#Public Safety aircraft

[nocternalrandomness]

Huntington Beach PD departing KSNA

[reportwire]

Biden's trip to Kyiv delivers the starkest rebuke possible to Putin | CNN Politics

CNN  —  There is no more powerful symbol of Vladimir Putin’s failure. A year ago, the Russian leader launched a blitzkrieg against Ukraine, mocking its history and sovereignty, sending his tanks churning toward Kyiv to obliterate the democratically elected government led by a former comic actor. His purpose was clear: To crush once and for all Ukraine’s dreams of joining the West and to force…

[cod-imagines-fanfiction]

Jealous Alejandro kidnaps Valeria's girlfriend (1.6k words part 4)

Summary: Valeria breaks into the headquarters of the Mexican Army in search of her wife.

TW: implied sexual violence, violence more generally (and Google Translated Mexican Spanish)

Note: I'm back from my home country y'all and free to write gay fanfiction once again. I'm working on the next part ASAP but I wanted to post this because you guys have been waiting forever. Thank you for all the lovely comments and the interactions!! means a lot to me that you guys enjoy reading this :>

Link to A03 Link to part 1, part 2, part 3. Next part: part 5

'Army soldier' was more than a type of occupation, more than any other job title; it was a lifestyle. It is truly a different way of life, a way of life that most people are simply not built for. A soldier's form - their straight back, their way of taking in the world around them within a second, their way of assessing everything as either hostile or neutral, their battlefield instinct - it all became an inseparable part of who they are. There is a certain instinct that gets drilled into soldiers, the instinct to act immediately and fast. The instinct to not think twice about running into danger. It is triggered immediately and triggered intensely. So when the emergency siren at the Mexican Army Headquarters wailed, the whole place came alive. No time was wasted before troops placed themselves in position. Snipers grabbed their rifles and headed for the rooftops, Captains and sergeants tuned into their mics, barking orders to their subordinates, assembling their troops as quickly as possible. Guards ran to their posts and pilots rushed to where their aircraft were getting readied by flying personnel, prepared to take off to gain an advantage in the airfield and a much-needed vantage point of what was happening. The armoury opened as many hands reached within for ammo and other equipment.

From the outside, it was a perfect scene of military efficiency and readiness. But from the inside, anxiety bubbled, threatening to cut loose.

"Why did this have to happen today of all days?" A soldier grumbled as he tightened his weapon belt.

"Someone planned this. It's the most popular day for annual leave," another responded as he grabbed his shoes.

"Dia de los Muertos," the first one said, his voice low and grim.

The Day of the Dead. Celebrated annually around November 1st but spanning over the course of multiple days. A day of celebration for life and death, a day to pay respects to those who have passed on. A time of parades on squares and community gatherings, with crowds of people in traditional costumes and painted faces taking to the streets to rejoice with others. A time when many troops were stationed outside the headquarters for public safety. A time, therefore, of relatively little staff being left behind to man the fort.

It was so perfect, Valeria almost giggled as she withdrew her knife from someone's body and let them drop to the floor.

She had infiltrated the headquarters from the underground tunnels that connected to some fields further out, which were created to be used in emergencies but had been long forgotten over the years. These were the same tunnels she took many years back when she wanted to see you on a day that she hadn't booked off. She would wait until most of the barracks were asleep before slipping away in the shadows, passing the guards and quietly unscrewing the lid that separated the tunnels from the world above ground. It was even more exciting once she taught you when and where to wait for her, at the end of the tunnel, among greenery and orange trees. Among the fields that you would lay on for the rest of the night underneath your blanket, touching each other's bodies and talking to the stars. Whispering how badly you'd missed each other, hearing the hum of insects in between short gasps and warm moans. Now, she had unscrewed these same lids and stabbed the person in front of her, dragging them out and passing the body along to the staff that followed her. They dumped the body back in the fields. Part of her found it annoying that these tunnels were always standing between her and her wife. And yet there was some charm, too. Travelling the bowels of the Earth for her love.

Having officially stepped on ground owned by the Mexican Army, El Sin Nombre and her people spread like a virus, taking down certain key spots and hiding bodies. Not enough damage to create immediate alarm, but good enough progress to feel confident about the next step. Her heart sped up in excitement as she thought of her wife, who was only one building and a lock away from her. And right in front of that building, was him.

Valeria looked out from one of the windows and saw Alejandro standing with his back straight, his face possessing a deep scowl as he conversed with Rudolpho. It had been many years since she last saw him, which was nothing memorable. There was no goodbye, no farewell. She had simply gotten up in the middle of the night and gazed at his face one final time; he glistened beneath the moonlight. He was younger then, his face smoother, his voice gentler; not yet hardened. A mass of muscle on a standard issue Army bed, he was unaware that the woman he loved was slipping right through his fingers. Unaware that by the time he woke up, she'd be gone.

