[txroadkill]

Typical government operation...

We'll strap you to the top of a hydrogen bomb, ignite it, allow you to ride the force of the explosion 238,857 miles into space and onto the surface of the moon where the slightest design flaw would cause your blood to boil in less than a second, let you run around for a while where the smallest of mistakes would, at best, leave you stranded to die, and then allow you to meet up with another craft in orbit traveling at 1,000's mph still 238,857 miles from home where you will then fire off another hydrogen bomb to propel you back to Earth faster than a bullet out of a gun where we hope that you hit a spot the size of a quarter so you don't go ricocheting into the sun so that you can free fall through the atmosphere depending on parachutes, that have been frozen for a week, to cushion your fall into shark the infested ocean where you'll wait hoping we can find you before the lead lined cone you're sitting sinks.

No problem.

But hanging out with a bunch of heavily armed, highly trained soldiers is too dangerous.

[lonevoice]

What a wonderfully written post, one that really puts the absurdities of this into perspective. These are the kind of men, and there are very few of them, who, in their twilight years, should be allowed to go any damn where they please.

Typical government operation...

We'll strap you to the top of a hydrogen bomb, ignite it, allow you to ride the force of the explosion 238,857 miles into space and onto the surface of the moon where the slightest design flaw would cause your blood to boil in less than a second, let you run around for a while where the smallest of mistakes would, at best, leave you stranded to die, and then allow you to meet up with another craft in orbit traveling at 1,000's mph still 238,857 miles from home where you will then fire off another hydrogen bomb to propel you back to Earth faster than a bullet out of a gun where we hope that you hit a spot the size of a quarter so you don't go ricocheting into the sun so that you can free fall through the atmosphere depending on parachutes, that have been frozen for a week, to cushion your fall into the shark infested ocean where you'll wait hoping we can find you before the lead lined cone you're sitting in sinks.

No problem.

But hanging out with a bunch of heavily armed, highly trained soldiers is too dangerous.