The dull roar of the engines filled the cabin. They were all waiting, in silence as always. Walter twiddled his thumbs, hesitantly. Everyone was nervous for every flight, but lately the tension was building higher and higher as the missions over Europe began to pile up. They said 25 was all they could ever ask, but nobody made it that far. At least not yet. After 12 flights or so, nobody talked to each other leaving England. The night before the first flight Walter had a few too many with the rest of the crew and a fight ensued, over a girl of course. The next day nobody said anything. The war in the skies made everyone very superstitious–or paranoid. Since then, they didn’t say a thing before they made it past the channel.
“Alright, get to your stations.” Ben, the navigator’s voice was heard over the radio.
The waist gunners, Timmy and Thom jumped up first and manned their guns. James, the flight engineer got up lazily and walked towards Walter.
“Ready Walt?” He asked. He operated the controls to the ball turret. Maneuvering the hatch on the aluminum coffin for Walter.
“Ready as I’ll ever be I suppose.” Walter replied. He adjusted the electric heated gloves and his oxygen mask before popping the hatch open.
James held out the small parachute for Walter with an inquisitive look.
“I’m not wearing that, just no room in there.” Walter said. “We go through this every time Jimmy.”
“No room for a chute, but room for your pistol?” James asked. He pointed to the M1911A-1 in Walter’s leather shoulder harness. This one made by Ithaca. Walter felt lucky by this, as most of the others in the squadron got one made by a company that made typewriters.
“This is stupid, Jimmy. For the last time, quit doing this.” Walter answered, going through the motions for the 13th time.
“Exactly, just humor me.” James replied.
Irritated, Walter decided to take the parachute. James looked at him wide eyed. Recreating this for every flight had to be the strangest superstition, yet Walter decided not to play along. He slipped the straps over his shoulders and positioned the small pack above his chest.
“Thanks Jimmy, you’re a real peach.” Walter said. He stepped into the stirrups at the front of the ball turret and crouched in. With his knees positioned high around his tucked head, he closed the hatch and maneuvered the joystick to test the turret’s range of motion. The parachute got in the way of everything. Including his line of sight. Maybe breaking Jimmy’s habit wasn’t the best idea.
“Lock and load.” The pilot, Capt. Pierce, said over the radio. He took too much to the Army way of doing things so he was never called by his first name. Walter reached up awkwardly for the cable that worked the action for his Browning .50cal machine guns. He tried once to cock the guns by the charging handles but gave himself an awful cramp for the rest of that flight. Since then he just used the cables.
-tollocsch-clack- -tollocsch-clack-
“Test fire.” Capt. Pierce said over the radio.
Walter placed his finger gingerly over the trigger. His hands held high above his head, he fired the machine guns towards the earth below.
-thum- -thut-thut-thut-thut- -thut-thut-thut-thut-
“Port waist checks.”
“Starboard waist checks.”
“Tail checks.”
“Ball turret checks.” Walter radioed. He focused on his sight, and ignored the rest of the crew checking in. The guns ran like, well… typewriters. Functioned every time.
Hours passed uneventfully. The escorts turned back to England. Cologne was due to arrive at some point. A bridge needed to be destroyed near the cathedral so accuracy was of the utmost importance. They never go down without a fight.
Walter felt a concussion shock the turret. He turned towards the left side of the turret and saw the black cloud. More shock waves shook the bomber. Walter wasn’t worried because the turret was pretty tough. Most of the time when a B-17 landed with the wheels up, the ball turret would either compress as a unit into the fuselage or would put enough strain on the plane that it broke its back– so to speak. The flak would have to hit Walter directly for him to notice beyond the jarring.
The high pitched roar of the ME-109 speeding by. Voices on the radio shouted furiously. The thunder of guns resonated over the humming engines. Flak popped around the aluminum and armored glass, encapsulating Walter. Almost cutthroat for them to fill the sky with lead when their own birds were in the air. He found an ME-109 in his sites and squeezed the trigger.
-thum- -thut-thut-thut-thut- -thut-thut-thut-thut- -thut-thut-thut-thut-
The plane in the site began to smoke out the back. Walter followed it as far as the turret would allow and let it go. No use in wasting all his ammo on one that got away.
A shell exploded and shook the bomber more than normal. Capt. Pierce was shouting in the radio telling everyone to hang on. His voice muffled by the wailing engines. Walter tuned it all out as he watched the wing slowly fall back to earth.
Still a fortress, but will no longer fly.
“I can’t control her, bail out!” Capt. Pierce shouted frantically into the radio.
Walter felt the force of the bomber pressing him against the hatch. He spun the turret around, he would fall head first once he could open it. A flash of intense, brilliant white light blinded Walter but he made his way out the hatch into the frigid air. Completely disoriented, he felt himself falling. Clutching the small pack at his chest, he searched for the ripcord. It was somewhere, if only he could find it. Blinded by the light, he clutched the metal handle and pulled.
Walter awoke in a white room. The walls were brightly lit, enough that Walter could not quite make out the dimensions of the room. Hanging on them were screens. Like television or movie screens, and there were dozens of them. None of them were showing any motion pictures. Only snow. A single chair was placed in the middle of the room with all the screens circling.
