Brianna Wu / John Walker Flynt - "Biggest Victim of Gamergate," Failed Game Developer, Failed Congressional Candidate

[CWCissey]

I also think John should read 'Stark' by Ben Elton. A much more plausible scenario involving rich pricks and the Moon.

 

[Commissar Kharn]

I'm absolutely fucking speechless. Moonrock launching supervillains, wow.

 

[Kosher Dill]

As your congresswoman, I will guarantee that District 8 is not hit by any orbital launch weapons.

 

[The Great Citracett]

How about frickin' lasers?

 

[Mola Ram]

Brianna's idea of someone "Throwing rocks at the earth from the moon" most likely came from "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein. In that story, a moon colony rebels against Earth's control, and their main (and only) weapon is a mass driver which was used to deliver mined ore to earth's oceans which they repurpose to threaten to drop said ore on earth's cities.

...Wu is getting campaign talking points from golden age sci-fi writers now

We get it, you read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

You could just tweet "I just read Moon is a Harsh Mistress and liked it! I think Heinlein was pretty good." since it's a very good book.

.

I'm sure you guys will be shocked to hear this, but you are giving dear Brianna entirely too much credit in assuming she read a book, much less a golden age sci-fi author she would find "problematic," assuming she even knows his name.

The second I read this -- after cleaning up the coffee I'd spewed over the screen in laughter -- I knew exactly where she'd gotten the idea from: a video game, of course. In Mass Effect, the practice of using small heavenly bodies as weapons of mass destruction is discussed extensively, having been used in the past and being a banned practice akin to contemporary bans on bioweapons and the like. There's a whole mission built around the idea in the first game ... and the practice is even referred to as "asteroid drops."

Mass Effect, of course, is the game she most egregiously ripped off for her Revolution 60 piece of shit. I have no doubt this is precisely where she got this insane notion (fun enough in a far future sci-fi game; idiotic in the real world).

 

[Kosher Dill]

I'm sure you guys will be shocked to hear this, but you are giving dear Brianna entirely too much credit in assuming she read a book, much less a golden age sci-fi author she would find "problematic," assuming she even knows his name.

I'm pretty sure John has name-checked "Heinline" once or twice on Twitter. Remember, he did trawl for husbands on the sci-fi convention circuit, so it's no surprise that he at least knows of their most famous author.

 

[Mola Ram]

I'm pretty sure John has name-checked "Heinline" once or twice on Twitter. Remember, he did trawl for husbands on the sci-fi convention circuit, so it's no surprise that he at least knows of their most famous author.

I'm woefully ignorant about much of John's misadventures, so I don't doubt you're correct, but I find it extremely telling that he'd come up with some batshit idea about the moon that suspiciously resembles a scenario from a game he's shamelessly lifted so much from already.

 

[GentlemanFaggot]

So, we've got Movie Bob, who wants to turn the moon into one gigantic, lush field of wheat; and now we've got Brianna Wu who thinks the moon is a gigantic doomsday weapon waiting to happen.

I think it's true: the moon turns people into lunatics.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

On the talk page are many examples why this wouldn't work even in a best case scenario.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Kinetic_bombardment

Spoiler: long

Problems With Orbit

Space-based weapon systems suffer from the same problem as any object in orbit. They can't swoop about like a TIE bomber in Star Wars. Orbital mechanics and environment impose restrictions that are utterly ignored by this article, including:

• Satellites can't hide. Every rocket launch can be tracked, and every payload of sufficient size can be followed. A Rods of God system, which could be the size of a school bus, can be tracked in a good scope-dope's sleep.

• Satellites fly predictable paths. Because they have limited onboard fuel, and because of high traffic, satellites limit maneuvers to station-keeping and dodging space junk. A rival could purchase basic flight maps of enemy satellites, then use dead reckoning techniques to anticipate when and where that Kinetic Bombardment platform is overhead.

• Due to limited maneuverability, Rods from God platforms will also need to ride higher orbits: to avoid ground based anti-satellite missiles, to avoid orbital denial conditions (such as the growing volume of space junk in lower orbits), and to hide from less sophisticated trackers. This increases the flight time of the projectiles.

And that leads me to...

Problems With De-Orbit

Orbital based projectiles are subject to the same laws of physics as meteorites, space capsules and shuttles. One can't just "drop" them or "nudge them" straight down.

• A successful, direct insertion will require burns, requiring a larger and more complicated launch assembly producing a visible infrared signatures (IR). This is hypothetically easier to detect than an ICBM, because ballistic missiles mainly ignite in the ascent, where they can be partially cloaked by various atmospheric effects on the horizon. Missiles may also be able to spoof as civilian rockets. Finally, ICBMs typically coast by the time they reach apogee, whereas a Rod from God is firing away at apogee for the whole hemisphere to see.

