Ukraine Zoo: Putin’s killing the cats

 AARRRGH, American Nuclear Explosive Devices, cats, critters, Gah., news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Apr 062022
 

Well. One more thing to add to The List.

Ukrainian zoo says it may have to euthanize big cats, bears after enclosures destroyed

“Yesterday and today [Feldman Ecopark] was again subjected to massive shelling and bombardment. Infrastructure destroyed, enclosures destroyed,” zoo founder Alexander Feldman said in a statement. “The biggest problem is large predators.” 

“Maybe we will save baby jaguars, baby panthers, but all adult animals will probably be liquidated,” Feldman said.

The zoo, located in Kharviv, said that its specialists are trying to place the animals in temporary housing, noting this is the only option they have outside of euthanizing bears, lions and tigers. 

Understandable but… dayum. I am reminded, unhappily, of Marjan the Kabul Zoo lion. That story *still* pisses me off to no end, twenty years later. I had the great misfortune of first reading about Marjan and seeing photos of while at work back then. Uuuuuugh.

Even for cats as massive and majestic as lions, for animals as powerful as bears… humans waging war has to be a cosmic horror. Their experience of such things would be like the Greek gods warring with the Hindu gods would be on primitive Man.

This video shows the place in October of last year. The Feldman Ecopark Zoo was certainly no San Diego Zoo, but it seemed like it was a nice place, with what appears to have been well designed, well built and well maintained enclosures with healthy animals given a good amount of space. Until Putins goons decided to “deNazify” it.

Apparently there is *some* effort to evacuate some of the big cats:

 Posted by at 7:46 pm

“Veterinarians are Expensive” SALE

 AARRRGH, American Nuclear Explosive Devices, APR, cats, critters, drawings&documents, Gah., news, projects, sales & specials, US Bomber Projects, US Fighter Projects, US Launch Vehicle Projects, US Spacecraft Projects, US Transport Projects, US VTOL Projects  7 Responses »
Feb 222016
 

Just brought Raedthinn home from the vet. He is, it seems, All Better… but that came at a substantial cost. In fact, two days at the vet cost more than a months work on USFP01 and USVP01 brought in. Behold:

WP_20160222_002

So… time for another sale. For the next day or two or three, I’m running another Downloadable Stuff Sale. This applies to all APR’s and articles, USxPs, Air & Space Drawings & Documents, ANED01. As per usual… make your purchase using the Paypal buttons, and I’ll refund the sales difference.

Up to $50: 10% off

From $50.01 to $75: 15% off

More than $75: 20% off

UPDATE: Sale has ended as of 2/24/2016

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And as always, feel free to toss something into the Tip Jar if’n yer of a mind to:
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Feline Tip Jar


 Posted by at 10:47 am

Anybody near a Fat Man?

 AARRRGH, American Nuclear Explosive Devices, history, Hmm..., nukes, photography  12 Responses »
Oct 112015
 

In all my running around taking photos of nuclear weapons, one shot I have somehow failed to get is a good, clear dead-on front view of the thing (I took several straight on front view shots of the Fat Man at the atomic weapons museum in Albuquerque… and every last one was badly out of focus). I need this for a single, simple reason: working out just where the bolts holding the nose and tail shells are. You’d think they’d be evenly spaced around the circumference, but they’re not.

If anyone happens to be near one of the numerous display units littering the countryside, or happens to have a clear head-on photo that shows the bolts clearly, I’d be greatly appreciative.

These bolts (scribble-circled):

fat man 1

This here is the closest I have to a head-on clear shot, and it’s not nearly head-on nor clear enough to nail down the angular locations of those bolts:

fat man 2

 Posted by at 8:45 am

So… what do you want?

 American Nuclear Explosive Devices, blather, Hmm..., My Fiction, new products, US Bomber Projects, US Launch Vehicle Projects, US Spacecraft Projects, US Transport Projects  17 Responses »
Jun 112015
 

I have three “US Aerospace Projects’ publications in the works. Two are virtually finished, the third about halfway through. I’m finding that the going goes slower these days, for reasons that are unclear; early on I thought I might be able to put out an issue a week, but it has been since April since I last released an issue. I’d like to think that I’m doing a better, more thorough job, and that takes more time. But then I’d also like to think that riches are mere days away.

