Three of the kittens luxuriating on my back deck:
For some reason it upsets Tak when I go out back, and she stands at the sliding glass door and bangs on it…
Of course, Raedthinn doesn’t much care what I or the outdoors cats do, so long as I keep him fed and don’t dislodge him from his perch.
A few news stories that cast the British government in a bad light:
US shock jock Savage targeted ‘to balance least wanted list’
Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has suffered a major setback in her legal battle with American ‘shock jock’ Michael Savage after her officials were accused of banning him from the country on racial grounds.
Emails written by Home Office officials privately acknowledged the ban on Mr Savage would provide ‘balance’ to a list dominated by Muslims – and linked the decision to Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Translation: the British government was afraid of angering radical Islamists. So they knuckled under to radical Islamists. Without the Islamists even firing a shot or saying a word. Which means that the Islamists seem to run the show.
But it gets even better:
Shocking new details of a stealth tax of up to £600 for householders with views of any kind, patios, conservatories and even a nearby bus stop are revealed for the first time today.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show millions of homes have already been secretly assessed by Labour in preparation for council tax hikes expected to target the middle class after the Election.
Homes have been given ‘value significant codes’ which will make virtually every desirable feature taxable.
Although not every home has been assessed, so far nearly 100,000 householders face being penalised simply for having a scenic view from their windows.
Translation: ho-lee shee-it.
I’ve been asked why I have so many “dumbassery out of Britain” postings on my blog. It’s not because I’m anti-British… it’s because I’m anti-dumbass. And American dumbasses have a tendency to look to European socialism as a way to solve America’s perceived ills. Whenever the British government imposes yet another bit of extreme dumbassery on the British people, I cringe… not for the British people, but because I know that someone in a position of power here in the US will look at that and go, “Hey, that’s a good idea. Let’s do that here, too.”
This last news article provides some damned good examples of why “property taxes” need to be put in the same category as “income taxes…” in other words, thrown out, done away with, made extinct. The moment you give government the power to tax you in perpetuity for owning a plot of land, you have turned from citizens into subjects, from landowners into renters. And government will constantly find new ways to screw you.
While I don’t support violent revolution here in the US… I would be hard pressed to argue against Brits who decided that The Day had come.
Picked up the camera. The photos I took in the store on the spot looked ok. Got home and in a controlled environment took some long-duration exposures of pitch black. And lo and behold… the same exact problems are still there. 19 days in the shop, and Best Buy did nothing.
<> This was the fifth time I had the camera in for repairs, and at least the third time they didn’t fix the problem I brought it in for (including the one time when they made it worse.) Next time… no cameras from Best Buy.
This is what a photo of “black” looked like prior to “fixing:”
This is a photo of “black” after it was “fixed:”
Bah. Let this be a warning to anyone contemplating purchasing a camera: it’ll work great, up until you need some sort of repair. Some companies do not do a very good job with repair. Caveat Emptor.
BB was supposed to outright *replace* this camera after the fourth time in the shop. Supposedly the Geek Squad guy there was checking into seeing if, after this *fifth* time, they’ll replace it. If I took it back to have it fixed *now,* that’d be the *sixth* time it was in the shop, and with good evidence that they wouldn’t actually repair it. Hopefully Tuesday or so I’ll be informed that they’ll simply swap it out.
Not a whole lot of progress today; spent most of the day in Logan picking up my (hopefully) fixed camera. Going to try some long exposure shots tonight and see if they really did fix it. But the XAB and its fighters now have crude control surfaces. These will be finished up on the physical model. Having these features present on the CAD model will, however, assure that everything is lined up and symmetrical.
I have some ideas. Since we’ve seen that it’s easy to slip some wacky crap into huge new bills, maybe someone could slip *these* into some forthcoming law.
1) Any bill put before the House and Senate must be read IN ITS ENTIRETY out loud before the House and Senate. Any Congressman/Senator who does not stay and listen to the entire bill – and *awake* the whole time – does not get to vote on the bill.
2) Pay for Congressmen and Senators is pro rated based on the percentage of bills that came up during their term that they voted on.
3) Strict term limits (2) for all Federal officeholders.
4) All laws (note: this does not mean the Constitution) must be re-ratified every 25 years. The entire body of law.
4A) To re-ratify a law, it must be voted on by both House and Senate with a minimum 66% approval.
4B) The President may veto any law coming up for re-ratification *before* it reaches Congress.
4C) All current US laws must be so re-ratified within the next 40 years, giving them time to catch up. Start at the beginning, move forward.