There'd be nothing left behind to prove that she even existed. All of her things just went missing alone with her. She didn't even leave a picture behind to immortalise their love, to have something to look at during those nights when his heart almost gave out, when he realised that he was starting to forget what she looked like. That he could no longer remember her voice. Now, as she looked at him, she wondered why they even started a relationship in the first place. He was attractive, sure, but nothing special. Not like the woman in the box.

He was older now, his face more wrinkled. Valeria was raised with the idea that in women, this quality had the same visual effect as decaying fruit. When Valeria looked in the mirror and saw her signs of age - the smile lines that wouldn't smooth out when her smile fell, the lines around her mouth that could not be covered by cosmetics, the wrinkles around her eyes - it reminded her of something that was starting to fade. But in men, the quality was different, more merciful. More like maturing. It enraged her to see him getting older. To see him in the exact same place that she left him. The memories attached to this place were too much to handle. Memories of her younger years kept materialising at the edge of her vision, like a trick of the light; a shadow figure that kept pursuing. It used to be her, out there in the yard. Talking with Alejandro and Rudy, passing along jokes during a long day. But right now it was just the two of them, talking with ease like she had never been there at all. And right at that moment, as she gazed down at them, the alarm went off. What a glorious opportunity to have a front-row seat to witness Alejandro's reaction once she pulled the rug from underneath his feet. There was no more time to waste. She forced herself to stop gloating at these shadows of the past and to move forward. With each step, she got closer to her wife, her sweetheart. Valeria felt weightless, she felt herself glide through the space between herself and Y/N. She would pause here and there to ensure she did not reveal herself to her enemies. At times, she stealthily murdered someone who could have easily been her roommate back when she was a cadet. But that was another lifetime, a lifetime of making the wrong friendships and choosing the wrong lovers. She wasted no time on these obstacles. At last, her hand encircled the handle of the container. She pushed her weight into it and entered, ready for anything. Be it to murder a guard, or to embrace her love; her instincts were on the front seat. She could kill a hundred men if it came to it.

“Valeria. Bienvenida.”

The metal door crashed into the threshold behind her, the echoes reverberating, she felt, for eternity. There was nothing beyond these metal walls anymore, the whole world went silent. The wrath that burned in her eyes met the hatred that dripped out of his. Darkness met darkness; loathing encircled within their dark glares like an ouroboros, its dark scales flashing where the light hit it. Valeria and Alejandro were a perfect mirror, they were tuned into the same frequency, a frequency of violence. They were built of the same clay; two destroyers meeting at last.

He was right in front of her, waiting. Standing tall and armed to the teeth, Colonel Alejandro Vargas. Her jealous ex-lover, the kidnapper of her wife, the annihilator of peace, the snake that infiltrated the garden. The evil eye incarnate. And here was she, the abandoner, the backstabber; the woman lover.

“Y/N.” Valeria spoke with steel in her voice.

“Is no longer with us, I’m afraid.” The lines of his mouth fell into a pout, feigning sadness. Mocking her. “She’s not a fighter, like you or me. You know what happens to the weak here,” he scoffed. “What was it that you used to say? That the weak exist to serve the strong and die? Yeah,” he said diabolically, a grin etching itself on his face. “That’s what happened.”

She knew he was lying; Y/N walked this earth still. She and her wife’s souls were so intertwined, Valeria would have felt it if her wife was gone. Y/N could never leave without her heart knowing. Valeria would put her hand through fire to prove her conviction.

“If I thought she was dead, I would have shot you on sight,” she said. Her hand gripped a blade tightly, willing herself to stop shaking.

Alejandro laughed. “Oh, I didn’t mean she was dead.” His gloved hands held onto his vest as he looked down at her. “I meant that your wife served me.”

Unable to contain her wrath any longer, Valeria lunged at him with a scream.

tag list: @justmare @silas-222 @m0rganit3 @blarba-girl @sleepiemain @caffeineliker @ashy-kit @00ops1e @lesvii @therapyneeds @lez-zuha @starre-eyes @7smexy7diva @hello-kitty-festival @konigmeu @cassiecasluciluce @gay-ass-country-boy @starwars-theclonewhore @bi-witch-bxtch @somnoslvt @ashthepillow @b3ns0ne  @idiotwrites @danart501 @deakyspuff @mistresssiri @angethehimbosimp

thanks for supporting me!!

[feathered-mushrooms]

Scott Summers ahead Cannons

he is my favorite loser boy

Due to growing up on it, Scott tends to throw himself into the danger room whenever he feels an emotion more than fine. He does not know a limit, which his led to “Scott patrol”. Oh Scott hasn’t left the danger room for five hours? Rouge it’s your turn, I pulled him out last time. 

Scott can’t handle to much down time, or being bored. He constantly feels like there is something he should be doing, and therefore will constantly find something to do. 

Charles has done a number on him. He is the reason Scott is so high strung, why failure isn’t just a lesson to learn from but an entire judgement of his character, why he can’t just breathe. He needs to be the leader and the man everyone can count on, he needs to be everything Charles wants him to be. 

This is not a healthy way of thinking. 

