A video about Houston Texas

 

My olde home town. This is very amusing, because this guy is giving advice about a place I lived in for most of my life. A term cropped up which I hadn't heard of before, even though I lived very, very close to where he was talking about--- Rice Military. Nobody I knew ever referred to it as such, so maybe it is a term that is relatively new. So I looked up Rice Military on a search and got a Wikipedia link, and had another amusing moment. Yep, I lived REAL close to the area and NOBODY called it that.

You can call it whatever you please. Houston really is massive, and this area called Rice Military is TINY. I didn't realize how popular it has gotten with certain people. I moved out of Houston over 8 years ago, and haven't been back but one time since. Maybe things are changing there.

Angry Astronaut throws his two cents in

In short, this video asserts that SpaceX is pushing his engines beyond their limits, and that's why they keep encountering problems. The video insinuates very strongly that Musk is LYING about its performance. So, what can you say about it? For one thing, if Musk is going to lie, this lie is not the one he would tell. The reason is that the lie can be exposed pretty easily. Rocket performance characteristics aren't that easy to lie about. If you don't have the thrust, it won't lift off. ISP cannot be fudged, because it is a function of heat. Heat can be measured or estimated on the test stand. If it isn't that hot, the ISP claims won't hold up. So I call bullshit here on the video.

 

Musk may have an ego as big as the rocket itself. Why else would he not follow best practices? Nobody is supposed to be able to do it, so he tries it anyway. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Re-usable rockets were supposed to be impossible. He has managed to get his second stage to a soft splashdown a couple or three times. He is not that far away. If you don't like the guy that's your privilege, but he's spending his own money, and it is his own company. He wants to go to Mars. Let's see if he can do it. I see this criticism as a bunch of self-interested types shilling for the SLS. Now that is a waste of money.

Trump is legitimizing the Judicial Coup?

 

It does seem that way, as this article asserts. But is there another way of looking at this? What is the alternative?

If the courts put themselves in the position of being an obstruction, then should it not be a political issue in the mid-terms? Also, any others, such as Establishment types who do so, should they not also be on the ballot?

Trump COULD say that he is trying to address the issues, and COULD say truthfully that he cannot until the attempted coup is put down. If this is to be a country of laws and a democracy, then it is fair to ask if that is what the people actually want. THEN RUN ON IT. IF ELECTED, THEN DO IT.

Nobody elected a dictator or king, but if one side forces the issue, strong measures are needed to counter it. If Trump doesn't intend to do it now, he could ask to do it on the basis of a mandate to do so. If the mandate is given, then execute it ferociously.

The trials and tribulations of Jake Tapper

 There's been a whole lot about this story, but I tend to slough it off.

Jake Tapper is always been talked about, so I just ignore it all. But I sometimes read a bit about him. This dude is trying to make money off an "apology" that he does not make. I mean, it's bad enough to cover for the Bidens, but this dude is out there trying to make money off the appearance of making it right, when he really isn't. This dude takes the cake. Besides, I don't know why anybody'd buy this dude's book. Really, he's not reliable. If you want to read fiction, maybe you'd have better luck with someone more talented at writing it.

The relevant quote:

As he explained, it is hard to believe "Jake Tapper just woke up," but he thinks the framing is part of a larger strategy. Tapper and Thompson reportedly hired a crisis PR firm to help them navigate the book launch, and Greenwald said he sees those fingerprints are all over the authors' media tour -- beginning with their appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show. "[Tapper] kept using this phrase with you... 'I look back on my coverage with some humility.' This is the kind of thing that they tell you to say so that you seem like you're taking accountability even though you are absolutely not," Greenwald noted. "Like, what does that mean? You were the one who helped to lead the cover up that you are now... making millions of dollars off of exposing. It is a huge scandal."

Anyway, I try to ignore these people as much as possible. But this is so ridiculous, it invites a response.

"Hot Lips" Houlihan star dies

 

Dropping like flies.

Emmy award-winning MASH star Loretta Swit dies at 87-years-old https://t.co/UbXF8v7ZjS via @JustTheNews

— BootsandOil (@BootsandO6892) May 30, 2025

Just as I refuse to say "native American", I refuse to say "Gulf of America"

"Behind the Black blog"

Comment:

Zimmerman has a pet peeve, methinks. Well, so doeth I. If you don't know what mine is by now, you don't know my blog. Do I need to repeat myself? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm????? Actually, there' more than one, so it should be an easy target!

It's a rig

Just sitting around watching videos, and there was this one about how one of the Super Bowls was rigged. Actually, several of them were allegedly rigged. The video made an interesting case, but if it was rigged, how do you ever prove it?

