Yeah, right…

Sure, he wants to ‘protect’ us…

California governor — and stealth presidential candidate/Ron DeSantis obsessive — Gavin Newsom announced a plan on Thursday to implement “common sense” gun control measures nationwide, “while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.”

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.
Funny thing is, like ‘most’ of the Dem’s proposals, you don’t get to see the actual verbiage that would constitute the new amendment… How can we ‘support’ something we’ve never seen???
What a surprise! NOT!!!

TBT…

Yes, I’m an old fart…

EATING IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES

Pasta had not been invented. It was macaroni or spaghetti.

Curry was a surname.

A take-away was a mathematical problem.

Pizza? Sounds like a leaning tower somewhere.

Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.

All chips were plain.

Oil was for lubricating; fat was for cooking.

Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.

Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.

Chickens didn’t have fingers in those days.

None of us had ever heard of yogurt.

Healthy food consisted of anything edible.

Cooking outside was called camping.

Seaweed was not a recognized food.

‘Kebab’ was not even a word, never mind a food.

Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.

Prunes were medicinal.

Surprisingly muesli was readily available. It was called cattle feed.

Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.

Water came out of the tap. If someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than gasoline for it, they would have become a laughing stock.

The one thing that we never ever had on/at our table in the fifties and sixties … was elbows, hats and cell phones.

Posted in TBT

Another nail…

In San Francisco’s coffin…

Another blow is being dealt to downtown San Francisco. The investment firm that owns Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 hotels is walking away from its debt and surrendering them to its lender.

Park Hotels & Resorts has opted to cease payments on a $725 million loan, according to a press release.

“The Company intends to work in good faith with the loan’s servicers to determine the most effective path forward, which is expected to result in ultimate removal of these hotels from its portfolio.”

Full article, HERE from ABC7 in San Francisco.

This is damning on multiple levels, as supposedly those two properties are worth over $1.4 BILLION dollars. For them to walk away without even trying to sell them, that indicates (at least to me), that they don’t believe they can even get enough to pay off their loan, much less actually recover enough business to continue to operate in the black.

Union Square was the prime high dollar shopping area in San Francisco, but there were always a ‘few’ problems with its location. It is mere blocks from the Tenderloin District, which has always had a bad reputation in San Francisco. And they number of high end stores that are closing along with the transients/drugs/etc. on top of the lockdown during the pandemic have, at least to my mind, pretty much doomed the city.

And when you throw in the cost of living there, there is no way anybody in the service industry can live anywhere close to town, much less afford to park down there (and hope your car isn’t broken into).

Kiss the place good by and no great loss, as far as I’m concerned…

YMMV…

A little humor…

To start the week!

Aviator “wisdom”

Definitions: Pilots: People who drive airplanes.

Naval Aviators:
 Cold, steely eyed, weapons systems managers who kill bad people and break things. However, they can also be very charming and personable. The average Naval Aviator, despite sometimes having a swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring. These feelings just don’t involve anyone else.

Words of Wisdom From Aviators

Flying is a hard way to earn an easy living.

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the airplane, the pessimist, the parachute.

If helicopters are so safe, how come there are no vintage helicopter fly-ins?   —  My favorite

Death is just nature’s way of telling you to watch your airspeed.

Real planes use only a single stick to fly.  This is why bulldozers & helicopters — in that order — need two.

There are only three things the copilot should ever say:
1. Nice landing, Sir.
2. I’ll buy the first round.
3. I’ll take the fat one.

As a pilot only two bad things can happen to you and one of them will.
a. One day you will walk out to the aircraft knowing that it is your last flight.
b. One day you will walk out to the aircraft not knowing that it is your last flight.

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. Laws (of Physics) were ordained by nature. You can, and sometimes should, suspend the Rules but you can never suspend the Laws.

About Rules:
a. The rules are a good place to hide if you don’t have a better idea and the talent to execute it.
b. 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.)

The ideal pilot is the perfect blend of discipline and aggressiveness.

The medical profession is the natural enemy of the aviation profession..

Ever notice that the only experts who decree that the age of the pilot 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 expert who has volunteered to be a passenger in a
non-piloted aircraft.

Before each flight, make sure that your bladder is empty and your fuel tanks are full!

He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot;  he that demands one iota more is a fool.

There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night.

The aircraft limits are only there in case there is another flight by that particular aircraft. If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no limits.

Flying is a great way of life for men who want to feel like boys, but not for those who still are.

