Oct 2021 CE: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sigh

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Oct 2021 CE: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sigh

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Another positive (and very New Zealand) story - guy and kids go missing, everyone assumes they were swept out to sea, turns out they were just doing a little real life Hunt for the Wilderpeople in the bush. I'm sure he's going to get an absolute thrashing from the family once they get over the initial relief though.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/01/new-zealand-family-missing-found/

quote:

When police found Thomas Phillips�s silver Toyota Hilux abandoned on Kiritehere Beach near Marokopa, New Zealand, the tide was flowing in and threatening to sweep away the vehicle.

Relatives last saw Phillips, 34, and his three young children on Sept. 11 at a family farm, Waikato police said in a statement on Facebook. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary during the visit, and relatives thought Phillips had probably taken his kids to the coast to catch tiny fish called whitebait, a local delicacy.

That weekend, the surf near Kiritehere Beach was rough, and waves beat into the shoreline before a strong current pulled the water back out to sea in a rush. When Phillips failed to return to the farm with 8-year-old Jayda, 6-year-old Maverick and 5-year-old Ember, relatives worried the quartet may have been caught up in a violent swell.

�Because of where the vehicle was found we are understandably very anxious and fearful for the safety of Tom and the children,� the family said in a statement shared by the Waikato police on Sept. 14. �It is possible that they were all swept off the beach as the sea was particularly wild over the weekend.�

The children�s mother, whose relationship with Phillips was unclear, urged anyone with information to contact authorities.

Police and volunteers searched the coastline for nearly two weeks. Officials sent search-and-rescue teams into the ocean. Volunteers combed through nearby brush and beach sands. Police flew a fixed-wing plane to scour the horizon for signs of the family and piloted drones to probe hard-to-reach terrain.

As time wore on, the family began to lose hope of finding Phillips and the kids alive.

�It had seemed pretty obvious that they had gone into the sea,� Rozzi Pethybridge, Phillips�s sister, told the New Zealand Herald on Thursday. �Hope dwindled and we sort of became more and more resigned, and sad, just deeply sad.�

Still, the family and community tried to keep their hope alive. Phillips was an avid outdoorsman who intimately knew the local terrain and had experience hunting and foraging in the bush during long bouts in the wilderness, the Otago Daily Times reported.

�There was just a feeling they were still alive,� Wikitoria Day, one of the search volunteers, told the Daily Times. � � There wasn�t an eerie feeling out there, that�s for sure.�

After 12 days, the active search ended, and police said they would resume those efforts if members of the public found any trace of the missing dad and kids. Four more days passed with no sign of the Phillips family.

Then, five days after the search-and-rescue efforts ceased, Phillips and the three children walked through the doors of the family farm unharmed.

The family had gone on an extended camping trip in the dense New Zealand bush, police said, about nine miles south of the beach where Phillips�s truck was found. They appeared to be completely unaware that the local community had been desperately searching for them.

When Pethybridge learned that her brother had been found safe, she said she was able to smile for the first time in weeks.

�Getting a phone call to say that they had come home was just shocking, in the best way possible,� Pethybridge told the Herald. � � We�re very, very happy, but hard too after such a long time and being braced for the worst and sort of resigning ourselves to the fact that we�d probably never see them all again.�

According to police, Phillips had diligently planned the camping trip but had not informed friends or family about the lengthy excursion. Police said they would continue to speak with the family to seek clarity about their movements during their time away.

Pethybridge said kids were warm, dry and �perfectly healthy� when they returned home.

�It just goes down to Tom�s awesome skills as a bushman and as an outdoorsman,� she told the Herald.

Waikato West Area Commander Inspector Will Loughrin said in a statement on Wednesday that authorities are �so pleased that the family [has] returned home.�

�This is a family that experienced 17 days of hell, really,� he added at a news conference on Thursday. �This is a community that experienced 17 days of hell wondering what had happened to this family and these children. For the outcome to be what we always wanted is fantastic.�

# ¿ Oct 1, 2021 12:27

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 13:31

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Woof Blitzer posted:

Healthy young Network Engineer goes to work, gets new config and pushes changes - OUTAGE. Many such cases!

