Olivia
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Lazer Brain
@mozzis
Software. Lasers. Heaven.
SW Ohio
Joined April 2009
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While we're on the topic of Star Trek, consider this:
Anyone could be located pretty much anywhere, even on the surface of the planet, from orbit. Check their vitals. Determine who's around them.
Think about the ubiquitous, omniscient, omnipresent surveillance necessary to achieve this.
Sure, you don't have to work, and everything's "free".
But at what cost? The culture of Star Trek is one with zero privacy, without escape.
Also notice that, for the most part, there are no dissidents. No one complaining about any of this.
Kinda makes you wonder how they purged their society of those who were against this hyperinvasive technology.
Dear American Progressive Elite,
What a transcendent masterpiece of irony it has been watching our oh-so-refined European overlords descend upon this fascist wasteland for the 2026 World Cup like Victorian explorers discovering a lost tribe that somehow invented air conditioning and unlimited ranch dressing. They’re losing their entire minds. A French influencer had a full spiritual awakening in a Buc-ee’s bathroom the size of Versailles, live-streaming herself sobbing over a wall of beef jerky varieties longer than the Champs-Élysées. “Mon Dieu…they have forty-seven flavors of jerky…and a beaver mascot!” she gasped, immediately renouncing her 35-hour work week. The Germans...yes, the same ones whose autobahns occasionally pretend to have speed limits, have been spotted doing donuts in rented Ford F-150s the size of Panzer tanks while blasting Kid Rock at volumes that register on seismographs. One was heard whispering reverently, “This…this is what peak performance feels like,” right before shotgunning a 44-ounce Mountain Dew Code Red like it was holy water. The Italians discovered Costco and immediately declared it the Eighth Wonder of the World. A Roman chef had to be physically restrained from trying to marry a 72-inch pizza and adopt an entire pallet of ranch. “Mamma mia, the samples…they just give them to you!” he wept, abandoning his Nonna’s sacred recipes for a family-sized bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos .Even the reserved Scandinavians have gone feral. Swedes are riding mechanical bulls in cowboy hats the size of satellite dishes, screaming “Yee-haw, motherfucker!” in perfect English while chugging something called “Fireball” that would make their government-issued sadness vodka blush. The Dutch, normally high on legal weed and existential dread, have started every chant with “U-S-A!” and ended it by proposing marriage to the nearest Buc-ee’s cashier.
Meanwhile, you brave keyboard crusaders are having simultaneous aneurysms in your gender-neutral safe spaces because someone had the audacity to enjoy a country without first issuing a land acknowledgment, a trigger warning, and a carbon offset receipt. The Europeans are out here experiencing American abundance like it’s a religious conversion, and you’re still writing 4,000-word Medium essays about how a red Solo cup is settler-colonial violence. Please, keep telling us how irredeemable and terrifying this place is while actual visitors are having religious experiences at Whataburger drive-thrus and treating Walmart as their personal Louvre. The cognitive dissonance is so delicious I want to deep-fry it and dip it in your tears. With maximum theatrical eye-roll and a raised pinky.
P.S. They’ll all fly home soon and resume calling us barbarians. For now, they’re one Monster Energy and mechanical bull ride away from getting “Don’t Tread on Me” tattoos. Cope in 4K, darlings.
@xnoesbueno The Audacity of Dope
@NatCon2022 I am sympathetic to the political positions that you mention here. However this is not a good movie. Example: the thesis statement of the movie is put in the mouth of a newscaster who also sets the scene and describes the character for us at the beginning of the movie.
Back in 2009 when SpaceX had not built a hangar yet, the engineers and technicians would work on the rocket in open, exposed, on the hangar's foundation.
A bunch of ULA employees would drive across the road, stop at the fence and laugh and shout mocking comments at them.
Today, ULA's launch pad was demolished to make way for SpaceX's new launch pad.
@Explodeintospa1 @FloppingAces This is false. The companies investing in these data centers have specific goals as to the scale of problems they intend to solve, and are targeting the infrastructure to solve those classes of problems. We won't transform these into the size that will fit on the mobile device.
I was really excited for this for a few seconds...
@Torontogosh1 @karol Standard risk matrix pairs likelihood of occurrence up against consequences of occurring. If you carry in spite of a sign, risk of discovery is likely small though non-zero. Consequences of discovery are likely unpleasant but not extremely serious. Act accordingly.
@gregbagwell Astonishing. Is this gross ignorance or just tank stupidity?
Let me ruin your June for a second.
Every year when National Gun Violence Awareness Month rolls around, the same people who have not read a single page of John Lott's 13,312-regression peer-reviewed study start posting pictures of children and demanding you feel responsible for deaths you did not cause and had nothing to do with.
So. Let us talk about children. Since they brought it up.
In 2006, the CDC recorded 642 accidental firearm deaths in the entire United States. For children under the age of ten — the number was 31. Thirteen under age five. Eighteen between five and nine.
Tragic? Absolutely. Every single one.
But here is the number that will not appear on a single "Orange Friday" awareness post: 80.