Scott has a special interest in planes. It started when he was young and then had a pause after the plane crash that killed his parents. However he picked it up again and now can tell you the difference between a commercial flight and a jet. He also knows how to pilot seven different types of aircraft and even got official license for each.

He is Bi.

It took him frighteningly long to figure this out. 

Scott has issues with social skills(projecting). He can speak sarcasm just fine and makes many jokes in that medium. However he has a hard time figuring out people are being sarcastic, especially if the joke is around him. 

He would wear a dress. Not in public, but if Jean offered he would try one of her dresses on in the safety of a bed room. He would like it. 

Game nights were originally hidden from Scott who(due to the professors absurdly high expectations) does not handle losing well. He loves to point out the rules and technicality’s, and will not play Uno with any variations. He’s not a sore loser par say, it just gets depressing for everyone watching. 

When he was young he kept only one pair of ruby glasses and one visor. As he has aged(and been influenced by Emma) he know has a collection of ruby glasses in all types and styles. 

Star Wars is his comfort show/movie/universe

Pretty equal on cats and dogs but leans towards dogs. 

His chances of being a toddler dad had been pretty ruined but he thinks it would be nice to raise a kid alongside a dog. Maybe a golden retriever. 

He does not mind cats though. 

He often feels weird in his place as a parent. Nathan is his kid but some much time has been lost that Scott can’t help but yearn for the mile stones that were missed and lost to time. He misses everything he was promised as a father. The same is true for Rachel although it is a little weirder. Yes she is his, but from a future that will never happen. He often feels guilty because in the end he has two great kids, but he wishes he could raise a kid in a normal sense. 

He just wants to be a father. 

When he was their step father, Scott showed the Cuckoos Star Wars. He keeps checking in on them, even after he and Emma are no longer together. 

Scott’s type is a person who will be mean to him, and could probably kill him, but have a soft spot.

Even if that soft spot is very hidden. 

He can make a really good grilled cheese. There was a week in his teens were there was low x-men activities and not a lot to do in the mansion so he dedicated his days to perfecting the grilled cheese. He makes it anytime he thinks someone needs some comfort. 

He’s eyes are brown under the visor. 

Never played DnD but very interested in it. Researched it a whole lot and has watched a lot of play throughs. Has even mentioned it to the rest of the squad and most were down to try. However it was forgotten due to the next world ending event. Scott still thinks about it and the character he made. 

He is doing his best but often over exerts himself which leads to sick days. On these days he is forced to cuddle up in a blanket and watches either the Star Wars orignal movies or one of the shows. Most times someone will be designated to sit with him so he doesn’t try and get up and do work. 

On these days Logan often takes the job. 

That all for now!

[decolonize-the-everything]

The documents, obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera via a freedom of information request, do not provide details of the alleged workplace violations or alleged retaliation by Boeing in each case. However, 13 of the complaints were filed under a statute that protects whistleblowing related to aviation safety. Fifteen of the complaints were filed under a statute related to workplace safety, two were filed under the category of fraud, and one related to the control of toxic chemicals. Apart from monetary restitution being awarded in two cases, all of the complaints where an outcome was specified were closed without the agency taking action, according to the figures.

[...]OSHA did not respond to requests for comment. Boeing did not respond to inquiries in time for publication. The revelations come as the public testimony of a number of current and former Boeing employees is refocusing attention on the aircraft manufacturer’s allegedly hostile environment for whistleblowers and lax safety standards. At a US Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testified that he had been threatened for raising concerns about gaps between key sections of the 787 Dreamliner.

"They are putting out defective airplanes,” Salephour said. “I have serious concerns about the safety of the 787 and 777 aircraft, and I’m willing to take on professional risk to talk about them.” Another witness, Ed Pierson, a former Boeing engineer, accused the company of a “criminal cover-up” in the investigation of the midair blowout of a Boeing 737 Max 9 in January that prompted regulators to put a cap on the manufacturer’s production.

[mariacallous]

The US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible hearing kicked off with a startling revelation.

“I told him I’m not getting in it,” former OceanGate engineering director Tony Nissen said to a panel of Coast Guard investigators, referring to a 2018 conversation in which CEO Stockton Rush allegedly asked Nissen to act as a pilot in an upcoming expedition to the Titanic.

“It’s the operations crew, I don’t trust them,” Nissen told the investigators. “I didn’t trust Stockton either. You can take a look at where we started when I was hired. Nothing I got was the truth.”

Nissen’s testimony, which focused on the design, building, and testing of OceanGate’s first carbon fiber submersible, was a dramatic start to nearly two weeks of public testimony in the US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation’s hearings into the fatal June 2023 implosion of the Titan. Its five occupants, including Rush, all likely died instantly.

Before Nissen took the stand, the Coast Guard presented a detailed timeline of OceanGate as a company, the development of the Titan submersible, and its trips to the wreck of the Titanic, resting nearly 3,800 meters down in the north Atlantic. These slides revealed new information, including over 100 instances of equipment failures and incidents on the Titan’s trips in 2021 and 2022. An animated timeline of the final few hours of the Titan also included the final text messages sent by people on the sub. One sent at about 2,400 meters depth read “all good here.” The last message, sent as the sub slowed its descent at nearly 3,400 meters, read “dropped two wts.”

