NASA'S CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY CAPTURES PUPPIS A.

This image shows the destructive results of a powerful supernova explosion in X-ray light captured by NASA's Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton. Known as Puppis A, this supernova remnant is located about 7,000 light-years from Earth and it's roughly 140 light-years across. pic.twitter.com/4hmZ4smUwG

— Chandra Observatory (@chandraxray) November 17, 2023

Puppis A, in the constellation of Taurus, is about 7,000 ly away from Earth and has a "diameter" of about 140 ly. It's interesting to compare it to the Crab Nebula, aka M1 (Messier 1), which is about 6,500 ly away in the Constellation of Taurus and is around 11 ly across, so roughly 13 times smaller than Puppis A. Of Puppis A, it has been calculated that the supernova explosion which caused it occurred about 3,700 years ago - or rather, the light of it reached Earth 3,700 years ago. The supernova explosion that gave birth to the Crab Nebula was recorded by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1054, a well established fact. So one can say that some 2,700 years separate the light of the exploding Crab Nebula and of Puppis A reaching our planet - although of course, the actual explosions took place 3,700 years plus 7,000 years equals 10,700 years ago for the latter and 1,000 years plus 6,500 years equals 7,500 years for the former.


Given that the accounts of the Chinese and Japanese astronomers meticulously record the event and describe its brightness as being comparable to a full Moon, it must have been quite a sight. And the question is, would there somewhere exist as yet untranslated records of the sightings of the supernova explosion that yielded Puppis A? 3,700 years ago would place it in the dying days of Sumer, or Egypt's Middle Kingdom at its zenith. Given that Puppis A is thirteen times bigger than the Crab Nebula, and assuming that it can't have expanded in size from a comparable diameter to what it is now, its explosion must have dwarfed the explosion witnessed in 1054. In all likelihood its light must have been many times brighter than that of a full Moon. It is therefore curious that so far and to the best of my knowledge, no ancient Sumerian or Egyptian texts have been discovered detailing the event.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: THE CAROLINE GLICK SHOW WITH DOUGLAS MURRAY: "IS THE WEST DEAD?"

Hat tip Kuruki. Handle on X/twitter: @Kuruki23882260


And if you haven't already bought Murray's 'The Strange Death of Europe', do so here.






MFBB.

WEEKEND MOVIE TIP: THE CONVERSATION (1974).

It's low key, it's modest, but it's good. How could it not be good when it was written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and stars Gene Hackman, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall and John Cazale?


See it.



MFBB.

WEEKEND MOVIE TIP: THE HIDDEN (1987).

A forgotten sci-fi/horror movie from the late 80s. A shame, because it's damn good.





Directed by Jack Sholder, it stars Kyle McLachlan and Michael Nouri. If you haven't seen it yet, please do. You won't regret it.



Nite.



MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT QUEEN, PREFAB SPROUT.

Queen with Las Palabras de Amor. Album Hot Space (1982).





Lyrics were written by Brian May.



Prefab Sprout with I remember that. From the album From Langley Park to Memphis (1988).





I remember buying the album sometime around 1991 in Ghent, in one of the two reference music shops in that city, either Bilbo or Music Man, can't remember which anymore. I had just finished my engineering studies. It's insane how time flies.


Nite.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED READS: MARK STEYN'S "PROPORTIONATE ABOUT GANG RAPE."

Mark Steyn proves that he's still as eloquent and relevant as 2 decades back:

"In our initial report on this new war yesterday, we published a video showing a terrified young lady being abducted by Hamas "soldiers" from an Israeli music festival. She was delivered to Gaza. This is the condition she arrived in:

WARNING GRAPHIC: Palestinians strip the corpse of an Israeli woman, put it on display and desecrate it while shouting ‘Allah Akbar’.
Hamas and Israel are now at war. https://t.co/qa1di87ac7

— Paul Golding (@GoldingBF) October 7, 2023

"Allahu Akbar!" Because Allah is truly great, isn't he? He let us target the Jewess, and then strip her and beat her and rape her. And then, when we drive what's left to the dar al-Islam, we all get to dance in the streets and desecrate her corpse. Boy, what a generous guy that Allah is!

The infidel has a name: Shana Louk, a citizen of Germany visiting Israel to attend a "Festival for Peace". It didn't work out that way:

BREAKING:

The woman whose body was seen on video in the back of a pick-up truck driven by Palestinian terrorists to Gaza has been identified.

30-year-old Shani Louk was a German citizen visiting Israel to attend the music festival for peace held near the Gaza border fence. pic.twitter.com/sPIc8FRs8K

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 7, 2023

Miss Louk's mother has released a video appealing for help. Do the Germans have special forces? If not, maybe they could send in that 98-year-old SS officer who's a hero of the Canadian House of Commons.

Israel, as always, is being urged to confine itself to a "proportionate" response. Headline from my former newspaper The Irish Times:

~ Micheál Martin indicates Israeli response to 'appalling' Hamas attack has not been proportionate.

Mr Martin is the former Taoiseach and current Tánaiste (deputy Taoiseach) and Foreign Minister. I wonder what he thinks is the "proportionate" response to that scene? The "proportionate response" to an army that, as its principal tactic, seizes your womenfolk and children, and rapes, tortures and kills them. Would raping, torturing and killing their womenfolk be "proportionate"?

As for proportions more generally, Dafna Breines, an Israeli Steyn Clubber, writes:

~ As for 9/11, we're far past that now...as of this moment there are 500 Jews confirmed dead, which is the equivalent population-wise of ten 9/11's.

John Hinderaker writes of the above video:

~ What is notable, I think, is the jubilant reaction of the crowd. Note the boy who spits on the woman's corpse. The idea that what is happening is a 'terrorist attack' by 'Hamas' is a fiction. Hamas is a political entity that rules Gaza with the support of the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians who live there.

Indeed. John is the soul of moderation, and he is trying hard to contain his anger there. Tommy Robinson is the antithesis of the soul of moderation and here is his reaction to the same video. NSFW warning: There is more effing and blinding in these two minutes than Mr Hinderaker has done in his entire life, but it is directed at those in the west who share "the jubilant reaction of the crowd":



I'm with John and Tommy on this one: I look at the things I care about in our dying civilisation, and I don't see the point of making common cause with barbarians who get their jollies dancing round a girl who's been gang-raped. You know where else they do that?

Rotherham.

And Telford.

And [Your Town Here].


As I've said, I've only met Tommy Robinson the once - a decade ago, at the European Parliament of all places, with my darling daughter, who's now reached that age where they walk in and say, "Hey, dad, I got a cheap flight to that music festival in..." But I've talked a lot in recent days about the lack of "first principles", as the barristers (used to) say. Tommy Robinson is a man of first principles: He thinks it's wrong to gang-rape English schoolgirls in Yorkshire. And he thinks it's wrong to gang-rape German citizens in Gaza. And he's right on both.

Here's another video - a couple of parents trying to comfort their children after the courageous men of Hamas have killed the kids' sister:

If you really want to know what happened in Israel, watch this: the most painful video I’ve seen yet. Terrified Israeli family being held hostage by Hamas terrorists after they killed one of the sisters of the little girl. 💔 pic.twitter.com/oHRxZddq9N

— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) October 8, 2023

What has changed since 9/11 a generation ago? On that day Palestinians danced in the streets of Ramallah and passed out sweets to celebrate the thousands of dead infidels in the rubble of Lower Manhattan. To be sure, they don't over-think their jubilation: The general Arab view of that day, as I came to learn visiting the West Bank and elsewhere not long afterwards, is that it was simultaneously a) a glorious victory for Muslims; and b) all the work of the Mossad.


But what's changed in these two decades? Back then, they partied in Ramallah. Now they party in ...the suburbs of Toronto:

JUST NOW: Mississauga, Ontario after dark.

A truck of young men cheering in support of the Hamas terror attack in Israel waving Palestinian flags. pic.twitter.com/QoHINKWpKV

— Efrain Flores Monsanto 🇨🇦🚛 (@realmonsanto) October 8, 2023

....

There follows a string of clips in other Western cities, some speculations on the enormity of Israels intel failure, but you got to read it all over here.


Anyway, Mark conclusion is as spot on as it is frightful:

That Gaza kid John Hinderaker mentions? The one spitting on poor Shana Louk's naked body?

In ten years' time, he'll be living in Munich, or Marseilles, or Manchester, Manitoba, Michigan...

It's the future you've made.

A final observation. Ms Louk, and probably the grand majority of those partying and enjoying the rave festival with her, is in all likelihood NOT someone who, in her native Germany, would ever vote for Afd, Alternative fuer Deutschland, because, well, for Ms Louk types, such parties are 'hatey hate parties'. AfD, like Vlaams Belang in my country, have been warning FOR YEARS for the danger islam constitutes to free and democratic countries. Yet they were branded neonazis, racists etc, and the incessant influx of the followers of the Prophet even increased still. Today, we taste the sour fruits of this madness. This is London:

Ein wehrhaftes Israel ist auch deshalb so existenziell für Juden, weil Europa bereits gefallen ist. https://t.co/2ZupfmUZDA

— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) October 14, 2023

I sincerely wish Ms Louk still survives her ordeal in good shape. I do not gloat over her predicament. But if she does make it back safe and sound, will she be able to see the error of her ideas?


