Was supposed to be today, but now it’s scheduled for 1:20 PM Friday. (presumably Eastern time).
Dec 162014
Dec 162014
A NASA propaganda film from the very early 1970’s looking ahead to 1985, using the very latest in computer animation technology to depict a space shuttle in orbit.
[youtube 98pthkn9A6M]
This film was excerpted and used in an interview of sorts with Maxime Faget circa December 1972, and was posted and discussed around four years ago HERE.
Dec 152014
This here4’s an interesting attention-seeking stunt:
13 “Gay” Bakeries Deny Christian’s Request for Pro-Traditional Marriage Cake
Now, this is not *exactly* the same as the cases where gay couples were denied cakes from Christian bakeries, since here the guy is asking for a cake that specifically says “gay marriage is wrong” (as opposed to “straight/gay marriage is awesome” or some such). Still, the responses the guy gets are pretty interesting… they are pretty much the same responses the Christian bakeries would give, but with added expletives. It seems to me that if Side A can sue Side B to force Side B to bake a cake that has a message that Side B is uncomfortable with, then turnabout is legal fair play.
The language the guy gets from the Diverse Tolerant Equality Loving Folk is seriously NSFW. So crank it up in the office!
[youtube AJaroR_qTNs]
[youtube ptgAKywiHG0]
My own opinion on the matter, since I’m sure y’all are terribly interested? It boils down to this: “Mask your contempt and cash the check.”
Dec 152014
My review of Part One: Meh.
Somewhat more detailed review: Shrug. Meh.
The “ship” is a bunker.
Feh.
Bah.
Dec 152014
According to some superstitions, it’s a bad idea to create a representation of a human face. And thus we have these dolls for the more unfortunate children of the world:
Deeni Dolls
“There is an Islamic ruling which forbids the depiction of facial features of any kind and that includes pictures, sculptures and, in this case, dolls.
“I spoke to a religious scholar in Leicester who guided me through what was and what was not permissible when producing the product.
“The Deeni Doll has no face on it whatsoever and is Shariah compliant.”
The doll itself retails at £25 and, whilst it may not be the first of its kind in the world, it is thought to be the only one produced to such a high quality.
Ye gods. Sure, what do kids indoctrinated into a dehumanizing belief system really need? *Toys* that dehumanize them even more. If a child is taught that it is wrong for a doll to have facial features, it won’t be long before they come to understand that showing their own facial features is wrong. And thus they accept covering their own features and suppressing their individuality.
A common trope in sci-fi and fantasy is to have the massed forces of the enemy wearing uniforms that disguise their features – think “Imperial Stormtroopers.” One purpose of this is that if the enemies all look exactly the same, especially if they don’t have recognizable faces, then you can mow them down in industrial numbers and not give a damn. Because by eliminating their individuality, you are eliminating what makes them human. They are no more than robots made out of meat.
So… that’s what these jackholes are doing to their own children.
Sigh.
Oh, well. At least this idiocy provides an opportunity for mockery for the rest of us. By leaving the “faces” blank, they become the perfect canvases for “improvements.”
Dec 152014
A few nights back, via cameraphone:
Dec 152014
NASA diagrams showing the different forms of insulation originally applied to Shuttle orbiters.
Dec 152014
Specifically, in danger of being left without electrical power for *years* in the event of a sizable solar storm.
DHS: 100 Million Americans Could Lose Power in Major Sun Storm
The study said a future solar storm like the great magnetic storm of May 1921 would black out most states east of the Mississippi River along with most states in the Pacific Northwest.
Neat. Makes for a fun read. A less catastrophic reading of a major solar storm disaster would leave 10 million Americans without power for months. In either case, the death toll would be remarkable, especially if it hit the north in winter… or the south in summer.
You’d think that after a couple decades of scientists and government officials freaking out over the possibility of solar storms or EMP attacks trashing the grid and blowing out innumerable transformers, backup systems would be in place.
Every winter I seem to see reports from Dallas or Atlanta getting shut down by some relatively trivial ice storm because they don’t have enough snowplows to deal with it, when if these cities simply bought one single solitary truck a year, fifty years later they’d have fifty trucks (and these things last fricken forever). If FEMA simply bought X number of transformers per year and put them into secure storage, then if the worst happened they’d have a stockpile to start over with.
Such a threat is also a good reason to get away from the Ginormous Electrical Grid model. In simplistic terms, the longer your power lines, the bigger the risk from EMP; so it makes sense to chop the grids up into smaller sections. This also argues for smaller self-contained nuclear powerplants as a major source of electrical power.
Dec 142014
Sydney Siege: Up To 40 Hostages Held – Reports
Subtle hint:
A black flag with white Arabic text, similar to those used by Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, was also visible.
This will surely end well. Best of luck to y’all in Australia.
Hands up! Don’t Jihad!
Dec 142014
In Russia, dashcams pick up meteors and drunks. In Germany, they see this:
[youtube qvDw9LRcA7I]