September 20, 2015
Oh My Stars And Garters YES!
Also this...which is just as awesome but lacks the derp.
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And Then This Stuff Happened
While people are focusing on the epic fantasy fight that is Clock Boy VS Gell-Mann other things were happening in the real world.
The President has ordered US Navy ships to steer clear of the artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea, thus ceding the seized Filipino and Vietnamese islands and giving China de-facto sovereignty over one of the most important trade routes in the world.
This method of just CREATING national territory anywhere the ocean gets shallow is expected by some analysts to soon be used in the Indian Ocean.
Unless it's all a monumentally expensive and elaborate feint (with the benefit of infrastructure in place for later use) to distract from the thrust into Taiwan.
It is being reported that North Korea is likely to launch a long range missile or satellite on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Communist Party....but that is far from certain.
What is somewhat more certain is that they are spinning up their nuclear weapons production in a big way and possibly their bioweapons as well.
Iran just released 5 top members of Al Qaeda in a prisoner swap. Odds are good they did not do so for a deserter.
Russia is moving to set up bases in Belarus...
Russia is also moving into Syria to defend the odious dictator Assad from the murderous assault on reason that is the Islamic state. A lot of people across the political spectrum seem upset by this. They probably need to analyze their pique more thoroughly. This seems like a point of convergence in our interests and has potential to be a starting point for walking back tensions in other areas.
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September 19, 2015
AVAST!! AHOY!! It be the 19th of September!
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GATE Ends
...sort of.
For a show that has had some truly sublime moments, this last episode was something of an anti-climax, being nothing more than a set up for another cour. That makes it less than satisfying as a series finale.
This isn't isn't any sort of cliffhanger as such, it just puts political and procedural roadblocks in the way of the dark elf from the last episode.
Who has TWO ears.
She's the last hope for her people and the burden is weighing heavily on her.
One neat bit of detail; the different languages continue to be an issue.Yao Haa Dushi, the aforementioned dark elf is thwarted mainly by the language barrier until Leili provides translation (after which she continues to be thwarted by other means). Several other minor characters lament their limited knowledge of other languages and phrase books are shown to be precious things that can be the key to a decent job for the locals.
This episode did throw out a few other character/plot threads. Tuka, the crazy cracker elf may be shell-shocked and broken, but she is highly functional and sharp enough that she able to hold down a job in the refugee camp that requires at least a degree of literacy,
It turns out that the lepus lass who runs one of the bars, is actually Delilah with a radically different hairstyle.
'Dem earrings...
She was one of Kain's praetorian maids from Italica introduced in episode 7. It's unclear if her coiffure is intended as a disguise or is the result of access to modern conditioner. She certainly seems to have some ulterior motive, though whether she's working for Kain, the Empire or a third party is unclear.
The harpy mage who went from POW to security guard actually has a name, (Myutie)...
...and thus might be more than a nice continuity nod.
The male fans having been generously provided with a cornucopia of maids, the production staff has thrown a bone to the otakuettes as well....
...to complement the yaoi appreciation subplot.
Finally, in a truly inspired moment, Leili is applying science to her magical theory. She has gotten hold of a middle school chemistry book...and is modifying her sorcery to take its wisdom into account.
This is completely logical and totally in character for her. Her teacher is quite impressed and seems to grasp the potential of her refining his techniques with the science of the other world.
This episode was certainly neat and had a lot going on, but as a season ender it was rather unsatisfying.
The series high-point was probably Rory's speech in episode 8.
The detail and thought that has gone into the story of this show is remarkable and the characters tend to be quite interesting. Aside from the unspeakable mess that was episodes 9 and 10, everyone and every group has had realistic and well thought out motivations and are astonishingly well realized (though Itami is coming close to Gary Stu territory). Note that hose two episodes (9&10) are so different in tone and they really don't contribute much to the story (aside from the flower laying ceremony) that I'm unsure if the weird and incongruous divergence wasn't some sort of executive meddling...it does not seem to fit with the meticulous thoughtfulness of the rest of the series.
All in all this was one of the better shows in recent years Episodes 9&10 nearly killed it for me, but it bounced back immediately and it is a testament to how good the show is that despite those, I'm looking forward to this show's continuation in January.
