Ummm…
BREAKING:
The Wagner Group has launched a military coup and are now fighting against the Russian Army.
Around 30 000 Wagner soldiers have now taken control of a large area north of the Russian city of Rostov.
A Russian helicopter has been shot down. pic.twitter.com/wEf7Vw63pJ
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/albafella1/status/1672358654794661890
The Red Rocks Amphitheater in the foothills west of Denver is a neat place. While I never went there for a concert when I lived in the are in the late 90’s, I went there often enough to hike around and test liquid biprop rocket engines in the parking lot when security wasn’t looking (what, was I going to test them in town? Don’t be silly). Along with concerts, something else I never experienced there was a hailstorm. Having seen the videos from last night, I’m just as glad that I missed out on that.
A “hovertank” is, of course, a terrible idea. A hovering vehicle pretty much by definition has no traction with the ground, thus cannot well handle a lot of recoil… which is the sort of thing a cannon provides in spades. And anything that hovers has to be built light enough to get lurched off the ground, which reduces the capability to be armored. And… on and on.
Nevertheless, the “hovertank” has it’s place in science fiction.
And now modern consumer electronics and drone technology has reached the point where a hovertank can in fact be yours. In subscale plastic model form at any rate.
I’m honestly surprised and impressed that that bitty quadcopter could lift that, and do so effectively. Now imagine that the kit was designed for that from the get-go, using vac-formed parts… or even carbon fiber laid-up components. Far lighter, and better integrated with the lift system.
As is well known by now, Disney has been making a mess of many of the properties they’re in charge of. The Marvel movies/shows have plummeted downhill; Pixar movies stink; the endless CGI “live action” remakes are soulless cash grabs at best, and to all reports that forthcoming Indiana Jones movie is gonna be *terrible.* And then there’s the smoking ruin of Star Wars. Why is this happening? To an outsider, it looks a lot like sabotage… a vast organization that wants to tear down not only its own legacy, but poison the culture as a whole. That’s crazy conspiracy theory talk, of course. But then… there’s this:
The fact that Disney – or any corporation – has not just a “diversity officer,” but a *Chief* “diversity officer” is of course a stinging indictment about their wisdom and sanity. But there’s one line in the article that jumped right out at me:
Disney HR chief Sonia Coleman’s note to staff announcing Newton’s departure … She has been dedicated to ensuring every person sees themselves and their life experiences represented in a meaningful and authentic way.
Ah. No. That’s just… NO. Bad storytelling company. Bad. BAD.
I don’t want to see myself and my life experience in *any* sort of way in any sort of movie that Disney might make. I want to see stuff that would inspire me to emulate. I don’t want to see what I am; I want to see what I can become. Once again, there are two world views:
1: “Look, Captain Kirk is on TV. I want to be like Captain Kirk.”
2: “Look, Captain Kirk is on TV. I want Captain Kirk to be like me.”
Worldview #2 is the one known as “representation.” It is cancer. It should be mocked, spat upon, driven from polite society out into the wasteland to die shriveled and alone, huddled against some broken forgotten ruin of a statue of a long unremembered tyrant. “Representation” does not inspire people to greatness; at best, it inspires smug complacency. It does not bring people together; it only divides. Because if Person A finds themselves represented by Character A who shares all the “important” weird little identity politics quirks of Person A… then Character A does *not* represent Person B who doesn’t share those quirks. Character A will only appeal to a thin slice of the audience… and then will not inspire those people to much of anything, because Character A tells them how awesome they Already Are. You don’t need to change, because you’re perfect just the way you are. (Unless, of course, you need to go on a risky series of hormone treatments and lop off your dangly bits.) And if Character A *doesn’t* share your identities, and in fact is quite different or even opposed, then you will feel outraged that someone isn’t catering to you.
So, yay for Disney getting rid of this one little symptom of the larger problem. Now get rid of the entire department, and let not the precepts of DEI ever be spoken of again.
