Drones – Politics Plus

“The Dog Ate My Holidays …”

Posted by SoINeedAName at 9:28 am Politics

Dec 272024

Time just got away from me. But I had worked on a post earlier, so rather than waiting until 2025 I’m just going to go ahead and share it.

I was hoping to post it yesterday so I could slip it in as a Boxing Day article – so I’m just going to pretend it’s STILL December 26th.

Boxing Day, a UK holiday tradition celebrated the day after Christmas, was once a day to donate gifts to those in need. But it has now evolved to become a part of Christmas festivities, and an extension for those of us wanting to participate in the PoliticsPlus Holiday Festivities – but got tied up with other things.

To start I created some GIFs of the drone light show employing 4,981 drones to create the Guinness record-breaking holiday display over Mansfield, Texas on November 26, 2023

The spectacular show was created by Sky Elements Drone Shows and UVify, a North Texas-based drone company.

To be honest, I’ll post the YouTube source video – but they make so many cuts and change of speed it was a bit difficult.

(And you might want to kick up the speed in YouTube because the drones tend to move pretty slow in performing their precision aerial display.)

In the same order as the video:

And here’s the source YouTube video:

And I borrowed a Jacquie Lawson Christmas message to add the one word we’re all hoping for:

And it just wouldn’t be Christmas without a reprise of those Caroling Penguins. (That song STILLS makes me chuckle just thinking about it.)

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Hark! The Herald Penguins sing:

Please don’t eat our little wings!

Eat a goose down to the bone,

But leave Penguins all alone.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Baby ducks are very sweet,

Tastier than Penguin meat.

If we’re carried in your store,

Please, don’t shop there anymore!

…

Open Thread December 15 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 152024

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Grounded” by Jeanine Tesori, a new (2023) commission from the Met. I’ve linked to the Wikipedia page on it – I won’t even try to summarize it – but I would love to know what Tammy Duckworth would think of it, if she were to watch it or listen to it – though I would not be surprised if she didn’t want to. The music is very listenable, which should not surprise anyone, as it is from the composer of two Tony-winning Broadway musicals plus “Shrek the Musical,” as well as other operas. Alo, I suppose I should say something about the drone sightings over New Jersey, NYC, and Connecticut, but sine I don’t know any facts, I don’t have anything to say. I can say the Cory Booker is concerned and pressing for information. So now I’m off to see Virgil, and will check in when I return.

Straight from The Root, a piece of good news for a Sunday.

This is Part I of Robert Reich‘s analysis of how we need to develop our messaging (Part II follows below). He may be right – I’m a great believer in the power of story – but the proposition bothers me because, although to of the tories lead to care for others and to justice, two lead to hard hearts and injustice.

Robert Reich Part II. A couple of comments are shown in the free version, and one of them points out that some Democrats have no difficulty with properly identifying the “rot at the top.” The commenter cites Sanders and Warren, but my first thoughts upon reading the subtitle were for AOC, Katie Porter, and Jasmine Crockett.

Drought-Resistant Fireworks: “BOOM” Time for Drone July 4th Shows

Posted by SoINeedAName at 6:07 pm Politics

Jul 042022

It’s that time of year when we literally have a reprise of “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” with our traditional annual fireworks displays.

But a number of factors have joined forces to make it become less a tradition, supplanted by colorful and brightly-lit drones.

Firework critics, who have voiced their disfavor due to noise, pollution, injuries, and environmental harm, are celebrating the pandemic’s supply chain shortage of fireworks. They even find a silver-lining in the megadroughts plaguing the West that are forcing municipalities to forgo fireworks in favor of drone light shows.

Drone light shows have become so popular that they’re booked up months in advance for July 4^th. And it’s easy to understand why>

Typical drone shows last 10-12 minutes, comparable to and average firework display. And they will use from 100 drones (felt to be an “entry-level” production) up to 500.

A drone July 4^th generally starts at around $25,000 – which can be about twice as much as a municipal fireworks display. But they are much more technically cumbersome to design, setup and run. (To add some perspective, the American Pyrotechnics Association reports that firework displays are a $375 million industry.)

While the cost of drone light show might cause concern, they do have a number of advantages when compared to traditional fireworks. They are much quieter, cause significantly less pollution, result in far fewer injuries (including deaths) and dramatically less environmental harm.

It’s no surprise that the drought conditions in most of the West have really sparked communities to move to drone shows. Even before conditions became dire, there were approximately 19,500 fires caused by fireworks back in 2018, with the peak occurring on July 4^th.

