More disturbishment out of Russia

 aircraft, Crazy, Hmm..., news, politics, rockets, russian empire, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 212023
 

Below, a twitter thread discussing a recent increase in the appearance of air defense systems in and around Moscow, including Vlad Putin;s digs. The optimistic way of looking at this: every missile placed near Russia is a missile not placed near Ukraine. The pessimistic outlook: you generally don;t go to this kind of bother and expense to take weapons systems *away* from an ongoing conflict unless you have a reason to. It seems the Russians seem to think that the conflict is going to expand to aircraft attacking Moscow. Do they think the Ukrainians are going to do that? Or are they expecting NATO to do that? if so, keep in mind that the excuses being used include “it was a pre-emptive strike against Ukraine because they were going to attack *us.*”

 

Another possibility is they’re afraid of elements of the Russian Air Force deciding to go a wee bit off mission.

 Posted by at 5:44 am

I am neither shocked nor upset

 Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Meh., news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 202023
 

Los Angeles hit-and-run driver who plowed into mom and baby in stolen car is murdered after light sentence

In August 2021, then-15-year-old Kristopher Baca stole a car, ran into a mother and her baby in a stroller, then drive away and struck a truck. Baca was, at the time, out on parole for *poisoning* a girl’s drink. He was then given a few months in a “diversion camp.”

 

Hmm. He tried to poison one girl, then stole a car, tried to run over a young mother and her baby, then fled the scene… and all he got out of it from the Los Angeles justice system was a few months in camp. Huh. Color me stunned that a couple days ago he got himself gunned down in the street, because he sure sounds like a real winner, a prince among men, an avatar of moral virtue and common sense. He *should* have been locked away for a term of some years after the poisoning, but actually punishing criminals is not something D-cities are really into.

 

The video at the link above is worth watching: there are some genuinely good people on display there, alongside the oxygen thief. The truck driver, in particular… I *hope* that not only did his/her insurance company not screw him/her over, but in fact gave him/her a new truck with roo bars.

 

The video in the link below shows the aftermath. A passenger from the offending car is hopping around (he’s got a pre-broken leg in a cast) while the driver is still in the car and people are gathered around… and one witness is *really* PE’ed. He lays into both the passenger and the driver with threats and profanity and red rage bordering on insanity… and I’m all there for it. I don’t know if the guy is the truck driver, but he is *really* angry… and every last bit of that is deserved. If the same passion had been displayed by the prosecutors after Baca tried to poison someone, he would still be in the graybar hotel and still alive… and that mother and her child wouldn’t have been injured by a jackass in astolen car. But at least he’s dead now, and that’s for the best from all evidence.

 

Guy goes insane after witnessing a hit and run of a baby in a stroller

 Posted by at 11:56 pm

New Cyanotypes

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, CAD diagrams, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, ships  No Responses »
Jan 202023
 

I just sent files to the print shop to get transparencies of two new cyantypes. One will be a pair of 18X24 SR-71 CAD drawings by yours truly, and one will be a 12X38 vintage USS Monitor diagram. I kinda plan on doing a range of ships and submarines, based on vintage blueprints and Booklets of General Plans, if they prove popular. If interested in these, or interested in suggestions something, let me know.

 Posted by at 8:30 pm

“Enterprise” set visit

 art, awesomeness, history, science fiction, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Jan 202023
 

There is a fan-built replica of the original USS Enterprise set – the whole ship, at least as built in the 1960’s – in Georgia. These sets were used for the filming of the “Star Trek Continues” fan films, and they look convincingly like the originals.

 

There are two such complete sets… this one, and one in New York. Every kid who was a fan of this show in the 60’s, 70’s and into the 80’s would have killed to have a set like this… at least the captains chair. I imagine there are a lot of folks who want a set of the Enterprise D bridge, probably some Voyager fans. But can anyone really suggest that, fifty years from now, fans of Star Trek Discovery will have recreated the sets from that show in a warehouse somewhere for their own fan films, offering daily tours to paying customers? I suspect not: not just because the show sucks, but because the sets are bleh and soulless… and if anyone wants to do fan films of STD, they’ll likely just work in front of a green screen and CGI-in the sets.

 

I do wonder if the builders for either of these Enterprise sets could make a decent business out of selling replicas of the captains chair, navigation, the science station, perhaps even occasionally the complete bridge. I suspect there are legal issues that would stand in their way, but if not, I don’t doubt that there are a number of fans with a lot of money and a lot of floorspace who’d happily pay for their own little bit of the Enterprise.

