Orbiter: The shape of things to come (eventually)

The creator of Orbiter Space Flight Simulation ,Dr. Martin Schweiger, posted this YouTube video yesterday on the forum.

I tend to stay away from beta versions of s/w...too much like work.  I tend to think a lot of ATM s/w is released so we field techs can finish finding all of the bugs  The video shows the current progress for the next major release/version of the simulator.

My jaw didn't really drop open until 31 seconds into it.  I can't wait to start using it...especially for further YouTube videos of my own.

Simply phenomenal !

Pizza on the Moon?

"It all started when I found the green meteorite." 

Seriously, this post idea started about 2 weeks ago after reading a thread on Orbiter Forum. It was started by Bloodworth, and discussed food franchises on the Moon - specifically, "on our lunar bases."  I was flattered to see, "Niven's Nachos", on the list.  Not quite so with his entry for "Jules Verne Vegan Cafe".  For you, Dear Reader (if any), not in the "know", Lunar Base Niven resides in the lunar far side crater of Jules Verne.

What really intrigued me was Pipcard's entry.  After viewing the commercial for Domino's Pizza, Japan, and doing a little background research,  I thought I'd add to this Internet meme (however old and/or short lived it may be).  I think that it is a mere publicity stunt in reaction to Pizza Hut's first delivery to the International Space Station.  Estimates for this project are $21 billion...their pizza just isn't that good!




I was struck by the similarities between the artist's conception and my own add-on (yes, another opportunity for shameless self-promotion).  Dome shaped with solar panels in the background.  Turn about is fair play...

So, the following is my first public exhibition of my mesh/texture creation with Wings 3D:

Finally, after adding this mesh into Niven.cfg:

(Click on images to enlarge)

THIS ISN'T an update to my add-on, BTW.   Above view is looking roughly south from the base.

If They Come for Your Guns, Do You Have a Responsibility to Fight?

 First of all, the emphasis should be on the phrase, "as a last resort."

The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. -Thomas Jefferson

 I strongly recommend this read as a primer for some and a reinforcement for others. In any event, it is no longer about guns… it is about freedom itself. - theleansubmariner

 The following is an article from the blog, The DC Clothesline:

If They Come for Your Guns, Do You Have a Responsibility to Fight?

 

I feel a tremendous responsibility to write this article though I am a little apprehensive. Thinking about the possibility of rising up against our own government is a frightening thing for many of us. I am not Johnny Rambo and I will be the first to admit that I do not want to die. The reason I feel compelled to write this, however, is simply because I don’t think the average American is equipped with the facts. I feel that a lot of American citizens feel like they have no choice but to surrender their guns if the government comes for them. I blame traditional media sources for this mass brainwash and I carry the responsibility of all small independent bloggers to tell the truth. So my focus today is to lay out your constitutional rights as an American, and let you decide what to do with those rights.
About a month ago I let the “democracy” word slip in a discussion with a fellow blogger. I know better. Americans have been conditioned to use this term. It’s not an accurate term and it never has been a correct term to describe our form of government. The truth is that the United States of America is a constitutional republic. This is similar to a democracy because our representatives are selected by democratic elections, but ultimately our representatives are required to work within the framework of our constitution. In other words, even if 90% of Americans want something that goes against our founding principles, they have no right to call for a violation of constitutional rights.
If you are religious you might choose to think of it this way… Say that members of your congregation decide that mass fornication is a good thing. Do they have the right to change the teachings of your God? The truth is the truth. It doesn’t matter how many people try to stray from it. Did I just compare our founders to God? In a way I did, but please note that I am not trying to insult anyone. For the purpose of the American Government our constitution and founders who wrote it are much like God is to believers. It is the law. It is indisputable.
Our founders did not want a “democracy” for they feared a true democracy was just as dangerous as a monarchy. The founders were highly educated people who were experienced in defending themselves against tyranny. They understood that the constitution could protect the people by limiting the power of anyone to work outside of it much better than a pure system of popularity. A system of checks and balances was set up to help limit corruption of government and also the potential for an “immoral majority” developing within the American People. We have forgotten in this country that we are ultimately ruled by a constitution.
Why is a democracy potentially just as dangerous as a monarchy? Let’s look at something that Benjamin Franklin said because it answers that question more fully and succinctly than I can.

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. -Benjamin Franklin

Even 230+ years ago our founders were perceptive enough to realize that democracy was a dangerous form of government. How so? Because the citizens of a country can become just as corrupt as any government. We have seen evidence of this throughout history. Ask Native Americans and African-Americans if this population can become corrupt.
I think in 2012 we are seeing evidence of what Franklin was trying to tell us. Just because a majority of people may support certain ideas it does not mean that those ideas are just. In simple terms, just because most Americans love our president and voted for him, it does not mean that he has the power to go against our constitutional rights.
Next I’d like to review the text of the second amendment. It is very clear. This is the law of this land. So when Senator Feinstein or President Obama talk about taking your guns, you need to think about something. Are they honoring their sworn oath to uphold the constitution?

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

This is a pretty clear statement. The fact is that it took 232 years for the Supreme Court to even rule on this amendment because it has never been successfully challenged. In 2008 a case of Columbia v. Heller the Supreme Court ruled that a handgun ban in Washington D.C. was unconstitutional. One also has to take this into consideration. The Supreme Court supports your right to own guns. If you want to research this decision further you can start here.
For those who try to debate the spirit of the 2nd amendment, they are truly no different from people who will try to take Biblical quotes out of context to try to support their immoral decisions. The founders were very clear on the intent of the 2nd amendment. Let me share a few quick quotes here:

The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. -Thomas Jefferson

Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence … From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable . . . the very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that is good. -George Washington

The Constitution shall never be construed….to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms. -Samuel Adams

I could find hundreds of quotes like these. This country was built on the right to bear arms. It was built on the rights of an individual to bear arms, regardless of what his government or neighbor happened to think. This is crystal clear. Ironically the people who voice their opinions against this right have their free speech protected by your guns. Without guns in this country, all other amendments become null and void, simply because “We the People” will lose our power of enforcement.
We need to keep this in mind as our “representatives” try to push gun bans. I don’t care if 99% of people are in support of gun bans (which is far from the case), it is a violation of our constitutional rights, plain and simple.
A constitutional republic protects the rights of the individual even when their ideas are very much  in the minority. If I were the only person in America who believed in the 2nd amendment, I would still be within my rights to call upon it. You would all think I was insane and possibly celebrate if I was gunned down, but in the end I would be the only true American among us.
Our framers were very clear on this. If my government comes to take my guns, they are violating one of my constitutional rights that is covered by the 2nd amendment.
It is not my right, at that point, but my responsibility to respond in the name of liberty. What I am telling you is something that many are trying to soft sell, and many others have tried to avoid putting into print, but I am going to say it. The time for speaking in code is over.
If they come for our guns then it is our constitutional right to put them six feet under. You have the right to kill any representative of this government who tries to tread on your liberty. I am thinking about self-defense and not talking about inciting a revolution. Re-read Jefferson’s quote. He talks about a “last resort.” I am not trying to start a Revolt, I am talking about self-defense. If the day for Revolution comes, when no peaceful options exist, we may have to talk about that as well. None of us wants to think about that, but please understand that a majority can not take away your rights as an American citizen. Only you can choose to give up your rights.
Congress could pass gun ban legislation by a 90%+ margin and it just would not matter. I think some people are very unclear on this. This is the reason we have a Supreme Court, and though I do not doubt that the Supreme Court can also become corrupt, in 2008 they got it right. They supported the constitution. It does not matter what the majority supports because America is not a democracy. A constitutional republic protects the rights of every single citizen, no matter what their “elected servants” say. A majority in America only matters when the constitution is not in play.
I just wrote what every believer in the constitution wants to say, and what every constitutional blogger needs to write. The truth of the matter is that this type of speech is viewed as dangerous and radical or subversive, and it could gain me a world of trouble that I do not want. It is also the truth. To make myself clear I will tell you again. If they come for your guns it is your right to use those guns against them and to kill them. You are protected by our constitution.
Most of the articles I am reading on the subject are trying to give you clues without just coming out and saying it. I understand that because certain things in this country will get you on a list that you don’t want to be on. I may well be on that list. This blog is small and growing so I may not be there yet, but I have dreams. I also have my own list of subversives and anyone who attempts to deny my constitutional rights is on that list.
I am not the “subversive” here, it is the political representatives who are threatening to take away my inalienable rights. If they come to take my guns and I leave a few of them wounded or dead, and I somehow survive, I have zero doubt that I will spend a long time in prison and may face an execution. But I would much rather be a political prisoner than a slave.
If I go down fighting then I was not fighting to harm these human beings. I was simply defending my liberty and yours. It is self-defense and it is what our country was built on. We won our freedom in self-defense. We would not be ruled by a tyrannical government in the 1770′s and we will not be ruled in 2012 by a tyrannical government. There is no difference.
This is a case of right and wrong. As of now the 2nd amendment stands. It has never been repealed. If Feinstein or Barack have a problem with the constitution then they should be removed from office. They are not defending the constitution which they have sworn an oath to protect. It is treasonous to say the least. They would likely say the same about me, but I have the constitution, the founders, and the supreme court on my side. They only have their inflated egos.
I am not writing this to incite people. I am writing this in hopes that somehow I can make a tiny difference. I have no idea how many of my neighbors have the will to defend their constitutional rights. 2%? 20%? I am afraid that 20% is a high number, unfortunately. When push comes to shove many people may give up and submit to being ruled. I believe that our government is banking on this.
What I do know is that this country was founded by people who had balls the size of Texas and Patriotic Americans take shit off of no one, especially our own government. For evidence of that, you might research the Revolutionary War. My question is how many Patriots are left?
I would hope that our officials come to realize that, regardless of our numbers, we still exist because they are calling Patriotic Americans to action. They are making us decide if we want to die free or submit to their rule. I can not tell you where you should stand on that. I do know that it may make the difference between living a life of freedom or slavery.
You must start thinking about this because I believe that the day is coming soon and I personally believe it has already been planned. Not all conspiracy theories are hogwash. They may throw down the gauntlet soon and my suggestion is that you prepare yourself to react.
I mean no disrespect to our elected officials but they need to understand that “We the People” will not be disarmed. If they proceed then it is they that are provoking us and we will act accordingly. We are within our rights to do so.
For those who are in support of taking the guns, you need to ask yourself a very important question, and I am not just talking about the politicians, because if you support them, you have chosen your side.
Are you willing to die to take my guns?

IMPORTANT UPDATE From Dean Garrison!!! When this post originally went viral I was trying to answer every single comment and that lasted for almost 48 hours Then I came to grips with the fact that I am human and I can’t do it. If for no other reason I value my family and I can’t steal time from them to constantly be on the site. I want you all to know that I appreciate your support and good debate whether you agree or disagree. I also want to thank each and every American Patriot who has made the honorable choice to serve their country. Anyone who wants to repost this on their blog or website is also given permission to do so, so long as nothing is changed in the text of the article, and a link is provided back to this site. Again, thank you so much. I am humbled. This free wordpress blog has just gone from averaging 300 visitors per day 40,000-50,000 hits per day and I have no idea when things may return to normal. That was caused by the people that cared and not the author. I am just an average American that cares. Every Facebook share, retweet, and email is helping and please continue to support what you believe in. We make no money from this blog. We may someday, but for now it is our choice to offer the truth as we see it for the good of our country and not for anything material. Keep on sharing and let’s make them pay attention to us! No sane American really wants a Civil War. We want peace but we will not back down from a government that chooses to ignore our founding principles. I am forever in your debt and service. -Dean Garrison

377 words

I really hope this post pisses off the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dear reader (if any).  The following is a list of words and/or phrases that DHS monitors for usage on the Internet.  I assume that NSA either does that for them and/or for their own "uses".

I figure this blog entry will get noticed.  For convenience's sake, I alphabetized it.

2600, Abu Sayyaf, Afghanistan, Agent, Agriculture, Agro, Aid, Air Marshal, Airplane (and derivatives), Airport, Al Qaeda (all spellings), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Al-Shabaab, Ammonium nitrate, AMTRAK, Anthrax, Antiviral, AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula), AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), Arellano-Felix, Artistic Assassins, Assassination, Attack, Attack, Authorities, Avalanche, Avian, Bacteria, Barrio Azteca, BART, Basque Separatists, Beltran-Leyva, Biological, Biological infection (or event), Biological weapon, Black out, Blister agent, Blizzard, Body scanner, Bomb (squad or threat), Border, Border Patrol, Botnet, Breach, Bridge, Brown out, Brown out, Brush fire, Brute forcing, Burn, Burst, Bust, Cain and abel, Calderon, Cancelled, Car bomb, Cartel, Cartel de Golfo, Center for Disease Control (CDC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Chemical, Chemical agent, Chemical burn, Chemical fire, Chemical spill, Chemical weapon, China, CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources), Ciudad Juarez, Closure, Cloud, Coast Guard (USCG), Cocaine, Collapse, Colombia, Communications infrastructure, Computer infrastructure, Conficker, Consular, Contamination, Conventional weapon, Cops, Crash, Crest, Critical infrastructure, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Cyber attack, Cyber Command, Cyber security, Cyber terror, DDOS (dedicated denial of service), Deaths, Decapitated, Delays, Denial of service, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Dirty bomb, Dirty bomb, Disaster, Disaster assistance, Disaster management, Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT), DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office), Dock, Domestic nuclear detection, Domestic security, Drill, Drug, Drug Administration (FDA), Drug cartel, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Drug trade, Drug war, E. Coli, Earthquake, Ebola, Eco terrorism, El Paso, Electric, Emergency, Emergency, Emergency Broadcast System, Emergency management, Emergency response, Enriched, Environmental terrorist, Epidemic, Epidemic, Erosion, ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna), Evacuation, Evacuation, Execution, Exercise, Explosion (explosive), Exposure, Exposure, Extreme weather, Extremism, Facility, Failure or outage, FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia), Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), First responder, Flood, Flu, Food Poisoning, Foot and Mouth (FMD), Forest fire, Fort Hancock, Fundamentalism, Fusion Center, Gang, Gangs, Gas, Grid, Gulf Cartel, Gunfight, Guzman, H1N1, H5N1, Hacker, Hail, Hamas, Hazardous, Hazardous material incident, Hazmat, Help, Heroin, Hezbollah, Home grown, Homeland Defense, Homeland security, Hostage, Human to Animal, Human to human, Hurricane, Ice, IED (Improvised Explosive Device), Illegal immigrants, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), Improvised explosive device, Incident, Industrial spill, Infection, Infection, Influenza, Infrastructure security, Interstate, IRA (Irish Republican Army), Iran, Iraq, Islamist, Jihad, Juarez, Keylogger, Kidnap, La Familia, Landing, Law enforcement, Leak, Lightening, Listeria, Lockdown, Looting, Los Zetas, Magnitude, Malware, Mara salvatrucha, Marijuana, Maritime domain awareness (MDA), MARTA, Matamoros, Meth Lab, Methamphetamine, Metro, Mexican army, Mexicles, Mexico, Michoacana, Militia Shooting, Mitigation, MS13 or MS-13, Mud slide or Mudslide, Mutation, Mysql injection, Narco banners (Spanish equivalents), Narcos, Narcotics, National Guard, National infrastructure, National laboratory, National Operations Center (NOC), National preparedness, National preparedness initiative, National security, Nationalist, NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center), Nerve agent, New Federation, Nigeria, Nogales, North Korea, Norvo Virus, Nuclear, Nuclear, Nuclear facility, Nuclear threat, Nuevo Leon, Organized crime, Outbreak, Pakistan, Pandemic, Phishing, Phreaking, Pipe bomb, Pirates, Plague, PLF (Palestine Liberation Front), PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization, Plot, Plume, Police, Pork, Port, Port Authority, Powder (white), Power, Power lines, Power outage, Prevention, Public Health, Quarantine, Radiation, Radicals, Radioactive, Recall, Recovery, Recruitment, Red Cross, Relief, Resistant, Response, Reynosa, Reyosa, Ricin, Riot, Rootkit, Salmonella, San Diego, Sarin, Scammers, Screening, Secret Service (USSS), Secure Border Initiative (SBI), Security, Service disruption, Shelter-in-place, Shootout, Shots fired, Sick, Sinaloa, Sleet, Small Pox, Smart, Smuggling (smugglers), Snow, Social media, Somalia, Sonora, Southwest, Spammer, Spillover, Standoff, State of emergency, Storm, Strain, Stranded/Stuck, Subway, Suicide attack, Suicide bomber, Suspicious package/device, Suspicious substance, SWAT, Swine, Symptoms, Taliban, Tamaulipas, Tamiflu, Tamil Tigers, Target, Task Force, Telecommunications, Temblor, Terror, Terror Tuberculosis (TB), Terrorism, Threat, Tijuana, Tornado, Torreon, Toxic, Toxic Agro, Trafficking, Transportation security, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Tremor, Trojan, Tsunami, Tsunami Warning Center, TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), Tucson, Twister, Typhoon, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), U.S. Consulate, United Nations (UN), Vaccine, Violence, Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, Virus, Virus, Warning, Watch, Water/air borne, Wave, Weapons cache, Weapons grade, Wildfire, WMATA, World Health Organization (WHO) (and components), Worm, Yemen, Yuma

Declaration of Independence

It used to be a custom for a public reading of the Declaration every anniversary, starting in 1777.  I fear that with recent events in this once great nation, that this may be the last anniversary that a truly free man will be able to read this important document.  It grieves my heart to think so, since I once took an oath to defend this nation and Constitution, and if necessary, to give my life for it.  I fear that tree of liberty may need to be watered again.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  Since the previous question is in Latin, the problem has been around for some time.

Read the Declaration again. How much of the complaints against King George III can be applied to Obama and the other socialist ilk in the Senate?  Quite a lot - that is, if one is intellectually honest.

“Socialism,” said Ayn Rand, “is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good.” Obamacare mandates exactly that: the productive exist for the aid of the non-productive, and all must change their behavior to conform with what the state prescribes as the good.

Roberts’ decision, like Taney’s, will not be without consequences. I fear that it will result in rage and the blind violence of a civil war. The American people cannot be cowed into resignation, submission, or passivity. As Ayn Rand said: “Defiance, not obedience, is the Americans’ answer to overbearing authority. The Nation that ran an Underground Railroad to help human beings escape from slavery, or began drinking on principle in the face of Prohibition, will not say ‘Yes, sir,’ to the enforcers” of socialized medicine. Not yet, anyway."

Pamela Geller, writing for PJ Media

I ask liberals (and indeed all Americans) to examine themselves to see if they have the virtues necessary of self-government...and then read the following.

[Highlights mine]

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

In light of the total disregard for religious liberty from both Obamacare and his administration, I'm sharing the following before it becomes illegal to be a Christian in this country:

"If you are celebrating Independence Day today, be sure to remember those who have fought to secure our freedoms. Many have given their lives for our liberty, and we should be extremely grateful for their sacrifice. How much more grateful should we be that the perfect Son of God loved us enough to die in our place! Though believers may not always share the same earthly freedoms, we can take hold of God’s promise for our spiritual freedom and have complete confidence in Jesus Christ our Savior. His sacrifice frees believers from eternal destruction and makes eternal life possible. It also gives us independence from the guilt and shame of our sins in the present. May we ever praise Him for His wonderfully incredible grace!" Tim Chaffey, AiG-U.S.

Mos Eisley Brevity

I'll get right to the point:

Against Organized Religion

Credit to Dan Lietha:

50 years - Friendship 7 - John Glenn

Dear reader (if any), do you really think I'd let this anniversary go by without comment or observation?  I was exactly 2 weeks old as of February 20, 1962.  That puts my conception on or about May 2, 1961.  See here for events on May 5, 1961.  I am a child of the Space Age/Race.

John Glenn's Mission Patch:

For the official NASA "take" on the mission, go here.

A nice take on the subject by Space.com:





(Sorry for the tiny embed...blame Space.com.  Direct link here)

My take on it:

(Caution...this is where I assume most will fall asleep due to sheer boredom.  Be glad I got the more exciting stuff out of the way first)



My favorite GI Joe "action figure" (yes, I played with "dolls" too) was the Mercury astronaut complete with the Mercury spacecraft.   I remember taking that to 3rd grade for show and tell, along with the "nifty" vacuum formed record of the Friendship 7 flight audio.

For years, I spelled my middle name with 2 "n", thinking my parents named me after Mr. Glenn.  I found out at the "tender" age of 12 this wasn't so after seeing my birth certificate and getting my first Social Security card while in 6th grade.  I also developed myopia at the same time, thus disqualifying me from being a test pilot and hence an astronaut.  I decided then if I couldn't fly them, I'd design them.  Plan B (aerospace engineering, or "rocket scientist")  didn't pan out either, BTW.

The most successful college paper I wrote was on Beowulf, on the thesis of the single combatant warrior.  But actually, I got that idea from Tom Wolfe's, The Right Stuff.  Mr. Wolfe's fantastic observation was that the Mercury astronauts were dueling it out on the Nation's behalf against the Soviets. 

I also remember how cheesy and derivative it was when Sen. Glenn(D-OH) finagled a ride on STS-95 (10/29/98 to 11/7/98).  I say derivative because Sen. Garn(R-UT) finagled a ride on STS-51d (4/12 to 4/19/85).  Yet this did show me another way into space...just become rich - be elected to the U.S. Senate - and get on the right committee to start twisting arms.

Lunar Base Niven v.3.0 FIXED!

I released ver. 3.0 knowing it had a flashing issue with the animated vessels.  I searched both the old M6 forum and the current Orbiter-Forum for solutions and came up with nothing.  I figured that not only would I get smart a$$ comments (here and here) but I would also get helpful suggestions (here and here).

From the 1st suggestion posted by Loru (change COG to >0), I was able to quickly find that it also needed the landing points changed in the original Spacecraft3 config file...as suggested by woo482.  As I was running out of time yesterday morning and had to leave for work, I did manage to get the issue resolved but yet not upload said changes until this morning.  A quick recompile via the DLL converter and changing the documentation and the zip file...and an update on the "Hangar".

Being indebted to both Loru and woo482, my humble and small thanks was to include them in the credits.

Reinforcing my comments about disco, I offer the following chorus from April Wine's, Wanna Rock, originally released on the album, Nature of the Beast:

Don't waste my money driving 'round in a car
Save my money for electric guitars
Disco music's just a social disease
If it don't rock me, then it ain't gonna please me

I flatly refuse to boogie till I puke!  I'll puke FIRST!

Here's the song on YouTube:



Better a smart a$$ than a dumb a$$!

I am the 1%

OWS Karma

What I like to call, "You reap what you sow".

Excerpt from "Karma", by Clarice Feldman, posted on American Thinker.
 

4. Occupation Force Karma
There's so much karma around the occupation forces that I hardly know where to start.
In the first place their target  -- which seems to be the banks which lent them money they cannot now repay or the "corporations" which apparently will not hire them -- is misplaced, which means even if they succeed in annoying everyone and making a lot of places filthy, they cannot get any meaningful relief.  James Taranto:

Their anger is understandable but misplaced. The banks were merely doing what banks do; if they had refused to make student loans, these youngsters would have been just as upset. As for the corporations, the reason they demand college degrees, as we wrote in 2007, is that is that the government forbids them to screen applicants directly for basic intelligence under a doctrine of antidiscrimination law known as "disparate impact" that the U.S. Supreme Court established in the 1971 case Griggs v. Duke Power Co.:
But why are employers able to get away with requiring a degree without running afoul of Griggs?  Because colleges and universities -- again, especially elite ones -- go out of their way to discriminate in favor of minorities.  By admitting blacks and Hispanics with much lower SAT scores than their white and Asian classmates, purportedly in order to promote "diversity," these institutions launder the exam of its disparity.
Thus the higher-education industry and corporate employers have formed a symbiotic relationship in which the former profits by acting as the latter's gatekeeper and shield against civil-rights lawsuits. Little wonder that in 2003, when the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of discriminatory admissions policies at the University of Michigan, 65 Fortune 500 companies filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging that they be upheld.
Now of course the kids at Occupy Wall Street don't know any of this. They have received four-plus years of "education" from mostly left-wing professors who owe their sinecures to this arrangement and who are happy, for reasons of both ideology and self-interest, to vilify the capitalist system they feed off. When we explained this to Taylor, it was totally new to him, and he was fascinated.
If these young people ever figure out the real reasons they're so deeply in debt, maybe they'll "occupy" Columbia and NYU rather than Wall Street.

Then there's the atmosphere in the occupation venues they created.
If you run around with signs attacking private property as theft and extolling expropriation of others' wealth, can you be surprised when your fellow would- be- communards steal your good stuff like Apple iPhones and iPads?  If you discourage law enforcement from entering your occupation territory, should you be surprised when your fellows assault and rape you?  If you hang out with folks who covet other peoples' things, can you be astonished when whatever you earn (in this case by your drumming ) is taxed at 50%  by those who are sitting around eating chef-prepared donated organic food and trying on free shoes?  And when you gather with those who  eschew any order are you entitled to cry:
"Someone has to be told what to do. Someone needs to give orders. There's no sense of order in this fucking place."?

Jimmy Carter on steroids

Welcome Back Kotter!

Hat tip to http://www.powerlineblog.com

The Real Problem with ATMs.

First, the credits.

I saw this piece on the American Thinker blog by Clarice Feldman, a frequent contributor there.

She writes, near the end of the piece:

After all, what did we get from the last presidential debates but a president who this week adds to his string of nonsensical pronouncements by saying ATMs are responsible for unemployment.

She in turn then quotes the following from Peter Kirsanow, who writes for National Review Online:

. . . is not so much that they destroy jobs, but that in at least 50 of 57 states you can’t conduct transactions in Austrian, making it difficult to withdraw enough cash to spread the wealth around to Midwesterners, who then become bitter and cling to guns and religion and antipathy toward people who aren’t like your doctor, who you can keep (if you like him) but you probably won’t because for extra cash he unnecessarily performs tonsillectomies and amputates the feet of people from Kansas, where a while back 10,000 were killed by a tornado that also air-raided villages and killed civilians in Afghanistan, from which we need to begin withdrawing troops by July so we can use the funds to save or create jobs for people who don’t use air pressure gauges to keep the tires on their cash-for-clunkers car properly inflated, requiring them to buy more gas than they otherwise would at $3.84 a gallon and thereby reducing their disposable income and causing them not to buy consumer products, resulting in slower GDP growth that can only be jumpstarted by another round of stimulus spending so the economy won’t go into a double-dip recession that would result in layoffs and a higher unemployment rate than we had even after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that everyone knows was George Bush’s fault.

Economics is hard.

 Clarice's last observation, is IMO, is the best:

Certainly, the sort of tough debates we had in 2008  failed to save us from electing someone moronic enough to believe all these untruths.

Since I earn a living fixing the things (ATMs), I certainly can't agree with the statement that they cause unemployment.  Also, dear reader (if any), consider the fact that they have been around for at least 30 years...which makes The One's pronouncement all the more foolhardy.

As I have been repairing ATMs for the last 14 years, I have come to the conclusion that certain people shouldn't be allowed to use them.  The main thesis of Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein is that there should be more than just a warm body requirement for one to exercise the franchise.  Therefore, 2008, IMO, proved to me 3 things:  that Heinlein was right, that certain people shouldn't be allowed to vote, and, that certain people shouldn't be allowed to run for office.

Fox News Houston reports on Orbiter

Not too bad...they mostly got it right.  But "a little complex" is an oversimplification.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/morning_news/my_tech_guy/110516-download-free-space-shuttle-simulator

Since this was a Fox News outlet, I'm totally surprised that it even got a mention on Orbiter-Forum.  Most of the community is rabid anti-Fox...sometimes to the point of derangement.

My Orbiter Life

 When I first found Orbiter in March 2006, I was then playing with Eagle Lander 3D (which could only simulate the Apollo lunar missions - and only those portions that happened in lunar orbit), I was elated that I could fully simulate an entire Apollo mission.  As my 1st blog entry states, "I was hopelessly hooked".

 I have spent most of my life being aware that most of the other people around me aren't as smart - certainly not rocket scientist smart.  I had to learn at an early age to recognize that "deer in the headlights" stare in other's eyes when I got too zealous or detailed in my descriptions of the way shit works...and dial it back a little at times.  Then I found the Orbiter community...and now I feel I've found home.

 Since finding Orbiter, I've tried sharing it with friends and co-workers, and have only found one interested enough to even try it.  Orbiter isn't the first topic, but I bring it up when the person has related that he enjoys video games and is extremely computer literate.

 Simulations, as a genre, aren't all that popular with most gamers because, IMO, there's a learning curve (or too steep), too much detail...etc.  It is though most of them suffer, IMO, from some degree of AADD.  Or, they shirk from the realization that they actually have to "plan" something to achieve goals.

 The one person who even tried it, while growing up, was the first of my son's friends to get the latest and greatest gaming console as soon as they hit the market.  This person also showed early aptitude with computers and is very gifted musically too.  By the time he asked me for help with an Orbiter scenario, he had successfully gotten the stock DG into orbit.  Reference here or here.  He stayed with Orbiter another week or two...he didn't quite get how to set up a orbital rendezvous with another spacecraft, so it lost interest for him.  I haven't bother to bring up that topic with him anymore...some people just aren't cut out for it.

As far as what others think of Orbiter...I don't really care.  We're all blessed with different talents...THIS ONE IS MINE.

Happy 63rd birthday, Israel

Happy 63rd birthday, Israel

Hat tip to American Thinker.

Today marks 63 miraculous years since Israel was reborn as a nation.  

Apollo 18? Hollyweird!

As I was surfing today, I read a blog post from a colleague who's blog covers either the "brilliantly stimulating" or the "bu!!$hit" he encounters.  Sometimes, through sheer serendipity, he accomplishes both in the same post...like today...perhaps.

"Apollo 18" is just another sci-fi thriller/found footage genre/"Blair Witch Project" in space/mockumentary directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego or Trevor Cawood, according to the following list of sites found by Google and perused by me in about 10 minutes:

Geek Syndicate
Badassdigest
Wegotthiscovered
Pajiba.com

The best description of this issue, and my personal favorites, are 2 excerpts from Pajiba.com:

Certain people (crazy people) believe that Apollo 18 did actually go to the moon, but was covered up, probably for the same reasons that the whole program was faked, and I am not nearly drunk enough to follow the logic of those two truths co-existing.

And,

In related news, how stupid are people that believe the Moon landings were shot on a sound stage? The correct answer is “Fuck you for this topic of conversation even existing, asshole.”

In a related entry in THIS blog, I said, "I have to show my utter disdain for Apollo moon hoax conspiratorial nut cases".  Though the last comment from Pajiba.com may be harsh...I nevertheless agree with it.

What "actually" happened, per the "official" history, is that Apollo 18 was canceled, along with Apollos 19 and 20.  Thanks to "Tricky Dick" Nixon.

Had it actually flown, per the "Canceled Apollo missions" entry on Wikipedia, the crew would have been:

     Richard F. Gordon, Jr. (Commander (CDR))
     Vance D. Brand (Command Module Pilot (CMP))
     Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot (LMP))

And, per same source, would have landed:

According to "NASA OMSF, Manned Space Flight Weekly Report" from July 28, 1969, Apollo 18 would have landed at Schröter's Valley in February 1972

In the NASA report "Scientific Rationale Summaries for Apollo Candidate Lunar Exploration Landing Sites" from March 11, 1970, Apollo 18 is targeted for Copernicus

Another source lists the prospective landing sites as Gassendi craters (Apollo 18, July 1973).

Finally, the Orbiter community is trying to "sim" this cancelled mission, see here and here.  I guess I could take a stab at creating a scenario pack for Apollo 18, since there has been an overwhelming response to my other scenario packs (8,12,14,15,16...REAL ONES), with over 21,000 downloads from Orbiter-Hangar.


@Bob: My online name, "NukeET", has the following derivation.  "Nuclear Power Trained Electronics Technician".  The Navy's way of saying, "Reactor Operator".   Though in "Footfall", by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the ETs are nuked by humans.  Thanks to ole Bang-Bang.  F***ing deserved it too!

America's surrender of space

When I started this blog, my intention was to keep it free of politics.

Then the Obama "regime" was elected...and since then the fertilizer has hit the air circulation device - several times.  The final straw was his killing of the Constellation program.

I personally haven't been able to give voice to my frustration with that decision - then I read this post at AmericanThinker.com today.

So long New Frontier.

Remembering Apollo 8 (41st anniversary).

I was only 6 years old at the time but I still vividly remember this moment in time.  It made a lasting and profound impression on me, and heavily influenced my worldview.

Some may say that I'm still that little boy under the Christmas tree, with dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Click here to read an op ed piece from American Thinker.

Click here to download the Christmas Eve 1968 broadcast.

Click here to read the transcript.

Earthrise, Apollo 8

"Contact", not "Houston"

Or, how Reagan Outdoor Advertising is making jackasses of themselves.

This is a billboard being seen along the Wasatch Front.  Its purpose can be found here.  
One problem however...it is WRONG!  My first reaction to this was a very loud "Bravo Sierra".

Really, the answer to this question is easily found in the public domain, and even easier to look up with the advent of Google (perhaps Reagan Advertising hasn't heard of this recent technological breakthrough).  The public record of the ACTUAL first word spoken on the Moon is,

102:45:40 Aldrin: Contact Light. [At least one of the probes hanging from three of the footpads has touched the surface. Each of them is 67 inches (1.73 meters) long. The ladder strut doesn't have a probe. Buzz made the call at 20:17:40 GMT/UTC on 20 July 1969.]  (emphasis mine)

Most (if not all) historians and space flight enthusiasts consider the Lunar Surface Journal to be a reliable source.

I won't expound upon the argument other than to direct the reader, if any, to here.

However, I am reminded of two quotes:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Joseph Goebbels.

“A lie told often enough becomes truth”
Vladimir Lenin.

 P.S. If one desires to express their opinion to Reagan Outdoor Advertising, click here.