Moonlighting engineers with help from retirees and space enthusiasts plan alternate rocket and moon mission? No it is not the pitch for the newest Joss Whedon series.
Quote: By day, the engineers work on NASA’s new Ares moon rockets. By night, some go undercover to work on a competing design (called Jupiter). These dissenting scientists and their backers insist they have created an alternative rocket that would be safer, cheaper and easier to build than the two Ares spacecraft that will replace the space shuttle.
Jupiter developers say: It’s simpler, more powerful, and would save about 35 billion dollars over two years. Plus, rogue engineers bootstrapping to the moon? Hells yeah.
NASA says: It’s little more than a sketch on a napkin. It’s not feasible and it won’t work. Now got off the lawn you pesky kids!
I just love this story. Not only for the space-related super-dork intrigue of it all. That we are getting to the point where such things can even be considered is thrilling. Check out the napkin in question-Direct 2.0 for tons of info, images, animations, etc. Also, check out Stephen Metschan’s 2 part story from a couple months back.
Dated: 07.16 Comments: 1 Permanent link to this post: ≡ Email this post: »
Is Heinrich Kieber a modern-day robin hood? No. A new folk-hero trying to awaken the sleepy / sheepy masses to the realities of a ceasless class war? No. An idealistic do-gooder taking a stand in a world sucked-dry by vampiric corporate greed? Nope. Truth be told he’s not even a conflicted but ethically outraged whistleblower. Not even close. Heinrich Kieber was convicted of real estate fraud in Spain, fled to his native Liechtenstein, and while working there as an employee of the Liechtenstein Global Trust, stole from the rich to give to… who else? himself.
In his capacity as a document digitizer for the LGT Kieber evidently copied 3 disks worth of data on thousands of tax-evading account holders and went on to sell the data to officials of 12 separate countries. He made about 7.5 million from the Germans, which is a tidy sum certainly, and with laws which allow whistleblowers to collect 30 percent of any taxes recovered as a result of their info he stands to make a whole lot more in the U.S. Sure, after pissing off a cadre of the worlds super-rich he’s had to change his name and go into hiding, but that’s the rough and tumble world of high-stakes capitalism baby!
You might argue that, in point of fact, Heinrich Kieber is something of a scumbag, and ding!ding!ding! you’d be correct. No argument here. Even so… the thought of the mega-wealthy being made to squirm, if even for few unattended private seconds, brings me considerable joy. Tax evading billionaires, along with war profiteers, high-level corporate embezzlers, and bought-off politicians, are scumbag royalty after all. And to quote Twain, “The institution of Royalty in any form is an insult to the human race.”
It’s unlikely that much will come from the data and resultant probes here in the U.S. right? I mean perhaps a few particularly unpopular multi-millionaires will get thrown under the Bently and do a few months in prison, but any of the professional criminal-rich worth their undeclared salt will surely emerge unscathed. Hell, they’ll probably figure out a way to profit. This is Amurica!
Really, on some level, the uber-rich shitheels who will now be compelled to mobilize their battalions of lawyers and do the “subcommittee shuffle” ought to be grateful to Heinrich Kieber. Surely having the law in your back pocket is a lot like having a Lamborgini in your garage, a .45 calibre Luger Carbine under glass, the phone number for a $10,000 a night hooker in your wallet… they’re no fun unless you get to use them.
For more on this hot scum-on-scum action-
ABC: day of Reckoning?
Spiegel: Liechtenstein’s Shadowy Informant (parts 1-4)
Bloomberg: Kieber Sale Triggers Backlash
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Hello: Just a note to let you know my Mac died after 5-plus years of tireless service and I am in the process right now of setting up a new system, recovering data, etc. I may be MIA for a few days. Will return to you soon. -J
Dated: 07.13 Comments: 5 Permanent link to this post: ≡ Email this post: »
Serif’s Lament. The Serif, as elegant and sophisticated a workhorse as you’re likely to see. Unsung hero of the printed word since presses first began their clacking. But older than that; much older. Old enough to be chiseled into worn-down Roman stone, with origins (both physical and etymological) at least as fuzzy. And yet in the last century or so… how neglected. How maligned! With each new call for utilitarianism, practicality, and modernism the noble Serif has suffered. Today, a decade into the internet revolution, well, the Serif has fallen on hard times. Called upon less and less it must make due with work as body copy and Woody Allen film credits. While Helvetica walks the red carpet the Serif, left behind, laments, “WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” Readability is an issue however, and no one understands.