The Coast Guard also confirmed reports that the experimental carbon fiber sub had been stored in an outdoor parking lot in temperatures as low as 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (–17 Celsius) in the run-up to last year’s Titanic missions. Some engineers worried that water freezing in or near the carbon fiber could expand and cause defects in the material.

Nissen said that almost from when he joined OceanGate in 2016, Rush kept changing the company’s direction. A move to certify the vessel with an independent third party fell by the wayside, as did plans to test more scale models of the Titan’s carbon fiber hull when one failed early under pressure. Rush then downgraded titanium components to save money and time. “It was death by a thousand cuts,” Nissen recalls.

He faced tough questioning about OceanGate’s choice of carbon fiber for a hull and its reliance on a newly developed acoustic monitoring system to provide an early warning of failure. One investigator raised WIRED’s reporting that an outside expert Nissen hired to assess the acoustic system later had misgivings about Rush’s understanding of its limitations.

“Given the time and constraints we had,” Nissen said, “we did all the testing and brought in every expert we could find. We built it like an aircraft.”

Nissen walked the Coast Guard board through deep-water testing in the Bahamas in 2018, during which he says the sub was struck by lightning. Measurements on the Titan’s hull later showed that it was flexing beyond its calculated safety factor. When a pilot subsequently found a crack in the hull, Nissen said, he wouldn’t sign off on another dive. “I killed it,” he testified. “The hull is done.” Nissen was subsequently fired.

Nissen sought to draw a line in the sand between the vessel he worked on and the one that took the fateful voyage to the Titanic. The latter had a replacement hull and a redesigned acoustic monitoring system. “My design was collecting data such that we would prevent a catastrophic failure and ultimately the loss of human life,” he said. “We did that with serial 1. What they did in serial number 2, I don’t know. “

The next witness, Bonnie Carl, worked at OceanGate for less than a year between 2017 and 2018. Carl was hired as a director of human resources and finances and was also training to be a pilot for OceanGate’s submersibles. Carl said that one of the company’s board members, former Coast Guard rear admiral John Lockwood, was brought in for oversight and “to show that we’re talking to the Coast Guard.”

She also echoed Nissen’s testimony that Rush was in complete control of the company: “There might be discussion, but in the end … all decisions were made by Stockon,” she said.

The final witness of the day was an OceanGate contractor and veteran submersible operator, Tym Catterson. Catterson is one of only two witnesses the Coast Guard has called who was among the 42 people aboard the Polar Prince, OceanGate’s support ship, that June. He was operating the floating platform used to transport, launch, and recover the Titan submersible.

The preparations for the Titan’s dive that day went smoothly, said Catterson: “The sun came out, there were no red flags, and it was one of the first times we ever launched on schedule.”

He did have positive things to say about OceanGate’s safety culture, noting that Titan’s predive checklist was longer and more thorough than those used by other submersibles. But Catterson also admitted to contributing to an “uncomfortable” incident on a previous Titan dive, where an incorrectly closed valve caused the sub to tilt, tumbling its passengers together for an hour.

Catterson was able to give only a very spotty account of events following Titan’s loss of communication. He repeatedly referred the board to OceanGate’s operations director Scott Griffith as someone who could provide a more complete account of the dive. Griffiths is not on the Coast Guard’s list of witnesses, nor are any employees of OceanGate’s operations team.

Catterson was there for the recovery of some of the Titan’s wreckage, however. He testified that the inside edge of one titanium ring was sheared off all the way around. One former OceanGate engineer believes this supports the theory that the implosion was allegedly caused by damage to the carbon fiber there, perhaps from freezing water or lifting the sub without using the correct equipment, rather than a failure of the hull from pressure alone.

The hearing continues this week and next.

[whencyclopedia]

Life in an Air Raid Shelter in the London Blitz

Crowded and uncomfortable air raid shelters became a feature of the urban landscape across Britain during the Second World War (1939-45) as the bombers of Nazi Germany systematically hit cities from 1940. The London Blitz was a particularly sustained period of bombing which civilians escaped from by diving into private or public shelters when the sirens whined their warning signal.

People sought refuge in the London Underground stations, in purpose-built community shelters, in their cellars, under the stairs, or in refuges in their gardens such as the Anderson shelter. The danger was real, prior to the autumn of 1942, more British civilians were killed in the war than British military personnel.

The Bombing of Britain

Civilians had a lot to put up with even before the bombing started. The blackout was imposed where no non-essential lights were to show at night and so help enemy bombers. There was a real fear that gas bombs would be used, and so everyone was encouraged to carry gas masks. The Phoney War, the period of relative military inactivity in Britain between September 1939 and the spring of 1940, brought a sense of false security, but the German Luftwaffe (air force) would arrive soon enough.

