For one, just as I speculated, the Black Hawk was in a nose-low attitude, which you can see based on where it's rotor beacon is in relation to the lights on the first of the helicopter. That means their upward visibility was very limited. If they were wearing night-vision goggles, which were reported by the Department of Defense as being on board, it would have been even more so. That's the first major issue.

Secondly, while some keep referencing how bright the landing lights were, those would not be very visible to an aircraft approaching from the side, as the Black Hawk was. That's especially true on a clear, dry night where there's not much moisture in the air for the lights to project on and reflect back. There is also an enormous amount of light pollution in the background for beacons and strobes to get lost in.

Thirdly, and perhaps most telling, is that the regional jet was descending on the final approach path after making its base-to-final turn while the Black Hawk seemed to be in a slight climb (according to the track data). That means the two aircraft were not at the same altitude until the moment of impact. In other words, the regional jet essentially descended into the flight path of the helicopter, with the latter's crew having little to no upward visibility.

As a point of clarity, the regional jet was where it was supposed to be. The Black Hawk's flight path was the issue, and it never should have been where it was. Further, given that the helicopter appeared to have called the wrong traffic in sight when warned by air traffic control, it's also very possible they were distracted and not even looking in the direction when the collision occurred.

The last question (one President Donald Trump himself has raised) revolves around why the Black Hawk was at the wrong altitude, and there are several possible explanations. You can gain a hundred or so feet of altitude in an aircraft in the blink of an eye. That could happen due to a lack of proficiency. It could also happen due to being distracted.

We are well past the point of this being a matter of Republicans being confident this stuff is an electoral loser. The empirical data tells us it is. The 2024 election saw Donald Trump come roaring back into the White House, winning the popular vote while heavily promoting an anti-woke agenda. Analysts in the press repeatedly claimed the now-president's ads on transgenderism that ended with "Kamala is for they/them, Trump is for you" (or some variation) would alienate people. Instead, they were the most effective ads of the cycle.

Democrats hinted at changing course on far-left identity insanity shortly after the election, but if the answers at this DNC forum are any indication, they've dropped that idea altogether and are going full-bore in the other direction. //

Democrats can't help but do the Principal Skinner meme again and again. You see, it's not that they are out of touch and completely unappealing to normal people due to their insane policy prescriptions and ideological viewpoints. It's just that people are too stupid to see how great they are and simply need to be fed better propaganda. //

But hey, if Democrats want to keep banging the woke drum, I'd encourage them to do it. Republicans may never lose another election if they keep this up. //

The Left only destroys
35 minutes ago
Bonchie, I HATE this headline. It ain't over till it's over, and it will never be over. Complacency almost cost us the republic, and we came back from the brink. Conservatives need to run their elections at all times as if they are behind. Don't let up on efforts to eliminate leftism. Never assume victory.

Vince Lombardi told his players in their first meeting, "Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly pursue perfection, knowing all along we will never achieve it, but in pursuing perfection, we will catch excellence." A similar sentiment applies here. We must relentlessly pursue elimination of Leftism, knowing all along we will never achieve it, but in pursuing it, we will catch peace and prosperity. //

Laocoön of Troy bk
23 minutes ago edited
There might be a reason for the Dems to keep American Indians out of the leadership of the DNC. In the 2024 election, 65% of American Indians voted for Trump. That was his highest percentage among the various "minorities". 65% is a MASSIVE landslide in terms of preference in a General Election.

The craziest of the crazy lefties...I'm lookin' at you Hogg...are soft, white, wealthy women with a terminal case of white liberal guilt. Except for the girl thing...that would be Hogg and his comrades.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has put the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio on notice that he has ordered an investigation into those outlets for violating federal law by airing paid advertisements. //

As Carr says in his letter, it is one thing to credit underwriters, but you cross the line into advertisement when they "promote the contributor's products, services, or businesses, and they may not contain comparative or qualitative descriptions, price information, calls to action, or inducements to buy, sell, rent, or lease." //

Musicman
24 minutes ago
Let them run all the advertising they want...and cut off ALL government funding. I remember when this all started as “educational” TV. Ha! Now it’s propaganda TV and radio.

