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1 of 1- xoxoxoBruce
- The Future is Unwritten
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OK this is Sort of Politics
I didn't know where to put this so it's here, something I read after the deep sea sub imploded, and wanted to share..
Or as one friend quipped "We imploded while convincing rich people to ride in the cheapest way possible!" (and google scrapes from their website say similar things)
And while even famously protocol heavy NASA messed up (not listening to their engineers who thought it was too cold to launch the Challenger), there is a long history of folks saying "look these regulations are blocking me from making as much money as I could, let get rid of them"
And too often this attitude gets people killed (like with the subs) or the taxpayer bails things out (like also the sub) or it bites the company (like Norfolk Southern having to pay 1/3 of a billion dollars for cleaning up the East Palestine Ohio train wreck after years of lobbying to relax regulations. But of course, if that cost is less than what they think they save pushing everything to the limit, it's just a cost of doing business)
Or Elon Musk "Aspiring to have no flame diverter in Boca, but this could turn out to be a mistake" and he trashes his launch pad. But if you look at how much worse his rocket is for the local wildlife etc - it's not just a matter of cost efficiency for him, we all get to pay some of that.
Even a similar vibe for the deregulation that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
There's a common thread to all of these, that a small group can make boatloads of money by taking risks, but they've moved the cost of those risks to the public or other folks in general. Conservatives vowing to roll back "over-regulation" kind of assume every rule is there for funsies or to assert government control. And I'm not sure there's never over-regulation, but it would be great if we had a bit more connection between risk taking and actually paying the consequences.
See, it's the billionaires manipulating the finest government money can buy vs the engineers.
Guys like Musk who are playing with government money(our money), when the shit hits the fan we pay to clean up the mess.
Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose.
- griff
- A Magical Woodland Creature
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Re: OK this is Sort of Politics
The pendulum needs to swing back. Getting that done in the face of extreme wealth in an era of disinformation seems difficult to do properly so it'll likely be ugly.
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis Brandeis
- Flint
- starting fires since forever
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Re: OK this is Sort of Politics
People not being able to afford food has got to be the dumbest thing the billionaires thought they could get away with so far. But, I guess when you're struggling to afford groceries you don't have time to be politically active, so that's the game plan they're going with.
...
eta: but good luck getting people to repay their student loans with the zero dollars they have in their budget
Last edited by Flint (7/03/2023 11:59 am)
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- xoxoxoBruce
- The Future is Unwritten
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Re: OK this is Sort of Politics
Back in the '50s I raised pigs, two at a time, to eat. One of my fathers buddies from Melha Temple ran a super market. I'd go the once a week and fill the pickup truck with baked goods, bread pies, cakes, rolls, doughnuts(that's how they spelled it then) that were "expired". Some of this stuff was off the shelf after 3 days, others a week at most.
The pigs got most of it, but some like a pie or danish with the box not even wrinkled I'd take in the house for my mother to decide, but I was usually right.
That was 60 years ago, I can't imagine how much get shitcanned today. I heard a damned small percentage goes to food banks.
Last edited by xoxoxoBruce (7/08/2023 1:58 am)
Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose.
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Thread Starter- Happy Monkey
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Re: OK this is Sort of Politics
This does not seem to be a parody article:
OceanGate's cofounder wants to send 1,000 people to a floating colony on Venus by 2050
_______________
|_______________| We live in the nick of times.
| Len 17, Wid 3 |
|_______________|[pics]
- Flint
- starting fires since forever
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Re: OK this is Sort of Politics
To be fair, without reading the article I believe that a floating colony on Venus is way more realistic than a Mars Colony. However, I think humanity would like to interview a couple more candidates for the position of being in charge of that.
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- griff
- A Magical Woodland Creature
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Re: OK this is Sort of Politics
I read that as Heaven's Gate the first time through, same difference I guess. I'm sure Xitter will pump it.
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis Brandeis