Some remarkable imagery of the recent SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, with several telescopic views of the booster from launch to landing. It’s *gorgeous,* and as you can see from the thumbnail, at times kinda haunting.
Jan 162022
Jan 162022
Here’s your “dumbest news story of the day:”
Waterstones apologises after award-winning author Owusu asked for ID
The short form: an author wanders into a bookstore (“Waterstones”) and asks the staff on hand if he can sign a couple of his books sitting on the shelf. The staff asks him for his ID to make sure it’s actually him. THAT’S IT. That’s the outrage. Waterstones has issued a groveling apology for their staff having the temerity, the gall, the outright *racism* to try to make sure that some rando who wandered in the door isn’t going to just scribble all over some books and ruin them.
As I’m sure I’ve made abundantly clear, I’ve had a book of mine on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. It was kind of a thrill the first time I saw them sitting there (rather less of a thrill when I saw them still sitting there months later… sigh…). But it did not occur to me to just start scrawling in them. And now that the idea has been brought to my attention, if I *did* decided to enscribble books on a shelf I’d *want* the staff to make sure I am who I say I am.
a spokesperson for Waterstones said: “We are incredulous and dismayed that any bookseller would ask an author for their ID when they have offered to sign their books. Of course, rogue individuals will, from time to time, want to sign books of which they are not the author. Any sensible bookseller can discretely and easily compare the author photo – present on almost every book – and, if there is an obvious mismatch, make a joke of it.”
Make a joke of it? For frak’s sake. Not every author is JK Rowling, with a bagrillion copies of their books on the shelves. Some of us have books printed in numbers that are relatively tiny, and having even a few ruined is kinda painful to contemplate. And no, there are no photos of me in or on “SR-71,” B-47/B-52,” or probably *any* book that may come down the line. Ain’t nobody need to know what I look like (is your life better knowing what Steven King looks like? Does it make the experience of reading “Cujo” better?). But if I go into a place of business to mark up the merchandise, I’d *want* them to check on things like ID.
– – –
Which reminds me. This is hardly the only news story of late regarding morons getting PO’ed about the idea of being asked to show their ID. the current decrepit President of the United States has been telling some whoppers lately to rile up the ignoratti about how terrible it is that they might need to prove that they are who they say they are before they vote:
Jan 152022
Well this was a hell of a thing…
Jan 152022
After more than a year of the Democrats and their media lapdogs shrieking about “insurrection” at the Mostly Peaceful Protest in D.C., *finally* some charges have been filed that, if carried through to conviction, would bear out in at least a handful of cases the Dems claims. But there are numerous issues with the charges, as discussed here:
Seditious Conspiracy: A Look at the New January 6 Oath Keepers Charges
In a way this could be an important historical point, somewhat in the way the Rittenhouse case was. In that case, it was a clear and obvious case of self defense; had the prosecutors convinced the jurors to convict, the entire concept of “self defense” would have potentially been deleted from practical consideration. In this latest set of charges, it appears that the whole case rests on some nuts blathering on in Internet Badass Mode. If convictions are made in this case, then, with a change in Administrations and priorities, a whole bunch of Lefties who blather on it exactly the same sort of way could find their tweets coming back to haunt them for the next 20 years in FPMITA prison. “First Amendment? Never heard of it.”
Consider:
The words of the seditious conspiracy law – using force to “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States” or to “seize, take, or possess any property of the United States” – may be broad enough to sweep in certain kinds of civil disobedience, disruptive protests at the Capitol and elsewhere, and plans to resist mass arrests.
Take any property of the United States. Could that be whittled down to “Joe Antifa stole an FBI guy’s jacket, which is property of the United States. Ten years!” I don’t know. But it’s hardly impossible. Could it have applied to the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol and the Supreme Court to prevent the appointment of Justice Kavenaugh? I dunno, but it doesn’t seem impossible. Anyone who blocks access to a military base, or throws rocks at an FBI office, or shrieks at a snowflake government official like AOC could be charged under these rules.
Jan 152022
To a certain limit of the definition of “flight,”
Once again, another flight test video where the audio is obscured, in this case by music. I fully imagine that this thing was brain-meltingly loud nearby, a result of the basic physics of high disc loading.
Jan 152022
When you are planning a move, it’s wise to know something about where you are moving to. What the taxes are like, what the weather is like, reliability of gas, electricity, phone, internet, public transport; all that stuff. And knowing if you are going to be regularly robbed, raped and murdered is something most people would want to know in advance, so they can plan accordingly. But is seems that having that information makes you a bad, bad, terabad person:
Trulia to drop neighborhood crime data from home listings, after Redfin speaks out against practice
“We believe that Redfin–and all real estate sites–should not show neighborhood crime data.”
I believe someone should develop some sort of app/add-on that automatically displays crime data when you pull up mapping or real estate websites. With appropriate warning based on the severity of the local criminality and incompetent governance. “WARNING WARING: The city has defunded their police. Do Not Approach. Do Not Invest.”
Jan 152022
I’m glad that there are people crazy enough to drive themselves towards and dangerously close to powerful tornadoes. The video and data they record is scientifically useful, as well as interesting and simply entertaining.
I’m glad I’m not one of those people. But we as a species are better off for their existence, however brief it may be.
Jan 142022
Crime city: Philadelphia police just published instructional guide on how to survive carjackings
Yet another major American city devolving rapidly to third world status.
There is no single issue that is more important to me, or the members of the PPD, than fighting violent crime. One of the more disturbing trends that we have seen is the startling increase in the number of carjackings. Here is what we're doing about it: https://t.co/mKJZZL363U pic.twitter.com/yVHsFNLdkM
— Danielle M. Outlaw (@PPDCommish) January 13, 2022
Jan 142022
Somewhat to my surprise, I found the first three episodes of HBO’s “Peacemaker” series to be a blast. This series is set in the DC cinematic universe, and is a direct spinoff of last years “The Suicide Squad,” featuring John Cena’s “Peacemaker” character. In short, the guy is an unstable violent moron, willing to kill any number of random innocent people in order to achieve peace. The show is incredibly violent and gory, profane and lowbrow… and it’s friggen’ hilarious. The best character is probably Eagly, Peacemakers sidekick: an eagle.
The opening credits are a sight to behold.
Note: yes, the same John Cena who shills for the Chinese Communist Party, in a show created and directed by James Gunn, the same guy who cranked out a suspiciously large number of tweets that made light of kiddy diddlin’. So if that sort of thing modifies your desire to watch a show… well, Hollywood seems to be full of these types, so your options are limited. But Gunn is really quite good at making this sort of entertainment (witness “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Cena is just damned charismatic, and wholly committed to the bit.
Also: something a lot of comic book reviewers/critics have noticed is that if a black woman appears in a comic book, there’s at least a 50-50 shot that she’s a lesbian. In “Peacemaker,” there are *two* black women in the main cast… and they’re *both* lesbians. Really racking up the diversity points.
Also also: a .50 AE Desert Eagle with a barrel *that* extended seems incredibly unwieldy. Still: want.
Jan 142022
I’m told by law enforcement these @UPS bags are especially sought after by thieves opening cargo containers… they are often full of boxes with merchandise bound for residential addresses. More valuable than say, a cargo container full of low value bulky items like toilet paper. pic.twitter.com/Tj5bQNIeby
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
As you can see, trains frequently slow or stop in this area as they get worked into the @UnionPacific Intermodal facility near Downtown LA. The thieves use this opportunity to break open containers and take what’s inside. I’d say every 4th or 5th rail car had opened containers. pic.twitter.com/PHpujyB84M
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
Responsibility for policing the railroad right of way falls on Union Pacific Police… not local agencies like LAPD. We did see Union Pacific police chasing two people today off the tracks and keeping an eye on things. pic.twitter.com/M5aQSrkGZW
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 14, 2022
Seems to me that there is an opportunity to develop locks on the containers that are hooked up to high voltage + high amperage systems, or explode, release chlorine, emit napalm… something. At the very least automated systems that detect looters and not only photograph them but lash out with hooked whips that take DNA samples. Those identified are put into databases and never again receive any assistance from the taxpayer. The same databases that Antifa insurrectionists and terrorists need to be on.