Were you not greyed before? If not, I assume it is because you had the temerity to disagree with Jia's reading of the comments.

Thanks for the info. I was a bit concerned when I read this post because there is lots of info on why RAD is bad, but not much in the way of real alternatives offered besides "teach men not to rape" which, while certainly good advice, doesn't do anything to help women if there are men who don't get the lesson or just…

I have two young daughters and would like to teach them to not get raped. Since I can't really control the behavior of boys/men, and since the RAD manual is apparently ineffective at preventing/protecting against assault, what would you recommend — either advice or links to a resource — for girls/women to prevent…

Is this supposed to be a news site?

Lack of creativity on my part. I came here on a lark one day, was drinking a Mt Dew and needed to pick a handle. Then once I started getting to know some of the commenters here, I didn't want to change the name and lose my peeps.

Thank you for clarifying that. Your points are exactly correct.

Personally, I think sending "opposition researchers" of all political stripes to Mars would be an excellent start. Ms. Van Meter has my full support.

Yep. If I told my kids I wanted to go on a very cool suicide mission they would think I was the worst father ever. Here at Jezebel, they call you a hero.

Well, I wasn't criticizing your interview or Ms. Van Meter (at least at first), just the people in the comments who called her a "hero." Also never called myself a hero. But thanks for the gracious reply Jia.

I believe it is explicitly being sold as a one-way trip.

Speaking for myself, the only thing I objected to was not in your interview. It was people throwing around the word "hero" to describe a political consultant who submitted an application for a project that has little to no chance of ever getting off the ground (pun intended).

Whew. I was starting to think I was the troll

But, but, but...I'm a sociology major from Georgia State and a political consultant. Why can't I become an astronaut?

Lol. If only you knew. The Democrats are too right wing for me, but good try.

You misunderstand me. I agree with most of what you wrote, I lionize Elon Musk, and I am not mocking people who want to hasten the goal of space exploration.

She and her husband are bottom feeder "opposition research" political consultants. This Mars Mission may be one of the least ridiculous things about her.

Well, among lots of other reasons, none of the commercial space tourist flights - which just involve getting shot up in a rocket and coming down - have happened despite billions of dollars and lots of interest. So, let's at least defer this conversation until Virgin or one of the others actually sends humans into the…

None of these people have even attempted their journey, nor is there any real likelihood of it happening soon. Right now it is just PR. So no, they are not (yet) heroes or pioneers. Maybe in the future, but not now. Also, you are aware this is a one-way trip, right?

That dude was actually in space. None of these folks are, yet. When they strap themselves to a rocket on a one-way death trip to Mars, then I will consider calling them heroes. For now, I admire them as dreamers, nothing more.

Let me clue you in on something...there's no way in hell Sonia is doing this either. There is no manned Mars mission.