April 28, 2004

don't make me call the security-blimp, buster...
"For Akron, it's a very emotional thing."
newsfilter, i know, but it's just too surreal...
  • "For Akron, it's a very emotional thing," Yeah, *sniff*, and now they'll be hunting down any potential terrorist that sneezes funny, makes me all warm inside.
  • I can only hope they'll have spotlights and loudspeakers. So that they can assure us that we're safe from the red menace and that everything will be ok as we bravely go into the nineteenfifties. Don't we have real shit to be working on? You know, as a society, or as humanity?
  • It's like SDI all over again, but with verrrrry slooow interceptors.
  • The good times keep on a-comin' at Lockheed Martin. The article says, "The state, city and Summit County Port Authority announced an array of grants, loans and tax incentives to prepare Airdock," which of course is a good thing as we want taxpayers rather than Lockheed Martin to have to lay out capital for this facility.
  • Time For Action! I Say All Monkeys Must Boycott Akron or ANY Town That Contains A "K"! Are Ya With Me, Boys?
  • These things have got real potential. Great targets - and what if you could bring one down on to a busy road or something? I expect, though, they'll have to keep them on the ground when the weather is bad.
  • *shuffles away from Plegmund nervously*
  • more here. I think the concept is that a) they are unmanned and b) they fly above the weather, almost like satellites. Once up, always up, too high to shoot down.
  • mwhybark you wuss, gimme that shotgun! just kidding, i'm joining boo in the ex-plegmund shuffling
  • If the UN offers Psychotherapy, now would be a good time to call America. "sssshhh....d'you hear that!"....What voices?
  • can we all say it together: BOONDOGGLE!
  • Wow. Just... wow.
  • Let me be the first to say... (and I'm rather disappointed that nobody has before) "Oh, the humanity!" Did I mention that I used to live a half mile from the launch pad for the Goodyear Blimp? And it took off right over my apartment while I was throwing myself my 29th Birthday Party, and everybody at the party was convinced I'd set it up? *quietly hums "99 Luftballons"*
  • The arial shots of this week's nuclear holocaust are brought to you by the Goodyear Spirit of Akron.
  • "...scan the horizon for enemy missiles. My ass! That's why we have shit like Norad. How does find the missiles? RADAR, heat sigs, optical recognition? By the time Blimpy spots a missile on the horizon, it'd already be way too fucking late. This whole project reeks of porky government contracts, "feel good" technology, and Orwellian citizen surveillance. Looks like they're sending one over to Iraq very soon, too.
  • The arial shots of this week's nuclear holocaust i prefer tahoma or verdana shots.
  • Oof! *doubles over from quonset's joke* . . medic! wendell how much does it cost to have the blimp do a flyover?
  • i looked at them from a different perspective and saw it as a big blow-up toy for some 'big l'il kid' to play war games with. why do the federal sites' links have such atrocious spelling and grammar when purportedly for 'kids?' is that a common thing? not even a spell check. i read the science part in 'simple format'
  • BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, quonset. That was SO beneath you. My assertation is that your attitude of levity exceeds your capacity for producing humor with clarity. Let me be emphatic about this. There's a lot of energy and tenacity that go into producing puns that are the epitomy of monotony. I'm sure you can understand where I'm coming from. If it's been said once, it's been said a 1001 times. Puns ARE the lowest form of humor.
  • Ok, I'll quit playing around. It's the larger picture that matters. It's all about the blimps.
  • I knew "arial" didn't look right. I knew it didn't look right and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.
  • It's ok, dirigibleman. We loves you anyway. But one more arial and it's a right big smack for you.
  • 15 15! There were FIFTEEN links in those two posts. Didn't ANYBODY notice? anybody? *echo*
  • Yes, I noticed, but I'm too worried about there being pun police to elaborate. Actually, very impressed, BlueHorse -- I'm lucky if I can cram four links into a single FPP. No kidding.
  • yup . . there's yer problem (*taps monitor with pencil*) . . you've got the a href tag on your clipboard. but even i clicked a few of those - nice work
  • OK, well, lets think about US borders, which the article said these would monitor. What would they look for on the northern one? Oldsters heading to Canada to fill their prescriptions on the cheap? Regarding the southern border, however, there have been a number of stories about the spike in illegal immigration from Mexico and points south recently, apparently in response to the promise that guest-worker (bracero?) visas might be issued soon. Almost seems like a bait and switch operation. Or, am I more paranoid than I think I am. (Don't answer that!) Or more naive? (I'll admit to it.) I mean, what kind of technology can they pack into those things that would operate properly when the blimp has to be affected by wind currents and the weather. They're certainly not going to replace satelites in the spy business. But they could probably handle infra-red monitors. The re-rail is over.
  • Yeah... knock it off, you DINGBATS!