Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer
I still remember what it was like when I discovered there was no Santa Claus. It was traumatic, not in a weepy, wrap yourself up in a ball and stop eating kind of way, but in that I can’t believe I didn’t see it all along kinda way. Everyone was in on it; my parents, my school, every adult, the guys at Korvettes dressed up like Saint Nick who had me sit on his lap and tell him my most fervent wishes. It was a giant con and at seven years old I had no one to talk to about it except the kids in my peer group. What are you going to do, accuse your parents of being liars? Demand an apology? And all around you, once you’ve come to the realization, you find yourself being told to keep it on the down low for the younger kids and join the Santa is real liars club.
This is no different. Every year we are told all these wild things about space tourism, setting up colonies on Mars, sending black women to the Moon, whatever, and then after you’ve forgotten about it they roll out some new excuse for why these things never seem to manifest into reality because muh budget, regardless of the endless streams of hundreds of billions of dollars that gets poured down that rat hole called NASA.
Even the world’s leading billionaire philanthropists can’t seem to pull it off, when there’s a guaranteed stream of income that would dwarf most national budgets if it were true.
But it isn’t.
It’s lies all the way down.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Dreams Crash As Funding ‘Not Secured’
Virgin Orbit shares crashed in premarket trading as the satellite-launch firm associated with British billionaire Richard Branson suspended operations indefinitely due to cash-crunch pressures, which has left the startup financially paralyzed.
CEO Dan Hart held a company-wide meeting on Thursday evening. He told employees that funding was not secured and most employees would be laid off.
“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to secure the funding to provide a clear path for this company,” Hart said, according to audio of the 1700 ET meeting obtained by CNBC.
“We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes,” Hart said, adding this is “probably the hardest all-hands that we’ve ever done in my life.”
The CEO explained 90% of the workforce would be laid off, leaving about 100 employees to oversee the process of winding down operations. In a securities filing, the company said 85% of its workforce would be laid off “in order to reduce expenses in light of the company’s inability to secure meaningful funding.”
“This company, this team — all of you — mean a hell of a lot to me. And I have not, and will not, stop supporting you, whether you’re here on the journey or if you’re elsewhere,” Hart said.
Hart added that Virgin Orbit would “provide a severance package for every departing” employee.
As a result of the news, shares of the company plunged as much as 53% in premarket trading in New York. The stock was worth more than $7 a year ago, and after this morning’s drop, it’s only now worth pennies.
Earlier this month, Virgin Orbit announced an “operational pause” due to its inability to raise capital. Funding woes likely stem from the demise of Silicon Valley Bank as the VC funding market froze.
Besides a funding crunch, the company was hit with a major setback after a rocket launch failure in January.
Virgin Orbit is still looking to sell all or part of its business, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
THE REPORT FROM IRON MOUNTAIN was a think tank paper that covered things like ‘ substitutes for war ‘. They liked the social control of a war footing because people could be hardshipped to save the Nation-State-Womb. But how to do it without all the destruction ?
It said a large over funded space program and such was the equivalent of the pyramid building of old. It consumes mass amounts of effort and GDP , keeps the slaves busy, busy, busy instead of elevating the standard of living. The paper also considered an outside external threat like UFO’s as a method / excuse to implement harsh control measures.
( Who speaks for planet Earth ? )
The N.Y. Slimes tried to dismiss the report as ” Delightful Satire ” but its findings are self evident. As is ” Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars .”
One of my earliest memories is of my dad sitting me down at 5 years old and telling me there was no Santa. He said he never wanted to lie to me and wanted me to know that I could always trust him.
We still had very happy joyful Christmas celebrations, but he wanted me to know who was providing the joy – him.
I had a unique upbringing and am so incredibly grateful for my father. I’m biased, of course, but he is one of the most amazing men on this planet. For real. And I’m not the only one who thinks that – he takes care of many people who adore him.
Love you, dad…in case you’re reading.
The Jews in my class ruined it for me.
I think if I downvote your comment that means I’m on your side. Why would I like the fact that they did that?
You must be a Democrat. You think just like one.
A fervent christian did it for me.
In Short, the (space) pie is just too small, as there aren’t enough “stakeholders” to get (well) paid off.
As opposed to war/conflict, that “benefits” many, from top to bottom.
I remember much more traumatic things than the fraud of Santa Claus. At 12 yo my little girlfriends dad shot her mother in the head with a shotgun then went out to the garage and blew his head off. That’s when I realized adults weren’t just liars they were dangerous.
A guy from India told me years back that people make a lot of money from breweries, etc and then piss it away on airlines and other shit that flies
The Earth is also round, now there’s a whopper. /s
I’m sorry you were traumatized. I don’t even remember when exactly I found out Santa wasn’t real. There were other things about growing up that were more memorable.
Last fall, I got to do something I had wanted to do for a very long time. I learned to make sourdough bread. I watched hours of youtube vids, bought a book, bought lots of equipment and very expensive flours. Einkorn, whole rye, sprouted wheat. Gold Medal bread flour is 2 times the price of what all purpose flour costs. I made many loaves, many, many. Church potluck got some with some for everyone to take home. I sent my brother in law some for Christmas, a week before actually but the bread didn’t arrive for 10 days. He lives North of Chicago and the state was ice-locked. He said the bread was fine. I made sourdough twice a week for 4 months, sometimes more often. I learned to use sourdough discard for pancakes and English muffins. Through all of this baking and learning, the taste was not the tangy sourness of the sourdough bread my family would have with spaghetti when I was a child. So I looked up the bread and the list of ingredients. I was devastated!! That bread used yeast and ascorbic acid to get the flavor that I “thought” was how sourdough tasted. At 55, I felt more betrayed to learn this than learning Santa was not real when I was 5. The bread I make is very good, we have still hot after the bake with lots of real butter, 2nd piece get honey and butter. Half the loaf is gone before it cools. Ham and swiss sandwiches are amazing on my bread. Butter and homemade blackberry jam is heaven. So I have gotten over my soul-crushing realization that what I thought was sourdough bread, isn’t. Maybe folks may think I am a bit dramatic. I absolutely thought I could learn to make sourdough bread like that bread from my childhood. Well, actually, I can learn to make that bread, if I use yeast and ascorbic acid. BUT, that isn’t REAL sourdough. I outta sue!
I am about to embark on your journey. Got some sourdough starter in the mail that is over 100 years old. I know you can make your own, but I like continuing a tradition.
I enjoyed your post, and I understand the feeling of betrayal.
Please let us know how your experiment goes with the mail-order starter … and please supply the name of that product so we know whether to get it or to avoid it.
Ciao.
Hi Freedom!
I have been making some sourdough loaves. At first I was following the bread machine recipe, after doing some research realized there is no way to make a true sourdough in a machine (not mine at least) because of the need for the longer ferment. Also realized that the hydration ratio in the given recipe was very low.
So today I was attempting a 75% hydration with 100 g starter (100% hydration), 350g water and 500g flour. I now have a very sticky and loose dough. I am trying to salvage it, but its pretty hard to work with. Any ideas?
A flour with a higher protein like bread flour I find easier to work. I got The Tartine Bread book, good SD recipe and lots of others. Higher hydration dough is sticky, I felt that it wasn’t worth all the extra stress. There are some good videos on Youtube. I like The Bread Code, Foodgeek and The Sourdough Journey. Lots of good information. Learning sourdough is a steep learning curve. I learned to be happy with a good tasting bread, even if the bread was not photo worthy. Good Luck!
The wife is steadfast–Santa exists. I am realist: there’s no way Santa can fly around earth in sleigh and hit every house in one night. Children grew up watching us debate. They picked their own side.
Same with where do babies come from. Wife says they come from people. I contend that is disgusting, babies come from a factory. Our kids decided for themselves.
Actually … back in the ’70s I learned that babies come from a tree …
… and here’s the advance word about it …
An excellent album, by the way … saw JS perform it live in ’72 or ’73 …
I was 19 when I discovered Santa wasn’t real. No big deal … didn’t bother me at all. Kinda weird to me that HF got all distraught by this little deception. That being said, we never played that game with our kids. Because we felt it would piss off Jesus, really.
====
True story. The ex-file was a 1st grade teacher at a charter school in MI. She told all the kids that Santa was a lie … that Jesus is the reason for the season. She got fired at the end of the school year.
Jed had to fess up after misgendering his own daughter….in 1962!
He’s the only man on Earth who ever misgendered Ellie May. She actually was the first girl to make me realize there were two genders.
For a lot of US boomers, it was Annette Funicello in the ’50s and beyond …
Julie Newmark!
I was 19 when I discovered Santa wasn’t real.
😂😂 Lord have mercy!
This explains a lot.
I notice that Santa is more interesting than the space programs.
It didn’t really bother me learning santa wasn’t real because it didn’t make sense. Knowing the spirit behind it made it okay for me. I knew someone who didn’t find out until adulthood. Now that was weird af. Both the gullibility and that her family would continue a lie like that.
I notice that Santa is more interesting than the space programs.
Kinda wyrd how that happened. I bet that wasn’t HSF’s intention.
Lol! Threads always get derailed here. It wouldn’t be TBP if they didn’t. I guess space isn’t important to me, except for the fact that they throw away billions and billions on it. I don’t believe we are meant to travel in space.
Mary- NASA never was (really) about space, this is a closed system. NASA is about black op money and theater.
This place is derailed more than Norfolk Southern, I like watching train wrecks, ya never know which direction the train cars will pile up and on who. 🙂
Good one, BL. We are living a slow motion train wreck.
I was affirming your observation of TBP. What does AP want the crew to accomplish?
I think these people are obsessed with space and aliens to disprove the existence of God. They want to beat the natural laws so they can become god-like. They want aliens to exist to disprove Biblical texts and to downgrade humanity’s existence from intelligent self-conscious beings to cave dwellers.
That’s exactly what it boils down to. People can argue this topic all day long, but disproving God is the crux of the matter.
Not to put too much of a point on it — but, since they don’t believe in any aspect or form of God, they’ve got no need to prove that God doesn’t exist …
You don’t need aliens to disprove the bible, and it wouldn’t matter anyway since all sorts of extra-biblical things have been interpolated. Natural laws are a whole different matter.
I’d take a good old-fashioned caveman any day, most people aren’t self-conscious anyways.
No Santa?
IKR, spoiler alert next time, grinch brigade.
Which reminds me, I need to write Santa again about paying off my student loans with elf taxes.
Says who?
Them’s fighting words … and maybe more therapy …
It was this last Christmas when our 12 year old asked me in early December if I thought that Santa had some item he wanted in his budget. I answered that I thought he did, but you never know.
Then, after unwrapping it, he exclaimed “Thanks Mom!”
The other kids: firmly in the Santa hoax.
Later, I caught my oldest in his room by himself and started the conversation: “You know, about that Santa thing …”
Him: “I know, Mom.” Me: “How did you find out?” Him: “Well, it became kind of obvious, if you think about it, that it is physically impossible to hit all of the houses in one night.”
I thanked him for keeping it on the down low for the other two.
Perhaps, Santa is useful. Figuring it out is a coming of age story for how the world really works: Conspiracies to lie together are more common than you might think. Not theories at all.
So I asked him 10 minutes ago if he was sad when he found out (No) or if he is upset with us for lying at him (No). He said that it is part of pop culture. As long as the stream of gifts doesn’t stop, he doesn’t mind either way.
Your kid has something a lot of people lack, common sense.
I think common sense is largely inborn. That’s why those who seek to rule put such effort into wrecking it.
I was pretty smart as a yung un and figured out Santa was probably not real because of the logistics involved. Travel to every house all over the world in one day…sounded shaky to me but hey adults said it was true and I got presents from him, so I went along. Same logic can be applied to space travel. The myriad of complex systems needed to successfully even execute a man (or woman or just kidding) launched into space are staggering. The more complex the systems the higher the probability of problems. Now add in going to a distant planet and coming back. I am not saying it cannot be done, I am not saying it hasn’t been done but from a systems analysis standpoint it would be given a high probability of failure. I will not even talk about the cost involved.
This thread has helped me understand why NASA has been so successful in convincing the public that they actually do the stuff they say they’re doing.
It has been equally traumatic as the whole Santa thing.
When one of my youngest was on the fence about believing in Santa and kids at school were bringing up the subject of real / not real …
He clung to the magic and told his friends … “Santa HAS to be real because there is NO WAY my dad would spend all that money for all the stuff we get!!!”
I wasn’t bothered to find out Santa Claus was made up. I don’t remember that day.
I do remember my dad explaining Star Trek and TV shows vs NASA and reality.
What? We don’t go anywhere? We are stuck *here*?!
That day was a bad day.
Free money for cons is starting to run out. Many more cons that have only stayed alive because the controllers could pump money in to pump up the stock prices and sell to the rubes will go down in flames- but don’t worry the perpetrators already got theirs.
HSF is right that we have been taught to tell little lies to our children, teaching item to believe impossibilities. Then they grow up to believe even bigger impossibilities such as the round ball earth rotating at 1,000 MPH at equator held together by gravity. Totally absurd concept yet most of the muppets on this site are incapable of seeing through it. The brainwashing started early and runs deep.
I’m sorry I didn’t wake up early enough to save my children from this crap but I was once brainwashed too. I think I’m a little less so now. Hard work peeling back the Onion of Truth.
It is my belief that most elites are Malthusians at heart. Why? Because they can remain big fish as long as this is the only pond. As long as they have a largesse of influence, why ruin a good thing. At some point it must dawn on them that space colonies and exploration would allow the expansion of human boundaries — and that would be bad for them.
I’m sorry your little rocket hobby lost its funding.
I thought this was going in a different direction, at first.
From the teaser, I thought HSF was going to say that the people who had cherished childhood memories and beliefs, like Santa or sourdough bread, that subsequently were debunked, were the ones more likely experiencing cognitive dissonance WRT the state of things, be they politics, panem or pandemics.
I don’t ever remember having a solid belief in any of the mythical creature, nor mainstream belief, for that matter. As I grew older and more cynical, most of the authority figures I came in contact with turned out unreliable, if not outright hypocritical.
My disillusionment was gradual, rather than traumatic.