So, what would you like to see come out soon? Options include:

  1. US Bomber Projects
  2. US Transport Projects
  3. US Launch Vehicle Projects
  4. US Spacecraft Projects
  5. US Fighter Projects
  6. US VTOL Projects
  7. American Nuclear Explosive Devices #2

url

Perhaps equally importantly… anything you have *zero* interest in?

Also: I’ve got a burning desire to scribble fiction (as may have been obvious from my “After The End” post yesterday), but fiction doesn’t pay anything. So spending a lot of time on it for no money would be a bit silly; spending a lot of time on it for no money *and* no general interest would be fricken’ stupid. I’ve got a half-assembled history of the *first* nuclear war in the “Pax Orionis” series, the one that set the US off on the direction of building up a major Orion program. It’s taken me a while to figure out just *how* to structure this historical background; I think I’ve finally got it. It’ll be a chapter from the memoirs of one of the Orion crew. He’s going over the history of the Orion program in a conversational way… not as a historian, with charts and graphs, but as Just A Guy describing how he got to where he got.

 Posted by at 10:53 pm

US Bomber Projects , APR, etc: slight change in transfer protocol

 American Nuclear Explosive Devices, APR, news  6 Responses »
May 072015
 

For a number of years, downloadable items have been made available through password protected directories at up-ship.com/blog. I am now in the process of switching over to using dropbox.com; this seems to make the downloading process a bit easier (and makes the uploading process a lot easier). So far I’ve transferred all of the US Bomber/Transport/Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle Projects files over (including the 11X17 specials) as well as American Nuclear Explosive Devices #1. Some testing has shown that it works well. If you’ve found the previous downloading system cumbersome, now might be a good time to try out the new system with some new USBP’s. It’s my goal to transfer *everything* over to this system… APR’s, drawings, documents. But I’m hoping for some feedback first in case there are any issues.

 Posted by at 2:30 pm

My diagrams…

 aircraft, American Nuclear Explosive Devices, APR, art, drawings, news, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, US Spacecraft Projects, US Transport Projects  1 Response »
Feb 022015
 

I’ve started posting my diagrams created for APR, USBP, etc. over on “Deviantart.” Unless I get bored and wander away (gosh, what are the chances of *that*), the plan is to eventually post virtually *all* of my diagrams, at a rate of about one a day.

Check it out:

scott-lowther.deviantart.com

Feel free to tell anyone you care to tell.

 Posted by at 9:51 pm

USBP #12 and ANED #01 Now Available

 aircraft, American Nuclear Explosive Devices, books, drawings, history, new products, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, weapons  2 Responses »
Dec 172014
 

The latest releases in the “US Aerospace Projects” line (see the full library HERE):

US Bomber Projects #12 contents:

  • Boeing Model 464-41: A turboprop B-52 predecessor
  • Boeing “Big Bird”: a long-durational, low-speed, low-altitude missile carrying loiterer
  • Douglas MX-2091-E: A 1950’s canard configured missile carrier
  • Boeing Model 701-238: A supersonic design on the road to the B-59
  • Northrop Nuclear Flying Wing: Atomic power with two crew pods
  • Martin Model 223-12: the final design in the XB-48 design series
  • Rockwell MRCC: An airplane that could be tossed into space atop an RSRM
  • Lockheed CL-820-8: A Mach 3 variable-geometry design

USBP #12 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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usbp12promo

usbp12ad2

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New: American Nuclear Explosive Devices #01

This is a prototype issue for what may become a series but which I hope to turn into a Real Book. The plan is to eventually document via accurate and detailed diagrams every nuclear explosive device produced by the US (obviously some are a little lean on declassified data). This includes bombs, Re-Entry Vehicles, a few actual “physics packages” and some stand-alone test devices. ANED01 contains information and diagrams of the first three atom bombs worked on by the US: the Thin Man and Little Boy air-droppable bombs and the Trinity “Gadget” test device. The American Nuclear Explosive Devices webpage is HERE.

ANED01 is formatted for 11X17, so the diagrams are good and large.

ANED #01 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

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aned01promo

 Posted by at 1:04 pm