I love skiing. I'd say I'm above average; not great. Using a skiing performance tracker app last year in Utah, I broke 40 mph on a downhill run and it scared the shit out of me. These skiers are going 80-90mph through this section. Don't want to think of me crashing at that speed.

I was somewhere else at the time.

It was mass murder in the name of love. What do you think brought me to the point of suicide?

On the technical part, you're right and I saw it but left that morsel for you.

Okay, folks. History is converging here through six degrees of separation.

Long story. I think it is worth your time.

I grew up with a father who said terribly racist things, the n- word, disparaging remarks about all races. There was much screaming and bitter words from me for a lot of my childhood and well into my 20s.

After he died, I got into a short email exchange with someone I didn't know at all. A former co-worker of my father.

My dad's job, as I have said here before, was Range Safety Officer. His job was to blow up missiles that went off course. (No person has blown up more missiles, and no one will ever catch up to him, since they know how to do it now.)

In my email exchanges with "Teddy", I find out slowly that Teddy is a woman. The first woman in the Range Safety Flight arena. She tells me that she was treated horribly in those early days. Except for three of her co-workers, who mentored and helped her.

One of those men was my father.

Oh.

And then she reveals that she is Hispanic.

Dang.

So my dad talked nasty at home, and acted MORE THAN honorably at work. I wish I had known that when he was alive.

Then she tells me that her daughter became an engineer also, and is currently working in Range Safety.

Wow.

Fast forward to last week. I watch Hidden Figures, the movie about black women helping in the first manned space launches. They were in Langley VA, while my dad was stationed in Cape Canaveral, not NASA but the Air Force, working on unmanned missions. But still. It all came flooding back to me -- how my dad was one of the good guys. (It was also cool to see all the actual news footage of people on the beach and parades and what-all -- I was there with my family, doing those things.)

This reminded me of Teddy. I sent her an email, telling her that I was reminded of her story and how touched anew I was.

Then the Falcon 9 launch happened. This launch on this video.

The next day, I got a response from her. Here is her email to me, lightly edited:

Thank you so much for thinking of me. The 60's were a time quite different than today. This morning It came to me just how far we women have come since then.

I stood on the balcony of my house and watched the launch of a Falcon Rocket take off in all its glory from Vandenberg knowing my daughter was the Lead Flight Safety Analyst on that mission. For the last couple of months I have listened to her tell me about all the problems she has had to deal with in preparing all the destruct lines, impact limit lines and all the other things that go into getting the mission package ready for launch and knowing what she was talking about. Boy, was I jealous. I really miss being in the middle of all that. I was/am very PROUD of my little girl being part of the missions leaving out of Vandenberg and knowing I played a small part in making all that happen just like those ladies in Hidden Figures. I have not seen the movie yet but my friends and I are looking forward to it coming to Lompoc so I can see it

Your Dad would be surprised to learn that most of the new Flight Safety Analysts are now all women.

Thank you my friend. Still here and looking forward to all.

Thank you, very much. Thank you for thinking of me.

I hope you are happy and well.

No, if you believe in and work for gender equality FOR WOMEN, you're a feminist.
Those who believe in gender equality for all are called egalitarians.

Why 'feminism' is historically 'feminism' is because it works to secure the rights of women. Period. The feminist movement has never, as far as I know, worked against unequal rights for women when the inequality benefits women...or said another way, worked for equality FOR men.

It was not ONLY women at the start, only mostly women, and you disrespect and dismiss the contributions of all those men who worked against their own self interests to secure equal rights for you. How rude and ungrateful....I bet you would be upset if women's contributions to men's issues were dismissed like that.
No, men have not done the bulk of the work, but they have been invaluable in getting action many, many times. Calling it feminism and acting like it's only by women totally 'disacknowledges' all those self sacrificing men....which is why I have a problem. If we and our votes, money, and efforts don't count and are completely unapreciated, then buh-bye.
Again, no one is even suggesting renaming the entire movement, I suggested that people WHO THINK LIKE ME might start or join another that's more inclusive from the start. If you don't think like me, it's not about you, and even if you do, it's not a command, it's barely a suggestion.

If you focus solely on those with the MOST disadvantages, you only swing the pendulum of unfairness the other direction in a never ending struggle back and forth. Only by focusing on equality for all can you come to the right solutions to inequalities.

(Expletive deleted)! Men and whites ABSOLUTELY need equal rights. Yes, in MOST cases men and whites have advantages, not all by far like you said, still today a crackhead mother is more likely to get full custody than a fully employed stand up father...that is not the ONLY case where women are given advantages men aren't....another off the top of my head, domestic violence, men will ALWAYS be the one thought to be the aggressor without clear evidence to the contrary, but that's simply false, and leaves many abused men victimized twice. Same for sexual abuse/rape. Men get zero support if they've been raped, only ridicule and disbelief. Take each situation individually, or you'll continue to make that insulting, repulsive, self serving mistake that perpetuates inequality and pits men against women.

Equal child custody rights....yes, good example....how has the feminist movement worked to secure that....for men? If the imbalance is in their favor, that's FINE with feminists. I disagree strongly, and I won't be considering myself one anymore.

How about I respect your beliefs by not assuming that you're only holding onto them until the day I come around to convince you to think like me, by disingenuously pretending to consider your opinions just so I can educate you on mine?

If you assume that people come across their beliefs through mature, thoughtful reflection, then it becomes much easier to call them an ignorant jackass to their faces. Because you weren't going to change their minds anyway.

If you can't respect their ideas, respect their convictions enough to tell them how stupid you think they are.

Maaaaaaybe, but I don't think being 'ME-ll-OW' will be much of a motivator ... just S-p-AYING

Sorry I'm just replying now. Just noticed your comment after checking my profile page, but that was only after I read this grim news. I lurk once in a blue moon, and unfortunately that's what I find out after being away for ages. Son of a bitch.

Well anyway I hope you're well. Thanks for thinking of me.

When I was done dying my conscience regained
So I began my struggle a nothingness strained
Out a flash made of time my new form blasted out
And it startled me so and I burst out a shout
At which my legs ran frantic like birds from a nest
And I ran until drained leaving no choice but rest
So I fell asleep softly at the edge of a cave
But I should have gone in deeper but I'm not so brave
And like that I was torn out and thrown in the sky
And I said all my prayers because surely I'll die
As I crashed down and smashed into earth, into dirt
How my skin did explode leaving only my shirt
But from shirt grew a tree and then tree grew a fruit
And I became the seed and that seed was a brute
And I clawed through the ground with my roots and my leaves
And I tore up the shirt and I ate up the sleeves
And they laughed out at me and said "what is your plan?"
But their question was foreign I could not understand
When then suddenly I'm ripped up and placed into a mouth
And it swallowed me down at which time I head south
So I said
Hey ya ya
Hey ya ya
Hey ya ya
Hey hey hey

Well I woke up to see them, these two mighty steeds
With their mouths grinning wildly expressing my needs
As they stood there above me, being flanked on each side
I felt no need to fear them, no reason to hide
So I reached up to touch but they faded too soon
Yet their mouths still remained and stacked up towards the moon
How that ladder of mouth waved so soft in the night
And I looked up in awe at that beautiful sight
And I dreamt about climbing into the night sky
But I knew had I touched them they'd mouth back 'bye bye'
So I got up and walked down the path in the dark
And there deep in the distance my eye caught a spark
Of a crab twice my size with incredible strength
Oh it greeted me kindly and then we all drank
And we drooled out together right onto the ground
And the ocean grew up quickly right up all around
And the earth looked at me and said "wasn't that fun?"
And I replied "I'm sorry if I hurt anyone"
And without even thinking cast me into space
But before she did that she wiped off my own face
She said better luck next time don't worry so much
Without ears I couldn't hear I could just feel the touch
As I feel asleep softly at the edge of a cave
But I should have gone deeper but I'm not so brave
I said
Hey ya ya
Hey ya ya
Hey ya ya
Hey hey hey

This is far too late a reply. My mind was on Venus, my heart was on Mars, and my nether regions were on the good planet Vaseline, in the Proctor & Gamble constellation.

I miss this place.

I miss you.

Think of me as a stiletto in your boot.

If threatened, I'll be a razor tongue that cuts without thinking.

Happy Drunken Irish Bastard Day - yes...my people can say that....

The people of Earth!

Ahhh ha ha ha ha!



xoxoxoxo

I can totally resist a baby, and I do. Whenever people try to hand off their babies to me, I just start biting the air like mad, and they re-think giving me their child. Works every time.

did i say i was ok with elites perception of those lesser?i do not subscribe to a class system.so please refrain from injecting intentions i never specified. i was simply making a statement that should be obvious to any free-thinking human being.its not like they keep their disdain secret.

i just dont really care what they think of me,as i am quite sure they could care less what i thought of them.

and of course the rest of my comment is beneath you.thats exactly how those "elites" we are speaking of think.
which is basically you have no retort,no response and no argument.

because there is NO response.
you got called out...deal with it.

or do you DENY targeted downvoting my pque without watching the content?
do you DENY not adding any context nor nuance to help people understand your position better?
do you REALLY think this video has merit?
and not just knuckle-dragging "ugh..goverment bad..politicians lie"

and if so,could you please explain,with some clarity,the reasons behind this video? because,as you stated,we agree WHAT obamacare actually is.so?what are your thoughts?

and please make them your thoughts and not some copy/pasted plagiarized argument from the von mises web-page.

have a little self-respect.

@Trancecoach
you could have commented on the video without quoting me.
but you didnt do that,did you?
care to explain why?

/scratch that..i dont really care,so dont bother.
you have already made it abundantly clear how see/feel/perceive me.

i am familiar with the mises institute and most likely BEFORE it became your religion.
i have also read the PDF you posted (multiple times on multiple threads) and what i really got out of it was where the majority of your arguments arise.

i even recall an incident where you were caught plagiarizing one of the mises institutes contributors.

the reason i mention these things is that i have been witness to you consistently telling people to think for themselves and to make their own arguments,when in fact,it is YOU who have copied others peoples arguments and called them your own,using the same source material for almost every argument you posit.

do you know who else does that? fundamentalist christians.

they too speak with an air a fake authority and arrogance given to them by the written word.they too deride and ridicule anyone who would dare disagree with them.

you ridicule me for liking this video?
and then have the arrogance to suggest i read YOUR bible..*cough*..i mean mises.

this assumes two things:
1.i am not familiar with mises.
2.i am willing to devote that kind of time in regards to economics (which i have already explained to you,i am not).

neither of which have been evidenced by my commentary here.

i would go as far to say that many people are not willing to spend that kind of time on economics and short videos like this,while maybe not as in-depth as you would like,do offer us all a small inclination in regards to simple economics.

now maybe that is not a smart decision.maybe we should all take the time to understand something that affects us all,and maybe your suggestions have merit and are worth pursuing.

but the arrogance.........
and the belittling...
the ridiculing...
hard to listen to possible sage words when they are spoken in the language of the fanatic.

i do not say these words to harm,nor lightly.
i am quite confident you are unaware you come across this way.
but somebody has to say it.
so i said it.

realizing how little you think of me and my opinion,you may dismiss this.
but i beseech you not to ignore my words.
i am not the only one who feels this way.

please consider your tone when engaging in something that you are obviously very passionate about.

Holy shit, that's creepy... you've been following me since fifth grade? Eww.

I know where luddite comes from, and I know how it's used today; maybe you're thinking of me when I was in fifth grade? If so, stop that. Please. Please stop.

Hey thank you very much for thinking of me!