A masterclass in elocution by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki:
I gotta admit this was the best laugh I had all day.
Feb 162021
Own your own space museum
AARRRGH, art, awesomeness, blather, Gah., history, Hmm..., models, news, rockets, spacecraft, ಠ_ಠ
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Feb 162021
Difficulty: stuff’s in Finland.
I was directed to an online auction of space replicas. The first items were things like 1/72 scale Space Shuttles and 1/72 scale Saturn V’s and Atlases and Redstones… nice enough, but nothing out of the ordinary.
BUT THEN…
14. Apollo Lunar Module cockpit full-scale replica 1:1
And…
15. Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle full-scale replica 1:1
And…
16. Gemini spacecraft full-scale replica 1:1
And…
17. Space Shuttle Orbiter Vehicle full-scale replica 1:1 (front section)
And…
19. Mercury spacecraft full-scale replica 1:1
And…
27. Apollo Command Module Exterior replica 1:1
And not last and certainly not least:
21. Saturn V scale model 1:10
Gimme gimme gimme gimme…
Where would I put a 1/10 scale Saturn V if I had one? I have no friggen’ clue.
The auction appears to be a bankruptcy auction:
Online bankruptcy auction under the authority of trustee Mr. M.W. Schüller of Lexington Advocaten in Hoofddorp concerning the inventory originating from the bankruptcy of John Nurnimen Events B.V. at Schiphol. The goods are located in Finland.
“John Nurnimen Events” still has a functioning website, but was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands, so I’m a bit confounded as to what’s going on here. On one hand I’m saddened that such a collection of awesomeness was apparently not a profitable enterprise; on the other hand… it’s Finland. I’m unclear that that would be the best place for such a thing. The specific website for the “NASA – A Human Adventure” traveling exhibition is offline, though it’s archived.
Opening bids on all these things are 100 Euro each. I have no idea what they’ll go for, though I imagine shipping costs could be a bit spendy.
Feb 162021
A followup to yesterday:
The environment will often talk to you and give you hints, subtle or otherwise, that something explosive is coming. (Feel free to interpret this in a political context). In this case, the buildup of a static charge on a mountain can often be heard in the rocks just before a lightning strike. Disregard at your peril.
Feb 152021
It is time for the media to REEEEEEE at full volume:
After Weeks Of Being Offline, Parler Finds A New Web Host
Apparently it’s only just kinda sorta working, and then in a very limited way on a fraction of the platforms. But one presumes that it will get up to speed as time goes by. You don’t get assassinated and then get right up and run a marathon, after all.
I found this hyperventilatory piece particularly entertaining:
Parler Is Now in the Hands of a Right-Wing Activist Seeking a Radical Rewrite of the Constitution
A “radical re-write of the Constitution?” Whatever could this extremist want?
Meckler went on to found Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG), now the Convention of States Foundation, a right-wing nonprofit that manages the Convention of States project, with the Koch-connected Eric O’Keefe. Convention of States (COS) wants to hold an Article V convention of the states to amend the U.S. constitution to severely restrict the power of the federal government.
Oh, Noes! Restricting the power of the federal government? What a shocking and wholly unAmerican concept!!!
According to the COS website, they want to amend the Constitution to:
- Require Members of Congress to live under the same laws they pass for the rest of us.
- Impose term limits on Members of Congress.
- Require a balanced federal budget.
- Impose limits on federal spending and/or taxation.
- Get the federal government out of our healthcare system.
- Get the federal government out of our education system.
- Stop unelected federal bureaucrats from imposing regulations.
- Set term limits for Supreme Court Justices.
- Set term limits for federal bureaucrats, ending the dominance of the “swamp.”
- Remove the authority of the federal government over state energy policy.
- Force the federal government to honor its commitment to return federal lands to the states
Regardless of how likely you think they are to get their way, their goals are wholly reasonable to at least discus.
Feb 152021
If you find yourself in this situation… find yourself *away* from it lickety damn split. You’re asking to be used as a lightning rod.
Bonus rounds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYq41HtUWWs
Feb 152021
The Great Reset summarized:
The Great Reset is such an obviously doom-filled notion that you have to wonder why anyone would even bother trotting it out. If something like this was actually instituted, the inevitable result would be Eat The Rich and street corner guillotines. I can only see two explanations:
1: This is a world-class Trumpian troll. Perhaps the bajillionaires involved in the World Economic Forum did this as some sort of drunken bet just to see how many morons would sign up, or to see what kind of chaos could be created from the inevitable outrage.
2: Ideology. Only whackadoodle political or religious ideologies can make people who should know better actually think that planned, centralized economies are a good thing, that the wants and desires of entire populations can be scheduled in advance, that people will be satisfied with less, that people do not have self-interest or a desire to won their own stuff.
3: The ultimate reason why.
Feb 142021
I hope these folks are doing ok, what with the pandemic and all:
That there is a labor of love. A pity it’s in the far off land of New York, under the dystopic sway of Tyrant Cuomo.
Feb 142021
Perhaps the most important thing to take away from this era of separateness:
Feb 142021
And here we go:
Statement by the President Three Years After the Parkland Shooting
Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.
Well, that would seem to be incitement to insurrection, since he’s calling for the jailing of tens of millions of American citizens. It’s certainly a call to violate the Constitution. Should Congress begin impeachment proceedings?
Feb 142021
I’ve previously said that I am opposed to turning away customers based on their politics. This is a common practice in several industries, such as comic books, Star Wars novelizations and some others… where authors say things like “if you don’t like my politics don’t buy my book.” This to me seems incredibly dumb. Me, I will happily sell my stuff to anyone. Go ahead, give it a shot… go to my website and select a few hundred dollars worth of items, pay for them and see if I don’t just go right ahead and fill your order.
I Dare You.
But then there’s also this argument:
Michigan Ammo Maker: No Bullets For Biden Voters
First question – are we serious?
Yes, we are serious. Joe Biden ran on a campaign built on the most radical gun control platform a major party candidate has ever had, including banning the online sale of ammunition. Essentially, a plan to bankrupt our company.
— Fenix "Kulak" Ammunition (@FenixAmmunition) February 11, 2021
In this case, the customers who voted for Biden did in fact vote to put this company out of business. That’s the sort of thing that will annoy many business owners. Second… if you are a bullet maker, you’re very unlikely to be having trouble finding buyers these days. You almost certainly have far more demand that capacity. You *can’t* sell to everyone who wants to buy. So… if ya gotta pick and chose, I guess de-selecting those who want to actually put you out of business, but who hypocritically want your product – makes as much sense as any way to pick.
I’m pretty sure they can’t actually discriminate without collecting a few lawsuits (which I’d honestly get a kick out of seeing… “Your Honor, my client doesn’t want to sell his product to people who believe that his product and his business model should be illegal. What’s the problem here?”). But maybe making a few of the more self-destructive gun owners think a little bit might prove helpful in the future. And it doubtless feels good for those who set up the little test.