"The first woman to be raped in space has probably already been born."
Courtesy of the great Brit-Lib (British libertarian) site Samizdata comes this not-The-Onion-piece in The Guardian: "How can our future Mars colonies be free of sexism and racism?"
"We’re going to Mars—eventually," declares the author Martin Robbins, who "writes about science, pseudoscience and evidence-based politics."
After space-walking through various cliches about Manifest Destiny and noting, sensibly enough, that said "destiny is rarely great for the people already at the destination," we get to the meat of the piece. Which, given this is about space exploration and colonization, the meat involved is a hunk of prophylactic social-justice-warrioring that's about as fresh and substantive as one of those old Space Food Sticks we suffered through in the 1970s.
The first woman to be raped in space has probably already been born. And if that last sentence makes you howl with protest or insist that such a thing just wouldn’t happen, then I’d stop a second and ask yourself why....
To paraphrase Douglas Adams: “Space is white. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly white it is.” It’s also very male and European. Women in space-colony fiction have generally been presented as sexy walking vaginas, whose main purpose is to provide the male astronauts with a place to dock their penis at night. This being necessary in order to “ensure the survival of the species”...
if we really want to create a progressive new world then issues like these should be at the hearts of our efforts from the very start. I hope [private space entrepreneur Elon] Musk and his peers open up that discussion sooner rather than later, and I hope that people like Lee can take part in it. The last thing we need is to wake up in 50 years and find that a bunch of #gamergate nobheads are running Mars.
What's that line from Barry McGuire's faux-'60s-protest song, "Eve of Destruction?" Oh yeah: "You may leave here for four days in space/But when you return it's the same old place." Sing it, brother, sing it. You can't win the human race, or the sermonizing of SJWS when it comes to "GamerGate." Seriously, you're talking about starting a colony on Mars (which thankfully—and unlike large swaths of colonies formed on Planet Earth—has no native population) and you're stuck on GamerGate?
In the 19th century, many people feared "monomania," or fixations on a single comprehensive idea that possessed individuals to their detriment. Monomaniacal characters populate American fiction of that period—think Capt. Ahab in Moby-Dick—but often also to great comic effect. The titular character of Washington Irving's "The Adventure of the German Student" (which is part of a tightly integrated series of very funny stories in Tales of a Traveler) is one such figure. The student becomes obsessed with the idea that "an evil genius or spirit seeking to ensnare him and ensure his perdition" and, needless to say, he gets exactly what he fears most. Even better is Hollingsworth, a boorish prison reformer in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance who won't STFU already about how his very specific, very tedious insights will transform all aspects of humanity. "It cost me many a groan to tolerate him on this point," observes the novel's wry narrator.
So it is with Martin Robbins and his ilk. You can figuratively fly off into outer space but when you touch down on the Red Planet, it turns out you might as well never left your mother's living room. Everywhere you go, there you are. There really is no escaping the prison of your own obsessions. Each of us, walking vaginas or ambulatory penises alike, are just slave girls of Gor.
Reason TV's Paul Detrick recently talked to a woman who just might die on Mars as part of a planned expedition. Meet Mead McCormick:
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Space is white. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly white it is.” It’s also very male and European.
That's news to the Chinese.
Women in space-colony fiction
Ohh......Now I can safely ignore everything else you're going to say. Thank you!
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I get the impression the only reason the Chinese are in the space race is in an attempt to be accepted as part of the "important nations club", because a space program is just one of those things powerful countries have these days. Their cultural history has shown very little drive to explore and wander beyond their current zone relative to their numbers and technological development. There are chinese mercantile enclaves in southeast asia/indonesia, but for the most part they just didn't travel. Even the famed silk road was run pretty much entirely by the people who lived along it because the people at the ends either didn't care (the chinese) or didn't know how to get there (the europeans)
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So by trying to go to space, they're just acting white.
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With all due respect, that's a very simplistic representation of Chinese culture and history that ignores the place Journey to the West and the travels of Zheng He have upon the popular Chinese imagination. I do concede that the Chinese have historically had little interest in conquest and colonization thanks to their concept of Huaxia, but they always had an interest in mapping out the world. Furthermore, the CCP has drilled into the heads of modern Chinese that they became the "Sick Man of Asia" during the 19th to early 20th century precisely because the despots of the Ming ended the Chinese exploration program at a time when their naval technology was vastly beyond Europe's. If there is one thing the Chinese aren't going to do, it is to repeat that mistake.
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I think you're being overly optimistic. Given the way China's been on the brink of imploding, I think we'll see a return to warlordism before we see a chinese space colony.
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Ages before European explorers went abroad for adventure and treasure the Chinese sent forth an armada of exploration of about 5,000 ships on an errand to explore and map the orb.
The minority Mandarin class took power before the fleet got far and recalled the expedition.
The Mandarin were a minority class in China during their day who dislayed the class membership by letting their fingernails grow long as possible to signal that they did no physical labor and were superior to, and smarter than, those who did.
Progressives are a lot like Mandarins.
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Isn't that the reason everyone is in the space race?
Things change too. I don't think culture like that is all that innate. They have already changed quite a bit their involvement in the outside world.
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"Isn't that the reason everyone is in the space race?"
To make it with a hot alien babe?
