Using Disaster

Paul Watson

A women in a queue today came within a hairs breath of getting a thumping from me. I don't hit women, but she came damned close to changing my mind. Basically she said how this Columbia disaster was a good thing for the fight against wasting money on space exploration (because world starvation could be cuerd by diverting the "trillions of trillions of dollars" to children in Africa rather.) Not only is she totally ignorant because so far nothing indicates it was an avoidable problem (i.e. the Challenger was a fault that is easily usable to discredit the space industry, this is not) but she has the audacit... the myopi... the fucking insaness to use the death of 7 people to further her ignorant cause. That she then walked out of the shop and into a brand new BMW made me even more enraged. A mother of three starving kids seeing the money spent on space I could sort of understand being anti it. But not a farking hypocrite who drives a BMW, has a $1mil house, eats more caviar pound for pound than maize meal the starving children her heart bleeds for and probably regularly uses technology derived from space research. So you see, I wanted to thump her. So, I was just wondering: How long before the anti-spacers come out and use this disaster against NASA and its funding? I give it 2 days. Hopefully the continuining recovery of debri will keep their mouths shut for a bit longer, but they will eventually bleet.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Roger Wright wrote: Using a feather is kinky; using the whole chicken is perverted!

Chris Losinger

Paul Watson wrote: How long before the anti-spacers come out and use this disaster against NASA and its funding? i'll give 'em a week. this next mon-fri is going to be a week of prolonged, forced grieving for the cameras. next week they'll start to sneak in the "maybe we should cut back and see if this is worth the loss of life" comments. f'em. -c

A | B - it's not a choice.

ThumbNailer

Shog9 0

Paul Watson wrote: I don't hit women I do, but in this case i doubt it would have helped. We all like the good life, but few of us would care to admit (to ourselves even) that much of the money we spend on even the small luxuries in life could be doing a lot more good in someone else's hands. It must be hard for her, trying to justify her own prosperity while others starve... The thought of others doing less with more must be a comfort. Paul Watson wrote: I give it 2 days. Oooh, a pool - my buck is on 60 hours, but then i'm an optimist. What indicator are you looking for?

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Shog9 I see the way the salesmen stare into the sun I stood and watched them as they fell off one by one...

Roger Wright

While striking a woman is morally reprehensible to me, executing one of such blatant stupidity should be viewed not as a crime, but as a laudable effort to cleanse the gene pool. A public reward should be offered for providing this service to humanity. Nobody wants to read a diary by someone who has not seen the shadow of Bubba on the prison shower wall in front of them!
Paul Watson, on BLOGS and privacy - 1/16/2003

Paul Watson

Shog9 wrote: The thought of others doing less with more must be a comfort. Oh but Shog! She attends charity events and even had some previously disadvantaged kids over to her house the other day for supper. Really, she is saving souls! X| Shog9 wrote: What indicator are you looking for? Err, ok, I just wanted to rant about bees with itches like her. So I never thought this far ahead.. ummm.. an indicator... like litmus... dropping them in acid might be a good idea... but no, then the anti-acid people will be given ammunition.. no... hmm.. indicatorrrrr... doghnuttttsss... damned Tab key never gives me any Tab... wheres that any key now? Baarrrtt!!!... doogghhnnutttss... Indicator: First official press release with the words "We told you so" and "Columbia" from any organisation with a previous anti-space stance. Or something like that. Anything official I guess.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Roger Wright wrote: Using a feather is kinky; using the whole chicken is perverted!

Konstantin Vasserman

I went to a few places yesterday: a few stores, some work on my car, got a haircut and so on. Everywhere people were talking about the tragedy. There were 2 main themes: 1. god this and god that... 2. They have no business flying into space in the first place because there are still unsolved problems on the earth... Both of the views really make me angry. I've got an impression that majority of the people think that way. Maybe it's time for me to move somewhere... Can someone take me to ISS and leave me there? I am sick of stupid people.

ColinDavies

Paul Watson wrote: So you see, I wanted to thump her. Lets edit that eh! So you see, I wanted to hump her. This will be a lot better, and you can hump some sense into her while you are about it. Regardz Colin J Davies

Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin

I'm guessing the concept of a 2 hour movie showing two guys eating a meal and talking struck them as 'foreign' Rob Manderson wrote:

Jason Henderson

She's relying on the government to do what she should be doing herself. In othere words, if she wants to make a difference in someone's life, she should do it herself.

Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

articles profile

Paul Watson

Konstantin Vasserman wrote: I've got an impression that majority of the people think that way. Holy crap, serious? So the average Americans apathy for anything outside of the borders of America reaches even to space. That is sad to hear. Bet they get all excited when things blow up though.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Roger Wright wrote: Using a feather is kinky; using the whole chicken is perverted!

