Jan 062021
 

David Bowie’s “Heroes” is a song about the triumph of the human spirit. Written in 1977, it is about two lovers separated by the Berlin Wall. Lots of people love this song and are cheered by it:

 

A lot of singers have covered it. And then… Peter Gabriel released his own version. Same melody, same lyrics, and at least to me it seems utterly flipped into a lament. To me it comes across not “we can be heroes” in the sense that “we have this great potential,” but “we could, but we’re not.” It almost sounds like someone who had the chance to be a hero and failed and is now living with the failure.

I gotta say I find the Gabriel version far, FAR more evocative.

 Posted by at 7:03 am
Jan 042021
 

Let me get this out of the way: flying cars are a COOL IDEA that, when the rubber meets the road and the math hits the calculator, generally doesn’t make much sense. You end up with a car that isn’t that good married to an airplane that isn’t that good. More expensive than either a car or a light airplane should be, with the performance of neither.

Nevertheless, it remains an evocative notion. And from the standpoint of an aerospace engineer, an interesting engineering exercise. And one of the more recent, more interesting flying car concepts is the “Firenze Lancaire.” This design says “to hell with making a flying car for the masses” and goes straight for the “hypercar” market. The end result is a carbon fiber bodied vehicle with Tesla motors and batteries for getting around on the roads, and two turbojets for getting around in the air. The car is quite large and would be difficult to park, but if you’re paying five million dollars for a car you’re probably not taking it to WalMart.

The website is filled with snazzy images. It just looks sci-fi-cool. But it also looks… kinda incomplete. There are no control surfaces; the wing structure is largely undefined. The wing folding mechanism is interesting and all, but the wings do not appear to have a good structural attachment to the car. They look like a modest G-load and they’ll snap right off.

Is this for real? Is it a serious engineering effort… or is it just someone’s demonstration of their ability to make spiffy CAD models? I don’t know, though I have suspicions. There are enough moving parts on this thing to get it legally qualified as an Autobot, and that worries me some.

 

 Posted by at 1:32 pm
Jan 012021
 

This bit of whackadoodle nonsense dates all the way back to March… almost to the Before Times. But it is worth looking at and laughing at… and perhaps wondering about.

Welcome to Equiterra, where gender equality is real

It is a description of a fictional land of cliches and leftist talking points, illustrated with a particularly childish image of a “city” populated with a bunch of badly rendered people. At a half-hearted count there seem to be about 82 individuals shown. Of that 82, six are shown in wheelchairs (approximately 1% of the US population uses wheelchairs), one (possibly two) are shown as blind, one shown with an artificial leg. Hard to tell how many others are deaf or retarded or crazy or loaded down with STDs. But it is pretty clear that in order to attain their “gender equal” society, a whole lot of people had to be broken.  And of course there will be more: the article points out that in “Equiterra,” nobody questions the wisdom of a girl becoming a professional football player. When she gets plowed over by the 400-pound opponent and snaps her neck… one more for the wheelchair.

Also:

If you ask a little girl walking along Unstereotype Avenue what she wants to be when she grows up, she could tell you I can be anything: a scientist, an engineer, a supreme court judge, an Olympic champion, an artist or astronaut — not even the sky is the limit when it comes to dreaming big.

Huh. How many of these little girls are just waiting for their chance to join the ranks of the garbage disposal specialists? How many are lining up to be ore miners, sewer workers, construction workers, factory workers?

There is no such thing as femicide, women are valued and respected here.

But men? Screw them, the manicide rate is through the *roof.*

“Equiterra” is the sort of place that can only exist through brainwashing. Everyone has the same opinions and goals, the same views and the same… well, everything. The people of Equiterra are *broken.*

People yapping about “equality” set my teeth on edge. Because people *aren’t* equal. Most people are filler; a few people are at either end of the bell curve, being either extraordinarily horrible (your psychos and thieves and murderers and SJWs) or extraordinarily useful (by, say, building rocket ships to get the hell *off* this planet). And between individuals there are inequalities. Some are attractive. Some are bland. Some are butt-ugly. Some smart, some dumb. There is no shame in this. There is no shame in the recognition of this. Where shame comes by truckloads is the pretense that people can somehow be made equal. Aktion T4 and the Lebensborn tried that crap. Not mankinds finest hour.

