Drunk on the Job

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:00:15 -0600

So, some of the astronauts get their freak on right before they fly into space. Hell, I’d have a few J.D.’s and ice before getting strapped into a Roman candle. Hell, I’ve been scuba diving on LSD! Okay, you’re right – that is fucking insane … but I wasn’t thinking too smartly in those days … you know, young, indestructible – stupid. Okay, you’re right – I never stopped at just “a few” J.D.’s and ice.

Back to the astronauts
* just an aside here: When I was growing up I had two major heroes: John F. Kennedy and John Glenn. Kennedy went on to get assassinated and Glenn went on to become a U.S. Senator and the oldest person to take a flight in space.

I’ve always admired those who fly in space and felt badly when there were accidents that took the lives of these brave – and incredibly smart – individuals. Space exploration is an important part of defining our future, just as it was when, in 1960, President Kennedy made the commitment to put a man on the moon before 1970.

Whether by robot or manned space flight, we as a species have much to learn by exploring space; our continued existence here on Earth depends on it, just as our exploration within our atmosphere; on land, below the waves and in the winds above our heads. Science is the answer to nearly all our problems. Science will provide the solutions to the global warming crisis, to poverty, to all the diseases that now claim millions of lives each year. But none of it means much unless we have the political and social will to implement the solutions science puts on our plates.

Space flight is necessary for our future and making sure our astronauts are the best candidates available is really the first step in creating the best possible space flight program on the planet. Which is why this little nugget is so disturbing: NASA’s flight surgeons said the management of NASA did not value their recommendations and concerns about fitness. And, an anonymous source from inside NASA said heavy drinking has always been a part of the astronaut culture. Seems I could have been an astronaut after all.

Can it be any surprise then that one astronaut drives 900 miles wearing a space shuttle diaper to do … whatever she was planning … to a woman competing for the affections of yet another astronaut? The flight surgeons said management was only interested in the medical systems being “go” for mission completion. Sort of like President Reagan pushing NASA to launch the Challenger – which resulted in the explosion we witnessed January 28, 1986. It was the “O” a ring on the solid rocket boosters that were the problem 21+ years ago, but the mindset is the same: get the shuttle launched!

I like astronauts.

And the Tour de France, despite all the controversy. Alberto Contador retains the yellow jersey after today’s stage (18). Frenchman Sandy Casar hit a dog in this stage, sending him to the ground, getting, for his efforts, a lot of nice, painful road rash. Casar stayed with the breakaway, the four riders out ahead of the main peleton, feigning serious pain and injury, but in the last meters of the race he attacked the three other riders and won the stage for himself and his countrymen. Now that’s courage and cunning!

Tomorrow is the all-important final time trial and then Sunday the ride into Paris. Alberto Contador cannot finish more than a minute slower than Cadel Evans to retain his yellow jersey. Hard to do, considering Evans is a seasoned time trial expert.

One of these days I’ll get back to politics; the tiff between Clinton and Obama is just heating up, Senator McCain … (sigh) … I haven’t yet posted any pics of Rudy Giuliani in drag and all of a sudden Fred Thompson is getting cold feet about entering the primaries – I guess his work for pro-choice advocacy groups kind of contradicts his current rhetoric about abortion. Things are just getting fun!

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But I got room for my friend Veronica, the real Miami Heat! She oughta be a Playmate some day! Click Here if you agree!

The Forkes Report - Science

Drunk on the Job