#Bulletproof Technology

[neosciencehub]

Lightweight BPJ for Enhanced Soldier Safety

Lightweight BPJ for Enhanced Soldier Safety @neosciencehub #neosciencehub #science #research #IITDelhi #technology #innovation #bulletproof #BPJ #RnD #defence #MilitaryGear #Soldier #Mobility #ArmorDevelopment #BallisticProtectionTechnology #safety #

IIT Delhi Develops Advanced Jackets At the IInvenTive 2024 R&D fair, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi unveiled a groundbreaking advancement in defense technology: a new design for a lightweight bulletproof jacket (BPJ). The innovation, spearheaded by NareshBhatnagar, HemantChouhan, and Khushi Ram, represents a significant leap forward in ensuring the safety and agility of security…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Someday, we’ll all take comfort in the internet’s “dark corners”

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me on SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and beyond!

Platforms decay. Tech bosses, unconstrained by competition; regulation; ad blockers and other adversarial interoperability; and their own workers, will inevitably hollow out their platforms, using ultraflexible digital technology to siphon value away from end users and business customers, leaving behind the bare minimum of value to keep all those users locked in:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/23/evacuate-the-platforms/#let-the-platforms-burn

Enshittification is the inevitable result of high switching costs. Tech bosses are keenly attuned to opportunities to lock in their customers and users, because the harder is to leave a platform, the worse the platform can treat you – the more value it can rob you of – without risking your departure.

But platform users are a heterogeneous, lumpy mass. Different groups of users have different switching costs. An adult Facebook user of long tenure has more reasons to stay than a younger user: they have more complex social lives, with nonoverlapping social circles from high school, college, various jobs, affinity groups, and family. They are more likely to have a chronic illness, or to be caring for someone with chronic illness, and to be a member of a social media support group they value highly. They are more likely to be connected to practical communities, like little league carpool rotas.

That's the terrible irony of platform decay: the more value you get from a platform, the more cost that platform can extract, a cost denominated in your wellbeing, enjoyment and dignity.

(At this point, someone will pipe up and say, "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product." It's nonsense. Dignity, respect and fairness aren't frequent flier program perks that tech companies dribble out to their best customers. Companies will happily treat their paying customers as "products" if they think those customers can't avoid other forms of rent-extraction, such as "attention rents")

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

Now, consider the converse proposition: for younger users, platforms deliver less value. Younger users have less complex social lives on average relative to their parents and grandparents, which means that platforms have fewer ways to sink their hooks into those young users. Further: young users tend to want things that the platforms don't want them to have, right from the first day they sign up. In particular, young users often want to conduct their socializing out of eyesight and earshot of adults, especially parents, teachers, and other authority figures. This means that a typical younger user has both more reasons to leave a platform as well as fewer reasons to stay there.

Younger people have an additional reason to bail on platforms early and often: if your online and offline social circles strongly overlap – if you see the same people at school as you do in your feed, it's much easier to reassemble your (smaller, less complex) social circle on a new platform.

And so: on average, young people like platforms less, hate them more, and have both less to lose and more to gain by leaving one platform for another. Sure, some young people are also burning with youth's neophilia. But even without that neophilia, young people are among the first to go when tech bosses start to ratchet up the enshittification.

Beyond young people, there are others who tend to jump ship early, like sex-workers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/21/early-adopters/#sex-tech

Sex-workers' technology changes are only incidentally the result of some novelty-seeking impulse. The real reason to change platforms if you're a sex-worker is that the platforms are either absolutely hostile to sex-workers, or profoundly indifferent to the suffering their policy changes rain down upon them.

The same is broadly true of other disfavored groups, including those with out-of-mainstream political ideologies. Some of these groups hold progressive views, others are out-and-out Nazis, but all of them chafe at the platforms' policies at the best of times, and are far more ready to jump ship when the platforms tighten the noose on all their users.

This is where "dark corners" come in. The worst people on the internet have relocated to its so-called dark corners – privately hosted servers, groupchats, message-boards, etc. Some of these are notorious: Kiwi Farms, 4chan, 8kun, sprawling Telegram groupchats. Others only breach when they are implicated in waves of unthinkably cruel and grotesque crimes:

https://www.wired.com/story/764-com-child-predator-network/

The answer to crimes committed in the internet's dark corners is the same as for crimes committed anywhere: catch the criminals, prosecute the crimes. But a distressing number of well-meaning people observe the nexus between dark corners and the crimes that fester there, and conclude that the problem is with the dark corners, themselves.

These people observe that social media platforms like Facebook, and intermediaries like Cloudflare, DNS providers, and domain registrars constitute a "nexus of control" – chokepoints that trap the online lives of billions of people – and conclude that these gigantic corporations can and should be made "responsible" for their users:

https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

From there, it's a short leap to conclude that anyone who isn't in a position to be controlled by these too big to jail, too big to fail, relentlessly enshittifying corporations must be pushed into their demesne.

This is a deal with the devil. In the name of preventing small groups of terrible people from gathering in private, beyond the control of the world's insufferable and cruel tech barons, we risk dooming everyone else to being permanently within those unworthy billionaires' thumbs.

This is why people like Mark Zuckerberg are so eager to see an increase in "intermediary liability" rules like Section 230. Zuckerberg's greatest fear isn't having to spend more on moderators or algorithms that suppress controversial subjects:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/instagram-users-outraged-by-app-limiting-political-content-ahead-of-elections/

The thing he fears the most is losing control over his users. That's why he bought Instagram: to recapture the young users who were fleeing his mismanaged, enshittified platform in droves:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

A legal mandate for Zuckerberg to police his users is a legal requirement that he surveil and control those users. It's fundamentally incompatible with the new drive in competition circles to force Zuckerberg and his fellow tech barons to offer gateways that make it easier to escape their grasp, by allowing users to depart Facebook and continue to socialize with the users who stay behind:

https://www.eff.org/interoperablefacebook

Remember: the more locked-in a platform user is, the harder that platform will squeeze that user, safe in the knowledge that the cost of leaving is higher than the cost of staying and tolerating the platform's abuse.

This is the problem with "feudal security" – the warlord who lures you into his castle fortress with the promise of protection from external threats is, in reality, operating a prison where no one can protect you from him:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leona-helmsley-was-a-pioneer/#manorialism

Rather than fighting to abolish dark corners because only the worst people on the internet use them today, we should be normalizing dark corners, making it easier for every kind of user to find a cozy nook that is shaded from the baleful glare of Zuck and his fellow, eminently guillotineable tech warlords:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/15/normalize-dark-corners/

Enshittification is relentless. The collapse of the restraints that penalized tech companies who abused their users – competition, regulation, interoperability and their own workers' consciences – has inculcated every tech boss with an incurable enshittification imperative.

Efforts to make the platforms safer for their users can only take us so far. Fundamentally, these vast, centralized systems that vest authority with flawed and mediocre and frail human dictators (who fancy themselves noble, brilliant and infallible) will never be safe for human habitation. Rather than focusing on improving the platforms, we should be evacuating them:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/09/let-the-platforms-burn/

Online communities that control their own moderation policies won't always get it right. But there is a whole host of difficult moderation calls that can never be adequately handled by outsiders overseeing vast, sprawling platforms. Distinguishing friendly banter from harassment requires the context that only an insider can hope to possess.

We all deserve dark corners where we stand a chance of finding well-managed communities that can deliver the value that keeps us stuck to our decaying giant platforms. Eventually, the enshittification will chase every user off these platforms – not just kids or sex-workers or political radicals. When that happens, it sure would be nice if everyone could set up in a dark corner of their own.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/23/evacuate-the-platforms/#let-the-platforms-burn

[shima-draws]

Imagine gear 5 Luffy facing Sanji's brothers. They aren't going to last a second.

Oh my god wait YEAH I have made a post about smth similar to this concept before, here

[taryn40k]

March fit check when?

The things you have to do for the archives of the Inquisition, by His Light...!

[mkulimited]

Female Ballistic Vests by MKU – Ergonomic Body Armour Designed Specifically for Women in Combat

MKU’s female ballistic vests are expertly designed to address the unique anatomical and tactical needs of women in military, law enforcement, and security roles. Unlike unisex armor, these vests offer a contoured fit that enhances comfort, mobility, and operational efficiency without compromising ballistic protection. Engineered with NIJ Level IIIA certified materials.

for more info

read the full blog-link

[sincerenaxensglassmachine]

Safety Glass Making Machine,PVB Glass,EVA,SGP Windshield,Bullet Proof Gl...

[motogadi]

Tesla's Cybertruck Roars into Action: Limited Deliveries, Jaw-Dropping Performance!

Tesla Cybertruck deliveries began with a few pickups, making them a rare sight on the streets. The Cybertruck’s impressive features include a steer-by-wire system, a 48-volt architecture, and astonishing acceleration in drag races. Tesla Cybertruck deliveries finally began on Thursday at a large celebration. The company only sent a few pickups, so you’re not going to see them all over town this…

[makeupbychio]

THE suit // logan howlett x fem!mutant!reader

Summary: Now that you are officially part of the x-men team you need a suit. After the help from Hank and Charles to make the suit you kept the final result as a secret to Logan until he saw you in your first mission in THE suit. More than one time you needed more than one suit, not just because Logan will rip off a lot of them, but for other reasons. 

Warnings: Jealous Logan and being a little bit of a brat, Hank and Charles cameo, insecurity towards your body and powers, use of your powers (ecokinesis), Logan being the best protective and comforting boyfriend, mentions of smut, suggestive language, mentions of pregnancy.

Words: 1.9k 

A/N: So thanks for the anon for the request!! Once again, a reminder that english is not my first language. I put angst, fluff and mentions of smut so I hope you like this. Also, reminder that this is a safe place for all body sizes so that's why I don’t mention specifics measurements for the suit. ALSO, you can read this with my previous Logan fic TRAINING SEASON, this is them days after you are officially an x-men. Enjoy, love y’all!! <3. 

italics = past. 

— — —

“Hold on, wait. Hank is going to do your suit?” Logan stopped the conversation. You two at the cafeteria grabbing a late night snack. You took the pause to give a bite to your apple. 

“What about it? The Professor told me Hank did all of them” you answered him without any worry in your mind and didn't  understand why he had that frowning look on his face.

”I think Storm should be in charge since your powers are related to nature too”. Logan suggested, trying not to be an asshole. You understand where this was going when he sighed. 

“But Lo, the Professor designed the suits, Hank is just going to sew it and for that he needs to take the correct measurements” you refreshed Logan’s mind, like if it wasn’t obvious that a suit was not going to sew it itself. 

So after that Logan just stopped insisting about it. He trusted Hank of course but something was itching his brain. If he knew you already had an appointment with Hank last week to take the first measurement and the Professor explaining to you how he designed it for you and your powers. 

“So, Y/N. If you didn’t know, Hank came up with the idea to make the suits bulletproof and for your powers we needed to incorporate more resistance to heat changes in case your whole body is on fire or ice. So we needed to play with all of the opposite and different scenarios of the element you were going to manipulate or become, please try it on”. Charles explained to you the work behind your suit. You just nodded, but the Professor can read your mind and know your excitement when you ran to change your clothes and came back with the suit on.

“So you can basically turn into stone one moment and then disappear like air, so we create something that can resist that range of changes, and also of course something to be comfortable for you”. Hank added, proud of the technology he put in the suit while you looked at yourself in the mirror. “You can try it and test what I’m talking about”. 

So you did it, always careful not to hurt them. They were so happy with the final results and you couldn’t thank them enough and can’t wait any longer to wear it. 

“See you next week, Y/N”. The Professor reminded you about the final meeting to correct some details. 

So after that late snack, you both went to bed and before your appointment with Hank, Logan just stopped by his office and greeted him with a casual smile. 

“Logan, how can I help you? Y/N is not here” Hank thought he was there to be with you once you tried on your suit. 

“Don’t worry, she’s still in bed sleeping in our room” Logan gave a cocky smile and highlighted the ‘our’. “Actually I’m here to help YOU. In case you needed help with her suit, just to let you know that I made you a list of her measurements” Logan handed him a piece of paper with the different sizes of the clothes you have. He really thought that was going to work. “You’re welcome, so you don’t have to take the measurements yourself” He smiles proud of himself. 

Hank laughed and didn’t want to ruin Logan’s intention. He just thanked him, if Logan knew the suit was ready in the lab for you to try it and make the last changes. 

“Oh! I almost forgot” Logan turned to Hank before leaving his office. “She’s the smartest person I know, don’t get offended so I’m pretty sure she’s going to give you some ideas for the suit” he made a pause imagining you giving instructions to Hank. “And her favorite color is purple” Logan finally leaves the room without letting Hank answer. Heading himself to the dining room proud of his work. 

Hours later, you went directly to the lab where Hank and the Professor told you to meet. “Okay Y/N so tell us how you feel it, if you want to change something” Hank looked at you looking in the mirror. 