“Hello Walter.” A voice with a thick German accent said from behind. Two men were walking towards him when Walter turned to look. Had he been captured? “You might be wondering what this place is.”
The German man looked to be in his 60s. He had graying hair and thick horn rimmed glasses. His attire was impeccable. Shined shoes, a blue tweed coat with a starched white shirt. He had on a matching fedora with a red, knit tie that was tied in an elaborate knot. He topped everything off with a scrimshaw pipe. The aromatics were just beginning to make their way towards Walter.
“Corporal Walter Jennings, United States Army Air Corps. Service number 37945–” Walter began. He must have been captured by the Germans, and there was only one acceptable response.
“You weren’t captured… Not in that sense.” The German man interrupted. “Aren’t you wondering where you are?”
“Corporal Walter Jennings, United States Army Air Corps. Service number 37945–” Walter began again.
“The last one went on like that too.” The other man, interrupted. Scribbling copiously into his notebook. His voice was fitting, squeaky. He was a dwarf. Though not that Walter was all that big to begin with; at 5’4″ he was almost tall for a ball turret gunner. This man’s head was a tad too large for his body, and his eyes seemed too large for his bald head. “No patterns yet but interesting.”
“The last one? Who else did you capture?” Walter asked.
“Someone else made it? Who else did you capture?”
“There are others? Who else did you capture?”
“I’m not telling you s— until you tell me who else you captured.”
Walter looked around and saw that a few of the screens had turned on. He saw only himself in the white room in the screens.
“What is this place?” Walter asked.
“Where am I?”
“Where did you take me?”
“You Krauts better start talking.”
They weren’t repeating him, but they all seemed to be in the same situation.
“Let me explain.” The German man began. “You and I aren’t really at war.”
“Come again?” Walter asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Right.”
“You have got to be s—ing me, Kraut.”
“I like how the one from Gamma will stir the pot.” The dwarf said. “This is very interesting.”
Walter looked around the room some more. Only 4 of the screens were on, they all showed himself, confused and enraged.
“Where you just were you might have been at war with Germany. It’s not so where I was.” The German explained. “I’m not really even German.” He continued, with his accent thick as ever.
“You could’ve fooled me”. Walter replied.
“Right.”
“Bulls—!”
“Now he tells me.”
“What are we then? Travelers. Of time and space. We just don’t know to what extent.” The German man took a puff of his scrimshaw pipe. “That’s why we need you, to understand the consequence of our meddling nature.”
“Basically, we need to see what happened when we removed or replaced an inconsequential person from the fabric of time and space…” The dwarf began to explain.
“Inconsequential?” Walter repeated, feeling more than a little insulted.
“A big word for unimportant.”
“What makes you so d— important?”
“Be very careful what you say next, Kraut.”
“Perhaps the wrong word. You are actually quite remarkable.” He began circling around Walter. “In the infinite nature that is the fabric of time and space, you don’t actually amount to anything. In your realm Capt. Pierce will be elected to the Senate. Timmy and Thom become prominent business partners. Even your friend Jimmy will work for an engineering firm that builds highways.” The German man explained.
“And what about me?” Walter asked.
“About me?”
“And me?”
“…me?”
The other screens echoed the question. Walter looked around at them and saw they looked equally confused.
“You? Well…” The German settled back in front of Walter, and trailed off his words…
“You put the parachute on wrong.” The dwarf explained. “In fact if you look at the screens, only 4 realms exist where you live to to get to that point. Most of them you were taken by swinging into the shallow end of a lake.”
“Yes.” The German puffed the pipe once again. “This is why we took you here to the Junction, to measure the consequence of our meddling.” He puffed again. Grey smoke filled the air. “You are remarkable in that you didn’t achieve anything at all throughout the fabric of time and space.”
“I live only to fail to achieve anything huh?” Walter asked.
“Now you’ve..”
“…gone done…”
“…pissed me off, Kraut.”
Walter reached for the shoulder harness where his Ithaca M1911-A1 rested. He lifted the leather flap and felt the cool steel fill his hand. In one swift motion he maneuvered the pistol in front of him and smoothly pulled back the slide, loading the first round.
-click-clack- Walter began to ease back the featherweight trigger.
“I thought you took all of his survival equipment.” The German said to the dwarf.
“How am I supposed to know that is a weapon?” The dwarf asked.
–bang– –bang– –bang–
The shots echoed trough the white room. The screens on the seamless walls shook but did not fall. The dwarf dropped his notes and covered his ears. The German man looked down at himself and found his pristine tweed jacket was now bloodied. He touched gently at the wounds, confused at the damage caused by Walter’s unfamiliar weapon. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the flawless white floor. Dropping the beautifully carved scrimshaw pipe across the floor, with the smoldering, sweet scented tobacco trailing behind it.
Walter grabbed the dwarf by the collar. He slammed the small man on a snowy screen and placed the muzzle of his pistol on the dwarf’s chest.
“It’s not what you think!” The dwarf pleaded.
