July 03, 2013
Fingers are Crossed
As the Egyptian military promised, there has been a coup.
Wait...Those aren't cluster-bombs!
The Egyptian people seem to be taking the military takeover rather well. The Military does not seem to be rolling over the civilians with tanks and the Muslim Brotherhood seems to have lost resoundingly.
I expected far worse.
The military has suspended the constitution...which is usually an even bigger warning sign than a coup, but in this case the constitution had been recently imposed by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The military leadership has not established a Junta (yet) but has put the Chief Justice of their Supreme court in charge of a civilian panel that has been tasked with running the country and organizing new elections.
This is interesting:
So the Copts and the Muslims are working together with the secularists and the military to hold democratic elections after deposing a democratically elected government that turned out to be oppressive and fundamentalist Islamic .
There's a concise overview of how this came to be here.
This is not exactly Kemalist as there are religious leaders at the table, but it at least looks like the military is trying to avoid having to run things themselves, and is handing it over to civilian civic leaders which is very promising.
Zero Hedge has some interesting pictures of the protests that are not making it into most of the news here. They show extreme anger at Obama and the US Ambassador to Egypt for backing the Islamofascistic whackadoodle who just got deposed. This via Instapundit who points out that it's telling that the posters are anti-Obama and not anti-US.
This could still go to worms in a terrible and bloody way, but at this point this is about the least bad outcome one could reasonably expect.
UPDATE: Via Ace, comes video of the celebrations.
Wait...Those aren't cluster-bombs!
The Egyptian people seem to be taking the military takeover rather well. The Military does not seem to be rolling over the civilians with tanks and the Muslim Brotherhood seems to have lost resoundingly.
I expected far worse.
The military has suspended the constitution...which is usually an even bigger warning sign than a coup, but in this case the constitution had been recently imposed by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The military leadership has not established a Junta (yet) but has put the Chief Justice of their Supreme court in charge of a civilian panel that has been tasked with running the country and organizing new elections.
This is interesting:
A senior opposition figure says pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei, the top Muslim cleric of Al-Azhar Mosque and the Coptic pope are meeting the army chief to discuss a political road map for Egypt
So the Copts and the Muslims are working together with the secularists and the military to hold democratic elections after deposing a democratically elected government that turned out to be oppressive and fundamentalist Islamic .
There's a concise overview of how this came to be here.
This is not exactly Kemalist as there are religious leaders at the table, but it at least looks like the military is trying to avoid having to run things themselves, and is handing it over to civilian civic leaders which is very promising.
Zero Hedge has some interesting pictures of the protests that are not making it into most of the news here. They show extreme anger at Obama and the US Ambassador to Egypt for backing the Islamofascistic whackadoodle who just got deposed. This via Instapundit who points out that it's telling that the posters are anti-Obama and not anti-US.
This could still go to worms in a terrible and bloody way, but at this point this is about the least bad outcome one could reasonably expect.
UPDATE: Via Ace, comes video of the celebrations.
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July 02, 2013
Fourteen THOUSAND!?
I...I don't know what to say about this. via
Let's go to the Brickmuppet's crack team of science babes for commentary.
The US experience with wind farms has left over 14,000 wind turbines abandoned and slowly decaying,
Let's go to the Brickmuppet's crack team of science babes for commentary.
I find myself in complete agreement.
Windmills are NOT the future. Build...more...nukes.
'Science Babe' is actually Misha, from Katawa Shoujo.
Windmills are NOT the future. Build...more...nukes.
'Science Babe' is actually Misha, from Katawa Shoujo.
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I Have A Question for any Continental Oceanic Antepodians We Might Have Amongst Our Readership
Does Sydney NEED rebuilding?
More here:
Perhaps instead of 'more expansive' 'less prudent' would be a more appropriate descriptor in that last sentence.
I've noted this tactic from China before, most notably in places like Columbo and their 'string of pearls' , but also in The Canal zone, Bahamas and San Diego.
I'm sure that none of those places will find they have listening devices, basic facilities for naval bases or changes in contract terms at any point in the future. No sirreee.
Full disclosure: That last paragraph is a combination of sarcasm, paranoia and vigilance in uncertain proportions.
More here:
At least 150 pre-fabricated skyscrapers from Central Station to Strathfield, conveyor belts shuttling building materials above Ultimo, train lines ripped up for new ones underground, and much of the steel and concrete shipped from China, with an army of international workers assembling it all for a pittance.
The novel project could have been Sydney's had the O'Farrell government been just a bit more expansive in its thinking.
Perhaps instead of 'more expansive' 'less prudent' would be a more appropriate descriptor in that last sentence.
I've noted this tactic from China before, most notably in places like Columbo and their 'string of pearls' , but also in The Canal zone, Bahamas and San Diego.