It was really comfortable even when it was really tight to your body. You felt so much confidence, you saw the x mark on it, that wasn’t on the suit the last meeting you had. Also it made justice to your figure and your beautiful curves. 

“Thanks again, it fits perfectly. But Hank I just wanted to ask you if it’s possible if you could add something to the suit…” Hank is paying attention to you. “If there could be like- I don’t know- something for you guys to know which element I’m manipulating or about to, so you don’t get yourself hurt out there during a mission” you asked him nervously because they are the experts.

”Mmmhh, it’s a really good idea but the enemy can use that information too against us to advance an attack” Hank really liked the idea but they had a surprise for you. 

“So dear, we also wanted for you to try this suit too” the Professor went to reach the suit he was talking about. Hiding it inside a box that was wrapped like a gift. 

“Guys, what is this?” you were in total awe when you opened the box. They know how easily you get emotional. Tears are already forming in your eyes. 

“We wanted for you to have your own suit, something that will be just for YOU…” Hank started explaining. “All of us have something that characterizes ourselves and our powers, so someone told us your favorite color is purple and it contrasts perfectly the green that represents your powers…” Hanks kept talking because you went speechless. “I know it sounds cliché to add green for your ecokinesis, if you don’t like it we can change it” he suggested.

You just ran to hug them because it was perfect. “So for your ideas you gave us, we design this…” the Professor handed you another box, but this time smaller. You opened it so fast. “We created these gloves for the changes of elements. So you can use it in the field or on a daily basis” you tried on them immediately and it blew your mind the technology it has, how it’s connected to you to change the colors related to the element, it sparkles so that makes them AMAZING.

“The gloves are more for the missions, because with the suit you hold your powers in case you are not conscious. Also the gloves help you to give your attack a precise target. We’ll learn more about both items while training” Hank explained. 

So when you first wore the x-men suit, you were so nervous about the mission, about everything so you changed clothes in your room. Thinking if this was a good idea. Literally everyone was waiting for you to step into the plane. 

“I’m going” Storm was about to go and search for you when you stepped into the ship. “There you are! K’ let’s go” Storm yelled at Scott to go.

Logan almost fainted, his claws making an appearance without previous warning. He quickly put them back, he was so excited he couldn’t resist to stay close to you. His flirting helped you to stop your nerves. “Sugar, you look amazing…” he gave you a kiss on your check, sitting next to you on the ship. He came closer to your face, whispering “I hope they made like a hundred suits because as soon as we're back in the mansion I’m going to rip it off. God, I can’t wait” You tried to hide the redness of your face, you warned him to behave. 

“Logan, I’m pretty sure the Professor can read your mind, I don’t want to be kicked out of the missions. Or give us separated missions. Do you want me to be paired with Scott instead?” you asked him with a teasing smile. 

“I’m sorry, love. But did you see yourself in the mirror before coming?” Logan really insisted but not too much. “Don’t worry, you’re going to kick asses today and I’ll protect you till the end of times” 

Like I said before, Logan after that would take any opportunity to join you for fittings. Especially if something is different. Logan would be there next to you when you are not comfortable with your body. If you are not comfortable with your powers every time you discover something new about them. After years, he will always be there for you, sitting in front of you looking at you with awe and comforting you even when you’re were not feeling it. 

The only time you skipped a mission was when your suit was not crossing your figure. You tried on your x-men suit and your own suit they made you and it was not stretching enough. The team was on a rush so they let you stay at the mansion. 

Logan asked you when they were back about what happened and you just told him you were feeling under the weather. The Professor already knew the real reason. You distracted Logan enough for you to go to Hank's office. 

“Hi, Hank. Can I ask you something?” you stepped into the room worried. Hank welcomed you worried about your absence in the last mission. “I had a problem with the suit, actually both suits. Is it possible for the fabric to be even more stretchable?” you asked him. 

Next day, after telling Logan the truth about you expecting and how suddenly a big bump you had appeared. That time he almost fainted too. So both of you were in the lab, the Professor and Hank giving you the congratulations when Hank was taking notes of your new measurements for your suits.

“Be careful there, big boy” Logan growled at Hank when he put the measuring tape around your belly. Logan was so protective over you and now your baby. You laughed at him telling not to worry, Logan looking at you with charming eyes while you rub your belly looking at yourself in the mirror. So this was really happening, starting a family.