Two versions of this design are available one printed in black for light apparel and one printed in white for dark apparel. (See below for larger versions.)
Check out all the Nonist’s tees here.
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Quote: Wisconsin law bans sex with dead bodies, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in reinstating charges against three men accused of digging up a corpse to have sex with it. The court waded into the grisly case after lower court judges ruled nothing in state law banned necrophilia. (
Link)
Notice if you will that the courts ruling was a 5-2 decision. A 5-2 DECISION! As you can see from the court sketches above, reaction to the ruling was mixed as well. (Thnx D.)
Dated: 07.10 Comments: 0 Permanent link to this post: ≡ Email this post: »
For your entertainment and personal pleasure I now pass on some eminantly useful occult knowledge, long forgotten by such as we. Taken from a 1913 publication titled The Book of Ceremonial Magic by Arthur Edward Waite, this spell is sure to liven-up a dull evening at home. (As always, please remember that The Nonist is not responsible for any demonic possessions, ghoul maulings, or imp slaps, so conjure with care.) See below to learn…
How to Cause the Appearance of Three Ladies or Three Gentlemen in One’s Room After Supper.
1. Preparation
Abstain for three days from the hidden offices, and then shall your spirit be fortified. On the fourth day, you shall cleanse and prepare your chamber as soon as it is morning, immediately after dressing, the whole fasting. But see you do it in such a way that it will not be liable to disarrangement during the remainder of the day. Note that there must be no hangings, nor anything set crosswise, no tapestries, no hanging clothes, hats, bird-cages, bed curtains, &c. Above all, let the appointments be clean in every respect.
2. Ceremony
After supper pass in secret to your chamber, made ready as above; kindle a good fire; place a white cloth on the table, round which set three chairs, and before each chair, upon the table, let there be a wheaten roll and a glass full of fresh clear water. Lastly, draw up a chair and settee to the side of the bed and retire to rest, uttering the following conjuration:
Besticitum consolatio, veni ad me vertat Creon, Creon, Creon, cantor laudem omnipotentis et non commentur. Stat superior carta bient laudem omviestra principiem da montem et inimicos meos ô prostantis vobis et mihi dantes que passium fieri sincisibus.
The three persons, having arrived, will rest themselves near the fire, drinking, eating and finally thanking him or her who has entertained them; for if it be a young lady who performs this ceremony, three gentlemen will come; but if it be a man, three young ladies will appear. The said three persons will draw lots among each other to know which of them shall remain with you. If a man be the operator, she who wins will place herself in the arm-chair which you have set by the bed, and she will remain and commune with you until midnight, at which hour she will depart with her companions, without any need of dismissal. As regards the two others, they will keep themselves by the fire, while the other entertains you. So long as she remains you may question her upon any art or science, or upon what subject soever, and she will immediately give you a positive answer. You may also inquire of her whether she is aware of any hidden treasure, and she will instruct you as to its locality and the precise time suited to its removal. She will even appear there with her companions to defend you against the assaults of the Infernal Spirits who may have it in their possession. At parting, she will present you with a ring, which, worn on the finger, will render you lucky at play, while if it be placed upon the finger of any woman or girl, you shall there and then have your will with them. Observe, however, that you must leave your window open in order that they may enter.
This ceremony may be repeated frequently at the will of the operator. It must be acknowledged that the above experiment offers a large return for very small pains in the preparation, and hence it is very popular.
!
I don’t know, there’s just something about the specificity of this that cracks me up.
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Today I punched someone in the face. Sounds crazy I know, but it’s a fact. I was returning to the office with a co-worker, after lunch, when I was asked by a squatter/punk-type guy whether I “had any money for blah blah blah.” I responded with a simple and brusque “no” returning to my conversation (which, of all things, was about mega-churches). Said guy, unhappy with my response and lack of interest evidently, proceeded to kick me in the back of the leg. Weird right? So I turned on my heels and punched him full-on in the head.
“You what?” Yeah, ridiculous I know.