Hundreds of thousands of children were evacuated from cities, including the capital where one million children were shipped out. Youngsters were sent to the safety of the countryside, but the separation from parents and a familiar environment proved traumatic for many. As the historian J. Hale points out: "By January 1940 about half of all children and nine out of ten mothers had returned to their old homes" (27). Despite this, when the bombing started, the official policy of evacuation was continued.

Bombers of the Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force dropped both explosive and incendiary bombs, the first type to smash through buildings and the second to set the ruins alight. Britain had an integrated air defensive system, the Dowding System, which monitored incoming aircraft and sent out fighters to intercept like the Supermarine Spitfire, but many bombers got through to deliver their deadly loads. In the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe aimed to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF), both in the air and on the ground, while a secondary aim was to terrorize the civilian population. As the Luftwaffe began to lose the battle, so it concentrated more on civilian targets. Most raids were carried out at night since darkness was the best protection for the German bombers against fighters and anti-aircraft guns. The bombers were guided by radar to their targets, but bombing remained highly inaccurate so that even when strategic sites like factories were the target, there was usually great damage to civilian areas.

London was first bombed on 24 August 1940. The bombers were to attack an oil terminal but mistakenly hit the city, thus beginning a tit-for-tat bombing of civilian areas that escalated to unimaginable horrors like the total bombing of Coventry and Hamburg (Operation Gomorrah). The systematic bombing of London began on 7 September 1940 and continued until the middle of May 1941. The British press called this campaign "the Blitz". The East End of the city, where the docks were located, was a particular target. Other cities across Britain were also repeatedly hit. For civilians, not knowing where the bombers would hit next, air raid shelters became essential everywhere.

Continue reading...

[longwindedbore]

• The desire to push R&D costs off to the company’s suppliers meant that Boeing was essentially building its planes from kits that weren’t designed together, didn’t fit together, and didn’t meet the standard of quality the company had once been known for. This move may have been a short-term boon for company profits, the share price, or for CEO bonuses, but the reduction in quality has given rise to the phrase “If it’s a Boeing, I ain’t going.” I’m not sure there has ever been a more aggressive about-face on a company’s view by the global public. •

===================================

The problems are Systemic and require an expensive, extensive, and prolonged effort to correct.

Tying bonuses to safety - as announced by Boeing - ignores the potential and now realized Systemic catastrophes possiblities when mating components designed by different manufacturering entities. (As opppsed to subcontractors manufacturing to specifications and blueprints produced by Boeing.

The different components may all pass their individually manufacturers quality control as well as Boeing’s. As INDIVIDUAL components but FAIL to mesh in the completed aircraft.

The burgeoning examples are coming faster and faster. Executives aren’t going to solve these known issues let along figure out other weaknesses if Boeing has lost depth in engineering staff.

What a nightmare.

[britt-kageryuu]

The stream is taking place in what appears to be an huge empty aircraft hangar. Donnie, who is the one streaming, has dodged any questions on how he got access to such an area. Donnie was dressed in mechanics coveralls that were purple and had multiple custom patches, along with some steel toed boots. His tail lazily swaying behind him at he works.

The audience is watching Donnie working on a modified motorcycle of some kind. Donnie had explained that this has been a side personal project for a good chunk of the last year or so. Which makes many watching curious as to what caused this project to take so long if it's just a modified motorcycle.

And since Donnie goes into long moments of focusing on their work while talking out loud, or asking his drone-robot children to grab him something.

One of the big surprises was that Shelldon was now using a bipedal robot body instead of his drone form, which many of the chat was adoring or calling cool and awesome. The other was just that Shelldons body is a good 1ft/30cm taller than River, who was, in between grabbing things, looking around and wanting to run and explore the hanger.

Donnie stops what they were working on to grab his drink, and double check his work. "This is actually prototype version 14.5 dash 5 codename Current Racer. And while I have most of the systems finished, part of the engine keeps giving out or over powering everything which leads to a sudden crash or the mechanical parts just melting. Annoyed Chuff." Donnie walks around the motorcycle while sipping on his drink.

It's at this moment that the audience is able to see that the engine area on the bike was nothing like any normal motorcycle engine, gas powered or electric powered.

It was hard to even describe because none of the audience, even those who work on vehicles, can figure what kind of engine Donnie is working on. Then there were some bringing up the 'engine melts the mechanics' comment that Donnie made, and seriously wonder what the heck was going on with this project.

"Well, everything looks good. Now to just test if the who system will work this time." Donnie says while walking offscreen to grab some safety gear, and a helmet.

Once they come back into frame with the motorcycle gear and helmet, his tail appears to be shoved into one of his pant legs for safety. Shelldon and River are moving all the equipment and tools out of the way, double checking that nothing small might not get sent flying.

Donnie, once he also checks things over once more and does his own check for potential debris, mounts the bike, and starts the engine.

The engine doesn't so much as make a loud noise as much as start to glow while giving off a loud hum. Donnie then flips a switch, and the tires shift, turning sideways and the bike starts to hover a bit off the ground.

Then Donnie shifts his weight and the bike speeds off quick. The drone-robots quickly move the camera to show the modified hover-cycle is zooming around the hanger. Donnie making tight turns and flips near the ceiling before speeding along the wall.

