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Know Ur Balloon History
 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-03 23:40 [#02624856]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



So, this balloon thing. The news has gotten this far: "The
size of three buses," "It's meant to be seen," "Things from
above inspire a sense of helpless, like everything is being
watched, drones," "...inspiring paranoia because people will
think every speck could be Chinese"

They even got to to this part, quoting bad boy wiki p:

Six U.S. civilians were killed in Oregon in May 1945 by
Japanese balloon bombs.[584]


...what all have them missed so far is that, effectively,
these were the only civilian causalities the US suffered
on its own soil for the entirety of world war 2.


there are civilian casualties at military bases -- pearl
harbor, obviously -- merchant marines turned POW, etc. but
everyone back in mainland america is baking pies. again,
quoting bbWp:

On May 5, 1945, six civilians were killed near Bly,
Oregon, when they discovered one of the balloon bombs in
Fremont National Forest, becoming the only fatalities from
enemy action in the continental U.S. during the war.


china: civilian deaths into eight figures
usa: six hikers scouting a spot for a picnic

it is very... eyebrow raised, like, what?

but perhaps that's the idea. just bullshit psychological
tactics. reverse end, there are quiet mentions that,
effectively "this is not the first time this has happened"
and perhaps it's just a politically opportune time to make a
stink about it, for precisely the reasons i described above.
china cancelled inna blinkin


 

offline recycle from Where is Phobiazero (Lincoln) (United States) on 2023-02-03 23:41 [#02624857]
Points: 39507 Status: Lurker



We die tonight!


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-03 23:57 [#02624860]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



But also

As U.S. officials were quick to note on Thursday, the
balloon is unlikely to have gathered any novel intelligence
that China couldn’t already have accessed by other
means.

--Dave Barry's anagram for the name of this newspaper was,
"Sh! Pawns Tooting"

...what about, you know... cell signals? just anything not
in a faraday cage, now that you're not outside of the
atmosphere? it's too far up for wifi [probably] but cell
towers, GPS, air traffic control, whatever, good luck
getting that through a satellite

wtf.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-04 00:04 [#02624861]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



maybe this is why the us gov was all, "let's talk about
UFOs," suddenly, bizarrely. that they wanted to call it out
but it had to be declassified or such


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-04 00:04 [#02624862]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to recycle: #02624857



i hope not!


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-04 00:31 [#02624863]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



that a ballon can keep a much more steady eye than a
satellite, on a nuclear silo, too. but then that strange gps
blackout over some Texas airport recently and perhaps that's
in a good zone to mess with our shit in such a manner. but
then why make it so visible? so no, more likely passive as
they say.


 

offline recycle from Where is Phobiazero (Lincoln) (United States) on 2023-02-04 00:45 [#02624864]
Points: 39507 Status: Lurker



Some nice looking Chinese lady came on the news saying blah
blah blah blah it was a weather balloon that got away and
our United States gooberment was like

Naw


 

offline -crazone from smashing acid over and over on 2023-02-04 09:09 [#02624867]
Points: 11075 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



Why don't they take it down?


 

offline recycle from Where is Phobiazero (Lincoln) (United States) on 2023-02-04 23:17 [#02624881]
Points: 39507 Status: Lurker | Followup to -crazone: #02624867



They the Chinese or
They the us, the USA?

I think If I took it down it would be ignored or talked
about on Fox or WWIII

Dunno

Vote!


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-05 01:27 [#02624885]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to -crazone: #02624867



> Why don't they take it down?

that it is the size of "three buses" and it's six or eight
miles above ground if you explode something that large, that
far up, well, they use the term 'debris field,' meaning, the
probable zone flaming bits of it will crash down somewhere.
and aside from general respect for human safety in general,
can you imagine the reaction if some of it crashed down on
some twat's house and killed them? fire within, at both the
US gov and the chinese. no good

...and they just did shoot it down, once it was over the
ocean.

the cynical layer: leave it flying and active for a few days
to, er, balloon the issue politically. spend a while doing
repeated flybys and ground surveillance to study the
contraption.

what surprises me is that they don't simply try and capture
it alive, so to speak, to reverse-engineer its purpose and
leverage this for both intel and politics. but i suppose
"blow it up" is a very god bless the usa attitude


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-05 17:14 [#02624914]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



China says it ‘reserves the right’ to deal with
‘similar situations’ after US jets shoot down suspected
spy balloon


pricks are worse than the GOP


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-05 17:18 [#02624915]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



there was a "safe, mutually paranoid skies" treaty that
actually allowed, like... russia to fly planes over USA, and
USA to fly planes over russia. explicitly for surveillance.
because it actually defuses the tensions to let everyone
watch each other.

trump canceled this pact. however, china never signed it in
the first place. instead, they've been building artificial
islands out of human stool and announcing their borders have
expanded, and now... after having sent a dumb-ass spy
balloon over america's nuclear silos etc. and admits its
their balloon (even if they deny the purpose) and apologies
greatly... and the US shoots it down over the ocean and...
now it's: you'll pay?

utterly pathetic. the pretext only exists in their heads


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-05 17:25 [#02624916]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



it does raise some interesting picklers, despite being
horseshit distilled to fentanyl levels


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-05 17:30 [#02624917]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



“The US used force to attack our civilian unmanned
airship, which is an obvious overreaction. We express solemn
protest against this move by the US side,” China’s
Defense Ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei said in a statement
on Sunday afternoon local time.


You violated US sovereign airspace

China “reserves the right to use necessary means to
deal with similar situations,” he added.


my inner child says biden should send a fleet of 64k shitty,
unarmed drones that just fly in formation making an image of
dogè six miles up and a mile wide over china until they
shoot it down (US response: "but we love you! we sent this
because we love you! why are you doing this? don't you love
us? did you forget that special moment at the summit, pooh
bear?")

