http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... n-proposed]CNN:  National park on the moon proposed.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I was volunteering for the VA Educational section when I was out of work in 2009-2010. One of the looming problems the counselors told me that veterans going to school were going to for profit schools when the schools were saying that jobs will be available for them when they graduate.  So, after accumulating maybe 20, 40, maybe even 60K of debt when they get out, are we looking at the next generation of U.S. college graduates who are going have to wait 10, 15 or even 20 years before they climb themselves out of the hole? And what about those that do not finish their degree?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

With the switch from Yahoo Mail Classic now being mandatory, and yet again being stuck on PSPotato due to the third failure of a laptop in under a year, I can't even get in to their site at all - just the login page overflows available memory, for crying out loud! So, I need to find a new free web based email provider, with at least basic functionality when all scripting is turned off. Any suggestions?

ETA - Gmail is not an option for the same reason
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

A few of you may have heard of Copellion. It's a manga set 15 years after an earthquake and tsunami damaged a nuclear power plant and caused a meltdown, irradiating the area around Tokyo and forcing it to be evacuated. It was slated for an animated adaptation in 2011. Which was shelved after an earthquake and tsunami damaged a nuclear power plant and triggered a meltdown.

Well. Some footage was recently shown at a French anime event. ( I think it was France.)


It looks beautiful in animation. The original manga had a definite Japanese Stalker feel to its visuals - with genetically engineered radiation-resistant schoolgirls making their way through the decayed abandoned ruins of old Tokyo to find survivors.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

Did you make a wish and tie it to a bamboo stalk?

(And does anyone know what the weather was like in Japan? Did the lovers get to meet this year?)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

A cubicle anime about civil servants
You have as the main characters:
1.  The former noob of the department who is now their sempai. Note: you do not ask the new newbies what to do now. And don't tell them "Please work yourselves like a dog for the civilians."
2.  The slacker - He has 3 questions:
     A.  When is lunch break?
     B.  Where is the smoking area?
     C.  Where's the place I won't get caught slacking off?  
3. The one with low confidence - she's getting to the old maid stage (24 years old?) and it's her first time at a job. It looks she's ready to cry at the customer service desk. I share her pain...customer service is not my thing either.
4. The dedicated one - who is a a mission of vengeance.
The work setting seems to be at the city/ward welfare administration department. The closest show I can see this being is Parks and Recreations...or a Japanese version of Dilbert.
Just one question..what's jugem jugem in japanese?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

No, this isn't a climate change editorial.
I brought this up here a couple of years ago, but it's back again with a vengeance:  the temperature outside my apartment has been in the 80s and upper 70s all day.  Inside, if I can trust the reading on my thermostat, it's 67.  I'm not running my a/c, but my upstairs neighbor is sure running his.  I'm a bit perturbed at the thought of what an icebox his place must be.  Lovecraft wrote a story on that theme....
Still, I can always put on a sweater (and I have), so I don't want this situation to change.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

Werewolves are environmentalists.

This is because free-range humans taste better than city-raised ones...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/songs/datpossumf.html

Probably among the oldest recordings in Doug's archives, this song has two effects - it creates a hound simulacrum that will seek out any possums within range of doggy senses, and any possums in Doug's AoE are subject to a continuously renewed stun effect the renders them catatonic for the duration. Whether he takes the advice on what to do with any possums found is up to Doug to decide.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Silus Markin read the the four emails in front of him and sighed, it was going to be one of those decades, he could feel it.

From: petitsnake@node1856184545.secure.fen
To: smarkin@triplethreat.secure.fen
Subject: Hey Marky!

Got the call from Ilya about her friend Katyusha going up for a trip on a rocket! How nuts is that! I hear she wants to ride it all the way to Shiva!

Well, tell her that I'm good to meet her at the final stop-over on Sedna.

Peace out!

Miranda Petit, Commander, Black Talon Group

From: [REDACTED].gov.ru
To: smarkin@triplethreat.secure.fen
Subject: Rocket Parts Delivery

Mr Markin,

We have received the email concerning the special rocket motor delivery to your facility from Gorkiy 21 Rocket Testing Facility and have prepared the necessary rocket parts for you.

We at the Russian Federation thank you for the generous contributions made to our government and technical aid for our Blackjack-S program. We acknowledge that you possess the right to manufacture and sell the Blackjack-S, but wish to remind you that selling the Blackjack-S with full nuclear strike capability without our permission is inadvisable.