“No? Do tell.” Walter replied.
“Explain.”
“Sure it is…” -bang-
“Convince me.”
Both men turned to look at the screen where Walter held dwarf’s limp body.
“He’s right Walter, it’s not what you think at all.” Walter stopped at the sound of the thick, familiar accent. He turned to look and found the German man crouched at his double. He was still impeccably dressed, only this time he wore a brown tweed coat. He picked up the scrimshaw pipe and stood back up. He nodded towards the dwarf.
“Make note of his reaction. Walter, we took you to the Junction to give you another chance. You are the control in our experiment. You achieved nothing–not yet. We don’t know how much can be altered by doing this, which is why we chose you. Someone who had virtually no impact on the fabric of time and space on their own. Imagine the damage we would do if it was another, less remarkable member of the crew, but you–are a blank slate.
The dwarf, still held up by his collar against the snowy screen, clicked a brass cuff around Walter’s wrist.
Walter woke up to the droning hum of the B-17s engines. The crew sat waiting, silent as always.
“Alright, get to your stations.” Ben, the navigator’s voice was heard over the radio.
The waist gunners, Timmy and Thom jumped up first and manned their guns. James, the flight engineer got up lazily and walked towards Walter.
“Ready Walt?” He asked. He operated the controls to the ball turret. Maneuvering the hatch on the aluminum coffin for Walter.
“Ready as I’ll ever be I suppose.” Walter replied. He adjusted the electric heated gloves and his oxygen mask before popping the hatch open.
James held out the small parachute for Walter with an inquisitive look. Walter paused before answering.
Glib Staff?
The author doesn’t want to take credit?
Not everyone feels the need to constantly talk about themselves.
Yeah; that’s my shtick.
Riven 2 days in a row! My machismo is finally drawing out all the lady glibs (I know it’s not true, but let me have this,my trip to Forecore’s one state over in Minniesoda next week is the most exciting thing to happen to me in years)
It was that animated H&H; brought me back out of the woodwork 😉
Where in Minnesota are you all meeting up?
We will all be meeting up at Fourscore’s Honey mine. It is near Emily, MN.
If you are interested, email me at minnetundra AT geemail.
There’s a Manhattan Beach not far from there. That’s funny.
I’d love to come up for the harvest, but a 25 hour drive is a bit much right now…
Not sure about my plans for the weekend, but if I can I will reach out to you Tundra for details. Would love to meet some Glibs in person but life conspires.
Wow, you DO lead a sheltered life. Exciting? You haven’t met Jimbo, I take it. You’ll be a good fit, CP, we need men and women of your caliber. Oh, by the way, bring work clothes that you can throw away, you know, just in case.
bring work clothes that you can throw away, you know, just in case.
This feels like it’s going to morph into the mountain party joke
How many Glibs will there be? At some point, don’t you have to notify the local first responders of your presence?
I will be there
Who, Brochettechard? He’s only first in his own mind.
There’s a lot to unpack here, let’s not concern ourselves as to whodunit.
They didn’t tell you? Oh, I guess it’s everyone but UCS… oops!
Now I need to read some Jerry Pournelle and David Drake.
Awesome, totally awesome. NJ bar band knows the score.
https://youtu.be/zr6gfNfC9TM
That’s catchy.
Followed on youtube by LA Speed Check.
Present.
Good stuff.
From the POV and tone reminds me of Hobbit’s delta vee
Thanks for remembering.
Testing the limits of their meddling? Well we know they aren’t progressives of any sort.
Awesome. Thanks to Glib Staff. Reminds me of stories from F&SF Magazine from when my older sister had a subscription in the 80s.
HOLY MACKEREL! Ozy, did you ever read the one in which the goal of the Final Solution was the fueling of a necromantic ritual to summon the Norse gods? Thor was rampaging across Europe, smashing the Allied Powers to pulp with hammer and thunderstorms; Loki suddenly materializes on an airfield in England with a retinue of dwarves toting looted Asgardian tech, so a to thwart whatever his brother is up to. Great stuff.
“Thor Meets Captain America” David Brin, 1986
I don’t recall it offhand, but then again, I read every issue for a number of years, it’s entirely possible I did. (And it’s also been 30+ years and I’ve indulged in some… uh… memory-wiping substances over the intervening decades).
It’s very quiet and peaceful,
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t3yw5
West and wewaxation at wast!
Time travel, Nazis… expect a copyright infringement notice from the Ellison estate.
RAH.
“By His (Jack)Bootstraps”
Fantastic story, Glib Staff!
So I gotta give you this.
Great Song. I love their multiple treatments of WWII air war. Bruce Dickinson’s love of flying is a great part of their repertoire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg9aQvjMS60
also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b708rEG7spI
Good one.
Great artwork, too.
Watch the opening few minutes of this:
3:42 / 1:52:17 Iron Maiden Flight 666
I have to sit down and watch the whole thing.
I would think Bruce would be in KK’s spank bank.
I am not really a Maiden fan and that is a great documentary. I watched it years ago and it is excellent.
I watched a documentary about one of their flying tours. If it was this one, I liked it very much.