Moribund, impotent Europe is so far over the cliff that personally, I feel she will not.



MFBB.

ENEMY INSIDE THE GATES.

In Birmingham, UK:

Pro-Hamas rally in Birmingham, UK.

Birmingham has been named "super-diverse" with 51.4% of inhabitants from an ethnic minority.

The city is 34% Christian, 29.9% Muslim, 0.1% Jewish and 24% have no religious affiliation according to the 2021 census.pic.twitter.com/LQNeRMmzUg

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 8, 2023

In Brighton, UK:

A Palestinian woman says that the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel are “inspiring”, “beautiful” and a “success”.

She says this at a street rally in Brighton, from the safety and comfort of the United Kingdom.pic.twitter.com/2rsdk3dc02

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 8, 2023

In Barcelona, Spain:

Pro-Hamas demonstration in Barcelona, Spain.

There are also LGBT flags being waved, despite the fact that Gaza criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual activity and makes it punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment.pic.twitter.com/6oST5IgIX4

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 8, 2023

In Philadelphia, USA:

Pro-Hamas protest in Philadelphia, USA. pic.twitter.com/rL2YGdjXjh

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 8, 2023

In Rotterdam, The Netherlands:

🇳🇱 This was Rotterdam today.

Muslim communities all over Europe are coming out in support of Hamas’ efforts to wage their bloody jihad against Israel and its citizens.

Everyone with a sense of reality can see it coming from miles away: the Muslim
fighting-aged males throughout… pic.twitter.com/ztyinoLHMC

— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) October 8, 2023

In Antwerp, Belgium:

Weerzinwekkend: in het centrum van #Antwerpen, tussen de joodse en de islamitische wijk, hijsen piepjonge moslims de Palestijnse vlag. Niet toevallig op het moment dat onschuldige Joden zonder onderscheid koelbloedig worden afgeslacht door moslimterroristen. #IStandWithIsrael pic.twitter.com/Hciu6Fdvrh

— Sam van Rooy (@SamvanRooy1) October 8, 2023

In London, UK:

Islamic Jihad in Europe. London, Muslims celebrate the massacre of civilians, women and children carried out in Israel by Hamas Islamic terrorists. pic.twitter.com/ytFH9ZcVnn

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) October 8, 2023

The West has been insane, and continues to be, to let muslim vermin in:

Optocht van moslimvrouwen in #Londen. Wat opvalt is dat bijna iedere vrouw vergezeld is van een of meerdere kinderen of baby’s. De baby-#jihad is volop bezig. De #omvolking en de #islamisering worden steeds minder een kwestie van #immigratie en steeds meer een kwestie van… pic.twitter.com/GknyE7tt2G

— Filip Dewinter (@FDW_VB) October 5, 2023

In the meantime, homosexual relationships are being feted and promoted as never before, the transgender craze is climaxing, our birthrates are plummeting to rock bottom. This won't end well.



MFBB.

HOW DID THE 2005 ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA AKA LAND FOR PEACE WORK OUT? TURNS OUT, NOT SO WELL.

In 2005, Israel decided to disengage from the Gaza Strip, manu militari removing some 8,000 Jewish settlers from their homes and in the process destroying their lifework, a blossoming agro-industrial matrix of greenhouses producing tons of high-quality fruit and vegetables, to give the principle 'Land for Peace' a chance:











How did that work out? Turns out, not so well:












And so:

🎥🔴TV Natio world/RadioGenoa

Palestinian terror groups release a video showing a large group of Israeli women that they have captured and taken back to Gaza pic.twitter.com/X81LDfV6RU

— Louis Montpellier Natio (@Natio_1976) October 7, 2023

And so:





And so:

De islamitische terreurorganisatie #Hamas wil met de slachtpartij die ze aangericht hebben in #Israël een oorlog uitlokken in de hoop dat de islamitische wereld hen zal steunen in een open conflict met #Israël. Voor we het weten staat de hele wereld in brand. pic.twitter.com/rVOH724Ro2

— Filip Dewinter (@FDW_VB) October 7, 2023

And so:

"Allahu akbar!" Dít is wat er dus gebeurt wanneer Israël Gaza onvoldoende afsluit tot een zogenaamde 'openluchtgevangenis': moslimterroristen dringen het Joodse staatje binnen en slachten zoveel mogelijk onschuldige Joden af.

