Old nuclear test films upscaled and colorized. While not perfect, they’re really quite good.
These come from a YouTube channel with a lot of old B&W films “improved” via artificial intelligence:
Sep 092020
Sep 082020
An interesting video about the last item that the US military fielded that could be called a “flamethrower,” the M202 “Flash:”
Now, it would probably be inappropriate to suggest that weapons such as this, or perhaps “Dragons Breath” cartridges for tear gas launches, would be an appropriate response to communists in the streets throwing Molotov cocktails. So don’t even think about it.
Sep 082020
So the Chinese launched a Long March 4B rocket and “recovered” the booster stage… to certain limits of the definition of “recover.” On its way down it looks a lot like a Falcon 9 booster coming down; it just kinda skipped the “landing burn” part. And the “don’t aim at a school” part. And the “don’t spread a cloud of nitrogen tetroxide over the plebs” part.
Some impressive footage from today's Long March 4B first stage return.
ℹ：https://t.co/9oRPoR0ZdF pic.twitter.com/SEl7t1u5xJ
— LaunchStuff (@LaunchStuff) September 7, 2020
I’m sure the Chinese will steal what they need from SpaceX to fix this issue… eventually.
Sep 082020
Oscar Shakes Up Best Picture Eligibility Standards; Strict New Diversity Requirements Take Full Effect In 2024
In order for a movie to be eligible for the Best Picture award, it will now be required to adopt certain features:
STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES
To achieve Standard A, the film must meet ONE of the following criteria:
A1. Lead or significant supporting actors
At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
-
- Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
- Asian
A2. General ensemble cast
At least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from at least two of the following underrepresented groups:
-
- Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
- Women
A3. Main storyline/subject matter
The main storyline(s), theme or narrative of the film is centered on an underrepresented group(s).
-
- Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
- Women
Huh. A movie about, say Robin Hood or King Arthur or the Vikings or the Greeks or the Romans or the Renaissance would need to be either a-historical or would be disallowed. Shakespeare is off the table. World War I or WWII or the Franco-Prussian War or Napoleon: verbotten. The early space program? Nope.
One wonders if they woke mafia behind this nonsense will go after *past* best Picture winners the same way they’ve tried to retroactively cancel the likes of H.P. Lovecraft. “Casablanca?” cancelled. “Hamlet?” “The Best Years of Our Lives?””My Fair Lady?’ “The Sound of Music?” “A Man for All Seasons?” “Patton?” “Amadeus?” “Braveheart?” “Titanic?” “A Beautiful Mind?” “Return of the King?” “The Kings Speech?” None of these would be allowed to even be *eligible* under the new era of #OscarsSoWoke.
Sep 082020
After some study, it turns out tha tthe “Chinese mystery seeds” that people were recieving ws a much bigger issue than originally thought. *Thousands* of Americans got them in the mail. And hundreds of Americans proved that voting-by-mail was a bad idea and that voting machines should come with some sort of automated tests to prove that you are smart enough to know not to *eat* friggen mystery seeds form an antagonist nation.
Hundreds of Americans Planted ‘Chinese Mystery Seeds’
Assuming the article is accurate (hey, it’s “Vice,” best to remain skeptical), tens of thousands of Americans received packages of mystery seeds. The consensus seems to be that this was a scam meant to generate five-star reviews; I remain fuzzy on just how that’s supposed to work, but ok, whatever. Let’s assume that it was just a *relatively* harmless scam, and not a more insidious plot to sow blights, invasive species or genetically engineered monsters into the American ecosystem. But this scan showed that such a plot could well work. Lots of people just went ahead and behaved foolishly with these seeds.
Americans need to be more skeptical. Americans need to be more paranoid and distrusting, especially of anyone associated with communism.
Sep 082020
Colorado looks interesting just now…
The poster for Game of Thrones Season 9 is looking interesting. pic.twitter.com/2xWnYthuMM
— Killed by Google 🔪 (@killedbygoogle) September 8, 2020
Sep 072020
Here’s a good idea for a website:
Not The Bee
It’s something of a news aggregator… but stories that you might at first think are actually satire from the Babylon Bee. For example:
BEHOLD: Critical Race Theory in one image
Which links to:
This is Critical Race Theory in a single image. pic.twitter.com/8ZhljbXlvp
— James Lindsay, relevant white dude (@ConceptualJames) September 6, 2020
Which is taken from this incident:
Gotta respect the grift. I don’t know how much you can get paid to lecture white people on how they are racist, but clearly you won’t starve to death.
And this:
No matter how many times I watch this video I still can’t believe it’s not satire
Which includes this:
And this:
Two flat earthers-seek edge of world, end up on wrong island
And this:
Behold, the new Democratic Party
Ed Markey, far-left Democrat and Green New Deal loon, just beat JFK’s great-nephew in the Massachusetts Senate primary.
To celebrate, the progressive Sunrise PAC took JFK’s iconic words that we all learned in grade school and flipped them, in a perfect illustration of the state of today’s Democrat Party:
Sep 072020
Internet went out yesterday for no readily apparent reason, finally came back on this AM. Woo.
Sep 062020
Some Antifa terrorists in Portland tried to burn some police to death. But their aim was as bad as their ideology and they set one of their fellow travelers on fire instead.
Now we wait: will the rest of the Mostly Peaceful Protestors turn in the Molotov cocktail chucking ᛗᚩᛏᚻᛖᚱᚠᚢᚳkᛖᚱ who tried to kill cops? Surely several of them must know the identity of the attempted murder(s). Failure to turn them in implies that they are protecting them, which makes them accessories and allies. Perhaps the thing to do is to arrest *everyone* and sort through them. Take a few months to sort the bad from the truly awful.
Sep 052020
Can anybody with experience firing shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles confirm that when you pull the trigger, the missile is suppose to leave the tube… not drag the launcher along with it? Cuz goll-lee, this sure don’t seem right:
Big misfire of an Igla MANPADS during the Clear Sky 2020 air defense competition in Russia 😬
pic.twitter.com/X4hH6crXX6— CNW (@ConflictsW) September 5, 2020