Hank explained to you your new suits, which were going to be more comfortable for you considering the bump was going to grow even more. But the only thing Logan could think about is to protect you even more out there in the field. 

“Lo, look at me. I can do this” you hold his face when back in the room he told you to reject some missions that were too dangerous just to be cautious. He was scared that if you got injured really bad in your state. He was not going to stop you from going to the missions, because he knows you are one of the strongest and with a single snap you can beat your enemy but he can’t help himself from worrying. “And if I’m not feeling good or at my best to fight I’ll stay here”. you kissed him to calm him down. 

“I know, mama. You are the baddest out there. They could never beat you even if they tried” Logan kissed you back and kneeled to kiss your belly. “I wonder which powers our baby is going to inherit”. Next time Logan went to Hank’s office was to ask for a tiny x-men suit to surprise you. Hank couldn’t say no to Logan because he found a really cute gesture from him even when he had a lot of work left to do. 

[mindblowingscience]

Over the last 100 years, countless studies have proven that Albert Einstein's greatest theory – his theory of general relativity – is practically bulletproof, capable of everything from predicting black holes to guiding your GPS technology. However, as scientists arm themselves with more powerful and sophisticated technology, capable of peering into the cosmos in unprecedented detail, they see phenomena they can't explain with Einstein's theory. Einstein's general theory of relativity states that the curvature of space-time causes gravity. But zoom out to enormous scales like clusters of galaxies spanning billions of light years across, and the laws of Einstein's gravity theory appear to change. "It's almost as if gravity itself stops perfectly matching Einstein's theory," Robin Wen, a recent University of Waterloo graduate, said in a university press release.

Continue Reading.

[instantpansies]

i think the oopsie daisies waited a WHILE to get married too. met as little kids, grew up together, probably knew they'd get married someday (small town, they were friends, it just made sense). i like to think jacques went off to study some kind of sciences at a university (i'm eyeing the University Lille - this would've been in the 50s, so the Science and Tech school wouldn't have been split off yet, but Lille was def still an important science university in france when jacques would've been attending). he scraped together his small funds, worked his way through school, maybe wrote to marianne for the few years of study, and came back prepared to bring life-changing technology to the people of Le Bulge.

it's important to note that by the time Jacques and Marianne appear in the beginning of the longform, recently returned from their honeymoon, they have already been very active in the town. their marriage is not the beginning of their impact on Le Bulge by any means. here are some accomplishments from almost certainly before they were married

marianne campaigned and was elected as mayor

jacques developed, tested, and implemented cybernetic/robotic body modifications for regular citizens, including bulletproof and tank-proof armor

they either captured and trained or inherited a previously-imprisoned kraken mime

marianne befriended and gained the trust and respect of said kraken to the point that it would sacrifice its life for her (i'm going to assume this was after she became the mayor, and that keeping the kraken is a part of her mayoral duties)

jacques has set up a working lab, gained the trust of the townsfolk, and has done enough experiments to have a standard routine and an ethics model

anyways. uhhh what was i talking about again

oh right. yeah so jacques gets back from university and sets up a lab and evidently some kind of manufacturing facility in town. i think that he would've heard a lot about weapons and armor development when learning about design and engineering at university in the post-WWII educational environment. and we know he's interested in chemistry and maybe biology too, so it makes sense that he'd have a bit of a hero complex around keeping his village SAFE. building things, using his degrees and expertise to combine the machine with the flesh and make the residents of Le Bulge immune to any attack. never granting himself those protections, though. maybe he was scared, maybe he didn't think he'd see combat, maybe the modifications would've hampered his ability to continue to experiment and develop tech.

meanwhile, marianne was volunteering with the mayor's office until she needed to earn money. maybe she gets a small-time job in local politics (maybe in the nearest bigger town), maybe she starts secretary or stenography work at a courthouse and moves into assisting and then running campaigns. regardless, over the next few years she finds out she's both very good at getting people's votes and very passionate about helping Le Bulge grow. she talks to jacques, her closest friend throughout this time, and he tells her to go for it, and he'll be by her side (well, behind her and a bit to the left). she runs, he helps, residents love the two young people who love their little town so much that they dedicate their lives to making it better, and marianne wins in a landslide. first political, then literal, but a win is a win.