Joden die door deze nazi-achtigen worden ontvoerd,… pic.twitter.com/UsgVKb3Mmy

— Sam van Rooy (@SamvanRooy1) October 7, 2023

Pray for all the Israeli abducted, because RIGHT NOW they, and their relatives back in Israel, must go through a nightmare.


Paleostinians, Hamas, Islamic Jihad etc are not interested in peace. They only want the Israeli State to disappear and all Jews DEAD. What is the root cause of this conflict?


Very simple: ISLAM.



MFBB.

FRANK WHITTLE AND THE EARLY JET ENGINES.

A working one, to be sure, because there is at least one historic predecessor (John Barber, 1731) which could not be realised for a variety of scientific and technological reasons, chief among them probably the metallurgical challenges of developing a jet engine.





The Whittle W.1X, which in April 1941 powered the first UK jet, the Gloster E.28/39:





Whittle was a tremendous genius allright, and yet I cannot fathom why he stubbornly clung to reverse flow combustion? How could a man who engineered such a groundbreaking novelty keep incorporating this feature which instantly 'feels' wrong even for the less engineer-minded? It's clear that the penalty of it is thrust loss, and this for a powerplant in its infancy, which de facto was already weak in output to begin with: its maximum thrust was a mere 850 lbf (3.8 kN) at 16,500 rpm.





A highly recommended book on early jet engines btw is Hermione Giffard's Making Jet Engines in World War 2:





And therein it is detailed, amongst others, that subsequent designers right away dispensed with reverse flow combustion:





A very noteworthy desing was the Halford H1, designed by the legendary Frank Halford (father of the Napier Sabre), and which was a short while later renamed the de Havilland Goblin:





It was such a brilliant design from the start that, although it was conceived in 1941, its basic form remained unchanged until 1954, by which time it had evolved to the Mk. 35 export version. Pictured is the de Havilland Goblin II, which powered the de Havilland Vampire:






MFBB.

DEMOCRATS ARE CHOOSING THEMSELVES ANOTHER PEOPLE.

JUST IN: Footage has been released of migrants wreaking havoc at the Southern Border last night near El Paso, first reported by @ElPasoYa.

Rest assured: The border is completely secure according to the Biden White House.

In the clip, the migrants appear to be chanting "Si se… pic.twitter.com/4npaZsM36X

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 4, 2023

pic.twitter.com/yZUgfLw2Mk

— Paul Hookem 🇺🇸 (@PaulHook_em) October 4, 2023

Once they are in the US, the treshold for being allowed to vote is much lower than in Western Europe - and that is already a fairly low treshold. They will vote for whom, do you think? Matt Gaetz?

Biden will go down in history as the stumbling, bumbling architect of America’s demise.

And make no mistake. We are done in a matter of years, not decades, if this keeps up. pic.twitter.com/VIabAX78tt

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) October 5, 2023

This is the strategy of the left, plain and simple. This Third World wreckage, which will bring in precipitously little skills, knowledge and labor ethic, but which will cause a massive surge in criminality and drug abuse, as well as constitute a large drain on a social security system already strained to the limit, is the life insurance of democrats. It's the same over here, btw.


I'm not saying there's no worthy, industrious individuals among these people. But they come from cultures and countries which very obviously cannot guarantee their adherents and citizens safe and dignified lives. They hail from places where corruption, mysogyny and crime are commonplace and where accountability and respect for human rights in general are sorely lacking and... they will import these features in our countries as well. Blocking these cohorts is not an act of selfishness; it is an act of survival. Allow these cultures in, and our countries will in time turn into the same hellholes as where these people come from. This is sad, but true.


Anyway, Leftists, being the criminals that they are, are choosing themselves another people. That's it. That's all. It's about staying in power forever, reckoning that the newcomers will vote for the candy distributing party. And why wouldn't they?



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED READS: "LET'S MAKE HOLLYWOOD MANLY AGAIN" BY KEVIN SORBO.

In this insane (Western) world where everything that was once understood to be beautiful, noble and worthwhile is now suspect, a voice like Kevin Sorbo's is a welcome relief. Over at FOX News:

..."Leave the saving of the world to the men? I don't think so," quipped Elastigirl in Pixar’s "The Incredibles."

