heimat und homestuck

The leadership of the US Democrat party admonished its members to retain their composure during Dear Leader’s first joint address to the legislature to avoid giving the opposition more ammunition that could be lobbed back at them, but one announcement did elicit sighs, groans and moans I can imagine from individuals of all political stripes and was a stark reminder that even if you persuade a dictator to use his “inside voice” the agenda remains unchanged.
Dear Leader, seemingly despite his determination to shrink a bloated bureaucracy, directed the Department of Homeland Security to create an agency to advocate for the American victims of foreign-perpetrated crime. “The office is called VOICE: Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement,” Dear Leader announced, adding, “We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media and silenced by special interests.” As chilling and divisive as that already is, the proposed implementation strips any non-citizen, a visitor or immigrant of all privacy protections and any data collected could be shared freely across all law enforcement agencies without the need for permission or disclosure. Moreover, such drastic law that would necessitate that all immigration officials, customs agents and border guards know the citizenship status of all people at all times could mean that the European Union and others might withdraw from their information-sharing arrangements with the US—since the US would no longer be able to claim it would be a good steward of the private details of those travelling to America, for business or pleasure.

moonshot

According to an announcement by SpaceX CEO and visionary Elon Musk, a manned-mission to the Moon will take place next year. The craft will not land but rather loop around the dark side of the Moon and make several passes, skimming close to the surface—close enough to fill the entire cockpit’s view with the lunar landscape. Two space “tourists” who’ll have much more than a passive role as astronauts are in training already and are fully committed. As exciting as this mission will be in its own right, it more importantly paves the way for future missions and significantly brings down the cost and cruises in space may in a few years be within all our aspirations.

minifigs, hidden figures

NPR reports that some of the pioneering women of the US space agency will be celebrated in Lego form, thanks to the perseverance of science writer Maia Weinstock.
Meant to inspire a deeper inspection of the role of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM fields), the minifigs include Mae Jemison, the first African American astronaut, Nancy Grace Roman, chief astronomer behind the Hubble Space Telescope, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and computer scientist Margaret Hamilton (who recently had her story told in the film Hidden Figures) who contributed significantly to the Apollo Moon landings.

merrily we roll along

Our faithful chronicler, Doctor Caligari, informs that among the notable events that have occurred on this day, considered the first day of the new year from Roman times onwards—the hints of Spring coming being a natural point for new beginnings, in 1946 the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb was detonated on the island known afterwards a Bikini Atoll, in 1971 the Weather Underground detonated a bomb in a restroom in the US Capitol, and in 1978 two ransomers kidnapped the corpse of Charlie Chaplin. Incidentally, in case you’re new to the site, the number at the bottom of recent entries is a countdown until the next opportunity to unseat Dear Leader democratically.