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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
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Just use all your idiots and lunatics as the first colonisation wave. That worked out so perfectly for us in the past.
edited 4th Mar '16 2:43:57 PM by DrunkenNordmann
We learn from history that we do not learn from historyActually, bringing a gun onto a space colony isn't a bad idea necessarily to protect yourself from other colonists. Of course, hull breaches caused by firearms would be unbeuno (though actually not as disastrous as it sounds).
Which is why we need to invent better tasers/long range electroshock weapons.
Leviticus 19:34'twas a comet actually, not an asteroid. If I were to troll, I would say that I am not surprised to see an American not knowing the difference.
Also, I like your pride at sending a probe to something that has, like the rest of the planets in the solar system, been named after a God from a European mythology.
Somehow I think "space" is large enough for colonists to find different places to settle without having to kill each other over every resource. If space travel is just doing the same shit from Earth all over again, I am in no hurry to see the first colony.
edited 4th Mar '16 2:51:57 PM by Julep
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Only the first of those three counts as a US achievement... with a ton of help from foreign researchers. Wernher von Braun ring a bell?
I'm loving the Cultural Posturing here. Pass the Popcorn!
That is so cool.
edited 4th Mar '16 2:53:11 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.The whole bringing a gun thing in space is funny because it's actually the Russians who do bring firearms into space with them.
Their return capsules usually end up in siberia so they bring a lot of survival gear, including a rather unique folding shotgun, with them for the return trip.
Oh really when?Compared to the invention of paper, fireworks, chemistry, taming of animals, sewage system or modern medicine, yeah, the first person to land into the moon is basically a zero to the left.
The internet was made by a multiethnical team instead of the "All 'merican" team.
It's ok. You guys can take credit for Jersey Shore though.
What is the most hostile planet otu htere? Jupiter, right? I suggest we ship all ourcriminals out there and rename is space australia.
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes![]()
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Because only having to worry about survival in space is for little wussy babies, I guess.
edited 4th Mar '16 2:59:30 PM by rikalous
Let us be fair: in that bunch, some (or even most) did not come from Europe. But even less came from 'murica, so...
You could add mathematics, evolution biology or the wheel to the bunch too.
Well the whole point(less debate) is about having a legacy. You can't say that all the inventions coming before the 18th century did not count because the US "weren't ready".
edited 4th Mar '16 3:02:35 PM by Julep
I know. I am not posturing for Europe or comparing it to Europe. I am just saying that, relatively speaking, putting a flag on the moon achieved nothing more than bragging rights. It advanced no science, and we gained more from the process of trying to achieve that, than from the achievement itself, which is not the case for fire, paper, writing, gunpowder, etc. Once those happened, things slowly but inexorably changed.
I mean, even the NASA declared apollo a failure.
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes@Julep: Well, according to Beyond Earth, we'll mostly be fighting wars over issues of transhumanism. But I actually mean other colonists in the same colony as you (criminals, that is).
As for war in space: Space is big, but it's also mostly empty, with resources grouping into clusters spread out between each other. And, since space is such a wide area, it'll also be very difficult to police. Space Piracy will likely be very common once some morally-questionable (and likely desperate) spacefarers decide it's more pragmatic for them just to steal rather than make stuff themselves. Wise space-travelers will arm themselves against such pirates, and this is probably where space marines will actually become thing.
edited 4th Mar '16 3:11:43 PM by Protagonist506
Leviticus 19:34This thread really needs to get down to Earth.
edited 4th Mar '16 3:27:07 PM by flameboy21th
Non Indicative UsernameHoly crap, six pages of responses to stuff.
But meanwhile, back on topic: even though I posted a scathing critique of Kentucky in the LGBT thread, apparently the bill was worse than I thought
, giving free rein not just to homophobes but also to racists and bigots of all stripes, so long as they're religious. Emphasis theirs.
Titled, apparently without any sense of irony, “an act relating to the protection of rights,” SB 180 creates a state-wide group of “protected activities” and “protected activity providers,” then proceeds to cover those so protected with immunity from any laws by any governmental body anywhere, and states that people so covered cannot be fined or charged with any crime.
Who are these persons so protected, and what are the activities so protected? Let’s look at the precise and clear language provided by the bill:
''“Protected activities” means actions by people commissioned, employed, hired, retained, or otherwise used by the public or the government to provide customized, artistic, expressive, creative, ministerial, or spiritual goods or services, or judgments, attestations, or other commissions that involve protected rights; “Protected activity provider” means a person who provides protected activities; and “Protected rights” means the rights of persons to be free from governmental actions that impair, impede, infringe upon, or otherwise restrict the exercise of any right guaranteed by the United States Constitution or the Constitution of Kentucky, including but not limited to a person’s right of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and right to peaceable assembly.''
So, if you are hired to provide “customized, artistic, expressive, creative, ministerial, or spiritual goods or services, or judgments, attestations, or other commissions,” then you are protected!
Custom jewelry? Protected. Juggling acts? Protected. Blogging? Protected. (Cool!) Artists and musicians? Good to go. “Expressive goods or services”? I have no idea what they are, but those are protected too. All ministers, no matter what they say or do? Protected.
What is the point of this, the worst-written bill in the history of legislation? To allow persons to refuse service to anyone, at any time, as long as they can say that the persons requesting the services offend their religious beliefs.
And if you think this is only about some Christians refusing to sell to Teh Gay, guess what – this bill makes possible exactly what we led with: refusing service to interracial, interfaith, atheistic, Muslim, divorced, or pretty much any other kind of people.
Think we’re exaggerating? It took only ten minutes with The Google to find churches in Kentucky who oppose interracial marriage. Think their members would like to be able to refuse service to interracial couples?
How about refusing service to Muslims? Or people who look like Muslims? Or people who just look different, because who knows, they might be Muslims? Or refusing to fill a prescription for an anti-depressant, because my religion teaches there is no such thing as depression? Or refusing to sell a house to an atheist?
This bill is a disaster, both in its language and its intent. And, it is a dangerous bill. I have written a longer piece about this use of “religious freedom” on my personal blog, so I will just quote one section:
In this case, though, the argument is not about one person’s practice of their faith. It is about that person’s understanding of right and wrong causing harm to another person.
And now we come to why this is not only wrong, but dangerous. This use of the “religious freedom” argument is so blatantly illogical and prejudiced that it makes reasonable people just throw up their hands. As it spreads and is not called out by the so-called religious leaders across the country (and indeed is cheered on by some of them), it causes non-religious people to assume that religious people are not only incapable of serious thought, but are actually dangerous to society.
Senators, please pull this bill. It is a bad bill that promotes discrimination, that will damage our state, and in the end will actually be dangerous to the very people you are trying to protect. Kill SB 180.
A little something I came across today I thought folks here might enjoy:
Brent's Letter to the President: "You Saved My Life"
"You saved my life. My President, you saved my life, and I am eternally grateful.
"I have a 'pre-existing condition' and so could never purchase health insurance. Only after the ACA came into being could I be covered. Put simply to not take up too much of your time if you are in fact taking the time to read this: I would not be alive without access to care I received due to your law. Thank you for serving me even when I didn't vote for you. Thank you for being my President."

edited 4th Mar '16 2:43:28 PM by JackOLantern1337
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.