Well, THAT was unwise

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Gah., Hmm..., weapons, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 312022
 

In “Jaws,” the Sheriff takes out the shark by shooting a SCUBA tank with an M-1 Garand. The tank, clenched in the sharks jaws, kerplodes and shreds the Shark. Many years later Mythbusters tried to do the same thing, with the result that nothing much happened: holes were poked in the tank and it quickly blew down, but didn’t explode. Myth busted.

But then… GunTuber Edwin Sarkissian put an oxygen tank in a safe and shot through them with a .50 BMG rifle. The results were energetic and nearly Kentucky Ballistics in their effect. “Put a thumb in it” would not have been sufficient.

 

Not entirely relevant: restoration of a Pakistani home-made Kalashnikov 12-gauge shotgun, left in a wall for a number of years and rusted badly. Back when I lived in a free state I had a 12-gauge AK, and it was fun as hell to shoot… but you couldn’t pay me enough to pull the trigger on this thing.

 Posted by at 12:48 am

A career-limiting interview

 AARRRGH, Crazy, Forward!, Gah., news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 302022
 

Project Veritas had an enlightening hidden-camera chat with a public school assistant principal. In it he describes how to go about making sure that conservative employee candidates are rejected on the basis of their politics, how Democrat/progressive politics are injected into the classroom, how religious discrimination is normalized. It should be interesting to see if he maintains his employment. The chances that he’s alone in his practices is essentially zero, so expect that someone like this may well be at work in *your* school district.

 Posted by at 10:14 pm

This is not the “Notting Hill” the movie promised

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., news, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 302022
 

Only one murder so far!

Dancing revellers crash through a bus stop ROOF near Notting Hill Carnival as partygoers enjoy first event in two years since Covid – while police arrest 38 people including two for sexual assault

How long until Britain is just a fading memory among people in far-flung lands?

 

 

 Posted by at 4:50 pm

Gorby Gone

 history, Hmm..., Meh., news, politics, russian empire  No Responses »
Aug 302022
 

Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War, dies aged 91 -agencies

There will be a number of glowing hagiographies shortly describing him in positive terms because he saw the peaceful end of the Soviet Union through “openness” and by not sending the tanks to crush the various smaller Communist countries when they split from the Soviet Union. But the thing to never, EVER forget: he was a Communist. His policies weren’t intended to see Estonia and Latvia and East Germany gain their freedom; those were unintended consequences. His plan was not for the Soviet Union to go away without firing a shot; his goal was to perpetuate the USSR and Communism for all time. His goal was not the end of the Cold War with the West left standing, but the conquest of the  world and total subjugation to Communism. He was just kind of incompetent *and* not a complete monster. So, yes, he wasn’t the worst Communist. Kind of like how Admiral Doernitz wasn’t the worst Nazi. But a Nazi is still a Nazi, a Commie is still a Commie, even if they smile at you while planning on erasing your family from existence.

 Posted by at 4:08 pm

Firestarter

 aircraft, Hmm..., weapons, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 302022
 

Randomly stumbled across a video of a drone or helicopter (sounds like a chopper, glimpses of what looks like a landing skid) attempting to start a forest fire. Some of the comments indicate that this was part of a controlled burn, but I couldn’t find out more about it. There are a number of videos on YouTube showing the “heli-torch” in operation, basically an unmotivated flamethrower package that can be carried suspended beneath a helicopter (looks like usually a Bell UH-1, but also Rangers and Loaches) for the purposes of started prescribed burns in more difficult to access locations.

In any event, a drone that not only can start forest fires but actually has would be an interesting development. Looks like it’s spraying out gasoline or something. But if, instead, it squirted out napalm or thermite, the military applications could be reasonably horrific; swooping in over trenches to lay down dribbles of fire on enemy troops would seem a first use. This sort of thing would be unlikely to kill a lot of soldiers except for the rare instance of setting fire to a pile of ordnance or a fuel dump… but flaming drips falling onto soldiers heads or backs would very likely take them out of action.

 

@swat_leader

#katastrophe #pozari #vatra

♬ Originalton – 𝕾𝖜𝖆𝖙 𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗

 

Heli-torch vid:

 Posted by at 12:08 am

Hokey religions and ancient weapons…

 art, history, Hmm..., news, science fiction, weapons  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

… are no match  for nearly a million dollars:

‘Star Wars’ blaster sells for $900,000 at Rock Island Auction Company

I probably shoulda gone to look at it while it was on display a few miles from here. Well… one real good way to feel inadequate *real* fast is to realize just how far short you’d fall if you tried to buy something like this. It sold for two to three times the original estimate.

This link says that the blast sold for $1,057,500. I assume that factors in the fees and such.

Han Solo’s DL-44 Blaster from “Star Wars” smashes auction records

The budget for “Star Wars” was $11 million in 1977 money, or something like $52 million today. So about 2% of the movies budget could have been paid for by selling one prop… and sending that money back in time somehow.

 Posted by at 8:41 pm

Have a Coke and a Meh

 Hmm..., Meh., russian empire, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

So a Russian feller reviews the replacement for McDonalds. It’s sort of Uncanny Valley McDonalds… everything is *like* McDonalds, but a little off. There weird thing (to me, anyway) is the lack of fries. I always kinda thought that Russians had taters in vast abundance? Where’s their vodka come from? And $14 seems kinda pricey.

It seems a little strange to me to think of McDonalds as some kind of “experience,” to look back fondly on the “soul” and “love” of McDonalds. But I guess McDonalds emerging at the end of Communism must have been a heck of a thing, and to go back to the smile-free Soviet Experience must be a bummer.

 Posted by at 8:19 am

Next Artemis Launch opportunities

 news, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

From HERE:

  • Sept. 2 at 12:48 p.m. (Two-hour launch window); Landing Oct. 11 
  • Sept. 5 at 5:12 p.m. (90-minute launch window); Landing Oct. 17 

 

I’m having flashbacks to the early Shuttle days, when my parents would get me up at the crack of pre-dawn to watch the launch just before I had to catch my school bus, only for it to get scrubbed with one second to spare.

 Posted by at 7:56 am

Whoopsie

 AARRRGH, dumbassery, Gah., news, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

So who knew that newly manufactured rolls of foam sheeting are full of butane gas? This guy does. Well, he knows it *now.*

Fun fact:

https://www.borealisgroup.com/polyolefins/polymer-solutions/foam-solutions/10-frequently-asked-questions-about-po-foam

Question 1: Which physical foaming agent (gas) is the best in PP foam production?

Answer 1: The choice of the best physical foaming agent depends on the target foam. Hydrocarbons, like iso- or n-butane, are used in production of the lowest density foams, whereas inert gases, like supercritical CO2 or N2, are used in production of foams with densities typically higher than 200 kg/m3.

 Posted by at 7:53 am

Artemis I launch coverage: UPDATE scrubbed

 awesomeness, history, Hmm..., news, rockets, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 282022
 

UPDATE: Launch scrubbed, min engine trouble. Earliest next launch opportunity is September 2.

– – –

The 2-hour launch window opens at 8:30 AM Monday morning, Eastern time. Should be streamed live here:

Also here:

 

The SLS is an insanely expensive, ridiculously obsolete design, but damn if I don’t hope it succeeds. I did some work on those boosters back in the day… fifteen friggen years ago. Youch.

 Posted by at 10:43 pm
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