I'm sure that none of those places will find they have listening devices, basic facilities for naval bases or changes in contract terms at any point in the future. No sirreee.
Full disclosure: That last paragraph is a combination of sarcasm, paranoia and vigilance in uncertain proportions.
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July 01, 2013
What Passes for Excitement When One is Living the Walter Mitty Lifestyle
Saturday night I made the trek out to Virginia Beach where a friend and I went to Gus and George's, one of that cities few remaining old fashioned steakhouses. The purpose of this journey was to partake of their Romanian Steak...which defies mot attempts to adequately convey its awesomeness. In this our mission was successful and we delighted in our consumption of the marinated flesh of the cowbeast.
Unfortunately, as the night became morning, the brakes on my car began to feel progressively more and more ..."odd". I was able to brake...with effort...but something was wrong. I had brake fluid, it didn't feel like the master cylinder had gone, there was no grinding..so after dropping my friend off at his house and convincing him to watch Gargantia, I headed home...wherapon the brakes became basically useless, so I decided to head towards the repair shop.
At this point I should mention that the sound of a safety brake cable snapping when the lever is pulled up violently is that of a loud chirp and is accompanied by a loss of all resistance in the brake lever. In my limited experience it is also accompanied by profanity, evasive maneuvers and downshifting....which in an automatic involves unpleasant and expensive sounding noises.
Anyway, the car is still in the shop as I type this...which is why i could not find my normal set of keys at 03:30 this morning when I went to work and why I had so much trouble finding where I'd parked.
Now as I ponder the lessons learned today, I look with some satisfaction upon the front door key that now graces my spare set of car keys.
Despite my unforced errors I did get to work.
Saturday night I made the trek out to Virginia Beach where a friend and I went to Gus and George's, one of that cities few remaining old fashioned steakhouses. The purpose of this journey was to partake of their Romanian Steak...which defies mot attempts to adequately convey its awesomeness. In this our mission was successful and we delighted in our consumption of the marinated flesh of the cowbeast.
Unfortunately, as the night became morning, the brakes on my car began to feel progressively more and more ..."odd". I was able to brake...with effort...but something was wrong. I had brake fluid, it didn't feel like the master cylinder had gone, there was no grinding..so after dropping my friend off at his house and convincing him to watch Gargantia, I headed home...wherapon the brakes became basically useless, so I decided to head towards the repair shop.
At this point I should mention that the sound of a safety brake cable snapping when the lever is pulled up violently is that of a loud chirp and is accompanied by a loss of all resistance in the brake lever. In my limited experience it is also accompanied by profanity, evasive maneuvers and downshifting....which in an automatic involves unpleasant and expensive sounding noises.
Anyway, the car is still in the shop as I type this...which is why i could not find my normal set of keys at 03:30 this morning when I went to work and why I had so much trouble finding where I'd parked.
Now as I ponder the lessons learned today, I look with some satisfaction upon the front door key that now graces my spare set of car keys.
Despite my unforced errors I did get to work.
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That's...Different
Don has a post.
Heads are exploding.
Cause or effect?
You be the judge.
While we ponder that, I'll just leave this Miko Miko Dance selection here.
I don't think those two costumes are the regular Touhou skins. Given the detail they are really impressive
Heads are exploding.
Cause or effect?
You be the judge.
While we ponder that, I'll just leave this Miko Miko Dance selection here.
I don't think those two costumes are the regular Touhou skins. Given the detail they are really impressive
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June 30, 2013
Wow!
This pic from AFP is of the demonstrations in Cairo.
More here and here. Reuters is putting the number of protestors above a million people....almost all Muslims, protesting against Islamism.
This is really a big thing,
There's even a slight chance it might overcome the odds and end up a good thing.
More here and here. Reuters is putting the number of protestors above a million people....almost all Muslims, protesting against Islamism.
This is really a big thing,
There's even a slight chance it might overcome the odds and end up a good thing.
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Gargantia Ends
Well...now we know what that fountain in episode 5 was all about.
Well, what's there to gripe about?
There's a slight reduction in the animation quality in episode 11 & the first part of 12. There was a scene where one character was way off model and there was that gratuitous moment of yuck in episode 5....
Yeah...I think that sums up all my complaints.... now the good points.
This has been one of the more enjoyable shows in recent years.
It's nicely paced with likeable characters, gorgeous art, and at times, near movie quality production values. It's a substantive show too, touching on themes of ethics, honor, redemption and the extraordinary and irreplaceable value of liberty.
Gargantia goes to some dark places, but it never succumbs to nihilism. It is saved from that by the general decency of most of its characters and the fact that the show never loses its sense of hope.