Vonnegut’s best form, IMO, is short stories. This story was definitely evocative of his short stories. Maybe a dash of Clarke as well.
That was a really fun story. I really love science fiction short stories.
I have been getting my fix on Dust, a YouTube channel for such things. But the written word is its own thing, and I prefer that experience.
So thanks!
That was a really fun story. I really love science fiction short stories.
Me too. Apparently the money is in novels, but the short story is such a great form. It was collections of his shorts that led to my love of Niven’s work.
Just discovered Dust. They have some good stuff.
From Hyperion last night:
I have often considered if I’d done wrong by having my son for this reason, but hey, no reason to assume the worst… it is likely things will actually work out, plus he can claim to be BIPOCX or whatever, so xe’ll be fine.
Wasn’t that Nikki’s position too? Maybe Hyperion is the worst!
Nikki’s a woman and Hyperion a man, so Nikki will always , in fact, be the worst.
You gendering shitlaird!
^^Absolutely!
Dude, it’s like I can’t be the worst, because I’m a dude. Anyway, I thought that Gender Traitor volunteered for that position already?
Well, I didn’t reproduce. Is that one of the qualifications?
The only requirement is that you’re not Moj. I hear she got fired from being the worst, by being the worst worst ever.
So, looks like you are the worst.
Ya’ll stop with this Nikki person. Nikki is a myth, and not even a good one.
Didn’t she run off with Episiarch so they could both start writing for Jezebel?
I think it’s more likely they would restrict the treatment to people who agreed to be sterilized.
Done & Done.
I always eschewed that “I can’t bring a child into this world!” business. Silly. I might rethink that position were I in a position to bring more kids into the world, but since I already have kids…
I figure, my kids will adapt. They’ll have to, the same way everyone adapts, the same way I’m adapting. The working class is always going to be trod upon, and that’s most people. One kid’s at Walmart and her future there is looking bright. If he’s lucky, the other kid will be mowing lawns. I just really don’t see that their lives will be fundamentally different from ours: work, go home, eat, sleep, breathe, and fuck. When you have to work, your opportunities for activism and entitlement get beaten out of you by life.
Work- in a company you have to profess love big brother.
Go home- to a studio apartment or inflated priced home
Eat- meatless meat
Sleep- induced by anti-depressants
Breathe- through a mask
Fuck- only if you get video consent and continue asking consent with each position change
What about trolling and shitposting?
That’s the highest form of patriotism now. This generation’s civil rights activists.
Thrown right into the gulag within the next 20 years.
Ehh, we’ve got 4 young children. With homeschooling and living in a rural area, they are so far removed from all of this shit that it may as well being take place on the moon. We’ll escape VA completely soon, but those reasons are still foreign to the kids.
At some point, they’ll be exposed to the socialist insanity that rules progressive cities and states. However, online schooling and the work from home revolution is releasing the economic barriers to living other places while making a lucrative living. In many ways, they are among the most fortunate generation to have greater opportunities.
^^This is really what it comes down to.
Who are the primary influences over most kids? The public schools, mass media, and peers within a 12 month birth age who are likewise influenced. For the average American family* parents are way down on that list. Somewhere in the neighborhood of the soccer coach or the PE teacher. Why the hell would I put a kid into that meat grinder?
As SSD mentions, there’s another way. I’m a socon in my personal life. My wife is literally barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen right now. Public school is a hard “no” from me, and even though pure homeschooling is off the table (wife doesn’t want to do it), we’re looking for alternatives (e.g. University model schooling) that keep parents involved. Beyond that, our first kiddo has limits on how much and in what ways she interacts with mainstream culture. One aspect of that? Getting her involved in things that surround her with different age kids and adults. A world exists outside of the age you are at. Just because she’s 3 right now doesn’t mean that she should be surrounded by 3 year olds all day.
I should probably write an article about this because I could go all day, but bringing a kid into this world right now ain’t child abuse, surrendering your parental authority to a bunch of people who don’t have your kids’ best interests at heart is.
Yeah, they recently axed all in-person learning at the very highly ranked public schools here. Told the wife that we should look up moving somewhere else, since there is no point paying the higher taxes for nothing… I would love ot move somewhere more conservative, but facebook has the wife convinced that everywhere else (not progressive) is 100% chocked full of racists.
The only places approaching 100% bigots are leftist shitholes.
I doubt even they are, even NYC has Rhywun.
Colfax, Louisiana, site of the Colfax massacre. That was a long time ago and happened between people that were not me nor anyone else alive today.
I just drove home from the grocery store. An old black man was walking across the parking lot to begin his walk home. I offered him a ride. We introduced ourselves and chatted a bit while I took him home. The subject of race never entered our minds or the conversation.
Tell your wife to take a pill. A red one.
Move to Louisiana. We have the lowest property taxes in the country. Income tax is very low. The weather isn’t always ideal but it is a beautiful state where very few people obey the mask mandates, very few Karens and people generally bring their grocery carts back.