There was a mention of a few games here, but that is not the point. The point will get covered later. But first, a brief survey of games. The first alleged rigged game was the famous guaranteed victory game in Super Bowl III. The motive was money, as the losing team's owner liked to gamble. So, the motive was to throw the game in order to win the bet. Seems plausible, eh? Then there was the game in which some questionable events took place, and it involved the Raiders. You don't need to say a whole more than the Raiders and Al Davis. The motivation was that the Raiders' coach didn't like his team, and the change in game plan just before the game was suspicious. Then there was the Super Bowl in which the officials seemed to throw the game in favor of the Steelers. The Steelers were playing near Pittsburg, and it became the Bettis Bowl. One for the thumb and for Jerome Bettis, the "Bus". It was somehow an accusation against the "system", it would seem.

Since this isn't really about football, since there are accusations of rigged elections too. Particulaly the 2020 election. Given everything that has happened around Donald Trump, it does appear that a concerted effort is being made to deny him any power even if the people vote for it. You've got one-sided media, one-sided court cases, and now that he's back in the White House, he cannot govern because of Lawfare. Another rigged game.

 

Trump is in good shape politically, but how will he be able to accomplish what he was elected to accomplish if the system will not allow him to do it? His main tool in resetting the economy is with the tariffs, and now that has been shot down. A fair question could be asked, but will it ever be answered honestly?

I wouldn't bet on it. If it is indeed a rigged game, then it won't matter what someone deserves. He will get what the system will allow, because the system controls events, and not the public. In the meantime, the system preaches to the rest of us about democracy and the rule of law.

Time to call bullshit. There's no democracy and there's no rule of law. It may be hard to prove it with undeniable evidence, but you cannot deny a systemic reaction to one Donald J. Trump. That makes the whole system suspicious. Just saying.

I knew that it had to be something...

Bosoms!

I'm sorry Dave...

Maybe you could train Hal to do our taxes. If there's a problem with da gubbermint, just blame it on Hal.

 

Starship blows up again

5/28/25:

There wasn't any POGO, according to the mishap report. If there was, it is not being discussed much. I didn't read the mishap report, btw. But this is the third time that the second stage doesn't re-enter the atmosphere in a controlled descent. This time, on flight 9, it didn't blow up. But it lost control, which isn't good.

Let's consider POGO anyway. Let's suppose that it is POGO. If so, SpaceX is not disclosing it, or if they are, it's being downplayed. This implies some sort of deception, does it not? Somebody isn't fessing up, if POGO was the actual case. There WAS a fuel leak. Why would there be a fuel leak??? Vibrations? What's the nature of the vibrations? If the vibrations are POGO, why not say so?

There may not be enough probing by the fan boys. What's going on here?

3/10/25, 7:45 AM:

Missing engines! Shows damage inside engine compartment after explosion.

Good video, with some interesting comments.

12:09 PM:



Anon sources say re-design may be necessary.



3/9/25:

Some folks seem to think that to go forward with new stuff when the latest new stuff isn't working. Hmm. I would think that going back to what worked before may be a better idea in order to move forward. The Version 1 worked. Version 2 isn't. Go back to Version 1, and then push forward to a catch with a somewhat modified Version 1. You could fix whatever is wrong with the new stuff while testing the old stuff. The modifications that could be kept would be the change in location of the forward flaps, and heat shield changes. The bigger tanks with the changed plumbing needs more thinking out.

SpaceX should not get into the habit of failure. They've had 8 launches, and they're still not in orbit. Time to get to orbit and start doing something useful.

3/8/25, 7:33 AM:

Is this problem any way related to the POGO effect? It could explain the extra long static fire test prior to flight 8. If it is POGO, then why did it surface for the new Version 2 and not the Version 1? There's discussion of leaks, but POGO could induce leaks through the hammer effect.

10:45 AM:

Let's assume that it WAS POGO. If so, nobody used that term. Why not? What I'm getting at is how this is being framed. If it was framed as "vibrations" instead, then why? POGO was encountered in the Saturn V, so obviously it isn't a death sentence for a rocket. There are means to handle it.

POGO is a hazardous condition. The early Saturn V rocket launches had some damages due to POGO. It isn't inconceivable that POGO could cause failures. Just curious about why they would want to smooth over the discussion. Are they worried about it?

3/7/25, 12:25 PM:

Some tidbits coming in slowly, some not confirmed. 1) Trajectory was off before engine shutdowns 2) mention of something wrong with appearance of the exhaust from the engines, 3) fire was observed, and possible explosion of vaccuum engine...

Speculation: the leak was far greater than thought, hence the ineffective repair. If it is a design flaw, it's back to the drawing board for Version 2. But what about Version 1?

6:07 PM:

Another plausible failure mode? A hot spot on one of the vaccuum engines leads to speculation that it destroyed the engine, and caused the others to fail as well. I guess we'll find out eventually what the cause really was.



