Dammit…

Posted on by June 2, 2020

If you are one of the thirteen people that bought a paperback version of Rimworld- The Rift, I owe you a new copy…

Something happened between the proof and the actual printed copy. The header/page numbers went away, and the paragraph inset disappeared. I was just notified by one of my readers.

If you purchased one, I will replace it with a signed copy no cost to you. I will put another post up as soon as the corrected revision is up!

My apologies!!! Please send me an email at oldnfo at gmail dot com and as soon as I get new/correct copies, I will ship one out to you, which will probably take about three weeks.

I am sorry. This is NOT the quality of work I want to have people seeing.

FWIW…

Posted on by June 1, 2020

As I’ve said before, I have absolutely NO problems with peaceable protests by any group of people for any reason, memorials, etc. I won’t be joining them, but that is an absolute right to do so… PEACEABLY… That is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.

These are the ‘white supremacists’ that are rioting…

Pair of Brooklyn lawyers including Ivy League corporate attorney charged in Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD cruiser

Full article, HERE.

And they are burning bookstores… HERE.

And churches… HERE.

But I wouldn’t try that again at the Alamo… HERE.

And I wonder who is ‘conveniently’ placing pallets of bricks in various cities that ‘happen’ to be right in the path of the rioters???

Interesting to note that very little coverage is provided of the people who are defending their property/businesses anywhere with guns. That isn’t making the MSM at all. And it seems the rioters in LA are staying out of Koreatown… LOL

And a reminder… We, the people have rights enumerated by the following amendments…

1st Prohibits Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the right to petition the government
2nd Protects the right to keep and bear arms
3rd Places restrictions on the quartering of soldiers in private homes
4th Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause
5th Sets out rules for indictment by grand jury and eminent domain, protects the right to due process, and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy
6th Protects the right to a fair and speedy public trial by jury, including the rights to be notified of the accusations, to confront the accuser, to obtain witnesses and to retain counsel
7th Provides for the right to trial by jury in certain civil cases, according to common law
8th Prohibits excessive fines and excessive bail, as well as cruel and unusual punishment
9th Protects rights not enumerated in the Constitution
10th States that the federal government possesses only those powers delegated, or enumerated, to it through the Constitution
11th Makes states immune from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders; lays the foundation for state sovereign immunity
12th Revises presidential election procedures by having the president and vice president elected together as opposed to the vice president being the runner up in the presidential election
13th Abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime
14th Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post–Civil War issues
15th Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude
16th Permits Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the various states or basing it on the United States Census
17th Establishes the direct election of United States senators by popular vote
18th Prohibited the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the United States
(Repealed December 5, 1933, via the 21st Amendment)
19th Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex
20th Changes the date on which the terms of the president and vice president and of members of Congress end and begin (to January 20 and January 3 respectively). States that if the president-elect becomes vacant, the vice president-elect is inaugurated as president in their place.
21st Repeals the 18th Amendment and makes it a federal offense to transport or import intoxicating liquors into U.S. states and territories where such transport or importation is prohibited by the laws of those states and territories
22nd Limits the number of times that a person can be elected president: a person cannot be elected president more than twice, and a person who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected cannot be elected more than once
23rd Grants the District of Columbia electors in the Electoral College, their number being not more than those of the least populous state
24th Prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax or any other tax
25th Addresses succession to the presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president and responding to presidential disabilities
26th Prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens eighteen years of age or older to vote on account of age
27th Delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives

Common sense says don’t be where you may be caught up in an ongoing situation. If you are, get out/away as soon as possible. Carry a weapon if you can, or at least pepper spray. Be prepared to defend yourself and your loved ones. Now is NOT the time to play nice with the people who are not peaceably assembling!

Technology…

Posted on by May 31, 2020

In three snapshots…

From pure analog, computed on slide rules, to massively parallel computing…

And phase one of the Dragon testing was completed at 1030 CDT today with a hard lock on the ISS.

And courtesy of Comrade Misfit, a little computer game to see how good you are flying the capsule, HERE.

 

YESSSS!!!

Posted on by May 30, 2020

Falcon 9 went off like clockwork! All shots courtesy of NASA TV! Interestingly, they were on a 30 second delay…

1423 CDT Liftoff!

1424 Going uphill

1426 First stage separation/2nd stage light off

1427 Capsule shot and 2nd stage burn

1433 First stage recovers on the ship

1436 Second stage separation

On orbit… two minutes less than Alan Shepard’s first flight 59 years ago… Depending on when you read this, they should be getting close to docking with the ISS… That is supposed to occur approximately 0930 CDT.

Honestly, I’m glad to see America taking back control of their flights into space, and congrats to Spacex, the first PRIVATE company to put men in space!!!

Blues…

Posted on by May 30, 2020

1948 vs. 2009…

For those who like aviation!

That just sends a chill down the spine… And for 90, he sure is spry, and I have no doubt he could start that F-8 up and fly it today, no questions asked…

HERE is the official history of the Blues. And the new kids, the Thunderchickens, HERE, if anybody cares… 😉

Hehehe…

Posted on by May 28, 2020

Now it’s going to get interesting…

President Trump is expected to order a review of the federal law that protects social media companies from content posted by their users days after Twitter labeled two of his tweets “potentially misleading.”

Full article, HERE. And he signed it, HERE.

Interestingly, Zuckerberg is apparently trying to distance FB from Twitter after the kerfluffle that has been stirred up, HERE…

Twitter had a rather interesting non-response…

Unlike other prominent fact-checking operations, Twitter doesn’t display the names of the fact check’s authors.

