Darkoshi

Boom.

2026-03-01T13:44:25Z

8:35am: 3 strong BOOMs, each about 10 seconds apart.
Not at all like the magnitude 3 earthquake rumble we had a few days ago.
Much stronger than the booms a few days before, which were likely training exercises at Fort Jackson.
And I have to wonder, is it a bomb strike somewhere, retaliatory...?

When I checked on the earthquake the other day, the seismographs were about 5 minutes behind.. well it has been 5 minutes now, so ... Nothing showing up yet. No sirens either; no alarms.

I wonder what it would feel like here if a nuclear bomb hit several states away.

Gah. I haven't even gone to bed yet. This was a night were I didn't feel sleepy.

Update, 8:57am:
Nothing showed up on the seismographs. But people all over town felt the booms, based on Nextdoor and Facebook comments. I'm not the only one wondering if it could have been bombs. Or explosions of some kind.
Ahh... sonic booms from aircraft, maybe? I don't recall feeling them so strong before.

Update, 13:22:
Two hours sleep later, I'm *nice and refreshed*.

With sonic booms, I usually hear a roaring sound approaching before the boom, which prompts me to run outside or to the window where I can sometimes see jets flying overhead. These booms didn't have a roaring sound first.

Before bed, I found a comment on Nextdoor stating "Fort Jackson Range Control confirmed they were detonating old explosives," but no corroborating information anywhere else.

Fort Jackson finally posted an explanation on Facebook 4 hours later:
Notice regarding reported explosive sounds: Fort Jackson conducted three controlled detonations on a training range as part of necessary maintenance at 8:35 a.m. on Sunday, March 1. Additional demolition training being conducted by a tenant unit may result in other explosive sounds outside hat time frame.

So, apparently detonating old explosives == necessary maintenance?

This Reddit thread is an example of the comments people were leaving on social media about the unknown BOOMs. The explosions were felt 15 to 30 miles or more away from Fort Jackson, depending where on the grounds of the fort they took place.

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aerial war weapons

2024-12-31T07:28:39Z

I do not understand what the first photo on this page shows:
AP monthly photo contest (September 2024); the photo with description "Israeli shelling hit an area in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)".

What are all the parallel glowing vertical streaks in the sky? Is it a single bomb that explodes in the sky, dropping burning pieces of something (what?) over such a large area? Or what?
Can someone point me to an explanation of this weapon?

I am reminded of horrific photos from the Ukraine war, of burning... I don't remember what it is called. Which causes fires everywhere it lands. But this seems to be something different.

Update, 4:04am:
It occurs to me now that perhaps the vertical trails of light aren't things falling from the sky, but rather flares being released from many places on the ground around the same time, as a countermeasure against the aircraft doing the shelling? Or to confuse guided missiles (but would guided missiles be considered "shelling" as mentioned in the description?)
When I search on "flares against aerial bombardment", all the articles are about flares being released from aircraft, not shot up in the air from the ground.

Update, 2025/01/08:
I am still not sure what the photo depicts.

I found another photo of the same scene on a Croatian website (the photo seems to be by photographer "Atef Safadi"):
https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/izrael-obecao-odgovor-na-iranski-napad-imamo-plan-bit-ce-posljedica-foto-20241001

This is a photo of a different daytime scene from that photographer, which based on two of the streaks seems to show they are going from the ground upwards, if I am interpreting it correctly:
https://www.instagram.com/atefsafadi/p/C30bq6ytg7L/

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Little Big

2022-11-14T09:58:17Z

Along with my philtrum looking different than it used to, the dark hairs on my upper lip are more prominent than in the past. Not enough to actually be a mustache, but enough to vaguely look like one. Doesn't bother me, but also doesn't look as good as...

I'm surprised how good the mustaches look on the women in this video. And how well the video imparts the feeling of horror at having one's mustache cut off against one's will.

Video title: LITTLE BIG - MOUSTACHE (feat. NETTA) (Official Music Video)
Posted by: Little Big
Date posted: Aug 6, 2021

This is the first Little Big video I came across; it's quite *something*:
LITTLE BIG - GIVE ME YOUR MONEY (feat. TOMMY CASH)
With the current Russia situation and the war in Ukraine, I'm uncomfortable embedding that video, so only posting the link.

