Meme Dump…

 

Don't Get Played

A BBC News look at Russian social media influence ops:

But before the truth could even get its shoes on, the lie had gone viral. Influencers had already picked up the false story and spread it widely.

One X user, the pro-Russia, pro-Donald Trump activist Jackson Hinkle, posted a link seen by more than 6.5m people. Several other accounts spread the story to millions more X users – at least 12m in total, according to the site’s metrics.

It was a fake story, on a fake news website, designed to spread widely online, with its origins in a Russia-based disinformation operation BBC Verify first revealed last year - at which point the operation appeared to be trying to undermine Ukraine’s government.

Remember, if it makes you feel a surge of anger, or a surge of elation at having your biases confirmed, you might want to do a bit more digging into its veracity.

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Automotif DXIX...

The other day we had a Malaise Era Chevrolet Corvette, and today's subject is a Chevy of a similar vintage. Here we have a '78-'80 El Camino, the downsized 5th generation with a wheelbase two inches shorter than the previous one's.

For '78 buyers got a base 95hp 200 cubic inch V-6, with a pair of optional 4bbl V-8s, either a 145hp 305 or a 170hp 350. By 1980 the 350 was gone and the baddest factory motor was a 155hp 305, but at least base cars now had a 229cid V-6 rated at 115hp.

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Starting Off Right

A blog reader has sent a review copy of a book entitled How to Buy Your First Gun.

With first-time gun purchases still surging, this book will be a handy guide for anyone looking to buy a handgun, most especially with an eye primarily toward personal protection.

The guide is practical, with step-by-step instructions for everything from selecting a pistol, proper safety procedures, and basic gun handling and marksmanship.

It's biased toward the defensive shooter, recommending a Glock 19 rather than the old "Buy a .22 and get used to it", but it eschews tacticool terminology, militant bravado, and political stuff, meaning it's suitable for anybody from your mom to your slightly patchouli-scented co-worker who's suddenly worried about carjackings. Plus it has suggestions for finding training as well as further reading and exploration which are great (and I'm not just saying that because this blog gets mentioned.)

If you know someone looking to make the leap to buying their first blaster, they could do a lot worse than reading this handy guide.

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Happy Independence Day!

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." -John Adams, in a letter to Abigail, 1776

Automotif DXVIII...

Here's the opposite end of the C3 era from yesterday's '69 Stingray: A '78-'79 Corvette in Black.

This was peak Malaise Era 'Vette. The base 350 only made 195 SAE net horsepower and the optional L82 only put out 225. They couldn't even come up with a cool name for the color; it's just "Black".

GM had been noodling around with all kinds of ideas for the next generation of Corvette through the latter half of the Seventies, various wild ideas with mid-engine layouts and 4-rotor Wankels were floated, but between gas crunches and inflation, GM just didn't want to spend the coin. The C3 limped along for a total of fourteen years before being replaced.

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Automotif DXVII...

Here's a 1969 Corvette Stingray coupe in Can-Am White, out enjoying an ideal day for open-air motoring.

The lack of a domed hood indicates a small block V-8 lives under there, either the base 300hp 350, or the optional L46 350, with an 11.0:1 compression ratio rated at 350 SAE gross bhp.

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Plane Size

Wow, this photo really gives a good perspective of the relative sizes of these things.

Looks like a Douglas B-18, Boeing B-17 and B-29, and an early Convair B-36.

The maximum takeoff weight of the B-18 Bolo was 27,673 pounds, while a late model B-36J Peacemaker, with its six Wasp Major radials augmented by four GE J47 turbojets, could get off the ground at 410,000 pounds. The bomb load of that B-36J equalled the gross takeoff weight of 3.1 whole B-18s, or a B-17 and a half.

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Automotif DXVI...

The 1973 model year was the cliff's edge for the original performance car era in Detroit. Engines had been lowered in compression to meet new emissions standards and to improve fuel economy, and were now advertised by SAE net rather than gross horsepower ratings, as though to emphasize the haircut in output.

All cars were required to sport grotesque new front bumpers that would absorb a 5MPH impact without structural damage (they'd be joined by matching rear protuberances for the following year.) The premier performance models from Ford and Pontiac were about to enter the dark ages: The 1974 Pontiac GTO would be a Nova and the '74 Mustang would morph into a Pinto.

At Oldsmobile, the only convertible left in the lineup for 1973 was the Delta 88 Royale, like the silver example in the photo above.

The '73 Delta 88 ragtop came with a base 160 horsepower 2-barrel version of the Olds 350 Rocket V-8. For an upgrade, the buyer could opt for a 4-bbl 455 cube Rocket, in either 225bhp or 250bhp format, with the latter sporting a dual exhaust setup.

The car in the picture has had the top replaced and has been repainted in the original Silver Taupe, with its lines slightly cleaned up by removing the chrome faux louvers that normally appeared on the front fenders.

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