she implements policy to get jacques' tech available to anyone. she musters a militia. she ensures the allyship of the kraken in the town hall's basement, and sits next to jacques at meetings. maybe six months or a year go by, and everyone knows they're together. they plan the wedding, invite the town, have a wonderful time, and put marianne's own secretary in charge of the village during their month-long honeymoon one town over (Le Bulge just out of sight but less than an hour's drive and always with a phone nearby just in case)

and we know the rest! anyways. tldr marianne and jacques LOVE their tiny french town so sososo much and love each other sososo much and i think they were at LEAST in their late 20s and probably early 30s before they were married. in this timeline jacques probably went to university around age 17 in approximately 1950 (young enough to not be drafted but old enough to be influenced by war ideology and fearmongering), which would put him at around 30 years old in 1963. (side note, wwii might partially explain the village's very small population......) since they grew up playing soccer together at a young age, i assume marianne is very close to the same age as jacques.

also after all that and finally thinking "let's finally get married! enjoy what we've built! let le bulge take care of us for a bit!". that's when everything comes crashing down. haha yeah 👍 andre beetroot voice

ok this has been my oopsie daisies ted talk. live long and prosper

[collapsedsquid]

It pays dividend to have a unit of young, well-trained drone pilots equipped with the latest technology, as they face a lower risk of being sacrificed as riflemen in the trenches. But the posh Third assault, with his sleek website, his nice private recruitmenet center and his fully kitted soldiers, is an exeption. The majority of brigades can barely afford advertisements made with Microsoft Paint, while others rely heavily on charities. Some units cannot even do that because they lack the manpower to navigate the paperwork required to secure donations. I visited such a unit in spring, near the Vovchansk axis in the north. They told me that only one soldier in the company was older than their equipment—a self-propelled howitzer built in 1976 in nearby Kharkiv. They had to purchase most of their clothing and raise funds for gas and repairs for the company vehicles. Military shops, which supply everything from winter jackets to bulletproof vests, have become a booming business in Ukraine. People set up temporary tent shops at crossroads and villages near the frontline.

In such a situation, one might expect the state to be scraping the bottom of the barrel for resources so desperately needed at the frontline. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Deep cuts have affected everything that could be sacrificed, with education bearing the brunt, while indirect taxes were increased. But for the rest, the government has pursued an economic war policy that aligns closely with the Washington Consensus. There has been no widespread nationalization, no prescription of workers or rationing of consumer goods. The government even sought to implement peace-time privatization plans and kept cutting red tape, or claimed to do that, to make the country more attractive to international investors. It is a neoliberalism of war, altough heavily subsidized by foreign countries. The government was forced to surrender and reform the tax system only a month ago. For nearly three years of a war widely regarded as existential for the country, it maintained tax rates at pre-war fiscal heaven levels—except for a nearly symbolic 1.5% military tax contribution introduced at the outset of the full-scale invasion. Economists in Kyiv, and many others, attribute this to necessity. Raising taxes further would likely push a significant portion of the economy underground or abroad, thereby undermining efforts to generate revenues. It may sound reminiscent of the famous Laffer Curve, but the issue runs deeper. The real concern is that, under current national and especially international constraints, this is the only viable approach. Even during wartime, Ukraine cannot escape the forces of globalization.

[aslansoykan]

Beverly Hills, CA, 90210 - ADDRESS UNAVAILABLE.

"I gotta fucking move."

Perched on the edge of a cliffside in Beverly Hills, this isn’t so much a home as it is a fortress. Secluded and near-impossible to reach without intention, it’s the kind of place designed for someone who doesn’t want to be found, or who expects that when they are found, it wasn't by accident.

From the outside, the structure cuts a clean silhouette against the skyline. The driveway is steep and narrow, protected by bulletproof security gates that only open by access codes or fingerprint recognition. His paranoia prompts him to constantly change said codes every two to four days.

Inside, the house feels more calculated than lived in. No clutter and no distractions. Everything is placed exactly where it belongs. Even his extensive car collection - every vehicle is placed with intention in the hidden garage. Panoramic windows stretch across the main rooms, flooding the space with light by day and giving him a full view of the city below by night.

The kitchen gleams, but he rarely cooks. More often, it’s where he reviews files with a pot of Turkish coffee. There are no personal photographs anywhere. Just the scent of oud, the precision of folded suits, and the air that this could be a show home, but not a lived in place. The only area that feels used is his study that's tucked away and secured with biometric access.