The band, though from Russia, has spoken out against the war and per their Wikipedia page, relocated to the U.S.

“Stop war in Ukraine” — Russia’s Little Big release “Generation Cancellation” and leave the country

Video title: LITTLE BIG – GENERATION CANCELLATION (Official Music Video)
Posted by: Little Big
Date posted: Jun 24, 2022

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mushy green

2022-03-21T06:31:26Z

I haven't been keeping close track of the local face mask mandates. But I'm of the impression they've been suspended for the time being. When I went shopping today, I expected not to see anyone else wearing face masks. I planned to wear mine anyhow, and figured people would think I was odd. So, like usual, right?, I thought in reply. But I decided to wear my not-as-tight KN-95 instead of the most protective one.

There were actually a lot of people wearing face masks; not only store employees but other customers too. It seemed like more people were wearing face masks today than last year or the year before.

I bought a can of mushy peas to see what they are like, in spite of the ingredients including artificial color. That would have been a fitting thing to eat on St. Patrick's Day. And if I'd thought of it earlier in the month, I could have put my green fairy lights on the porch.

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Among the things I've read about Ukraine was a comment by a local, "The fasting has started", in reference to food supplies being tight. It's a grim thought, in addition to everything else.

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livejournal

2022-03-16T22:06:26Z

Today I again chose to wear my yellow/blue/pink striped socks which I got at the Pride Festival last year. Those are the colors of the pansexual flag. I am asexual, not pansexual, and got the socks mainly because the colors are pretty. Few people around here would know what the colors represent anyway.

Looking down at the socks on my legs, I belatedly realized that the blue and yellow colors are also like Ukraine's flag.

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I still have my old LiveJournal account. Several years back I imported all my old entries to Dreamwidth and deleted them from over there.

I've considered deleting the account, as I want nothing further to do with a Russian company, given the current government's abominable policies and actions.

But doing that seems like a wasted opportunity to post a message of some kind in an area where people from Russia might actually be able to see it. Perhaps I'd have to turn on Cyrillic services in the settings though, for my posts to be accessible from over there? Hmmm.

I hadn't noticed or remembered this from before, but on the LJ homepage there is a "Top LJ" dropdown which includes entries for: Cyrillic, non-Cyrillic, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus.

It is interesting to browse through those Cyrillic and Ukraine entries, using Google Translate to translate from Russian to English.

It is also wearisome, wondering who is behind each post and all the comments, trying to make sense of some of the translations, trying to figure out what side if any they are on in regards to the war in Ukraine, what nationality they are and in which country do they live, are they being paid to post misinformation, or are they writing what they truly believe based on what they've themselves experienced or based on the news they listen to?

Considering all that which is being posted, I doubt anything I could post would make the slightest impact on anyone, even if they did see it.

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spam goes on, in spite of war?

2022-03-04T07:52:59Z

An old post of mine got three linkspam comments today. The comments were posted by a Ukranian IP #, and include the URL of "Custom Software Development Company RexSoft".

Per Norton SafeWeb and Google, the site doesn't have unsafe content.

Per the Wayback Machine, the site has existed since at least 2017.

Per the web site itself, the company has locations in the USA, the UK, and Kyiv, Ukraine.

It seems the entity that left the comments was unclear how to make their URL get posted as an HREF link on my journal, as the 2nd and 3rd comments, posted several minutes after the first, had only the URL. So I'd guess it was a person posting the comments, not a bot.

It seems an odd time, during a war, for someone in Ukraine to post linkspam. That's why I checked if the site might have malicious content.

It also occurred to me that maybe Russia, not that Rexsoft company, could be behind the linkspam. As this page says, "not only are Google getting better at devaluing spammy links, the repercussions from Google can be devastating if caught."

Linkspam like that could hurt the company rather then help it; maybe Russia wants that. It seems an implausible action, but who knows. I will delete or screen the comments eventually.

