Here’s the new eXXXXXTREEEEEEEME sport of the coming century…
Apr 052020
Apr 052020
Once again Patreon seems to be becoming unstable. So I’ve got an alternate: The APR Monthly Historical Documents Program
For some years I have been operating the “Aerospace Projects Review Patreon” which provides monthly rewards in the form of high resolution scans of vintage aerospace diagrams, art and documents. This has worked pretty well, but it seems that perhaps some people might prefer to sign on more directly. Fortunately, PayPal provides the option not only for one-time purchases but also monthly subscriptions. By subscribing using the drop-down menu below, you will receive the same benefits as APR Patrons, but without going through Patreon itself.
Apr 052020
She’s quite good at it. the other cats, not so much.
Apr 042020
A “Flying Jeep” circa 1957 with two lift fans and what appears to be a fuselage composed largely of two long floats. Presumably this vehicle could land on water, though with the substantial downwash, it’d be a heck of a mess.
Apr 032020
On one level, casting blame within the US for the Kung Flu is silly, since the disease is a somewhat unprecedented freakshow that came out of Communist China. But on the other hand…
On January 31, there was this:
Don’t Listen To Sen. Tom Cotton About Coronavirus
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has been on an absolute tear about coronavirus, calling for all Americans in China to “get out now,” demanding the U.S. implement an extensive travel ban targeting China proposing a “Manhattan Project-level effort to create a vaccine” ― a reference to the undertaking that produced the atomic bomb during World War II.
Huh. Imagine if, instead of calling Cotton a fearmonger, a nut and a bigot, the HuffPo and other outlets had said “maybe we should listen to this guy.” On the same day that HuffPo mocked the idea that the virus was worth worrying about, Trump issued his travel ban on people coming from China, thus preemptively striking at those who, a couple months later, would accuse him of belated interest in the pandemic.
Apr 032020
Defense Distributed Launches The “Netflix of Guns”
In short, if you are in the US you can access a number of downloadable files for 3D printable firearms.
While I would avoid any such weapon like the plague in favor of properly manufactured firearms made from *good* materials, having this system in place and recognized as legal is a good first step towards the day when any American can download and print a *good* firearm without having to deal with governmental BS. As has been pointed out from time to time, many people want gun laws to be similar to automobile laws. And there are precisely zero laws against making your own automobile at home. Granted a car is *way* bigger than most firearms…
The sci-fi dream is a general replicator, such as from Star Trek. Trek replicators use magic transporter technology, but the basic idea of a machine that builds up anything from drugs or hamburgers to pistols from raw materials is a valid one.
Apr 032020
Feh.
SpaceX’s Starship SN3 prototype collapses in pressure tank test
This does *not* help push forward my plans of evacuating this miserable rock.
Apr 022020
HAVE YOU THE BRAIN WORMS?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQEhuVS7Wj8
Huh. Another YouTube vid that won’t auto-embed. Well, if’n yer interested in some high-quality crazysauce, take a look at the link. Suggestion: turn down the audio. Or, heck, turn it up and see if, like here, your critters come running to see what the hubbub is about.
Apr 022020
So, the German-owned, Portuguese-flagged cruise ship RCGS Resolute was drifting, engine off, in the Caribbean doing some engine maintenance on March 30. No passengers on board. Then the Venezuelan patrol vessel ANBV Naiguatá decided to try to board and likely sieze the ship. Orders were made for the Resolute to surrender and sail to a Venezuelan port, orders the crew wisely refused. The Naiguatá then repeatedly rammed the Resolute. End result? The Naiguatá capsized and sank, the Resolute sailed on.
The Resolute, as it turns out, was built with an incredibly tough hull for the specific purposed of plowing through ice-packed Antarctic seas. It was built like a tank, essentially. *Why* the Venezuelans decided to take the cruise ship is a bit unclear, but “piracy” seems a good bet. Venezuela, being a socialist paradise, is all about stealing other peoples stuff. Most likely the goal was to ransom the cruise ship, and quite likely the crew as well.
This Venezuelan Patrol Ship Sunk Itself After Ramming A Cruise Liner With A Reinforced Hull
A glimpse into the future of the USS Bernie Sanders…
Apr 022020
Granted I not only do not believe in demons, I actively believe such things don’t exist. But whatever brain dysfunction that causes “demonic possession” seems to have been on display in Congress…
That’s not the only example. There is also the Surt-worshipping Ilhan Omar who had this to say:
Subhanallah! https://t.co/MysfOONOw4
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 1, 2020
Trump says that the next two weeks will be “very painful,” as in thousands – very likely tens of thousands – of Americans will die from the Kung Flu. And Omars response is “Subhanallah!” which translates to roughly to “Glory to Allah.” According to HERE:
“By saying “Subhanallah,” Muslims glorify Allah above any imperfection or deficiency; they declare his transcendence.”
For those of you unaware, that phrase is said when you’re happy. She is praising Allah. She is praising Allah that Americans will be going through a very painful time.
If she were commiserating, she’d say Allah yahmeena (Allah protect us) or Autho billah (I seek refuge w Allah)
— Yasmine Mohammed ياسمين محمد 🦋 (@YasMohammedxx) April 1, 2020