Eighty children under the age of five drown in bathtubs every year. Every. Single. Year.
ALMOST THREE TIMES as many children drown in bathtubs annually as die from ALL firearm accidents combined — including adults. And forty more drown in five-gallon water buckets. The kind you buy at Home Depot for $4.99.
I have given this information at talks and watched jaws drop, because people genuinely believe the number is in the thousands. They have been so thoroughly marinated in "gun violence awareness" content that their perception of actual risk is completely detached from reality. That is not an accident. That is the point of the campaign.
Where is Bathtub Awareness Month? Where is the congressional hearing on five-gallon bucket control? Where is the hashtag? Where are the orange ribbons for the children who drowned while their parents were in the next room?
There are none. Because the campaign was never about children. It was never about safety. If it were about safety, they would be equally outraged about cars — which killed 1,305 children that same year. Or fire. Or drowning. But they are not. The selective fury lands exclusively on firearms. And if you are a scientist, which I happen to be, you do not get to cherry-pick your data based on which conclusion you prefer. Quinn's Law Number Six: facts are the enemy of liberalism.
Now let us talk about what the actual data says about guns and safety, because John Lott ran 13,000-plus statistical regressions across every county in America and the results are not ambiguous.
Fifty-six percent of convicted felons surveyed in a ten-state study said they would NOT attack a target they believed was armed. Fifty-six percent. The deterrence is real, it is documented, and it functions whether or not a shot is ever fired. The firearm you carry protects your neighbor whether your neighbor knows it or not.
When states passed right-to-carry laws, multiple-victim public shootings — what the media insists on calling "mass shootings" to maximize terror — dropped by 67 percent. Deaths in those events dropped by 75 percent. Injuries by 81 percent. States that adopted these laws virtually ELIMINATED mass public shootings within four to five years. The remaining events? They happened almost exclusively in the specific locations where guns remained banned. The gun-free zones. The places we hang the sign that only the law-abiding ever read.
There were between 760,000 and 3.6 million defensive gun uses in the United States last year alone, depending on which of fifteen national polls you consult. A JAMA Network Open study from March 2025 estimated 489,000 DGUs in which a firearm was actually discharged. The Department of Justice's own National Crime Victimization Survey puts the conservative floor at 65,000 defensive uses per year against assaults, robberies, and home invasions.
No dead body. No coverage. No awareness month.
Here is one more number for you: 74. Seventy-four percent of convicted felons in a National Institute of Justice survey said they actively avoided homes they believed were occupied by armed residents. Criminals respond to incentives. That is not ideology — that is basic deterrence theory, and it is confirmed by the people who actually commit the crimes.
I also want you to think carefully about something the Supreme Court already settled. DeShaney v. Winnebago County (1989). Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales (2005). Two separate rulings establishing that the government has NO legal obligation to protect you as an individual. None. You are your own first responder. That is not my opinion — that is settled constitutional law from the highest court in this country.
So the political class that just told you the government is not required to protect you... is also the one demanding you surrender the tool you use to protect yourself.
I want fewer people dead. That is why I know the data. That is why I read the book. That is why I am furious every June when emotion and fundraising replace science and evidence in a "debate" that has actual life-or-death consequences for real people.
You want to honor the children? Honor ALL of them. The ones who drowned. The ones who died in car crashes. And the ones who will never be born because a woman alone in her house at 2 a.m. had no way to stop what was coming through her door.
But what do I know — I am only a published textbook author, a science teacher, a father of four, and a combat medic who spent his career reducing human suffering and who actually read the peer-reviewed data before forming an opinion.
IF you agree:
LIKE this post so the algorithm shows it to people who need to read it.
SHARE this.
COMMENT below — did you know the bathtub number? Or did the narrative keep that from you? Tell me.
And if you want MORE of this -- the data, the history, the science, the stories -- JOIN Bski's Classroom community on X or YouTube.
#MAGA #Veterans #Trump
@JoJoFromJerz @GuntherEagleman @catturd2
HISTORY LESSON ON YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD:
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what’s what and it doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are FACTS.
Up until the 1980's, Social Security cards expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes.
Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message was removed.
Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. His promises are in black, with updates in brackets.
1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary [No longer voluntary],
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program [Now 7.65% on the first $90,000, and 15% on the first $90,000 if you’re self-employed],
3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year [No longer tax deductible]
4.) That the money the participants put into the independent ‘Trust Fund’ rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program [Under Johnson the money was moved to the General Fund and spent]
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income [Under Clinton & Gore up to 85% of your Social Security can be taxed].
Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month — and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to ‘put away’ — you may be interested in the following.
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent ‘Trust Fund’ and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the ‘tie-breaking’ deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US
AND MY FAVORITE:
Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?
A: That’s right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments!
The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!
Now, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!
And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!
If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, though.
Some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn’t so but it’s worth a try.
How many people can YOU send this to?
A compendium of Pilot Rules (Number 30 is Gospel in Fighters).
1. The only three things a wingman should ever say are:
“Two's up. “
“Lead, you're on fire.”
“I'll take the fat chick.”