• Note that this maneuver is simply to overcome angular momentum and set course. The projectile may lose velocity to atmospheric drag. This means the projectile will need to accommodate aerodynamic controls to correct drift and speed.

• Hull ionization will also generate an IR streak in space. A big hail of steel and tungsten, as described, would also likely appear on magnetic anomaly detectors. Don't forget that an ionization bloom can be picked on radar, too. Under certain conditions and altitudes, this ionization may actually scatter radio waves and thus reduce radar contact--but I think it is more likely to be quite visible.

• Finally Rods from God will take much longer to reach the surface than it's starry eyed proponents propose. Remember, they have to be released from an orbit considerably higher than an ICBM--because you gotta protect your launch platform from anti-sat missiles, space junk, casual observation, and orbital decay. It could take roughly 10 to 45 minutes to descend to the surface, depending on the insertion method.

Overall, the article is quite wrong in asserting that Rods from God will be less detectable than that of an ICBM. It will actually be greater, due to the combination of a exposed altitude, sustained burn, and sustained descent signature. Then of course, there's the separate problem of the lower atmosphere...

Problems With Terminal Descent

You know, the stuff we breathe? The stuff that burns up meteorites, space shuttles, and hypersonic test drones? To maintain the velocity discussed by many novelists and theorists--to hit at specific bunker at Mach 25--is to introduce all sorts of aerodynamic complexities:

• The least of which may be even more rocket burns to counteract drag and shear. In general, a projectile will need some sort of flight control system or it will go off course--especially if the target is moving. Perhaps it can be integrated, but this still means increased bulk, cost, and complexity of the system.

• All of which has to be shielded from the friction generated by the atmosphere at the proposed speeds! Remember, we are talking about a hypersonic kill vehicle here, and it is notoriously difficult and expensive to get anything to travel faster than about Mach 3 in the Troposphere without dispersing into a less destructive and accurate cloud of debris. The density of the stratosphere, too, might possibly shatter a space-born projectile travelling at orbital velocity.

• Fortunately, a projectile does not need to be traveling at orbital velocity to make a big impact. A dense or massive projectile could transfer enough energy at about 3 kilometers per second to effect a kinetic strike. All this crap about orbital velocity is just that. Needless complication of an already complex weapon.

Problems With Fire Control

Finally, such a projectile is not going to be self-guided as Jerry Pournelle and other authors like to imagine. Such a sensor:

A) has to be covered by the aforementioned heat/friction shield, B) or it will be ablated by the friction of re-entry in the lower atmospher, unless it is made out of some exotic material. C) or will obscured by the ionization of re-entry for the duration of the descent.

The idea of dropping a bunch of "crowbars" from 300 to 600 km and trying to shower an armored column strikes me as wishful thinking, especially if that column is moving and spaced like all modern formations should be. It made for an exciting scene in Pournelle's Footfall, but hardly likely. Even if it does work, it would be a hell of a lot more expensive than to deploy a few attack planes or long-range guided missiles. If America ever loses the air edge to the point that we need Orbital Strikes to stop a tank battalion, we are in El Deep Shito.

Such a projectile will require range safety devices. Because the cross-range of an orbital projectile might be severe compared to an ordinary bomb, it will need measures comparable to that of an ICBM or at least a cruise missile. If the Chinese are pissed about one embassy accidentally bombed in Yugoslavia, imagine an entire neighborhood wiped out by a stack of telephone poles. More expense. More complexity. More mass.

Problems of Cost

Everything thus far means money, time, and resources. Tungsten is not that cheap or readily available, even if it is relatively stable in re-entry. A single bundle of telephone poles could consume enough tungsten to armor a dozen tanks, or to form hundreds of cannon shells. And they will not necessarily be cheaper per unit, nor more cost-effective in combat. You have to de-orbit, shield, propel, and correct a dumb projectile as much as a smart one.

Conclusion

I don't know for sure that all of these problems are severe, or even likely, and that's part of the problem too--people aren't considering the challenges. You don't have to be an engineer or a weaponeer to see unanswered questions and basic physical challenges.

But muh Science Fiction ...

Spoiler: plot to mildly entertaining 1980s science fiction novel...

...that I'm guessing Frank has read, even if Brianna has not.

Footfall

After their initial assault, the Fithp land ground forces in the center of North America, primarily in and around Kansas. They initially repel attacks with orbital lasers and kinetic energy weapons, but a combined Russian and American nuclear attack wipes out their beachhead. The Fithp, who are familiar with nuclear weapons but prefer to use cleaner ones, are shocked by what they consider the barbarity of humans' willingness to "foul their own garden" with radioactivity. The Fithp respond to the defeat of their invasion by dropping a large asteroid whose impact results in environmental damage on a global scale, in particular the almost total destruction of India.

 

[Ruin]

Fucking Gamergate shitlords.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Okay, let's break this down Kiwis.