This house, according to Aslan, has a mind of its own. He only bought it for the seclusion, the privacy, and the ability to install bulletproof windows, but he hates it with a burning passion. It’s far too technologically advanced for his liking; everything is controlled through iPads mounted on the walls, which he can never seem to figure out.

On the rare chance you’re within earshot (you won’t be), you might overhear him cursing at the tech in Turkish that he has to fucking move out or the occasional gunshot fired into one of the control panels. Somehow, thanks to Charlie, they always manage to get repaired.

There are only two specific people he trusts enough to update on the access codes - Camilla Barone and Esra Durmaz (sometimes Charlie depending on his mood but Aslan doubts he'll remember it anyways)

The only things that are his own within the home are his clothing and the watch and car collections.

He keeps some artwork and priceless artifacts in various parts of the home, mostly in the study, but nothing too eye-catching.

[1americanconservative]

@CRRJA5

DOGE would like former FBI

Director James Comey to explain why he authorized a $6 million payment to himself in 2016...

According to the DOGE report, Comey justified the payment as a “critical security expenditure” but failed to mention that the security in question was primarily for his personal comfort and convenience. The expenditures included:

✳️A custom-made, bulletproof trench coat – Because, as Comey reportedly told an aide, “If I’m going down, I’m going down looking like a 1940s detective.” The coat also came with a built-in espresso machine, just in case counter-espionage work got exhausting.

✳️A state-of-the-art, crime-solving magnifying glass – At a cost of $1.2 million, this solid-gold, FBI-engraved Sherlock Holmes-style magnifying glass was allegedly “necessary for close reading of classified documents.” DOGE investigators note that the device remained completely unused, except for dramatic effect during Congressional hearings.

✳️A life-sized wax statue of himself – Installed in his office to intimidate subordinates into thinking he was always watching. Witnesses say the statue was even taller than the real Comey, and he reportedly would stand next to it and whisper, “Which one is the real me, agents? Choose wisely.”

✳️A $500,000 “Mission: Impossible”-style self-destructing office chair – This chair, made from carbon fiber and classified Pentagon technology, was designed to eject him through the ceiling if he ever needed a quick escape. Unfortunately, the button was installed backwards, leading to one intern being launched into the cafeteria when they accidentally sat down in the chair.

✳️An FBI-branded “Super Spy Kit” for home use – This kit contained high-tech surveillance gadgets such as binoculars that could see into the past (or at least that’s what the receipt claimed), a pair of night-vision socks, and a secret compartment in his fridge labeled “Classified Snacks.”

[tightsweatyclothes]

The government mandates a new level of protection for its female agents: a padded gag and padded bulletproof catsuit to be worn at all times.  Agent 003 is shown here after a mission, desperately in need of the toilet, a warm bath and a good meal.  Unfortunately, all she can do is stew and itch in her own sweat and piss, waiting for the suit's cleanup technology to disinfect it and release it as a fine spray which makes the whole area stink.  She claws at the locks keeping the gag and suit firmly stuck to her skin, and the shock collar punishes her for it.  She growls into the gag in frustration, picks at the collar once more, is shocked with a jolt of pain once more. The tickling droplets of sweat refuse to evaporate, and the urge to urinate is worse than ever.  It will be a long night, and she is scheduled an hour of leashed treadmill jogging before she is allowed back into her padded cage to sleep.  Despite her exhaustion from the mission, she leashes herself to the machine, following its pace, making sure not to make the leash taut.  Beside her Agents 007 and 009 are doing their own scheduled exercises, and they share a look of misery before forcing themselves to keep up with the jogging pace of the treadmill.  

[howtofightwrite]

For super-powered individuals, if we assume the standard of characters being stronger, faster, more durable than normal, is there a reasonably thin enough material (i.e. not just 5 inch thick hardened steel) that a super strong individual could carry to be bullet-proof (enough), presumably in some form of plate armor where you can still be agile?

Not exactly. The problem with armor (in the context of armored vehicles) is that you can just hit them harder. Something that can stop a .50 round might not do so well against a guided explosive munition, and if that fails an artillery strike. But, against a roughly human foe, those anti-material rounds would probably get the job done.

