Okay, I've officially had it with all of the artificial drama over the space shuttle. Actually, I'd had it before the bloody thing even lifted off. Every day, it's some new bullshit where they're supposedly freaking out and saying "Oh no! Oh no! Will the shuttle be able to make it back safely? I CAN'T HANDLE THIS PRESSURE!!!!!" If you didn't know better, you really would think that the staff of mission control consists of Tweak and no one else. I'm just waiting for this headline on CNN: "Safety of shuttle's re-entry put in doubt after Discovery astronaut takes a space dump in his pants."

My favorite was last week when NASA "grounded" the shuttle fleet since some debris hit Discovery on lift-off. Because, you know, they were planning on another launch tomorrow, so it really does a lot to make this declaration. Maybe Tweak really is in charge, or maybe it's just bullshit PR.

At this point, I almost don't care if Discovery burns up like Columbia did. Okay, that's not entirely true -- I do have some feelings and sympathy. Feelings of hatred for the media and sympathy for myself, that is. You know the news people are just wetting themselves over the possibility of another shuttle burning up on re-entry. They feed off of this shit, and a "disaster" where all of seven people die is just what they need want at this point.

Look, people. I'm no expert on any of this, but we've had like 114 shuttle launches, and only two shuttles have been lost. We're taking these huge crafts and filling them with fuels whose job it is to launch said craft into outer fucking space. When you consider the risks involved, that's not a bad track record. I know that's no comfort to Challenger or Columbia, but still. Either NASA is decently good at shit, or they're decently lucky. And all this flap about debris and shit sticking out of the shuttle and blah blah blah? That happens with every goddamn shuttle launch, for Christ's fucking sake. It doesn't mean they're always immune from problems, but it doesn't mean certain doom, either. So shut the fuck up already.