Robots to Invade Disneyland, Kill Children, Steal Jobs

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Here’s one more terrifying reason to speed up that planned visit to Orlando or Anaheim: the robots are coming.

Soft-body robots could someday be roaming Disney theme parks, playing animated, humanoid movie characters and interacting with visitors.

A new patent application by the entertainment giant doesn’t name specific characters, but it describes “designing a robot that will move and physically interact like an animated character.”

A prototype sketch filed with the patent application shows a round body, echoing the shape of the Baymax soft-robot character in Disney’s 2014 movie “Big Hero 6.” The application, and theme park observers, say the big issue for robotic interaction is safety. The document, dated Thursday, shows Disney research scientists in Pittsburgh have worked on prototypes identified only as “soft body 300” or “soft body 1000.”

“It’s hard to know why Disney decides to file for a patent, but they have been looking at soft-body robots since ‘Big Hero,’” said theme park writer Jim Hill. “Disney is still terrified that even with this soft technology, a robot could accidentally harm a child. They do a lot of testing.”

Some corrections: First, the droids are coming, period – no “could someday” about it. And no one is terrified, though they should be. The Disney men, Walt and Roy, are long gone. The people in charge now care more about your money than your kids’ experience or anything else.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of human Goofies, Donalds, and Princess Jasmines will be out of work. Ticket prices will rise. Lines will be long. Some kids will probably be eaten…

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Pinterest.

I warned you…

But … We Fired Some Cruise Missiles … Terror in Stockholm

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And yet that did not stop another ISIS terrorist from driving a stolen truck through a crowd in Stockholm, killing four and wounding fifteen.

Swedish police have arrested a man in north Stockholm who has confessed to carrying out a deadly truck attack in the centre of the city, local media reports.

The man has some light injuries and said he was responsible for the attack, Reuters reported quoting local news outlet Aftonbladet.

Swedish police said they had arrested one person in connection with the attack, saying he resembled the man in CCTV images released.

“We went public with information and a picture of a person that we were interested in,” regional police official Jan Evensson told a news conference.

“The person who is arrested resembles that description which means we have particular interest in him in regard to the ongoing investigation.”

Authorities had been hunting a terrorist ringleader and any associates after today’s attack in Stockholm where a truck rammed into a large crowd of people in a busy shopping district.

Four people are confirmed dead and 15 adults and children injured, nine seriously, in the suspected terror attack.

An “Asian” man in a stolen truck running down pedestrians. Why does this sound familiar? Hmmm. Nice? Berlin? Ohio State? London? That’s just wheels against feet – not counting all the bullets, bombs, and knives.

I’m missing more incidents surely. I miss a lot of things. Missing a concert right now. Missed the alarm this morning. Missing some marbles…

Five recent vehicular homicide attacks in my fuzzy recent memory. And there will be more. I also seem to remember the media and the SJWs and other idiots up in arms when a certain someone said there was a terror problem in Sweden. Now the same fools thinks that certain someone fires beautiful missiles.

The missiles did nothing but stir up worse troubles. They certainly didn’t stop the attacks in and against the West.

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Might as well have fired the Tomahawks at Stockholm. Rex Features / Mirror.

I know that more than a few Vikings are rolling over in their graves. This was a major attack. The minor ones happen in Sweden on a daily and nightly basis. No-go zones. Rape-apalppza. Burning cars. Burning buildings. The cancer spreads. Attacking Syria does nothing – except possibly generate more future truck terrorist “refugees” for Europe and America.

Even among the most insane subjects there is a general cause and effect relationship.

Leave them alone there. Do not allow them here.

It’s that, or war.

Congratulations. You Elected Hilary Clinton…

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America is completely and utterly out of control. Any hopes that a Trump Presidency would reverse course or hold position have now faded away. Last night the President lobbed nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria.

  • The US military fired more than 50 tomahawk missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield at 8.45pm EDT Thursday
  • Moves comes just hours after Trump said ‘something should happen’ following Tuesday’s gas-attack atrocity
  • Trump took action after more than 80 were killed and many more were injured in the Sarin poison gas attack
  • ‘Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,’ he said after launching the strike
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a furious response calling airstrike an ‘illegal act of aggression’
  • US called ‘a partner of ISIS’ by al-Assad’s spokesman who said missile strikes are ‘reckless and irresponsible’
  • Trump says airfield used to store toxic weapons and was the base for the aircraft involved in the Sarin attack
  • Claims that nine were killed, and more were injured, in the strike which has severely damaged the airbase
  • US told Moscow it was launching an airstrike about 30 minutes in advance – but did not ask for permission

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea

Bombs away, suckers… Daily Mail.