This is when the chat is filled with audience members comparing it to one of the bikes from Mario Cart, and wondering if Donnie plans to make this a public released thing.

After a good number of laps Donnie returns to where they began, and lands to bike before turning it off. They then launch into doing system scans to check if everything did work, or if something small may have gone wrong internally.

The audience is still shouting questions, and a bit upset that the notification system was turned off because Donnie didn't want to get distracted while working. Which was pointed out as ironic since he decided to stream himself working.

No questions were answered, and the audience could only watch as Donnie careful took something apart to check for something that popped up during his post test checks.

---------------

Masterpost

The idea of Donatello wanting to recreate the vehicles from Mario Cart has been stuck in my head. And this was what my mind quickly started drafting instead of letting me focus on reading.

[usafphantom2]

China warns 'military spotters' who may go to prison for posting photos online

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/21/2024 - 22:32 in Military

In the era of open source intelligence, one of the main ways for Western experts to maintain control over China's armed forces is through the analysis of photos of new People's Liberation Army equipment published online by enthusiasts and amateur photographers.

The publication of photos of military ships or aircraft captured outside the ELP facilities or of commercial flights near sensitive areas has become a common vision in recent years, as China quickly modernized its forces. And "military fans" spread the word to the general population on social networking sites such as Weibo, with hundreds of millions of active users.

But not anymore.

The new Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian, with the model of a J-35 jet on the flight deck.

In a WeChat post in December titled: "This is a legal hobby, but you must be very careful," the Ministry of State Security of China said: "Some individual military enthusiasts seriously endanger national military security by illegally obtaining information about national defense and disclosing it on the Internet."

"Focusing on military airports, ports, national defense and military industrial units, they drove or picked up ferries or planes that pass through designated routes and photographed clandestinely with telezoom lenses or drones," said the post of the highly secret civil espionage agency.

Repeat offenders can be arrested for up to seven years, although "primary or occasional offenders" can only receive a warning, according to the agency, which oversees intelligence and counter-espionage both in China and abroad.

Commercial aircraft that took off from Pudong airport, flies over the Jiangnan shipyard.

The alert comes at a time when Chinese leaders are increasingly focusing on ensuring national security in a number of sectors, especially as tensions with the United States increase.

For example, the agency only launched its social media account at the beginning of this year - dedicated to warning citizens about the risks of exposing China's secrets to the outside world and calling on them to join their fight against espionage.

The case of the new aircraft carrier

According to the spy agency's post, the images posted online can show the progress of the construction of warships or aircraft, while revealing operational and technical details of Chinese military equipment. The post specifically mentioned the new aircraft carrier as an area where safety could be compromised.

China's newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has been a frequent target of amateur observers while being prepared at a shipyard in Shanghai. The Jiangnan shipyard, where the works are being carried out, is close to the flight routes of Pudong International Airport, Shanghai.

In November 2023, the Paris-based defense news site Naval News reported that Fujian had begun testing its advanced electromagnetic catapult system, based on videos published on Weibo, apparently taken from a Pudong passenger plane.

“Related images taken from passenger planes have become a common source to track the progress of several important programs (of the ELP Navy),” Naval News reported.

Fujian is certainly a remarkable program for the ELP Navy. The 80,000-ton warship, the largest military ship ever manufactured in China, is considered a rival of the newest U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of the Gerald R Ford class, one of the few other aircraft carriers to use electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft.

The photos of the alleged catapult test gave Western analysts an idea of how the ELP Navy is progressing in preparing the aircraft carrier for commissioning and active service.

Image of the Fujian catapult tests.

And these images are not the first of Fujian to appear online.

In April 2023, the state broadcaster CCTV announced in a report that in November 2021, Mr. Luo, a "quite renowned" military enthusiast, was sentenced to one year in prison after his arrest by the Shanghai National Security Department for photographing the Fujian aircraft carrier.

Luo used a drone capable of shooting long-range and high-resolution photos, the report said.

Recently, new images on Chinese social networks began to appear with means of censorship.

How the US deals with images

It is not only China that is suspicious of what amateur military observers can do to reveal confidential information.

U.S. law says that the President may designate certain military facilities and equipment as prohibited to image makers.

"It will be illegal to make any photograph, sketch, image, drawing, map or graphic representation of such vital military and naval facilities or equipment," unless due permission is obtained before, states the U.S. Code. Offenders can be arrested for up to one year in prison.

Near the famous Area 51 in Nevada it is possible to see signs that do not authorize photos and the use of drones.

Of course, the military can sometimes use open source intelligence to their advantage, said Carl Schuster, former director of operations of the Joint Intelligence Center of the U.S. Pacific Command.

After photos of a supposed model of China's next-generation stealth fighter appeared online in September, Schuster told CNN that “given the location of the aircraft carrier and the likelihood of operations on the deck being photographed or filmed, the PLA [Navy] can see value in inciting speculation about Fujian's future air wing,” just to give opponents something to think about.