We look forward to hearing from MD-0000 regarding the special order she has made to our government, and I am certain my counterpart in the United States is also waiting anxiously.

Major General [REDACTED], Commander, Russian Space Forces.

From: [REDACTED].af.mil
To: smarkin@triplethreat.secure.fen
Subject: Special Delivery

Markin,

I honestly don't know what you people plan on doing with these, but the higher-ups have signed off on them and they're busy covering their asses so what you and the MD's have planned must involve one fucking big bang.

We'll have them ready for pick-up at Vandenberg, and for god's sake, keep this quiet. We don't need another South Ossetia on our hands here.

[REDACTED]

From: hr@triaxinternal.secure.triax
To: smarkin@triaxinternal.secure.triax
Subject: New Profile and Catalogue

Hey there Silus,

Here's the new profile for the public website and our new catalogue with internal notations. We just need final approval and we'll update the site immediately.

Also, we need to work on the stealth layers for the Zombieland and Luna Vista caches for the Material Defenders. MD-0000 just contacted me and she's putting Katyusha into Stage One, so I'm rotating the necessary workers to the Earth Shakers.

Karen

Silus Markin downloaded the file and glancing at another email, began writing up a reply with a carbon copy to another recipient.

From: smarkin@triaxinternal.secure.triax
To: hr@triaxinternal.secure.triax
CC: security@triaxinternal.secure.triax

Karen, and if you get this, Jonathon.

If Katyusha is at Stage One, then they've already informed their Russian government clients that they need the SS-27's delivered to us. I want one of our cargo loaders to drop by and pick up the missile bodies for delivery and for god's sake, just use the rocket motor excuse, no need for stories here people.

And get two of the Cargo Valkyries ready for a 'test flight' to Zombieland and Luna Vista, get those caches moved to their Zero Sites for the Material Defenders to grab immediately.

I want full priority security on the work areas for the SS-27's, full ID checks, scanners, the fucking works. DO NOT let those Great Justice fucks find out we're working on these for the Material Defenders and their little covert operation, the Russian Government is covering for us, so be certain to point the finger at them.

We should have the MOABs and FOABs here at least two weeks after the SS-27's arrive, and I want the same security procedures in place for them. If GJ asks, just tell them we're working on one of the smoke-screen projects, like the Minovsky Particle or the fighter-scale particle cannon, take your pick it should get them rolling their eyes and leaving us alone, we didn't spend four years building that fake reputation for nothing!

Silus sent the email and opened the file with the new corporate profile and public catalogue as he looked at the date. It was October 4th, 2021, and he knew the covert war between the Material Defenders and GTV was going to enter into its final stages.

-Triax Corporation Website Front Page, Updated December 15th, 2021-
Welcome to the Triax Corporation website, where we strive to provide you with high-quality munitions, cybernetics and aerospace technology in these rapidly advancing times of uncertainty and excitement. Here at Triax we believe that anyone should have access to our products regardless of affiliation, personal creed, history or future intentions, because we at Triax do not believe in pre-emptively judging someone when they come to purchase from us, and because of that willingness to sell to anyone, anytime, we can provide you with quality products and strive to make them better and release newer products that pass the savings on to you!

Perhaps even more importantly, Triax recognises that although military strength is being reduced with the end of the Boskone War, the need for armed security options remains as high as ever with pockets of criminals and terrorists still out there beyond the Main Belt and perhaps even in extrasolar locations. Mercenary and private security companies present a constant drain on resources and money because as the client you pay not just for their services but for their upkeep as well in terms of food, oxygen and munitions. We at Triax believe that the costs of maintaining your own personal armed security option should always be far below that of maintaining a private security contract and thus strive constantly to ensure our products can be maintained with the bare minimum of available resources with only slight decreases in performance values, or upgraded to suit your own personal needs.

We at Triax are also striving to bring into existence technology from other fictional sources to you, the customer! Because we believe that so long as Fenspace marches forward in technological progress, there is no future challenge or adversity that cannot be faced!

Triax looks forward to helping refine modern particle weapon technology, engage in pioneering research to create the Minovsky particle for cleaner and more powerful nuclear fusion technologies and perhaps most importantly to the construction of ships and habitats; feasible and affordable means to construct Mega-Damage Capacity meta-materials for both personal and military police operations and open the way to modern mega-structural engineering.

And with that we welcome you to Triax Corporation! Where We Seek The Future!