Also disturbing is the fact that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that there were over 9,000 fireworks-related injuries seen in emergency departments in 2018.

I was a bit surprised to learn that one of the strongest supporters of drone light shows is from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “Drone shows are quiet, safe, practically pollution-free,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk.

As many pet owners can attest, fireworks are pretty much loathed by our cats and dogs. PETA also points out that besides frightening for small children, they can also be a trigger for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I’ve yet to enjoy a 4^th of July drone show, but I certainly can see they offer a variety of pluses.

BIG Mouth Awards

Every 1,000th Comment
20 – Infidel – 7/6/2011
21 – SoINeedAName – 7/25/2011
22 – SoINeedAName – 8/17/2011
23 – Maria – 9/7/2011
24 – Phyllis – 9/29/2011
25 – Tom – 10/22/2011
26 – Lynn Squance – 11/25/2011
27 – Deborah – 12/29/2011
28 – Patty – 1/19/2012
29 – Lynn Squance – 2/8/2012
30 – Jolly Roger – 3/8/2012
31 – Patty – 5/4/2012
32 – Marva Dasef – 6/8/2012
33 – Patty – 7/8//2012
34 – Edith Belcher – 8/12//2012
35 – Patty – 9/17/2012
36 – Tasunka – 10/12/2012
37 – Lynn Squance – 11/6/2012
38 – SoINeedAName – 11/29/2012
39 – Lynn Squance – 1/11/2013
40 – Lynn Squance – 2/17/2013
41 – Patty – 3/23/2013
42 – Edith Belcher – 5/29/2013
43 – Jim Phillips – 6/29/2013
44 – Patty – 7/27/2013
45- Lynn Squance – 8/21/2013
46 – Rixar13 – 9/12/2013
47 – Rixar13 – 10/4/2013
48- Lynn Squance – 10/25/2013
49 – Patty – 11/27/2013
50 – Lynn Squance – 1/13/2014
51 – Patty – 3/7/2014
52 – Yvonne White – 4/16/2014
53 – Edie – 5/20/2014
54 – Jerry Critter – 6/23/2014
55 – Lynn Squance – 7/29/2014
56 – Joanne D – 9/5/2014
57 – Patty – 10/19/2014
58 – Arielle – 11/16/2014
59 – Pat A – 12/26/2014
60 – SoINeedAName – 1/24/2015
61 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2015
62 – Joanne D – 3/21/2015
63 – Vivian B – 4/23/2015
64 – Joanne D – 5/23/2015
65 – Yvonne White – 6/22/2015
66 – SoINeedAName – 7/16/2015
67 – Lona Goudswaard – 8/6/2015
68 – Mamabear – 8/25/2015
72 – Judi Angell – 11/27/2015
74 – Judi Angell – 1/18/2016
75 – Jerry Critter – 1/2/2016
76 – Lona Goudswaard – 3/11/2016
77 – Lona Goudswaard – 4/4/2016
78 – Pat B – 5/5/2016
79 – Mitch D – 6/5/2016
80 – Joanne D – 7/3/2016
81 – Lona Goudswaard – 7/30/2016
82 – Mitch D – 9/2/2016
83 – Joanne D – 10/6/2016
84 – Pat A – 11/10/2016
85 – Pat B – 12/11/2016
86 – Pat A – 1/14/2017
87 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2017
88 – Vivian Birdwell – 4/5/2017
89 – Vivian Birdwell – 5/16/2017
90 – Lona Goudswaard – 6/23/2017
91 – SoINeedAName – 7/30/2017
92 – Joanne D – 9/4/2017
93 – Pat B – 10/12/2017
94 – SoINeedAName – 11/20/2017
95 – Jerry Critter – 12/31/2017
96 – Joanne D – 2/12/2018
97 – Pat B – 3/27/2018
98 – Richard A – 5/5/2018
99 – Lynn Squance – 6/12/2018
100 – Mitch D – 7/20/2018
101 – Pat B – 8/30/2018
102 – Pat B – 10/5/2018
103 – Joanne D – 11/9/2018
104 – Animae – 12/18/2018
105 – Animae – 1/25/2019
106 – Colleen – 3/2/2019
107 – Joanne D – 4/11/2019
108 – Animae – 6/1/2019
109 – Pat B – 8/9/2019
110- Angelflowers – 09/20/2019
111 – Colleen – 11/5/2019
112 – Pat B – 12/25/2019
113 – None – My Bad
114 – Pat B – 3/24/2020
115 – Freya – 5/24/2020
116 – JL – 7/4/2020
117 – Colleen – 8/13/2020