Alien Ballons

[jpl458]

Let's say that an advanced civilization, that lives light years from earth, travels all the way to earth, in balloons; I don't think so. Let say they come here in highly sophisticated space ships, then launch balloons to examine our weather, or to listen to our cell phone calls. You would think they would have a better means of doing that. Lookup rawinsonde.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Well, the first thing that they would see is probably some TV channel running old episodes of Beavis and Butthead. So they watch for a while and change channels. They find a Three Stooges marathon/retrospective. That bores them, too. They switch channels again and come across WWE offerings with grunt-n-groan wrestling. (Cham-peen-ship wrasslin'!) Then... they find a shopping channel where everyone gushes insanely over this chic little dress or these absolutely FABULOUS sandals. Finally, the captain of the probe mission says "Let's get out of this place before our brains turn to mush. There is no intelligent life here anyway." But it's already too late because the crew wants to watch just ONE MORE episode of "Power Puff Girls."

In case anyone asks: My grandsons, when they were younger, watched a lot of those shows and my wife would channel-hop through the various shopping channels. She's into the Hallmark and Great American Family channels now, so at least that is cheaper.

 

[KitaYama]

In current situation, even Alien don't dare fly their balloons.

 

[jpl458]

I was a weatherman in the Air Force, and launching balloons was pretty standard procedure. The biggest were carrying a rawinsonde transmitter that gathered temperature and dewpoint readings at various high levels of altitude. The cylindrical objects hanging from the alien balloons is probably a modern version of that. But somewhere, in the media, someone said Aliens, and now they can create fear and get you to tune in so they can sell more Preparation H. And, I don't know what the problem is backtracking the trajectory of these cosmic balloons. We know where they are, so look at the previous recordings of upper winds, there is a ass-load of that data available. But, I guess we are overstocked with hemorrhoidal ointment. In WWII the Japanese launched fire balloons, from Japan, that caused several major forest fires in the pacific NW. The jet streams are pretty constant, and in the northern hemisphere generally wind blows from west to east. Highs and lows can defeflect the jets but they always seem return to established patterns.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

they can create fear and get you to tune in so they can sell more Preparation H.

Obviously, as a palliative after one of those alien probes. Either that, or the Democrats and their woke constituents are so butt-hurt by so many things that they have all started stocking up.

 

[jpl458]

Obviously, as a palliative after one of those alien probes. Either that, or the Democrats and their woke constituents are so butt-hurt by so many things that they have all started stocking up.

Can someone explain what woke is/means. If looked it up and am still confused. It seems has has to do with history teaching, or liberals acting like they're smarter, or if you have sympathy for minorities lgbtq folk, is it larger than a breadbox.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

In simplest terms, "woke" refers to being sensitive (or even pandering) to people who could - and often do - play the "I'm a victim of society" card. It can therefore refer to ANY of the race, gender preference, religion, handicapped (alternately abled), and other social "awareness" causes.

 

[jpl458]

In simplest terms, "woke" refers to being sensitive (or even pandering) to people who could - and often do - play the "I'm a victim of society" card. It can therefore refer to ANY of the race, gender preference, religion, handicapped (alternately abled), and other social "awareness" causes.

Sounds like you are describing Trump, who is a professional victim. Now that I got that out of my system, your definition is understandable. In simpler terms if you care, your woke? Is that right?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Not exactly right. It matters what you care about. It is possible to place too much emphasis, too much empathy for the "victims of society" because in many cases their victimhood is self-imagined or because they want more empathy than is appropriate for the actual amount of hurt. The modern Progressive Liberal tries to "roll over and play dead" with the typical "woke" targets, but the governmental approach for that is to throw money at the problem. The REAL problem is that folks who don't need one are still holding out their hands waiting for more government money to drop into it. And that government money increasingly comes from folks who have worked hard for their money and have JUST A LITTLE more than the whiners. Because you see, Progressive Liberals hide their socialist/communist tendencies better than some groups.