Yeah, the sad thing is she has lived out in the country (Corn and hog country in Iowa, for about 6 months) and knows its full of good people… but she’ll believe the lies about other places anyway. I think a lot of it is her social group, particularly online, the existence of some actual racists and that I’m not convincing enough to prove to her that the average person isn’t that way.
Was just having a discussion along these lines with the girlfriend. My points were yeah it sucks, but it is still up to the parent to make it what it is (hoping I’m still a ways off personally). The points about working and schooling from home are the most important.
On a personal note, I am escaping New York and heading (mid)west next month and that is the first step. Then it becomes getting financially stable and planning. The beat goes on like it always did I assume, the outside noise just happens to be louder at the moment.
Congrats! Don’t forget your red Swingline. 😉
I believe you have my stapler
I asked for… no salt, and there were… big grains of salt.
Congrats, would love to get out of here.
Been living in the same town roughly my whole life. What the gov put us through the last few months, my brother lost his job dad’s business close to the edge. I had to take a shot like a lot of people. Its a shame there are so many great places ruined by the fact they’re in New York.
Damn straight. Sorry to hear about the damage to your family’s business.
Appreciate it. Now I get to deal with being “the guy from New York” for 20-30 years.
I hope so SSD, a lot of our prosperity comes from the ability to work with others who are also skilled. I just see around me so many useless youth that it makes me despair for the future.
I think there will be hard times ahead for sure. But there will be opportunities too. Like Tundra said, we need to prepare them with the resources to fight back.
Just in the previous century, I think of the various war drafts every couple decades, Prohibition, stagflation in the 70s, Jim Crow laws, etc. and remember other generations had their own hard times too.
Yup. I just had it too easy growing up, so things look scarier than they really are, perhaps. Somehow a domestic cancer sounds much scarier than enemies at the gates.
The future belongs to those who show up.
Yer gonna be surrounded by folks like us (well-armed Reformed homeschoolers with 5 kids) and the Mennonites.
Mine (11-19) have all learned to use “rule follower” as a perjorative.
God I hope so.
No way.
Why cede everything to the progressive cuntes?
I’m doing my level best to raise independent, liberty-loving, smart and successful kids. They will have the resources to fight back.
Damn straight. Revenge of the Breeders!
I live in a mostly (((them))) greater community surrounding my little community.
I hate to tell you, but you’ve already lost the breeding contest before you get started. It’s a (((them))) future, for better of worse.
??
I was a hedonist with no intention of becoming a breeder… until I wasn’t. Having a bunch of Ultra-Orthodox Lubavitcher in-laws has convinced me that folk like them and those Quiverfull people are on the right path. Raising progeny who will help secure the future is important. Of course,. I say this as my 9 year old bounces around the house shrieking songs from her new favorite show, Hamilton. (Kif sigh)
We put my youngest in private school. Chabad.
I basically agree with them (Quiverfull), though I do question the near-term prospects. It really does feel like we may have moved into the weak-man stage of society.
Make me and my wife 20 again (and fix the vasectomy), and we’d have a few more kids. Those were crazy times, and the very best times of my life.
Hats off to you breeders. I could possibly do it in the benign(?)-neglect ’70s (give or take a decade) but parenthood seems much harder in the 21C.
It’s because you’re required to helicopter or get a visit from CPS.
We try our best to limit our use of the choppah. He gets a good amount of time outside by himself… safely of course.
Can’t help but think that a few CPS corpses might dim the ardor of that corps of unaccountable asshats.
Yeah, pretty much that, plus (anti-)social media. And I’d need a lot of FU money.
I do think it’s pretty cool that I made a beer buzz comment that caused this much of a sub thread. Thanks for participating.
in beero veritas!
Reads like a Twilight Zone episode
And somehow, The Boys got even darker with this week’s episode.
Great stuff. I love a good SciFi Short story. Alternative realities and multiple time lines are a good basis for Sci-fi stories.
Here is a song by the son of the Multiple wolds theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDukJXiZhPE
I don’t have time to read this now, but I offer this bit from “Heavy Metal”.
+1 Don Felder
Which of course led to this gem!
This guy apparently is a lefty talk radio host in SF. I’ll bet he get very outraged talking about the crazy conspiracists of Q.
Chip Franklin
@chipfranklin
Is anyone else concerned that Trump is going to manufacture a 9/11 type of attack right before the election?
12:45 PM · Sep 11, 2020
Something like fiery attacks on multiple cities? That sounds very far-fetched.
All projection, all of the time.
that is why it is spelled progjection.
I’m more concerned that deep-state Democrats will do manufacture a 9/11 type of attack and blame Trump/white supremacists.
Get that third nomination ready.
Israeli media reported on Friday that the Kingdom of Bahrain will normalize relations with Israel, following the same path as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which announced a peace deal with Israel on August 13.
President Donald Trump, who brokered both deals, was expected to make a formal announcement on Friday, while Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa is due in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Fucking amazing what can be accomplished when the State Department actually conduct foreign policy? (Instead of trying to monetize foreign policy and stuff their pockets)
How long before the Biden campaign sneaks a nuke to the Palestinians?
Can’t have all this fucking peace shit when their is a presidency to win.
What’s funny (or sad depending) is that if this was a different president, this would be heralded as peace in the Middle East. Since it’s Trump, I’m willing to bet that my girlfriend’s (((grandmother))) (watches CNN only) is even aware about Israel normalizing relations with two of their neighbors.
CNN is not going to be talking about that. Unless they can figure out a way to spin it in a negative manner.
I can just see it:
Trump cozies up with total Nazi Netanyahu, tries to ruin all the peace Obama achieved in the Middle East! How far is he willing to go, just to try to tarnish the legacy of the greatest president in history!?
And the first black president! He really is racist isn’t he? Black president’s matter!
Unless they can figure out a way to spin it in a negative manner.
Biden called it a sham peace that will endanger Israel. So there you go. No need to justify how. Just say the words.
Makes sense. There will be world peace and no more plague just as soon as sleepy joe is sworn in.
Only Nixon could go to China, and only Trump could bring peace to the Middle East.
Of course the shithead did.
CWAA
Can anyone just visualize the media if Obama had done that? I’m telling you, it would be beyond nauseating. The media would be hailing him as the 2nd coming of Christ. Black Jesus matters!
From the dead thread:
The ending of a movie is almost always the least important part. It’s a fantasy, a panacea, a soothing balm for all the harsh reality or violence or nastiness that came before it. It’s there to make the audience walk out of the theater either feeling happy, or at least not like complete shit, depending on what kind of movie it is.
I much prefer the movies with the darker endings.
Yeah remember all the old Hays Code movies where the violent vicious gangster in the sharp suit, with the beautiful girlfriend, the respect of his peers, lots of money, dies right at the end with a little speech about “How he should have lived a virtuous life.”
Ranks of Bronze – The concept was that a doomed Roman Legion is snatched and used to fight non-tech wars by aliens.
Janissaries – American soldiers surrounded and about to be annihilated – rescued by aliens to fight for them.
Good stuff.
I liked the Janissaries.
Was a big David Drake fan but stopped reading him along with most SF & fantasy
twenty years ago.
*sigh* I’m trying to create a UserScript to pull data from a government database onto our local database’s web page. We have to validate all the information matches, so pulling it together makes the task trivial.
I have one way of getting around the cross domain issues, but it doesn’t actually run the Javascript on the government page, which loads in all of the data. Now I need to create some hidden iframe, get around the cross domain restriction, and then parse the data out…
Nothing is easy when it comes to the government.
I’ll collect all my work bitching into one thread. I complained the other day about the quarterly wokefests that are my business unit meetings. Well, they decided to take my favorite ? parts of those meetings and turn them into a mandatory monthly zoom call. No tuning out, no skipping. Turn on your video so we can watch your reactions while we preach our woke religion to you.
Thankfully, we’re getting close to TrashBaby #2’s due date, and using up my paternity leave is the first of 3 requirements before I bail out.
Smile, bitch.
This should solve your problems.
https://www.motionportrait.com/en/indexe.php
Turn on your video so we can watch your reactions while we preach our woke religion to you.
No problem, I will of course be wearing my semi-opaque face shield for COVID-19 protection. And you thought Andy Reid could steam that puppy up?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U6qBnykH0DU
(a mere 18 seconds long)
That is some sick shit. Once a month? Glad you have a plan in place.
An update on my company’s woke donation-matching program:
After more than a month, we’re up to…. (drumroll) 90 donations.
From a company of ~ 8,800.
Assuming nobody donated more than once, that means slightly over 1% of our employees give a shit about this.
Glad we have several full-time staff members working on it.
“Donations aren’t mandatory, of course, but they will be appraised at your next evaluation.”
Well now, this appears to be one of those paternalistic-libertarian “nudges” would be in order. You are all automatically enrolled, and you of course may opt out – after filing the appropriate paperwork and having it approved.
and filing that paperwork, would of course have no negative consequences for you… see, most people really do want to give, they just can’t be arsed, like signing up for organ donation.
What is your line of business again?
Tech. One of the S&P 500 tech stocks, in fact.
Prepare to have your donations forceably taken out of your check “for your convenience.”
“I gave at the office” is sadly quite an old expression.
You mean like how we already fund NPR and planned parenthood?
I don’t understand how republicans have absolutely no balls. Defunding NPR is a no-brainer.
Libertarians are our only hope, that is how I know we’re fucked.
“Hillary Clinton is a very fine person.“
“BLM has some really good points.”
Yup. We’re boned.
I’ll assume they’ll have a separate line-item that people will ignore along with the rest.
And of course, to facilitate, it’ll be tax deductible.
So glad I work for a company small enough to not have an HR dept.
Probable path to professional contentment, provided you get along with your handful of coworkers.
I learned long ago that there is no “just right”. Large companies had some advantages over smaller ones, but they also had disadvantages. Quick digression – with one smallish one, the president was a former IBMer, and we were discussing my relocation from east coast to west. He says, hmm, we don’t have a policy on relocations and I laughed and said – well, you just have to make decision then.
Fortunately, I’ll be retired in less than 2 years, so I’m not worried about my future employability in the least.
