Laughed myself fuzzy at this one:
Dec 062009
Dec 062009
911 Call Released From Home Invasion Shooting
Cushing – Officials have released the 911 tape from this morning’s home invasion shooting that left an intruder dead from a shotgun blast.
It happened in Cushing, about 50 miles west of Tulsa in Lincoln County. Police say the female homeowner was awakened by her barking dog and called 911. While she was on the phone with dispatchers, police say she warned the intruder that she had a rifle.
Authorities say the intruder, identified as Billy Dean Riley, ignored the woman’s warning and threw a chair through the window. That’s when the woman opened fire.
…
RESIDENT – “i’ve got a big shotgun. I’m not going into a tiny bathroom…”
RESIDENT – “He’s walking around the house trying to find a way in…”
RESIDENT – “Oh crap, he’s at the back…”
911 – “Okay , (unintelligible) is advising that you can defend your property if you need to.”
…
911 – “I can hear him banging again.”
RESIDENT – “I don’t want to have to kill this man, but i’ll kill him graveyard dead ma’am.”
911 – “I understand.”
Reading the whole thing, it looks to be a sad story of a guy who got himself drunked up and went stupid. But as Heinlein pointed out…
- Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.
- There is a grand total of one real victim here… the homeowner who was forced to shoot someone who chose to act the jackass. Hopefully she won’t need too much therapy, but even though some folk just need killin’, it’s not something that most people can just shrug off.
Still, that was a hell of a line.
And if you think the woman over-reacted, here’s another story from the same news source:
Reward Increased In Home Invasion Homicide
Sam Sanders was shot and killed by two masked intruders at about 4:30 a.m. on March 24th in his home near Fairland.
Dec 052009
After the release of APR V2N4, I had expected to get V2N5 out the door in record time. Well… it’s kinda come true. Except “record” in the wrong direction. Well, it’s just about done… less than a page left to finish up and a few editing passes which are *sure* to miss a bunch of foolish spelling and grammar errors. But, within a few days, it’ll be out the hatch.
This will be the first “two part” APR. The second part will be for those who are APR subscribers when the issue is released, sort of a “Sorry I was late” addition for those who paid in advance…
Dec 052009
Ninth in the series of reconstructed drawings from Paul Suhler’s book “From RAINBOW to GUSTO.” This is the Cherub I (A-3) as drawn by Ed Baldwin. This is Figure 61. This particular drawing has a Source Grade of four: 
“RAINBOW to GUSTO” is available from Amazon.com (for $39.95) and direct from the AIAA ($29.95 for AIAA members).
To download the high-rez version of the Cherub 1 drawing, simply click THIS LINK. You will be prompted for a username and a password. For the Cherub 1 drawing, use these:
Username: the FIRST word in the body of the text on page 115
Password: the LAST word in the body of the text on page 115
(Remember: Case Sensitive!)
Up next: Figure 62, Cherub 2
Dec 052009
Sadly, in the United States there really truly is no such thing as “property ownership.” You can only own things that the government cannot take away from you on a whim… and “property taxes” mean that at best you are renting the land you thought you owned. Think I’m exaggerating? Fine. Buy a nice expensive plot of land with a nice expensive house on it, and then don’t pay the property taxes. See what happens.
And then there’s this nonsense:
Superior man arrested for trespassing on his own land
Jeremy Engelking will appear in Douglas County court this afternoon to face a trespassing charge. But here’s the kicker: The Superior man allegedly trespassed on his own property.
Engelking, 27, aimed to hunt deer Wednesday morning when he noticed a pipeline crew on his land. He hopped on his ATV and told workers they had no right to be on his property because he had received no compensation from Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. for an easement.
…
But just as he was turning to leave, Engelking said an officer from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department arrived on the scene and approached with a Taser drawn.“He ordered me to ‘get down on the ground now!’ And he said that I was being arrested for trespassing,” Engelking said.
When Engelking protested, pointing out that he was on his own property, he said Sgt. Robert Smith told him: “It doesn’t matter. You’re going to jail. You can tell it to a judge tomorrow.”
This is just another in a long list of reasons why the concept of “eminent domain” needs to be strictly defined and controlled in the Constitution… so strictly as to be made virtually extinct.
Dec 042009
X-20 Drawing Sets One, Two and Three: Normally $16.50 when bought separately; buy all three for $8.25.
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Saturn V Inboard profile 1, Saturn V Inboard profile 1, and Saturn inboard Profiles: Normally $20.50 when bought separately; get all three for $10.25
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Lunar Module Inboard Diagrams, Skylab/Apollo Command and Service Module diagram set, General Electric Early Apollo drawings : Normally $29 for all three; get all three for $14.50
Dec 032009
And let Bast sort ’em out.
If Raedthinn becomes dictator/chairman/president-for-life/Dear Leader, he’ll be one of those types that stands at the high balcony and looks down upon the masses.
Dec 032009
From Air & Space:
They wouldn’t be allowed to do it today, but back in 1959, experienced military pilots would sometimes buzz the Grand Canyon when flying out of nearby Nellis AFB. At the time, RAF pilot Ron Dick was an exchange officer with the US Air Force, training students in a Lockheed T-33. Fellow instructor Bud Pratt recalls that during these Canyon flights, the pilots would fly low enough that water would spray up from the river.
Be sure to check out the video.
What can I say? Ballsy. Stupid, but ballsy.
Dec 032009
Now available: a PDF copy of a Bell report on their D-171 design, a competitor for the X-15 program. This 26 page report shows the design in considerable detail, giving structural designs, propulsion system details, reaction control systems, cockpit layout, carrier aircraft (B-36) and more. This report was scanned from a photocopy, rather than the original report, but the image quality – in particular the drawings – is still quite good. Also included are 8 pages of technical details on the D-171 in the form of Standard Aircraft Characteristics sheets.
Air Doc 15 can be downloaded for $5.50.
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Dec 032009
Barack Obama Ecstasy Pills Hit Streets: Approval Ratings High
There is now a line of Ecstasy pills made in the image of the 44th president of the United States, according to Texas police who have snatched a batch off the streets.
Ecstasy is known for a sense of elation, diminished feelings of fear and anxiety, and ability to induce a sense of intimacy with others.
Well, finally. At long last, Obama’s policies are spurring one sector of the economy to innovate.