When not dealing with challanges that range from the silly to the venal to the epic, it focuses on life in one of the most pleasant, visually interesting and from all appearances liveable fantasy/ sci-fi worlds in recent memory; a world that in almost every episode managed to surprise.
Beautifully presented, and well thought out, Gargantia on the Verduous Planet is inspiring, thrilling and ultimately quite pleasant. It also manages to pull off a thoroughly satisfying ending which is a pretty rare thing.
This ones a real gem.
Gen Urobochi is the writer, Kazuya Murata is the director, Koji Tanaka is the art director, Naruko Hannaharu did the character designs and the Music Director is Taro Iwashiro. They all bear watching in the future.
Note that there will be at least one OAV( Released with the BD set)
Well, what's there to gripe about?
There's a slight reduction in the animation quality in episode 11 & the first part of 12. There was a scene where one character was way off model and there was that gratuitous moment of yuck in episode 5....
"Dude...please..."
Yeah...I think that sums up all my complaints.... now the good points.
This has been one of the more enjoyable shows in recent years.
It's nicely paced with likeable characters, gorgeous art, and at times, near movie quality production values. It's a substantive show too, touching on themes of ethics, honor, redemption and the extraordinary and irreplaceable value of liberty.
Gargantia goes to some dark places, but it never succumbs to nihilism. It is saved from that by the general decency of most of its characters and the fact that the show never loses its sense of hope.
When not dealing with challanges that range from the silly to the venal to the epic, it focuses on life in one of the most pleasant, visually interesting and from all appearances liveable fantasy/ sci-fi worlds in recent memory; a world that in almost every episode managed to surprise.
NOTE: Some surprises more consequential than others.
Beautifully presented, and well thought out, Gargantia on the Verduous Planet is inspiring, thrilling and ultimately quite pleasant. It also manages to pull off a thoroughly satisfying ending which is a pretty rare thing.
This ones a real gem.
Gen Urobochi is the writer, Kazuya Murata is the director, Koji Tanaka is the art director, Naruko Hannaharu did the character designs and the Music Director is Taro Iwashiro. They all bear watching in the future.
Note that there will be at least one OAV( Released with the BD set)
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42 Years Ago Today
The crew of Soyuz 11 docked with the very first space station (Salyut 1) and stayed in orbit for 23 days, setting a space endurance record before they were forced to cut short their mission due to an electrical fire on the station.
During the re-entry of the Soyuz 11 capsule , there was a loss of radio contact, but the spacecraft landed quite normally in Kazakhstan.
Tragically, when the recovery team arrived however, they found that a pressure release valve had opened during reentry and exposed the crew to the vacuum of space. They were not wearing pressure suits. Despite the best efforts of the recovery team to revive them, Georgiy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky, Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev and Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov had died on re-entry.
As terrible as this was, it bears remembering that if the boundaries of the future are allowed to be set by the, the timid, or far worse, those who would presume to forbid others from striving for great things...then our future will be a dark age. The human race is fortunate to have people such as these who will step into the breach and attempt great deeds.
They deserve to be remembered.
The crew of Soyuz 11 docked with the very first space station (Salyut 1) and stayed in orbit for 23 days, setting a space endurance record before they were forced to cut short their mission due to an electrical fire on the station.
During the re-entry of the Soyuz 11 capsule , there was a loss of radio contact, but the spacecraft landed quite normally in Kazakhstan.
Tragically, when the recovery team arrived however, they found that a pressure release valve had opened during reentry and exposed the crew to the vacuum of space. They were not wearing pressure suits. Despite the best efforts of the recovery team to revive them, Georgiy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky, Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev and Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov had died on re-entry.
As terrible as this was, it bears remembering that if the boundaries of the future are allowed to be set by the, the timid, or far worse, those who would presume to forbid others from striving for great things...then our future will be a dark age. The human race is fortunate to have people such as these who will step into the breach and attempt great deeds.
They deserve to be remembered.
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June 29, 2013
I just....
I don't...
I'm not able...
What the HELL am I looking at?
I'm not able...
What the HELL am I looking at?
I guess that as superpowers go this far from the worst....but I can't help but think that it comes with the vulnerability "already at bottom of hill" ...which is probably way more common than Kryptonite.
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Strange Bedfellows
The quote of the week (anime division):
As we head into the climactic episode on Sunday, I have a few random thoughts on this weeks Gargantia installment.
Because there's just a lot to like....
more...
As we head into the climactic episode on Sunday, I have a few random thoughts on this weeks Gargantia installment.
Because there's just a lot to like....
more...
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June 27, 2013
There's Been an Ubu Sighting
His June has SUCKED.
Good grief. He had a VASTLY worse run-in with Annies theologist than I did. Damn cultists. Fortunately he's alive and recovering, but its looking to be a long road.