Paul Watson

Colin Davies wrote: This will be a lot better, and you can hump some sense into her while you are about it. Thanks, but I don't want to catch whatever she has got. :|

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Roger Wright wrote: Using a feather is kinky; using the whole chicken is perverted!

Christian Graus

Paul Watson wrote: That she then walked out of the shop and into a brand new BMW made me even more enraged. :omg::wtf: That is truly classic stuff. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002
C# will attract all comers, where VB is for IT Journalists and managers - Michael P Butler 05-12-2002
It'd probably be fairly easy to make a bot that'd post random stupid VB questions, and nobody would probably ever notice - benjymous - 21-Jan-2003

Konstantin Vasserman

Paul Watson wrote: Bet they get all excited when things blow up though. No. Everyone is upset and sad and feel very bad for what happened. It's just majority of the people don't even understand what it's all about. They don't know why we fly to space. The don't know much of anything outside of the bible that was "stamped" into their heads from childhood. Hell, most of them don't even know the bible...

Michael A Barnhart

Well, I can not quite recent figures but some time back I saw figures that showed when you look at spawned off industry (like the PC Market) NASA has actually made more revenue for the US than it cost. Now throw in the lives that have been improved with the technologies and it is one of the clearly good things the US Gov has promoted IMO. "I will find a new sig someday."

Chris Austin

Konstantin Vasserman wrote: 2. They have no business flying into space in the first place because there are still unsolved problems on the earth... Funny, I had the exact opposite experiance. As I sat down for my lonely dinner I heard a lot of people opining that it should be fixed asap and how nasa needs more money. Konstantin Vasserman wrote: 1. god this and god that... LOL! What part of the country are you in? I hope it's not somewhere in the deep south like Mississippi. If so get out before it's too late. :) "Veni, Vidi, Booyah!" - Ceasar

Konstantin Vasserman

Chris Austin wrote: heard a lot of people opining that it should be fixed asap and how nasa needs more money. I don't know about people in media coverage. I am just talking about people on the "streets". Maybe I just got very unlucky... Chris Austin wrote: What part of the country are you in? I hope it's not somewhere in the deep south like Mississippi. If so get out before it's too late. :) I am in Ohio. But it does not matter where I live - just listen to Bush's speech yesterday. There is word "god" in every other sentence...

Chris Austin

Konstantin Vasserman wrote: Maybe I just got very unlucky... You must have. I was out at a resturant when I heard this stuff. Konstantin Vasserman wrote: just listen to Bush's speech yesterday LOL!!! Again, when I heard he was going to give a speech I poped in "Chasing Amy" and watched that. I have been boycotting his speeches because when he talks I get pissed off. "Veni, Vidi, Booyah!" - Ceasar

Konstantin Vasserman

Chris Austin wrote: I was out at a resturant when I heard this stuff. Was it an expensive restaurant? ;) Chris Austin wrote: I have been boycotting his speeches because when he talks I get pissed off. I need to learn from you and stop watching news all together. Every time I watch news I get pissed off.

Lost User

I just voted a 5, excellent comment. And your quote from Ghandi (which I like) provides an interesting comment on the Ghandi thread above. Elaine The tigress is here :-D

Rob Graham

Paul Watson wrote: whatever she has got. Stupidity Transmitted Disease?:suss: Some ideas are so stupid that only an intellectual could have thought of them - George Orwell

Stan Shannon

The Earth first argument against space exploration is pathetically stupid. To wait until every child on the planet is fat and happy before we can go exploring is to say that we will never go exploring because every child will never be fat and happy. Still, I think the U.S. does need to totally rethink its objectives in space. As long as the government is running the space program it will probably continue to be a waste of money and lives. Private coorporations wishing to exploit and develope space based resources should be given sufficient tax incentives for doing so. If there are sound fiscal reasons for putting people into space, than private companies should assume the risks. If those 7 gallent public employees aboard Columbia had just been so many capitalists pigs coming back after raping the moon, nobody would have cared or noticed their deaths. Government sponsered space exploration will always be done for the wrong reasons. For example, to even consider sending people to Mars before we have established a functional lunar colony is ludicrous. Yet, the government would do that just to leave a foot print and a flag. For the expense we have poured into that stupid "space station" we could have already had people permanently on the moon. So I guess I come down on the defund NASA side, but I'm not at all "anti-spacer". I hope they defund it soon and let private enterprise take us into the next frontier. "Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art." Charles McCabe, San Francisco Chronicle