There's a big difference in the Orion project ideas and the concept of just taking a normal ship (looks a bit like a capsule that might go to the moon), pointing it towards Earth, detonating a single nuke next to it, and having it fly all the way back to Earth from Neptune. Or from outside of the heliopause. The movie thinks those are the same thing for some reason.

I agree. I'm interested in what is basically a form of psychohistory, but the way they describe it here is clearly and obviously wrong. Honestly it crosses over into stupid. Are they trying to claim that one 10% of a population never completely disagrees with another 10%? Are they saying that if 9% of a population beleives something, then they will never, ever be capable of converting anyone else? If I want my idea to gain traction, must I convert 10% of the population to my side in one single speech, or be doomed to obscurity?

It's ridiculous.

On one hand, this is freaking hilarious. Glenn Beck makes me laugh more than most comedians.

On the other hand, people will believe him. When Fox *does* start telling us to store our urine and wear special hats to block evil government rays, my dad will believe them. And half the people I know from high school on Facebook will believe them. Ugh.

Simpsons in sig, Simpsons in post.

I like you.

I think it should go to China, as a whole. What other country or organization has done so much for peace?*


*Peace as defined by the Chinese government. Please check your Official 2011 Redefinition List for true definition. If you have lost your Official 2001 Redefinition List, please report to the nearest detention facility, and the problem will be corrected.

I agree with you. There are many legitimate reasons for a government to keep secrets. Wikileaks has been irresponsible in some of its releases.

However, they've also released a lot of stuff that was absolutely wrong of the US government to do in the first place. Regardless, it's the responsibility of the government to keeps its secrets safe. If they leak, then that's their fault. Not the fault of the organization who releases that leak. The US's absolutely insane response to Wikileaks is another matter altogether, one that flies in the face of any potential "free flow of information."

Sure, this is hilarious. But somehow I doubt they meant it to be so funny.

Concern over some governments' determination to restrict the free flow of information. That's rich.

Talk like that make me all tingly inside.

Space is becoming something accessible through private channels. Not that there's anything wrong with governmental space programs, but those are best when they're cutting edge, when they're doing things that no private company could hope to do. When the private sector takes over the everyday, to-and-fro, supply and shuttling capabilities, perhaps NASA will be driven to explore more advanced technologies.

This is a big step towards space travel being an everyday thing. Once initiatives like this become more common, there will be a huge foundation upon which to build even greater missions.

They explode into skinny jeans? ::confused::

It's more likely that they will institute a rule where "any act which appears to be an intentional attempt to disturb, creep out, and/or disgust a TSA employee shall result in immediate removal from the airport and the disallowance of travel."

Or something like that. My legalese is rusty.

Honestly I hope that happens. I really, truly hope that full cavity searches will be required to fly.

It's my last hope that the people in this country will have any sense and stand up to this kind of asinine "security."

If the American people accept cavity searches every time they fly, and they just shrug and say "Well, what are you going to do?" Well, then this country has lost everything that made it special.

This will happen as long as people let it happen. By shrugged their shoulders and going along with it, they're letting the government and the TSA know that we will give them absolute free reign in this. It doesn't matter how many angry articles there are decrying the new procedures -- if people continue to fly, then the procedures will stay. And eventually they'll get worse. Again.

I don't know the specifics of the law and I admit that. But if this kind of thing is illegal, why hasn't it been happening for years?

This isn't necessarily an internet-specific issue, either. If this is legal, then what's to stop them from printing a list of "PEOPLE WHO OWE MONEY" in a newspaper ad? True, that costs money. But is it just the cost of the ad that has kept them from it?

What if they were to put a website up with a list of everyone who is more than a couple months behind on their payment? And why simply contact my relatives on Facebook? Why not post on my Facebook wall about how I don't pay my debts and shouldn't be trusted, or something to that extent? Sure, I can delete it. But I probably won't notice immediately, and if they're going after shame . . . that's the ticket.

Regardless of legality, I hope we can agree that this is disgusting.

This is the best thing anyone's posted so far. The universe is a hard place, and sometimes we can't afford to wait on a method to reach 99% survivability. Of course, this is also the modern world. We do not want to go back to indentured servants and slaves. So don't. Don't send anyone who doesn't want to go. Make sure they know the risks. Make sure they're trained well. Make sure they understand what they're going to be expected to do, and make sure they understand the difficulty involved. Then send them up there with the best supplies we can, and hope they make it. Hell, maybe we'll get lucky on our first try. Regardless, keep trying until a colony survives. Everytime we fail, we increase our chances of success. Once we start doing it, we'll learn what works. We'll get better. After that, the risks start falling much more quickly. There's a reason we admire pioneers.