59 Replies to “March 3, 2020: Reader Tips”

    1. “Houston, we have a problem.” Those words were immortalized during the tense days of the Apollo 13 …

      Thanks -one gets goosebumps over that to this day.
      The 1995 Ron Howard movie “Apollo 13” was a good portrayal of the the events. What brave souls these guys were. Hard to believe that it soon will be 50 yrs ago.

      I have that website bookmarked & enjoy checking it, thanks to you.

      1. The quote is actually “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” A minor slip in the movie, but it conveyed the sense of urgency.

        On one of my DVD editions of the film, the commentary is provided by Jim and Marilyn Lovell. It’s worth listening to. And there’s an additional, though unofficial, bonus in that edition, an “easter egg”, as it were. It’s the complete musical score composed by James Horner as used in the movie, including much which isn’t on the soundtrack CD.

        The movie inspired Tom Hanks to consider making the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon. He thought that the whole story was worth telling though, unfortunately, the Gemini missions are given short shift.

        There was a rumour that the series would include an episode about the Soviet efforts but it was never produced, for some reason.

        1. In the actual recorded comment, it was very calm, cool and collected. It wasn’t panicky as Hanks portrayed it.

          1. The crew were experienced test pilots and often encountered similar situations while flying. Through training and experience, they approached these problems in a straightforward manner.

            But, had they been portrayed like that, it would have reduced the drama of the movie. Even the argument scene inside the Lunar Module was made up for the purpose. I recall Howard explaining that in his commentary on one of my DVD editions.

      2. That was when Americans were still proud of our good old Yankee can do and know how.
        They flew a module built for a very different landing (no atmosphere and much less gravity). They had a, what, 64K processor? They inventoried every single thing they had onboard, and experts in Houston were racing against the clock to turn the lunar landing module into an earth landing module. And somehow, against all odds, all of that managed to come together and gave them a safe landing.
        It was a proud day to be an American, an American engineer no less. (Well actually I was in grad school in physics, but it was still STEM, and I was fated to be an engineer.) I don’t know if we have lost that ability to tinker, with all the gigabytes and complex control systems. Could we still bring that module home in one piece?

    2. This is likely in the US. It is an offense to fire a gun out of a vehicle in Canada.

        1. I know a guy who put a round through his hood scoop shooting across his truck. Rule #4 A scope is always higher than the barrel.

    1. That’s a classic story.

      Another one concerns a high-speed ejection as the plane in question was breaking up. It was filmed, as I recall, though I can’t remember where to find a recording of it.

      By the way, there have been persistent rumours of a sucessor to the SR-71, code-named “Aurora”, but I don’t think anything official about it has been released. Maybe a rumour is all that it is.

      On the other hand, if it does exist, why would the Pentagon want to say anything about it?

      1. I have a clipping of a guy who’s seen and filmed it. He hiked-in to Edwards by a circuitous route, avoiding easy terrain, and set-up a blind overlooking the Base. It was -30 with windchill likely near -50, and he was dressed in many layers under a thermal blanket; pretty sure he did not have a heat signature, he’d’ve frozen to death if he’d been losing heat. He was there for three days; in the deep dark of one of the nights, a silhouette that resembled the rumoured aircraft taxied-out of a hangar and took off, he said as soon as it rotated its anticollision lights went off and he saw nothing more of it.

        He has the whole episode on 11mm digital tape; the interviewer asked him where the tape was. He answered, “In a safety deposit box. That’s a legitimate national security asset; once the Air Force announces its existence I’ll show the tape, but not until then.” You have to admire either (a) his chutzpah or (2) his integrity.

        I’ll put the link up once I find it.

      2. I think Aurora was a bit of misdirection.

        I remember reading the SR 71 was cancelled due to the advanced capabilities of surveillance satellites coming on line.

        The Blackbird was / is a remarkable engineering achievement.

        Recently saw this on the Smithsonian ntwrk.

        https://youtu.be/U_8xzn7KHGM

  4. This is a travesty of justice! A federal judge has ordered Honest Hilllary (who got more votes than dRumpf) to sit for a sworn deposition to answer questions about her use of a private email server to conduct government business.
    All she was doing with messaging her daughter Chelsea about her upcoming wedding. Stop this misogynistic sexist WHITE MALE judge!

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-orders-hillary-clinton-deposition-to-address-private-emails-there-is-still-more-to-learn

    1. If you intended the post as satire, I sure don’t see it.
      It is no different than something a real Prog would post.
      Either you really are not what many here have advertised, or else you must try harder to make it more apparent it’s satire. Admittedly, that’s not an easy task as progs go off the deep end.

      1. Pat is being satirical, as he has in past posts. I agree that tongue-in-cheek satire posts are difficult to write. I write many posts like that over at the Globe and Mail comments boards, where half the readership, and 100% of editors and staff, are left wing. Satire is useful when one is amongst goosestepping leftists — since one can use satire, but then claim that he or she is not, when confronted by a left-fascist. It’s good defence.

        1. – Another victim of Poe’s Law… I knew it was sarcasm – I do that sorta’ thing all the time! Get roasted for it all the time, too… 🙁

          And Hilary? – one of her quotes about Trump went roughly, ‘If that ba$tard gets in, we all hang!” Got rope?

    2. Saw that linked on twitter, can’t remember it.
      That is there 2.5 million Euro campaign to stop rape by gimmegrants.

      1. If that had been created in Canada, it would have cost at least twice that amount because a bilingual version would have to be released.

  9. Fewer boys born in Ontario after Trump’s 2016 election win

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-fewer-boys-born-in-ontario-after-trumps-2016-election-win-study/

    Specifically, they show that the sex ratio of Ontario newborns shifted around March of 2017, when fewer boys than would typically be expected were born relative to girls. The timing of the deficit is what would be expected if pregnant women in the province experience elevated stress levels four months earlier

  10. Justin fan boy John Ivison at the National Post writes on how Blackie has given the Indians in B.C. everything they want and has received nothing in return. And the Post writes on how Blackie at the mining conference in Toronto yesterday, lectured the industry on embracing global warming scams to attract investment.

  12. I guess the whiny Indian issue and Ottawa is boring Great Leader Kim Sung Trudeau. After burning jet fuel to Toronto yesterday, he is burning jet fuel to Nova Scotia today for a photo op.

  13. For all the greenies you know who love their tech. Smart phones, solar panels, etc. are not environmentally friendly and are definitely worse than anything coming out of Alberta!

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth

    There are many more links if you search for toxic lake or Baotou Mongolia. While this story is 2015, there are others as recent as 2019 showing things are worse.

    Yet China gets a pass again.

    1. Equally as bad is the fact that much of what goes into those devices gets chucked out.

      For example, there’s not much to salvage from a laptop except the display and the hard drive. The display can be turned into a monitor if one can find what model it is as there are people who build adapters for them. Just add a frame for it. One can turn the hard drive into an external unit by putting it into an enclosure.

      Cellphones and smartphones are even worse. One might think that the displays or the cameras could be re-used but the driver chips for them are on the circuit boards and good luck in trying to find them or even figuring out which pins do what without a spec sheet.

      It’s cheaper and easier to buy new items off the shelf than spending the time and effort trying to use salvaged components on a project.

      Even restoring old hardware can be pointless. Either replacement parts aren’t available or a “restoration” isn’t really a restoration, such as seen here:

      https://hackaday.com/2020/02/21/restoring-the-coolest-laptop-ever/

      (Watch the video. The actual motherboard of the machine is replaced by a Raspberry Pi, hardly the same thing.)

  17. This article provides a good analysis of Canada’s situation vis a vis aboriginals. I think it is accurate, though quite grim. I am surprised to see this in the Washington Post. Many comments are hostile, but I believe those who deny the truth of the article are putting their heads in the sand. We are headed down a dangerous path. Canada as we have known it is gone:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/22/movement-end-canada/

  18. Woman CEO hired to shake up the cronyism within the Recording Academy responsible for the Grammy Awards is fired by the cronies she was hired to shake up.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/deborah-dugan-fired-1.5482884

    “The investigation overwhelmingly confirmed the serious complaints that had been lodged against her [former CEO Dugan] by a multitude of academy staff members,” Tammy Hurt, vice chair of the academy’s National Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “The damage she has caused this organization is truly heartbreaking.”

    Queue Harvey Weinstein to walk by slowly in his walker … on his way to the hospital … in order to avoid jail time.

    “We could not reward her with a lucrative settlement and thereby set a precedent that behaviour like hers has no consequence,” the academy’s executive committee wrote in a letter to members. “Our members and employees, and the entire music industry, deserve better than that.”

  20. Get Woke, Go Broke!
    “Doctor Who season finale beaten by Antiques Roadshow in ratings! The series 12 disaster continues!”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZEAsm_aTTw

    Can’t use the usual excuses, as it was beaten by both the preceding and following programs. BBC executives claim they don’t care because they like the editorial direction of the show and it will continue.

  21. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/baffin-bay-polar-bears-nunavut-1.5472492

    It’s no surprise for Inuit — Baffin Bay polar bears defy past assumptions with stable population

    Global warming models predict seasonal sea ice in Baffin Bay will continue to decline. And over the next three generations of bears (about 35 years), the Baffin Bay polar bear population is expected to mirror this decline, through reduced body size, reduced litters, and possibly reduced numbers.

    But for now, researchers say the Baffin Bay polar bear population is relatively abundant, something that comes as no surprise to Inuit in the region who have lived with the bears for thousands of years.
    Inuit in the region have long argued that the Baffin Bay polar bear population was healthy, and maybe even growing. They have been making that argument, based on their observations, against the science of the day for at least 10 years.
    “The Inuit did not support the science that was presented during … public hearings in 2007 and 2008,” said James Eetoolook, vice president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

  22. Starting to think the medical issue with coronavirus is going to be less destructive than the problem of government action and its economic consequences, which are yet to be manifest but certainly coming … https://wmbriggs.com/post/29566/
    If that’s true, gold is good. Still have my food supplies though, just in case.