His June has SUCKED.
Good grief. He had a VASTLY worse run-in with Annies theologist than I did. Damn cultists. Fortunately he's alive and recovering, but its looking to be a long road.
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June 25, 2013
"Wound"
Attack on Titan continues, and while our heroes don't accomplish much in the way of their goals this episode, an awful lot is happening.
Yeah, things are not going well for our would be giant slayers. At the end of last episode, everything pretty much went to worms and this has a sort of cascade effect, so they just cannot seem to get a break.
Nicely paced with an even better than usual score, episode 12 is an enthralling three ring circus and the show seems to be well and truly back on track.
Yeah, things are not going well for our would be giant slayers. At the end of last episode, everything pretty much went to worms and this has a sort of cascade effect, so they just cannot seem to get a break.
Nicely paced with an even better than usual score, episode 12 is an enthralling three ring circus and the show seems to be well and truly back on track.
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So...
...does this particular waterline kit of Hyuga come with the burning Liaoling?
I gather that "Operation Senkaku" is a new model line.
I note that this kit does not show up on their English language website.
I gather that "Operation Senkaku" is a new model line.
I note that this kit does not show up on their English language website.
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06:20 PM
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June 23, 2013
Have There Been Any Ubu Sightings?
These young ladies are getting worried.
His last post was 13 days ago
and indicated that he had taken a turn for the worse after his back surgery and been readmitted
to the hospital. I tried E-mailing him but the messages bounce back
with the error message that his mailbox is full.
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Well...THAT Was Unexpected
...and so was all that other stuff...
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet is not quite the show we thought it was, it's in no way the show we thought it had become in episode 9, and given the amazing (yet perfectly convincing) surprises and misdirections the writer has thrown at us though the whole series, I'm unprepared at this point to predict what kind of show it will turn out to be. However, It is looking really, really good right now. My only quibble with this episode is that is that IGOTTAWAITAWHOLEWEEK4THENEXTONE!
They could still screw it up, but right now It looks like Madoka was no fluke.
"...like MELTY of all people demonstrating such intrepidity and being so pivotal to the plot."
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet is not quite the show we thought it was, it's in no way the show we thought it had become in episode 9, and given the amazing (yet perfectly convincing) surprises and misdirections the writer has thrown at us though the whole series, I'm unprepared at this point to predict what kind of show it will turn out to be. However, It is looking really, really good right now. My only quibble with this episode is that is that IGOTTAWAITAWHOLEWEEK4THENEXTONE!
They could still screw it up, but right now It looks like Madoka was no fluke.
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June 19, 2013
There Comes a Point
...when one has to conclude that they are just trolling us.
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Never Trust ANYONE Who Doesn't Believe in Money
This always bothered me about Star Trek...the whole "We have no money, we....ummm....uh....stuff" thing was always put out there but handwaived..
Of course there are all sorts of problems with this notion as it means that whoever is in charge decides what and who has value....and doesn't. This may appeal to a certain type of control freak, academic or fanatic, but it is unlikely to work out for those not in favor with those who take it upon themselves to define value.
This is explored extensively in episode 11 of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet which holds forth in part on how NOT to set up ones economy and society.
more...
Of course there are all sorts of problems with this notion as it means that whoever is in charge decides what and who has value....and doesn't. This may appeal to a certain type of control freak, academic or fanatic, but it is unlikely to work out for those not in favor with those who take it upon themselves to define value.
This is explored extensively in episode 11 of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet which holds forth in part on how NOT to set up ones economy and society.
In Gargantia, the fanatical new-age commies parroting received wisdom from their "betters" are the BAD GUYS....I LOVE this show!
more...
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Starting to Make Headway
After the extended disquisition upon nothing that ground the series into a screeching, boring, mind numbing state of torpor with episode 10, Attack On Titan begins to resume, somewhat haltingly, it's story.
While most of episode 11 is discussing the need to get ready to do something, the discussions go into some interesting places.
more...
After the extended disquisition upon nothing that ground the series into a screeching, boring, mind numbing state of torpor with episode 10, Attack On Titan begins to resume, somewhat haltingly, it's story.
While most of episode 11 is discussing the need to get ready to do something, the discussions go into some interesting places.
more...
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That's Gonna Leave a Mark
more...
"Huh. This politician seems quiet, calm and not filled with rage. That's kind of disarming."
more...
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The Best Song In the History of Everything
Is not available on iTunes or Amazon, it long predates CDs and of course all vinyl containing it was ordered destroyed by Nixon's FDA so my quest to add this to my MP3 queue is still unfulfilled.
Via Moe Lane who uses it to one-up Geraghty's lame Ninja Turtle reference.
Via Moe Lane who uses it to one-up Geraghty's lame Ninja Turtle reference.
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