The one good thing about Equiterra: it won’t last. It is shown with a fair number of children, about thirteen… two of whom are in wheelchairs. More of the rest doubtless have other severe deformities of body or mind. These kids likely won’t reproduce… hell, from the looks of it they won’t make it past puberty (and many who do won’t make it past puberty in a form capable of reproducing, their reproductive bits having been surgically altered when they were seven in order to conform to the kids – or the parents – preferences of the moment). And will they be replaced? Of the adults, there are shown at least three same-sex couples, with an unknown number of trans. They are unlikely to reproduce except through adoption. It seems the birth rate of Equiterra is likely to be low, with the next generation being a substantial mess about as likely to breed like bunnies as a convention of Japanese anime fans.

If things stay as they are, the next country over, Meriterra, only needs to wait a generation or so and they’ll be able to simply move into the abandoned, empty buildings (given that STEM in Equiterra will be more along the lines of newage than rigorous engineering, care should be taken in examining any physical infrastructure prior to occupation and use). However, in all likelihood the wise leaders of Equiterra will simply import the next generation from Refugeeistan. Sure, the new imports won’t have any use for the “equality” the country is so proud of; “Violence-Free Alley” will likely become a hotbed of grooming gangs, “Climate Action Street” will be littered with flaming garbage, “Education Boulevard” will be the no-go zone surrounding the new religious center, “Freedom Avenue” will be where the bodies land when they are thrown off the rooftops for being deviants. You don’t want to know what will happen in the “Toxic Masculinity Recycling Center.”

But the thing is, the people of Equiterra will continue to believe that they are the Good People because they will refuse to talk about how things have changed for fear of being called out and cancelled.

 Posted by at 7:15 pm
Dec 282020
 

Paramount Reportedly Wants Next Terminator Film To Be Rated PG-13

There is no “Terminator7” as yet, no plot, director, producers, anything, just Paramount noodling over the idea. But IMO, they should do one of two things:

1: Give it up. At least until 2029.

2: Do something different.

“Dark Fate” was so *aggressively* bad that the whole franchise has a stain on it now, like finding out that your favorite politician visited Epstein Island, kicks puppies and talks in theaters. But what I would like to see, were I given the reigns and a hundred million to make a movie: I’d ditch everything post “Terminator,” even unto ignoring T2 (*note), and go straight to the Future War against Skynet. Not early in the war like “Salvation,” but the *end* of the war. I’d want two movies: the first shows the battle up to the climax. The second one shows the world *after* victory. No Terminators or Skynet, no war against the machines, just humanity picking up the pieces. A fight among survivors about just how; some want to live like Amish, some want to use Skynets tech to rebuild the cities, restore the land, live out among the stars. Perhaps have true AI, but not of the “destroy all humans” variety. End showing a few generations down the line with humans and AI getting along, colonizing Pluto, say.

What do you want to bet we’ll instead get time travelling robots and lots of CGI splosions.

 

*Note: alternative: assume T2 happened, but obviously Cyberdyne backed up their data elsewhere. The raid on the complex didn’t change the future; Judgement Day still happens, catching the Connors a little off guard, but still prepped for action.

 Posted by at 11:21 am
Dec 272020
 

The Nashville bombing is likely the result of whackadoodlism, rather than religion or politics (let’s put aside for a moment the fact that most politics and religion are fundamentally whackadoodlism… they’re just *commonly* *accepted* whackadoodlism). But even nutjobs need to have some sort of reason why they target this place rather than that. And the link below suggests why the AT&T facility might have been targeted:

Photos After The Explosion Reveal That The Bombing Target The AT&T Building In Nashville Is Reinforced NSA Style Building

Gee whiz, an important communications hub was built rugged, designed to withstand the likes of tornadoes and Russian nuclear strikes? Why on earth would AT&friggenT *possibly* be considered, oh, I dunno, some sort of important national communications asset? Must be a conspiracy! Booga Booga!

The article then wonders why the AT&T facility had a warning sign mounted outside listing “flammability,” “health” and “instability – reactivity” concerns. The author ponders explanations like: “Potential secret chemical? Maybe quantum computing-related?

Somehow, “loaded with lithium ion backup batteries and diesel generators” apparently didn’t occur to said author.

Bah.