Source: CNN

Tags: ChinaPLAN - People's Liberation Army Navy / People's Liberation Army Navyaircraft carrierspotters

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics: Problems Forgotten During an Election Year...

1. The U.S. response to the Israeli massacre in Gaza has been far too little, far too late.

We shouldn't be on the side of anyone who kills civilians & then makes "fun" about it online...

We & the U.N. should be calling for an exchange of prisoners/hostages not backing more abuse.

We should be denouncing the whole- sale massacre & the stealing of land that Israel engages in.

Yes, Irani backed attacks shouldn't be tolerated by Israel.

But, that doesn't mean that you respond by killing the innocents that your enemy hides behind.

You punish Iran & the attackers them- selves...

Anything else is overkill & bloodlust.

Things that aren't normally allowed by the international rule of law.

Things we shouldn't be involved in...

2 thru 4. The falling apart of airplanes - while in flight - has been traced back to tRump era loosening of safeguard laws.

We should sue the aircraft owners & the Republikkkan Party for passing dangerous public laws & force them both to pay for reparations...

5 & 6. So, Tik Tok can be banned for being dangerous to our country's overall safety?

Then, why aren't guns completely banned for truly being so dangerous to all of our lives?!

Can you spell distraction?!!

7 & 8. If there's a true failure in the Democratic Party today - it's their failure to help normal citizens avoid inflammatory pricing.

Where's the laws that keep American businesses from openly gouging their customers?

Why haven't we even heard much about this from the Better Business Bureau or the other economic watchdogs?

To make matters worse, we're now paying inflated prices for shrinkflation products...

Sure, it's an election year. But, our government can't afford to forget about its economy just because of that...

Sue the corporations behind all of the gouging, raise taxes on them & make them pay reparations for all of their past overpricing!!

End.

[nocternalrandomness]

Az DPS Bell 407 at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport

[beardedmrbean]

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska slammed his hand on a table and yelled at a Democratic colleague Wednesday to voice his anger over a change to legislation that he said would harm his home state.

Sullivan grew uncharacteristically upset during a public meeting of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where he accused Democratic Chairman Tom Carper’s staff of killing a provision he had advocated for in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.

"I’m getting tired of my state being singled out by this staff, Democrat staff, on everything," Sullivan said.

He said that he had pushed for legislative language that would allow Alaska more time to implement an EPA requirement to transition off of standard leaded aviation fuel. Sullivan wanted Alaska to be exempt from the fuel requirement through 2034, instead of the 2030 nationwide exemption.

The FAA reauthorization, which is making its way through the Senate, has become a grab-bag of priorities for senators.

“This goes to safety of my constituents,” Sullivan said, slamming his hand on the table. “And you guys jump in at the last minute, and I’m so goddamn sick of it. Anything that deals with Alaska, you feel it's open season because the radical environmental groups want to shut my state down. It's wrong."

"It's bull---, and I'm really mad about it," he added.

At one point Sullivan said he wanted to question Carper's staff, a move that is not typically allowed.

“Can I ask your staff right now?" Sullivan said.

“No, I think this markup is coming to an end,” Carper, D-Del., responded.

Ben Dietderich, a spokesperson for Sullivan, said in a statement to NBC News that Alaskans rely on air travel in a state where more than 200 communities are not connected by road.

Sullivan had secured the fuel provision "recognizing a state as big and reliant on older aircraft as Alaska could not feasibly implement this mandate in that timeframe," Dietderich said.

He said that "without any data supporting the move, the Democratic staff of Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, Chair of the Environment And Public Works Committee, slashed Alaska’s exemption in half. Once again, doing the bidding of far-left environmental groups, national Democrats are targeting Alaska and endangering the lives of Alaskans. It is shameful."

In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Carper told NBC News: “As Chairman of the EPW Committee and a believer in the principle of treating others as they would want to be treated, Senator Carper has always engaged with his Senate colleagues who reach out on issues that impact their constituents. Chairman Carper takes seriously his job of protecting the health of communities across the country and doing so in a way that understands the needs and impacts on the ground.”

[actualbampot]

Hi there, first just wanted to say big fan of your work! Always impressed by your prose and drawings, both are amazing without a doubt!

Second, I was wondering if there was any thoughts you had on Cinder and Ruby in Strict Machine (or outside of that fic) which you haven’t been able to write at or haven’t had the context to write for yet?

Hope your day is going well!

I managed to completely miss this. That's very sweet, thank you. I think it's less what I don't have the context to write, and more what I don't have the context to SHOW (The WIP document is still bigger than what has been published so far). I've been trying to be strict in keeping what I share systematic, so as not to spoil anything.

Something that I don't really talk about, is that I come under a lot of fire for making this story a younger character x older character pairing.

So, I fully intended to write ONLY Chapter 1 and be done with it, then when I started getting some unsavoury feedback I thought, you know what? Fuck it. I kept writing out of spite, and I tied Cinder and Ruby's age gap purely into background subtext because I wanted to subvert these expectations. I don't think myself ignorant to the fact that there's subsets of media that really lean into predatory, unhealthy aspects of this kind of theme, but Strict Machine always had very little to do and with age, and more to do with two complicated people at different points in their lives that struggle to navigate this inexplainable attraction to each other.

