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America is becoming a silly place. Lumberjack appointed as a head of NASA for his loyalty.
by oytis 1y ago
America is becoming a silly place. Lumberjack appointed as a head of NASA for his loyalty.
- tinfoilhatter 1y ago[flagged]
- oytis 1y agoWerner von Braun was competent though, as was Parsons. Being a little silly is fine as long as you can do the job.
- vlovich123 1y ago[flagged]
- aduty 1y agoHe only cared about sending rockets up. Where they came down was other people's problem.
- spankibalt 1y ago> He only cared about sending rockets up. Which extended also how exactly those rockets were produced... and by whom. EDIT: Yeah, I get it, the Zwangsarbeiter from the camps building the rockets are not very conductive to the carefully whitewashed "hero technocrat" image certain "hackers" just love to invest in. :T
- mulmen 1y agoHe was also totally ok with slave labor. He was a voluntary Nazi party insider and SS member. He deliberately chose to participate in Hitler’s totalitarian regime to advance his own goals. This kind of behavior should be remembered and condemned. He was a brilliant designer, engineer, and project leader but he is an extremely problematic person for the methods he was comfortable using to achieve his goals.
- foobarian 1y agoSeems isomorphic to today's slave-driving death-marching CEOs that we celebrate so much. In a past time they would be right up there on the podium
- mulmen 1y ago> Seems isomorphic to today's slave-driving death-marching CEOs that we celebrate so much. Von Braun used literal concentration camp slave labor. You should reconsider your use of “slave-driving” here because it is a very bad look.
- NeutralCrane 1y agoTheir point is that plenty among our current batch of sociopathic CEOs would be using concentration camp slave labor where they in Nazi Germany as well. That they don’t is because of the societal restrictions preventing them from doing so.
- drivebyhooting 1y agoVery insightful thought. Which tech CEO today would not have been up on the podium along side the leaders of the third reich? Would you, would I, if necessity required it?
- dekhn 1y agoI recommend reading "Operation Paperclip" to see the conditions the Nazis put their concentration camp workers in. Not really isomorphic.
- daveguy 1y agoConveniently this administration is not allowing access to their extrajudicial concentration camps.
- zorked 1y agoThe message you replied to is a reference to an anti-von Braun song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro
- ternus 1y agoThat's not his department.
- dekhn 1y agoI always laughed at that line from Lehrer, but Von Braun absolutely cared about where his rockets came down.
- jrflowers 1y agoNo, but in Parson’s case using sex magic to attempt to summon a goddess named Babalon is a bit silly.
- tcmart14 1y agoHey look, some of us have sex for fun, and some of us have sex to summon ancient goddesses, that isn't so different now, is it? I don't kink shame.
- _carbyau_ 1y agoThere are plenty of people who participate in religious services simply for the social benefits without necessarily believing in the religion. I imagine there might be a few people who would in the case of the ancient goddess...
- mullingitover 1y agoThese people had some kooky hobbies, but they actually had resumes that got them their jobs and the key qualification wasn't "completely unprincipled sycophant."
- MangoToupe 1y ago[flagged]
- aeve890 1y ago>kooky hoobies >literally a Nazi lmao
- mwigdahl 1y agoTau Beta Pi is an engineering honor society with no Illuminati-style secret agenda. The only silliness associated with it is any concern over the "initiation rites and rituals".
- tinfoilhatter 1y agoThat is what every society with initiation rites and rituals claims.
- jjk166 1y agoAnd the overwhelming majority of societies with initiation rights and rituals are not world-controlling cabals. Turns out people just like having rituals (and afterparties).
- tinfoilhatter 1y agoWhere did I say they were a cabal that controlled the world? There are many famous and influential people that are a member of that society, and they swear oaths and go through initiation rituals. Believe whatever you'd like!
- jjk166 1y agoAnd most of those people are famous and influential because of their accomplishments in engineering, which it is an honor society for.
- FooBarBizBazz 1y agoWait til you hear about Phi Beta Kappa. Sometimes they even have pizza parties. Probably.
- Spooky23 1y agoFunny how joining a college club is more notable to this individual than “enslaver”
- midtake 1y agoJack Parsons was literally a genius though. Wernher von Braun's dad being Catholic is also not silly.
- tinfoilhatter 1y agoI think you left out the part about the Knights of Malta being a powerful group of individuals throughout history, with many prominent members in high places who are sworn to secrecy regarding their occult society and its dealings.
- Braxton1980 1y agoYou're comparing their side beliefs and oddities to others main careers and expertise
- tinfoilhatter 1y agoI would hardly call being a Nazi a side belief or oddity. It was a pretty defining part of his identity. Same with Jack Parsons and occultism - it helped shaped much of his personality and beliefs. Regardless of all of that, the point I was attempting to make, wasn't they were Nazis or occultists. Rather, it was that they were members of influential societies / networks of people and didn't necessarily obtain their positions based on merit alone, similar to the lumberjack.
- nxor 1y agoThey don't seem to care. It's not, by the way, like the other side hasn't done similar things. In fact, it seems common here in the US to employ people for some other reason than them being capable of something.
- Braxton1980 1y agoVon Braun is a rocket scientist and engineer. Is that not a reasonable qualification to be employed at a high position in NASA?
- Braxton1980 1y agoIt's a side belief related to his work as a rocket scientist and engineer which is relevant skill to be employed at his position in NASA
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- micromacrofoot 1y agogive him a little more credit than that, he was also on Real World: Boston
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- hinkley 1y agoHe’s a lumberjack and he’s okay. He sleeps all night and he works all day.
- nativeit 1y agoSomewhat ironically a sketch ending in gender blending.
- jb1991 1y agoHow so?
- hinkley 1y agoHe wears high heels, he skips and jumps, he likes to press wildflowers. He puts on women’s clothing and hangs around in bars.
- jb1991 1y agoI’m confused who you are referring to.
- anigbrowl 1y agoThe Secretary of Transportation (who is allegedly trying to fold NASA into his own portfolio, and is openly feuding with Elon Musk) is a former lumberjack and became a professional competitor in lumberjack/tree climbing competitions.
- simiones 1y agoLet me dissect the frog: 1. The lumberjack song (I'm a lumberjack and that's ok) is a Monty Python sketch [0] 2. The song goes from the singer being proud he's a lumberjack to being proud that he puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars, and wishes he were a girlie (just like his dear papa) 3. Trump and his administration is famously anti-trans and anti-drag 4. The current secretary of transportation was a lumberjack before So, overall, the joke is that the secretary of transportation was a lumberjack, which has this comedic queer association because of the Monty Python sketch, that Trump would hate. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts
- actionfromafar 1y agoIn Russia, loyalty is the highest virtue. In the USA, it's the other way around! ⁽"ᵀʰᵉ ʰᶦᵍʰᵉˢᵗ ᵛᶦʳᵗᵘᵉ ᶦˢ ˡᵒʸᵃˡᵗʸ"⁾
- guy2345 1y ago[dead]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- m_fayer 1y agoMaybe they’ll send Taylor Swift to the moon.