There are lots of good reasons why a major communications corporation would ruggedize their facilities, especially the ones so clearly easily accessed by the public. People cranking out looney theories about normal communications buildings being NSA facilities, or remote airfields being UFO landing grounds, or nuclear power plants being stargate terminals, or abandoned WalMarts being concentration camps are just as nutty *and* bad for society as those who crank out conspiracy theories about a wage gap, or white privilege, or faked moon landings, or Russian collusion, or the CIA created AIDS, or the Proud Boys being white supremacists, or Holocaust-was-a-hoax BS, or Creationist claptrap, or Flat Eartherism, or 2+4=4 being anything other than flat reality.

 Posted by at 3:54 pm
Dec 212020
 

From the Washington Post:

Why Americans are numb to the staggering coronavirus death toll

A number of reasons are given for why Americans are just kinda shrugging at the ~300,000  deaths from the Commie Cough. One reason: it’s just too big, the human brain refuses to try to conceive of such vastness and simply shuts down trying. Another is that many people have bought into conspiracy theories. Another is that people are isolated from the actual deaths, the infected dying alone, sealed away from friends and family.

But there are two obvious reasons that didn’t seem to get mentioned:

1: We’ve all heard about overcounting… someone dying of cancer dies with the CCP virus in their system so it gets notched up to the Commie Cough. How often does that happen? Is it statistically insignificant? Or is it a sizable fraction? We just don’t know.

2: And perhaps most importantly, look at how the pandemic was sold to us in the beginning:

“even if all patients were able to be treated, we predict there would still be in the order of 250,000 deaths in GB, and 1.1-1.2 million in the US.”

Now, assuming the vaccine works well enough, the pandemic should start tapering off in a couple months I’d think. We’re currently sitting at about 318,000 *official* deaths, losing about 2,600 more per day. Two more months of that, assuming that the death rate somehow stays constant (which would be damned peculiar) will lead to a total of about 473,000 deaths. Substantially less than the 1.2 million, especially if a large fraction of those deaths weren’t really killed by Pinko Pox but were already sick folk just sorta pushed over the edge.

3: The lockdowns indicate that the Government Takes This Seriously. That riots were allowed to proceed and that liquor stores were considered essential businesses, indicates that the Government Does Not Take This Seriously.

When were were oversold into a panic from the beginning, and then the data is not only well below the original fearmongering but is not widely trusted, and the government sending massively mixed signals… well, it only makes sense that lots of people kinda stop worrying about things too much.

 Posted by at 3:20 pm
Dec 182020
 

A few days ago some random confluence of data conspired to make a few neurons fire that hadn’t fired in a very long time. I happened to see a reference to Phoenix, Arizona, and for some reason it caused me to think “didn’t I see a movie where Phoenix got hit by a comet?” Sure enough, the 1978 TV movie “A Fire in The Sky” features an impact just outside Phoenix, illustrated by the very finest in halfassed late-70’s TV-budgeted special effects. I highly doubt I’ve given this movie much thought since I saw it 42 or so years ago. But hey, with the internet all things are possible. So if you want to see it, or see it again, behold, here it is in potato-resolution:

Witness Michael Biehn before he fought Terminators, Xenomorphs and water tentacles. The man was a menace… wherever he went, disasters followed.

 Posted by at 7:51 pm
Dec 162020
 

In some ways the 1980’s were FREAKIN’ AWESOME. Coming out of the truly dire 1970’s, what with Viet Nam and the end of Apollo and inflation and malaise and Iran and OPEC and the environment going straight to hell and Jimmy Carter and disco, the sudden arrival of optimism and Ronald Reagan made the world seem a better place. Even though expanded spending on disastrous social welfare programs torpedoed the deficit and the Soviets were still lurking around the corner with ten thousand nukes to turn the planet into a blasted hellscape… hey, no more Carter. People were proud of the US again; Viet Nam veterans were starting to be (rather belatedly) celebrated, as was the military; the US returned to space with the Shuttle; computer technology finally broke into the home market; Hollywood started cranking out some outstanding flicks that are still beloved even unto today. The world looked like it just might have a shiny future.

But then… sigh.

