#mp-10 convoy

[dangus-doo]

I draw a pen doodle every day until I forget

Day 118: MP-10 Optimus Prime/Convoy (Transformers Masterpiece)

Today is my Birthday! It’s been a pretty good day, so I drew one of my favorite figures in my collection to celebrate! This is MP-10 Optimus Prime! …kinda…

It’s really the MPP 10 upscale of the original MP 10. It was cheaper to get than the original, and it’s nice and heavy due to some added Diecast Metal in the feet and chest. He’s also HUGE.

The original MP-10 is the size of a leader class. This guy’s a heck of a lot bigger than that!

He even makes the Ultra class toy of Optimus Primal look in scale!

Kinda…

[robotshowtunes]

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” 🚚

[sfc-paulchambers]

20 March 2005 - THE PALM SUNDAY AMBUSH - RAVEN FOUR-TWO Near Salman Pak, Iraq south of Baghdad a #MilitaryPolice squad from the 617th MP Company of the Kentucky #ArmyNationalGuard whose call sign was Raven Four-Two, was shadowing a 30 vehicle supply convoy when it was ambushed by 50 Al-Qaeda insurgents using machine gun fire and RPG's in the largest ambush of the war. The three Humvees of Raven Four-Two with 10 personnel rushed into the kill zone to protect the convoy and prevent the enemy's escape. During the 40 minute fire-fight, the squad leader, SSG Tim Nein and a team leader SGT Leigh Ann Hester, exposed themselves to enemy fire by moving through two trenches using rifle fire, throwing hand grenades and firing M203 Grenades to clear the trenches. The team medic SPC Jason Mike provided medical care to three wounded Soldiers while simultaneously firing an M4 and an M249 SAW to keep the enemy down and prevent them from outflanking the team and convoy. In the end, 27 enemy were killed, six wounded and one captured with only three Raven Four-Two Soldiers injured. Nein, Hester and Mike were each awarded the Silver Star for their actions that day. Nein's award was later upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. Hester's Silver Star made her the first woman ever to be awarded the Silver Star for direct actions against the enemy. #OIF #Armyhistory #USArmy #TRADOC #WomensHistoryMonth #SilverStar #Raven42 #MilitaryHistory Posted @withregram • @armyhistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CqBOGeCub8W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ultrajaphunter]

3,000 of Russia’s feared Wagner mercenaries have already been killed in Ukraine after 8,000 were sent in to boost Putin’s flagging invasion, British MPs are told

· The shadowy Private Military Company has been linked to a string of war crimes

· Wagner are used by the Kremlin to carry out dirty work at arms length from Putin

· It has been widely reported that they have been deployed by Putin in Ukraine

· Christo Grozev, executive director of the Bellingcat investigative website, said 3,000 of its members are thoughts to have been killed on the battlefield so far

· He said his sources inside the group told him their numbers were 'much higher' than had first been expected by Western officials

· They included 200 personnel sent to Kyiv before the conflict in a failed mission to 'scout out and assassinate' political figures, while a 'large number' were deployed with convoys which advanced on the capital from Belarus.’

· He said they had also been present in Bucha, where some of the worst evidence of alleged war crimes had been discovered.

· Mr Grozev said they had been told by one former group member that some chose to fight because they enjoyed killing.'’

· He said that about 10 percent to 15 percent are sociopaths, people who go there just because they want to kill. 

· They are bloodthirsty, they are not just adrenalin junkies,' he told the committee.

· Dr Sean McFate, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and professor at the US National Defence University, said the group's brutality in the conflicts such as the Syrian civil war was 'part of their selling point' as far as Russian president Vladimir Putin was concerned.

· If you look at Bucha and others, there is the same pattern you saw in Syria, where they would interrogate, torture and behead people,' he said. 'One reason I think it has become one of Putin's weapons of choice is it allows some plausible deniability between excesses on the ground, failures on the ground, and policy.

· 'However Dr McFate said that to date, western countries had not taken the threat of the group very seriously, and had not tracked the movements of its members.