2. In a multi-place aircraft, there are only three things the copilot should ever say:
“Nice landing, Sir.”
“I'll buy the first round.”
“I'll take the fat chick.”
3. As a new copilot on a bomber I was told to say these three things and to otherwise keep my mouth shut and not touch anything:
“Clear on the right.”
“Outer (marker) on the double (indicator).”
“I'll eat the chicken.” (Crew meals consisted of one steak and one chicken to avoid possible food poisoning of the cockpit crew).
4. As an aviator in flight you can do anything you want. As long as it's right. And we'll let you know if it's right after you land.
5. You can't fly forever without getting killed.
6. As a pilot only two bad things can happen to you and one of them will:
One day you will walk out to the aircraft knowing that it is your last flight in an airplane.
One day you will walk out to the airplane not knowing that it is your last flight in an airplane.
7. Any flight over water in a single engine airplane will absolutely guarantee abnormal engine noises and vibrations.
8. There are Rules and there are Laws. The rules are made by men who think that they know better how to fly your airplane than you; the Laws (of Physics) were made by God. You can, and sometimes should, suspend the Rules but you can never suspend the Laws.
9. More about Rules:
The rules are a good place to hide if you don't have a better idea and the talent to execute it.
If you deviate from a rule, it must be a flawless performance. (e.g., If you fly under a bridge, don't hit the bridge.)
10. The pilot is the highest form of life on earth.
11. The ideal pilot is the perfect blend of discipline and aggressiveness.
12. About check rides:
The only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the bastard out of your airplane.
It has never occurred to any flight examiner that the examinee couldn't care less what the examiner's opinion of his flying ability really is.
13. The medical profession is the natural enemy of the aviation profession.
14. The job of the Wing Commander is to worry incessantly that his career depends solely on the abilities of his aviators to fly their airplanes without mishap and that their only minuscule contribution to the effort is to bet their lives on it.
15. Ever notice that the only experts who decree that the “age of the manned flight” is over are people who have never flown anything? Also, in spite of the intensity of their feelings that the pilot's day is over I know of no such expert who has volunteered to be a passenger in a non-piloted aircraft.
16. It is absolutely imperative that the pilot be unpredictable. Rebelliousness is very predictable. In the end, conforming almost all the time is the best way to be unpredictable.
17. He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot; he that demands one iota more is a fool.
18. If you're gonna fly low, do not fly slow! ASW pilots know this only too well. (Amen)
19. It is solely the pilot's responsibility to never let any other thing touch his aircraft.
20. If you can learn how to fly as a 2nd Lt and not forget how to fly by the time you're a Maj. you will have lived a happy life.
21. About night flying:
- Remember that the airplane doesn't know that it's dark.
- On a clear, moonless night, never fly between the tanker's lights.
- There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night.
- If you're going to night fly, it might as well be in the weather so you can double count your exposure to both hazards.
- Night formation is really an endless series of near misses in equilibrium with each other.
- You would have to pay a lot of money at a lot of amusement parks and perhaps add a few drugs, to get the same blend of psychedelic sensations as a single-engine night flight in weather.
22. One of the most important skills that a pilot must develop is the skill to ignore those things that were designed by non-pilots to get the pilot's attention.
23. At the end of the day, the controllers, ops supervisors, maintenance guys, weather guessers, and birds are all trying to kill you and your job is to not let them.
24. The concept of "controlling" airspace with radar is just a form of FAA sarcasm directed at pilots to see if they're gullible enough to swallow it. Or to put it another way, when's the last time the FAA ever shot anyone down?
25. Remember that the radio is only an electronic suggestion box for the pilot. Sometimes the only way to clear up a problem is to turn it off.
26. It is a tacit, yet profound admission of the preeminence of flying in the hierarchy of the human spirit, that those who seek to control aviators via threats always threaten to take one's wings and not one's life.
27. Remember when flying low and inverted that the rudder still works the same old way but hopefully your flight instructor never taught you "pull stick back, plane go up".
28. Mastering the prohibited maneuvers in the NATOPS Manual is one of the best forms of aviation life insurance you can get.
29. A tactic done twice is a procedure (refer to unpredictability discussion above).
30. The aircraft G-limits are only there in case there is another flight by that particular airplane. If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no G-limits.
31. One of the beautiful things about a single piloted aircraft is the quality of the social experience.
32. If a mother has the slightest suspicion that her infant might grow up to be a pilot, she had better teach him to put things back where he got them.
33. The ultimate responsibility of the pilot is to fulfill the dreams of the countless millions of earthbound ancestors who could only stare skyward ...and wish.
“Oh, cool, y’all are planning a big get-together for the President’s birthday?”
“No, it’s a protest.”
“So, large crowds will gather in his name across the nation on the day of his birth?”
“Don’t say it like that.”
“And there will be a cool concert?”
“A protest concert!”
“And people will have watch parties for the birthday concert? Kinda like a reality show dedicated to him?”
“No!”
“Will there be cake?”
“I hate you.”
@euronews It's "front" not "flank"
@Chris_Branco Simple heuristic: owls have neither combs nor wattles.
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