Random News and Notes 16 November
The first item in today’s RNN will likely only interest a couple of people. But, seeing as I am the EIC here, I write what I want. Flashforge makes 3D printers. Until very recently, they were one of the top brands in the space. What happened to change that? Glad you asked.
Whatever retard that does their SocMed stuff decided it was a good idea to tell the world they would terminate your account and rat you out to the ‘authorities’ if you used their printers to build guns and gun related stuff. The image below was posted to their Xitter, Insta, FaceBook and other SocMed platforms.
The backlash was as spectacular as it was predictable. Within hours the posts were deleted from all their platforms. I can only imagine the immense damage this blunder has done to Flashforge sales. It took them two days to come up with this mealy-mouthed statement.
Lots of lawyer-speak and weasel wording in that statement. I don’t trust any tech company. I especially distrust Chinese tech companies. I would not buy a Flashforge product under any circumstances now. If you want to see a complete and utter roasting, click through and read the replies.
I don’t know why this one took so long to hit the news. Marines guarding the US embassy in Port Au Prince Haiti exchanged gunfire with the gangs that control most of that country on the 13th.
. . . current transitional government fights against heavily-armed gangs that control up to 85% of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
No Marines were injured. I doubt the gangs can say the same.
South Carolina Gamecocks were in College Station playing Texas A&M yesterday. Gamecock receiver Nyck Harbor had just scored on an 80 yard catch and run and went into the tunnel at that end of the field. The score put South Carolina up 20-3. A Texas DPS trooper decided to be a dickbag and tried to start something with the South Carolina players as they came out of the tunnel.
The Trooper was sent home and is under investigation for his actions. I have a couple of observations about the troopers behavior. First, there was no reason for him to enter the tunnel at all. None. Second, he was the one initiating contact. Had one of the Gamecock players stiff armed him and laid him out, it would have been no more than he deserved. Third, I hope his petty tyrant ass gets suspended and prevented from doing security at any game, even Pop Warner.
Texas A&M wound up winning 31 – 30.
A Russian intelligence gathering ship is lurking off the coast of Hawaii. The AGI Kareliya was laid down in 1985.
. . .Coast Guard Cutter William Hart immediately responded, conducting overflights and close transits while the ship operated dangerously close to U.S. territorial waters.
“The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring this Russian vessel to protect our maritime borders and defend our sovereign interests,” said Capt. Matthew Chong.
This is NOT innocent passage — Russia is probing the Pacific right at Hawai’i’s doorstep. The Coast Guard, in coordination with Indo-Pacific Command, remains on high alert.
Two things. One. this is not all that unusual. The Russians have almost continuous coverage of the US coasts with this type of vessel. This exact vessel was in the same area back in 2022.
Second, these ships are old. Even if they have been refitted, and there is no evidence the Kareliya has been recently, the ‘take’ they could get would be minimal.
Oh, and a third thing. The US and NATO have nearly continuous coverage of European Russia and far eastern Russia. The difference is that they don’t park 40 year old ships with a track record of breaking down off the coast. They use modern ELINT and SIGINT aircraft.