China’s Foreign Ministry had earlier on Sunday accused
the US of “overreacting” and “seriously violating
international practice,” after US military fighter jets on
Saturday shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean in a
mission President Joe Biden hailed as a success.


You violated US sovereign airspace

...but then they're going to claim their poop islands are
their sovereign airspace shortly, and attempt to cause an
incident in order to give the further poop island
justification to "retaliate" and invade taiwan.

it's interesting how the tactics of little children become
useless for a large stretch in the middle of life, and then
again become effective at the scale of [inter]national
politics. this is a human problem, that the US suffers from
just as much as china


 

offline Tony Danza from Fabulous Hollywood on 2023-02-05 17:41 [#02624918]
Points: 3420 Status: Regular



lol


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-05 18:13 [#02624920]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict | Followup to Tony Danza: #02624918



lol

[while i have you here -- some of china's investments have
been going poorly, it would seem! like, one country was
like, "yes, we'd like a hydro plant, a national railway
system, and two sports arenas please" and then once the plan
hit the ground a bunch of the money disappeared somewhere
into the depths. now, i gather, china is all "PAYMENT DUE"
and the country responded "mmm no." something something
holding up negotiations; time for yellen to step in to be
the adult in the room! lol]


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-06 03:55 [#02624926]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



NYT finally getting about to some bits i've been saying.
they're clearly following my zilty posts for their analysis

balloons equipped with high-tech sensors hover over a
site far longer and can pick up radio, cellular and other
transmissions that cannot be detected from space.


...and i give them credit for being more succinct than me,
at least ~ LAZY_TITLE

but it concludes with this fascinating tidbit:

“It makes you wonder who was talking to whom in
China,” Ms. Zegart said. “This is clearly the greatest
unforced error the Chinese have made in some time.”


the thing was so obvious. i was saying, "it was clearly
meant to be seen, there's no doubt" and parsing it from that
perspective. but china is incredibly huge, to the point
where a small concentrated dictatorship has trouble being
nimble. or perhaps coordinating with its own intelligence
apparati. that maybe this balloon thing is some small unit
that's been diligently humming along on its mandate for
three years and X.J. was all "craaaap i forgot that existed"
after the US went apoplectic about it over their airspace

i could believe that. the irony is, i suspect their future
actions will be pretty much the same. shooting down some US
spy plane over their imaginary islands and saying "well you
popped our balloon" and i go back to what i said about the
tactics of little children.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-06 05:47 [#02624927]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



i really cannot even fathom why X.J. wants the job, to be
frank. just think of it: "You run China"

if we apply this to me and how i am, in my charming but
irrelevant way... this would be sort of like a Cool Band
Name i wrote on a post-it note one day three years ago
caused an international incident via the entire unit formed
around it. a Cool Band Name i wrote on a post-it note one
day

a bit silly, but one can see how... once someone reminds
you, it comes back. but, trying to weave things together...


and who wants that job.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-06 05:49 [#02624928]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



i guess something something the scene from mr. robot, "why
do you do it?" etc etc


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-06 06:05 [#02624929]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



this post will be ramble city, probably

that my brain has been pinging back to x-files 6x15,
Arcadia. then i got to thinking, again, how the timothy
leary looking [spoiler alert] psycho suburbia dictator
oligarch in this episode is remarkably like the [spoiler
alert for demolition man] the timothy leary looking psycho
suburbia dictator oligarch.

considered it many times before, but this time: ohhh, the
x-files episode [spoiler. SPOILER] ends with the übermensch
killing its creator; ending the madness. and that is
remarkably like how [ oILER] Dr. Raymond Cocteau goes out

easy to get tangled up in your own decrees with that much
power


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-06 07:00 [#02624930]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



LAZY_TITLE


 

offline Tony Danza from Fabulous Hollywood on 2023-02-06 12:04 [#02624932]
Points: 3420 Status: Regular



LAZY_TITLE


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-06 12:23 [#02624934]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular



My fave x files episode is pretty disliked. Makes me feel
all the more alone.


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-06 12:23 [#02624935]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular



Loved that game boy game Ballon Kid!


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-02-07 02:18 [#02624943]
Points: 23981 Status: Addict



i prefer Sunglasses Kid


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-07 08:15 [#02624952]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular



200ft tall!


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-07 20:35 [#02624969]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular | Followup to EpicMegatrax: #02624943



I prefer chameleon kid.


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-07 20:35 [#02624970]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular



Or was it kid chameleon? My bad! Loved that game but it was
tough as old boots.


 

offline belb from mmmmmmhhhhzzzz!!! on 2023-02-07 21:52 [#02624973]
Points: 6239 Status: Lurker



kid chameleon was wicked! only beat it twice i think. windy
city was my fave level


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2023-02-08 07:29 [#02624977]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



1984 balloon incident


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-08 08:22 [#02624980]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular | Followup to belb: #02624973



I’ve never managed to complete it. That’s it, getting
the mega drive mini out! Challenge accepted!


 

offline RussellDust on 2023-02-08 08:23 [#02624981]
Points: 15892 Status: Regular | Followup to ijonspeches: #02624977



Nice! OG German one is my fave version.


 

offline ijonspeches from 109P/Swift-Tuttle on 2023-02-08 16:27 [#02624993]
Points: 7624 Status: Lurker | Followup to RussellDust: #02624981 | Show recordbag



yeah its great, only posted the english for lyrics,
obviously. song from our childhood i guess. of course i
didnt know it was about the cold war back then, but it paved
the way alongside many other things.


 


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