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Random thought from yesterday, regarding how some of the Russian soldiers were told Ukrainians would welcome them, and were surprised by the resistance:
Maybe Russian (and other national) intelligence agencies have a hard time gauging the sentiment of people due to all of their own (and other) disinformation campaigns that they've been waging. Maybe they can't easily tell which and how many social media posts are by their own disinformation agents versus the actual population.

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Another random thought from yesterday:
Take your kid to work day must be very boring for kids whose parents work from home.

Out of curiosity, I looked into that Rexsoft linkspam some more.

There have been several recent and similar linkspam posts and comments on other sites. These were all posted with a user name of "ann2022":
forums.tarot.com
kboards.com
vivecraft.org
ragezone
cracked.io

Four of those same pages also have linkspam for another site, develux.com. That is a company with locations listed in Kyiv, Ukraine; Malta; and Kissimmee, Florida.

Here's another page with posts from last year that link to both sites:
caclubindia

So it seems there may be a relationship between those 2 companies, or in the people posting the spam for them.

The Kissimmee, Florida address is referenced on other pages as "Devellux Inc".
The same address and Devellux name is used on this site: essayservice.com.
Amusingly, they have a page that discusses their "Honor Code". Given all the things that (as I would expect) go against their listed honor code, I wonder if there are any situations for which someone could honorably use an essay writing service for?

Rexsoftinc's NYC address (347 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1009) is referenced on other pages as N-IX USA INC, and Hoshovsky Law Firm ("Mr. Hoshovsky has practiced law in Ukraine...".

This xing.com page says that "Alexander Volt" is a vice president of rexsoft.
This Alexander Volt fellow is also listed as working at IntellectSoft. IntellectSoft is a company with locations listed as in the US, the UK, Norway, and (you guessed it) Kyiv, Ukraine.

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isn't it nice

2021-11-17T21:35:04Z

when you hear a noise
and look out the window
to see 3 military helicopters flying by
not to have to worry
about the imminent possibility
of missiles and destruction

not to have thuggish soldiers in the streets
ordering you out of your houses
rifling through your belongings
taking people away
to unknown destinations, unknown fates

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2 totally different topics

2015-11-19T06:45:18Z

What ISIS really wants - interesting article. I hadn't known that ISIS had declared a caliphate, or even the implications thereof.

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R2D2 and Darth Vader shower heads - Of all the things, shower heads? Personally I wouldn't want R2D2 or Darth Vader streaming water down on me, in the shower or anywhere else.

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guantanamo limbo

2013-05-05T02:05:47Z

Why hasn’t Obama closed Guantanamo Bay?

Kafka at Gitmo: Why 86 prisoners are cleared for release but might never get it

Guantanamo Detainees Cleared For Release Take Part In Hunger Strike

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U.S. drone strikes

2012-02-09T04:27:55Z

U.S. drones targeting rescuers and mourners

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Premonition:
Someday, there will be drones as small and quiet as mosquitos. The mosquito drone will be able to suck the victim's blood and compare it against a database of DNA samples to determine if it's found the correct target or not. When the correct target is found, the mosquito will inject the person with lethal poison or perhaps with biochemical matter designed to kill that specific person.

No matter which candidate or party wins the presidency, does pretty much the same military, CIA, and FBI leadership stay in power? Exerting influence on whichever president is in place? Acting as though they have unlimited, unchecked power to do anything they feel is necessary to "protect the government against its enemies"?

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war and being able to kill

2011-12-10T04:44:03Z

The Biggest Star Wars Plot Hole, Explained By Science

In regards to the dehumanization aspect of storm-trooper gear, I remember that when I first saw Star Wars as a child, it never occurred to me that storm-troopers were supposed to be humans in armor, even in spite of seeing Luke and Han putting on the gear. To me, stormtroopers were some kind of robot/monster. Even when I was introduced to the idea of there being real *people* inside those things, it did not compute... I could understand that to make the movies, there had to be people wearing costumes pretending to be stormtroopers, but I couldn't believe that in the actual story, they were supposed to be human, too. Even when I got a bit older, the subject was still murky for me, because I had heard that stormtroopers were clones, and it seemed that if clones were stormtroopers, they couldn't be regular people.

These are interesting articles linked from the one above, regarding human reluctance to kill:

Hope on the Battlefield

Hidden Wounds

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