This video hit earlier today. It *appears* to depict (because it might be staged) a family at a gas station; as the video begins, the father, pumping the gas, is apparently acting strangely. It transpires that the father has seen something concerning, so he’s getting the hell out of there ASAP. Some commenters have suggested that he’s “fragile” or over reacting.
He was aware of his surroundings and kept his family safe. pic.twitter.com/UPDSM1AJDi
— iamyesyouareno (@iamyesyouareno) June 19, 2023
Over reacting? Well, maybe. Having seen the following video that came out later on the same day… the importance of situational awareness is driven home pretty clearly:
This is harrowing.
This is what endless mass immigration has brought our (formerly) peaceful societies.
Import the Third World, become the Third World.
Our children deserve better. https://t.co/24ueeqM0aY— Paul Golding (@GoldingBF) June 19, 2023
When it’s just you, being alert is important enough. When you have family depending on you…
This morning I started seeing this context-less clip. In short, a guy is throwing rocks at houses, when he is suddenly mowed down by someone in a golf cart. Amusing enough.
100% justified 😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/m1ZaspUbEc
— Donut Operator 🍩 (@DonutOperator) June 19, 2023
But the river and the bridges? They looked *very* familiar. but it’s a big country. Finally, a news item on the incident:
A viral video has come out of Moline near North Shore Drive along the Rock River of a man putting a stop to a man dealing thousands of dollars in property damage to the neighborhood.
Ha! Exactly where I thought it was, about 2.4 miles from here.
I’m so proud.
Gropey Joe trotted out this old lie again:
Guns are the #1 killer of kids in America.
More than car accidents and more than cancer. We can't let that become just another statistic.
Let's ban AR-15-style firearms and other assault weapons.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 16, 2023
Fortunately, the internet is full of fact checkers…
What is "Unintentional Injury" you ask?
Mostly drowning, car accidents, suffocation, fires etc. pic.twitter.com/teN3Qt83fM
— Unbiased Crime Report (@UnbiasedCrime) June 16, 2023
https://t.co/2mIF9utJ1b Using CDC data: In the most recent available census year of 2021, setting the age between 1-17 yrs old (legal minors) for all causes of death the total is: 35,654
Firearms are listed at: 2,590 or 7.26% of the total.
It was number 4 below medical causes.… pic.twitter.com/Y2zRXxbSrm— The Sicilian Irish Robot (@misteryrobozo) June 17, 2023
That lists firearms as the cause of 7.26% of child mortality in the US. But here “child” is “birth to 17.” A *lot* of those “children shot dead are in the upper age range… and were shot while committing crimes (“gang related,” no doubt). Shot by people defending themselves, shot by cops, shot by other criminals. These “victims” merit no sympathy, of course. Unfortunately, hard numbers are hard to come by, but there’s this:
Please accurately represent the numbers. It's tragic when anyone dies, but most of these "kids" dying from gun violence are older teens and it's gang-related. We need to go after the gangs. pic.twitter.com/f2L9IZcDwl
— Anonymous Because You People Are Crazy (@AnonBecauseOf) June 16, 2023
These units used Strontium-90 (half life: 29 years) for the earlier ones, then Caesium-137 (half life 30 years) and Cerium-144 (half life 285 *days*). Half a century or more later the earlier units should still be kinda warm; those Cerium units will be dead as doornails (though perhaps the decay products might be spooky, not an expert). Probably some exciting weapons potential for those Stronium/Caesium units for go-getters with the gumption to go get ’em.
As good an idea as nuclear power is… this sort of thing goes to show what a nightmare a planned collectivist economy can be for the environment. You support socialism not only at your own peril, but everyone else’s.
Sometimes I look at some of my goofier projects like the “2001 Briefcase Computer” and I think to myself “that’s actually pretty cool.” Then I see guys like this and I know that my nerd-cred is minuscule.