Heh.
Sep 052015
Sep 052015
I’m in the process of setting up a Patreon for Pax Orionis. It’s not yet public; still scribbling on it. As previously mentioned, it’s not a “monthly” thing, but instead a “creation” thing… patrons only get charged when I actually produce a new creation.
Still a little uncertain about a few things. There are currently only two reward levels:
$1.00 per creation: “One dollar per release gets you – as you might expect – the latest piece of Pax Orionis fiction in PDF and EPUB formats.”
$2.00 per creation: “Two dollars per release gets you not only the latest piece of the story but also a Technical Data Sheet… a diagram of some piece of technology (a spacecraft,a weapons system, a launch vehicle, a military aircraft, etc.) relevant to the world of Pax Orionis.”
Sound fair? Comments? Critiques? Ideas for further reward levels?
One idea that was floated was for a patron to pay something extra to include the patrons name in the story somewhere as a character. While I’m not opposed to the idea, I’m not sure how to do it in the context of Patreon, which is a continual subscription system.
Sep 052015
Britain pledges to help thousands of refugees – but rich Arab states have taken in NONE
Germany has said they’ll take in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees this year. It’s a reasonably safe assumption that a large fraction of these refugees will become permanent residents of whatever European nation they end up in. And why not? I’d sure as shootin’ rather bunk down in a European welfare state than in a middle eastern hellhole.
Arab states such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia could easily take in the vast bulk of the Syrian refugees, just as they could have taken in the Palestinians. But they have not done so, nor are they likely to do so. Why is this? Well… the first answer is that refugees are troublesome. They cost money. They burden local services. They might be unpleasant to look at. They might pose political problems for the local government.
But there are also strategic reasons for not taking in refugees. Again look to the Palestinians. The Arab world has spent decades loudly decrying the conditions the Palestinians live in… while doing nothing to help them. Instead, they have only aided those Palestinians who’s crazy actions will bring down further harm onto the Palestinian people. The Arab states have done this for political reasons: it’s handy to be able to keep the people’s attention on the Evil Israelies, rather than on their own local evil government. When the people notice that their own government sucks, you get Egypt and Libya.
But a longer range strategy is very likely also in play. As mentioned, many of those refugees will become permanent residents of their respective European host countries. While Syria might lose some population, it’s not going to change being an almost entirely Muslim nation. But Germany, say, will see an increase of it’s Muslim population by several million over a few years via immigration, and millions more over the following years by births. The end result: colonization.
Now, this is not to suggest that the migrants are in on this, or that there’s some devious scheme to trash Syria specifically to create an invading army. But as famed political philosopher Rahm Emmanuel once opined:
You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.
Sep 042015
The idea was floated a few days ago of trying to do Pax Orionis via Patreon; it seemed to go over like a tungsten balloon. Oh, well. I suggested that something I’d include at certain levels of patronage would be diagrams of PO-related technological goodies, along with data and description. As examples… something like these, which are designs specifically for Pax Orionis. Obviously they incorporate real-world design elements, but what are depicted are vehicles from the PO timeline.
Sep 042015
A video that seems to have been produced for the Chinese government depicts an entirely successful Chinese attack on a US aircraft carrier battle group and the conquest of (apparently) Okinawa:
Chinese Animators Envision a Future Asia-Pacific War—and Blow Up the Internet
The video apparently ends with:
China is strong, victorious wars require deaths; for all to be strong and safe, [we] face the risks and dangers of war. We wholeheartedly love peace, but must be prepared for the likelihood of war. We respectfully and solemnly commemorate the 70th anniversary of the war against Japan.
Huh.