· 'This has emboldened them (Russia) to use this as a stratagem for national expansion, national interests,' he said.

· 'We have not done a good enough job in tracking them. 

· We see them as cheap Hollywood villains, but in fact they are not.'Mr Grozev said that while imposing more sanctions on the group's head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as 'Putin's chef', would have little impact, it may be more effective targeting individual group members who like to holiday abroad with their families.'

· The knowledge that they do is a cause of ridicule about western sanctions because this spreads through the rumour mill,' he said.

· 'So stopping all of these people being able to travel internationally, at least to the western world, might be much, much bigger than slapping one more sanction on Prigozhin.'

· In light of Russia's startling losses and their new assault on the Donbas, the head of the Wagner Group is believed to have made the trip to Ukraine to oversee his men's deployment in the east. Yevgeny Prigozhin - a man known as 'Putin's Chef' - is now believed to be on the ground in the Donbas to oversee operations, though the wealthy friend of Putin is not a military veteran.'Prigozhin, who has no military experience and is the financier and organiser of Wagner Group rather than its military commander, is likely in Donbas to co-ordinate recruitment and financing of Wagner Group operations rather than to command combat operations,' said the Institute for War Studies, an American think tank.

· Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, has said that even more than the 8,000 Wagner mercenaries detailed by Mr Grozev are in Ukraine.Abdurrahman has said that 18,000 Wagner fighters are taking part in the conflict, in addition to 700 fighters from Syrian Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan's 25th Special Missions Forces Division, known in Syria as the 'Tiger Force.'

· The 700 men left Syria over the past weeks to fight along Russian forces, Abdurrahman said. 

· The numbers could not be independently confirmed. Pro-government activists posted videos over the past two weeks on social media showing members of the Tiger Force performing military drills including parachuting from helicopters.

· Russian officers appeared in one of the videos advising the paratroopers inside a helicopter as al-Hassan praised the young men by tapping on their heads. 

· It was not immediately clear if the videos were new.Abdurrahman said there are also volunteers from the Russian-trained 5th Division; 

· the Baath brigades, which is the armed wing of Assad's ruling Baath party; and the Palestinian Quds Brigade, made up of Palestinian refugees in Syria.

· All have fought alongside the Russian military in Syria's war.'

· The Russians are looking for experienced fighters. 

· They don't want anyone who was not trained by the Russians,' Abdurrahman said.

· The Tiger Force took credit for some of the biggest government victories in the 11-year conflict.

·  It was involved in a months long Russian-backed campaign into the rebels' last enclave, located in the northwest province of Idlib, which ended in March 2020 with government forces capturing a vital north-south highway - though rebels remain in control of the enclave.

· Meanwhile, a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia has a total of 10,000 to 20,000 foreign fighters in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

· The official said they are a mix of mercenaries from Russia's private Wagner Group and Russian proxy fighters from Syria and Libya.Kremlin officials boasted early in the invasion that thousands of experienced fighters from the Middle East would join Russian forces. 

· However, military analysts say only a small number appears to have arrived in Russia for training before being deployed to the front lines, but they say that could change as Russia prepares for a full-scale offensive on Donbas.

· U.S. officials and activists monitoring Syria say the Russians have been actively recruiting. 

· Rami Abdurrahman leads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

· He reported that about 40,000 people have registered so far.

· Rayan Maarouf of Suwayda24, an activist collective that covers IS activities in the Syrian desert, said fighters were promised no less than $600 a month. 

· That's a huge sum of money amid widespread unemployment in Syria.

· Analysts say fighters from Syria are more likely to be deployed in coming weeks, especially after Gen. Alexander Dvornikov was named war commander. 

· Dvornikov is well acquainted with the paramilitary forces Russia trained in Syria.

· Though some question how effective Syrian fighters would be in Ukraine, they could be brought in if more forces are needed to besiege cities or to make up for rising casualties. 

· Syrian and Palestinian officials in Syria have played down reports of fighters heading to Ukraine. 

· The Syrian government is likely wary of having Syrian fighters flock to Ukraine, opening opportunities at the front lines that its opponents could exploit.In a potentially worrying sign for the Syrian government, Russia has significantly scaled down its operations in Syria since the war in Ukraine started, with fewer airstrikes targeting IS or opposition positions in Idlib.'

· Any change in the posture of Russian forces or pro-regime militias creates security gaps that anti-regime actors including Turkey, ISIS, al-Qaida and Syrian opposition groups can exploit,' the ISW report said.Muhannad Haj Ali, a former legislator and a commander with the armed wing of Syria's ruling Baath party said no Syrians have gone to fight in Ukraine and that he didn't expect any to go.

· He said he was certain Russia will win in Ukraine without any need for Syrians' help.'

· The way the operations are going is clear indication that Ukraine will not be another Afghanistan,' he said.

· Bucha atrocities: German intelligence 'intercepts Russian troop messages discussing murders as part of strategy'

· The barbaric atrocities at Bucha were part of a deliberate Kremlin strategy carried out in part by the feared Wagner Group of mercenaries, intercepted Russian radio transmissions have revealed.

· Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, has heard messages from Putin's forces discussing the brutal murder of civilians in the city of horrors outside Kyiv, which was recaptured by Ukraine over the weekend.

· The transmissions have been linked to specific corpses seen in Bucha, with one soldier talking about how he and his colleagues shot dead someone on a bicycle, while another said: 'First question soldiers, then shoot them.'

· The audio messages have been relayed to German parliament by the BND to further debunk baseless Kremlin claims that the bodies were staged by Ukraine after Russia withdrew from the city in a 'monstrous forgery', Spiegel reported. 

· The wiretap recordings also show that the Wagner Group was present in the city and played 'a key role' in the massacre, and that there are likely similar scenes of slaughter elsewhere in the country.

· The shadowy military company which has been linked to a string of killings, rapes and war crimes around the world is known as Putin's private army which carries out his dirty work at an arm's length from the state. 

·  The BND recordings from Bucha indicate the atrocities were neither accidental nor carried out by individual out-of-control soldiers.

· Messages show the troops regularly discussed the potential war crimes as if they were talking about their everyday lives.

· The BND told German leaders this shows how the killings were normalised and part of a deliberate strategy intended to sow fear and terror among the civilian population.Further recordings are being analysed by intelligence chiefs 'with great concern' which have not yet been pinpointed to a specific place in Ukraine.

· But they indicate crime scenes similar to Bucha in other cities across the country, particularly around Mariupol which remains under heavy bombardment.

· The new evidence prompted two former German government ministers to submit a criminal complaint with federal prosecutors seeking the opening of a war crimes probe against Russian officials including Putin.

· Former Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and former Interior Minister Gerhart Baum said they want to use German laws allowing prosecution of serious crimes committed abroad to bring to justice those they consider responsible for atrocities in Ukraine.

· Germany's application of the rule of 'universal jurisdiction' led to the first conviction of a senior Syrian official for crimes against humanity earlier this year.  

[allspark]

Courtesy of TransFans, we now have the first in-hand images of the new MP-10DC Convoy Atmos Duck Camo Ver. Read on for more and to view the mirrored images! This is the latest addition to the long and everlasting list of MP-10 Convoy/Optimus Prime redecos. This time, the colors are inspired by the new Nike Air Max 90/2090 “Duck Camo” Atmos sneakers. It is available at Atmos stores in Japan as well as Atmos website at the moment. Want to interact with other Transformers fans? Be sure to check out our forums or you can join our discord by clicking on this invite link: https://discord.gg/ZnUQxya You can follow us on Twitter via @AllsparkNews or join our Facebook group!

MP-10DC Convoy Atmos Duck Camo Ver. In-Hand Images Courtesy of TransFans, we now have the first in-hand images of the new MP-10DC Convoy Atmos Duck Camo Ver.

[earthstellar]

The 100% Official Transformers / Evangelion Crossover That Everyone Forgot About 

So, in 2014, Takara Tomy released a crossover called Transformers Mode “Eva”, which was a four part webcomic including the above four illustrations. 

Takara Tomy released a special edition Optimus Prime, MP-10 Convoy Mode "Eva", which featured a NERV trailer design and colour scheme. 

Convoy EVA: FUCK YEAH

I mean, look at him. Look at how much it rules. 

Oh my God, YES. 

I love the EVA-style Optimus Prime helm design here; The paint job does a lot to make this feel just right.

It’s subtle in terms of difference from his usual face paint, but the very plain, bold white-on-black eye paint detail does a hell of a lot to give Optimus the correct stylistic vibe.  

If you look real close, the eye shape is just sliiiiiightly different, almost negligibly so. The eyes are also very slightly wider across than usual, too. Not by much at all, but it matters! 

The stark black and white is classic, and does a lot to “flatten” the way he looks in conjunction with the rest of the repaint, without losing the physical sense of big blocky dimensions which we expect from an Optimus Prime figure-- Thus making it seem like he’s been cel animated, almost. 

Including this particular gun is also a great touch; It’s a more robot-retro design that we typically see with Transformers and has a more plausibly realistic army grey-green paint colour with that nice orange pop colour to match the glass tone, which really sells the Evangelion vibe of this Prime without removing it too far from what makes him recognisable as a Transformer! 

It’s extremely cool, and it’s a nice effect that has been accomplished with relatively little adjustment to the base figure model! 

I can see how some people might consider the colour scheme here to be a bit too close to the purples/greens used for Shattered Glass Optimus, but I do like the brighter pop colours of primary yellow and lime green, along with a slightly brighter purple which makes the orange tint glass/panels pop that much more. 

The vibe is pretty solid, all around. Personally, I like it! :) 

BUT ANYWAY. 

The Plot of the Crossover: 

Get ready for this shit. It’s awesome. 

(If you aren’t familiar with Evangelion, I’m linking to the relevant info so you can check it out if you want!)

So, Starscream is killed, but his ghost screws around and possesses an Angel. 

Holy shit. 

The Autobots find out that some nonsense is happening on Earth, so they show up, and find EVA-01. Optimus scans it, and adjusts his size to EVA scale, adopting the new paint job in the process. 

This (rightfully) FREAKS EVERYONE THE FUCK OUT. 

Optimus says he’s feeling okay, but admits that he actually does sense something different in EVA Mode-- As though he’s “carrying another lifeforce within his body”. HMMMMMMM. 

But before this can be investigated further, Angel-scream and Optimus EVA Mode engage in battle, which is picked up by NERV, who then intervene. 

Angel-scream doesn’t care and goes straight for Prime again, at which point Wheeljack gets in contact with Misato at NERV. 

It turns out they have no other EVAs available, so everything rides on Optimus kicking Angel-scream’s ass. 

Unfortunately, nobody is able to assist Optimus, as Angel-scream has a hell of an AT Field, and it’s acting as a defensive barrier. 

Misato, realising shit is fucked, directs the battle field (Tokyo-3)’s geometry to shift-- something that Optimus says reminds him of Metroplex. Holy fuck, YES. 

This allows for a few other bots, namely Bumblebee, to join the fight and start messing with Angel-scream, who has a hard time trying to target the smaller bots owing to his newly massive size. 

As Angel-scream stumbles on the changing terrain, EVA Mode Optimus takes the chance to use his red core energy to charge his Battle Axe and cleave it through Angel-scream’s AT Field until it reaches his core, dispersing him into red liquid. 

Yiiiiikes. 

After the battle field is cleared, Optimus reverts to his root mode, and NERV starts working on a new trailer for him which can serve as a mobile maintenance/operations centre for his EVA Mode. 

Realising that both more Decepticons and more Angels are likely to appear soon, NERV and the Autobots team up and create a joint force on Earth. 

Optimus reassures Misato that their goals are the same and that he and the other Autobots are happy to defend Earth against both threats.

However, Misato agrees, but looks at Optimus with anticipation... and fear. 

TL;DR: Transformers Evangelion Fucking Rules 

Important / interesting things to note: 

1) Technically this is region-specific canon, as it is an official crossover as part of the Japanese Transformers lore via Takara Tomy. This story takes place in a universe designated “Primax 514.23 Iota”. 

2) Optimus in EVA Mode “senses within himself another lifeform” UHHH THAT’S PRETTY SERIOUS LMAO ????? oh shit!!! 

But seriously, since EVAs are essentially techno-organic lifeforms, does this imply that when Optimus engages his EVA Mode, he becomes techno-organic in the same way? 

This is so fucking interesting to think about LMAO oh my goddd

3) Similarly, EVAs seem to put Cybertronians on edge in general for reasons none of them can exactly identify or articulate, and clearly if a bot is to take an EVA form as an alt-mode, some suspicious shit starts happening to them. 

4) Evidently it is possible for Cybertronian sparks to transfer life energy to an Angel in the event of serious damage or death -- “Possession” is possible across different species-- Since the exact nature of Angels is unknown!!!

5) The story doesn’t specify if EVA-01 was being operated by a pilot directly, or if it was being operated remotely in this story. Optimus scanned EVA-01 on scene in order to generate an EVA alt-mode, and then states he “felt another life inside of him”, but anyone familiar with Evangelion is probably aware that this could have several implications (most of which are potentially horrifying) so hey, that’s a thing!!!! 

6) Optimus in EVA Mode is apparently fucking terrifying to all of the other bots, as well as all of the humans. Understandable! Because HOLY FUCK. Especially since being in EVA Mode seems to have some kind of weird effect...! 

----

This story fucking rules and somehow I never see anyone talk about it, possibly because I’m not sure how popular Evangelion is with TF fans in general and of course it was a Japan-only regional thing for the most part, but I figured I’d bring it to attention because it’s a great concept and super interesting to think about! 

If you want to read the original Japanese crossover story webcomic, you can find it here as it’s been archived! 

I hope this has been an interesting read for someone out there! :) 

[atlanticcanada]

Who is who? A guide to the major players in the trucker convoy protest

What started as a convoy to end vaccine mandates for Canadian truckers travelling across the U.S. border has snowballed into an evolving, fluid protest about COVID-19 and the Trudeau government in general. 

Here, CTVNews.ca takes a look at who has stepped forward publicly as the organizers and influential protesters of the Ottawa convoy.

THE ORGANIZERS

JAMES BAUDER: James Bauder is the founder of Canada Unity, one of the groups responsible for the initial organization of the convoy to Ottawa. 

Ahead of the convoy’s arrival in the capital, Canada Unity directed a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) to the Senate and the Governor General, demanding an end to vaccine mandates and the reinstatement of those who lost jobs over COVID-19 vaccinations, or else “RESIGN their lawful positions of authority Immediately” (sic). 

Bauder said in a video posted to social media in January that he hoped the MOU would provide a “referendum” to persuade Elections Canada to trigger an election, which is not within the agency’s constitutional powers. 

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In the same video, Bauder said the hoped-for election would be legitimate because Canada does not use the Dominion voting machines at the centre of rigged-election conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. presidential vote. Dominion Voting is suing Fox News for defamation after the news outlet’s TV personalities suggested widespread vote-switching contributed to Donald Trump��s election loss. 

As of Feb. 8, Canada Unity had pulled the MOU from their website, writing in a statement signed by Bauder that it had led to “unintended interpretations,” and a message on the homepage also tells visitors the website has moved. Neither explanation nor a link to a new website were provided. 

In December 2020, Bauder posted on Facebook about his skepticism over the origins of COVID-19, perpetuating the disproven belief that the virus was intentionally created in and leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, as a bioweapon and wrongly implied that billionaire George Soros may have been involved. Soros is often the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories spread online. 

TAMARA LICH: Tamara Lich is listed alongside BJ Dichter as one of the "official" spokespeople for the convoy in Ottawa and is one of the organizers of the fundraising page that raised more than $10 million for the convoy before it was removed by GoFundMe. Since then, Lich has said the protesters can receive funds through other means, including the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo where the group had raised more than US$8.1 million by Feb. 10.

Lich, who claims Metis heritage, was initially a member of the Wildrose Party before moving to Manitoba and joining the Maverick Party, which says its goal is to represent the interests of Western Canada. On Feb. 2, a statement was posted on the Maverick Party accepting the resignation of Lich, “as she is committed to remaining in Ottawa until all restrictions are lifted.”

BJ DICHTER: Benjamin Dichter, also known as BJ Dichter, is a truck driver and podcaster who describes himself as vice-president of the Ottawa convoy. 

Dichter has previously run for office, losing in the 2015 election as a Conservative MP candidate in the riding of Toronto-Danforth. At a People’s Party of Canada event in 2019, Dichter made a speech in which he suggested Canada is suffering from the “stench” of “political Islam" and stated without providing evidence that some then-candidates for the Conservative Party of Canada had ties to "Islamic extremism."

A Feb. 9 statement posted to Dichter’s Twitter said he is now one of four authorized spokespeople for the convoy. Before a press conference scheduled for the same day, Dichter tweeted that The Globe and Mail had been uninvited after publishing an opinion piece criticizing the alt-right’s use of the word “freedom.” 

When Confederate flags were seen in the convoy in Ottawa, Dichter said in a Twitter Space livestream with former Rebel Media presenters Keean Bexte and Lauren Southern that he didn’t care about their presence.

“Let’s assume there were guys there who did have a Confederate flag,” he said. “They believe in the confederacy of states rights in a foreign nation? I don’t care.”

At an informal press conference Feb. 7, Dichter has also said that the convoy has had some Conservative MPs reach out “behind the scenes.” 

Before he was an “official” spokesperson for the convoys, Dichter went on far-right Fox personality Tucker Carlson’s show on Jan. 27, telling Carlson that driving through Alberta before the pandemic, he thought it looked like a “third-world country” because the trucking industry had been “crushed.”

Dichter also uses his Twitter account to share and spread memes related to the convoy, including one that reads “Justin Trudeau must be stopped … no matter the cost.”

CHRIS BARBER: Chris Barber is a truck driver from Saskatchewan and one of the organizers of the convoy to Ottawa. Barber is active on social media, including TikTok, providing updates on the protest in Ottawa.

In one such update posted to TikTok, Barber refers to snipers' presence near the Parliament Hill protest, suggests that his "sources" tell him riot police are headed to Ottawa, and that the convoy may "go dark" after having their telecommunications blacked out.

"When our phones go dark, that means – I'm going to put my tin-foil hat on – they've deployed the 'no cell phone service' thing," he said in the video.

Snipers are often present at large protests on or near Parliament Hill, and while it is possible for police to trace phones used in downtown Ottawa, it is not possible for the government to black out the cell phones and internet of just those participating in the protest.

Barber calls the COVID-19 vaccine mandates "tyranny at its finest" and compares the policy to the strict government oversight of North Korea, even though some Canadian students in Ontario and New Brunswick have long been required to be immunized against other diseases including tetanus, polio, measles and chickenpox under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (though this is not required in other provinces).

Barber also said in a subsequent TikTok that he has Confederate flags hanging on his wall at home, calling it a "piece of cloth" and telling viewers to "get over it." The Confederate flag was used as a battle flag during the American civil war by those fighting on the side of the Confederates, who supported the continuation of slavery in the U.S. 

THE INFLUENCERS

BRIAN PECKFORD: Brian Peckford, the former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, is the chairman of the group “Taking Back our Freedoms,” which claims that COVID-19 restrictions and mandates they claim are “unlawful.” The group also says it encourages Canadians to reject “forced” COVID-19 vaccinations for children, a practice which is not currently happening in Canada. 

