Re: columbia -- what really happened
On Tue, Feb 04, 2003 at 06:02:21PM +1100, Joyce, Matthew wrote:
> >
> > Guys...it's a bit sad when some very brave people died in
> > Columbia to be talking stuff like this...i agree with Vincent
> > that comments like this are not necessary. Spare a moments
> > thought (or longer if possible) for those brave Astronauts
> > and their families who will no doubt endure a lot of pain for
> > a long time at their loss.
> >
>
> I feel sorry for their families, kinda hard to feel sorry for astronauts.
Put yourself in their place when the thing started to fall to bits
around them...
> As for bravery, no I don't think they are brave either.
>
> Nurses and doctors are brave, firemen are brave.
Interesting example. It requires bravery to carry out such a risky
procedure as performing open heart surgery on someone. It also
requires bravery to submit to it, even when you know you'll probably
die quite soon without surgery.
It requires more bravery to submit to some other procedure of similar
risk, when you have every expectation of a long and healthy life if
you back out. Some chap on the news pointed out that the risk of death
from open heart surgery and a shuttle flight is about the same. The
astronauts, I'm sure, were much more aware of the risks than the
average open heart surgery patient.
> I wonder how long before US media call the astronauts heros (which they are
> not).
>
> How the US can justify spending so much money on Space while 33 million US
> citizens live below the poverty line amazes me.
I suspect it's because very few of the politicians have ever wondered
where they were going to get their next meal from and where would be a
sheltered spot to sleep the night.
Pigeon
(Apologies to the one or two "anti-OT" posters, but I must wonder:
when you're at work, or whatever your "serious time" is, do you spend
100% of the time working, or do you talk to other people about stuff
in the news that you have a strong emotional response to?)
Reply to: