F-35’s Gun That Can’t Shoot Straight Adds to Its Roster of Flaws
January 30th, 2020
Via: Bloomberg:
Add a gun that can’t shoot straight to the problems that dog Lockheed Martin Corp.’s $428 billion F-35 program, including more than 800 software flaws.
The 25mm gun on Air Force models of the Joint Strike Fighter has “unacceptable” accuracy in hitting ground targets and is mounted in housing that’s cracking, the Pentagon’s test office said in its latest assessment of the costliest U.S. weapons system.
And Now, Colorado Mystery Drones a Case of Mass Hysteria
January 30th, 2020Swamp gas, Venus, etc.
Via: Vice:
On January 13, the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) issued a statement about their investigation into the mysterious drone sightings in question. CDPS “confirmed no incidents involving criminal activity, nor have investigations substantiated reports of suspicious or illegal drone activity.” In other words, they found nothing.
Of the 23 reports between January 6 and January 13 when the investigation was underway, 13 were determined to be “planets, stars, or small hobbyist drones.” Six were commercial aircraft, and four remain unconfirmed. None of the 90 reports from November 23 onward were confirmed instances of illegal drone activity.
The CDPS statement confirms a Motherboard report that was published that same day which suggested the drones were not real.
Coronavirus: World Health Organization Declares Global Emergency
January 30th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Health authorities in Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus epidemic, said on Friday that deaths from the disease had risen to 204, a sharp increase that underscores concerns about the virus from global health officials.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said late Thursday that it was declaring the outbreak a global emergency, as cases spread to at least 18 countries.
New York Requires People to Purchase Stargazing Permits to View Night Sky in State Parks
January 30th, 2020Via: Free Thought Project:
In their efforts to squeeze every dime they can from the tax farm, bureaucrats in New York have devised a scheme to extort citizens who wish to use public parks to gaze upon the night sky. This extortion comes in the form of a $35.00 “Stargazing Permit.” If you are from out of state and wish to gaze upon the night sky from one of these locations that fee jumps to $60.
If you think that you will do anything else besides look at the night sky with this permit, think again. Within the regulations, bureaucrats explicitly point out that the “Permit allows after sunset parking for stargazing only, valid January 1 – December 31.”
Some Americans Flee Collapsing Cities for Rural Areas
January 30th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Cheap housing, deep unease and intense resilience – all forces that are driving a clutch of Americans to swap city life for a fresh start off grid and far from civilisation.
Some are survivalists, among them high fliers who fear a looming, urban catastrophe and the mayhem that might follow.
Others want a greener, gentler life untainted by the malign forces of capitalism and uncertainty of mainstream politics.
Whichever camp, realtors say the new dropouts are not “crackpots” and often include affluent professionals whose run for the hills has boosted rural land values and started to change their property market.
“I’ve had hedge-fund managers and billionaires that have made purchases, and they all have concerns about the direction of the economy and social stability,” said John E. Haynes, president of Retreat Realty in North Carolina.
“We’re on that upward trend,” he said. “Inventory of that land on the market is tighter.”
…
Idaho in particular recorded a big influx.
The state had one of the top U.S. growth rates in 2015-16, driven in part by escapees from California and neighbouring Washington state, according to Boise State assistant professor Jeffrey Lyons.
Disaffected Californians make up a substantial number of clients for Black Rifle Real Estate, which says online that it helps people “Flee the City to the freedom and safety of Rural America and the famed American Redoubt.”
Broker Todd Savage said his business is at an all-time high, driven by frustration with how many U.S. cities are governed.
“Most of our clients are now looking to sell their postage-stamp size properties … and make what we call a ‘Strategic Relocation’ to a free state,” Savage said in an email.
Permanent Trillion Dollar Deficits
January 30th, 2020Via: Wall Street Journal:
The national debt and sustained federal budget deficits will hit the highest levels since World War II over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projected on Tuesday, following multiple rounds of tax cuts and continued increases in federal spending.
The government will spend $1 trillion more than it collects in 2020 and deficits will reach or exceed that threshold every year for the foreseeable future. As a share of gross domestic product, the deficit will be at least 4.3% every year through 2030. That would be the longest stretch of budget deficits exceeding 4% of GDP over the past century, according to the CBO, an nonpartisan arm of Congress.
Journey Across Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
January 30th, 2020This is a fascinating look inside some of the abandoned areas of Chernobyl. However, don’t drink the water.
Via: shiey – Illegal Freedom:
Santa Cruz Decriminalizes Psychedelic Mushrooms
January 30th, 2020Via: ABC:
A new resolution has been passed in Central California to decriminalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms.
The City Council of Santa Cruz voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a measure that will make investigation and arrest for “the adult possession, use or cultivation of psychoactive plants and fungi” a low-priority infraction by law enforcement.
“This Council initiative is part of a diversity of strategies taking care of mental health in our community,” Councilmember Chris Krohn told ABC News in a statement. “This resolution ensures that only people 21 and over have access to these plants and the Council has given direction to our Police Department to make it a low priority infraction.”
University of Missouri Tracking Students with Phone App
January 29th, 2020Get them ready for life in those lovely “smart” cities!
Via: Kansas City Star:
Officials say it’s for the students’ own good.
…
The phone app is called Spotter, developed by a former Mizzou basketball coach. It works using short-range phone sensors and campus-wide WiFi networks. The university can tell when a student crosses a classroom threshold to enter or leave as the cellphone pings off of a beacon stashed in the room. The app notifies students that they are not in class, in case they are there and forgot to turn on their Bluetooth setting.
GM Now Claims To Be Serious About Electric Vehicles
January 28th, 2020Via: Electrek:
After GM’s official dedication yesterday of its Detroit-Hamtramck plant strictly for electric cars, Electrek spoke with Mark Reuss, the company’s president. We wanted to hear directly from GM leadership about its level of commitment to quickly deliver on multi-billion-dollar, global EV plans. Here is an edited version of Reuss’s discussion with us and a small group of reporters.