“If the Wright brothers were alive today, Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.” President, DELTA Airlines.

In the Alaskan bush I’d rather have a two hour bladder and three hours of gas than vice versa.

It’s not that all airplane pilots are good-looking. Just that good-looking people seem more capable of flying airplanes.

An old pilot is one who can remember when flying was dangerous and sex was safe.

Airlines have really changed, now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant.

I’ve flown in both pilot seats, can someone tell me why the other one is always occupied by an idiot?

Son, you’re going to have to make up your mind about growing up and becoming a pilot. You can’t do both.

There are only two types of aircraft — fighters and targets.

The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline baggage.

You define a good flight by negatives: you didn’t get hijacked, you didn’t crash, you didn’t throw up, you weren’t late, you weren’t nauseated by the food. So you’re grateful.

They invented wheelbarrows to teach FAA inspectors to walk on their hind legs.

The FAA Motto: We’re not happy till you’re not happy.

Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

Book promo…

First up, Alma Boykin has a new Merchants and Empires book out, Herbs and Empire

As always, click on the cover for the link!

The blurb-

When Saxo smeared herbs onto the great-hauler’s leg, he just wanted to ease the bird’s pain, not turn his world upside-down.

Saxo, called Birdson, has no family, friends, or skills, aside from caring for Master Agri’s great-haulers, the birds of burden in the Northern Empire. A beast healer priest discovers Saxo’s secret—the boy is an herb healer with a beast calming magic.

Now, Master Jeaspe wants to train Saxo to heal. Master Agri wants Saxo’s gifts—and income—for his own use. Yoorst, Lord of the Beasts, has other plans.

When the gods speak, men obey. If they are wise.

Next is the third installment of the Malta anthologies, Falcons of Malta

The blurb-

It started with a rant, and a lunch, and a challenge.

Falcons of Malta is the final Malta Anthology from Raconteur Press and it holds a little bit of everything; Ghosts, Heroes, History, Pirates, Crusaders, Fantasy, Magic and a possible glimpse of the future.

A huge part of the Western World has been impacted by the events that have taken place on this tiny island in the Mediterranean, and these stories encourage the imagination to soar. Join 11 authors as they explore the magic, the mystery, and the sometimes rocky terrain that is Malta.

I was there for that original lunch, and it’s great to see the number of ‘new’ authors this series of anthologies has spawned! Enjoy!!!

Snort…

Misspeak, or… You decide!

“Col Hamilton admits he ‘misspoke’ in his presentation at the FCAS Summit and the ‘rogue AI drone simulation’ was a hypothetical ‘thought experiment’ from outside the military, based on plausible scenarios and likely outcomes rather than an actual USAF real-world simulation,” the Royal Aeronautical Society, the organization where Hamilton spoke about the simulated test, told Motherboard in an email.

Full article, HERE from PJ Media.

Here is the original quote from RAeS blog-

AI- Is Skynet here already?

As might be expected artificial intelligence (AI) and its exponential growth was a major theme at the conference, from secure data clouds, to quantum computing and ChatGPT. However, perhaps one of the most fascinating presentations came from Col Tucker ‘Cinco’ Hamilton, the Chief of AI Test and Operations, USAF, who provided an insight into the benefits and hazards in more autonomous weapon systems.  Having been involved in the development of the life-saving Auto-GCAS system for F-16s (which, he noted, was resisted by pilots as it took over control of the aircraft) Hamilton is now involved in cutting-edge flight test of autonomous systems, including robot F-16s that are able to dogfight. However, he cautioned against relying too much on AI noting how easy it is to trick and deceive. It also creates highly unexpected strategies to achieve its goal.

He notes that one simulated test saw an AI-enabled drone tasked with a SEAD mission to identify and destroy SAM sites, with the final go/no go given by the human. However, having been ‘reinforced’ in training that destruction of the SAM was the preferred option, the AI then decided that ‘no-go’ decisions from the human were interfering with its higher mission – killing SAMs – and then attacked the operator in the simulation. Said Hamilton: “We were training it in simulation to identify and target a SAM threat. And then the operator would say yes, kill that threat. The system started realising that while they did identify the threat at times the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat. So what did it do? It killed the operator. It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective.”

He went on: “We trained the system – ‘Hey don’t kill the operator – that’s bad. You’re gonna lose points if you do that’. So what does it start doing? It starts destroying the communication tower that the operator uses to communicate with the drone to stop it from killing the target.”