So when I get slated for being that one person 'that writes an age gap AU for Ruby x SheWhoMustNotBeNamed' with all of the attached implications, I know for a fact that they didn't even bother reading it.

-

Anyway, as for things I haven't been able to write/had no context to write:

Neo owns her own clothing brand, Harajuku, which has been around since before the inception of Adel. She and Cinder are, quote unquote 'very old friends', which Ruby finds baffling since Neo looks so young, and there's a rumor that Neo has a semblance at play when she makes public appearances. Coco doesn't really like her, and she was supposed to be a tension point of jealousy for Ruby.

Demobaza is one of my absolute favourite irl fashion brands (check them out here!). I wanted to fit it into this AU as a Vacuo clothing brand owned by Carmine Esclados. The target audience would have been Hunters and Huntresses.

Cinder is absolutely terrified of flying, and she's been banned from certain airlines for ignoring safety procedures on aircrafts. I started writing this to distract myself when we landed and took off from Austin airport for RTX- both times in the middle of storms.

Cinder' s connection to Willow was fully intended to be a footnote in Cinder's backstory and nothing more, but after I blocked out a few pages, I realized I could weave it in. So...we'll see?

Velvet is an incredibly talented photographer and one of a few that can photograph in 'Hard Light' successfully, and the reason why she landed the job as Cinder's assistant before Ruby. In my draft of Cinder and Ruby's private tutoring session, Cinder explains this as she struggles to set up a Hard Light camera for Ruby to use, but @fanfictionsrookie's version of this chapter was so amazingly written that I binned mine.

Cinder was originally going to own Tucksons coffee which explained why she was so familiar with the waiting staff in Chapter 1, but it didn't lend to anything beyond that, so I cut it.

Cinder and Ruby were originally going to kiss during their argument at the Lakeshore shoot, but I rewrote it to an 'almost kiss' to make their first kiss more impactful.

Maybe this was a bit too thorough.. Hope this answered..SOMETHING. :)

[lily-valley-cc]

Ultimate Pilot | TS4 Career Mod

Becoming a Pilot is an enticing career path if you're seeking adventure, responsibility, and the unique thrill of commanding an aircraft through the skies. You'll experience the unparalleled freedom of flight, travelling to diverse destinations and viewing the world from a perspective few get to see. Your role involves much more than just flying; it requires meticulous planning, continuous learning, and a commitment to safety. You'll be responsible for the lives of passengers or the timely delivery of cargo, making decisions that affect many people. Whether flying commercially, privately, or for cargo, you'll face challenges that test your skills and resolve, providing a sense of accomplishment and growth with every successful flight. The path to becoming a pilot is rigorous, requiring dedication and significant training, but the rewards are immense: a respected profession and a career that literally takes you places!

Ultimate Pilot includes 1 main track and 2 career branches! Branches include: Commercial Pilot and Cargo Pilot.

More career information about career levels can be found HERE 

DOWNLOAD: CF or SFS 

Two week early access for patrons. Public release on the 26th January. Join my Patreon or Curseforge for £1 a month to access downloads early and exclusive all-in-one/mega file downloads.

Any issues please get in touch via DM.

Enjoy! ❤

TOU: Please do not put my cc behind paywalls or reupload. Link back to my Tumblr if you use my CC; I’d love to see it!

[keithkog]

Has the media ever given you much flak, for being half-Galra? If so, approximately how many media orgs mysteriously had their sites DDoS'd by a hacker who totally, definitely doesn't resemble a certain short and intelligent Paladin? Or was there a kinder, gentler route to tell people to be nice?

Yes, I have gotten flak for being half-galra. So when it comes to the media, a lot can be positive. However most of what I saw was debate on if I was safe to be around humans, like I wasn’t one of them. They used me as a talking point, my past actions and behaviors, to say that the galra species is inherently violent.

On the even harsher side, I’ve seen a lot of protest to me being able to interact with anyone. I have been painted as a threat to public safety. Due to this I usually wear hoodies or change up my hair a little when I go out. My skin isn’t purple, my eyes aren’t yellow unless I’m in extreme emotional distress, so people don’t even take notice of me sometimes.

Due to a certain policy I’m actually on the no fly list for commercial aircrafts, as people other than humans are prohibited from using them. It raises the question of why when, before everything, no one knew and I never caused problems on planes. Well, now we just use garrison vehicles to get through large distances.

That was a bit of a ramble there sorry, so how to get people to be nice? Well, I’ve done a few interviews that seemed to give people a better or more sympathetic impression of me. Some people are super harsh on me though, to the point of falsifying narratives. Some websites have been taken down or hijacked, to the point of a few businesses shutting down or them ceasing talk of us ex-paladins, changing the subjects of their articles and stories.

I have no say in who are responsible for hackings such as those, you are free to speculate.

-Keith