As the post pointed out today, there are many other men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis. Yet, unlike the civilian workers at NASA, no one is threatening to shortchange these worker's paychecks. And the defense budget is being expanded at an untold rate in the FY2004 budget. So the airforce colonel on the shuttle will get a larger raise than the civilian mission specialist all things being equal. And we'll spend more money on bombs and bullets than on research in space. Don't these priorities seem misplaced? When we send people into harm's way, we should reward them. The current budget is a slap in the face to all the government workers who labor, unheralded each day, in the service of their country. They may not grab headlines, but they deserve much better.