Mar 152011
Mar 152011
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal nailed this one:
SMBC also nails that ultimate subset of humans, the Engineer:
Mar 152011
Now that the vids of the tsunami may have run their course, here are the photos:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/japan_-_vast_devastation.html
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Yeeeeesh.
Mar 142011
Poe’s Law states:
“Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.”
It is generally used in reference to Creationism, where it really is impossible to come up with a Bible-bangin’ fact-free tirade against the evils of Darwinism so crazy that nobody will believe it’s for real. But as NPR (and at least one right-wing blogger) recently found out, Poe’s Law extends beyond Christian creationism to also include Muslim Sharia idiocy.
So, with Poe’s Law firmly rattling around making itself known, I hereby present “Shariah 4 America,” a website purporting to call for revolution and the imposition of Shariah (with all that that implies, such as slavery and genocide) upon America. One of the entertaining pages here is about the “White Masjid,” plans for what to do with the White House once America has been taken over.
Another page discusses the inevitable destruction of the Statue of Liberty; but until it can be done safely, the proposal is to cover it with a burka.
I’m fairly sure that this website isn’t exactly on the level… it’s got to be a satire site. However, the problem with Poe’s Law is that not only will the “fake wacky fundamentalist claim” fool a few opponents of fundamentalism into believing that the fundamentalists are even wackier than they already seemed to be…. the fake fundamentalist claim will also fool some of the fundamentalists. So, since we live in an age where some political hacks seriously (apparently) propose that schizophrenic nutjobs were driven to shoot people because of a graphic on a Sarah Palin website that used crosshairs, then clearly websites such as “Shariah4America” could be argued to drive shariaphrenic nutjobs to acts of terrorism.
Just sayin.’
Mar 142011
Not where I would’ve chosen to stand:
[youtube GpuLlIrUYsI]
Great Googaly Moogaly! In the words of Url, “It just keeps comin’ and comin’.”
Mar 142011
OK, I’ve adjusted the margins inward a goodly amount and consolidated some of the full-page mockup photos into two-per-page, reducing the pagecount to 72 (and reducing the price accordingly). The *previous* iteration proof showed up in the mail a few days back and looked ok, but I decided to move the margins inwards a little further. I’d prefer to await yet another proof before re-releasing this… but MagCloud is currently having a 25% off sale (through March 17), so I’m re-releasing this *now.* The current sale price is $15.55 rather than the regular price of $19.40.
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/157099
Most of the images were not effected by the margin reduction.
Additionally, the sale also impacts my little photo-test-booklet as well:
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/144139
Cheap at only $7.25.
Mar 142011
Tell me this place doesn’t sound strikingly awesome.
Mar 132011
New explosion reported at nuclear plant
Reactor #3 at Fukushima has had a “hydrogen explosion.”
And, oh, yeah, who didn’t see THIS coming: Joe Lieberman blathering forth about “put the brakes on” building new nuclear powerplants in the US. Once again, remind any anti-nuclear jackasses you encounter that by slowing or stopping the building of new nuclear pwoerplants in the US, they are ensuring that the *old* plants keep chugging away, without hope for upgrading or replacing.
Mar 132011
A rather disturbing video taken *after* the quake showing the ground continue to move:
[youtube qkHxDZGSM7E]
Ten minutes of tsunamis (with a whole lot of irritating “bugs” on the screen):
[youtube hAE7GLE_cOc]
Things to note:
1: The stranded truck drivers at 0:56. Yeeeeesh.
2: The cargo ship at 8:30 heading into town is going to be trouble.
3: The yacht at 9:47
4: The ships in town at 9:50
Mar 132011
Here’s what went FOOOM:
Note that the explosion only blew out the panels at the top of the building. I can’t speak to the nuclear industry, but in the solid rocket industry, propellant mixing buildings are often built in a similar fashion; when an explosion occurs, the panels blow out leaving the skeletal structure of the building more or less intact. If the panels are built to blow out easily, then they tend to blow out at a lower pressure… which means at a lower velocity. This leads to less damage nearby, while opening up the building sooner to lower internal pressure. In theory, the building can be easily rebuilt; with the structure intact, you just need a bunch of new panels, some rivet guns and a shitload of screen doors.
Note also that this reactor was built in 1967 and installed by General Electric in 1971. It’s older than I am. And I can assure you that had I been hit with a thirty foot tsunami, I might be melting down too. For future reference in dealing with the inevitable anti-nuclear activists… had the anti-nuke crowd not killed the US nuclear industry, GE could easily have produced a newer generation reactor to replace this one *decades* ago. If this thing melts down… blame Greenpeace. Make sure to hold them accountable, since they pretty much made it inevitable.
And by the way:
