Well… maybe some of us. Not me, but maybe somebody.
Polar Lights POL970/12 1/48 Plan 9 from Outer Space Flying Saucer Model kit
Nov 112021
Nov 112021
Sure, this is Britain, but the same nonsense would likely apply here as well:
Professor draws rage for telling students to work hard and avoid partying
A Cambridge University physical sciences professor sent out an email to his student saying:
“Please be careful how you handle yourselves here in these early weeks: remember that you are NOT at any other uni, where students do drink a lot and do have what they regard as a “good time” – and you are NOT on a course, as some Cambridge courses sadly are, where such a behaviour pattern in possible or acceptable.”
“Physical Sciences is a VERY hard subject, which will require ALL of your attention and your FULL brain capacity (and for a large fraction of you, even that will not be quite enough). You can ONLY do well (i.e. achieve your potential, which rightly or wrongly several people here assumed you have) I you are completely focused, and learn to enjoy the course. People who just TAKE the course, but enjoy their social life, can easily survive in many subjects — but not in this one.”
He is… NOT WRONG.
But people flipped out anyway.
I remember a few professors early in my aerospace engineering studies who made the same point, and they were not only not wrong, they were not wrong to do so. I had one Statics (a basic course required of *all* engineers, so the classroom was a huge auditorium) professor in particular who spent the first week badgering us, more or less bullying us to quit and find some field other than engineering. And he was partially successful: as memory serves, something like a third of the students bailed in that first week. And they were right to do so: if you can’t take some pressure, you shouldn’t be an engineer. If you go into art and get it wrong… who cares/ if you become an engineer and get it wrong. buildings collapse, planes explode, people die and nations fail. Science and engineering are *hard,* and spending your time partying and drinking will *not* help you. if the professor here convinces a student to study rather than party, he could well prevent an adequate student from becoming a failed one.
Those who are arguing that the professor is wrong are setting up students to fail. Even if the university dumbs down the requirements for graduation so that students who should have failed end up passing, once they get out into the private sector, they will find that they are incapable of remaining employed.
Nov 112021
Gotta know how to talk to ’em.
Nov 112021
When someone creates a fiction for political purposes, it can be Big News. When the story crumbles, look for it to not show up on the news at all.
Example:
Nov 102021
One of the older videos on YouTube… a hundred tons of explosives going kerblam. Things to note:
1) Low rumble from the ground shock preceding the actual *bang*
2) the intersection of shock waves from separate explosions creating a toroidal vapor cloud
3) A whole lot of shrapnel spinning through the air.
It’s “age restricted” for no good reason. It’s not like people get blown up; it’s a controlled demolition. But it should play if you click through to YouTube.
Nov 102021
A ramshackle rambling diatribe full of distortions, half truths and nuttery, courtesy NBC News:
A sobbing Kyle Rittenhouse already won — even before his trial is over
Any rational examination of the evidence showed that Rittenhouse was repeatedly attacked and defended himself appropriately, shooting only those who actively tried to physically harm him. This is the very definition of “self defense,” but the smug schmuck who wrote the piece ain’t having it. And then there’s this:
The truth is that too many white Americans probably see themselves in Rittenhouse — afraid of anyone, whether white or of color, who wants to live in a more equitable country — even if some don’t want to say so out loud.
Rittenhouse, and white people in general, aren’t afraid of people who “want to live in a more equitable country.” But murderous rioters and arsonists tearing up cities, destroying lives and livelihoods, burning buildings and books? Yeah. It’s not just white people who are justly leery of those types. But that’s not the narrative the author – who you’ll be shocked to find is a “
The Chinese Communist Party is doubtless looking upon “thinkers” like this with satisfaction. One wonders if the FBI might find something interesting by examining certain financial records. There was a time when the FBI took seriously their job of defending the US against Communist subversion. If the US is to survive in a meaningful way, it would be helpful if the FBI once again took that job seriously.
Nov 092021
The fact that a piece of art is made *specifically* to “tug at the heartstrings” does not negate the fact that sometimes that art can do that job very, very well. Behold:
Do comics count for #inktober ?
I cried making this. pic.twitter.com/k1z9YCVChL— Jenny-Jinya (@JennyJinya) October 8, 2019
And if you think *that’s* rough, here’s a longer-form comic by the same artist. If you’ve ever known the company of a black cat, this one will ruin your whole evening.
Artist Who’s Responsible For Making People Cry With ‘Good Boy’ And Black Cat Comics Just Released A Sequel
The artist focuses on animal cruelty so… yeah.
YOU’RE WELCOME.
Nov 092021
Arkham Reporter, one of the more sadly underappreciated YouTube channels, discusses matters related to H.P Lovecraft, cosmic horror, etc. Refreshingly, he has not knuckled under to the woke mob, and has put out a number of videos over the years discussing various efforts to smear, cancel, erase, mutilate or subvert Lovecraftian horror. But his latest video provides a large measure of hope that Lovecraft will be able to survive in a way that Star Wars and Star trek have not: Lovecraft is in the public domain. There is no Controller of The IP. nobody dictates canon. This means that *anyone* can write stories along the same lines as Lovecrafts; anyone can use his ideas, even his characters. Good writers or bad, people who respect Lovecrafts work, or people who hate it and him, it’s open to all. And the only thing that elevates one story and buries another is the fandom. If your work sucks… it’s gone. HBO can crank out as many hours of nonsense where The True Monsters are not deep-sea abominations or uncaring cosmic gods… but white people. And the fandom, if it decides that that’s crap, can ignore it. HBO can’t declare their rubbish to be *the* canon. My own “War With The Deep Ones” tales can be worthy of either the Nobel or the dumpster; it’s not up to some cabal of progressive-infected corporations to decide.
Nov 092021
France to build new nuclear reactors to meet climate goals
Anyone worried about anthropogenic climate change driven by carbon dioxide emissions should fully support nuclear power. Those who oppose nuclear power have no leg to stand on when shrieking about climate change.
Nov 092021
A few days ago I posted a link to a video of a professional underground bomb shelter. Lots of money, but also it looks like lots of reinforcement, with claims of lots of durability and a lifespan measured in centuries.
And then…
Shipping containers are freakin’ plentiful, and it sure seems like they’d make dandy homes and even underground shelters. But they are thin-walled and minimally reinforced… and as I understand it, they are not closed on the underside. The floors are *wood.* So unless a lot of work is done, if you bury one, the mud and water – if you bury it in a place that will ever see ground water – will readily flow right in. This is not to say that a shipping container-based underground bunker would be useless; depending on location, they might be just fine. But they are unlikely going to handle flooding, blast overpressure or trucks driving over them.
You watch *one* video of a bunker being built, and YouTube decides “well, this guy is clearly obsessed with underground shelters, so let’s show him all of them.”