Sorry, I wasn't paying attention.
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Chinese? Most boring empire on Earth. They'll just go all Ming Dynasty with hoards of mandarins to organize it all.
In fact, why don't the Progs just move there. I mean their ideas are much more in line with the Chinese quest for a bunch of equal poor folk ruled by their betters. Probably less pot, Mexicans and ass sex though.
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Women in space-colony fiction
Even if he uses that as a rubric, it's clear he hasn't read much modern sci-fi.
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He's never read much science fiction at all, it seems. Just like he doesn't have to play a video game to know it is sexist or watch a movie to know it is racist.
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Not much good sci-fi that is for sure. Take the Hyperion series, Brin's Uplift universe, Benford's Galactic Saga, or even Vinge's Zone's of Thought universe...prominent females all over the place in those works.
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Twitter says ALL women in sc-fi are just "damsels in distress." See Avengers: Age of Ultron, slut shaming, etc etc.
If you disagree you are mysogynist
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First example of a woman in "space-colony fiction" that comes to mind is Wyoh Knott, and she doesn't fit that description.
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He hasn't even read the classics, such as Starship Troopers.
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I've told this story before, but while showing some kids the moons of Jupiter through a telescope I mentioned Europa and the possibility of an ocean and maybe even life.
Some anthropology or literature (I think?) lecturer (at UdeM, Rufus! surprise!) started going on about how of course the moon that might have life on it was named Europa. Because appropriation or something.
Some people are so blinded by their own obsessions that they literally cannot take 2 seconds to think about what they believe.
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She then proceeded to explain that chimpanzees only turn violent after coming into contact with humans and that life for the Chinese was really much better before they opened up their economy. And there was more.
I was trying to be polite and all, seeing as how I was acting in some sort of official capacity at the time, but at a few points I think I said "That's just factually incorrect."
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My, you ARE polite. I would have asked her if she were born that stupid, or did she study it in school?
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The Canadians rubbed off on me.
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Nice mansplaining you microaggressing cis-shitlord.
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*snerk*
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It is interesting that our heavenly bodies seem to disproportionately draw their names from Western mythology.
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It really isn't. All cultures had names for naked eye planets, bright stars, and constellations. We use the Greek, Roman, and Arabic names because our scientific and cultural traditions draw heavily on those foundations. We're Western so we use Western names.
I know Jewish people that still learn the Hebrew names. And Chinese people that learn the Chinese names.
When being discussed in a broader, international setting the Western names are used because modern science was mostly developed by the West, and Western cultural norms dominate the international scene. And because most of the non-naked eye objects were discovered by Europeans.
That we use Western names is about as interesting as the ubiquity of suits and ties.
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Europeans colonized the scientific world with their cultural imperialism!
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Oh, that awful Western culture, with its respect for the rights of women and minorities!
Yeah, yeah, we aren't perfect. We at least TRY.
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"When being discussed in a broader, international setting the Western names are used because modern science was mostly developed by the West, and Western cultural norms dominate the international scene."
Yes, that's what's interesting. It's good for people to know why these things are Eurocentric, and now that science professes to be more open to everyone it should be noticed that it's sheer historical reasons, and no inherent ones that need be carried forward (or even not changed).
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I guess some people might find that interesting. I find it obvious. Like calling sushi "sushi" instead of "strips of raw fish".
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Because STEM and niche foods are equally important, such that when one is dominated by and associated with the culture of a minority of the human race it's the same as it is for the other.
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Nice diminishing of an important traditional cultural food there, Bo.
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LP1477....hard burn. BoAshes.
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Well, that makes sense because 'strips of raw fish aren't 'sushi'. They're sashimi.
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Imagine a Western culture viewing things from a Western perspective. You suppose the Chinese refer Jupiter by that name, as Zeus, or as something more in keeping with their culture?
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It's not like the Roman Empire is still around. The word 'Jupiter' resonates with the average Westerner no more than Horus or Vishnu would.
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the word resonates with the average Westerner because that's the only name he's ever known for Jupiter. Must be tiring carrying the social justice banner for all those cultures whose ways we don't live with every day.
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So we've gone from some collectivist 'we did it first we get to name it' to mere and base tradition.
Well, I'm questioning the tradition.
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Well, I'm questioning the tradition.
What exactly do you mean by this? That instead of using Western idioms in a Western culture we should instead adopt stuff from Eastern cultures for names of things because...diversity?
Help me out here, why is this relevant meaning full. This might help you out.
Why does it happen?
Because it happens
Roll the bones -
Everyone gets to name planets. There is nothing to stop any culture or individual making their own names for things.
But it is useful to have a set of names that everyone knows. It doesn't matter why those names came about.
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Uh, no.
I am far more familiar with Jupiter and the mythologies surrounding him than I am with Horus or Vishnu.
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I have read a smattering of most of the larger mythologies, and I'm here to tell you; the vast majority of "Pagan" gods (and goddesses) are swine. Selfish, dictatorial, dishonest, violent swine.
You know how they say; If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him?
If you meet Woton on the road, kill him, chop the corpse into little pieces, burn the pieces to ash, bury the ashes in at least three locations, and sew the ground with salt.
And then spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.
