Category Archives: Humor

Business, Economics, Humor, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Akins’ Laws Of Spacecraft Design

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I’ve known Dave for decades, but this is the first time I’ve seen these.

I particularly like 39(s):

39. Any exploration program which “just happens” to include a new launch vehicle is, de facto, a launch vehicle program.

39. (alternate formulation) The three keys to keeping a new human space program affordable and on schedule:
1) No new launch vehicles.
2) No new launch vehicles.
3) Whatever you do, don’t develop any new launch vehicles.

Shame that NASA and Congress can’t learn this.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Satire, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Writing Science Fiction

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A guideline to how to woke-ify it, from Frank Fleming (who has a new book out), over at Sarah Hoyt’s place.

[Update a few minutes later]

Yes, this is a problem I’ve always had, too:

This one is going to be harder for some than others. Sarah Hoyt has been pretty good about this, while I have always struggled. But if at all possible, when you sit down to write, don’t be a straight white male. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with being a straight white male — you were born that way, no fault of your own — it’s just that everyone hates you. So stop it.

I don’t think I’m even going to work on that one.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Sarah has some blurbs about the book.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Satire, Social Commentary

Dating Tips

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My neighbor Kurt Schlichter has some for prominent Democrats:

Having needs is nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve taken on an awesome responsibility being a Democrat leader – you’re constantly struggling to hold up the burden imposed upon you by the support and acclaim of the D.C. establishment and the media. You have a right to extracurricular activities; why, liberal women will tell you themselves that the mere fact that you are quite willing to kill babies by the millions entitles you to all sorts of fringe benefits!

But hey, there are a lot of uptight people out there whose bourgeois notions of “right” and “wrong” really don’t account for the unique pressures and special requirements you face as a liberal icon lookin’ for some lovin’. So, you need to take precautions to ensure that people don’t get the right idea about what you are doing.

Wrong idea. I mean, wrong idea.

First, you’ll want to exclusively seek out liberal women. Don’t make Bill Clinton’s mistake and target women who aren’t reliable progressives. Pinko gals generally know how to play ball and won’t start some sort of fuss that will end up derailing your really important work towards the Democrat Party’s ultimate goal of turning America into Venezuela II: The Starvening.

I don’t think I need to say to read the whole thing.

[Update a few minutes later]

I made the mistake of reading the comments. The person over there describing a fetus as “a parasitic clump of cells” that are like “a cancer” is my nominee for Mother of the Year.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Hitler And Weinstein

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As far as I can tell, Hitler hasn’t found out about Weinstein yet. Let’s try a little crowdsourcing to do the video. I’ll kick it off.

At the beginning, they’re talking about how the war against Trump is going, but they’re having problems raising enough campaign funds. Hitler tells then not to worry, Weinstein will come through after his next blockbuster film. They have to tell him that Weinstein has stepped down after being accused of sexual harassment and assault. So who does he ask to step out of the room for the rant?

In the scene where the one woman is comforting another, she can say something like “Don’t worry, there are still plenty of casting-couch scumbags in Hollywood who will give you a part. You might not even have to watch them shower or take in the @ss.”

[Wednesday-morning update]

OK, this is sort of what I had in mind, but I think there are other possible variants.

General Science, Humor, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

The Eclipse In Southern California

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Would have liked to see totality (guess it remains on the bucket list, maybe 2024 or somewhere else sooner), but we got about sixty percent coverage here. There was a thick marine layer when we awoke, but the clouds broke up in time for us to watch the whole thing. As I saw the moon slice along the left side of the sun, it was easy to imagine it projecting the full shadow a thousand miles north. I took a picture of a natural pinhole camera with hundreds of crescents in our driveway.

A few of my eclipse jokes on Twitter: