07.20.2021 09:42 AM

Blast off

13 Comments

  1. The Doctor says:

    Oddest part of that news conference I thought was when that one guy talked about how blown away he was by how thin and fragile our atmosphere is. Then he mentioned how space travel like that clearly damages that atmosphere. Then he said, absolutely everyone should travel to space (I guess that means all 7.6 billion of us). WTF?

  2. I’m sure that if this Prime Minister put his mind to it that he could somehow manage to get elected as the future chancellor of the Martian colony. Of course, that would mean a one-way trip but the world would be so much better off having his administrative talents hard at work on a plane other than earthly.

  3. Innocent III says:

    I saw a letter in the Globe last week that said in the 70s, feminists would ask, ‘If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they put them all up there?’ The writer suggested that it should be updated to ask, ‘If they can put a billionaire in space, why can’t they…..?’

  4. Gilbert says:

    If I were a billionaire, I hope my priority would be to help our planet rather than space travel.

  5. PJH says:

    Is it just me, or did their rocket not look similar to the one in 1974’s “Flesh Gordon”?…

  6. Phil in London says:

    I fail to understand why anyone cares? I am pretty sure no one asks their grocer (or any proprietor they do business with) much of how they spend their discretionary money. Yes this money could be put to what others feel is a good use here on planet earth. I accept that, I still do not get why the hell it matters?

    There are many who feel they would do things differently if they were a millionaire or a billionaire or a trillionaire. You know, maybe the majority of wealthy would do things differently if they were working digging ditches by hand for the department of highways in their native state. Once again why does anyone care?

    I know I could give more money to causes. I know I could be more kind to some people in my life. WHO DOESN’T have things they could be judged by themselves let alone others to do better?

    These ego maniacs thank you very much to drawing attention to their fetes, that is all they are really seeking so thank you all for enabling them.

    I can’t help but notice if everyone who is outraged at this event put their social efforts into justice for native people a lot could be done with that capital as well. My observation is the world is not perfect, maybe it could be perfecter for some of us if we minded our own?

  7. Steve T says:

    Lots of low-hanging “scorn fruit” on this story, but I take a somewhat opposing view.

    Bezos has chosen to spend his own money in a way that he wants. Sure, all that money might be better used to help the poor (or whatever other moral high-ground seems appropriate). However, can we all say that our expenditures are 100% virtuous? Maybe you should have bought the cheapest car available, and spent the rest on “the poor”? Maybe you should have bought an 800 square foot home, and spent the rest on “the poor”. Did you really need that brand new iPhone 12, when your iPhone 8 was working fine? Etc, etc..

    It’s also worth noting that Bezos’s expenditure didn’t just chuck the money down a hole. It went to hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people who got gainful employment due to the interest in space flight.

    That doesn’t mean we can’t continue criticizing Amazon for its treatment of employees, or criticizing tax laws for having too many loopholes. But to focus on Bezos’s choice to spend his legally-earned money on a space excursion seems oversimplified.

  8. david says:

    At least his spaceship dick wasn’t as curved as his ubiquitous Amazon logo.
    i’ll see my myself out now.

  9. PJH says:

    Stolen from twitter: “Oh look a giant dick is being launched into space. Also a rocket”…….

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