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This week, Lileks is on vacation, so we forgo the guests and open the floor to you, our faithful Ricochet listeners. We get questions on the President (natch), Rob’s favorite restaurant, which Founding Father the founders resemble, who the characters on Cheers would have voted for and more. Also, Cuomo is a dumbo, newspapers collude, and so long to the Queen of Soul. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. 🙌
Music from this week’s podcast: People Get Ready by Aretha Franklin (with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
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Will astronauts after six months in a weightless environment be able to land on Mars and function in its gravity. Or for that matter, be able to survive the trip back to Earth. That’s much more difficult than returning to Earth. Shielding against solar rays is also important, as you point out, but the human element is critical. At the moment, Musk appears to be assuming that a solution will be found.
I’m glad you wrote that. As just a podcast member I can’t “write” comments long enough to include those full quotes, before I ridicule them.
But I would also argue that such things count strongly against Peter’s overall brightness. Some people are very talented in certain limited areas, but fall flat on their faces if they venture into anything else. That’s especially true for Hollywood people, which is why I’d expect Rob to have more of that problem. But it’s actually Peter who fails most in that way.
It’s not just about current exploration either, although I think it’s arguable that there’s still new technologies to be discovered that will come out of nowhere, basically by accident, and it’s not as likely that SpaceX etc will happen to find them.
But the larger issue is, where does the NEXT big thing come from? The things that nobody even began to think of before? Maybe it can be argued somewhat that “it’s time” for routine space work to be turned over to private enterprise. Taking advantage of what was already done at taxpayer expense. But that just means it’s time to start looking for – and “wasting taxpayer money on” – the NEXT thing.
Unfortunately, it may take another war – maybe/hopefully “just” another “cold war” – involving space, to get some people like Peter to understand that the government/military still has things to do in these areas. Things that have to be done that private enterprise may not be interested in because there’s no profit in it – YET.
We also need to remember, something that I apparently reminded Blue Yeti of at the time, that James actually requested lots of comments on the space stuff, as evidence that people listened all the way to the end.
But so much of the technology was developed in order to support manned flights. There would have been no need for it otherwise.
And Peter is wrong about convincing young people that socialism is wrong, by explaining the failures of socialism by giving real examples, no matter how clear they might be. Because the answer from the left is always that they – Russia or whoever – just didn’t do socialism ENOUGH, or didn’t do it RIGHT.
Rob had a good point, with Peter as General Cornwallis, before backpedaling into flattery and comparing him to Madison. I’m confident that, if Peter Robinson had been present at the Founding, he would have opposed Independence as too expensive, frivolous, wasteful, unproven…
In the past, Hugh Hewitt on his radio show would have a mostly-weekly bit he called “The Smart Guys,” one of whom was law professor Erwin Chemerinsky. Erwin would do very well at giving the “facts” of a Supreme Court or other legal case, for example, the religious freedom case involve the baker in Colorado. But when it came time for “analysis,” Erwin to me might sound something like “Well the constitution clearly states that anyone who refuses to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding must be put to death by firing squad (even though he believed the death penalty was wrong), because the moon is made of green cheese.”
Sometimes Peter Robinson reminds me a lot of Erwin. He can tell us a lot of facts of what happened in the Regan years etc, but when he starts telling us what something MEANS, it’s often best to just stop listening and wait for someone else to take over.
How in the hell was Tim Pawlenty going to politically deal with the fact that he spent the last few years prostituting himself to Big Finance? Tell me.
I just find it laughable that there were so many anti-Trumper’s that wanted him to be governor.
“Not the worst thing in world at the office of the presidency has been diminished”. Boy do I ever agree with that.
Plus I’m sure Pawlenty had “binders full of women” or something. The left and the media – but I repeat myself – would have had a lot of fun with him.
Rob was talking about employment based insurance. My understanding is the Cadillac tax is a stealth way to destroy it. The fact is it’s the root of all of our problems in the GOP should’ve just had an honest conversation about it before they tried to wipe out the ACA.
If I recall correctly John McCain wanted to talk about it and then Obama ran all over him saying he wanted to take away your great health insurance at work. The Democrats had focus grouped it.
He literally said on KTLK the “he worked for the big banks”. Honestly, I see that (in and of it’s self) as an advantage but it’s a huge political problem.
This is why people want socialism. The article relates highly to the way Rob was explaining it. People want their cut of the Keynesian graft or they want it fixed. Government Is How We Steal From Each Other™
I also don’t get why with all of this Ocasio-Cortez stuff the GOP isn’t forcing Democrats to declare themselves members of the Democratic Socialists of America (the website is insane, look at it) or Nordic style welfare capitalists. In my opinion, most Democrats don’t care where this ends up, they just want to seize more government as long as it gets them votes, graft, and free stuff.
The Minnesota democrat party has an officer that literally calls himself a democratic socialist but he knows that he can’t actually join the DSA. He he tweets out a picture of his Jacobian magazine every time he gets it. Every parade here in the People’s Republic of Minneapolis has two or three flavors of international socialists etc. marching in it.
