In space and aviation news, Space X plans to launch its Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida’s historic Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 6.

This massive vessel will carry a Tesla automobile beyond the orbit of Mars and release it into a heliocentric orbit of its own.

In case it’s ever needed, the vehicle will be there . . . Elon Musk, CEO of both Space X and Tesla, said that perhaps alien life forms will discover the car far in the future.

Why is this significant? Maybe it is primarily a marketing ploy to get the Tesla and Space X name in the media—in which case, success! For it has captured my interest and attention and some good words in this little Murfreesboro paper. I suppose it is a good idea to have a spare car floating around in case a need arises. Really, this mission is essentially a test launch proving that the Falcon Heavy system can deliver large objects to space and then return to earth in one piece to be used for subsequent missions.

The Space X company says it prepares to soon carry wealthy space tourists for space cruises—sightseeing tours outside of the Earth’s atmosphere . . . for the right price, of course. Exciting times!

For everyone protesting the oppressive culture and policies of the United States, whether it be kneeling during the anthem or whatever:

Is there some better country out there where you would like to go, or upon which to model a society?

Does another location seem like a more ideal place to migrate?

Has there been another place or time in the history of our planet that offered more opportunity to people of all backgrounds?

Has an example of the type of society that you seek ever existed in reality?

Or do you have some sort of a new proposal that has not yet seen real-world application?

Those are real questions. I welcome real answers and am interested in replies: bracken@boropulse.com.

I am not one to be blindly supportive of every social norm and federal policy. Question everything.

Also, I don’t claim to have a great firsthand knowledge of life and society outside of Tennessee, so I am willing to hear real ideas if some other society is more excellent and fair.

I greatly appreciate the right to protest, and I enjoy hearing passionate and well researched points of view from others. But many of the motivations behind modern protests are not very logical or well thought out, light on solutions and heavy on attention seekers and attitudes of entitlement.

I very much appreciate the freedoms that we do have and the high quality of life that we enjoy here. We can improve upon many, many things, but on a global scale, look at freedom, poverty and tolerance in the United States. Compare that to other societies. Most everyone has an opportunity in modern America. As much control and power as corporations and governments have here, an individual can still live more or less however he or she chooses.

The opportunity to succeed does not always equal success. “No free lunch,” as motivational speaker Eric Thomas says.

Surely with the entirety of human knowledge and art accessible to anyone with an internet connection, this will be the most enlightened and brilliant generation the earth has ever known. With the wealth of scientific study, geographic information and tours of the world, music, literature, photography, visual art, lectures on physics, political thought, philosophical writings and other work archived and available to all, can anyone with an open connection to the internet rightfully say they have been denied access to education or opportunity?

Yet, with all of the work that resulted from years and years of effort and research, often an unbalanced amount of attention goes to the millions of misspelled, hastily tossed up, ill-conceived, 40-word social media posts that a distant relative, the weird lady in the neighborhood or a celebrity of questionable talent and intellect decided to throw out on a whim, or a sensationalized and half-true news report that a pundit sloppily completed in 15 minutes with a click-bait headline hastily slapped on.

IDK.

Locally, the Special Kids Race, Battle of the Brews for Kymari House and Mardi Paws Ball for Purple Paws are among the fun upcoming community fundraisers in the near future. Your support would be welcomed.