That was 2004. Since then, Helen Parr’s popular feminist maxim has come to define Hollywood’s endemic anti-man ethos. Her words seem to underlie every major entry for cinema’s largest metonym, from recent "girl-boss" movies to more male-oriented films, all of which include an obligatory nod to the superior strength, intelligence and independence of womankind.

Everywhere we look, bold, confident, self-assured females upstage passive men who recede quietly into the background. Into the basement. Into the past.

Fathers, in particular, have become the butt of every woke Hollywood jab, the bumbling, useless idiots who contribute nothing to their families or communities, but sacrifice themselves as objects of ridicule.

Does Hollywood fear good men? Not necessarily big, bulky men with daunting physiques – those aren’t in too short supply on today’s big screen. Good men. Admirable men. Men we’d want our sons to emulate and daughters to date.

Society today seriously misunderstands masculinity. On the one hand, we love to normalize androgynous, Billy Porter-type men who sport skirts and poofy dresses. GQ’s 2019 best-dressed man, Timothée Chalamet, for example, often wears clothes that, well… let’s just say your grandfather wouldn’t have been caught dead dressed like Chalamet.




(CRIPES)


On the other hand, our favorite movies are heavily populated with brawny macho men. I should know – I made a name for myself in the industry playing a Greek half-god.

But is that really all that it takes to be a good man? No. In fact, you can work out and dress like a man’s man – ridiculing "betas" like Dylan Mulvaney and Chalamet – and still fall prey to the masculinity crisis.

How?

In order to go out and conquer the world, men must first conquer themselves. Sadly, men today have often instead been conquered. We’ve been subdued by alcohol, drugs, video games, porn and other entertainment. The caricature of the useless man in his parents’ basement increasingly depicts real life.

It doesn’t really matter what end of the masculinity spectrum you fall on; if you’re a victim to your own base desires, the feminist culture has won. You’re exactly the kind of wussy man they (think they) want you to be.

In reality, America today needs warriors; protectors; responsible and committed fathers. We certainly don’t need another MCU-esque superhero. We need men who will raise their kids, defend their homes, provide for their families, and serve self-sacrificially – all of which is impossible if they are dissipated and addicted to pleasure.

The call of duty to today’s man is to rise above what society and the media say he is doomed to be, becoming instead the servant leader his family and community so desperately require..."

Read it all.


Follow Kevin Sorbo on X.



MFBB.

GREAT WALKS: YOKE, ILL BELL, FROSWICK AND TROUTBECK IN THE LAKE DISTRICT.

Something to battle the negativity, this marvellous account of an early Spring walk in the Lake District:





I can sympathize. I have vacationed in that glorious piece of real estate five times. But to be sure, the video deals with the southeast, a corner I have yet to discover. I am more familiar with the West, where, e.g., from the top of Great Gable you are rewarded with this sight:





... or the North, where Keswick rests between Derwentwater and the Skiddaw range:





... or the South, with the Coniston Old Man looms over its namesake village:





I climbed the Coniston Old Man in 2015, Blencathra in 2020, and Skiddaw and Great Gable both in 2021. And I'm a happier man for it! If you don't know the Lake District yet, go and discover it!




MFBB.

DEFINITELY WORTH LISTENING TO.

Indeed.

Worth listening. These are important issues. https://t.co/ex3rT8zGVe

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2023

Welcome to the Belgian Method. In my country, 32 years ago Greens doctored the so-called 'cordon sanitaire', which essentially excludes Vlaams Belang from governing. It's 2023, and a staggering 52% of Flemings *WANT* Vlaams Belang, which according to a poll held last week captures 25% of Flemish votes, to form a Flemish government with N-VA, a center-right party. Yet the traditional parties INCLUDING the 'top brass' of N-VA would do anything to block this.





The numbers of 52% and 25% are actually far more impressive than they sound, for in Belgium the Umvolkung has in the meantime assumed such gigantic proportions that between one in three and one in four of Belgian inhabitants are of foreign extraction. Especially during the last decade Population Replacement has accelerated to such an extent that it's near impossible to comprehend. My own hometown, pop. about 34,000, is rapidly becoming a cross between Kinshasa and Marrakesh. It's truly unbelievable. So when a poll says '25% of Flemings would vote VB', that actually means that about 30% of 'Bioflemings' would do so, since one can safely assume that your run of the mill Afghan teenager, aged 24 and receiving a 'Groeipakket' worth 3,500 EUR courtesy the socialists, would not vote VB in a million years.



The ones shouting the hardest for democracy to uphold, are actually the ones doing their damnedest best to destroy it.



MFBB.