Also, Kevin Williamson has written some really good articles about why African Americans are motivated to vote Democrat.
Oh, I know, filmklassic. And I’m sure Peter knows, too. My posting was intended only to amuse in a silly, absurd way. I intended no serious denigration of space exploration (although my beloved mother was indeed serious…she blamed USA budget deficits largely on NASA). I think Peter was being gracious in a sweet and harmless manner…not virtue signaling, I’m sure. I appreciate your defense of space exploration, filmklassik. Your posts always interest me.
Which Founding Father was Rob Long?
Thinking of Cheers, I think of this guy named Sam(uel) Adams.
(“Sam Adams is the latest brand with a Trump problem” — August 16, 2018)
…
Which Founding Father was Peter Robinson?
I was thinking John Adams for Peter to match Sam Adams for Rob.
Which one wrote, “Tear Down This Wall.”
A Paul Revere-type for Peter?
The only German I can think of would be Friedrich von Steuben, and I don’t know his wall policy.
I think Hamilton wrote for Washington and had connections to the West Indies.
Thomas Jefferson could read Spanish.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was arguably the only Catholic Founding Father, but I think he had a lot more money than Peter, although I don’t think Charles Carroll ever owned any Silicon Valley real estate.
Lewis and Clark? Rob and Peter both moved west?
In my humble opinion, I put a nice pithy comment about why people want socialism here.
That’s why we sends some monkeys first!
Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis, where many of the locals claim it was about nine months after Washington had visited another nearby Caribbean island. I have also been told that Washington paid for young Hamilton’s early schooling on the Virgin Island of St Croix. Thus there are longstanding rumors that one of the Founding Fathers fathered another of the Founding Fathers.
You know, I occasionally wish there were a dislike button at Rico (sometimes when reading an old comment of my own). Yet, this is the first time I really wanted to click on a “hate” button.
I think of Rob fitting in and enjoying the Hancock, Franklin and Paine crowd. Someone needs to write a Common Sense for North Korea, right?
Madison did write some great speeches for a great president, so the connection to Peter seems pretty solid.
That’s extremely unfair to Peter. I disagree with Peter on one point about NASA funding, but I absolutely respect him, and his experiences.
Peter is an admirable man, whom you owe an apology.
Yes, NASA doesnt want to undertake a mars program. They’re quite happy going to the ISS and puttering around LEO with limited goals, limited results and tons of funding. Bureaucrats avoid any program that has definite goals, a schedule and measurable results, such programs get people fired. Could you imagine how many NASA people would have been fired if they didnt manage a moon landing in 1969?
So NASA continues to find excuses to delay. Human physiology is not up for the trip! Radiation is a show stopper! Bacteria on Mars! Soils of Mars are toxic! blah blah blah. By building the machine to send people to Mars we will encounter problems in new lights and overcome them all. Spending billions with engineering studies and other thought experiments arent as relevant as actually doing it.
I seriously have never understood any of the complaints about this podcast. It’s great.
NASA is just one recent example of where Peter makes the wrong analysis and draws the wrong conclusion from the wealth of facts he knows and experiences he’s had.
We may mostly notice people on the Left who can impressively reel out the facts, tell a good story, relate charming personal anecdotes etc, but are just off the wall when it comes to arriving at policy from all that. And a big part of the problem this country/the world has is when people like that can convince others – e.g., voters – that because they have such great command over the facts and are so… “folksy” or whatever… their policy prescriptions are also valid. But it’s a classic non sequitur.
Meanwhile, the same problem exists on the Right, with Peter being one example. If he’s able to convince people that because he remembers everything that happened during the Reagan years etc, and that therefore he’s so smart we should agree on not spending any taxpayer money on a Mars trip or other future-looking exploration/research, we could end up with the same result.
And of course, the Left would agree with Peter about not spending money going to Mars, but not because they want to SAVE the money, they just want to spend that money – and a lot more – on other things. So that kind of comity is not a good thing. But it makes Peter and others with similar attitudes, seem… “reasonable” or something.
@kedavis You are describing John Kasich, who I detest.
He might have it worse, but Peter also gives us examples from time to time.
I’m advocating testing artificial gravity in space. It will do little good to have a working BFR and not having done the important survivability tests. We couldn’t jump from Mercury to Apollo. I’m saying that a Gemini type test needs to be done to solve these types of issues. Maybe Musk will do this once they’re flying people to the space station.
Those sound like reasons for revamping NASA, changing the incentive structure, etc. Not reasons for just giving up and not doing anything at all.
I am going to be late for work… “Sorry I am late, I saw something wrong on the internet.”
<span class="atwho-inserted" contenteditable="false" data-atwho-at-query="@kedavis“>@kedavis Just stop, you owe Peter an apology.
He remembers everything that happened in the Reagan years, because he lived it. Reagan is actively being removed from living memory, we should value his anecdotes even more.
I already said that his memories, anecdotes, etc, are commendable. But not always what he derives from them. It’s not logical to conflate the quality of his memory with the quality of what he derives from them.