Comments on Stonekettle Station: If This Goes On

Nailed it again Chief! ET3(SW) sends.

2012-01-01T05:19:06.463-09:00

Nailed it again Chief! ET3(SW) sends.

Just a correction: the Cold War lasted 44 years, n...

2011-12-31T04:54:10.504-09:00

Just a correction: the Cold War lasted 44 years, not 50 (1945-1989).

I know your spell checker couldn't pick up the...

2011-12-30T20:51:46.053-09:00

I know your spell checker couldn't pick up the typo here but, I'm hopeful that your intended message is less ominous than what you wrote here: "First to make a hundred obits"

(I trust you meant "orbits"...)

OMG you nailed it right on the head! Pun intended:...

2011-12-30T18:50:26.554-09:00

OMG you nailed it right on the head! Pun intended:) Dicks, every last one of them.

OMFG... I just read what I've been yelling alo...

2011-12-26T12:02:49.592-09:00

OMFG... I just read what I've been yelling aloud for, oh... I don't know... months now. Thanks for this posting, I am new to your blog butu will now be a regular visitor. Onward... always onward!

I bet some fucking went on long before any women m...

2011-12-24T10:20:17.456-09:00

I bet some fucking went on long before any women made it into space, if astronauts are like any other service men I know. There probably wasn't much foreplay or kissing, however.

"John Boehner painted himself into a corner.&...

2011-12-23T11:14:49.243-09:00

"John Boehner painted himself into a corner."

Again? Damn the man.

I grew up in the 50's when fear of the Red Men...

2011-12-23T11:04:35.700-09:00

I grew up in the 50's when fear of the Red Menace was at it's peak. A firecracker plant blew up in our town when I was 10 and people were killed trying to flee the city.
Later, when I was in college, and, even later, when I was in the Navy, some of my SDS friends got tired of our peaceful protest over inequality and the war started blowing shit up.
LBJ and his menions said they were a "faction of SDS." Wrong! They were yesterday's version of OWS and Cantor and his goobers better look back.

The Cold War ended when American businesses began ...

2011-12-23T11:02:37.105-09:00

The Cold War ended when American businesses began selling their stuff to the Russians. That is why there is so much opposition to Cuba and Castro and zip toward Communist China - both are Communist governments, but China has a much larger consumer market than Cuba.

Please don't act surprise by the GOP's willingness to let millions of American voters suffer just so Obama doesn't win. I don't think Obama had put his arm down from taking the oath of office when GOP mouth pieces began talking about wanting Obama to FAIL no matter the impact or damage to this country. Damage to this county and its people is collateral damage in the GOP's primary goal of Obama failing.

There's no need for that. Or for an apology, t...

2011-12-23T10:00:15.186-09:00

There's no need for that. Or for an apology, though I do appreciate it.

John has a pretty thick skin from all those years of having a lab coat rub up against him, I'm sure he'll get over it ;)

To Jim, I stand corrected. Thank you. As a scie...

2011-12-23T09:52:07.606-09:00

To Jim,
I stand corrected. Thank you. As a scientist myself, I think that my point was made clearly that the way we use words matters.

To John the Scientist,
You have my apologies. I retract my statement. If you or Jim feel that I should delete my comment, then let me know.

Jerry A.

It isn't original, which is why it is in quote...

2011-12-23T09:24:39.396-09:00

It isn't original, which is why it is in quotes, but I've no idea where I first saw it.

One of the few things that Bush 2 said that I agre...

2011-12-23T09:10:45.098-09:00

One of the few things that Bush 2 said that I agreed with was, upon his departure, he wished President Obama success. Because if President Obama succeeded, then the country would succeed. This batch of Republicans don't understand that. You hit the nail directly on the head and drove it completely into and thru.
Warner, you also got it just right, just add a couple (or more) letters and that's exactly.

Memo to Congress: Thanks for everything you've...

2011-12-23T08:38:13.080-09:00

Memo to Congress: Thanks for everything you've done for we the people this past year. We look forward to next November to justly reward you for all your hard work on our behalf. Till then, here's a little something to keep in the back of your minds. Wishing you Seasons Greetings and best wishes for the New Year. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150320278852271&set=a.290434377270.152158.594012270&type=3

Well, this particular Heinlein seemed like an appr...

2011-12-23T08:25:36.608-09:00

Well, this particular Heinlein seemed like an appropriate title.

"...a bunch of spoiled selfish arrogant immat...

2011-12-23T08:22:46.131-09:00

"...a bunch of spoiled selfish arrogant immature pricks who are worried that somebody, somewhere, somehow, might think that they have a wee little one..."

Best description of congress ever.

And what the hell is the XL pipeline doing in this? Let it be decided on it's own merits in separate legislation.

And I would line them all up for different reason.

Perfect title for another slam-dunk post, Jim. I ...

2011-12-23T08:21:24.441-09:00

Perfect title for another slam-dunk post, Jim.

I discovered Heinlein half a century ago, as a dewy-eyed teenager, and reading him today still informs and enlightens as much as it entertains.

@Jerry A, There's no "allegedly" t...

2011-12-23T08:19:50.297-09:00

@Jerry A,

There's no "allegedly" to it.

John The Scientist is indeed a scientist in every sense of the word, degreed, certified, credentialed, experienced, and etc. I will personally vouch for that. He is a friend of mine and a long time commenter here on Stonekettle Station. He's also an original member of the UCF blogging group of which I am also a member. He uses the handle he does for professional reasons, i.e. because his job does not allow him to use his real name. He has extensive experience in the former Soviet Union, not just academic, but actual boots on the communist soil.

I understand the point of your admonishment, but John was not saying he used the phrase in question, only that it was used within the Soviet space program. And he was replying directly to a previous commenter who had broached the subject and not denigrating the contributions of any former Cosmonaut, male or female.

Trust me on this, John, should he ever display contempt towards female contributions to science or towards women in general, would die a quick and painful death at the hands of his scientist wife. Seriously.

John tends to speak bluntly, as do I. It's one of the things I like about him.

Warner, are you trying to upstage our host/owner o...

2011-12-23T08:07:12.902-09:00

Warner, are you trying to upstage our host/owner of this blog? I loved your "word play"!

To John, allegedly the Scientist, Both the US and ...

2011-12-23T06:59:03.430-09:00

To John, allegedly the Scientist,
Both the US and USSR used the space race for propaganda purposes, but it does not take away from the fact that cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya was a very accomplished pilot and deserved to fly in space. [Did women astronauts have sex in space? Darned if I know, but both they and the space medical corps would have been foolish to miss out on the opportunity.] None of the women astronauts/cosmonauts deserved to be called the "Flying Fuck" as if they were nothing else and did nothing else in their lives, just like you wouldn't think of calling male astronauts "Flying Dicks" b/c that would be rude and wrong. After all, both genders are required for the most common form of intercourse. Why single one out, except for the fact that engineers and pilots tend to be male and sexist? Argh. No, I'm not 'politically correct' and I'm not censoring your speech, but think about how you say something.

Ilene: Costa Rica. 100,000 retired spooks can'...

2011-12-23T06:58:31.461-09:00

Ilene: Costa Rica. 100,000 retired spooks can't be wrong. At least that's what I've heard.

I was a youngster during the Cuban Missile Crisis; my dad, a Red Cross field director, was stationed at Blytheville AF (Arkansas) and we lived in town. As a SAC base, our B-52s were expected to be very active in such a situation should it exacerbate. We were also close enough to be considered a high-priority target. I rememver the extreme fear of the neighbors and especially my parents, trying to hide it from the children-- but we knew anyway. There were more "kiss your ass goodbye" drills at school. Some kid boasted that his family had a bomb shelter and nobody better come knocking at the door. It was a weird time to be growing up in America.

Something the Republicans are ignoring is the classic advice of Sun-Tsu: "Choose your battles." As in, the ones they can win. On the other hand, Obama seems to be doing exactly that.

"Unfortunately, we can’t send these brats to ...

2011-12-23T06:58:18.992-09:00

"Unfortunately, we can’t send these brats to their room for a timeout."

Yes, we can, and should. No sitting member of congress should be reelected to their current position or allowed to run for another federal office. They have proven to be unreliable, unethical and unable to function. If as a military officer I would have performed at the same level, I would have at the very least been shown the door to civilian world and more likely would have been brought up on charges for dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer, and anything else my XO could have found that could possibly be applied.

Time out indeed. The only part that is disgusting is as former members of congress their time out is likely to make them millionaires (if, of course, being a member of congress hasn't already resulted in them millionaires.)

Thanks for another astoundingly poignant post.

In reference to what John the Scientist says above...

2011-12-23T06:24:50.326-09:00

In reference to what John the Scientist says above me. NSA gave everyone great assurance that when the married couple went up they would have no time or place for sex. http://www.space.com/8683-time-sex-space-astronaut.html

Sorry Ileen, the Soviets were far ahead of us with...

2011-12-23T05:28:33.319-09:00

Sorry Ileen, the Soviets were far ahead of us with women in space. The second woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, was nicknamed the "Flying Fuck" for er, well, you know.

Rocket Scientists...Ether...I see what you did the...

2011-12-23T05:02:46.412-09:00

Rocket Scientists...Ether...I see what you did there, unknown.

Awesome post, Jim. The inevitability of this deal was so clear I stopped paying attention a couple of weeks ago.

A while back I read an analysis of the Republican party that essentially said, "If you want to understand what the Republicans are up to, ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they vote for. Every word they utter is smoke and mirrors, designed to distract us from their true agenda."

I wish I could say the same wasn't true of the Democrats, but I'm too busy nodding in agreement with what they're telling me to test that idea out.