I work for a large group, but since we are busy doing real work, we don’t have time for woke bullshit.
Despite my mockery, it’s straight-forward to ignore the woke nonsense. Yes, we’re wasting (some) money on it, but there’s other, unrelated deadwood I could name as well.
If it goes from optional nonsense to required nonsense, I’ll start singing a different tune.
I referenced you to Mr. Mojeaux last night to try to make him feel better. He’s pissy because he has to keep his mouth shut about his opinions/beliefs in fear for his job while people on The Other Side can scream and be as vitriolic as they want, AND he has to listen to diversity conference calls. So far he has not been forced to speak. I don’t know if it helped him to feel not so alone by telling him he’s not, but I did anyway.
This is my biggest annoyance. We should have never crossed the politics-at-work Rubicon but now that we have it’s all one-sided. They get to have politics out loud, you get to STFU and hope nobody pays too much attention to your silence.
This too will create a backlash, that the left will rue right down to their bones. Unfortunately, it will impact all of us, not just them.
“a government database ”
So what is that thing? Dbase 4?
its not directly out of the database (which is likely manned by rats running punch cards around the basement), but screen scraping that I’m trying to do. They specifically designed it to deter screen scraping because there are companies that make a killing off of screen scraping the data to the detriment of system performance.
I just had to make that joke because of how dated most government IT systems and equipment are.
Like the Post Office. I had to get a post office money order one time because that’s the only thing they would take at the Brazil Embassy in DC. So their printer was stuck and I needed to get going soon. Their equipment all looks like it’s 50 years old. And this printer, it’s a dot matrix printer and it’s do old, you know that white plastic that was popular… well, you’re too young. Anyway, this thing was so old that the white plastic was now a nasty shade of yellow.
So I said ‘just reboot it’
Post office girl says ‘oh, we don’t know how to do that’
I said ‘can you just turn it off and back on’
She says ‘oh, we don’t know how to do that’
I said ‘just unplug it’
Then I had to actually go back there and unplug the printer and plug it back in. Started printing.
She says ‘oh, I didn’t know we could do that’. And I’m thinking, wow I’m lucky that worked or else I’m not getting my money order today, at least not unless I drive to another post office.
I’m shocked there’s not a union slouch whose sole job it is to fly around the country unplugging and plugging in ancient printers.
Plastic used for computers and printers isn’t or wasn’t UV stable. Fluorescent lights age them into that yellow quickly.
Dot matrix printers get a bad rap for age and noise but they’re more reliable and cheaper to operate than anything more “modern”. For a lot of business printing, they’re really a better choice than the fancy expensive printers that are common nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, I like some nice crisp laser printed lines and letters that won’t run with water exposure but the number of times that was necessary is pretty low.
I dunno, my Brother laser printer was $100 and I can print 6,000 pages for 40 bucks using generic toner.
Companies do spend absurd sums on decked out printing centers that resemble an all-in-one Kinkos, but I think 99% of their printing needs could be met with an inexpensive laser printer like mine.
I have owned a bunch of Brothers. It is all I will buy for home use. I haven’t used anything else at home the last 25 years.
I bought a tank. It’s an Epson. Easiest printer to setup and get printing ever. No cartridges or toner, ever. Not sure about printing cost, we don’t print that much, but the thing works nice with wifi and prints well enough.
About 5 years ago, they replaced our perfectly good HP laser printer/fax with one of those giant all-in-one machines from Xerox, and that thing has been a lemon since day one. Jams constantly, has all sorts of connectivity issues, etc.
I have lost a printer to generic toner. The drum replacement was the same cost as another printer.
The old-style plotters I’m told about by older drafters sound heinous. Each lineweight was handled by a separate printer head or nozzle or whatever, and there’d be times one head runs out of ink mid-print and you’d have to start over, only for another head to run out of ink mid-print.
I never used them but I remember those large format printers and the multiple cartridges. Looked like a revolver cylinder.
https://youtu.be/qtrIAGso1n0
“A big word for unimportant.”
Zing!
Hey now, I am special and unique….just like everyone else.
In most time/dimension travel stories the protagonist is attempting to achieve some desired outcome. Only this crowd would write a story about discovery and experimentation in the field of time travel.
Bravo.
Great story, like others I find the short story format tends to lend itself well to interesting sci-fi stories.
IMO, that’s because in the short story format there is so much that is left “behind the curtain” and the reader fills that in with their imagination. In F&SF, that means almost limitless possibilities with the reader being a part of the canvas without really knowing it.
Exactly right. Just like not showing the monster in horror movies.
I’m sure if fully explained (assuming the author has fully thought it out), it wouldn’t be nearly so intriguing.
It’s Friday afternoon so I’m listening to Rip talk about booze and rant about masks.
I’m more concerned that deep-state Democrats will do manufacture a 9/11 type of attack and blame Trump/white supremacists.
They have been priming the Hell out of the pump with all those “DHS says white supremacists pose biggest threat to democracy” tales.
Jessie Smollet, paging Jessie Smollet – we have a job for you!