The public, those few who are somewhat awake, seems elated. As of this writing, 65+% of a Drudge poll see the action as favorable. I ask, “favorable to whom”?

Not everyone is happy. Rand Paul cautiously reminded the President that, per the Constitution, Congress is supposed to approve war. A little too late, Rand. This episode, if worth nothing else, proves definitively that the old Constitution is dead and gone. Cling at your own risk.

Nigel Farage, an early Trump supporter, cautioned:

The MEP hit out by warning that those who voted for the US president would be ‘worried’ by his retaliation.

‘I am very surprised by this. I think a lot of Trump voters will be waking up this morning and scratching their heads and saying “where will it all end?”, he said.

‘As a firm Trump supporter, I say, yes, the pictures were horrible, but I’m surprised. Whatever Assad’s sins, he is secular.’

He added: ‘Previous interventions in the Middle East have made things worse rather than better.’

Current UKIP leader, Paul Nuttal, was a bit more blunt: “The U.S. bombing of Syria last night was rash, trigger happy, nonsensical and will achieve nothing. I hoped for better.”

We all hoped for better. Hope in one hand and ….

Vox Day criticized the move:

That being said, I will certainly be disappointed if the God-Emperor makes regime change in Syria an objective of his administration, and I will continue to oppose any military involvement in the Middle East, Europe, the Ukraine, and any military activity directed against China or Russia.

The Russians are beyond livid:

“That’s it. The last remaining election fog has lifted. Instead of an overworked statement about a joint fight against the biggest enemy, Isis (the Islamic State), the Trump administration proved that it will fiercely fight the legitimate Syrian government, in a tough contradiction with international law and without UN approval, in violation of its own procedures stipulating that the Congress must first be notified of any military operation unrelated to aggression against the US. On the verge of a military clash with Russia.

“Nobody is overestimating the value of pre-election promises but there must be limits of decency.

“Beyond that is absolute mistrust. Which is really sad for our now completely ruined relations. And which is good news for terrorists.

“One more thing. This military action is a clear indication of the US President’s extreme dependency on the opinion of the Washington establishment, the one that the new president strongly criticised in his inauguration speech.

“Soon after his victory, I noted that everything would depend on how soon Trump’s election promises would be broken by the existing power machine. It took only two and a half months.”

-Dmitry Medvedev

Medvedev correctly pointed out the attack was both illegal and came within an inch of initiating a real war with a real and capable enemy.

Where to start with this???

The underlying Sarin gas attack is questionable at best. The U.S. media has taken the government’s word verbatim. Still, there is no definitive proof it happened. And, if it did happen, there’s no proof Assad was behind it. And, even if it happened and Assad is responsible, there is absolutely no American interest in the matter and nothing to be gained from intervention. It is not our damned business.

Is this what you voted for? Trump is now enacting the worst fears associated with the Clinton campaign. He’s running headlong towards war with Syria, North Korea, and maybe even Russia – in addition to ongoing actions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and God knows where else. Madness. Sheer utter madness. I advised you all to abstain from the election. Hey, voters, this is on you!

The problem, for us, with radical Islamists, has nothing to do with their activities in their home nations. The problem is with their terrorism in our countries, like Sweden, home of the latest predictable attack.

The solution is very simple: 1) stop bothering these people in their countries, and 2) get them out of ours. Damned simple. And obviously not going to happen just yet. There must be a little more money to be given the banksters and the MIC. You voted for this.

You also voted for the jumbled, same-as-always home agenda. Trump, the businessman and outsider, is working hard to surround himself with more insiders and Wall Street criminals. He cannot marshal the idiots in the GOP, even as they hold a complete majority in D.C. No healthcare reform. No tax cuts. The wall may stall. The deportations and travel bans also stall even as easy solutions abound. A “neutral” budget with no redress of the $20 Trillion (on-books) debt nor the Fed’s funny money. Your vote wasted again.

*In fairness, the man is working to create some jobs and cut some regs. There’s that. Small things, mice among the elephants.

