Have you ever gotten that feeling that you're being dragged along through the mud by some overlord? No matter how hard you try to deny it, this being is slogging through the muck with you in tow - leading you around in circles. It probably wouldn't be so bad if you were actually headed somewhere, but no: you've been pulled about the same circular path for months, pausing occasionally for the overlord to let you eat the best food ever made and to sleep.
There are people some distance away. They all see this going on. They even shout to you in an effort to goad you into trying to escape the beast. Their efforts are in vain, though, because you just sit there as if you can't hear them. As a matter of fact, it seems to you as if they're the ones who are wrong. In actuality, it's the monster's spell.
Meh.
I think Pappy's right, as sad as it seems. War drives us to push further than normal in order to best our enemies, unfortunately. It's a sad predicament that we can't funnel money into exploration of space, but we need to discover a fuel-efficient way. I think it's highly essential that we begin stretching out into the farthest reaches of space possible. We need to get some brave individuals to dedicate their lives to this. And, as Caniprokis seems to believe, we need to get to work on building domes over the planet. Huge domes, with controlled weather... and... ROBOTS! Mechanical humans with the artificial intelligence to think on their own!
This is starting to sound like an Isaac Asimov novel... Goodnight. =)