[turtle]

I still think those sentences are short. They need to be much longer.

[drewprops]

Nuclear secrets should at least consider a life sentence...


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[Brad]

Originally Posted by drewprops Nuclear secrets should at least consider a life sentence... ...

…something something Trump's stolen documents in Mar-a-Lago something something…

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by drewprops Nuclear secrets should at least consider a life sentence... ...

Or a death sentence, since you know in the wrong hands that is what it equates to.

[Frank777]

Unbelievable. The FBI deliberately waited until the midterms were done to release the footage.

Political policing used to only happen in banana republics. Guess the U.S. has become one.

This sets a really bad precedent that will take America down a bad road if the other party eventually reciprocates.

[Matsu]

Who knew James Harden had time for this sort of thing. :-p

[drewprops]

Disney brings Bob Iger back out of retirement. Pretty clear vote of no confidence in the other guy. Wow.

https://deadline.com/2022/11/disney-...ut-1235178223/

[turtle]

They still aren't going to get my business again. They moved from an entertainment company to a political activist company. It doesn't matter if they pushed guns and prostitution or gay agenda to religious rights. They forgot what their purpose was and in that lost many "followers".

The masses just want to be entertained, Disney was good at that. Now they are great if you need a speed course on current hot buttons.

[Frank777]

Can he declare the Sequel Trilogy to never have existed, and spend another $4T on a reboot?




Scratch that. Just realized the 'new' guy is the one who actually greenlit the Sequel Trilogy without an overall story plan.

[drewprops]

Bloomberg has a big long article "FTX Was an Empty Black Box All Along" that follows the path of a pied piper of cryptocurrency. While blockchain technology is genius, I am among those who have been waiting for a house of crypto cards to fall.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...empty-promises

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[Brad]

Wasn't sure if this belonged in the Elon Musk thread, but it's not directly about Twitter…

Giant Musk ‘Goat’ statue arrives at Tesla factory in crypto stunt
Crypto Entrepreneurs Fail to Capture Elon Musk’s Attention With $600,000 Goat Statue
No Response From Elon Musk After $600K Statue Surfaces In Austin

“Elon tweeting us would legitimize the token,” said Mr. Sansalone, 40 years old. … At one point in the evening, a group of about 20 people who were waiting outside started to chant “Elon claim your goat” in the hopes that the god of crypto, as one co-founder put it, would hear them. “I’m a huge fan of Elon and I want to give this man his flowers while he’s alive,” said Aamir Manzoor, a 36-year-old from Toronto who is a holder of Elon GOAT. “He’s done a lot for the world.”

If you ever needed any more evidence that crypto bros are dumb as rocks and just trying to rile up attention for yet another pump-and-dump scheme, just try to look at this monstrosity without laughing.

Metal sculptor Kevin Stone spent nearly six months working on the sculpture of Elon Musk.

I sure hope he was paid in actual currency for his work.

Mr. Musk’s head, which took nearly six months to complete was made by Mr. Stone. The goat body and rocket were made by others in Phoenix to speed up the project, Mr. Sansalone said. Then all the pieces were put together and attached to the back of a 70-foot long semi-truck trailer.

Which explains the horribly disjointed design. I think this is a metaphor for most crypto projects as a whole. Lots of effort on an expensive face. Rushed absolute bare minimum for everything else.

[kscherer]

Looks like a turd to me.

Don't worry, though, the stupid thing will wind up in the private collection of some money-has-no-value billionaire.

I wonder how many cold Ukrainians could have been fed for what that piece of crap cost to make?

[PB PM]

The uglier it is the more it’s worth, isn’t that the norm for modern art?

[kscherer]

Yes!

[drewprops]

The B-21 bomber was unveiled overnight...

https://youtu.be/chJlJgrvfBY

...

[kieran]

Renderings have been around of this thing for what seems like 10 years. It looks like a solid modern update to the B-2 and still has a ton of secrecy about it.

Since there is nothing really solid out there, reporters are basically saying ti can pretty much do anything a bomber could do and then a whole bunch of additional things that a bomber typically doesn't do.

Looking forward to seeing what this thing can actually do, or at least what they'll tell us it can do.