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It's called Jupiter because Roman civilization dominated Europe for hundreds of years and then, during the Enlightenment and the Scientific revolution, Greek and Roman culture were very in vogue, and most academic work was carried on in Latin or a Romantic language.
In other words, it's history.
The word 'Jupiter' resonates with the average Westerner no more than Horus or Vishnu would.
Laughable.
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People don't use Jupiter when speaking Japanese or Chinese. I don't use Jupiter when speaking Japanese. I say 木星 (mokusei), which means "wood planet." They also call Subaru what we call the Pleiades.
In English people do use the common Englsh terms, yes. And English has become the dominant language of science, even though I had to pass a language exam for my math PhD in my choice of French, German, or Russian, all those are less important than they used to be.
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People don't use Jupiter when speaking Japanese or Chinese.
That's a good point. I occasionally do some birdwatching; I have heard that the Mexican name for "woodpecker" actually translates to "carpenter bird" which to me is a better name anyway.
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So what you want to do, Bo, is replace science with social engineering.
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Its interesting that the vast majority of these objects are named by people from the currently wold-dominant culture and are drawn from the mythologies that their namers are most familiar with?
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But isn't it our duty as a superior race to make nice with all the other cultures by adopting their names for the planets? Shouldn't we make them feel better about being so scientifically inferior?
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"Shouldn't we make them feel better about being so scientifically inferior?"
Thanks for making my point.
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I think you missed the point, but again, par for the course with a SJW like you Bo.
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What exactly is your point?
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That using primarily Western names is unnecessarily ethnocentric, it makes the field less open and inclusive and for no good reason. It's justification is 'we were superior and did it first so we get to name everything, suck it if you don't like it scientifically inferior people!'
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If someone stays out of astronomy simply because he's butthurt that Jupiter is named "Jupiter" and not "The Great Leader Mao Zedong" then I suspect that's just as well. Such a person doesn't strike me as having the objectivity to be a scientist.
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Enjoy, perhaps it's easier to say that sort of thing when all the names are from your group.
I bet if only one major body were changed to a name 'weird foriegn sounding' to Westerners there'd be conniption fits.
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*Changed* yes - and with good reason as the only reason it would be changed is pandering to SJW's and would send out a clear message that we didn't think those people could compete with us on a level playing field.
*Names* - by the 'weird foreign' culture', that's all fair in love and exploration.
You want something with a non-eurocentric name in space - the get off your lazy arse, find something new, and put that name on it.
And, again FFS, is *astronomy*. This is not something that only large, nationalized science institutes can do. *Amateurs* can and do make important contributions all the time.
You are essentially bitching that there aren't a lot of foreigners choosing to spend their nights staring into a telescope in their backyard.
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Seriously? There are all sorts of "foreign" words and concepts that have been adopted into English. "Karma" for one thing.
People would get pissed if a word was arbitrarily changed to be more "culturally sensitive". But they don't get pissed because "Los Angeles" comes from Spanish. People would be just as possed if we changed the name to "City of Angels".
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But they don't get pissed because "Los Angeles" comes from Spanish.
Little Bo Blue's got his Campus Coffeehouse Soviet hat on this morning. Such rational perspectives aren't going to penetrate it.
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Changing an existing name will accomplish nothing except confusion, since all existing literature on the subject will be using the old name. It's not worth it.
If a Chinese astronomer finds a new object and gives it a Chinese name, nobody is going to care.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3789_Zhongguo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....ter_people
This is already happening. Bo is just being Bo.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna
A dwarf planet named after an Inuit goddess.
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That using primarily Western names is unnecessarily ethnocentric, it makes the field less open and inclusive and for no good reason.
That's a load of horseshit. First, it's history. Second, if you're going to use other names, which ones? Chinese? Indian? Japanese? Mayan? Cherokee? You need a standard and it is totally reasonable and not in any way unjust or exclusionary to go with the way things historically developed.
Third, less open and inclusive? Or you kidding me? Half the people I went to grad school with were ethnically Chinese or Indian (and women of all ethnicities, for what its worth).
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So since they're such a big part of the fields why insist they continue to work with primarily Western named objects? What's in a name, you say, so you shouldn't mind changing a few.
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So since they're such a big part of the fields why insist they continue to work with primarily Western named objects? What's in a name, you say
I say history is in a name. You know, the actual reality of how the past played out. I see zero reason to pretend like that didn't happen. And based upon my experience in the field, neither do any of the people from other cultures that you seem so worried about.
Also, great goal post shift. From "Some people might not join the field because of the names" to "If people are joining the field in spite of the name, then it must not be that big a deal, so why change it?"
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Looks like your concerns are ungrounded anyway.
Derived from Classical mythology, these names are only considered standard in Western discussion of the planets. Astronomers in societies that have other traditional names for the planets may use those names in scientific discourse. The IAU does not disapprove of astronomers discussing Jupiter in Arabic using the term المشتري Al-Mushtarīy or astronomers speaking in Mandarin Chinese discussing Neptune referring to the planet as 海王星 Hǎiwángxīng.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.....onventions -
Yeah - exactly.
We were superior and we did it first so we get to put the names on and suck it. If you don't like it, step up your science game.
You're seriously suggesting that it would be good for the human race if we gave out participation prizes in the quest for knowledge?