The director of employee and labor relations at the US Agency for International Development has been placed on administrative leave after a stunning refusal to follow directions given by President Trump's transition team.

The case of mistaken identity was quickly resolved, but scientists say it shows the need for transparency around spaceflight traffic in deep space.

On Jan. 2, the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced the discovery of an unusual asteroid, designated 2018 CN41. First identified and submitted by a citizen scientist, the object’s orbit was notable: It came less than 150,000 miles (240,000 km) from Earth, closer than the orbit of the Moon. That qualified it as a near-Earth object (NEO) — one worth monitoring for its potential to someday slam into Earth.

But less than 17 hours later, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) issued an editorial notice: It was deleting 2018 CN41 from its records because, it turned out, the object was not an asteroid.

It was a car.

Amendment Three to the Constitution was ratified on December 15, 1791. It forbids the housing of any military service member in private homes without the consent of the owner. The official wording is written as such:

“No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”

The Third Amendment is commonly regarded as the least controversial element of the Constitution. It is currently the Amendment with the least litigation, and it has never been argued in a Supreme Court case. //

While the specific circumstances of the amendment are increasingly unlikely to unfold in modern times, the nature of domestic privacy in a person’s private home has been argued as a long-term, modern element of it. Some historians and legal scholars have since argued that the Amendment is applicable to matters surrounding eminent domain, government responses to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, and police militarization.

BugsOlDad
8 hours ago
Robert Mueller's restructuring of the FBI after 9/11 brought us to where we are today with agency's fall into a political weapon for the Marxist Democrat party. He pretty much changed the main focus of the agency's mission, and removed the more independent nature the field offices had and more centralized the control of the agency in DC. The Marxist Democrats are going to fight their arses off to prevent any loss of this powerful tool in their Marxist toolbox to go after their "political enemies", in other words, patriotic American citizens. We have to pray that weak in the knees Republicans (RINOs) don't kill this excellent opportunity to bring some semblance normality (my word), honest lawful investigations, Constitutionalism, and returning the agency back to the trusted entity it once was. At least as much as a law enforcement agency can be trusted. It's staffed as any other is, with flawed human beings. We have to hope that that those who give into flaws are kept from wearing the FBI in the first place. If it shows, that it's past the point of rescue, then I'm good with ending it's run now. Better now, early in Trump's term, where he can oversee its replacement, than later where a possible Marxist Democrat president could have that control and input to turn the agency into what they've been trying to turn the current FBI into, their form of KGB.

anon-eazz
4 hours ago
So of the FBI's roughly 100 year history, J Edgar abused authority for about 50 years. Then we had maybe 20-25 total years of benevolent transitional leaders. 10 years of Mueller incompetence and 10 - 15 years of Comey/Wray abuse. The standards set for Director of the FBI are pretty low. Hard as it is to admit, Clinton's appointment of Louis Freeh is probably the high point. //

Maximus Decimus Cassius
9 hours ago
With respect to Senator Kennedy and Director nominee Patel, the FBI has had 17 years (at least since 2008--Obama's 1st term--if not before then) to hire and release (through attrition, etc.) the agents they wanted.

I would argue the pool of "good agents" is so small that no amount of reform can save the agency. Anything less than a total overhaul (keep the forensics and technical labs) and releasing the gun and badge wearing agents is nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Fishin'withFredo Maximus Decimus Cassius
8 hours ago
I have to agree. As a retired LEO I worked with them a number of times and was not impressed, to say the least. We don't need them. Every individual state has its own investigative body, just establish mutual aid agreements for cases crossing state lines and military intelligence for the overseas stuff.

mopani Fishin'withFredo
4 minutes ago
Take away their police powers, make them work with local police and sheriffs to make arrests etc. That will force them to be rigorous in their investigative work, because they don't just have to convince a judge to write a warrant, they have to convince the local police chief or sheriff to execute the warrant.