As Vox noted, the real war for the West will be fought in the West. The other side has been fighting for some years now, even as you’ve stared at the TeeVee. All the attacks on all the foreign nations are mere distractions. They garner easy support. Yet, few actually want to fight at home – fear of being called “racist” or something. I hear local Muslims are concerned about fictional backlash from tomorrow’s terrorist attack… The media, the SJWs, and the dullards will lend pitiful support. Madness.

None of our interventions in the Middle East and elsewhere over the past 25+ years have done anything except kill people, displace people, overrun the West with “refugees”, break things, empower terrorists, and waste money. We can’t ever win these wars because there is nothing to win or to gain. Syria is no different except that we risk war with Russia. And, that, we certainly cannot win.

All the while a real war (we must win if we are to survive) rages around us.

I love fun and games as much as the next man; I’m having a blast this Masters’s week. Yet, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to wake up and wise up.

Expect nothing but trouble (certainly no help from) the Washington-Wall Street-Fed-globohomo-MIC-media-GOP-DNC-Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Trump cabal.

Nothing. Maybe it’s time to revive that letter to Putin…

Par Three Wednesday, 2017

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Alas … there was no Par Three Contest this year! Yesterday’s weather terminated activities around Noon. Dustin Johnson went home only to find a banana peel on the stairs…

Well, here’s a look back at Par Threes of the recent past:

2016

2015

Oh, weather or not, I did run into Mrs. Par Three, 2017, last night:

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There was that!

Yeah, About that Constitution Thing…

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Butler Shaffer explains the painfully obvious about the “rule of law” and the Constitution in America:

The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops – no, but the kind of man the country turns out.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

In case any reader still clings to the platitude that the American political system is based on the proposition that ours is “a society of laws, and not of men,” I urge you to pay close attention to the events of recent years. Political behavior does not exist in abstractions, such as the “state,” or the “government,” or a “constitution,” but is activity engaged in by such men and women who find the machinery of state power a useful device for accomplishing ends that they value. Those who desire to control others through access to the tools of violence that define the state, have rationales to convince their intended victims of the “rightness” of their rule. From explanations such as “God’s will” to the “divine right of kings,” the authority of some to enjoy coercive power over others – along with their subjects’ duty of obedience – is so engrained into the minds of people as to seem as self-evident as the forces of gravity.

The Constitution, itself, should remind us that “laws” do not exist in a vacuum, but are the products of human action which, in turn, is behavior driven by people pursuing their self-interests. With legislation created by a political system that enjoys a monopoly on the legal use of force, it is clear that laws are but the means by which some people pursue their ends at the expense of others.

From the very creation of the national government, to how its different branches would act, there has always been a fuzziness as to the meaning of words used in the Constitution. This is due to the fundamental nature of all words. Being abstractions, their application to real-world events inherently depends upon their interpretation. When the Supreme Court tells us that it will have such authority, it is telling us that the government thus created by this document will be the interpreter of its own supposed “limited powers.”

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Tommy Kaye.

Some lament that “we should just get back to ” the system as originally established by the Constitution. I agree that would be preferable to the way things are now. However, it was that Constitution, that stronger central government model, that set in motion what we currently endure. It was a monster designed to grow and concur. And it did.

Spooner observed, long ago: “But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.”

Sad but true. And, at this time, it’s all a moot point.

 

We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby: the Infection of Golf

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The other evening, under the big tent at Hooters, I talked cigars with some gentlemen from Tampa. On one of the 300 or so big TeeVee screens the news lingered over Lexi Thompson’s tragic loss at the ANA Inspiration.

The stain that will always hang over this tournament is that for the third time in less than a year, one of golf’s major championships was marred by a rules situation that could have been avoided. This time, Thompson was the victim. It cost her a second title at the ANA, for moving her ball less than an inch.

Someone who apparently has little going on in their life sent an email to the LPGA fan website during Sunday’s final round, pointing out that Thompson had misplaced her marked ball on No. 17 in Saturday’s third round.

That email arrived as Thompson and Suzann Pettersen were on No. 9 on Sunday, playing in the final twosome of the day. Two rules officials went to the TV compound to study the tape and as Thompson walked off No. 12 green with a two-stroke lead, she was notified she’d been penalized four strokes.

Lexi lost as a result. Visibly shaken, she told an official, “that’s just ridiculous”. Maybe it was though I do not know the rules involved. Others agreed with her. Tiger Woods tweeted: “Viewers at home should not be officials wearing stripes. Let’s go @Lexi, win this thing anyway.”