As is the way with propaganda videos, this one shows Their Side wholly successful, with their weapons and forces unfailingly accurate and capable of evading interception. Obviously a Chinese attack on a US carrier group and an invasion of Okinawa would be a whole lot messier for the Chinese than depicted here. American military tech is, at least for the moment, substantially superior to Chinese. But I don’t care how advanced you are if the enemy can simply throw waves of cheap weapons and cheaper soldiers at you. China is, after all, far closer to Okinawa than the US is; if for some reason the PLA wanted to set the world on fire, I’m sure they could eventually scrape up enough sheer blunt force to trash the US military in the region. The question is why they would want to do such a thing. The Chinese invade sovereign Japanese territory, and kill tens of thousands of Americans, someone will take offense to that. It would not surprise me in the least if, as the last American forces on Okinawa collapse under the sheer weight of a hundred thousand Chinese invaders, someone pulls the trigger on the megaton-class nuke buried under the base. And then the counter attack would begin, perhaps in the form of Tridents rising out of Ohio-class boomers lurking out int he middle of the Pacific.
Sure, it’s just propaganda. But then, so was Mein Kampf. Propaganda *can* change a country.
Sep 032015
I continue to tinker with the CAD diagrams for “Nuclear Pulse Propulsion,” as well as creating new ones. I decided to see what the diagrams for the 10-Meter design for the USAF would look like in a larger format… in this case, two sheets 40 inches by 10, at 1/96 scale. A fair bit of formatting needed as yet, but on the whole I think they look pretty good.
Anyone interested? I’m thinking a combination of prints (folded into a book or rolled) and cyanotype blueprints on vellum. If this idea is popular (I’m going to take at least this design to print, just for myself), I’d do something similar for the 10-meter NASA vehicle, the 20-meter NASA vehicle and the 86-foot 4,000 “battleship.”
Sep 032015
Got a fight coming? Key and Peele have discovered that Neil deGrasse Tyson just might be able to talk you out:
Sep 032015
Defiant Kentucky Clerk Taken Into Federal Custody
In short, Kim Davis is an elected county clerk in Kentucky who has refused to sign same-sex marriage licenses on religious grounds. The Supreme Court has ruled that same sex marriages are the law of the land, and have ruled that there’s no such thing as a religious exemption. And thus, Kim Davis has been held in contempt of court. People expected fines to be levied… but she has actually been jailed for it.
Here’s an interesting quote from the US District Judge who issued the order to have Davis jailed:
“If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”
Huh. Regardless of your opinion on same sex marriages… I kinda dig the idea of public officials whose job it is to uphold the law getting tossed into the hoosegow for not upholding the law. Imagine it: mayors of “sanctuary cities” or Presidents who refuse to deport illegals all getting sent to the Fed Pen. Heh.
IRONY ALERT:
According to Wiki:
In 2014 … Davis ran for the clerk office as a Democrat. She defeated Republican John Cox in the November 2014 election, becoming the Rowan county clerk.
And what’s more, Judge David L. Bunning, who had Davis arrested and put into jail, was nominated for United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky by, wait for it… President George. W. Bush in 2001.
So, once again, it’s Republicans smacking down Democrats on the issue of human rights and following the Constitution.
Sep 032015
A whole lot of work and talent went into this… the nightclub where every movie character ever, from Jedi to the Terminator to ED-209 to Tony Montana and Blade come to party and listen to the Bee Gees. Stick around through the (occasionally oddly mis-spelled) credits.
Sep 032015
China shows off secret ‘carrier-killer’ missile at Victory Day parade
While the US has spent decades and many millions of dollars throwing money down the rat-hole of scramjets to create airbreathing hypersonic missiles, the Chinese have apparently fielded a Mach 10 anti-ship missile with a range of 900 miles. They’ve done this by just building a sizable ballistic missile, a straight-up solid propellant rocket. Not as advanced or as neato as a scramjet cruiser, but it’s faster than any conceivable airbreather and, big as it is, it’s transportable by truck. One of these would presumably be able to poke a hole straight through the likes of an aircraft carrier. Of course, nobody in the west is all that sure about how accurate this thing is; it has some form of terminal guidance, so at least in theory is should be pretty accurate.
Photos of the truck-transportable missiles (in canisters) at the link. (Might be copyrighted, dunno)
If the Chinese demonstrate that this missile is accurate and is capable of trashing a carrier, it could really mess with the balance of power in the region. Missiles like this would be difficult to intercept, and would likely push US Navy aircraft carriers well away from Chinese territory. Not just mainland China, of course, but also away from Taiwan and the South China Sea
Also note just how old-school Commie Chinese military parades look.