Darn, you triggered my "soapbox" mode. I'll leave you with this thought. Everything in moderation! And the progressives don't understand when to say "NO" to the beggars.

 

[jpl458]

Not exactly right. It matters what you care about. It is possible to place too much emphasis, too much empathy for the "victims of society" because in many cases their victimhood is self-imagined or because they want more empathy than is appropriate for the actual amount of hurt. The modern Progressive Liberal tries to "roll over and play dead" with the typical "woke" targets, but the governmental approach for that is to throw money at the problem. The REAL problem is that folks who don't need one are still holding out their hands waiting for more government money to drop into it. And that government money increasingly comes from folks who have worked hard for their money and have JUST A LITTLE more than the whiners. Because you see, Progressive Liberals hide their socialist/communist tendencies better than some groups.

Darn, you triggered my "soapbox" mode. I'll leave you with this thought. Everything in moderation! And the progressives don't understand when to say "NO" to the beggars.

Where is it said that lgbtq folks are on the dole? I thought I had it, now I am confused again. Is woke about sexual orientation, race, or government spending, or all of the above? Just for perspective, I voted for Reagan, I used to be a Republican, sorta.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I perhaps over-simplified it. Progressive Liberals can't say "No" to a protest group. That is a large part of "woke." I have to watch out because this is becoming a trigger for me and I get overheated to the point that I start glossing things over.

Wikipedia says woke means "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination" but I think that definition needs to be expanded to include LGBTQ+ - which I actually support more than a previous post might have portrayed. It also applies to women's rights (including reproductive rights). These days it applies to any group that claims to have been the victim of prejudice and discrimination.

I am not insensitive to issues of prejudice and discrimination, but I have to always ask the counter-question: How much of that discrimination is brought on by the excesses of the targeted group? I try to find balance. Sometimes I find it. Sometimes, not so much. I actually don't mind "woke" so much as I mind "woke to excess."

 

[Pat Hartman]

Sounds like you are describing Trump, who is a professional victim.

Much as I hate to come to the defense of the evil orange man,

When the IRS audits you, your family, your businesses, and your close associates, annually despite never finding a crime, you ARE a victim. You should walk a mile in his shoes.
When the FBI, creates "crimes" out of whole cloth and lies on documents that request that your associates be surveilled, you ARE a victim.
When the FBI raids your home and riffles through your wife's underwear drawer looking for a crime on the pretext of a document dispute that people are now coming out of the woodwork confessing to , you ARE a victim.
When you are impeached twice officially for "crimes" that the Clintons and Bidens (actually on video) and other Democrats commit with impunity, you ARE a victim.

 

[Jon]

Wikipedia says woke means "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination" but I think that definition needs to be expanded to include LGBTQ+

How about expanding the definition to...

"alert to racial prejudice and discrimination,"..."except discrimination against old white men, which is encouraged because they are dripping in guilt due to the historic wrongdoings of the patriarchy, their inbred racism and misogyny, toxic masculinity and of course white privilege."

Or rewritten...

"Woke is defined as discrimination against old white men, which is encouraged because they are dripping in guilt due to the historic wrongdoings of the patriarchy, their inbred racism and misogyny, toxic masculinity and of course white privilege."..."Also, alert to racial prejudice and discrimination against women, non-whites and Democrats".

 

[jpl458]

How about expanding the definition to...



Or rewritten...

Tell it like it is.

 

[Isaac]

Let's say that an advanced civilization, that lives light years from earth, travels all the way to earth, in balloons; I don't think so. Let say they come here in highly sophisticated space ships, then launch balloons to examine our weather, or to listen to our cell phone calls. You would think they would have a better means of doing that. Lookup rawinsonde.

Recently I've pondered and in fact, challenged in my mind, the common assumption that if people from another world make contact with us, they necessarily have to be way more advanced than us, and something to be worried of.

I find that to be too big of an assumption.