50 years from now, when the Chinese dominate space, are you going to be bitching that they're naming everything with references from Chinese history and mythology? I don't think so - you'll be saying that its only fair after all those decades of 'western scientific imperialism'.
GOD!
I have tried to stay out of this fight but FFS, you *are* a tedious SJW concern troll.
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"Bo Cara Esq.|5.7.15 @ 9:28AM|#
That using primarily Western names is unnecessarily ethnocentric, it makes the field less open and inclusive and for no good reason. It's justification is 'we were superior and did it first so we get to name everything, suck it if you don't like it scientifically inferior people!'"
I have done a lot of reading on the interwebs.This has to be the stupidist one statement I have ever read.
Bo, do you support Obama's decision that the head of a large goverment agency, NASA, should spend much of his time and agency's capital making sure a few Mooslems feel good about their themselves because once upon a time they did something decent ?
I can see it in my mind's eye.
Obama: Here Bo, I want you to run this Government agency and here is a budget of billions of taxpayer dollars we took from them and told them we were gonna use it to explore space.
Bo: Thanks Obama. I will use it to expand mendacity throughout the entire galaxy.
Obama: No Bo. I want you to use it to make a couple of Mooslems, the ones who are literate and don't just live hand to mouth because of their political system, to feel better.
Bo: OK boss. Will do. Gotta be all inclusive. Can we send a few of them on a ride on a spaceship ?
Obama: Bo NASA doesn't have any spaceships. But don't worry about that. Worry about being inclusive.
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Are you incapable of reading? In the West, and when speaking English, and at conferences where English is utilized as a common language, they use Jupiter.
When not in the west, or when not using English, or at conferences where english is not being used as a common tongue, they use different names.
And if people in the west DID discover/create/invent something then yes, by all means they get to name the thing they discover/create/invented.
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So basically, you think we should be patronizing assholes?
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Noblesse oblige, and all that, wot wot.
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Why is it patronizing? The idea that Uranus 'deserves' to be named about a minor Titan because a European wanted to name it that is silly. It's the same sky for everyone, and lots of cultures named these bodies. Why stick with Roman names, especially given Rome was long gone when these names were officially bestowed. The average Westerner today has little relation to Roman society.
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Why is it patronizing?
Do I really have to explain this?
By going out of one's way to coddle someone else's feelings, one signals both that one thinks that persons' feelings need coddling, and that that person is a lower status person. Only people who think they are superior feel the need to be responsible for other people's emotions.I'm sure the Chinese are adult enough to recognize that the names are what they are by historical accident, and not waste intellectual respources on a scientifically meaningless exercise in group therapy. Nevermind that THEY might actually find it interesting and enjoy learning some Greek mythology.
As if Europeans are the only people in the planet capable of appreciating other cultures.
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The idea that China 'deserves' to be called '中国' because the Han Chinese wanted to name it that is silly. It's the same land for everyone, and lots of cultures have lived there over the centuries.
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Also, fun historical fact, William Hershel, who discovered Uranus, wanted to name it Georgium Sidus (George's Star) after George the III. Didn't really stick outside of England and Johann Bode used Uranus, which ultimately caught on.
Just imagine the horror if it had actually been named after a white male European monarch.
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Why stick with Roman names, especially given Rome was long gone when these names were officially bestowed.
When the Chinese actually become the top dog in the global political and economic infrastructure, there will be plenty of opportunities for them to impose their cultural frame of reference on the rest of humanity. Until then, you and the rest of the SJW Kampus Kindergartners will just have to deal with the fact that Western civilization has about a 300-year head start.
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If you want to talk about cultural imperialism, how about the fact that mathematecal number symbols are Arabic?
Nobody is out there doing long division in Roman Numerals.
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I once did a math homework assignment in all Roman Numerals. It was only 4th grade so it wasn't like algebra or anything, just basic math. The teacher couldn't decide whether to laugh or chew my ass when I turned it in. What was 1 page took like 4 pages to do that way. I did get an A on it but only after redoing it correctly.
Also, ladies and gentlemen...... Bo Cara
/standing ovation
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Hey, when the Chinese start leading, then they can start naming things.
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"Interesting that our heavenly bodies disproportionately draw their names from the language and culture that named them."
Yes, it is shocking.
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You're wrong. In the West we use Arabic names for most of the visible stars, and there are more of them than there are planets.
Do you feel better now, or do you want a cookie, too?
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I read an article just today suggesting that Europa may have far less liquid water far less of the time than was previously thought.
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"That's news to the Chinese."
There really isn't, as of right now, a very large Chinese presence in space.
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Depends on how you define presence.
There aren't a lot (any I believe) Chinese in space right now - but there aren't that many Russians/Americans either.
But there's still a pretty significant chunk of Chinese owned/built hardware running up there.
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It's not about the number of people in space at any given moment.
It's about the number of people who are launched, and the frequency with which it happens.
If by "Chinese-built" you mean things launched by other nations with Chinese-made components in them, it's giving it too much credit to call that a "reach."
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The Chinese operate comms satellites, along with an array of surface observation satellites.
And for number of people launched - would make the Russians look far more dominant than they are.
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The Chinese have satellites, sure. A small minority of the total.