Growing up as a kidling in the 70’s, I was constantly bombarded by a culture saturated in the hedonism of the 60’s and the 70’s. The hippies and yuppies and their sex, drugs and rock & roll made it look like adult life was filled with nonstop partying, that once my cohort got over the hump of adolescence, we, too, would be having nothing but fun. Those my age were not quite sure what it was all about yet, but we were sure that once we got about to high school we’d have it figured out and we’d all be having a blast.

But then… wouldn’t you know it, the boomers had to go and destroy that, too. Right abut the time that girls started to seem interesting… AIDS. AIDS freakin’ 24/7. After school specials. In-school propaganda. News reports of DOOOOOOOOOM. Want a little taste of what we had to go through? Here:

Feh.

That was clearly some religious indoctrination of some kind, but even in the statist-est of state schools we got the same message, just without the Bible-bangin’ (and sometimes with). Coupled with the Satanic Panic and the sudden rise of Stranger Danger, freakouts over D&D and rock music, it’s no wonder that Generation X turned into the generation of “meh.” It was impossible to stay panicked all the time (even with air raid drills that we all knew wouldn’t do a damn thing once Soviet nukes started falling), but the constant drumbeat of “if you try to have fun, you’ll die” did a dandy job of draining the joy out of many regular aspects of existence.

Longer version of the creepifyin’ original:

Now just imagine what todays younguns are gonna be like when they grow up, after having been burdened with the Commie Cough and being told that their whiteness is evil and that objectivity is racist and that their history should be erased.

Poor little bastards.

 Posted by at 12:40 am
Dec 132020
 

Below is a photo of a case for the transport of a display model, circa 1956. To figure out how big the model inside the box is, I need to know how big the box is. And oddly enough, figuring out how big a sixty-plus-year-old box is from a single photo is a little tricky. However, it’s *entirely* possible that this was an off the shelf item… and it might even be something that someone has. Not likely, but at least possible. So, on the off chance someone can nail this thing down for me… $100.00 (one hundred US dollars) worth of my downloadable stuff for whoever first is able to show me exactly what box this is and, importantly, how big it is. Photos of an actual item with a ruler would work. Photos/scans of a catalog that shows and describes it would work.

It could be more vaguely defined by going after some of the components. I suspect the three-digit locks might be pretty well standardized. Definition on those or maybe the handle would be useful if the box can’t be defined… useful to the tune of $15 in downloads.

The winner also gets clued in on just what the frak I’m doing here, and a copy of the results.

 Posted by at 4:39 pm
Dec 132020
 

This makes for dismal reading:

How Well-Intentioned White Families Can Perpetuate Racism

The basic thesis here is that well to do families who want the best for their kids, and make efforts to provide for them, are evil and unjust. At least when those families are white, that is. Behold:

Pinsker: What would it look like for a white affluent parent to make a choice not to give their children “the best”? Is it a matter of not calling the school to get the best math teacher? Or is there a more proactive thing a parent might be able to do?

Hagerman: I think part of it is how we choose to define “the best.” Some of the parents in my book, they rejected the idea that their child needed to be in all the AP classes. They valued other elements of their children’s personalities, such as their concerns about ethics or fairness or social justice. There were a handful of parents in my study who resisted having a separate track for AP students, for example, which can sometimes be a segregating force within schools.

Any parent who would prioritize “social justice” indoctrination for their kids over math and history and critical thinking skills needs to consider whether of not they should really be parents. And any parent who would get rid of AP classes because they can “sometimes be a segregating force within schools” needs to have their ass handed to them. Athletics departments are “segregating forces,” because not every kid can hurl the sportsball with equal efficacy. Allowing student to choose their own friends and social circles is a “segregating force.”

And then there’s this summary:

“My overall point is that in this moment when being a good citizen conflicts with being a good parent, I think that most white parents choose to be good parents, when, sometimes at the very least, they should choose to be good citizens. “

The State über alles, citizen!

My god some people are awful. Is it important to do things to help make society, your city, your state, your nation better? Sure. And few if any things could make your nation better than to make your kids be as good as they can be, especially if your kids are on the high end of the bell curve. Is your kid average? Then ramming him or her onto a more aggressive educational track will have minimal benefits. But is he or she particularly intelligent or talented? Then for frak’s sake, do everything in your power to foster that. Actually stymieing the development of those who can actually grow substantially is not only child abuse, it’s damn near treasonous.

 

 Posted by at 12:24 pm