 Posted by at 6:19 pm

That’s a weird way to “deNazify” Ukraine…

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, Gah., Hmm..., news, nukes, politics, russian empire, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 192023
 

I recently had a disturbing online conversation with a Russian aeronautical expert on the subject of Ukraine. One can reasonably expect a Russian will have a different point of view on the subject than a westerner would… but this was an *experience.* In short: It’s good and proper that Russia exterminate the Ukrainian people, because their culture, history and identity don’t exist; they’re a fiction, it’s all part of Russia and Russias destiny to retake that plot of land. “The history of Ukraine began with the betrayal in Belovezhskaya Pushcha in 1991 and will end in 2023.” Any who stand against the Russians goals deserve death and the nuking of western/NATO cities would be a small price to pay for Russia reclaiming it’s former empire.

 

Yeesh.

 

And of course one of the main excuses for why the “special military operation” is a wonderful thing? The need to get rid of all the Nazis in Ukraine. Ukraine, under the leadership of a democratically elected feller who I understand to be a Jew, is somehow being controlled by Nazis. Uh-huh. After years of weirdo whackaloons here in the west constantly banging on about fascists and Nazis – by which they mean anyone with politics to the right of FDR – I have no sympathy for Russians bleating on about Nazis. Especially when *this* is who the Russians are sending into battle against the Ukrainian people:

 

 

 

 

It’s bad enough that Russian leadership is clearly bugnuts, but that this has seeped out into the general populace is unnerving. I was told that Putin is felt to be too soft on the west, and: “If Kadyrov becomes president, the whole world will remember the beautiful and humane Vladimir Vladimirovich with tears.”

 

There have been more and more reports that NATO countries are running out of weapons and ammo. Again, this is both good and bad news. The bad is obvious. But the good is that the West is figuring this out *now* while our economies are still running and our factories are still standing. If the relatively tiny amount of ordnance the west is sending to Ukraine is drying up western armories… that’s a damned good sign that we need to start stocking up in a serious way.

 Posted by at 11:00 pm

Alec Baldwin back in the news

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Hmm..., news, weapons, wisdom  No Responses »
Jan 192023
 

Couldn’t happen to a nicer fella:

Alec Baldwin to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in ‘Rust’ film shooting

The argument seems to be that Baldwin was screwing around and negligently fired the weapon. However, it also seems to be the case that he was given a gun and told by the armorer that it was not loaded. Assuming those, I’m dubious that a solid legal case can be made against him. The prop master is in serious trouble (and is also charged), no doubt, but Baldwin was told it was safe. That said: I’m never, EVER trusting a weapon to be unloaded and safe until such time as I have personally inspected it. Do I trust the person handing me the weapon? Quite possible. But “trust” has a hell of a time stacking up against “oops, I accidentally shot myself/someone else.”

 

So jail time for Baldwin? I’m uncertain. A massive fortune-thinning lawsuit? Oh yeah. Kind of a given.

 Posted by at 9:14 pm

Norse runes: older than thought

 awesomeness, history, Hmm..., news  No Responses »
Jan 192023
 

World’s oldest rune stone found in Norway, archaeologists believe

Believed to be somewhere in the range of 1800 to 2000 years old, this means that runic writing has been around for a good long time. Doubtless there’s a link between the runes and Greek writing, but the currently popular theory that runes derived from Roman sources would seem to be much less likely now. The runes seem to have been fully developed and in use well before there was much contact between the Romans and the northern Europeans.

 

Some Twitter threads by the researchers working on this.

 

 Posted by at 8:57 pm

“Hello Tomorrow”

 art, awesomeness, Hmm..., rockets, science fiction, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Jan 192023
 

This new Apple+ show looks like it *could* have truckloads of potential… and I can see where it could torpedo itself. Behold “Hello Tomorrow!” Some sort of alternate history where the 1950’s never ended yet technology continued, so there are hover-cars, robots and spaceships that all look like they belong in the 50’s. This *could* be friggen’ spectacular: a bright, uplifting story of possibilities. But there are unsubtle hints that “things are not what they seem,” that could turn the whole thing into garbage. “Ascension,” anyone?” The space colonies don’t work, or there are dark conspiracies, or bog-standard “racism and misogyny and transphobia, oh my,” or it’s all some sort of simulation.

Remember the days when you saw a great-looking trailer and you actually held out optimism? But as I don;t have Apple+, I guess it doesn’t much matter…

 

 Posted by at 11:27 am
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