In manned space, the Russians are a dominant power, sure. You would argue they are not?
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Yes, I would.
And haven't been for a while. Hell, if it weren't for the boondogle that is the ISS and our paying them to not scrap their manned rockets they wouldn't have a manned presence at all.
1. They currently have about as much manned lift capability as the Chinese. (which is, admittedly, more than our *government-permitted* capability)
2. The only people they have in space are in the ISS - since 2001.
3. They seem to be developing no private space capability and are not expanding their government programs.Currently the race seems to be between (a couple of) private space programs in the US and the state space program in China.
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"But there's still a pretty significant chunk of Chinese owned/built hardware running up there.'
Thanks to Bill Clinton and his campaign donors at Lorel.
"“USA Today 5/19/99 “…In 1996, the Administration transferred the licensing authority for exporting satellite technology from the State Department, which had opposed giving new technology to China, to the Commerce Department, which immediately approved the transfer. Given the green light by the Commerce Department, Loral Corporation provided China with missile technology to improve its satellite launch and guidance systems. This same technology can be used to improve the performance of missiles aimed at the United States… ”
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This is the definition of "first-world problems" and "we have so little to worry about in real life, we need to make up shit".
Jesus fucking antichrist, fuck these people.
Hard. On Mars. To perpetuate the species....
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The observation concerning human nature that Robbins stumbled upon during his schoolboy attempt at a Gedankenexperiment could have also been phrased as "the first man to be murdered in space has probably already been born."
Yet he chose not to.
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Also "The first woman to falsely claim to have been raped in space has probably already been born"
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The first man to have his wealth redistributed in space is already dead.
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Not to mention it's probably factually incorrect. I mean, you're going to be living in close proximity with the opposite sex in pressurized confab structures millions of miles away from Earth. With nothing else to take up your evenings...except...fucking.
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On Mars. To perpetuate the species....
Preferably without people like Robbins. Otherwise, it'll be yet another planet that needs nuking from space.
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*sigh*
One day we'll have spread throughout the solar system and beyond, have wealth beyond our wildest imaginings, no lack whatsoever of resources, and space to experiment with every conceivable form of human society - and there will still be a huge interstellar war between the SJW's and normal people over their ideological differences.
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But, she might feel pressured by social norms to giving less than enthusiastic and continuing consent at every stage - and that's the same thing as forceable rape.
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Dennis: The whole purpose of going to Mars in the first place was to get the ladies nice and tipsy surface side, so we can take them to a nice comfortable place in the dome, and you know, they can't refuse...because of the implication.
Mac: Okay you had me goin' there for the first half. The second half kinda threw me.
Dennis: Well dude, think about it. She's out in the middle of nowhere, with some dude she barely knows. She looks around and what does she see? Nothing but red dirt. "Ah there's nowhere for me to run! What am I gonna do, say no?"
Mac: Okay. That seems really dark.
Dennis: It's not dark, you're misunderstanding me, bro.
Mac: I think I am.
Dennis: Yeah, you are. Because if the girl said 'no', then the answer is obviously 'no'. But the thing is she is not gonna say no. She would never say 'no', because of the implication.
Mac: Okay, now that's the second time you've said that word, what implication?
Dennis: The implication that things might go wrong for her if she refuses to sleep with me. Not that things are gonna go wrong for her, but she's thinking that they will.
Mac: ... But it sounds like she doesn't want to have sex with you..
Dennis: Why aren't you understanding this?
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Don't look at me like that. YOU definitely wouldn't have anything to worry about.
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No, I'd say he's right. Remember how the definitions of rape are changing. A year after some astronaut gets back, she'll regret the sex and claim rape.
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All this talk of who should name celestial bodies and who's cultural names is disturbing... That's why I name all celestial bodies and discoveries after me. there's the planet Dave, and the planet big Dave, and even bigger Dave,.. etc a little confusing, but I like it.
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Here's illustration of how it will look.
http://th01.deviantart.net/fs7.....3a4vtj.jpgAlamanian, it's more 'NEXT world problem'.
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This is quite possibly one of the stupidest things i have ever seen.
and someone actually paid this Robbins guy to write this drivel -
This is almost certainly the worst Guardian article since they called for a new Eco-Feminist Top Gear. And that is a high standard for badness.
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lol thanks for that, i needed a laugh
its realy a great idea, lets replace the most popular show the BBC has (350 million viewers worldwide) with 3 "eco-feminist" (whatever that is) women who know jack shit about cars talking about how great electric cars are for an hour every weekwho the hell would watch that?
of course the fems cant even just let us have one thing without trying to ruin it
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Humanity has been taking it on the literary space chin from aliens for about a century now. It's about time mankind kicks the shit out of some indigenous Martian space ass.
And not to blame the space victim here, but lady space-goers of the future might want to think about not wearing those sexy silver space mini-skirts with the low-cut space V tops. And the knee-high space boots aren't helping.
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That's only because you fucking spongheads are a bunch of wild rutting animals with no self control around spoiled milk.
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Spaceslut Shaming!
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Tell Zoe she's a walking sex toy. I dare you.
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HAHAHAHA.
I'd sooner try to kill River.
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But is it peer reviewed?
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Mr. Gillespie.