First off: In order to actually hit Earth would require the kind of calculations they build supercomputers for. The Moon is constantly circling Earth, Earth is moving at how many hundreds of thousands of miles a minute, and the Earth is rotating, making aiming at a specific city next to impossible.

You forget we're talking about the same moron whose one video game is based entirely around the idea of an orbital laser platform 'going adrift' while at the same time idly sitting in the exact same spot over China.

As explained by @Jaimas a long while back, that isn't how orbits work at all.

I can't wrap my head around what Brianna is afraid is going to happen. So people are going to to land on the moon, and spend trillions of dollars to then construct a secret military base that the public won't know anything about, which will then proceed to somehow blow off huge chunks of the moon, then calculate and control the trajectory to hurl at back at Earth? For what reason?

Does she think real-life is like Resident Evil where secret corporations with infinite money, consisting of tens if not hundreds of thousands of employees around the world and the most advanced technology known to mankind, have nothing better to do than to concoct the most convoluted ways of destroying every lifeform on Earth?

Nah, more like they got stoned and watched the last few episodes of Getter Robo Armageddon, where two inexplicably god-tier bastards (it would take too long to explain) catch a railgun-fired salvo fired at them, and then fire it right back at the moon, which blows it into bits that threaten to rain down and kill billions on Earth.

I can't wait to see Brianna's plan to build a moon weapon base and use it to nuke the houses of people who troll him online.

Revoution 62, everyone.

View attachment 187381

Flawless victory.

Brianna's idea of someone "Throwing rocks at the earth from the moon" most likely came from "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein. In that story, a moon colony rebels against Earth's control, and their main (and only) weapon is a mass driver which was used to deliver mined ore to earth's oceans which they repurpose to threaten to drop said ore on earth's cities.

...Wu is getting campaign talking points from golden age sci-fi writers now

Just when you think it's silly enough in the Gundam continuities where they drop motherfucking space colonies on Earth every five years or something...

You usually know how long you have for an interview so wait until you have anything you actually need, which is really about nothing in John's case. He has nothing of any interest to say. Then you ask your question that will cause him to flip out and start screeching once you have your ten minutes or whatever.

True.

I woke up to this thinking it was some kind of elaborate troll. What the actual fuck, John?

I knew the political campaign would end in a bang, but this? Holy shit.

A bang yielding the same force as 100 nukes.

i would ask "did Brianna pay attention in ANY science class they took" but im pretty sure the answer is no (outside of yell at the teacher/professor if they fail her and calling them sexist)

Flynt as we know has some severe mental problems, which makes me wonder what the hell went on with his early education. Given his parents were wealthy as fuck, is it possible he got mainstreamed or rather 'pushed' through a private institution regardless of his actual academic performance ala CWC? A quick check of the Resume has Flynt saying he took courses in economics, Japanese, finance, accounting, and marketing, which suggests at best he was shooting for some kind of business manager type position out of the gate...and does not gel with the actual degrees he tried for in journalism or engineering.

The second I read this -- after cleaning up the coffee I'd spewed over the screen in laughter -- I knew exactly where she'd gotten the idea from: a video game, of course. In Mass Effect, the practice of using small heavenly bodies as weapons of mass destruction is discussed extensively, having been used in the past and being a banned practice akin to contemporary bans on bioweapons and the like. There's a whole mission built around the idea in the first game ... and the practice is even referred to as "asteroid drops."

Mass Effect, of course, is the game she most egregiously ripped off for her Revolution 60 piece of shit. I have no doubt this is precisely where she got this insane notion (fun enough in a far future sci-fi game; idiotic in the real world).

Ah, that explains everything.

 

[Elbe]

 

[Darndirty]

remember this is someone so ignorant of elementary orbital mechanics that the plot of R60 centers on a rogue space weapon that is "adrift over China"

Well he does think mass effect is the greatest piece of art produced in his lifetime he probably thinks everything in there is researched and scientifically accurate..in fact isn't Rev 60 set in the same world as mass effect?

 

[BlueArmedDevil]

But muh Science Fiction ...

Lolcows from spaaaccceeee!

 

[NotAWeeb]

Guess we have to impeach Trump if we don't want a whole day without Frank Wu getting shot with nerf guns or inane tweets about turning the moon into a superweapon.

 

[Darndirty]

Just a question, does wu think he isn't the 1%? Like honestly, who could sink a quarter of a million into an investment, have it fail, walk away with no worries and proceeded to sink another 400k into another investment blow that, and then decide hey I'll just run for congress, that's the most 1% white priveledge shit I've ever heard of.

 

[Jaimas]

How about frickin' lasers?
View attachment 187431

Thank the gods, I wasn't the only one thinking this.

 

[Huitzilopochtli]

Anyone mention Project Thor yet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

 

[Sperglord Dante]

The lack of self awareness is staggering

 

[CWCissey]

The lack of self awareness is staggering

View attachment 187456

Is that why you never fucking shut up John?