Believe me, I’m not proud of it, no matter what the The Boxer of Quirinal image above might lead you to think (I had to choose some image after all). It just happened. Instinct, or too many years of pent-up anger, I don’t know. There was a loud thwapping sound. The guy put his hand to his head, looked at me in grimacing confusion, and then continued on his way, as did I. The bizarre episode only lasted about 20 seconds. And yet…
I have not had a violent physical confrontation with another human in years. Many years. I can’t even remember the last to be honest. I imagine punching someone in the face probably once a day but am just not that kind of guy, or at least don’t think of myself as such.
In as much this interlude has effectively left a whole host of odd, forgotten, emotional and psychological shockwaves rippling through my mind. My general comfort-level is such that an argument between my girlfriend and I can make me lose my appetite. But actually punching a stranger full-on in the face, even if in retaliation? The whole thing just makes me feel out of sorts, and if I’m being honest, the testosterone-fueled invigoration, the vague embarrassment, the regret at losing my cool, the painful hand, the feeling of having stepped, however briefly, into the twilight zone (or reality you might argue)... I’d just as soon do without it.
We live, obviously, in a violent world. Violence is entertainment, news, comedy, tragedy, hobby, and profession here on planet Earth, today just as it always has been. So I guess feeling obliged, as an individual, to punch someone in the face every decade or so ought not to be so surprising. Perhaps, really, I ought to just count myself lucky, that the world has required so little violence from me to this point.
Anyhow, I’m not much of a diarist, as you know, and I apologize for this rude interruption of flow, but this episode is as curious and unexpected as any out-of-left-field ephemera I might normally be sharing. For me at least. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to ask you, my genteel and eminently civilized readers, when was the last time you actually had a violent physical confrontation with someone? And how did it leave you feeling?
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SciAm has an interesting article up about a saucer-shaped IFO called the wingless electromagnetic air vehicle (WEAV) that will (read might) “propel itself using electrodes that cover its surface to ionize the surrounding air into plasma.” Professor Subrata Roy says, “All of the materials needed to make this aircraft currently exist and plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe. If we can somehow tap into that in the future we should be able to fly anywhere.” I say, “perfect excuse for an artist’s conception.” More coverage here.
Dated: 07.08 Comments: 0 Permanent link to this post: ≡ Email this post: »
A notorious tease, he may pretend
not to be aware of you.
Just wait.
He must speak first. Then
you may begin to praise him.
Remember:
sincerity and naturalness
count for more than wit.
His jokes may strike you as
abstruse.
Only laugh if he does.
Gifts?
They say he’s mad for art,
but whether in the melting
elegiac mode of, say, this
Vase of Poppies
or, turning the mirror
to his own face, a bronze skull
gorging on a snake—
that is a matter of taste.
In any case, the expense
is what he notices.
What to wear.
Some authorities
still insist on black.
But really, in this modern age,
your best is all that is required.
—Tom Disch
Also: On Genius from Camp Concentration.
Dated: 07.08 Comments: 1 Permanent link to this post: ≡ Email this post: »
Ape Resistance. Imagine, if you will an already backward-leaning country, by some strange cast of the die, sliding full-tilt into dogmatic lunacy. Imagine the ascendance of a bona-fide Theocratic state which, above all, ruthlessly “discourages” any mention of evolution or natural selection. Imagine a scientific and non-believer community driven “underground.” The resultant resistance would need a clandestine symbology to identify one another in back-alleys and call others of like mind to arms, something to spray on cathedral walls and wheat paste across incense clouded metropoli.
In advance of this highly improbable possibility I hereby nominate a few pop-cultural symbols heretofore without specific meaning but none the less widely recognized as related to, respectively, the chimpanzee, the orangutan, and the gorilla. These are the symbols worn by the civilized primates on The Planet of the Apes and as such a film would surely be purged from the collective consciousness under an evolution-denying Theocracy, I believe they make the perfect samantics-free but association-rich pro-Darwinian statement. And now you, dear reader, can make that statement from the comfort of your own t-shirt.
Whether it is, in fact, a few of these t-shirts, surviving after humanity obliterates itself, that ultimately inspires the future planet-ruling ape civilization to adopt these symbols in the first place… (Pantheistic solipsism and all that) well, who can tell?
See below for all three designs.
Chimp Resistance, printed in white. See all your options here.
Orangutan Resistance, printed in medium grey. See all your options here.
Gorilla Resistance, printed in dark grey. See all your options here. Or check out all of the Nonist’s offerings.
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