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10:40 AM
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Shortest Dating Sim Ever
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02:53 AM
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Somewhere Between R & S But Only Due to a Technicality
...is where I am on the Official Alphabetical List of Author Success.
This is a tad odd, since I have not sought a career in writing (which is probably fortuitous, not the least because I get no royalties).
It seems that a paper I wrote on Japan's security challenges for a sociology class has been published by the instructor in a collection of essays.
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01:35 AM
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September 18, 2015
An Aluminum Foil Lining
The Crunchyroll release of episode 12 of Gate is delayed untill at least tomorrow, but it appears that the series will continue....in January.
OH!
She does have two ears.
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11:27 PM
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'Eh?...!"
From this week's episode of School Live...
Wow.
So...
There are about 130 hours until the next episode huh?
This is going to be a long week.
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11:15 PM
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September 17, 2015
A Horrifying Possibility
...with almost Lovecraftian implications.
Tam ponders a profound proposition that's perturbingly probable.
It's all a lie!1!
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11:12 PM
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The Meaning of Blog
In theory, Blog is a portmanteau of Biographical and Log, so below the fold is a bit of biographical banality. As a courtesy to our readers, the Walter-Mittyisms are below the fold and above it is a picture of Lum, that you might be surprised to learn is by Renji Murata.
more...
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11:02 PM
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September 14, 2015
Best Picture Yet
...of the exhaust port, alien city, ice deposit or whatever is going on in Occator Crater on Ceres.
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Skirting the Very Edge of the Espionage Act
For the engineers and spies in the audience, here is a short video on the critical aspects of missile guidance...
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September 13, 2015
Another Darned Remake
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Important Product Awareness Tip
...from J.Greely; or more specifically, his sister...
Public Service Announcement for the uninitiated (and others, like me, who don’t read labels on things like Bounty): They now make paper towels with dish soap in them. Don’t use them to make bacon in the microwave. #justsayin’ On the bright side, clean up was suprisingly easy ….
Who thought that was a good idea?
Besides cooking, these paper towels are also pretty much useless for drying dishes, first aid, anything involving pets or whatever else one might use a paper towel for in a pinch..
"...The HELL!?"
Yes. Emergency backup coffee filters are right out...
Also, from the comments, it appears that the Russians may be ahead of some of us in bacon preparation technology.
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04:23 PM
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In the Latest Episode of PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY
Phoenix Wright is contracted to conduct delicate inter-dimensional negotiations while posing as a member of the Foreign Ministry, under an assumed name.
That title and entire first sentence is probably not true...probably.
In actuality, the screen-cap is from Episode 11 of GATE. The previous two episodes left such a foul taste in my mouth that I nearly dropped the show. With episode 11 this series appears to have gotten back on the rails and has gone a long way to cleanse the palette.
More below the fold...
more...
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September 12, 2015
Rainy Day
In the latest episode of School Live, the rainy season brings with it CABIN FEVER! This years strain of cabin fever is bad enough that it can only be delayed...and not prevented by ping pong balls.
Miki FINALLY finishes the foreign novel she's been translating, Now she must deal with the knowledge that hours of her life have been wasted as the book was rather overhyped.
"It was like...ancillary tendentiousness."
Yuki tries to boil water...with unexpected results.
"Dear God...Don't let me burn another kettle!"
Sakura Sensei's discussion of her haircut with Kurumi ends up having a profoundly unintended effect on Kurumi's outlook on life.
"You cut off a meter of hair...and kept the ahoge?"
Yuuri discovers to her considerable annoyance that pinky-swears can be used as emotional blackmail.
"My name is Yuuri..NOT Yuri...so your request is invalid. "
And of course...hi-jinx ensue.
This series has been surprisingly well done and a considerable amount of interesting developments happened in this episode. While I'm eager to discuss them, I ask anyone who does so, out of courtesy to other readers who are not as far along, to please use spoiler tags as follows....
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September 11, 2015
14 Years
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September 10, 2015
More Pluto!
One of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes brings us news from the edge of the solar system.
Actually, she's not at the edge of the solar system.
Come to think of it, Pluto isn't either, because there is still the Oort Cloud and Kupier Belt which extend for hundreds of AU before one gets to the Heliopause.
Anyway, our science corespondent reports that the experts are cataloging and naming the features on Pluto and Charon....