# ¿ Oct 5, 2021 00:32

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Handsome Ralph posted:

https://twitter.com/ajbauer/status/1445476875636072450

Tag yourselves, I'm the syringe next to the candy bar.

# ¿ Oct 6, 2021 11:54

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

What's great is how much of Evil Dead comes through parts of Raimi's Spiderman 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz-17z44F6g

# ¿ Oct 8, 2021 19:42

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Stravag posted:

https://www.ladbible.com/community/weird-council-to-stop-paying-wizard-16000-a-year-after-23-years-20211009

Haters

quote:

The Wizard - who has been paid since 1998 - outlined his plans going forward, explaining: "It makes no difference. I will still keep going. They will have to kill me to stop me."

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2021 13:24

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

I guess NZ's socialized medicine doesn't cover frog pills.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2021 22:50

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

orange juche posted:

Someone make a :dadworms: emote please

# ¿ Oct 13, 2021 01:29

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

If it weren't for the fact that Creed II already did the Drago bit I'd pay to see a Creed III vs a North Korean supersoldier.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2021 03:23

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Eason the Fifth posted:

Am I wrong here, or does labor (due to the pandemic labor shortage) generally have the best position they've had since like thr 70s?

Definitely, although that's not saying as much given how kneecapped labor's been over the last 50 years.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2021 00:22

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Godholio posted:

That's the one his wife thinks is fake?

She knows he's a scat man :butt:

# ¿ Oct 15, 2021 03:08

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

BTW hope no one was expecting any SCOTUS reform

https://twitter.com/stevenmazie/status/1448762944075018251

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1448785007036731401

# ¿ Oct 15, 2021 03:17

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Milo and POTUS posted:

But can he roll a b52

You sweet fair child...

# ¿ Oct 16, 2021 13:32

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

The WWII portion is just going to be the final scene of Death Proof but Stalin, FDR and Churchill going to town on Adolf.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2021 00:25

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Sounds like it might have been a Brandon Lee situation. gently caress having someone point a gun at you, regardless of 'blanks'.

# ¿ Oct 22, 2021 03:44

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

That Works posted:

Basically Eva but with a healthy father / son relationship

In exchange, Shinji gets (more) mommy issues.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2021 22:14

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Got the booster + flu today and can already feel the titers flowing through my veins.

There was two other folks getting shots at the CVS, otherwise it was completely dead.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2021 03:50

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

pantslesswithwolves posted:

Reminder that Zuck's wax sculpture at Madam Tussaud's looks more human than he actually does

The Zuckernator is an infiltration unit, part man � part machine. Underneath it's a hyperalloy combat chassis, microprocessor-controlled, fully armored, very tough. But outside it's living human tissue. Flesh, skin, hair, blood, grown for the cyborgs.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2021 23:01

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Cross-posting from the OSHA thread, it looks like a smaller scale version of the prototype City Block was built by the same billionaire at U of Mich Ann Arbor back in 2015:

https://housing.umich.edu/residence-hall/munger/

https://news.umich.edu/munger-graduate-residences-opens-at-university-of-michigan/

quote:

ANN ARBOR�The new Munger Graduate Residences at the University of Michigan is set to open Aug. 1.

The $155 million, approximately 380,000-square-foot building will house 630 graduate students in a unique high-density residential-academic arrangement. Students from 36 different countries and more than 70 graduate programs will be represented in the new facility. It is located between Division and Thompson streets at Madison Street.

The vision for the facility and program was inspired by philanthropist and U-M alumnus Charles T. Munger, who provided a $110 million gift to fund construction of the residence hall and fellowships for graduate students. From concept to grand opening, the building was constructed over two-and-a-half years. The project cost of $155 million is $30 million below the approved budget of $185 million.

Of course the exact same talking point and exact same concerns get raised with it.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/24/michigan-grad-students-object-details-new-housing-unit

quote:

Graduate students typically don't live in luxury, let alone in space that has intellectual goals. Many grad students feel fortunate to have housing that is reasonably safe and affordable. So why would graduate students at the University of Michigan be raising objections to one of the most ambitious ideas in recent years for graduate student housing? For starters, many say that while some social engineering may be normal for housing college freshmen, they object to the idea of the university -- which has control of so much of their professional life -- telling them where to live, and with whom.

