Apr 302010
 

Sometimes I cannot tell the difference between satire and simple crazy. I suspect that this is a case of the latter, but I could be wrong.

 http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1367.htm

US Orders Blackout Over North Korean Torpedoing Of Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig

A grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia’s Northern Fleet is reporting that the United States has ordered a complete media blackout over North Korea’s torpedoing of the giant Deepwater Horizon oil platform owned by the World’s largest offshore drilling contractor Transocean that was built and financed by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., that has caused great loss of life, untold billions in economic damage to the South Korean economy, and an environmental catastrophe to the United States. …

 On the night of April 20th the North Korean Mini Submarine manned by these “suicidal” 17th Sniper Corps soldiers attacked the Deepwater Horizon with what are believed to be 2 incendiary torpedoes causing a massive explosion and resulting in 11 workers on this giant oil rig being killed outright. Barely 48 hours later, on April 22nd , this North Korean Mini Submarine committed its final atrocity by exploding itself directly beneath the Deepwater Horizon causing this $1 Billion oil rig to sink beneath the seas and marking 2010’s celebration of Earth Day with one of the largest environmental catastrophes our World has ever seen. …

Russian Navy atomic experts in these reports state that should Obama choose the “nuclear option” the most viable weapon at his disposal is the United States B83 (Mk-83) strategic thermonuclear bomb having a variable yield (Low Kiloton Range to 1,200 Kilotons) which with its 12 foot length and 18 inch diameter, and weighing just over 2,400 pounds, is readily able to be deployed and detonated by a remote controlled mini-sub.

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 Posted by at 5:45 pm
Apr 292010
 

For quite a while it has been the practice in many Brit/American movies set in the distant past of Europe to include characters played by actors of seriously out-of-place ethnicity. Usually, these characters play travellers from distant lands, thus explaining why, say, Morgan Freeman would be romping around Sherwood Forest. But recently I’ve noticed an increase in the casting of non-Europeans in massively European roles.

One show that I’ve been wholly incapable of getting interested in is the BBC’s “Merlin,” which, from what I can tell, wholly mangles the Arthurian legends. On top of that, Guinevere looks *seriously* non-British.

Which one is Guinevere? Here’s a hint: she’s not wearing blue.

Additionally, the “Thor” movie currently in works will feature the Norse god Heimdall, who stands guard at Bifrost, the bridge between the world of men and the world of the gods. Heimdall is generally depicted somewhat like this:

But in the “Thor” movie, he’ll be portrayed by Idris Elba, who looks like this:

There are two points of view I can take on this:

1) The Norse gods were the gods of, surprisingly, the Norse people, and were envisioned by them as looking like them. Additionally… the Norse gods, Heimdall included, are actively worshipped by thousands of people today, mostly in Scandinavia, Iceland and the US (in the forms of Asatru and Forn Sed). While the followers of the Norse gods are few in number compared to, say, Hindus (who pitched a fit when “Xena: Warrior Princess” met some Hindu deities), they are nevertheless there.

2) On the other hand, this movie is not based on the actual lore regarding Thor, but on the comic book. Which has already taken a massive steaming dump on the Norse gods, so I guess some ethnic “confusion” ain’t much to add to it.

Of course, this sort of thing ain’t especially new. Blue-eyed Nodic-type Jeffrey Hunter portrayed Jesus Christ in “King of Kings,” which is about as accurate as having him portrayed by an Indian. But in this case, Jesus was being portrayed as envisioned by much of the target audience, not – as is the case with Guinevere and Heimdall – in direct contradiction to audience expectation.

And further of course, it wasn’t that long ago when Hollywood produced characters that were ethnically far from Nordic, but were portrayed by white actors.

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And these portrayals bring howls of dismay, even more than a half century after the movies were made. Hollywood basically would not dare make movies with characters like these today. And yet…

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And, yes, there’s a sequel to this in works.

 Posted by at 10:21 pm
Apr 282010
 

http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/04/27/filtering_history?page=1

If the history of slavery ought to teach us anything, it is that human beings cannot be trusted with unbridled power over other human beings– no matter what color or creed any of them are. The history of ancient despotism and modern totalitarianism practically shouts that same message from the blood-stained pages of history.

But that is not the message that is being taught in our schools and colleges, or dramatized on television and in the movies. The message that is pounded home again and again is that white people enslaved black people.