ESPN described Tiger as another “victim” of the same scenario with a similar rule at the 2013 Masters. If I recall correctly, Tiger’s error was more egregious, an over-liberal placement drop. At the time some speculated he could have been disqualified.

Again, I don’t know the rules exactly. However, when it comes to ball placement I imagine they call for exactness and no moving, intentional or accidental. If this creates victims (and what doesn’t), then that’s for others to call. Things used to be different.

Another champion once succumbed to a tournament loss for nearly the exact same reason as Lexi. Bobby Jones lost the 1925 U.S. Open due to a one-stroke penalty. At some point Jones inadvertently moved his ball ever so slightly. It seems the same rules applied then as now.

The differences are several. In 1925 there was no risk of television interference. No viewers at home saw anything. In fact, no one saw anything period. Jones called the penalty on himself. “Praised for his classy move, Jones quipped, ‘You might as well praise me for not robbing banks.'”

Jones was no robber. Nor a victim. Things change.

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All caught up in the rules of victimhood…

The good news in Augusta is that the John Daly just finally rolled up to Hooters yesterday. Rules or not, all is once again right.

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Big John’s Big Bus.

St. Petersburg Bombing

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Eleven are dead and scores wounded after a bomb detonated on a train. Interestingly the main suspect has turned himself in to police. He claims he is innocent and may be.

The St Petersburg metro attack suspect has handed himself in to police – but denies planting the nail bomb on the train which killed 11 people and injured 50 today.

Several Russian media outlets released the CCTV pictures of the bearded suspect, who was wearing a long, black top and a hat, blamed for causing the carnage by detonating a bomb that was packed with shrapnel while it was travelling between Sennaya Ploshchad and Sadovaya metro stations.

A second explosive device disguised as a fire extinguisher was found and defused in a nearby station and police issued a search warrant for two suspected terrorists.

Tonight, it has emerged that the bearded man who was identified on CCTV as the main suspect, handed himself in to police and insists he is innocent.

Russian authorities are also probing the possibility of a suicide bomber being involved – described as a ‘young man from Central Asia’.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but previous attacks on Russia have been blamed on ISIS and Chechens.

 

ISIS has not claimed responsibility though they are reportedly happy with the carnage.

Developing…

Cigar of the Year? LA FLOR DOMINICANA ANDALUSIAN BULL

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This past week, on the recommendation of my tobacconist, I sampled the LFD Andalusian Bull.

The Bull was named Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year, 2016, and with good reason.

Sayeth the LFD site:

Andalusian Bull

Invoking the spirit of Spain’s famous Toreros, this cigar has character and flair in both its flavor and presentation. A Dark natural Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper covers some of the most powerful fillers and binder grown on our farm in the Dominican Republic. The flavors are complex, with a myriad of spices and a touch of sweetness creating an exquisite full-bodied smoking experience.

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From my picture one can see that the Ecuadorian Corojo is nearly perfect – a little veiny – but spot on in supple appearance and construction. The taste, mated with those signature DR leaves, is a notch above impressive.

The hefty, if creative tapered, 6.5X64 stick is the creation of Litto Gomez. The leaf work yields consistent notes of woody, leathery smoke, punctuated with subtle hints of spice. The flavor picks up immediately upon the first puff and lasts until the last inch and a half.

I read somewhere the taste is bold (it is) and strong (true, though not overwhelming). What I got out of my test subject was a smooth strength with the various notes constantly blending in and coming through, noticeably but without fanfare. I call it a heavy-medium body. Again, it’s not something to knock the socks off, though it certainly does grab the attention. The draw and burn were utterly flawless, owing to the exquisite construction.

Had I a rating system, this one would qualify for my top mark. Let’s call it “excellent”. However, I am not sure about my pick as cigar of this year or last. Stiff competition abounds. I might, without insult to Litto nor pomp for Kaizad, rate the Gukha Cellar Reserve 18 a little better. But only a little and on a “might” basis.

The Bull recalled to my confused and blurred mind the LFD Coronado of yesteryear. I might also rate the old “Big C” a slight bit better – that may come from ten-year-old memories that I can’t quite now quantify. Anyway…before this devolves into another trip down the nostalgia trail:

Get one while you can. And if you can. The Bull is a very limited release. I don’t know the exact number but it is small. My lingering flagship store exhausted their only box as soon as it arrived. I’m not sure how the big super-shops in FLA fare – I’ll know this week. I have heard of shortages and resulting despair from Miami to D.C.

