DOD "Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon" report suggests that we can expect no help from "out there" to get off this planet we are killing

 

We live in a country where truth is increasingly stranger than fiction, mainly because fiction in Trumpworld is so often taken as literal “fact.” The latest is a poll that indicates that nearly one-third of Republican voters believe that Donald Trump will be “reinstated” as president by Labor Day, apparently based on the belief going around QAnon circles that the fraudulent Arizona recount will discover  such egregious “fraud” that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the election and just hand it over to Trump. There are people who actually believe this will happen, and you can’t stop them because some people are more susceptible to cult derangement than others. Even a few Democrats are susceptible; take for instance Sen. Joe Manchin, who insisted to an incredulous Chris Wallace on Fox News (of all places) that there were Republican senators that he could “work” with—that is, of course, if it was for the advancement of the Trumpist agenda.

Thus when it comes to discussing topics that are in fact “otherworldly,” it is almost like returning to the world of reality. Take for instance the revelation that an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) task force had been initiated in last year. The rationalization for this task force was to investigate what was formerly referred to as “UFOs” as potential “national security threats” rather than as evidence of extraterrestrial life; interestingly, this was part of the “pandemic relief” bill signed by Trump. The task force reviewed 120 reported sightings, of which it was decided that most probably did not involve U.S. technology. Apparently all of the incidents investigated were first reported by military personnel, with those incidents reported by civilians ignored.

The Department of Defense has since released videos of objects that “outperform” known technology and appear to leave no exhaust trails—objects that military pilots operating off the Atlantic coast claim to have seen “every day” for the past few years. Few actually believe these to be evidence of extraterrestrial life; some think they are currently unidentified technology by foreign actors like Russia and China, while most scientists seem more skeptical than expected, viewing these sightings as “mirages,” “space junk” or lighting from natural or manmade objects mischaracterized by the type of camera used, especially infrared cameras which show a “shape” based on areas of greatest heat release. Of course, without absolute “proof” that these objects are not extraterrestrial craft, what exactly these objects are is left to the “interpretation” of the individual:

 

Of course in this day and age when people are consumed with Earth-bound gadgets like “smart” phones, it is difficult to explain how “naïve” people back in the day were for being so fascinated by the “probability” of the existence of UFOs, alien life (not border crossers), Bigfoot, ESP and other strange phenomenon like the Nazca Lines in Peru, which could only be seen from high in the sky by somebody "up there":

 

But some “fantasies” seemed real enough; people believed that after landing on the moon, going to Mars and the outer planets was just the next easy technological step away. But unless you were spent nights listening to Art Bell’s radio show, it was eventually time to leave the world of imagination, and return to the “normality” of real life.

But what happened to those dreams of a world “out there”? The website Flashbak recalled that the 1970s were not just the “Have a Nice Day” decade full of great music that is still used in films and television commercials, but was also a time of “crisis and collective panics.” There was the Oil Crisis, where the OPEC initiated an embargo that quadrupled oil prices overnight, with gas rationing and gas stations shutting down. What followed was the “fiscal crisis” with American-made gas-guzzling cars going out of style, Native American beads “Made in Japan,”  and interest rates and inflation skyrocketing, The Vietnam War still going on, then Watergate, plane hijackings and serial killers galore. For some people, the end times were “near.” What to do? According to Mad magazine: 

 

  

Of course, if you really wanted to get away from it all, you could, if you could afford it (like Howard Hughes), lock yourself in the top floor of a penthouse, or be a “hermit” like Ted Kaczinski and plot vengeance on the world, or just kill yourself. Or you could seek solace in the “teachings” of far-out cults like the Rosicrucians (like my mother), or pack up and get away from the city to the country to grow your own vegetables, raise chickens and live off the land just in case the rest of the world went to pot. Or you could just escape into the fantasy world of the world “out there.”

To be certain, most people just took the punches the world gave them and got off the ground and carried on. But considering what we see today, some of these outlets for frustration with the “real” world were relatively harmless. On the other hand, surely we have to consider the fact that we are destroying this planet, and we have to figure out a way short of complete annihilation of the species to get people off this planet for long-term survival. So just what kind of progress have we made to accomplish that? I mean, the Stanley Kubrick film 2001 A Space Odyssey suggested we’d be exploring Jupiter—20 years ago.

What happened was Richard Nixon, who cut NASA funding, and cancelled the last two scheduled Apollo moon missions, with what funding was left reverting to the Space Shuttle and Space Lab programs. NASA had in fact laid out a plan for a manned mission to Mars in 1969, which they hoped to accomplish sometime in the 1980s. In a report prepared by the Space Task Force, NASA’s most ambition proposal was to double the size of its current budget by 1980 to do the following: “enable a human Mars mission in the 1980s, establishment of a lunar orbiting space station, a 50-person Earth orbiting space station, and a lunar base.” A reusable transportation vehicle to support the space stations, presumably meaning what would become the Space Shuttle, was also in the mix.

Nixon eventually ignored the report, seeing  “no compelling reason” to continue manned space flight outside of Earth orbit, and downgraded NASA to just another domestic program competing for funding. In his book After Apollo: Richard Nixon and the American Space Program, John Logsdon wrote that as a result, “What has happened is the least desirable outcome—for more than 40 years there has been a mismatch between space ambitions and the resources provided to achieve them.” Nixon apparently hoped that NASA would operate as an “advanced technology” agency, but without a clear “mission” to go above and beyond, this never materialized. And there has been indication that as time has passed, the public just doesn’t care one way or the other about a return to the moon and beyond—outside a few dreamers, space exploration no longer captures the “fancy” of imagination.

In the 1960s, NASA’s budget was as high as 4 perfect of the federal budget; today it is one-tenth of that. The current “hope” is that the Artemis program utilizing the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion crew capsule, will send a mission to the moon by 2024, but that program has been so fraught with delays and funding issues that it might not happen for awhile, if ever. Whisperings about taking shortcuts because of budget constraints calls to mind those that were at least partially responsible for two Shuttle disasters. Private companies have jumped into the fray making their own claims about moon shots, but that is mostly powered from the exhaust coming out the mouth of people like Elon Musk. You can’t fault NASA for thinking “big,” though. This is what the agency envisions as their “base camp” for a potential Mars mission:

 

So as bad as things seem to be headed under the cult of Trump, we don’t have much choice but to wait out the insanity, because this country is unwilling to spend the money necessary to “expand” its horizons much beyond its own gravitational pull, and no advanced life form is going to arrive to supply us with the know-how to get our act together.

 

Aaron Rodgers a no-show not a "shock" to this long-time Packer fan who has been "divided" about this faker since 2008

 

I am writing this on Monday, fully expecting Aaron Rodgers to skip the Packers mandatory minicamp, and not having to change a word. It probably shouldn’t come as a “surprise” to anyone that Rodgers is AWOL, and not just because of his tendency to be a “drama” queen; is it another one of those “coincidences” that a day before minicamp, we are learning from Elle magazine that Rodgers and his fiancé, Shailene Woodley, have been engaged and living together for longer than previously known, and consumed with domestic bliss? We also learn that Woodley apparently doesn’t know a whole lot about football, unlike Tom Brady’s Brazilian wife, Gisele; Woodley claims that her dog convinced her to go out with a guy who “throws balls” for a living—but she was “really impressed” by the way Rodgers could throw “fast balls, slow balls, high balls, low balls.”  

As I’ve mentioned before, I think that Woodley’s “take” on all of this has a lot more to do with Rodgers’ attitude about returning to Green Bay. Consider: after his infamous postgame interview after the loss the Buccaneers in the NFC title game, in which Rodgers dodged all questions in analyzing the loss, and whined about how he might not be on the team next year, a few days later he “clarified” his views, insisting that he expected to return to the Packers this season. Remember that, blind, deaf and dumb Rodgers apologists? So what “changed” between then and April 29? The “input” of someone who probably didn’t even know what state Green Bay was in before she met Rodgers? If the media is too “coy” to ask Woodley directly, maybe they could get some “inside” information from those who know her about her views on the matter; I mean, look what Prince Harry gave up to make Meghan “happy.”

But even if people don’t want to go there, there are plenty of other reasons to doubt Rodgers’ sincerity or motives. Does he even want to play football again, or even care about winning another Super Bowl? He has a better chance with the Packers with going to a Super Bowl than any of the teams being named as potential landing spots (and yet we are told he has no "weapons," which insults the other players on the team who still will demean themselves by claiming to have this selfish player's "back"). Is the “location” what we are really talking about here, and team management is being made the scapegoat here, by a so-called “elite” quarterback who needs them to explain his failure to deliver? Brett Favre never spent his off-seasons making excuses or bitching about management.

Meanwhile, there is a story about Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians “schooling” the Packers on how you are supposed to treat a diva quarterback, such as by discussing potential draft picks with him. First off, I doubt that Brady watches much college football during the season to properly evaluate talent, so such draft “discussions” are likely superficial and about already agreed upon “needs.” Furthermore, Brady is certainly more “cerebral” than Rodgers, who’d rather have a good time in the fun and sun in Hawaii than evaluate college players, which is the job of team scouts.

What are we talking about here, anyways? It is the same story every off-season with this guy: Rodgers moans about this and that; maybe—just maybe—team management sees him as a natural-born complainer for whom they can’t do anything to please, so why even bother? Again, this guy is consumed by personal grudges, and you can’t expect intelligent, sound decisions from such people. While Rodgers was in Hawaii, what was Russell Wilson doing? He was spending his time working out before eventually reporting to the Seahawks OTAs; it was almost like he was making a point in telling the world “I am not Aaron Rodgers. I am a leader, and I will lead.”

It is useful to remember the criticisms of Rodgers well before this off-season, because they inform us of the hypocrisies we hear today. Three years ago after a 31-17 loss to the Patriots, Colin Cowherd observed that the headlines were saying the team let “him” down again. He   begged to differ; Cowherd saw Rodgers’ receivers make great catches on poor passes, such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling leaping over a building to snare a badly overthrown ball. Brady didn’t have Gronk in the game, nor his lead running back. The game was tied entering the fourth quarter, and Brady showed his “clutch”: 6 of 6 passing, 104 yards, a TD and a 158.3 passer rating. Was Rodgers “clutch”? 2 of 7, 15 yards and a 39.6 passer rating.

Cowherd pointed out that since 2011, the Packers had a losing road record during what were Rodgers’ prime years. Apparently he was the only player on the bus or on the plane to play in road games. In those years, he had 7 Pro Bowl linemen, while Brady had just 2. In those years Rodgers had four Pro Bowl receivers; Brady had just one. And yet the Patriots played in three Super Bowls, and the Packers zero. Cowherd noted that he had always said that Rodgers is no Brady; he’s wasn’t even sure if he was a Drew Brees. Brees inherited a team that was a mess; Rodgers inherited a team that was another hair-pulling Favre interception from the Super Bowl. Rodgers was 6-10 his first season as a starter; the one team he did lead to a Super Bowl had a top-five defense.

And then Cowherd noted Rodgers’ body language that was becoming a “tired act.” Of all the “elite” quarterbacks in the league, only one of them every year takes passive/aggressive shots at his team’s organization—Rodgers. Cowherd noted the leadership shown by Wilson: no finger-pointing, no exasperation, no drama, no passive/aggressive. Rodgers had become predictably dramatic, predictably woe-is-me, always off by himself on the sidelines, never taking responsibility. What has changed with this guy? Nothing, so why are all these people giving him a pass now? Adam Schefter thinks that Rodgers is 90 percent of the team? Dominique Foxworth doesn't know that a lot of Packer fans are tired of Rodgers' shtick? These people obviously live in their own bubble world.

After blowing a 19-7 lead late in the fourth quarter of the 2014 NFC title game against the Seahawks, Rodgers seemed to have lost the motivation to play, preferring to blame Mike McCarthy and his teammates for his failure to lead. In four of the next five seasons his level of play was strictly middle-of-the-pack in the NFL, as if he just wanted to get the season over. The drafting of Jordan Love could be said to have been a warning to Rodgers to shape up, motivating him to play better. If Rodgers needs “motivation” to play at an “elite” level, then there certainly is a question if there is anything a team can do to “motivate” such a player. Most players are motivated by the desire to lead and to win; with Rodgers, it is to make sure the “buck” doesn’t stop with him every time he chokes in the playoffs.

As a long-time Packer fan who still thinks the best football game he’s ever seen was the 1983 MNF game between the Lynn Dickey-led Packers and the defending Super Bowl champion Redskins—won by the Packers 48-47 on Mark Moseley’s missed field goal attempt to end the game—I don’t see the world revolving around Rodgers. Yes, he does offer the Packers the “best chance” to return to the Super Bowl at the present time, but four straight failures to deliver has dampened “expectations,” and elicits a lack of trust. It doesn’t really matter to me if he plays for Packers again or not, and I suspect that if he is traded, whoever lands him will discover that he isn’t all that he is cracked up to be by the media, especially under the “influence” of his new domestic situation, if in fact he decides to ever play football again.

Is this Packer fan “divided’? I’ve been “divided” about Rodgers since 2008.

Taser-wielding Soup Nazi at the local 7-Eleven messing with the wrong guy

 

There is a 7-Eleven across the street from the downtown Seattle office building I work in. There was a time I went there to buy something on a regular basis, and the employees seemed friendly enough. But then the manager started to get more aggressive with the panhandlers hanging around outside, and then with “loiterers” in the store. One day I saw him chase someone out of the store, hitting him on the back with a loud “thud”; I wasn’t sure that was in the employee manual. He apparently decided he had enough and sold that location to another South Asian franchisee, and that one sold it to another.

I hadn’t seen these new operators before when I went into the establishment late in the afternoon last week to purchase a salad bowl and two slices of pizza. I picked up the salad from a shelf and went on to observe what kind of pizza they had; they had two on the warmer: four slices of pepperoni pizza that looked like it had been sitting since early in the morning, dried-up and curling up. The other looked like it had a little more on it, and had just gotten out of the oven; I was resolved to get the slices from that pizza, since it is the customer’s choice, right?

But this would be no ordinary day at your “friendly” 7-Eleven, every one that I’ve ever been to in the last few years in King County operated by South Asians. As I waited in line to complete my purchases, I observed a white male customer at the checkout counter having a “discussion” with the clerk, who frankly looked a little “rough” to me. The customer was being told that his debit card had “insufficient funds.” The customer insisted that this was wrong; he tried to show the clerk on his phone that he had plenty of money left in his bank account, that there must be a mistake. The clerk became belligerent, ordering the customer to “get out of here.” The customer gestured in dismay and left; I thought to myself “that guy is acting like the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.”

But Soup Nazi wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot. One white customer down, and next up was black customer. He wanted a Big Bite and a slice of the “spicy” pizza, presumably referring to the fresh pizza that I could see had Italian sausage on it. He was told he had to pay for the items first; because of the pandemic, most 7-Elevens now have the customers handle their own food from the “hot” food section, just like they do everything on the shelves, but not at this place. Here, you have to pay first, and they will give you whatever the hell they want to. The Big Bites all looked the same, but Soup Nazi ignored his request for a slice of “spicy” pizza and took out a slice of the old, moldy pizza; the black customer insisted that was not what he ordered, but Soup Nazi was having none of that: “Go, get out of here,” and this customer, probably more out of shock than anything else, “obliged” this asshole.

I was next, the guy everyone thinks is a “Mexican,” so why not make this an “equal opportunity” discrimination fest? But after taking in what I had seen, I was prepared for battle. I put the salad on the counter and told Soup Nazi that I want two slices of the “fresh” pizza. While I was paying for the items with a debit card, I observed him getting the slices of the moldy pizza. I immediately exclaimed that I did not order that, I wanted the “fresh” pizza—give me what I paid for. Soup Nazi left the pizza on the tray and told me to “Get out of here.” Yeah, I was just going to leave having been forced to pay for items I didn’t receive. I pointed at the fresh pizza and told him to give me what I ordered, or would call someone.

Soup Nazi told me to “go ahead”; he even pointed to me on the receipt the customer service phone number. Yeah, like I was going to wait “patiently” listening to the automated “customer service” system for twenty minutes and then be put on hold for an hour. No, I wasn’t going to be cheated like these two other customers. He was actually expecting me to meekly walk out with only half of what I paid for, but I told him I wasn’t going anywhere until I received what I paid for.

This apparently discombobulated the Soup Nazi because what happened next was something he had probably been itching to do to somebody: he reached underneath the counter and pulled out what appeared to be an LED flashlight, and he reached over the counter and quickly touched my elbow with it. I felt a very slight jolt of electricity; apparently this was some low-wattage Taser device. My reaction was a mixture of bemusement and indignation, and in no way did this dissuade me from my purpose; I tend to feel this way when I am convinced I am in the “right.” There were two other customers in the store who saw this, and they decided to split.

The clerk wasn’t alone here; there was another South Asian man who I took to be the “manager,” since he didn’t do anything except wander around. I asked him if he had just seen what the Soup Nazi had done. I told him I was going to call the police on this guy. Soup Nazi went around the counter with his Taser in hand, but the manager stopped him and had an animated conversation with him. The Soup Nazi did as instructed, telling me to wait on the other side of the store while they cooked a “fresh” pizza.

In fact they didn’t do that; they just wanted to make certain that I didn’t see them take two slices from the “fresh” pizza they already had sitting there. Soup Nazi brought it to me, slightly less belligerent than before, realizing that I was the type who could cause some real trouble for them if I reported this to a district manager, and maybe even talked to a lawyer to see if these guys could be sued. He “advised” me to be “nicer” to him next time. Well, there won’t be a “next” time, because that place is just another 7-Eleven I’m crossing off my list.

The Packers are in a better position to play hardball with Aaron Rodgers than he is with the team

 

A day full of personal angst because of package delivery issues, and I just don’t have the time to do a lot of heavy thinking today. But there is one topic that doesn’t require much thinking for me: The Aaron Rodgers Express To Nowhere. The quarterback who is 0-42 in games against teams with winning records when trailing entering the fourth quarter, and who had a backup—Matt Flynn—who was arguably more “clutch,” it  is clear that Rodgers has been taking advise from people he shouldn’t, meaning sycophants, fanatics and people who are not part of the Packer faithful. Sure, I dare him to take ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith’s “advice” and sit out the season.

Next Tuesday is the Packers mandatory mini-camp, and every ambulatory Packer player, including Rodgers, is required to be there, or incur fines which may or may not be waved. But if Rodgers holds out from training camp next month, then the daily fines are mandatory per the CBA. As Mike Florio points out, the Packers really hold all the cards here, given that Rodgers still has three years left on a contract that he doesn’t have the character to honor. In fact, it is in their best interest to call Rodgers' “bluff” and see if he will report or not. The Packers have insisted they will not trade him, and if Rodgers does decide to report for camp, that means he will play for the team—and if he doesn’t and decides to sit out the season, the Packers have in fact no incentive to trade him right away.

The Packers are in fact in a better position to play hardball with Rodgers than he is with the team; the team could potentially recoup up to $35 million this year if Rodgers goes home and pouts.  Furthermore, right now only two teams—the Broncos and the Raiders—seem to be in the “mix” to acquire Rodgers now. But if the Packers wait until later in the season, or even after the season is over, that means there will likely be more teams competing for Rodgers’ services and offering more in exchange. The Packers still control his fate at the present time; after all, Rodgers can’t trade himself—only the Packers can do that.

It doesn’t matter if Rodgers “retires,” and then decides to “unretire” in 2022; he will still be under contract with the Packers, just as was the case with Brett Favre when he “unretired” in 2008. By then, the Packers will see if Jordan Love is any good (I’m not holding my breath on that), or they can get a high 2022 draft pick (from a deal for Rodgers, or if the team “tanks”) and pick up a young quarterback who is ready to play. Who knows what Rodgers will be doing in his “extended” offseason: lie about and get out-of-shape? Hope he’ll get that call from Jeopardy producers? The only way the Packers "lose" here is if Rodgers decides his retirement is permanent and he can't be used as trade bait in the future.

The truth is that for this thing to have “worked” for Rodgers if he really wanted out of Green Bay was to hope that the Packers traded him right away. But he seriously miscalculated by waiting until draft day to make his "desire" known. The Packers insist that they have no intention to trade him, and expect him to play for them this season. GM Brian Gutekunst isn’t quite as “dumb” as some people take him for, especially Rodgers; at least he is a man with a "plan," and not operating purely from juvenile emotion.

Gutekunst is offering Rodgers a lucrative contract extension, even renegotiating TE Robert Tonyan’s contract to free-up cap space. If Rodgers decides to play and gets another chance to prove he isn’t the playoff choke artist he has shown himself to be time and time again, Packer fans will be forgiving. But if he decides he won’t play for the Packers again, the Packers can take their sweet time dealing  him, since any draft picks they acquire for him will be from next year’s draft anyways.

Ultimately, it all falls on Rodgers to be “smart,” and given that this guy is consumed with his personal grudges, one wonders if he is even capable of that, let alone thinking far enough ahead to be accused of being “calculating.” This isn’t a “game” anymore; this is real life, and if Rodgers is comfortable with forfeiting $35 million, so be it. We shouldn’t feel too sorry for him if that kind of money is “nothing” to him. The smart move is to accept a new contract extension, or simply come back for another year, with the “understanding” that he may want to be moved next year.