So, let's stick with your hardened steel solution for a moment. A .50 BMG round will penetrate ~1.5 inches, but for the sake of argument let's say 2 inches. That's a pretty good defense against a sniper with an AM rifle. However, this is also used in heavy machine guns, where you're looking at a cyclic rate of ~750-850rpm. In a situation like that, your armor might hold up to a short burst, but probably will not survive multiple bursts in the same area. As is often the case, the real problem isn't the bullet with your name on it, it's the 20 or 30 buddies who wanted to swing by for a fun time.

This leads to another problem. While bullets punching holes in you is bad, your armor taking a hit can be pretty unpleasant in its own right. A .50 BMG will deliver somewhere north of 14k joules of force into the target. That's enough for the bullet to do some pretty unpleasant things to a person in the armor, even if the armor itself isn't compromised. This a large part of why there isn't any armory rated to soak a hit from one of the AM rifles. (The Russians claimed that their Ratnik-3 armor would be able to... and then it never really appeared. The claim was someone dubious to begin with, but that's a much larger, and wilder, rabbithole than you're asking about.)

For a normal person, wearing high end body armor, hits from normal combat rifles (intermediate and high power rounds) can result in broken ribs and internal hemorrhaging. It's not just about your armor being bulletproof, it's about your armor being able to effectively dissipate kinetic force as it's received. If it doesn't do that effectively, the bullets may get the job done, even if they don't manage to penetrate the body armor.

On an individual level, simply adding more armor isn't a particularly efficient solution. It makes sense to a point, but if you're already saying someone is super-humanly strong, and tough, covering them in steel plate isn't going to make them immune to harm.

Beyond that, there have been experiments with developing combat exoskeletons, to allow normal soldiers this kind of protection. The aforementioned Ratnik-3 was the Russian program, while the American project was named TALOS. TALOS was scrapped sometime before February 2019, citing technological limitations. So, this isn't a new concept.

Something I found deeply amusing is the “See also,” section on TALOS's Wikipedia page includes a link to Crysis. For those unfamiliar, Crysis was a first person shooter set in the distant future year of 2020, which would have come dangerously close to matching the intended schedule for TALOS, if the project had continued.

Powered exosuit research is probably not dead, even if TALOS has been scrapped. It may be a bit further out than was originally expected, but it is a reasonable bet that it will happen at some point. There are a lot of technological hurdles, including both the issue with the armor failing under direct fire, and dealing with kinetic force, but, at least from an optimistic perspective, it's somewhat plausible.

Unless you're talking about vehicles, modern armor isn't about adding more metal, it's about being more efficient with dissipating the kinetic force from a hit, and still survive to do it at least a couple times.

That said, whatever you do come up with, it's likely that the old adage will hold true, if force doesn't solve your problems, you're probably not using enough of it. No matter how good your armor is, it won't survive sufficient application of high explosives.

Even ignoring all that, a Type IV plate will still take a hit from most rifles (up to and including .30-06 AP rounds.) You don't need fantasy armor for that, it's something that already exists. Real world body armor is designed to take hits. Full plate was designed for melee combat. Neither one is particularly good at doing the other's job. That's not a limitation of the materials or technology, it's a function of what the armor is designed to deal with.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, one of my scoutmasters warned us that if you use a knife as a screwdriver, you'll break it. It has an intended purpose. Trying use that tool, (whether it's a knife or body armor) for a purpose other than it's intended ones, will usually end poorly. (Of course, I also remember a crayon eater who was rather vocal in his opinion that the USP's only effective use was as a hammer.)

If you want to put a character in fully enclosed armor, take a look at Ratnik-3 or TALOS armor. If you just want a character who's unusually durable, and you're willing to go for (low key) superpowers, you don't need special armor to get that idea across.

-Starke

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[docgold13]

Cartoon Heroes Paper Cut-Outs

Bulletproof 

The central protagonist of the animated series, C.O.P.S., Federal Agent Baldwin P.  Vess was severely wounded while investigating the criminal syndicate ran by Brandon ‘The Big Boss’ Babel.  Doctors saved Vess's life by using cybernetics and nanosurgery to encase his damaged torso in a stainless-steel, bullet-proof casing.

Now going by the codename ‘Bulletproof,’ Vess founded and acted as the director and chief investigator for The Central Organization of Police Specialists (or C.O.P.S.), a division of law enforcement that utilize cutting edge technology to protect Empire City from the Big Boss’s criminal network.  

Actor Ken Ryan provided the voice for Bulletproof with the hero debuting in the first and only season of C.O.P.S., first airing in September of 1988.