I guess maybe this is test footage for the next Syfy original movie series…
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Jul 042018
Jul 042018
Let’s say American history was a little bit different. For the last half century or so, the FedGuv has had one more additional department: “Productivity.” DePro has had one function in life: to make sure that the American economy is as productive and efficient as possible.
Assume that it’s not Big Brother sort of powerful, but has the sort of scope and nonchalant disregard for the Constitution as the New Deal programs. It’s something that FDR would have looked at and said, “Hmm, seems about right.” DePro’s job isn’t to make sure that Little Johnny doesn’t waste his Saturday mornings watching Bugs Bunny and Soul Train, but it does make sure that his school day isn’t wasted. And it makes sure that his parents jobs are hampered by neither excessive bureaucracy nor by personal slacking. So… what would DePro *DO?*
A few things seem obvious:
- They would make strikes and slowdowns by factory workers virtually illegal. But at the same time they would make sure that factory conditions and pay are good enough to keep up morale and production.
- Bad bosses, bad teachers, bad bureaucrats would be in constant danger. There would be a program where people would snitch on such folk, and they’d be warned, retrained, out on their ear, imprisoned.
- Criminality in schools and workplaces might fall under their purview. The result of this is that stealing that red stapler, or bullying a classmate, would become *Federal* crimes.
- Things like Facebook could well be snipped in the bud. Video games and other time-wasters at work might be simply declared Bad For The Public. This would obviously run afoul of the First Amendment; but I’d just point you to the National Firearms Act to demonstrate that a clearly defined “shall not be infringed” is hardly carved in stone as far as the FedGuv is concerned.
- The line at the DMV: thirty seconds. Any slower and the DMV runs foul of “you’re wasting these peoples time that could be spent back at their jobs.” Tax forms: take five minutes to fill out. Taxes are cheap & easy, but if you intentionally cheat, you get jailed *hard.*
So… what else? What might such a powerful Federal department have been up to over the last fifty years or so that could have greatly expanded the American economy? Booze, drugs, porn… banned, or legalized and regulated? Illegal immigrants… firmly booted out to assure low unemployment, or made moot by a well-oiled guest worker program? Social Justice programs in the workplace… entrenched, or made illegal?
Comment away…
Jul 032018
So the Democratic voters in the Bronx have decided to just go right past the standard Democrats and instead nominate the the outright Socialists.
It’s important to recognize just what Socialism is. In recent years there has been a concerted effort to soften the image of the term, to make it synonymous with “welfare state,” or “nanny state,” or Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, being nice to illegal immigrants, throwing open the doors of the prisons, hamstringing the cops. But that’s NOT what Socialism is. Let’s be clear:
a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
In other words: “the government owns the factories and the farms.” And the auto repair places, the electronics stores, the grocery stores, Starbucks, Google, Amazon, FaceBook, McDonalds, PornHub. It should be sobering to any reasonable mind to realize that, economically, fascism is less awful than Socialism. Fascists at least let you make and sell your own stuff. Mostly.
Claims that there are many forms of socialism, some that focus on “social justice” rather than Takin’ yer Stuff, make about as much sense as someone claiming that there is a nice fluffybunny form of Nazism that you shouldn’t be afraid of, it’s only about marching bands and cool uniforms, none of that world conquest stuff, nosiree.
If they vote for the Socialist, those New Yorkers will have voted to institute the economic miracle of Cuba, of Venezuela, of the Holodomor.
But as monumentally bad as Socialism clearly is… here we are.
Millennials would rather live in socialist or communist nation than under capitalism
If the GOP is smart (and how long has it been since that was a safe assumption?), they would lead a nationwide effort to teach the electorate just what Socialism really is, what it really means, what it really leads to. And then let the Socialists the Dems nominate speak for themselves. Because if it’s fair for the left wing to tar the right with the brand of “Nazi” because there are some loons on the right who think the Nazis were just neato, it’s just as fair to tar the left with the Socialist brush.
But since that would require the GOP to be smart, competent and actually interested in defeating Socialism, here instead are some funny memes so we can at least have a little chuckle as the ship goes under:
Jul 032018
Great googaly moogaly:
How much dos this cost? Well, I looked it up online… and I’ve never spent that much for a *car.*
Jul 022018
Why should you carry (and preferably, concealed)? Because there are people out there who want to physically harm you for having opinions that differ from theirs.
Leftist Stalks Kent State Gun Girl; Takes Photos & Threatens to Assault Her in Restaurant
Jul 022018
Trump insults and annoys the far left. That’s fine and all, but his insults tend to be pretty damn lazy, uninspiring, not at all clever. Imagine how much better things would be if Trump had the skill of the guy in the video below.
Note: British politicians are largely unknown to me, as they are to most Americans. Because , let’s face it, who cares. I don’t know who the politicians fighting for seats in the New York state house are, so those fighting to be in the House of Fishmongers or whatever the frak the Britlanders have are just as anonymous. But even if a politician is a complete unknown, he can still provide pointers on just how to deal with the far left.
Jul 022018
China builds ‘laser’ assault rifle
Assuming the article is accurate, the Chinese have themselves a man-portable laser weapon that is itself an actual weapon. I.E. the laser beam will hurt you directly, not just direct a laser guided present to your location. The laser is said to be non-lethal (unsurprising, given just how difficult a truly lethal laser weapon would be), but it is said to be powerful enough to set your clothes on fire and create indescribable pain. Supposed to be used for ‘anti-terrorist” duty, but I suspect it’ll see service disrupting protests and irritating the frak out of boat and aircraft pilots in the South China Sea.
Unrealistic: the gunner here is operating without eye protecting. Have fun going blind when the laser reflects right back into your optics, buddy…
The basic concept is probably nothing new:
I imagine the rise of such weapons, used to blind pilots, will lead to increased use of drones and other robots. So, soon, cyborgs stalking the battlefields with phased plasma rifles in the 40 watt range…
Jul 022018
This search doesn’t seem likely to be terribly successful:
A huge meteorite just splashed into the ocean, and scientists want to find it
On March 7 a meteor explodes over the ocean west of Washington state. The rock was estimated to be the size of a golf cart; chunks the size of a brick are thought to have hit the ocean and sunk the the floor. Researchers hope to use ROVs to look at the seafloor in hopes of finding rocks in the mud, and then send them on to the Smithsonian.
Ummm. Best of luck with that, suppose. If the meteor was nickel-iron it might be findable via magnetic means, but if it was just plain ol’ rock… shrug.
Jul 012018
This isn’t a particularly new video (dates back to 2014, at least), but it’s still entertaining. There is apparently a tradition in Thailand to celebrate festivals not just with rockets, but with complex and clever spinning rocket-powered vehicles made from bamboo. The one in this video is particularly large and equipped with a recovery system.
This is not only impressive on its own. But compare it to the celebratory pyrotechnics of other cultures: waving crappy AK-47s around and spraying the sky with bullets, or just simply blowing stuff up, or setting people on fire. This is instead the product of intelligence, workmanship, planning and teamwork… and it worked.
Jul 012018
If you want to know what it will look like when Putin launches World War V (WWIII having been the Cold War, WWIV the Surt worshippers vs. civilization), it’ll look kinda like this, just more so (things get sporty around 2:06):
I look forward to the day when the US fields new boomers, SLBMs, nukes and RVs. They are desperately needed.