I loved listening to NPR about that story. Just ignore all the leftwing violence and literal political assassination (and thwarted attempts as well), and believe what one a-hole tells you, because he got a NYT story written. Confirmation bias at it’s worst.
Oregon
GovernorDictator Extends COVID State of Emergency through November 3rdHuh – I wonder what happens on November 3rd?
Despite the date, it’ll be extended again for another 60 days, no matter who wins.
Oregon has had abnormally low rates. There’s no getting over it in any short term unless rates rise, and that will panic our state epidemiologist/state medical officer/pediatrician by training and career and his boss.
Between this and the LA official who was on tape saying that the schools would be closed until after the election, they aren’t even trying to be subtle about it.
One is tempted to think that pitchforks, guillotines, ropes and woodchippers might be mandatory items for solving this problem.
For years y’all have listen to me rant about how our so-called ruling class needs to go. They are wildly incompetent and rotten-to-the-core corrupt.
If it ever happened I knew it would be ugly, a painful treatment necessary for the cure, but I never thought they would do what they have done and it aint over yet. It is going to get worse before it gets better.
There might be a reason that ammo shelves are barren and prices through the roof…Just saying.
The idiots think they are the vanguard of a revolution. It never enters their minds what that means to people who will oppose them, or the many who would be perfectly content to not have to consider any of this – but will support the backlash when it comes.
That is weird. What is Nov 3 all about? I don’t get it. Did you get your mail in ballot with all the D boxes already checked, yet?
Great story, sucked me in. Thanks mysterious author!
Someone done fucked up at work today and accidentally sent a corporate restructuring email to all or almost all, well beyond the circle that was supposed to get it. No details but the cat is out of the back despite trying to recall it. And no one is stepping up to address what just happened. Yay Friday.
Pussies. So are you getting shitcanned?
No idea. No one in my level of the food chain has a clue as to what’s going on.
Accidentally? Or someone who knows they’re getting axed decided to tell the whole company “accidentally?”
Accidentally. Was supposed to go to a smaller group with new email domain. Oops.
I dont think I could make it in the employment world today. Wokety wokester meeting? Left wing preaching? Mandatory goodthink?
I would think of the nicest way possible to tell them to blow it out of their asses and then use the rudest way possible.
I actually did that once. Department head had a meeting every morning for 30 minutes wherein he asked how everyone felt. I went to one. When he asked me I said “I have people depending on me and they are having to wait right now. They know me as someone they can count on so right now I am feeling a bit irritated.” Then I walked out. I found out later that everyone in the meeting was terrified by my behavior but the Dept. head said his respect for me went up exponentially. Ha!
XD
You’re a real man Suthen. I guess I’m part of the problem.
So far, nothing like that has been mandatory at my client. Once, when Obama was pushing all that non-sense Title IX stuff, they were somehow forcing one of my clients to push mandatory training on people.
It was just this online video full of the typical everyone is a rapey raper and what should I do. Then you had to answer some multiple answer choice questions at the end. None of the questions or responses really made any sense as far as being correct or not. You just had to try to guess what you were supposed to answer and there was no grading on it, just that you completed it. One of my foreign co-workers, after that, was walking around the office saying ‘I’m never talking to anyone again ever, fuck it, Americans are fucking crazy!’. What was that shit!? lol
Well that was interesting. I thought it was going to go all Catch-22, but then it got weird. I feel funny now, and I suddenly want to take up skydiving.
The Glibs Staff article was biographical. I talked to the co-pilot on this flight, a few years ago. 8 crew, 4 survivors, the co-pilot filled me in with details I didn’t know and had no idea.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/aircrew-07201944.htm
My cousin, on his 21st flight, a volunteer because his regular crew wasn’t flying and he was in a hurry to get back home. The article was pretty much in line with what I know. My cousin was navigator/bombardier/nose gunner on the flight
Okay, I’ll be that guy…
I F(&*ING KNEW IT!!!
When I was reading it, the first thing that popped into my head was, “This is too real. Someone knows someone who was on that flight or has read a first-hand account.”
I had a teacher who did two tours as a WW2 bomber pilot, including daylight bombing raids over Germany out of England. Reading the first part was like hearing him tell some of his stories again.
Fourscore, I am deeply sorry for your family’s loss. I know you don’t need soppy bromides from me about war and loss, but I’ll just offer up that they went as warriors in a great and epic struggle to preserve freedom for others. Raising a drink to them right now.
The shared gravestone is, stupid lump in my throat, appropriate and respectful.
Well Lousiana is officially moving to Phase III. I have no idea what that means but I am sure that Dear Leader Edwards will let us knpw which od our liberties we may have back from our wise and munificent government.
/sarc
“officially moving to Phase III. I have no idea what that means”
It means that someone who had nothing better to do, did something. And so see, we did something. It’s too complicated to try to explain to the peasants, just be thankful for your benevolent rulers because you’re still alive.
“Walter twiddled his thumbs”
That’s still a thing? I forgot it was ever even a thing. I remember it, but then we got the intertoobs and thumb twitting just sort of died out like so many other things. Now we just click on links and shit post.