4D) If there is a backlog of old laws to be voted on, for every new law that’s voted on four of the old laws must be voted on first.
4E) Any Congressman or Senator who does not vote “yes” or “no” on keeping a particular law is recorded as voting “no.” Voting “abstain” or “present” is recorded as voting “no.”
5) All new spending & taxing measures must pass with a 66% majority.
6) Any measure to cut spending or taxes needs a simple majority.
#’s 1 and 4 would effectively tie up Congress, preventing them from doing too much that’s entirely stupid.
A followup to THIS:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/23/
July 24, 2009: NASA scientists have interrupted the checkout and calibration of the Hubble Space Telescope to aim the recently refurbished observatory at a new expanding spot on the giant planet Jupiter. The spot, caused by the impact of a comet or an asteroid, is changing day to day in the planet’s cloud tops. The Hubble picture, taken on July 23, is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the impact feature. The observations were made with Hubble’s new camera, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). WFC3 is not yet fully calibrated, and while it is possible to obtain celestial images, the camera’s full power cannot yet be realized for most observations. The WFC3 can still return meaningful science images that will complement the Jupiter pictures being taken with ground-based telescopes.
<>Obama: ‘Victory’ Not Necessarily Goal in Afghanistan
“I’m always worried about using the word ‘victory,’ because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur,” Obama told ABC News.
It’s coming along. Now entering the always exciting “detailing” phase.
The two pics below are lower rez, but show the approximate parts breakdown by color. The fuselage will be broken into left/right, fore/aft quadrants.
Some vintage display models of some less obscure vehicles:
<>Abort motor and boost protective cover model: Apollo vintage model- Command Module with Escape Tower 
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Block 1 Apollo Command and Service Modules with Abort tower: VINTAGE TOPPING NASA APOLLO SPACECRAFT DESK SPACE MODEL
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Small Lunar Module model: Lunar Module 4 inch Contractor Model LM – RARE Apollo
Well that’s… huh. Exactly the same thing as the *last* eBay item I posted. What are the odds that two of the very same, extremely obscure display models of the 1961 General Dynamics M-1 lunar spacecraft would come up at the same time (and listed with the exact same title with the same wrong year)?
FROM AN OLD TEXAS ESTATE, UP FOR AUCTION: back in the mid- 70-S I purchased this hand built scratch model of a lunar take off vehicle by General Dynamics Corp, made sometime circa mid 1960s. Created for the department heads and certain persons directly involved with this particular aspect of this particular space program. Not ever offered for public or private sale, Wood and aluminum, this is not your standard plastic desk model. Approx. H: 18.5″ . The approx. dia: 4.75″. There is some normal wear and some light paint flaking as shown, BUT OVERALL THIS IS A GREAT MODEL, and one not seen very often on the open market .it is indeed a rare item , It comes apart and each part will be wrapped seperate and shipped to the winner.( PLEASE SEE PICTURES ). The item is being listing with no reserve.
I WAS IN THE U.S. A.F. DURING THE TIME PERIOD THE MOON LANDING PROJECTS MERCURY, GEMINI AND APOLLO WERE TAKING PLACE, ALTHOUGH I WAS NOT ASSIGNED TO THE PROGRAMS I WAS FROM TIME TO TIME IN DIRECT SUPPORT FOR EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.. I HAD GREAT INTEREST AND WAS PROUD OF AMERICANS NEW MISSION OF GOING TO THE MOON AND BACK WITH LIVE PEOPLE. THROUGHOUT THE YEARS I HAVE COLLECTED A FEW ITEMS FROM THAT TIME PERIOD. I HAVE VERY LITTLE DIRECT INFORMATION ON THIS SPACE SHIP MODEL EXCEPT FROM THE INTERNET AND THERE IS A SMALL LABEL ATTACHED TO THE THE WOODEN BASE OF THE MODEL THAT READS , CONVAIR (ASTRONAUTICS) DIVISION, General Dynamics corporation, AVCO CORPORATION RESEARCH & ADVANCE DEVELOPMENT. THE MODEL HAS BEEN IN MY SHOW CASE SINCE I MADE IT’S PURCHASE.
As I write this, it’s currently sitting un-bidded-on at $399. Given that the other one sold for a tidy $1,025, maybe someone will get lucky and get it cheap.
I’ve looked at the chips in the paint and smudges, and these are two different models. The bases have different plaques on them. They come from two different sellers in two different (but nearby) states.
Huh.
That was a hell of a thing…
