The Norman Conquests

Love the outtake at the end.

Norman Podhoretz is just wonderful. How refreshing to listen to an intellectually honest man who is unafraid to express his support for Trump.

I tend to think that this part of the Solar System is the sort of neighborhood where the Aliens lock their doors as they drive thru...

When I was a kid, I really liked the UFO stuff - you know the pre x-files magazines and short novels - but as a I grew older I realized how impossible it was - Not just because of the physical barriers of the known universe, you know the distances between stars, the energy requirements to push any ship to even a fraction of the speed of light... etc, but because it presupposed a competent government or international agency that was able to keep its secrets. If you wait long enough eventually every documented ever produced by a government agency will end up in a newspaper somewhere. Although the revelations of Kevin Spacey and all the #metoo stuff did cause me to re-think how to keep a secret. You keep the secret by telling everyone. You tell them in such away that its completely unbelievable, and if anyone should believe it or find "evidence" of the truth, they're treated as nut cases and driven from polite society. The truth becomes a lie, and truthers are treated as crazies. Nah, too creative for government work.

I think governments would keep alien contacts a secret for as long as possible - because they're afraid of upsetting the status quo. If the status quo gets turned over, and all public institutions of faith and trust instantaneously and simultaneously loose all their influence - things would get very rough very quickly. I think the western world would be fine with aliens - I think the real trouble would come from the Muslim street.

A story idea for Rob Long: What if the hubble telescope catches an image of a large object in orbit of say - Neptune - lets say its an impossibly large object, maybe the size of the USS Nimitz or larger - but is navigating - changing speeds and trajectory, so we know its not a natural object. What happens next? What does the White House do? NASA? Do the aliens notice they've been noticed? and do they care?

OccupantCDN (View Comment):

When I was a kid, I really liked the UFO stuff – you know the pre x-files magazines and short novels – but as a I grew older I realized how impossible it was – Not just because of the physical barriers of the known universe, you know the distances between stars, the energy requirements to push any ship to even a fraction of the speed of light… etc, but because it presupposed a competent government or international agency that was able to keep its secrets. If you wait long enough eventually every documented ever produced by a government agency will end up in a newspaper somewhere. Although the revelations of Kevin Spacey and all the #metoo stuff did cause me to re-think how to keep a secret. You keep the secret by telling everyone. You tell them in such away that its completely unbelievable, and if anyone should believe it or find “evidence” of the truth, they’re treated as nut cases and driven from polite society. The truth becomes a lie, and truthers are treated as crazies. Nah, too creative for government work.

I think governments would keep alien contacts a secret for as long as possible – because they’re afraid of upsetting the status quo. If the status quo gets turned over, and all public institutions of faith and trust instantaneously and simultaneously loose all their influence – things would get very rough very quickly. I think the western world would be fine with aliens – I think the real trouble would come from the Muslim street.

A story idea for Rob Long: What if the hubble telescope catches an image of a large object in orbit of say – Neptune – lets say its an impossibly large object, maybe the size of the USS Nimitz or larger – but is navigating – changing speeds and trajectory, so we know its not a natural object. What happens next? What does the White House do? NASA? Do the aliens notice they’ve been noticed? and do they care?

Trump tweeting out a demand that we create a "Space Force" was too subtle for you?