Brytek
4 hours ago
As a “brown” person, I see DEI for what it is - A sustainable means to keep brown and other peoples down and ignorant, forever needing these white elites hand ups. As a brown person I compete quite well against any and all takers in my chosen profession, without the need for some a-hole lefty looking to “help” me out of my dignity and self worth. DEI is an apartheid tool masquerading as manna from heaven. Did it help KJP, no, as it set all who look like her who are competent back a generation, back into the chattel pens of the democrats. DEI is the Democrats Evil Indoctrination system. //

anon-fl4c
4 hours ago
Do you see what Trump is doing here? JD is going to be part of the package at every turn. Not the guy in the back looking stern or smiling and nodding when the situation calls for it. Trump is going to make JD the most recognized VP in history so that by 2028, everyone knows JD Vance. Brilliant move.

stripmallgrackle anon-fl4c
an hour ago edited
Vance will have a record he can run on. He will not only speak for Trump, he will be given credit for his input on decisions made, and he will be given the latitude to rise or fail. In short, he will have credentials when he runs in '28.

I vaguely remember a think piece I read, probably during the Carter excursion, about the need for a co-presidency as an answer to the increasingly complex responsibilities of the president. I suspect this presidency will be just that.

Wherever Trump goes there will be at least one man in the room who knows, with every fiber of his being, that he isn't a lame duck. Anyone who believes he can't buck history needs to rewatch The Apprentice.

anon-fl4c stripmallgrackle
an hour ago
And this is why I think this is so extraordinary. I was a teenager in the Carter years so I didn’t read what you are referencing but I will say this, there has never been a promotion of a VP like this in my lifetime. The ego of Clinton would not permit it, and the disastrous choices of Bush 43 and Obama would not allow it. Vance is being groomed by Trump for good reason, as is the rest of his cabinet choices. Trump is protecting the future legacy of MAGA for us all. A beautiful thing indeed.

stripmallgrackle anon-fl4c
an hour ago
Add to that, that whatever remains of conventional wisdom in the DNC forced Biden to choose Kamigula II as his running mate. Clearly, there is a difference between craving power and knowing how to use it.

That last part may be the most MAGA thing I've ever said.

mopani stripmallgrackle
2 minutes ago
Exactly. Trump doesn't crave power, and so he is not afraid to share it, to share the spotlight. Just like he gave his podium to the victims in North Carolina, he gives his VP the podium and the limelight.

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.

The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.

...

The tower [at Reagan] was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30. //

This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Obama Administration implemented a biographical questionnaire at the FAA to shift the hiring focus away from objective aptitude. During my first term, my Administration raised standards to achieve the highest standards of safety and excellence. But the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous "diversity equity and inclusion" tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with "severe intellectual" disabilities in the FAA.

On my second day in office, I ordered an immediate return to merit-based recruitment, hiring, and promotion, elevating safety and ability as the paramount standard. Yesterday's devastating accident tragically underscores the need to elevate safety and competence as the priority of the FAA.

A decades-old U.S. government ban on federally licensed firearms dealers selling handguns to adults under the age of 21 is unconstitutional, a U.S. appeals court held on Thursday, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings expanding gun rights.

The ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked the first time a federal appeals court has held that the prohibition violated the right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. //

U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, writing for Thursday's three-judge panel, said that decision was wrong, as the statutes were "unconstitutional in light of our Nation's historic tradition of firearm regulation."

The U.S. Department of Justice during Democratic former President Joe Biden's tenure had defended the ban. But Jones said it put forth "scant" evidence to show that the gun rights of adults ages 18 to 20 were similarly restricted during the nation's founding era in the 1700s. //

This case, in addition to being a win for the Second Amendment, could well remove one of these restrictions on people who are legally adults and should be expected to be treated as such. And if a person who is 18, 19, or 20 years old is not deemed responsible enough to buy a gun or a beer, why do we let them vote?

In aviation, “retard” is a command to reduce the throttle position. It is used throughout the industry but is especially noteworthy in Airbus aircraft. These highly-automated planes make aural callouts based on the aircraft’s radar altitude, including one telling the pilot to retard the thrust levers on their final approach to landing.