“We’re adding a label to Tweets that then links to a Moment in order to give people on our service more context around what they’re seeing. This Moment includes a variety of information from various sources,” Twitter spokesman Trenton Kennedy told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an email.

Full article, HERE. And another one, HERE.

And predictably, the left went nuts… And of course a dem senator ‘had’ to come out with a statement…

Sen. Ron Wyden called President Trump’s executive order targeting social media platforms a “plainly illegal” attempt to push “unfiltered lies.”

“I have warned for years that this administration was threatening 230 in order to chill speech and bully companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter into giving him favorable treatment. Today Trump proved me right. I expect those companies and every American who participates in online speech to resist this illegal act by all possible means,” Wyden said in a statement.

Full article, HERE.

And then there is this article from the Federalist about mail in balloting…

A nationwide effort by Democrats is underway in at least 16 states to overturn restrictions on mail-in voting and third-party ballot harvesting. States where suits have been filed include the swing states of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Full article, HERE.

The gloves are coming off and the left is doing everything they can to ‘influence’ the 2020 election any way they can. Ballot harvesting, false signatures, ‘helping’ the elderly in nursing homes to ‘mark’ their ballots, etc… And ballots are showing up in the oddest places… SC ballots in MD? California’s ‘motor voter’ law, and they give illegals driver’s licenses, but do they register them to vote at the same time???

I wonder if anybody is checking graveyard’s mailboxes???

TBT…

Posted on by May 27, 2020

Sailors…

Sadly, still true today… LOL

And speaking of sailors, how many of you remember running these…

If you did any time in a holding pool, you probably got really good with them… LOL

 

Posted in TBT

Launch America!!!

Posted on by May 26, 2020

This brings back memories… Pad 39A is back in use…

 

The first launch of American astronauts into space from U.S. soil since 2011 is set to take place Wednesday, and NASA wants the public to be a part of it.

The agency will host a social event virtually so viewers can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight, which will send NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on a journey to the International Space Station.

Full article, HERE.

And you can find NASA TV HERE.

I remember following the nascent space program avidly as a young boy. I remember the launch was supposed to be on Thursday, but it got rained out. I was actually allowed to skip school that day to watch the launch. It was early in the morning, and my mother allowed me to turn the old black and white TV on to watch. I was glued to the TV for most of the day, with Walter Cronkite reporting each new bit of information.

Hats off to those pioneers, and it’s time to take the next steps… And the scenario is surprisingly similar 59 years and 20 days later… Pad 39A, single rocket, new capsule, weather an issue. Sadly, Jack King won’t be calling the launch as he did for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.

Of course THIS symbol wouldn’t be allowed today… Sigh…

Here’s hoping it comes off successfully!

Book promo…

Posted on by May 26, 2020

First up is Dorothy Grant with a new novel- Going Ballistic

As always, click on the cover for the amazon link to the book!

The blurb-

When her plane tries to come apart at apogee during a hijack, ballistic airline pilot Michelle Lauden handles the worst day she could imagine. After getting down without losing any passengers or crew, though, she finds her troubles have just begun!

The country she’s landed in has just declared independence from the Federation. The Feds intended her passengers to be the first casualties in the impending war – and they’re not happy she’s survived to contradict their official narrative in the news.

The local government wants to find her to give her a medal. The Feds are hunting her to give her an unmarked grave. As they both close in, Michelle’s running out of options and time. The only people able to protect her are an accident investigation team on loan from the Federation’s enemies… the same enemies who sent her hijackers in the first place.

And they have their own plans for her, and the country she’s in!

I got to alpha read it, really enjoyable!

Next is Nathan Brindle, also known as the Fuzzy Curmudgeon with a short story- Saving the Spring

   

The blurb-

Jack Randall knew immediately something was off when he pulled up to the old roadhouse.

Little did he know that crossing paths that night with the establishment’s beautiful bartender and her handsomely-rugged boyfriend/cook would lead to him recalling his former life as a god – or fighting a rematch with the god who had stolen his memories.

Oops… Wrong book… fixed! Last but not least, Alma Boykin has another book in the Familiar Tales series out- Horribly Familiar

The blurb-

Love, romance, curses, and . . . chaperones?

Nothing aside from magic comes easily for two shadow mages. André Lestrang relocates to Riverton just in time for the summer humidity and storm season. He and his fiancée Lelia Chan struggle to balance work, magic, their relationship, and his Army career. When someone sends a magical package bomb to one of their friends, a chain reaction of trouble ensues.

Add in two Familiars determined to ensure that their mages don’t get “in trouble” before the wedding, the usual mischief a ring-tailed lemur, kit fox, wolverine, and others can devise, and a dash of new responsibilities to the magical community. Lelia and André discover that the summer starts to feel . . . Horribly Familiar.

I’ll recommend all three of them!

Memorial Day…

Posted on by May 24, 2020

Thank you to those who have gone before us and given their all for us…

Hand Salute!

Ready, Two.

Let me leave you with this:

Who are the Veterans?…”Veterans are Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters, Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Lovers. They are the elderly people who can barely stand but refuse to sit when old glory passes by. They are the people who sit quietly thinking of a plan when everyone else is panicking; the ones who stand up for somebody’s rights even though they may disagree with them. They are the ones who celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day everyday of the year. They are the people who keep going when everybody else gives up. They know the meaning of “The Ultimate Sacrifice” and are willing to make it without a second thought. They do not ask for praise or glory, only that you Honor those who have given their all.”