  23. Blackie’s media reports that it could be a couple of weeks before taxpayers see details of Justin’s surrender package to the Indians. This is because the hereditary dictators are having a big feast. Bring out the drums, feathers, and chants to the sacred liquor bottle.

  24. And now your diversity story for today. Post Millennial reports that a muslim speaker who defends pedophilia and rants against Christians will be speaking at York University in Toronto.

    1. Ezra will win.

      I like the way he spoke to them like the lawyer that he is — they just sat there quiet as mice. (good editing)
      They looked afraid of Ezra. (They just want their government contract money)

      I swear if they raid Ezra’s house, Ezra will be even more furious. His family will be affected. Let’s hope it doesn’t ever come to that.

      Free Speech Your Honour please.
      Pray that Ezra keeps safe.

  27. Damn, you beat me to it.
    It is shit like this is why I say #Wexit has nothing to do with pipelines, but rather the fact that Canada is becoming a lawless state governed by the arbitrary whims of those in power, and that no country or economy has ever thrived under such conditions. Canada needs comprehensive constitutional reform and serious reform of the judiciary and civil service, or dissolution. The latter is much easier and less painful.

  28. Scoldilocks really should’ve flown to Madrid – it was no pleasure cruise.

    https://sailing-lavagabonde.com/we-did-it-after-19-days-at-sea-sailing-greta-thunberg-into-lisbon-ep-6/

    This part covers their last few days at sea, dodging wild weather all the way, and their arrival in Lisbon. Takeaway points – 1) at the end when Riley is making his remarks to the crowd, look at Elayna behind him – so tired, I really wonder she’s standing. 2) I love all the gas-burning, CO2-spewing powerboats that come out to escort them in. 3) the stuff that gets broken aboard – a chair ripped off the deck by a wave. Riley didn’t get into detail, but you can pick it up elsewhere in the vid’s – Nikki Henderson is a record-holding yachtswoman, and was a towering pillar of strength, knowledge and experience throughout the crossing. Riley was very wise to seek help for the crossing with Elayna focused on Lenny, neither of them is particularly experienced at yachting, and they’re all extremely lucky Nikki came along – as he puts it, in effect it was Nikki and three crew; doubly funny that she flew over from Europe to join them, thus negating Greta’s sailboat-savings in CO2. 4) Scoldilocks is a real person when she’s not how-daring the world – I had no idea she has a sister, who I gather is ‘normal’. And ultimately, 5) Riley summed the whole adventure up neatly. Winter is the wrong season to sail across the North Atlantic; and they were real lucky they were on a catamaran because of how fast catamarans are – if they’d been on a displacement-hulled sailboat, they’d still be out there.

    I wonder if Greta and her father bicycled to Madrid from Lisbon?

  29. Why is the e poch t imes banned from being posted here Kate?

    Get rid of Google captcha if you really believe in free speech

    Don’t believe me than you try and please prove me wrong, as a site administrator Kate wouldn’t have an issue but for me as a reg joe poster having to get by google captcha for the ep och tim es it will not post.

    1. That’s too bad. They are one of the more informative sources. I subscribe to their electronic newsletter. I have not tried posting a link, but agree links to Epoch should be allowed.

  30. China produces and exports a large amount of pharmaceuticals to the U.S., including 97 percent of all antibiotics and 80 percent of the active ingredients used to make drugs here. Penicillin, ibuprofen, and aspirin largely come from China. Last month, the medical supply firm Cardinal Health recalled 2.9 million surgical gowns “cross contaminated” at a plant in China; the blood pressure drug valsartan also saw shortages recently, thanks to tainted active ingredients at one Chinese plant. The combination of supply chain disruptions and increased demand at hospitals if coronavirus spreads to the U.S. could prove devastating.

    In a dark irony, most of the world’s face masks—now ubiquitous in China as a precaution—are made in China and Taiwan, and even for those made elsewhere, some component parts are Chinese-sourced. Shortages have led China to declare the masks a “strategic resource,” reserving them for medical workers. U.S. hospitals are “critically low” on respiratory masks, according to medical-supply middlemen. Lack of protective gear could increase vulnerability to the virus, and the one place on earth suffering from production shutdowns is the one place where most of the protective gear originates [emphasis added].

    https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/02/13/coronavirus-outbreak-exposes-chinas-monopoly-on-u-s-drug-medical-supplies/

    1. a Chinese man named Mr. Wong rushes to the hospital to see his newborn son. he goes into the delivery room. and all sorts of hollering and curses is heard. he runs out of the delivery room still hollering. a nurse says ” what’s the matter” he replies ” 2 Wongs don’t make a white!!

    1. I know we have our share of nutbars in Canada, but this clown in California tops them all, I think. ‘Moron’ doesn’t quite cut it. I can only imagine the constituency that elected him.

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