When first heard from the jump seat or in a simulator, the Airbus call out of “50…40…30…20…RETARD, RETARD” can sound a bit odd. Numerous jokes have popped up. After all, who would want to fly a plane that insults its pilot?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the verb retard as “to delay or impede the development or progress of…to slow up, especially by preventing or hindering advance or accomplishment. For example, chemicals are used to retard the spread of fire.”

In the example of an aircraft, the thrust levers are moved aft to retard the power produced by the engines.

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Senator Rand Paul delivered what could have been seen as a six-minute Ted Talk on how science works and how delivery of things like vaccines, along with diet and other considerations, change over time, and how parents, not the government, should be making decisions that affect their children.

Is there an ATC shortage? Yes, there is, and we'll get to that. Was it caused by any action of the Trump administration instituted eight days ago? There's no planet on which that's true. You don't train to be an air traffic controller in eight days, much less would you be assigned to what is one of the most senior sectors in the country.

But if Democrats want to go down this road, we can. What caused the current ATC shortage? The Biden administration, which took its cues from diversity programs created by the Obama administration, rejected over 3,000 qualified applicants who didn't meet DEI standards. How do we know this? Because it led to a major class action lawsuit that is still ongoing. //

In other words, Democrat presidents put DEI above safety, purging thousands of people who could have solved the shortage because their skin color didn't match up with the left's political wants. That's what the Trump administration is trying to fix by eliminating diversity quotas at the FAA. So again, if Democrats would like to go down this road of trying to place blame, Republicans should be happy to do so. It won't work out well for the former.

With that said, it does not appear that ATC was primarily at fault here. There may be questions about how much separation was allowed to begin with, and an investigation will figure all that out. In the meantime, these attempts to blame a presidential administration that's been in office for eight days are laughable. Not only that, they are ghoulish and disgusting.

DCA JIA5342 & PAT25 mid air

I have a soft spot for fictional computers, having implemented compilers, bytecode interpreters, and even program synthesis for various made-up computer architectures.

This post is yet another dive into VM implementation, looking at a particularly fascinating ecosystem from Hundred Rabbits:

The Uxn CPU is a simple, 256-instruction stack machine
Varavara defines a set of peripherals that turn that CPU into an actual computer (display, keyboard, mouse, etc)

Unlike many fictional computers, the Uxn + Varvara ecosystem is sophisticated enough for actual use, and there are dozens of different ROMs – everything from text editors to drawing programs to synthesizers.

The Hundred Rabbits devlog motivates this design with far more eloquence than I could offer; I'd encourage you to browse their sprawling wiki of documentation, blog posts, and development notes.

My implementation is called Raven.

Uxn is the virtual machine powering the Hundred Rabbits software.

This one-page computer, programmable in Uxntal, is an portability layer with a focus on hosting graphical tools and games. It lives at the heart of the Varvara ecosystem.

• Uxn Instructions: Reference, Tests
• Varvara Devices: Reference, Tests

This wiki along with most of the audio-visual projects documented on it are running on Uxn.

This is a blog post based on a transcript of a talk Devine gave at on November 26th 2024. Watch the video version(on YouTube). The slideshow presentation was made using Adelie.
A Shining Place Built Upon The Sand

I dreamt I was in a Library, but it didn't look like a library at all. You know how in dreams you feel like you know someone to be a specific person without them necessarily having their appearance? This is how I knew this was a library.

i want that registered user can see DIFF button and everything, and non-registered can show only 'recent changes', so my wish is to have a DISABLEACTION function managed by a sort of ACL.

A simple way to solve this problew is it that follow.

in /incl/template.php, change:
case 'diff':
 html_diff();
    break;

with:

 case 'diff':
    if ($_SERVER['REMOTE_USER'])
    {
        $first = is_numeric($_REQUEST['first']) ? intval($_REQUEST['first']) : 0;
        html_diff($first);
    }
    else
        html_login();
    break;

in this way, if you are a logged-in user, you can display the DIFFERENCE section, with code confront.
if you are not logged, it displays a form for login.

Allegro du concerto pour piano et orchestre, en fa dièse mineur, op.20
Alexander Scriabin