Winter has taken its time getting here in any meaningful sense this year; it wasn’t until just a few days ago that snow came and stuck. Last night I’d hoped to take photos of aurora, which were supposedly getting down fairly far south, but the sky was overcast. So… sky photos.
The last Curtis fighter was the four-engined XP-87 (later XF-87). Coming right after the end of WWII, it had the bad luck of being just a bit behind the technological times. Fighter design was rapidly evolving towards supersonic; a four-engined straight-winged monster just wasn’t going to cut it. Even though it was planned to replace the four engines with two more powerful ones, it was simply too… World War II. Designed specifically as a night fighter, it lost to the Northrop F-89 Scorpion.
Below is a diagram from a 1947 NACA spin model test report giving full-scale dimensions in inches.
Kentucky Cuts Education; Preserves Tax Breaks For Creationist Theme Park
Cutting education funding may or may not be a good thing (cutting the FedGuv Department of Education would unarguably be a good thing), but cutting education while providing tax benefits a religious theme park?
And the theme park in question hopes to build a full-scale “replica” of the mythical “Noah’s Ark.” Why? Well, apart from being perhaps a good way to separate some money from some people there’s this:
First, the Ark project is about discipleship. It will stand as a monument to the truth of the Bible in Genesis 6–9 and will call the church back to the authority of the Bible from its very first book. As believers learn the importance and trustworthiness of these early chapters, they will have the proper foundation for understanding the biblical worldview. So the Ark will stand to help us and other Christians fulfill the Lord’s command in Matthew 28 to make disciples.
Cuz, sure. If you build a fake boat, you’ve proven Genesis is literal fact.
I’m’a gonna go plant a tree, and thus prove the literal truth of the Eddas. I wonder if I can get some tax breaks for building a replica Yggdrassil?
There was a full-scale Podracer at the “Wings Over The Rockies” aircraft museum, thus proving the existence of The Force.
Extra fun: Kentucky is not run by wacko Republicans. It’s run by wacko Democrats.
It seems to disturb them when I laugh so long and hard that I hyperventilate. Which I did due to these:
[youtube L4QmpyfS3fM]
[youtube kexWGNBUVGI]
I offhanded mentioned last week the idea of getting funding for an expedition to an archive I know to have a goldmine of NERVA/SPS and especially early Shuttle documentation. If I could find at least ten people willing to promise to part with $100 each (to fund airline tickets, motel/car/food/cat boarding/etc.) in exchange for a complete set of DVD’s of all copies and scans (barring any ITAR stuff for non-USAians, of course), then I’d get to work on actually setting up such a trip.
I got a few responses to that via commenting and email… four people chimed in (G.A., J.R., M.C., J.N.). Anyone else interested? Ten’s the minimum (or at least, the financial equivalent of ten… if someone wants to kick in $10,000, that would be just fine).
UPDATE: I just checked… the archive remains, and remains accessible. Yay!
UPDATE 2: I have booked the trip! Last week of March. Yow… pricey. I kinda underestimated the cost of it all. Oh, well… Anyway, if you’re interested, now’s the time to get on board!
I’ve got an old lithograph that was shipped in a box that got squashed in transit, with the result that the print was bent/folded/spindled/mutilated.
Does anyone have any experience with fixing this sort of damage? Water will smooth out the folds… but it will also warp the paper. Suggestions?
New Russian Submarine named after Russian Saint
A nuclear submarine named after a 14th century saint? Seems kinda odd. Though in retrospect I suppose the French have all kinds of “Joan of Arc” stuff.
A reduced rez of this was posted before, but now you can get the full-rez version.
If’n you want the hi-rez, check HERE.
Mt. Juliet mayor wants gigantic cross for city
Hagerty wants Mt. Juliet to project ‘God and country’
Short form: the mayor of a small town in Tennessee wants not only yet another megachurch, but also a giant cross on a hilltop. One the one hand, he wants to do this with private money, not taxpayer, on private land, not government. So… meh.
On the other hand, there’s the very first comment on the relevant Fark.com thread on this topic:
If Mayor Ed Hagerty wants to do God’s work, he should try feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and tending to the sick. The only thing a big cross will do for your community is show people where the hypocrites live.
Once again, I’ll point out just what exactly the primary focus of the Christian religion had to say about this sort of thing:
Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Politicians are usually a bit more cagey than this. In this case, it’s former Senator/former chairman of the Democratic National Committee/current chief lobbyist for the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) making it clear that politicians are directly for sale:
Consumer group accuses Hollywood of ‘threatening politicians’
“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,” Dodd said on Fox News on Thursday.
The idea of a split between Hollywood and Democrat politicians is an entertaining one, but let’s face it… ain’t gonna happen.
One can hope that this level of blatant asshattery on the part of the MPAA might work against their efforts to censor the internet. But crony capitalism is alive and remains incredibly powerful.