Why was there no trigger warning for your reference to that Herman Mellville novel involving a whale whose name is a clear reference to a rapist's penis?
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TRIGGER WARNING!
You said rapist's penis without a trigger warning!
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Four years living in the UK, and I never heard of a libertarian anything. Thanks a million for the link to samizdata.net . Time to go make some new friends.
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It's a great site. One of my daily haunts.
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In space, no one can hear you affirmatively consent.
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Thread winner.
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Amen.
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Which of there writers is whiter: Issac Asimov or Robert A. Heinlein ?
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Heinlein, he's of German ancestry. That's a big plus factor on the Whiteness Scale.
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But Heinlein's novels are full of both strong female characters and multi-racial casts.
It's been a while since I read Foundation, but I'm pretty sure Hari Seldon was white.
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You're talking about what they *wrote?*
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Duh. You're too literal.
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But, but, but, all his strong female characters are caricatures and hyper-sexualized for their (primarily male) audience's titilation.
See:
Allucare (The Puppet Masters)
Friday (Friday)And when they're not they tend to be the typical ignorant (of whatever the current topic is) secondary character that is used as an excuse to dump some exposition - usually a technical explanation of some piece of equipment.
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What's the hell is wrong with having sex-positive female leads?
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But you see - they pander to *male* sexuality by being freely available for sex!
Everyone knows that sex-positivity means that you freely use sex as a means of control.
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IMO, it's sexist to think that only men enjoy freely available sex.
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Jeez HazelMeade - what sort of feminist are you?
We all know that its permitted that women can enjoy freely available sex. But only as long as those freely available are the sort of people the woman wants to sleep with.
Its borderline rape if an unattractive guy thinks he might have a shot.
Plus, the woman has to think of her duty to the feminist movement by only freely having sex with people that will advance the goals of the movement.
You can;t just go jumping into bed with someone because you *like* the guy.
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Whiter writers writing whiter writings while wanting whiskey.
Stereotypes FTW!
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There's nothing novel about using consideration of a coming 'new world' to think about what's wrong with the old one. Heck, it's not novel to see it from a libertarian perspective (Heinlein). This guys sin is I guess focusing on sexism and violence against women instead of property rights or forced alimony payments.
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Or murder.
Or grand theft Mars rover. -
I was thinking Martian college sexual assault adjudication processes
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"He placed his hand on my third breast"
"That's a lie, do I get a chance to question the witness?"
"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you Mr. Non-mutant privilege!"
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Or maybe it's just tiresome to have to deal with the constant injection of "social consciousness" into every aspect of life, even space fantasy novels. People need their escapes. Bitching about sexism in space-colony novels is a bit like showing up a carribean resort and demanding that the women dress more modestly. Or that everyone make up for their jet travel carbon footprint by using only recycled toilet paper.
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It's not that I don't get that, but this really is a case of everyone does it. If we polled people's favorite sci fi writers here you don't think you'd find a disproportionate number of libertarian or anti-government ones? People's values are important to them and they tend to favor their being represented even in leisurely 'escapes' to some extent.
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Yes, but this article is complaining about the polticial content in other people's leisurely escapes. Nobody's forcing him to read Heinlein novels or play Grand Theft Auto.
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But that guy's leisurely escape involves checking to make sure that your leisurely escapes are ideologically sound.
Don't oppress him.
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That dude can write a fantasy sci fi novel about any version of utopia he wants. My guess is he would conceal his true fantasy world & write something intended to convince people he's a diehard feminist progressive. no one will read it or ever care. Should we pity or despise the losers who whine and cry about sexism and praise the "right" things hoping to be embraced by progressive womankind as a right-minded white male savior? And then....
"A self-professed male feminist, Noecker was fluent with women's issues such as body-image politics, female silencing and, most chillingly, consent. His radical-activist blog, Rebel Metropolis (briefly removed but now back), praised Alice Walker, Emma Goldman, and Julia Ward Howe. He wore a pin with a feminist fist. He was, in many ways, the image of a male ally.
Noecker's victims argue that his behavior represents larger trends in the idea of "macktivism," a used to pursue female activists and progressives. He talked himself up as a radical feminist and ally....
Some accused Noecker of non-consensually penetrating them. Some said he had followed them into a bathroom and forced himself on them. Some said he masturbated next to them after they refused sex. A few allege that he urinated on them or forced them to urinate on him. Byrd Jasper, who believes themself[sic] to be his last victim, has accused him publicly of rape and is pressing charges...."
Guilty or innocent, these folks all end up hated. Compare J. Chait, Joss Whedon, etc etc
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The slave girl is pretty hot.
Just sayin'
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And, you know, slavery is part of their culture. It would be rude and cultural imperialism to not have sex with her!
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It is actually a rape culture.
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The last thing we need is to wake up in 50 years and find that a bunch of #gamergate nobheads are running Mars.
Except for the fact that at least some of the "#gamergate nobheads" might actually have some skills that might be marginally useful to a Mars colony. Your average social justice cadre, not so much.
A Mars colony would, of necessity, require that its inhabitants have at least some particularly useful skill to ensure survival on the planet. Resources (even down to oxygen) would be particularly scarce and couldn't be wasted on people who didn't add much in the way of value.
Somehow or another, I don't think the author's comparative lit degree and proclivity for dictating to others would be that highly prized.
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Except for the fact that at least some of the "#gamergate nobheads" might actually have some skills that might be marginally useful to a Mars colony. Your average social justice cadre, not so much.
evilhippo agrees with you.
Samizdata quote of the day
Samizdata Illuminatus (Arkham, Massachusetts) · Deleted by the Guardian · Slogans & Quotations
“The last thing we need is to wake up in 50 years and find that a bunch of #gamergate nobheads are running Mars.”
That is exactly what is going to happen, because us gamergate nobheads (actually the technical term is neckbeards) are smarter and more creative than you, whereas you intolerant SJW thugs create nothing but faux outrage, grievance and a sense of undeserved entitlement to things created by better people than you.
– Guardian commenter ‘evilhippo’, who often gets his pithy remarks deleted on the Guardian. Dunno know he is but clearly a wise and witty seeker of truth, no doubt a devilishly handsome fellow to boot -
"Except for the fact that at least some of the "#gamergate nobheads" might actually have some skills that might be marginally useful to a Mars colony."
Yes, few remote harsh colonies have survived without young, entitled nerds who have proven their ability to attain the highest ranks in World of Warcraft.
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Bo, your law degree and tiresome pretensions would be just about as valuable as the social justice cadres'.
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You're confusing programming with playing, tard.
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The entitled nerd is going to be a lot more likely to have a degree in engineering, computer science or something value add to the colony than the social justice cadre.
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You know you've hit a nerve when the person responds, stews for minutes, then feels the need to respond again, now I know what I should've said!!
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#virtualswirly
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In other words, no, you don't have a substantive reply. You're just hoping you can score points on the feelz.
You really are pathetic, Bo.
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"Bo Cara Esq.|5.7.15 @ 9:30AM|#
You know you've hit a nerve when the person responds, stews for minutes, then feels the need to respond again, now I know what I should've said!!"
So you admit to being nothing more than a troll who finds fun in fucking with people ?
Does that make you feel good about yourself Bo ?
Getting some revenge against your real life frustrations ?
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Oh, come on Bill! You know there's no way the Mars colony could survive without somebody who has a PhD in Womyn's Studies, with a minor in 15th Century Lesbian Poetry!
And Al Sharpton! Except that we'll die here on Earth without him; I guess he'll just have to shuttle back and forth to maintain Social Justice throughout the galaxy.
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That's true. The very existence of people like Robbins is a first-world problem; only a society that has effectively solved the issues of basic survival could tolerate his existence.
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Martin Robbins? I'd rather listen to Marty Robbins.
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+1 young Mexican girl (with pot )
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author Martin Robbins, who "writes about science, pseudoscience and evidence-based politics."
That sentence fragment is hysterical. Parts are redundant. pseudoscience and evidence-based politics are the same thing, or at least close kissing cousins. And judging by the rest of the article, the reason Robbins writes about both science and pseudoscience is that he cannot tell the difference between the two.
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author Martin Robbins, who "writes about science, pseudoscience and evidence-based politics."
IOW: "author Martin Robbins, who is a hack..."
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Raped in microgravity, or in a centrifuge? Microgravity poses problems for sexual activity, especially concerning blood flow, and Mr. Happy needs extra blood to be used as a rape tool. otherwise you are just smashing your flaccid junk against her and she is not amused.
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Plus it would be a microgravityaggression.
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If you laid in a centrifuge with your dong facing out and tied the woman into the centrifuge adjacent to said dong...and had a lube dispenser squirting between the business bits, I believe you could make it all happen.
Can we get a few of the engineers on H&R started on a prototype for Warty's space-machine?
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I've read at least one very frank astronaut autobiography stating that this is not a problem, and in fact getting it up is easier in microgravity since the heart isn't fighting gravity to bring blood up from the legs.
Also consider a reasonably attractive middle age woman, except she kind of has sagging breasts. Now consider the same woman without gravity. The aforementioned autobiography mentioned this effect too.
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and in fact getting it up is easier in microgravity since the heart isn't fighting gravity to bring blood up from the legs.
Neither is it in bed, which is the cis-heteronormative position after all.
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Microgravity poses problems for sexual activity, especially concerning blood flow, and Mr. Happy needs extra blood to be used as a rape tool.
This is bull. You're essentially saying gravity and a solid surface underfoot to affect said gravity is required to have sex.
Any guy who's been in a pool or ocean, or jumped out of a plane or even just stood on his head can tell you that Mr. Happy only cares about blood flowing in and out. Any other direction is irrelevant.
It's like saying without gravity you can't pump water.
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"We’re going to Mars—eventually," declares the author Martin Robbins, who "writes about science, pseudoscience and evidence-based politics."
Does the Limey have a turd in his pocket?
Also, its laughable that an Englishman would talk about going to space in the collective, let alone to Mars. Sorry old chap, but other heavenly bodies are the domain of the United States Of America. Your nation's day passed with the advent of the steam engine.
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Well, the US, China, with India grabbing the leftovers.
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Oh good. I wasn't the only one who was wondering why a Brit was ranting about space travel.
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"The first woman to be raped in space has probably already been born."
How does he know? Is STEVE SMITH signed up for the first Mars mission?