You’re on your own finding the experience. But, once you find it, you won’t be disappointed. Unlike so many “premium” orders, the $15-17 price tag (dependent on how greedy your state tax jurisdiction is) is actually worth it. And, that’s no bull…

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Perrin Lovett Named New White House Press Secretary

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Washington, D.C. – In a move which surprised even some within the Administration itself, President Donald J. Trump tapped author and political forecaster Perrin Lovett as the incoming White House Press Secretary. Lovett is slated to replace the embattled Sean Spicer as early as next week.

Sources close to the President speculated that Mr. Trump wanted someone in the position who would engage the press corps a bit more combatively. “Sean says crazy things, alright,” mused Steve Bannon, “I think what [Trump] wants is crazy and dangerous…”

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Okay, the good news is that this is as much of a corny April Fools spoof as you’ll get, here, today. Happy April! This one almost didn’t happen…

The bad news is this is all your getting.

Happy April.

-P

Masters 2017, Fun for One Week

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Monday commences the greatest week in sports. Actually the fun starts Sunday though the revelers are rolling in now.

Follow the action online: THE MASTERS.

If you’re in town feel free to roam Washington Road and adjacent areas – nice and clean and ready to entertain this one week out of the year. It’s not always like that.

If you return to Washington Road any other week of the year, the stores will all be as you remember them, and the traffic almost as bad as you remember. What’s gone, however, is the frisson: Gone are the smiling white men in Easter egg-hued pants streaming onto the grounds clutching their golden badges. Gone are the entrepreneurs selling those men Macanudos and Cohibas and Ashton Churchills as fat as a pipefitter’s fingers. Gone is the tent for the Christian Motorcyclists Association Resurrection Riders with tattooed men in “Riding for the Son” jackets hawking pop the color of antifreeze, and the black guy on the sidewalk with a hand-lettered sign advertising “cold juicy apples” from an old Styrofoam cooler that appears to have recently held bait. Hooters — yeah, it’s still here, still packed, but now the crowd comes for Monday Night Football, not the Green Jacket Bikini Contest.

What’s gone, in short, is the party, and the feverish city-wide embrace of golf and belief in its saving powers, or at least belief in the redemptive power of golf’s money, and the feeling — for a single week in April — as real and heady as the azalea-drenched air that, just maybe, all things are possible here.

Summer doesn’t abandon Georgia by late October. Step outside and a soft washcloth-slap of humidity reminds you that you’re in the South. The sky has the kind of look that wouldn’t be welcome if on a boat a far piece from land — bright but reconsidering, edged with cauliflower cumulus. In the yards not far from the National, the azalea blossoms have been replaced by red Georgia football pennants. This is Dawg country. The only challenge to their popularity is the political yard sign. It’s election season in Augusta. And many Augustans say the autumn’s mayoral race is crucial — the indicator whether this city will finally grope its way forward.

This is a city still shaking off the blows of its past, some of them subtle, some as sharp as grenade blasts: a violent race riot in 1970 that drew national attention, suburban malls that sprang up in the late ’70s, further decimating the once-vibrant downtown. Between 1950 and 1986, the city’s population dropped more than 40 percent, from a high of 72,000 to 42,000. Augusta was dying. So in 1996 voters agreed to merge governments with the surrounding county.

Suddenly — immediately — shrunken Augusta became swollen Augusta-Richmond County, the second-largest municipality in Georgia behind Atlanta — 200,000 people today. A chunk of Georgia that spraddles from high-rises to piney-woods, all under the name Augusta. During last year’s Masters, the local newspaper, The Augusta Chronicle, reported the arrest of a local man for making moonshine.

The consolidation was supposed to be salvation, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Chris Solomon wrote those words ten years ago, yesterday. And salvation still alludes Georgia’s second city. Some things have changed for the better: the interstates have been rebuilt and widened, making escapes faster. Others changed for the worse: Darius Rucker continues to plague the area each Spring. A few more government contracts and monies, a little more traffic, more sex trafficking. Most Augustans are willfully oblivious to most of reality. The sacred pile of magic bricks collapsed late last year, casting a pall of misery over the already struggling Detroit of the South.

There is the Masters though. And the big tent at Hooters!

girls

Not all is bad in the Dead City…