Thanks for this image! I’d never seen white Terry Crews before.

He visits, the old pope dies. He visits, your entire political party is marginalized. Frankly if I were a world leader I’d want to stay as far the hell away from JD Vance as possible.

Actually, as just a regular Joe I’d * also * like to stay as far the hell away from JD Vance as possible.

Honestly I don’t even think I would care if they had landed. If they were setting up some sort of base I’d be into it – mostly to geek out over the new tech and techniques that would have to be developed for construction, environmental control, etc. But for just boots on the ground? Still kinda meh.

I’d be excited for boots on Mars, but again maybe for the same reasons - just to get people there and back would require an almost unthinkable (today) level of development and dedication of resources.

Maybe it’s meant to run on the old Soviet Setun platform.

That’s an interesting point. There’s zero engineering elegance on display here, and while I’m sure there are some cool, new things going on under-the-hood, it mostly looks like every other big rocket we’ve launched in the last 60 years, and not half as cool as the (admittedly stupid) Shuttle. And the Shuttle did at least have a lot of clever engineering going on to compensate for the (again, stupid) design choices that were driven by so many different and conflicting potential mission profiles.

It doesn’t help that a lot of people in power seem to take issue with objective realities.

Yep, I am definitely more excited by space science news. I’d say I’m just more mature now and interested in more grounded “pure” science, but it wasn’t too long ago that I was giggling like an idiot as we watched the 2 falcon heavy boosters landing back on their dual pads at KSC, so I don’t think it’s entirely just a loss of child-like wonder (though it’s wearing thin these days, gotta admit).

The Apollo program was also a political tool, but it was astounding (not that I know first-hand, just hearing what my folks have said, and even they were fairly young at the time). Artemis doesn’t have the same caché, I guess.

Yeah I’ve been thinking maybe this is it – it’s still technically impressive and I have nothing but admiration for the teams who have pored their sweat and tears into making sure it’s safe and reliable, but it’s kind of a ‘so what?’ moment.

This is the only reason I keep a Sirius/XM subscription going (that and I got a cheap rate after trying to quit). While DJs are mostly insufferable, some of them do know what they’re doing and can prep a set list, talk intelligently about it, and give you more than just algo-slop.

There are most definitely people in high places and boots on the ground who truly believe they’re fighting a religious war though.

Unless you’re going to spend the rest of your life in a cave somewhere (an increasingly good-looking option), then it’s a legitimate matter of perspective imo. Every activity carries some inherent risk, and my current viewpoint is that domestic entities are the worse option compared to foreign ones. Will China/Russia try to use US data to influence US elections? Of course. But you know what? So do US-based political operatives. So does Meta and Microsoft. The difference is that Meta and Microsoft have unfiltered access to our data (we give it to them), and the direct ability to lobby/bribe our politicians. Might a Chinese company try to sway my opinion on some Chinese/other foreign topic? Yes, of course. But so does every big tech company, every cable news operator, and so many millions of US-run websites. The domestic operatives have more access and are capable of doing more damage.

Probably for the same reason I’m not concerned about Chinese companies collecting my (US) data – what the hell are they going to do with it? I already know all the terrible things that my local/national companies and state/federal government are doing with citizens’ collected data; there’s real, well-known risk there. Compared to local actors, foreign ones are not nearly as incentivized to do anything with it.

If it’s a lichen does that mean you can take the piece that you have and just put it back (where it came from or some different spot) and it will continue to grow? Or is there some differentiated bit that acts like “roots” or a body (making it more like a mushroom)?

I wonder how old people have to be to get the “more at 6” capper. I know I use it a lot so my kids get it, but I’d bet most don’t.

Time, assuming I could choose when to stop.

Well at least they got what they wanted.

I got my kids to refer to their phones as depression rectangles.

I was looking at Easter candy at the grocery store. A small, hollow chocolate bunny is almost $10. The bargain-bin ones that used to be $0.99 are $3. I feel like coffee and chocolate have both skyrocketed in the last year.

I had to stop watching that show because too many episodes were hitting too close to home.