"Most graduate and professional students are adults in their 20s and 30s and [�] would not choose to share living space with six other people,� said Phillip Saccone, president of Rackham Student Government, the student body group for the Rackham Graduate School and a Ph.D. candidate in pharmacology, describing the results of a recent organization poll of graduate and professional students on the $185 million project. �Several students went on to say that such a design feels too much like existing undergraduate dorms.�

Additionally, he said, the preliminary price tag for a room � some $1,000 a month -- is well beyond the financial reach of the typical graduate student and is much higher than off-campus living options in the Ann Arbor market. Although there's no "typical" rent in the immediate area, where everything from luxury apartments to older, shared houses is available to students, $1,000 a month could easily secure a student a private apartment. Co-living options can be found for $500 a month per student, before utilities, or perhaps less, depending on situation.

But university officials disagree, saying the new residence's unusual configuration � with seven graduate students assigned to a unit, to foster communication across disciplines � will create a �community of scholars� whose target monthly rent will compete with other local housing options.

...

The project is the gift and brainchild of Michigan alumnus Charles T. Munger, a philanthropist who serves as Warren T. Buffett�s vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway. Munger�s $110 million gift to the university earlier this year came with specific design stipulations, reflected in Michigan�s plan. In an announcement earlier this year, Michigan billed the residence as a "community of scholars." Some $100 million will go toward building the residence on the central campus, and $10 million will be reserved for fellowships for select students living there.

...

Saccone said many graduate students appreciated Munger�s gift, and that elements of the plan � including his desire to facilitate communication across the disciplines -- were appealing to graduate students, according to the online survey.

But in general, he said, graduate students value affordability and personal space, and �would prefer to interact with fewer roommates in a more intimate setting.�

# ¿ Oct 29, 2021 22:19

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

facialimpediment posted:

Well loving goddamnit. Of *course* my school would be one of the follow-on prototypes for the rich gently caress's literal Stanford experiment. I hope it's not my internal bias showing, but this Munger building looks better than the USCB proposed Munger building - there's a lot more daylight available because there's a lot less building. The UCSB Munger is more like WHAT IF MORE BIGGER, LESS SPACE FOR FLESHY MEATBAGS?

The main difference between the UM Munger and UCSB Munger seems to be that they went one extra fractal step: all the UM Munger individual rooms lack windows but the shared common area has some on the outside wall, whereas the USCB Munger both the rooms and common area lack windows - you have to go out into the 'House' common area shared by eight suites of eight dorms to get to a room that has windows. It also looks like they cut down the size of the individual rooms on the USCB version to squeeze in an extra room per suite.

Just going by the stated sizes and occupancy levels:

UM Munger: 380,000 sq ft / 630 = 603 sq feet per resident
UCSB Munger: 1,680,000 sq ft / 4,500 = 373 sq feet per resident

And those numbers presumably count all the common area / lobby / hallway / etc space.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2021 23:08

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

According to the Scoping Hearing charts, each ~~cell~~ dorm room is exactly 10 ft by 7 ft

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IgEAYCEphg6x6WDQ8NQGuILqN31SA6LP/view

Another nice detail - the 8 person shared kitchens have a fridge and sink, but no stove or microwave.

Instead you get to share three stoves with 63 other people out in the 'Convivial Kitchen'. Probably for the best given all the other fire hazards in this deathtrap

# ¿ Oct 30, 2021 01:11

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Maybe the NoVA police should be looking after the school boards too.

https://twitter.com/KagroX/status/1454143609763246082

https://twitter.com/KagroX/status/1454148140072902663

I haven't been following it too closely but Loudoun County - the highest income county in the country - has been going absolutely apeshit the past few weeks over a combo of trans rights, CRT, and Covid policies and by this point it's a minor miracle some school employee hasn't been shot by a parent.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2021 13:40

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 13:31

Terrifying Effigies: Oct 22, 2008; Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

Fallom posted:

Constant stream? I live and work in NoVA/NCR and this is the most notable one I can remember since Jan 6.

There was a noticeable police uptick in NoVA / Richmond around the Floyd Protests last year until saner heads realized the only thing they had to worry about were candlelight vigils and such as long as they didn't go actively provoke things by beating/shooting non-violent protestors.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2021 20:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Oct 2021 CE: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sigh