Show threadMx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen2d ago

Hence the persistence of both Judaism (which Christianity should supposedly have replaced, according to this model of religious evolution) and Islam (which is some sort of catastrophic retrogression, in the opinions of both #Christian bıgots and atheistic bıgots) is extremely vexatious to the "dark intellectual" crowd. But as long as Islamophobia is relatively safe for them to indulge, they can hide their other hatreds behind it, most especially their antisemitism—for now they can redefine "antisemitism" to mean specifically any opposition to upholding the genocıdal domestic and foreign policy aims of #Israel, the political entity which both atheistic bıgots and Christian bıgots make believe is the sole legitimate representative of all Judaism.

I wonder how much of this is prevalent at #Caltech. Do you suppose they might do a survey of themselves? I'd love to know how many neo-Nazıs there are on campus, I'm sure that number is greater than zero.

~Chara of Pnictogen

Show threadMx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen2d ago

"Exterminate all the brutes!" Or its equivalent in Coppola, in which one sees that Col. Kurtz in a bleak moment has scrawled "DROP THE BOMB" on one of his typescripts. Of course he would invoke The Bomb™, the veritable realization of the godlike pretensions of the Christian-ish leaders of the United States. It would seem the easy answer, even a merciful one, comparable to one of God's messy smitings as described in the "literal word of God" (i.e. the cheap mass-printed hotel-room KJV Bible.)

I have no doubt that #Caltech was, and is, a hotbed of exterminationist sentiment, of a piece with #MIT exterminationist sentiment and #Harvard exterminationist sentiment and...well, you get the picture. There's not a single American college or university which doesn't have its "young Republican" coterie, which isn't honeycombed with neo-fascıst cells and troublemakers.

(cont'd)

Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen2d ago

"The End" has come up again on my YouTube shuffle. It's a song I associate firmly with #Caltech, much as I'm forced to regard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", because—at least the corner of Caltech that I saw the most of, "Blacker Hovse" where you could find Nazı symbols proudly displayed if you went to the right student party—those 'Tech nerds really loved their Apocalypse Now. That was one of the many movies I saw for the first time at Caltech, because my family hadn't owned a VCR. I went nuts over the fact that I could watch as many movies as I liked on videotape. Or (gasp) even laserdisc!!

I really hate to think what the typical Caltech geek gets out of Apocalypse Now, or Dr. Strangelove (or ANY Kubrick movie), or Star Wars for that matter. Coppola based his movie on the problematical novel by Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness, a racıst narrative which leans heavily into the "darkest Africa" exoticization of the continent as simply one vast impenetrable mystery which drives sane men round the twist. Perhaps it's the heat, said the European colonists. It was never their own fault if a colonial entrepreneur lost his rag and did a massacre.

(cont'd)

Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen5d ago

I think of my 199x years in the SDSU Classics and Humanities department as the very best of my college education, to this day. After getting brutalized at #Caltech it was a healing experience to feel a sense of academic kinship with a small group of people, all dedicated to keeping alive the study of ancient things. It was like finding an oasis after years of aridity and thirst.

But my reasons for being there were suspect. I couldn't really account for them at the time: we were taken with the impulse to start taking Latin while slogging through the SDSU Computer Science curriculum and reading #CSLewis books and other Inklings' writings on the side. I was simply mimicking what I read, perhaps. I was reading about men who seemed like academic and intellectual titans compared to myself, and I felt guilty about failing out of Caltech and chemistry.

I'd hate to think that I accidentally became some sort of minor inspiration, this science nerd and computer-science student wandering in out of the cold to study Latin and Greek. The folks who put up the money for my trip to Italy in 1999, the "Friends of Classics" or whatever it was they called themselves, were certainly thrilled at the time that someone like me existed. How was I to know just what sort of villainous part would be played by "Classics" and "Classical civilization" in the decades to come?

~Chara of Pnictogen

Liminal Fiction6d ago

WRITER FUEL: A new 'Transformer' humanoid robot can launch a shapeshifting drone off its back — watch it in action.

https://www.limfic.com/2026/05/29/writer-fuel-new-transformer-robot-can-launch-a-drone-off-of-its-back/

#WriterFuel #StoryIdeas #Robots #Robotics #Transformers #CalTech

3i/AtlasMay 27
Caltech Must Bid to Operate NASA Lab for First Time in Nearly 100 Years
https://atlas.whatip.xyz/post.php?slug=caltech-must-bid-to-operate-nasa-lab-for-first-time-in-nearly-100-years
<p>Caltech will compete to operate and manage the Jet Propulsion Lab
#caltech #operate #nearly #nasa
Caltech Must Bid to Operate NASA Lab for First Time in Nearly 100 Years

Caltech will compete to operate and manage the Jet Propulsion Lab, a federally funded research and development center it launched in 1936. On Friday, NASA announced plans to conduct a competition and ...