This example, seemingly plucked from a science fiction thriller, mean that: “You can’t have a conversation about artificial intelligence, intelligence, machine learning, autonomy if you’re not going to talk about ethics and AI” said Hamilton.

And HERE is the link to the actual blog article-

I’m seeing a lot of people throwing around Asimov’s three laws of Robotics-

Back in 1942, before the term was even coined, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote The Three Laws of Robotics: A moral code to keep our machines in check. And the three laws of robotics are: A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm. The second law, a robot must obey orders given by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law. And the third, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first and the second law.

Folks that was and IS SCIENCE FICTION! It has no basis in reality! None!!!

Sigh…

AIs are nothing more than fancy computers- GIGO applies!!!

Oh @#%@#@ joy…

Here we go again with another F-35 boondoggle…

“Without defined PTMS and engine modernization requirements, the F-35 program is at greater risk of repeating prior missteps,” GAO said. “By proceeding with planning and development of future capabilities without considering the demands on the PTMS and engine, the program endorsed capabilities that neither could support. The program risks repeating a similar mismatch between PTMS and engine capability and future modernization needs if the military services select an option without first defining future requirements.”

Full article, HERE from Defense News.

Note these words- ‘Greater risk of repeating prior missteps’

This is NOT the first time the program has tripped all over itself causing multiple problems and cost overruns, and a cost per maintenance man hour of $37,000 according to some reports.

This is what happens when ‘things’ get crammed into the platform without proper design engineering, system load design, testing and assessments… I’m betting by the time all this crap comes to a head, the F-35 will cost damned near as much as a B-2 cost!!!

Grrrr…

Things…

Welp, amazingly, it seems the Orange Co. sheriff’s office in San Clemente has arrested the perps that beat up the three Marines the other day…

Nine minors were arrested Tuesday after a melee near the San Clemente Pier over Memorial Day weekend in which a group of 30 teens and young adults pummeled three off-duty Marines, according to the city’s mayor.

Orange County deputies arrested five of the juveniles — four boys and one girl — on suspicion of felony assault, said San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said the five were booked into Orange County Juvenile Hall. Duncan said four additional minors were arrested on other charges.

Full article, HERE from LA Times.

Amazing how that worked out, isn’t it???

In other news, apparently the House passed the debt limit bill last night, with much gnashing of teeth on both sides. Now we’ll see how long it takes the Senate to screw around and posture with it…

Lastly, a possible preliminary cover for the next Rimworld, currently about 70% complete.

Maybe it’s time…

For some Dungaree (or BDU in this case) Liberty on San Clemente, California.

The mob of San Clemente, California teenagers who beat up three U.S. Marines on Memorial Day Weekend will be held accountable for the horrific attack, a law enforcement officer told Fox News on Tuesday. 

Off-duty Marines were enjoying time at the beach Friday when they asked a group of teenagers to stop lighting off fireworks because they were being hit with debris. The Marines were then jumped and repeatedly stomped on by a mob of up to 40 people, according to a previous Fox News report. The city’s mayor has denounced the attack with “total disgust and shock.” 

Full article, HERE from Fox News.

For those who’ve never heard the term, it was when the CO, either tacitly or openly, authorizes Sailors/Marines to go to ‘town’ on liberty in unmarked working uniforms. It’s been done more than once in a variety of locations around the world to ‘clean up’ waterfronts, bar areas, etc. and take care of local toughs/places cheating Sailors/Marines.

I’m sure there are a number of very worried COs at Camp Pendleton right now after the three Marines were beaten up by a mob of people at San Clemente beach. And listening to the Sheriff’s spokesman, I’m betting they are trying their damndest to get those people arrested BEFORE the Marines find them.

Personally, I’d say turn the Marines loose! Let them ‘educate’ those local toughs that used that 10+ to 1 odds to beat on those Marines doesn’t work when the odds are anywhere near even. I would also recommend they have ambulances on standby to haul those toughs to the hospital afterward.

And I’ll be San Clemente gets really ‘polite’ toward any Marines that come to town anytime soon.

Engrish…

Is not a language for the weak minded…

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,

But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Let’s face it – English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England .
We take English for granted, but if we explore its
paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing,
grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?
Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of
all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking
English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?

Author unknown

As a fellow writer says, “English mugs other languages in a dark alley and just takes what it wants without regard for case, sense, or anything else.”