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The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

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Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There have been so many seemingly respectable celebrities that we've gotten to know only to find out they're not really so great. I feel like Guy Fieri is the exact opposite - when I first saw him on TV I just knew this guy sucked. The car, the attitude, the hair - something just rubbed me the wrong way. But the more I've learned about him - his advocacy for gay marriage, his relief for restaurant workers during the…

What if his market research found that his viewers have a positive association with gay marriage and with restaurant workers and they could increase ratings by x-percent by making a public statement on these issues? For example the Nike corporation. Some groups have heaped praise on them for supporting Kaepernick and related social justice protests. But was it altruism? Of course not. Their market research simply sho…

What's the difference between $1 donated due to market research and $1 donated due to moral obligation?

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It still amazes me that anyone still believes that the pictures they see on TV are in any way real. 100% of content on TV is fake. I used to say except the news, but now I'm not even able to trust that. If it's a commercial, definitely fake. If it's a TV show, 100% fake. Games shows shoot 5 episodes in a day, so when they say "last week's winner" it was last hour's.

Talk Shows are the worst for this. Many of them have a rehearsal with the guests. It's no surprise that all of the guests have amazingly funny or interesting stories about every topic the host brings up. Once you know this is how they work, it's impossible to unsee it when you're watching them. I'm sorry I ruined talk shows for anyone here who may like them.

Except Graham Norton Show, due to the amazing host. They willingly admit (even during the show) that they discuss whether a topic is fine with the guest beforehand, but Graham still brings out the best in people. And since there are several people on the show, he just lets them interact, unscripted.

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the people who are like “I am an underwater basket weaver and my husband is a turtle dance instructor! Our budget is $800,000!”

I hate those shows with a burning passion my wife cant get enough of them. I have however gotten her to watch "This Old House" which actually shows real remodeling and home repair as opposed to sledgehammer porn fallowed by contrived drama between the hosts finishing with a walk through of a staged house where they advertise tacky furniture and overpriced appliances.

After watching a couple episodes I figured it was fake but it’s fun too see all the houses! Fun way of seeing what an area is like

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#174
I didn't realize this was a sub 100k flight... wow. What a sad regression. I went to Vandeberg in 2004 to watch the X-prize launch which actually hit 100k. It was anticlimactic as an event... No confident confirmation of the accomplishment at the time, which is pretty great in retrospect, comparing to Branson's bravado at... not even hitting space, but marketing it as hitting space. Get tossed.

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#175
post #76

> “I don’t know how we didn’t lose the vehicle and kill three people,” Todd Ericson, a retired Air Force Colonel and Virgin Galactic’s then vice-president of safety and test, told me in a 2020 interview. I'm pretty impressed by this guy. Not only did he quit his VP job when he saw these safety problems, but he went around giving interviews about them. It strikes me that very few people would have done the same.

> Not only did he quit his VP job when he saw these safety problems

Agree, great guy, putting his ethics ahead of his career

> but he went around giving interviews about them

Hmmm, gets a bit murky here. If he wanted to save lives, there's a very clear path to alerting the FAA. But he didn't do that. This sounds a bit more like he was trying to save his career. Which brings in question why he quit in the first place, and how voluntary that was to begin with.

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if his market research found that his viewers have a positive association with gay marriage and with restaurant workers and they could increase ratings by x-percent by making a public statement on these issues? For example the Nike corporation. Some groups have heaped praise on them for supporting Kaepernick and related social justice protests. But was it altruism? Of course not. Their market research simply sho…

What's the difference between $1 donated due to market research and $1 donated due to moral obligation?

I have zero knowledge or opinions regarding Guy Fieri, but: Maybe it depends on if they spent $9 on the PR firm to do market on first?

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#177
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SS2 is going to be a real horrorshow idea, one way or another.

trivia tidbit: the "nadsat" language invented for a clockwork orange incorporates russian. the intention was for "horrorshow" to be an english version of хорошо / khorosho, translated as good or OK.

Ha! Grandparent comment's "droog" is also A Clockwork Orange coinage, and also from Russian: друг /drug/ "friend".

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

trivia tidbit: the "nadsat" language invented for a clockwork orange incorporates russian. the intention was for "horrorshow" to be an english version of хорошо / khorosho, translated as good or OK.

TIL; fascinating - thanks for the tip. Is there a good link to read more ?

https://a-clockwork-orange.fandom.com/wiki/Nadsat

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if his market research found that his viewers have a positive association with gay marriage and with restaurant workers and they could increase ratings by x-percent by making a public statement on these issues? For example the Nike corporation. Some groups have heaped praise on them for supporting Kaepernick and related social justice protests. But was it altruism? Of course not. Their market research simply sho…

What's the difference between $1 donated due to market research and $1 donated due to moral obligation?

The difference is the next $1 might be donated to ban gay marriage groups in the former but not so much the latter case.

Re: The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

#180
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh. He’s probably a nice guy... and his example is just the one that came first to mind. It irks me people like Branson are blasé about faking something they don’t have to fake. He’s probably dedicated to the environment even if his activities and businesses aren’t friendly to the environment. But just faking it like he really did it, he carried on with the ruse during his little speech too. Like, why?

Because he's a professional narcissist, and everything narcissists do is attention-seeking and fake. There are a number of books about Branson, and they all underline that he's "not a detail person." As in, he literally doesn't understand what he's doing a lot of the time. He's good at surrounding himself with competent people who make things happen. He's also good at sales - talking a good game, being charming and o…

> He's good at surrounding himself with competent people who make things happen. He's also good at sales - talking a good game, being charming and optimistic in front of the cameras, and getting people to put up money.

Sorry, I don't have anything substantial to add to this. But I just had to react with a smiley :-).

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