TKSST • seethis.tv 🌈🪐✨May 26

🌍☀️ Scientists at #ArizonaState and #Caltech used the #JWST to produce the first weather report for WASP-94A b, a gas giant 700 light-years from #Earth.

The #planet has two different #weather sides: a morning edge with #clouds made of vaporized #rock and an almost cloud-free evening edge, driven by temperature differences and powerful winds.

👉 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jwst-sees-partly-cloudy-skies-on-a-distant-giant-exoplanet/

#exoplanet #space #nasa #astronomy #wasp94ab #science #telescope #atmosphere #spectroscopy

JWST sees partly cloudy skies on a distant, giant exoplanet

An out-of-this-world weather report from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals how clouds move across a giant planet hundreds of light-years from Earth

Scientific American
Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬May 26
#Caltech Could Lose Control of #JPL For First Time In Decades
Control over iconic #NASA center could change for 1st time in 70yr
Opening up competition beyond Caltech to operate JPL could mean significant changes for everything from day-to-day mission management to big NASA science programs. Until now, JPL and Caltech have been heavily intertwined, with mission personnel, scientists, leadership, and others working closely "across the pond" between JPL and Caltech.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/shakeup-at-jpl-control-over-iconic-nasa-center-could-change-for-1st-time-in-nearly-100-years
Shakeup at JPL? Control over iconic NASA center could change for 1st time in nearly 100 years

This is part of an even-larger "restructuring" at NASA.

Space
KillBait NewsMay 23

NASA To Open JPL Management Contract To Competition After Decades Under Caltech

📰 Original title: Caltech Could Lose Control of JPL For First Time In Decades

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Users: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary: https://en.killbait.com/nasa-to-open-jpl-management-contract-to-competition-after-decades-under-caltech.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world

#science #nasa #jpl #caltech

NASA To Open JPL Management Contract To Competition After Decades Under Caltech

NASA is preparing to open the management contract for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to outside competition for the first time in decades, potentially ending the long-standing relationship between JPL and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Caltech has overseen JPL since the laboratory’s origins in the 1930s and has managed it for NASA since the agency was established in 1958. The current contract is expected to expire in 2028. According to statements from JPL and NASA, Caltech had already been preparing for the possibility of a competitive rebid since 2025. The move is part of a broader NASA restructuring effort intended to increase specialization among NASA centers and improve operational efficiency. JPL plays a major role in robotic space exploration, particularly Mars missions and deep-space science programs. JPL operates under the federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) model, which allows it to function with greater independence than standard NASA facilities while still remaining under federal oversight. NASA says this structure helps maintain technical expertise while separating government decision-making from contractor responsibilities. The announcement triggered significant debate among commenters and observers. Some argued that reopening the contract process is standard practice for government-funded organizations and could help reduce costs through competition. Others expressed concern that changing management could disrupt institutional knowledge and damage collaboration between JPL and Caltech researchers. Critics also worried that political considerations or privatization efforts could influence the process. Despite concerns, several commenters with government contracting experience noted that incumbent organizations like Caltech usually retain a strong advantage because of their expertise and familiarity with mission requirements.

KillBait
KillBaitMay 23

NASA To Open JPL Management Contract To Competition After Decades Under Caltech

📰 Original title: Caltech Could Lose Control of JPL For First Time In Decades

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Users: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary: https://en.killbait.com/nasa-to-open-jpl-management-contract-to-competition-after-decades-under-caltech.html?utm_source=mastodon_social&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_social

#science #nasa #jpl #caltech

NASA To Open JPL Management Contract To Competition After Decades Under Caltech

NASA is preparing to open the management contract for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to outside competition for the first time in decades, potentially ending the long-standing relationship between JPL and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Caltech has overseen JPL since the laboratory’s origins in the 1930s and has managed it for NASA since the agency was established in 1958. The current contract is expected to expire in 2028. According to statements from JPL and NASA, Caltech had already been preparing for the possibility of a competitive rebid since 2025. The move is part of a broader NASA restructuring effort intended to increase specialization among NASA centers and improve operational efficiency. JPL plays a major role in robotic space exploration, particularly Mars missions and deep-space science programs. JPL operates under the federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) model, which allows it to function with greater independence than standard NASA facilities while still remaining under federal oversight. NASA says this structure helps maintain technical expertise while separating government decision-making from contractor responsibilities. The announcement triggered significant debate among commenters and observers. Some argued that reopening the contract process is standard practice for government-funded organizations and could help reduce costs through competition. Others expressed concern that changing management could disrupt institutional knowledge and damage collaboration between JPL and Caltech researchers. Critics also worried that political considerations or privatization efforts could influence the process. Despite concerns, several commenters with government contracting experience noted that incumbent organizations like Caltech usually retain a strong advantage because of their expertise and familiarity with mission requirements.

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