… Just as Europeans enslaved Africans, North Africans enslaved Europeans– more Europeans than there were Africans enslaved in the United States and in the 13 colonies from which it was formed.

The treatment of white galley slaves was even worse than the treatment of black slaves picking cotton. But there are no movies or television dramas about it comparable to “Roots,” and our schools and colleges don’t pound it into the heads of students.

All true, and all irrelevant. Slavery has been an evil that has existed throughout human history; the West’s efforts to stamp it out, including America’s one internal war to stamp it out from within, has been a historical anomaly. And it’s pretty much ingrained into out subconscience, as well. Try to think of *any* story, book, movie or TV show that is set after some natural or m,an-made disaster causes society to collapse. The percentage of such tales that *don’t* include slavery in The New Order are pretty damned slim.

Pointing out that Africans have forever been enslaving not only other Africans but white folk is a good way to rile up the PC crowd. I did a good job of that myself back in college with nastygrams to the editor of the local college newsrag; boy howdy did some folk not like reading that blacks enslaved blacks, willingly, joyfully, and long before Evil White People got there. It conflicts with the narrative, the same bullcrap PC narrative that leads to lame storytelling such as we got in “Avatar” that the “noble savage” is something to emulate.

You know what? People suck, always have. All races, all ethnicities. Civilization helps people suck less. The Western Enlightenment and the triumph of science over superstition, coupled with the rise of the Individual and the idea that the People owned the Government (and not the other way ’round) helped people suck a *lot* less.

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine a big-budget miniseries along the lines of “Roots” was made that told the story of the Islamic African Barbary pirates enslaving white Europeans… wiping out towns, brutalizing men on galleys, tossing the wimmins into harems, etc. Further, imagine that this miniseries stuck *strictly* to the facts, but didn’t flinch from the nastier bits. How would CAIR respond? How would Al Sharpton respond? Would they tout the miniseries’ historical accuracy? Would they use it as a good teaching tool, to show the evils of slavery? Or would they start screaming about racism?

I said before that the facts were irrelevant. Because when the facts get in the way of a good racist rant about evil whites/conservatives/Americans/whatever, the facts are to be ignored… and anyone who insists upon bringing them up will liekly be demonized as a way to sweep the facts under the rug.

 Posted by at 1:27 pm
Apr 282010
 

http://www.ktvu.com/news/23284711/detail.html

 The city of San Francisco took action against the state of Arizona Tuesday in response to the governor there signing a controversial immigration law last week. … San Francisco city leaders Tuesday afternoon kicked off a boycott against the state of Arizona that has some SF business interests concerned. … San Francisco Supervisor David Campos also introduced legislation that would ban new contracts and examine existing contracts with Arizona-based companies.

I’m sure the Arizonans will be disappointed that left-wing extremists might not pour into their state at prior rates.

Additionally, this gives the state government of Arizona the opportunity to be gracious and magnanimous. Instead of responding with a similar boycott of San Francisco, they should take a tip from South Park… and start a free charter bus service for illegal aliens straight to SF. Let them know about all the welfare goodies they can obtain in SF, how the California gun laws leave the citizens of that state virtually defenseless compared to the citizens of Arizona, how San Fran refuses to work with the feds on rounding up illegals, etc.

It’s a win-win.

BONUS: a list of “sanctuary cities” that provide protection for foreign criminals. Several in Arizona. Perhaps the AZ state government might save a step and simply release concicted criminals from foreign lands directly into these cities.

 Posted by at 12:44 pm
Apr 282010
 

Here’s the last of ’em! From APR original print issue V5N5 comes a 13-page article on the “Spacejet” concept. One of the problems with single stage ot orbit spaceplanes that use turbojets to get up to speed is that you then have to drag the weight of the turbojets and their associated fuel tanks all the way to orbit. Spacejet did away with that, by putting the turbojets and their fuel tanks in ejectable pods. What’s more, the ejectable pods were themselves small unmanned vehicles; after separation, they would fly themselves back to the launch site for a convenient runway landing.

 This article presents a multitude of designs for variations on the Spacejet theme, including a spaceplane that was a greatly stretched mutant Space Shuttle.

Download for only $2.40.

Order it (and all the other currently available APR articles) here: http://www.up-ship.com/blog/eAPR/articles.htm

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 Posted by at 8:33 am