3/6/25; 6:19 PM:

It's a version 2, which means it is a new design. Evidently, there's a persistent bug in the system, which is causing these RUDS. Of course, it could be something else entirely, but it does seem to have the same type of thing happening. Not much information available yet.

Unconfirmed video of the Starship flight 8 explosion pic.twitter.com/EPgaB87uSN

— OC Scanner 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@OC_Scanner) March 7, 2025

7:55 PM:



After a quick comparison between flight 7 and flight 8, the failure mode appears about the same time. Consequently, I am of the opinion now that they've made no progress in correcting the problem. This is most definitely going to set back the program. We'll see though.

Hang on Sloopy Dancer

5/27/25:

Rick Derringer has passed away. Gee golly whiz, how time flies.

12/16/20:

 If you wondered who she was,  this says who she is and it may surprise you.

It surprised me, but sometimes that ain't hard.

Update:

The article linked says it's the state song ( I think ) or Ohio.  Now that is something I didn't know.  It was a big hit in the sixties, but a state song?  Down here, we may not have a state song, but we've got our songs.  Yellow Rose of Texas, for instance.

If Sloopy were to stand in for America, what would you tell her?  To "hang on", or to kiss off?  It seems like a bunch of politicians on the GOP side are telling us on the conservative side to "kiss off".  Or something like that, if you catch my meaning.

If we lose, we lose.  But these guys won't even make sure that it was even a fair loss.  If they can lie to us, they will lie to anybody, in my opinion.  That goes for the libs too, but they don't seem to care.  We know what they'd tell Sloopy.

Brilliance fades into underwhelming performance from SpaceX

The latest Starship launch, while not a catastrophic failure, wasn't exactly brilliant either. Besides getting through to the SECO point, it didn't seem to do anything right. The payload test didn't work, as the door didn't open properly. There was a fuel leak, and a loss of attitude control. There was an uncontrolled re-entry. Will that cause another mishap report?

 

Is there something wrong at the joint? If they plan on getting a Starship to Mars, they'd better pick up the pace a bit. It's a two year launch window, which starts next year. Not that much time left to get their act together.

The USA is the least favored nation according to its own leaders.

 

What people may not know is that the so-called free trade is designed to help rebuild the world after the catastrophe of World War II. The USA never ended that policy, which was disadvantageous to the USA by design. The world has rebuilt many times over since that war ended, so the policy should end too. Of course the globalists would prefer that the USA disappear so that they can rule the world. Lucky us, if that happens. /sarc

What the Hell Happened In 1971? https://t.co/GHsYsvv3nA --- Nixon took us off the gold standard, for one. But the real problem is that the USA was trying to hold up the world on its own. No one country could possibly do that. Trump might end it, or the world will end it for us

— BootsandOil (@BootsandO6892) May 27, 2025

The mind blowing property of time dilation

The effects of time on moving objects differ from that of objects at rest. ( Einstein's theory ) Neil deGrasse Tyson loses sleep over that... he exagerrates, I think.

 

Superwood, too good to be true?

 

It is supposed to be stronger than steel, cheaper than steel to manufacture, and can be shaped into any form. Sounds great, but what can go wrong? Maybe nothing! Maybe not. Anyway, there's a strong movement to start making the stuff, so it can begin showing up in products soon.

Miller Corrects the Record: The Big Bill Is a Massive Tax & Spending Cuts Bill

independentsentinel

as a reconciliation bill, it cannot “codify the DOGE cuts.” The Senate rules ban cutting “discretionary” spending which is what the DOGE cuts are mostly.

Comment:

Perhaps the Senate could "carve out" the DOGE cuts, so that they can be included in the cuts.

The Western Media’s Role in Genocide, Assassinations, and the Near Destruction of the U.S.

Clarice Feldman, American Thinker: As I see it, there were three big stories this week: the media’s pretense that it was ignorant of Biden’s infirmities when it mattered; the cold-blooded assassination in D.C. of two young employees of the Israeli embassy, and the presiden...

Comment:

Is the virulent opposition to Trump a RACIAL phenomenon? I would say so. It's not that Trump is racist, but his opposition is anti-white racist. I would stop calling the media "main stream". This kind of attitude should not be considered "main stream".

Dodging a bullet

God looks out for drunks, little children, and the USA. --- paraphrasing something you may have heard of before... Anyway, we sure dodged a bullet when this guy lost the election. Imagine Walz being Veep right now. Yikes.

 

Power density is the key

 

Lots of power in small packages, that's power density. With that, you can do more with less. Imagine a subcompact car with sports car performance. Anyway, this dude thinks that an engine like this one in the video could be a superior design. Hmm. Maybe.