[Brad]

Are big military hardware reveals a "thing" like this? I've never seen an event like this before, but I'm also not the target audience.

The style feels completely surreal and a little chilling to me, like something from a movie set in some jingoistic alternate universe, with its overproduced and very Apple-like "this changes everything" marketing hyperbole and with the unironically religious reverence of the national anthem prefacing a speech that describes "lethality unmatched anywhere on the planet".

But it's probably got some cool tech, I guess.

[drewprops]

My thoughts:

Projecting dominance is as important as executing dominance. A reputation as a badass who is willing to throw down 200% is effective. It's "good press" for our military, good press for Northrop Grumman, and good press for the military industrial complex in general.


...

[turtle]

Dog and pony shows are nothing new. Pressers for things like this are nothing new. Social media helps put it out front and center for those who don't normally see this kind of thing.

Another point on that is that is isn't common to have "big" weapon systems like this to be revealed.

That being said, I'm loving this bomber!

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Brad Are big military hardware reveals a "thing" like this? I've never seen an event like this before, but I'm also not the target audience.

I think so. I remember watching documentaries about the selection process for the F-22 and F-35, before a single production aircraft was delivered to the air force. So at the time all they had were prototypes.

[drewprops]

LOL it did occur to me that since ANYTHING shown publicly will be studied in intricate detail by foreign competitors, why wouldn't we build a fake plane, with a completely different build from the actual aircraft. This feeling is compounded by the fact that they only showed the plane from the front, and only rolled it forward and back again. Apologies for conspiracy hat, it just seems like a good idea.


...

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Brad The style feels completely surreal and a little chilling to me, like something from a movie set in some jingoistic alternate universe

Like a country where schoolchildren "pledge allegiance", say.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by chucker Like a country where schoolchildren "pledge allegiance", say.

Huh? I grew up outside of North America for a large part of my childhood, and we learned and recited a "pledge" in school.

[Matsu]

I don't recall ever reciting a pledge in Canada. I do think it's odd that for certain work I can be required to take oaths that reference the Queen (now King). I prefer to take an oath to the country and/or its people, luckily Canada has had the option to "affirm" rather than to swear.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by chucker Like a country where schoolchildren "pledge allegiance", say.

*sigh* Yep.

I certainly remember having to do that in early grade school years (growing up marginally "in the south" in NC, USA). I think my schools stopped that nonsense around age 10-11 (6th grade).

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Matsu I don't recall ever reciting a pledge in Canada. I do think it's odd that for certain work I can be required to take oaths that reference the Queen (now King). I prefer to take an oath to the country and/or its people, luckily Canada has had the option to "affirm" rather than to swear.

That’s only because you were born here. If you emigrated it’s a different story. Upon getting citizenship you have make a pledge to Canada and the king or queen. That is unless that has changed recently.

[Frank777]

Lt. Saavik crosses the Final Frontier.

[drewprops]

I found out about Kirstie's passing from my friend Joe, from this story:

https://blog.drewprops.com/2006/11/parkers-wizard/

...

[chucker]

Originally Posted by PB PM That’s only because you were born here. If you emigrated it’s a different story. Upon getting citizenship you have make a pledge to Canada and the king or queen. That is unless that has changed recently.

I would argue, though, that pledging allegiance to a state you're explicitly trying to immigrate to, once, isn't quite the same as pledging allegiance as a kid every day as a result of having been born somewhere. It's still a bit weird/gross/archaic, but it makes a little more sense to me.

[Matsu]

As far as Ontario is concerned, some statutes seem to have been amended to allow exception to swearing allegiance to the "crown" and substitute wording related to the discharge of duties with respect to the laws of the nation and province and/or duties of office, with no reference to the monarchy, and only optional refence to God.

I skimmed what look like the relevant regulations/acts. There seems to be some latitude (perhaps recent, c.2017???) allowing the Lieutenant Governor to make regulations respecting who is required to swear/affirm and which type of oath.

Personally, I don't mind the Queen and her brood, they may still have some very small utility in the Canadian context, but I'm not swearing allegiance to them and their "heirs and successors..." WTF?