John Kettler Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 When brass knucks no longer impress. Ray Kroc would not have approved. Ronald McDonald is a jihadist! Who knew? Amazing nature pic and an excellent demonstration of surface tension in water. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 (edited) Bet you haven't seen this one! Sparrow can't take off. Giant intervenes. Doesn't look good for the bird at first, but... Regards, John Kettler Edited January 9, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 A fascinating biography: "Fighting for survival on the streets of North Korea" http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37914493 "As a young child in the capital of North Korea, Sungju Lee lived a pampered life. But by the time he was a teenager, he was starving and fighting for survival in a street gang. It was one of many twists of fate on a journey that has led him to postgraduate studies at a British university." Especially recommended for @Sublime. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Machor, Shall have to take a look. Hard to imagine a street gang in a place as hypercontrolled as North Korea. And now for today's high weirdness. I had a doctor's appointment earlier and there encountered the most bizarre magazine I've ever found in the waiting area of a medical office. It's called Superintendent. Now, from its name you might think it had to do with the chief maintenance person for an apartment building. Wrong. Would you believe the head person in charge of the golf course's playing area? If you want to know about what grass to use, soil drainage, mower technology, fungicides, what ground cover to plant, where, why and the lousy work ethic of millennials, this is the mag to read. But wait. It gets much better. One of the articles had to do with a course at Langley AFB, Raptor Course, which was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. In addition to the expected agronomist and soil engineer types, plus others, a person with a rather mind-blowing job title also arrived. A, so help me, turf pathologist! But plans for rebuilding the devastated course had to be put on hold when an unexploded bomb was found in an area where the hurricane had essentially scalped the turf and underlay clean off. USAF EOD specialists were set to work and over the course of a year (how's that for an unplanned schedule slip?) found 17,000 UXBs. 17,000! Turns out the area was a WW II bombing range. Largest weapon recovered was a 500 pound bomb, with most much smaller. Training bombs typically were 100 pounds, and the go to bomb seen under P-47 Thunderbolts was a 250 pound bomb. How could I possibly top all that? The magazine had an ad for a Japanese fungicide called Kabuto. It stopped me dead in my tracks when I saw it. Perhaps because there was a samurai in full red armor and helmet, including mask, katana held high, driving an agricultural sprayer vehicle! Would post the pic if I could find it. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 44 minutes ago, John Kettler said: Hard to imagine a street gang in a place as hypercontrolled as North Korea. That article has completely changed my vision of daily life in North Korea. I think the 'North Korea' that we see in our heads is a vision that has been successfully projected by the regime, but which in reality ends on the outskirts of Pyongyang. On second thought, I shouldn't be surprised, as the USSR under Stalin was seen in a similar light at the time, whereas we now know it was teeming with gangs and was in borderline chaos outside the capital cities. The NKVD and MVD even stoked the 'Bitch Wars' after WW2 to gain some control of the situation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitch_Wars 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Machor, Thanks to you, I've now learned something new! Though it's been a long time, I don't recall this topic as having been discussed in either volume of Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago or. for that matter One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 My pleasure. Varlam Shalamov had far more thorough insider's knowledge of the Stalinist prison system than Solzhenitsyn did. Shalamov is supposed to have commented wryly on One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich that the prisoners there had it far better than the camps he had been in as reflected by the rats in the sleeping quarters, which would normally have been hunted and eaten down to the last one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 While most members of this forum probably have an interest in AFVs that goes beyond their instrumental use, composing songs for them seems to be taking it too far - though the Matilda II was of course nicknamed the "Waltzing Matilda" after the song: "Singapore sings for return of Terrex army vehicles" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38592060 "In late 2016, a cargo of Singaporean military vehicles was stopped in Hong Kong. They're still there and as the BBC's Heather Chen writes, Singaporeans have adopted a creative approach to demanding their return. "Our island [is] very small, macham kuaci [like dried melon seeds]. No choice, we have to train [in] other countries," goes a jaunty number by Alvin Oon. "Why you take my Terrex Chia [car]?" Sung in a mixture of English and the Chinese dialect Hokkien, the song was intended to "express how the average Singaporean views this ongoing deadlock," said Mr Oon. ... The second song that became an instant hit among Singaporean netizens came from local social and political blogger Lee Kin Mun, more famously known as mrbrown. Written by Lee and Marc Nair, Give Us Our Terrex Back was sung in Singlish to the tune of Lunar New Year favourite Gong Xi Gong Xi, heard everywhere at this time of year. "Only transit [in] Hong Kong, kenna stuck there long long (Ended up being stuck there for a long time) Don't know why you buay song (Not sure why you became unhappy) Terrex now bah long long (How long do you need to check?) Give us, give us, give us back, Give us our Terrex back."" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Whoa! - Friday the 13th is going strong: "Pennsylvania school set maths homework on sex abuse of girl" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38613255 "A US school has apologised after setting a maths questions that asked students about a girl being sexually abused by family members. The homework asked: "Angelou was sexually abused by her mother's _______ at age 8, which shaped her career choices and motivation for writing." Pupils in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, were given an algebra formula with the assignment to solve the problem. Parents complained to Pennridge High School officials about the homework. A subsequent question in the same homework asked about a single mother who is trying to support her son by working as a pimp and a prostitute. It asked what was her third means of support, including another formula for the options, bookie, drug dealer and nightclub dancer." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holman Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 "Angelou was abused by her mother's _____" is obviously a reference to Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a book which has become a staple of the curriculum. Perhaps this was a ham-handed attempt at some kind of coordination between math class and English class? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 27 minutes ago, Holman said: Perhaps this was a ham-handed attempt at some kind of coordination between math class and English class? Well, further down the article it says: "The homework worksheet in question was downloaded from a website that allows teachers around the world to share educational resources." The original question might well have originated from a coordinated teaching project [Though WTF with the prostitute single mother - The Catcher in the Rye?] and ended up in this school due to an underfunded school district slaving it out with supply teachers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machor Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 OK, the article has been updated with the following info: "The questions were based on the life of the famed American poet Maya Angelou, but many parents complained the subject matter was not appropriate for young teenagers or a maths equation. The same assignment surfaced two years ago in a Florida school, sparking similar controversy." My bad for not knowing that Maya Angelou worked as a prostitute. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 On 1/9/2017 at 0:48 PM, Machor said: A fascinating biography: "Fighting for survival on the streets of North Korea" http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37914493 "As a young child in the capital of North Korea, Sungju Lee lived a pampered life. But by the time he was a teenager, he was starving and fighting for survival in a street gang. It was one of many twists of fate on a journey that has led him to postgraduate studies at a British university." Especially recommended for @Sublime. Thanks man ill look into it Be honest though why do u recommend it for me? Feel free to pm. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 (edited) Sublime, That was a great article. Thanks much for letting us know. When gang was mentioned, I thought in terms of something much larger, more powerful and structured, like the Bratva in Russia. Am sending the story link to brother George, whose wife is full Korean and where he himself served a year unaccompanied many years after meeting and marrying her here in the States. Everyone, How about snow and floods in Saudi Arabia? https://watchers.news/2016/11/30/snow-flood-saudi-arabia-november-2016/ Am afraid I can't yet offer a song about a specific AFV, I can provide a video extolling tank ownership. as well as one on the GPW tanks of Russia. Wish the image quality was better. Regards, John Kettler Edited January 22, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 A few days ago, I was over on YT looking at something Russian military. It was practically dawn here, and I'd been up all night. Right in the midst of Russian MRLs, tanks and warships arrayed on the selection screen was about the last thing I expected to encounter--a video on, of all things, wholly new to me Muslim NDEs (Near Death Experiences)! There has been discussion on the Forums from time to time as to the unlikeliness of the 72 virgins for suicide bombers of civilians in particular, but the interviews shown weren't with such people because of the resulting wholesale destruction of their bodies, which rather complicates coming back for a chat. Instead, these were with several formerly devout Muslim men. What they experienced on the other side changed them forever. Let's just say the theophany and what ensued subsequently drastically didn't match their religious training or cultural expectations. When it comes to NDEs. some find heaven, others the infernal region, some nothing, and one, Dannion Brinkley, so help me, reports being shown important life-changing things on a screen in the belly of a robot! He came back and became a specialist in helping people in hospices and such prepare for death. During the Vietnam War, he'd gleefully blown up a dam and wiped out an entire Viet Cong village while everyone in it slept. Would observe that, despite a lot of work and decades, I still am very much a recovering Catholic. Consequently, this triggered me, for I was so thoroughly fear inculcated that as a little boy I was terrified I'd utter a bad word and burn for it forever. This is the video I saw. The tiniest effort will turn up many more. Nor is this particular experience confined to those of the Islamic faith. Contrariwise, in another NDE, a Catholic priest reportedly found God was a woman. Robert Anton Wilson, who was a close friend of Timothy Leary, the man who practically invented the psychedelic culture thanks to CIA LSD, said Timothy reported the acid trip experience had three components: Set (taker's expectations going in), Setting (the environment, both before and during the trip) and Dosage (self-explanatory). Now, given those factors apply in these cases, you'd think those heavily steeped in and devout in their particular faith would have strong positive results, the bad people would have bad ones, based on expectation (the Devil's got my soul already, so not not do this, too?), and the atheists would have none. Instead, while there's positive correlation in some instances, there's none in others and negative correlation where people would expect positive correlation. Frankly, this whole thing smacks of what the native Americans call the Heyokah, the trickster spirit, at work. Granted, this has been quite the digression, but this particular ball began rolling again for me when I found an NDE video as the sole exception to war pig stuff among a dozen videos! Make of this what you will, for I'm pretty much bewildered. Not least because I hadn't watched any NDE stuff before on YT. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BletchleyGeek Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 10 minutes ago, John Kettler said: The tiniest effort will turn up many more. Nor is this particular experience confined to those of the Islamic faith. Contrariwise, in another NDE, a Catholic priest reportedly found God was a woman. Robert Anton Wilson, who was a close friend of Timothy Leary, the man who practically invented the psychedelic culture thanks to CIA LSD, said Timothy reported the acid trip experience had three components: Set (taker's expectations going in), Setting (the environment, both before and during the trip) and Dosage (self-explanatory). Now, given those factors apply in these cases, you'd think those heavily steeped in and devout in their particular faith would have strong positive results, the bad people would have bad ones, based on expectation (the Devil's got my soul already, so not not do this, too?), and the atheists would have none. Instead, while there's positive correlation in some instances, there's none in others and negative correlation where people would expect positive correlation. Frankly, this whole thing smacks of what the native Americans call the Heyokah, the trickster spirit, at work. Granted, this has been quite the digression, but this particular ball began rolling again for me when I found an NDE video as the sole exception to war pig stuff among a dozen videos! Make of this what you will, for I'm pretty much bewildered. Not least because I hadn't watched any NDE stuff before on YT. Wow @John Kettler, that was quite a trip. You're indeed a living rhizome. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 BletchleyGeek, Not quite sure I follow. Am you saying I'm the source of true wasabi, exemplify a particular philosophy, or what? How do I turn off hypertext on a line following a link? Shouldn't have to do a paragraph break to make the blasted thing stop! To continue, are you saying I'm the embodiment of a related media theory? Please disambiguate, and I haven't listed all the possibilities, either. In any event, full marks for a truly unusual expression in responding. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BletchleyGeek Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Of the metaphysical kind, of course. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 You remember this, right? Now, take a look at the items reviewed below. Feel safe in asserting you'll never view holography the same again. The blog popped up while trying to find a review for a reference book I found on Amazon. http://overthetopcoat.blogspot.com2014/05/indie-spotlight-mod-lacquer-men-in.html Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 (edited) We have a list of ten supposedly great SF board games. http://www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/blogs/10-sci-fi-board-games.htm Meanwhile, a friend sent me a list today of various narcissism types in attempting to categorize our new leader. Since he's into the macabre, horror, true crime and such, I countered with a version of something I found on Tumblr the other night while roaming from link to link. Wouldn't view this around the squeamish or while eating. could be NSFW, too. NO adult entertainment stuff.http://www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/blogs/10-types-of-necrophilia.htm But on the same site, in a review of an unusual musical genre remix album , I found an entire song (by not the hacker) devoted to Galileo and what happened to him. Worth a listen. The sidebar also featured occult music for, believe it or not (mage) John Dee Week! Regards, John Kettler Edited January 28, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 (edited) Found more tank songs. ROK with video of what we used to call the ROKIT (Republic of Korea Indigenous Tank) and some unknown to me IFV. Blown away by the speed and maneuverability of the ROKIT. The same impressive singer does "Panzer Lied" in Korean! I close with a Pink Floyd song. "When the Tigers Broke Free," which was based on a participants' account of the Tiger tank attack on the Anzio beachhead. Regards, John Kettler Edited January 28, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 You have to love the editors of Sputnik. On the same page where there's quite the discourse on the porting, if you will, of tank cannon, DAS and APS from the T-14 Armata to the nastier than the T-90AM T-90M https://sputniknews.com/military/201701211049856690-t-90m-armata-cannon-russia/ the sidebar brought up something far more exciting than tanks, or so I'm sure a significant chunk of the planet's population would aver. You decide. The larger question here, from an editiorial aspect is whether doing this should be classified as burying the load and whether it should be additionally deemed below the fold. Hmm. https://sputniknews.com/photo/201611131047383181-miss-bumbum-contest/ Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 This is a fantastic and cheap way to demine Afghanistan and other windy places. Genius!http://mashable.com/2017/01/13/minesweeping-tumbleweed-design/#.aGEbc6k0iqu Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Some people think this woman is a SJW, but I think it more likely she's presenting their arguments in order to lampoon them. I believe the video qualifies for our OP, but I'm not going to post it directly In any event, Margaret MacLennan is lovely and delightful. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) On a lighter note, the high pour redefined! And as you know, it's a constant battle to get Americans to stick with their stationary bicycle exercises, but before electronics hit the gym and took over the equipment, some clever person came up with this innovation. Fitness meets competition in a win-win. Unless you lose! Here is a fine example of treadhead logic. I feel compelled to note the treadhead item shown is not ours! Okay. this is a must post. Regards, John Kettler Edited January 31, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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