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WHERE JIMJIM THINK STEVE SMITH PEOPLE GO WHEN STEVE SMITH PEOPLE LEAVE EARTH IN 1968?
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You know, I wrote an article for Maggie McNeill's April Fool's post about just this (http://michaelsiegel.net/?p=6586). Guess I wasn't imaginative enough.
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Ha, the monomania of the SJWs reminds me of the feeble joke we performed as children: you hop around hysterically shouting "it's all around me! it's all around me!" and when somebody asks "what's all around you" you say "my belt".
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Somebody needs to tell this cis-hetero-normative shitlord that there are more types of rape than just M-F rape.
I'm tired of all rape being assumed to be male-raping-female. It could be a female-raping-male. It could be a female-raping-female or male-raping-male (which is probably the most common type of rape when prison is taken into the equation.
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The first man to be raped in a Martian prison has already been born.
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Look dude - its obvious that men can't be raped by women and male privilege counters the offense of male on male rape.
#TeachableMoment
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People DO act like rape is something that only happens to females. When I point out that male rape victims exist, they usually acknowledge it, but then retort that "they're mostly female", then they proceed with their rant as if nothing happened! As if that percentage of male rape victims don't count for jack shit.
Then I like to ask them, "If rape is only a problem for women because they comprise the majority of the victims, are suicide, homicide, and workplace deaths ONLY male problems? Because those things overwhelmingly happen to males. Should females who die of these causes be told to shut the hell up because it's only a male problem?"
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I see the old Salon parody account has become self-aware and is generating articles.
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Women earn only 70 space credits to every 100 space credits earned by a man.
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Aren't the "progressives" the people who supposedly think that humans can be perfected, and utopia is possible?
I guess not, when they can preen about "rape culture" and how it will never go away.
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When I saw the headline, I really thought for sure it was going to be have been written by Jessica Valenti, but hey, it's the Guardian; you have to be batshit crazy and obsessed to write for it.
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I think everyone, including a lot of the writers here at Reason and the folks pushing Mars One, are underestimating just how hard life on a Mars colony would be. Essentially, you're looking at a life where pretty much everyone is a couple of mistakes away from dying. Bullshit about "cis-heteronormativity" is going to be about the last thing on anyone's mind.
For crying out loud, the girl in the video is an actress. What the fuck use is she going to be on a Mars expedition. Even if she's willing to die in the process, she's going to be using up food and air in the process, putting people who might actually be of some practical value at risk.
We really have gotten to the point where people are so pampered that they can't imagine a world where life is anything beyond a shopping mall.
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Women will have only 7 rations of oxygen to every 10 rations a man gets.
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"What the fuck use is she going to be on a Mars expedition."
Duh ! Pussy .
She would be a "comfort-naut.
Essential to the happiness and well being of the important males, mainly white, on the trip.
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Like the military in Haldeman's "The Forever War", the women on the mission will be required to be promiscuous.
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And the first man to be cheated on while in space has already flown...
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"This being necessary in order to “ensure the survival of the species”"
It's not like that's entirely wrong.
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Not sure which band name I like best. "Raped in Space" or "Sexy Walking Vaginas" or "Docking my Penis".
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"Ambulatory Penises" gets my vote.
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What happens in space, stays in space
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She reveals her own earth-centricity by Othering the putatively inferior planets of the solar system. It offends to think of earth and it's inhabitants as superior. In fact, earth is just one among many satellites in space (there is no outer), therefore the first woman to be raped in space is long dead and buried.
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"Raped in Space"? That was a TV show, wasn't it?
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What do you think Dr. Smith was up to when he disappeared with Will? I mean, that show was seriously creepy: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4258699776/nm0612621
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LOL at "Space Food Sticks"... is that a prop from the 2001: A Space Odyssey?
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Lucky her. The way governments are stifling space travel, I think it will be a long time before humans get off this planet again in significant numbers.
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"The first woman to be raped in space has probably already been born."
IMO the real question, since Lisa Nowak leapt over the 'dejected psycho-bitch astronaut' hurdle with gusto, is:
Which will happen first; space rape (Not buyer's remorse) or space murder?"
I think it's murder, hands down.
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Google pay 97$ per hour my last pay check was $8500 working 1o hours a week online. My younger brother friend has been averaging 12k for months now and he works about 22 hours a week. I cant believe how easy it was once I tried it out.
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The first woman to be raped in space has already been born?
Cool.
Assuming rates of rape stay the same that means there's going to be a lah-haht of people in space in the next half-century.
But then the author goes and ruins it by talking about a Mars colony. Mars is no more "in space" than Earth is. Might as well have said the first woman raped in space was born tens of millennia ago.
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I'm not sure they know what "paraphrase" means. The Adams quote is pertaining to space being *big*. Replacing "white" for "big" is not paraphrasing at all, its plagiarism to suit your personal politics. I'm not sure Adams would concur with the changes.
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It's not plagiarism, they credit Adams. But it is stupid.
I think there is a word for what it is, but I can't think of it right now.
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"To paraphrase Douglas Adams: “Space is white. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly white it is.”"
You dumb fucking cunt, that's not a paraphrase all. He said "big". Space is "big".
FUCK YOU, DUMB CUNT.
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I thought space was Braun.