It's entirely possible that another world, if indeed God created such a thing, discovers just ONE thing, or just SOME things, that somehow make contact possible.....without having discovered all the other stuff needed to be as advanced as we are.

We tend to believe the worst and fear the worst as humans.

 

[jpl458]

Recently I've pondered and in fact, challenged in my mind, the common assumption that if people from another world make contact with us, they necessarily have to be way more advanced than us, and something to be worried of.

I find that to be too big of an assumption.

It's entirely possible that another world, if indeed God created such a thing, discovers just ONE thing, or just SOME things, that somehow make contact possible.....without having discovered all the other stuff needed to be as advanced as we are.

We tend to believe the worst and fear the worst as humans.

It's not just discovering one thing, its mastering a lot of things. The Apollo Spacecraft had 1 million parts. Any species that transports its beings and environment over light years has to be really advanced. It's not like making to to the Bronze age, then deciding to initiate space travel.

 

[Isaac]

It's not just discovering one thing, its mastering a lot of things. The Apollo Spacecraft had 1 million parts. Any species that transports its beings and environment over light years has to be really advanced. It's not like making to to the Bronze age, then deciding to initiate space travel.

What you are saying sounds sensible, but remember "we don't know what we don't know". Meaning, we are unsure of, and cannot really assess the quantity of, whatever we aren't aware of.

I just find it too big an assumption based on what we think we know about our world, and leaves off too many possibilities.
We know how OUR world has worked so far, and we can't even imagine someone less advanced than us being more advanced in a single area.
But that's just the thing - that's how OUR world has worked. It may not be the same paradigm in theirs. The whole point is they'd be different worlds, with each person probably making the mistake of using their own personal paradigm to judge another's world..

But truthfully, I was thinking more of "making contact" simply.........rather than an all-out, sophisticated space ship.

How do we know some world that's less sophisticated than ours hasn't discovered a type of communication that might reach us we don't know about?

We think very linearly, and very according to our line of linear discovery. Theirs may be surprisingly different.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

What you are saying sounds sensible, but remember "we don't know what we don't know". Meaning, we are unsure of, and cannot really assess the quantity of, whatever we aren't aware of.

I just find it too big an assumption based on what we think we know about our world, and leaves off too many possibilities.
We know how OUR world has worked so far, and we can't even imagine someone less advanced than us being more advanced in a single area.
But that's just the thing - that's how OUR world has worked. It may not be the same paradigm in theirs. The whole point is they'd be different worlds, with each person probably making the mistake of using their own personal paradigm to judge another's world..

But truthfully, I was thinking more of "making contact" simply.........rather than an all-out, sophisticated space ship.

How do we know some world that's less sophisticated than ours hasn't discovered a type of communication that might reach us we don't know about?

We think very linearly, and very according to our line of linear discovery. Theirs may be surprisingly different.

Although the second half goes into some really far-fetched ideas, the movie Contact starts out with the idea of merely hearing from another civilization. The typical government paranoia and the advent of the crazies - tin hat brigade AND religious fundamentalists who can't imagine that any other group could be ANYTHING but Satanic - is entirely believable.

Isaad, I know you and I have our religious differences - but you are at least rational enough to allow for a blend of your religion and scientific advancement, too. Which is why I DEFINITELY try to not be overly nasty to you. I might pick on things you say but I think of you as a good sort of person. The folks who get me upset are so deep into religion that they can't even accept medical advances like vaccines and gene therapy.

 

[AccessBlaster]

If I had a chance encounter with an alien being and was able to communicate, I would ask about the concept of God. Presumably, the alien would be from a much older and more advanced society than ours. My assumptions are based on their ability to cross vast distances in space and other unknown factors.

 

[Pat Hartman]

The most open-minded people I know read science fiction. You have to be able to "believe" in order to enjoy the genre. Is it possible for there to be a Ring World? I don't know but it sure sounds intriguing along with everyone you meet on the journey. Then there was the invention of the "spin dizzy" which allowed entire cities to separate themselves from Earth and go into space to travel the stars.