Notes from around the Human Experience…
MUST SEE TV: Watching the GOP flounder like a fish out of water is turning out to be very compelling to watch.
It is not only compelling, it is also both funny and sad.
ROTFLMAO: It’s uproariously funny because here sits the Republican Party, a party that’s been around for 150 years, in control of both the White House and the Congress and they cannot pass anything more substantive than a lunch order. They had seven years to prepare for this moment, to have a workable alternative to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in place, but they didn’t bother with that, preferring to wait and throw something together at the last moment.
OTOH: It is sad because their signature issue is being pursued not because any Republican really believes what they are offering will do our country any good, but merely because the evil Democrats enacted it. Their attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is as petty as it is vindictive, and it is a lot of both those things.
Is This Official Daily Dose Policy? We said this in an earlier column:
Please, GOP, go away. Your time has passed. It is time to fold up your tent and call it a day. You are not doing anybody any good whatsoever.
You are not doing anybody any good. You’re led by a president whose only real talent is drawing attention to himself. Your Speaker of the House was able to get something passed – on the second attempt – but your Senate Majority Leader cannot get votes on your signature issue in a chamber you control.
Somewhere, Lyndon Johnson, one of the very best there ever was at getting people in Congress to do things for him, is spinning in his grave, cackling.
Dry, Technical Matter: Faced with a leadership that cannot get anything done, you would think the rank and file would flee, that a significant number of GOP senators and congressmen would collectively say “let’s blow this taco stand” and go join the Libertarians or form another party. The GOP, however, seems to be content to circle the wagons and continue to defend their indefensible behavior.
MAN’S GREATEST ADVENTURE: Man reaches the moon for the first time on this date in 1969 when Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land the lunar module (LM) Eagle on the Sea of Tranquility. Command Module Pilot Michael Collins remained in Columbia, orbiting the moon.
Fly In The Ointment: While the launch and the flight to the moon were flawless, landing on the moon was fraught with peril.
Fly In The Ointment: First, about 6,000 feet above the surface, Eagle’s computer got snitty and set off a couple of alarms. After a few frantic moments, a computer operator named Jack Garman, who was really good at his job, advised everyone that the computer was merely overworked and would perform as programmed and the mission could continue. Armstrong and Aldrin adjusted the landing procedure slightly, so the computer didn’t have to work as hard.
Uh-Oh: Then Armstrong realized the computer generated landing area was a crater strewn with boulders, so he and Aldrin had to manually guide Eagle to a safe landing spot.
More Fly In The Ointment: And 72 seconds before landing, a fuel alarm went off, and Eagle ultimately landed with about 45 seconds of fuel remaining, according to official NASA documents.
“We Copy You Down Eagle”: The first indication they would make it was when one of the four 67-inch probes touched the surface, setting off a contact light. A bit more than a second after landing, the engine shut down.
Houston, Tranquility Base here…The Eagle has landed.
LOL: The schedule actually called for a rest period between lunar landing and the first moonwalk. We are not making this up. Some wizard actually thought the first humans to land on the Moon would be up for a nappy-poo before they became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Fortunately, Neil Armstrong realized the folly in this and requested the moonwalk be moved up.
“I ‘m Going To Step Off The LEM Now…That’s One Small Step…”: Armstrong and Aldrin then spent a couple of hours checking the LM’s systems and preparing it for a stay on the lunar surface. They then ate, put on their space suits and depressurized the LM’s cabin. Armstrong then became the first human to set foot on the Moon, made a visual inspection of the LM and collected a contingency sample in case they ran into monsters and had to leave the moon’s surface immediately. Twenty minutes after Armstrong, Aldrin became the second human to set foot on the moon.
FunFact: Because NASA wasn’t altogether sure how well the space suits would hold up on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin were only scheduled for two-and-a-half hours on the surface.
FunFact II: President Richard Nixon had a speech ready to go in case Armstrong and Aldrin ended up stuck on the moon and unable to leave.
The Bottom Line: Regular readers of this crap know we are big Apollo fans here at The Daily Dose and we’ve always regarded July 20, 1969, s one of the great lines of demarcation in human history, seperating everything that came before from everything that followed. Why July 20 isn’t a national holiday is beyond us.
Quote Book : The dreams that draw humanity forward seem always to be redeemed, if we believe in them strongly enough and pursue them with diligence and courage. – Richard Nixon
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Roger Connor broke Harry Stovey’s all-time career home run record in 1895 with his 123rd career home run.
Today’s Stumper: Of the 12 twelve human beings who have walked on the Moon, how many are still alive? – Answer next time!
