The goddamn Trump Administration (Part 1)

Yes on all counts.

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I don’t disagree, but there was damn near NO ONE saying these things when it was William Shatner and Michael Strahan going on these trips, and the media was calling them astronauts too. The criticism didn’t start until WOMEN went up. I am so fucking tired of this shit. Even when the criticism is legit, women catch orders of magnitude more of it, and sometimes, the men don’t get criticized at all.

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That’s a fair point, and yeah, I do agree, there’s sexism there. I just felt the need to go deeper into the nuance, because like I said, I think this “all-girl flight” concept was done consciously and cynically in an attempt to evade criticism, and that also grinds my gears.

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I don’t think it was done to evade criticism, because there really hadn’t been much criticism of these flights. I think it was more of a garden variety publicity stunt.

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‘Reconsider’: Tom Cotton begs Trump for disaster relief — after opposing it for Dem states

“We write in support of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ request to reconsider the denial,” the group said. “Given the cumulative impact and sheer magnitude of destruction from these severe weather events, federal assistance is vital to ensure that state and local communities have the capabilities needed to rebuild.”

Cotton, however, has a history of voting against disaster relief for other states.

More at
https://www.rawstory.com/tom-cotton-disaster/

TLDR: Leopards gorging on Arkansas Repubs.

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Oh sure… that’s par for the course… But there is very valid criticism about the whole vibe around Blue Origin and this particular trip. Like the whole Karen meme, misogynists love turning valid criticism into toxic misogyny, and still feel like they are part of the “progressive” side.

Also, what @Nightflyer said! :sparkling_heart:

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Yes, and no. It feels like misdirection. “See, nothing’s being taken away from women, look, an all-girl spaceflight. Never mind that we’re stripping away the laws protecting your bodily autonomy and health care choices, or removing protections from the workplace and firing women in droves… you’re just being hysterical.”

Maybe it isn’t there, maybe it’s just my rage reading things into it, but I feel it.

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I don’t really remember William Shatner being called an astronaut. Checking, I guess some things did, but some explicitly said the opposite. And I don’t think anyone pretended it was some great achievement having him there, whereas this was sold as the amazing step of having an all-female crew. I don’t know if it was done to evade criticism or not but I think the misogyny already started there, in saying “check it out, finally female astronauts” and then offering something about as substantial as Space Barbie.

Like I don’t want to blame the tourists like Katy Perry, who is a musician, of course it being glam was the point of inviting her. But to hell with Bezos and everyone else who decided this is what having women in space should be about.

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And that in itself (Bezos’ attitude, not yours) is sexist… we can’t seem to get away from it no matter what we do. :sob:

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I guess that’s one way to eliminate due process…

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So much for the accusation that T**** scuttled the bipartisan immigration bill because he wanted to take credit for it once he took office. No, this is the opposite and much, much worse.

(Not that anyone should be listening to centrists, anyway…)

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Yes. Sometimes.

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Not just you, me too. While I think that the women are getting more criticism than the men did, the entire Blue Origin PR team and Bezos is really to blame by using women as objects to promote itself. And don’t get me started on the whole getting glammed up for this space ride.

I feel like both you and @danimagoo are correct.

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Hegseth has denied the information he shared was classified, but it was given to him on a system for sensitive and classified information, sources told NBC News.

JFC, I don’t have a top secret clearance or anything but even I know that a central tenet of responsible data handling for anything considered sensitive is you don’t cross the fucking streams!

image

It doesn’t matter if the data is classified or not. It was in a secure system. You aren’t supposed to just take something from the “secure” side of the airtight hatchway and move it to the “insecure” side without there being a process involved. (And that process isn’t supposed to be, “:man_shrugging: whatever it’s fine”.) Yes, it’s slow, inefficient, and annoying. But that’s because mistakes — whether due to accident or ignorance — are just too easy to make, and the consequences can be disastrous.

That this fucking guy doesn’t understand or care about any of this shows just how deeply unqualified he is to be in his position.

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Speaking of treating people as props, when William Shatner (who is generally a dick for the record) went to space the story was his opinion of it, feeling sad seeing our fragile world that we’re destroying. The only statement I’ve heard here is Gayle King saying that Blue Origin is doing important work and everyone should go. Did anyone else have anything to say at all? Or is just that they were there the whole point?

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I don’t disagree with @danimagoo at all. She’s right, the womens’ crew is getting more criticism than the male crews, 100%. I’m not trying to diminish what she said, only to add my own perspective to that.

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Then there’s the Libertarian patch of SoCal. Once you get off the 14 Freeway toward one or two nearby Air Force-operated sites, weathered, hand-drawn sale signs begin to appear along the roads—referred to as ‘streets’ more out of courtesy than accuracy: Homemade cheese, raw milk, and eggs sold from near-dilapidated ranch homes, so, I don’t believe we’re talking about legally established, regulated businesses here. Luck is a big factor when Libertarianism is practiced, yet I don’t believe true Libertarians (sellers and consumers alike) seriously consider luck, as in “Will this work?”, or “Is it possible that I’ll fuck up?”, or “Could this kill my child?”. California regulators appear to have overlooked these illegal operations, likely due to their small numbers and the self-imposed isolation that keeps them disconnected from the rest of the world. Regarding the ensuing health issues of adult consumers—I couldn’t give a fig… but the kids??

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I totally got that. This entire Blue Origin episode was a shit show, and for numerous reasons.

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