"Golly. I guess it makes sense that they'd've completely exhausted Edith Hamilton as a source for names."
Well...
In any event, NASA has downloaded several high rez pictures from this summer's flyby of the object formerly known as the 9th planet and here are a couple...
Click here for larger.
Click here for supah-size.
Click here to embigulate.
Click here to see at exactly the same size.
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Well It's Better Than Nothing...WAIT! NO IT ISN'T!
With the refugee crisis facing Europe from hoards of persons displaced by ISIS, the Syrian civil war and a drought exacerbated by Turkey's shutting off the Euphrates, one might reasonably wonder what Saudi Arabia is doing.
Not much actually.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly responded to the growing number of people fleeing the Middle East for western Europe – by offering to build 200 mosques in Germany
Well.
Thank you for that kind offer, but...
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September 09, 2015
A Blast From the Past
...in the multi megaton range.
Via the Secret Projects Forum comes information indicating the Russians have been developing a weapon system that involves an autonomous underwater drone intended to penetrate U.S. harbors. This is no surprise, but this drone is reportedly intended to carry a warhead with a yield measured in "tens of megatons". This weapon system has been given the designation KANYON by the Pentagon.
It's not exactly a new concept for the Russians. As we've reported here before, the initial delivery system contemplated for the RDS-220 (Tsar Bomba) warhead was a rather large torpedo, the T-15. This was initially intended to be the main armament of the project 627 submarines (November Class), though the concept was later abandoned.
KANYON would appear to be a completely terrifying interesting and logical refinement of the concept. Though not explicitly stated, it would seem to allow the weapon to situate itself much farther inland than could be reached with a simple torpedo shot. The article suggests that the weapon is specifically targeted at the U.S. Navy's SSBN bases in Kings Bay and Bremerton, the latter being a particularly challenging targeting problem as it is reachable only through a winding channel through an archipelago that is fairly far inland. This would indicate that other targets with inland deepwater ports would be within its reach. The junction of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers comes to mind, as does Houston which is a major port and energy center.
This weapon would, of course, precipitate all of the usual mayhem one associates with a high yield nuclear blast (and a ground blast to boot...so fallout would be horrific). However, there is one particularly interesting effect that this sort of unsolicited dredging operation would have.
Cratering.
Assuming use of the relatively new 20 megaton 8F675 warhead which the Russians recently removed from their ICBMs, the Nukemap online sum of all fears simulator suggests a crater depth of 800 feet. More importantly the crater extends for 1.05 km from the center, so there is a circular reef of trinitite glass completely blocking the harbor's channel. Here we see one at the mouth of Hampton Roads (home to the worlds largest naval base...and the Brickmuppet).
The harbor....isn't one any more. Even after the radioactivity subsides.
The expanse of the effect naturally increases (though less than linearly) with yield, so the 57megaton yield of the 1963 Tsar Bomba test would virtually close the whole harbor mouth.
Of course the more generally appreciated effects still apply....
From center out, little black donut=crater seen above, dark red circle=200PSI blast which destroys pretty much everything, green=radiation instant death which is redundant in this context because...light red circle=20PSI which corresponds to ground zero at Hiroshima, dark grey=5psi light grey=windows break with enough force to cause injuries, dark orange=trees burst into flames (weather dependent) light orange=people standing outside get third degree burns (weather dependent) Note that fallout is not shown, but I'd advise against eating the oysters for several decades.
Doing this to Beaumont, Long Beach, South Louisiana, Houston and New York could permanently close those ports and would remove over half of the nations capacity for foreign trade for a very long time. In the case of Louisiana, it would shut down a good bit of internal trade as well.
Of course, such a weapon would violate the Seabed Treaty and we all know how fastidious the Russians currently are about arms-control treaties.
UPDATE: The reason that something as whacked as a multi-megaton robot submarine nuke is is of any interest is that such a device is inherently a first strike weapon. It doesn't actually deter anything unless its deployed and if its deployed it will likely result in the balloon going up. Kanyon is a stupid concept if one is looking for deterrence rather than destabilization. The Russians aren't stupid. Thus, that a weapon like this is, apparently, being developed in a country that is rather strapped for cash indicates that this sort of attack is in the rolodex of options that are actually being considered by their war plans division.
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