How y’all doing?  Staying good?  Staying healthy?

Greetings, all, and time for another question on life, the universe, and everything! Did you miss these? I know you did.

This week! Our topic is the terraforming of Mars! You, Zoners, are now individual little entrepreneurs, with life-extension technology, and more yes-men than you can count. Your goal? Create a new Earth. You can go about this mostly as you please, and for whatever purpose.  However, there are limits to what money can buy.

• Limit #1:  Your wealth is not infinite.  You can’t simply snap your fingers, and have the combined GDP of Europe funnel into Orion rockets.  Your expenditure is limited to $50 billion a year – whatever methods you use, document how the money is used.
• Limit #2:  Physics is a thing.  All activities must follow the guidelines of known physics, or the strongly supported theoretical.  There are no wizards here!
• Limit #3:  This is a shared setting!  You can either collaborate, or compete, with each other to get the job done.  However, as to who is the new God-Emperor of Dune Mars, there can only be one.

Win conditions are as follows:

• Mars must have a breathable atmosphere, resembling Earth’s.
• Mars must have at least 50% of it’s surface volume (72,399,250 sq. km) covered with water year-round.
• At least 15,000 humans must be permanently present on the surface.
• A biosphere must exist that can replenish the global oxygen supply, and support at least 15,000 humans.

Again, feel free to build off each other’s idea’s but remember: the person to achieve the most results with the least effort/time spent (r=e/t) wins!

Some resources to get you started :

• Encyclopedia Astronautica – http://astronautix.com/
• Atomic Rockets - http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/index.php
• Terraforming Wiki – https://terraforming.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page
• Orion’s Arm Universe Project – https://orionsarm.com/
• Rockwell Dynamics Integrated Space Plan – https://cdn.makezine.com/uploads/2013/07/integratedspaceplan2color.pdf
• Integrated Space Analytics Integrated Space Plan – https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ISP-5-1-9c_FINAL_30x48v2_Print1.jpg

Result: 12 rock-hard bricks. How the fuck did people eat this back in the day?

Here’s the original text, word-for-word, in all it’s flaming glory:

RL, don’t use your WWII vet great-uncle’s horrifying experiences as support for your own rants and demagogues, and a shield against anything to the contrary. The camp guards, and your average Republican have nothing to do with each other – the latter wants order, just like the rest of us, while the former wants blood, and an excuse to spill it. Do NOT call for blood yourself, unless you’re willing to look someone in the eyes while you take it – something you seem unwilling to do right now, or ever. Doing so makes YOU the most “deplorable” person currently on the Zone, and noone needs that kind of cowardice. It’s easy to hide behind a screen and soapbox about how righteous you are, and how evil the world around you is. You’ll find it harder to actually go out in the world, and do something. Do you even have the courage to go out, find a random Trump supporter, and unleash the same vitriol you do on the Zone? I don’t think you do.

As for what I was doing during the Trump years, during his activities? I was volunteering to help those in need. I was voting against pro-Trump and pro-Fascist policies. I was PROTESTING. In PUBLIC. Not on a sheltered web forum like you are now, where you feel sheltered from any and all repercussions for your statements, and just raring for someone to disagree with you, so you can “flame” them down. You want to know who else was at the rallies? Republicans. Yes – as much as it might blow your geriatric old mind, there were Republicans protesting the president they had voted into office. They saw what he had did, and they turned. Not because people threatened them, or because they were shamed by the community, but because they saw what the Cheeto Benito was doing, was wrong. Do you want to know what helped them join the protests?

The liberals welcomed them. Noone laughed and pointed, noone jeered, noone shouted insults or threats – we smiled, and accepted them as they came, and they marched side by side with them in the streets. Because religious or secular, liberal or conservative, one thing we can agree on is that you need to FORGIVE. Not forget – people can and should remember their actions – but to forgive those who trespass. Despite your twisted worldview, the majority of the Republicans who voted for Trump didn’t support his worldviews, or know exactly how badly he was going to fuck over the nation – he was the Republican pick, so they followed suit. The fact that they spoke out against this afterwards says volumes. They never voiced support or approval of the shit he’s done, so in spirit, they have not sinned.

What about you, RL? Can the same be said for you? if you voted Democrat, and supported Bill “Semen-Stain” Clinton, does that make you a tacit supporter of rapists and molesters? If you voted for Obama, does that mean you support privacy and human rights violations? If you really want to follow through with the “cancel-culture” bullshit, I’m sure dirt can be dug up on your posts, and repeated endlessly whenever we see fit. You’ve already said a few choice things these past few months that I’m sure you’d love to be reminded of, over, and over, and over

I’m tired of talking about this. It’s just too painful to contemplate any more. But for the record, I think there’s only one reason you’d bother to waste this much time camped out in Current Events, typing out endless posts that noone bothers to respond to, much less read:

You’re that guy.

Don’t be that guy.

P.S. Your analogies are terrible. I’d advice a class in rhetoric before trying again.

An excerpt from his initial letter:

“I believe that if my family supported the injustice your grandparents experienced, it is our duty to take this into account and take over responsibility at least in getting in touch with you to listen and learn. As I am part of the Edelmann family I want to take the first step and listen to you.
I do understand that you might not see any benefit for yourself personally in talking to me. But with me understanding and being able to teach my children and possibly other family members about the impact of particular historical decisions, this might help them to make better decisions in their lives.
Currently, the political climate in our country is poisoned. There is a new antisemitism upcoming. I want to make sure that at least my family will never again be responsible for injustice experienced by others, but stand up to take part for the weak.”

After the better part of a century, Thomas Edelmann found the history behind the story his family owned, and acted to make repartitions. According to the article, he feels that coming to terms with the past is an important lesson, especially his teenage son who began learning about the history of the Nazi Regime in school recently.

“I want him to understand what history is, and what history means. Although he doesn’t have anything to do with this story, it’s our ancestor who has impacted the lives of a whole family who had a life in this country,” he said. “I want him to learn and understand that whatever decisions he makes has an impact on someone else’s life.”

While the percentages (within 0.5%) are close enough for the administration to legally ask for recounts, the numbers have all but officially spoken:

Joe Biden of California will be the 46th President of the United States!

There are still dark days and nights to come, and the barbarians do indeed gather at the gates. We are still a nation deeply divided, and these wounds will not heal quickly – not for years, and possibly, full presidential terms. Biden’s presidency will likely not be one of significant change, or inspiration. But for immediately, the nightmare is over. America has spoken, and we want to restore sanity, not fear. We may not see Camelot, but we do have our Britian back!.

Now, more than any other period since the Civil War, is the time for healing. It is time to welcome old friends back into the fold, and to turn new enemies into old allies. Now is the time to work with each other, and not against each other. Now is the time to rebuild, and make America truly great again.

Good night (morning to all who will see this), and good wishes, towards a brighter future. I’m going to pass out until next week.

Current drink of choice: Champagne. Lots and lots of champagne.

Just use the embed code from the video page.

Most video sites, like YouTube, have links to Embed Codes below the video. Copy those, and past them into the WordPress HTML editor to have a working embedded video in your post.

Results pour in, as the world watches! America holds it’s breath, as the fate of the free world enters the dice tower!

Our neighbors keep their eyes peeled with vested interest, as we decide. The mettle of both candidates is debated, as well as what a future with them will look like.

The die is cast. Fate will decide the rest, though her sister Fortune favours the bold. All we can do for today is watch. And pray.

For once, I have to agree with the doomsayers here. The damage has been done to America.

This is NOT the mess I wanted adult life to have…