (and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher's
legislative aide on space).
Bjo Trimble, who helped lead the science fiction fan community to
rename the first (non-orbiting) shuttle to Enterprise, will be helping
to administer the project. She can be reached at (703) 359-4284
James Thomas, CPA, a non-spacer who is not connected to the company,
will be administering the financial aspects of the project.
Space Travel, Inc. can be reached at 713 333-4046, and their fax number
is 333-4047.
Donations can be sent to:
Space Travel Legal Fund
C/O James R. Thomas, CPA
1414 South Friendswood Drive, Suite 306
Friendswood, TX 77546
Pat Gibbs, a lawyer out of Atlanta, GA, and a member of the Space
Frontier Foundation, is checking on the tax-deductability of
contributions to the Space Travel Legal Fund.
Please send your check ASAP!
If you know of any other networks or BBS, please repost!!
ttf@iti.org (Tihamer T. Toth-Fejel)
Industrial Technology Institute, P.O. Box 1485, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
office: (313) 769-4248 fax: (313) 769-4064 home: (313) 622-4741
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--
"Read the OSI protocol specifications? | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
I can't even *lift* them!" | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry