Well, they’re not exactly our friends, are they? Who cares what the Iraqi officials think…it’s not like they’re going to be around much longer.
I think Easterbrook has a good argument, but I think it’s more appropriate to discuss it in a GD thread.
I’m still in shock. I don’t know what to say, but I sincerely hope that these brave souls will rest in peace, and may their friends and family find comfort and solace in this time of loss. 
Went down to Manhattan today, and it was a lot of deja vu seeing all the flags at half-mast, and lots of people (including me) with their little flag pins back on.
The twenty-first century has been of the suckage, hasn’t it?
NEWS FLASH!!!
This isn’t news.
Americans have ALWAYS distrusted their government, all the way back to the begining. The guys who started our government didn’t trust the government - England’s, theirs, anyone’s.
It’s part of our unique character. We’ll support each other, we’ll even (sometimes) support our government, but we’re ALWAYS suspicious of Washington, DC. Always.
Not exactly, Broomstick. The level of trust the public has for the government is not constant. It was low at the end of WW1 through the Depression, high during WW2 and after, suspicious during the Vietnam era when we were told to trust the government and never question it, and deeply hurt with Nixon and Watergate. Roughly half of America did not trust at the end of Clinton’s tenure and the beginning of Bush’s, and I’ll say most people didn’t mind the government so much after 9-11 and the year or so after that.
I was five when the Challenger blew up. I was watching the launch on TV, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I’m still surprised that I had such a clear understanding of what was going on, even though I was only a little kid.
And now again. Another shuttle lost, seven more astronauts dead. I cried like a baby on Saturday.
Rest in peace, Columbia and crew.
Well I’m tail-ending this thread because this has really hit me hard and I haven’t really been able to put together very many coherent thoughts.
What a terrible thing to happen. I was at class when it was announced and came home to find my wife watching the coverage. I never did manage to make it back to school for my second class.
My thoughts and prayers to all of the astronauts and thier families.
I was a senior in HS when the Challenger exploded. We were in the Library conference room to watch something on TV, maybe even the launch, I don’t really recall. Anyway. I was one of many that day that witnessed it blowing up live.
The horrible jokes that came out after that disaster made me sick. I know that kids will be kids, but I really hope that I don’t hear those about this.
My kids were watching cartoons and thankfully missed the breaking news…Echo23tc went in to check the Internet news and came out and said, “the Columbia just blew up”. I was taken aback not real sure which Columbia he was talking about–like there are so many Columbias.
What made it so hard–similar to the September 11, 2001 events–was trying to explain it to kids. My oldest, in 1st grade, had been following the Columbia in her class. The teacher keeps them current on stuff like that. She couldn’t understand what I was so upset about and was really upset when I explained how high they were and how fast they were going and what that would have done to the shuttle and that therefore the people inside would all have been killed.
While I don’t believe in lying to my kids, walking that thin line between what is a lie and what will warp them is so hard. After the 9/11 stuff, she drew pictures for weeks of the Trade center with planes flying into it and people crying.
God bless the Columbia’s crew and their families. So Sad.
Well folks, I thought I’d check back in and see how y’all are doing. I appreciate the concern from everyone. Just got off the phone with my wife’s folks. My wife was born and raised in Clear Lake City, where NASA actually is for those who might not know, she grew up in the space program.
Two of her brothers work at Nasa and they are/were friends with the crew.
I hadn’t mentioned this before since I was already pretty torn up after witnessing the event. Then reluctantly searching for debris and fighting fires from the same. But when they started picking up the remains of the crew. Practically in my back yard and my brother-in-law called…shit, he worked with these folks, went out with them.
Damn, I was just down there over the holidays and we had a party. It’s been pretty fucked up, but I finally got a few hours sleep. Gettin’ better…I was gonna go to the Memorial, but the security was so tight, they told me even the Nasa employees had to carpool, traffic was hell.
anyway, luv y’all
Peace
to the families of the Columbia crew…we will always remember
Peace to you too, t-keela. I have greatly appreciated your unique perspective on so many angles of this tragedy.
I recorded the memorial service when I was out and will watch it tomorrow. Looks like it was beautiful.