Peckford, who claims that mandates are unconstitutional, is frequently cited by convoy supporters as “the last living” signatory of the Constitution Act, 1982. Former prime minister Jean Chretien, who signed the Constitution Act, is alive and well; Peckford is the last surviving premier involved in the negotiations of the constitution. 

Peckford is pursuing a lawsuit against the federal government, claiming the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for international travel is unconstitutional. 

In documents Peckford said he filed with the federal court, the applicants write that the mandate “effectively bans Canadians who have chosen not to receive an experimental medical treatment” from international travel. The COVID-19 vaccines authorized by Health Canada are not experimental and are backed up by large-scale clinical research and real-world data. 

ROGER HODKINSON: A pathologist from Alberta and an adviser to the “Taking Back Our Freedoms” group, Dr. Roger Hodkinson writes on his Rumble page that he "came out against the mainstream narrative of COVID-19 in 2020." On Nov. 13. 2020, Hodkinson called in to a meeting of Edmonton city councillors as a member of the public and referred to the pandemic as “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public” and said COVID-19 is “just another bad flu.”

The misconception that COVID-19 is like the flu has been widely debunked, despite its prevalence in misinformation streams and online conspiracy and anti-vaxx communities.More than 35,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Canada, with more than 5.78 million deaths recorded globally. COVID-19 can also develop long-haul symptoms, which some call “devastating.”

During the call to councillors, Hodkinson claimed he was the former chairman of the Royal College of Physicians Canada Examination Committee in Pathology, which was included in some of the social media posts that circulated afterwards. On Nov. 20, 2020, the Royal College clarified that, although Hodkinson was certified as a pathologist in 1976, he was never a chairman of the organization.

Hodkinson spoke at the convoy in Ottawa on Feb. 4, calling the federal government “idiots” and saying that “COVID was a very fortunate thing to happen to society” because it exposed the restrictions government has been “imposing on us for decades.” He told the crowd there would be no negotiations or “dithering” with the federal government, to which the crowd erupted in cheers.

RANDY HILLIER: Hillier is an independent MPP in Ontario who was removed from the province’s Progressive Conservative Party in 2019. In a statement posted to social media Feb. 9, Hiller called himself a “supporter” of the convoy. Hillier’s statement, released on his official MPP letterhead, referred to the protest as “peaceful,” despite Ottawa Police Services reporting at the time that officers had made 22 arrests, issued more than 1,300 tickets and had 79 ongoing criminal investigations, including alleged arson and hate crime investigations.

On Feb. 5, Hiller spoke to a large crowd at the convoy, comparing the struggle of the protesters to the struggle of soldiers on Vimy Ridge and saying, “This is the hill we die on.”

He has also appeared on Russia Today (RT), a Russian state television outlet, to speak about the convoy, tweeting that Russian media "provides a platform for objective journalism, where Canadian (mainstream media) creates fabrications." According to the Columbia School of Journalism, the Kremlin-funded RT has been accused of spreading misinformation and is considered "an extension of former President Vladimir Putin’s confrontational foreign policy" featuring "fringe-dwelling 'experts.'"

Hillier has used social media to attack politicians and “mainstream media,” including a tweet posted Jan. 24 calling Transport Minister Omar Alghabra a “terrorist.” Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino called the tweet “flagrantly abusive, offensive and Islamophobic” and called on Twitter to remove it. The tweet has not yet been removed or deleted.

In the 2022 Ontario provincial election, Hiller plans on running as the head of a new fringe party, the Ontario First Party.

PAUL ALEXANDER: Dr. Paul Alexander is a board adviser for the “Taking Back Our Freedoms” group, and is a former science adviser to then-U.S. President Donald Trump who urged the administration to adopt a “herd immunity” approach to COVID-19 policies. In a July 4, 2020 email to the House Oversight Committee and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alexander wrote about allowing low risk populations to become exposed to the virus naturally.

“There is no other way, we need to establish herd (immunity), and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups (to) expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD,” he wrote.

Health experts warn that flouting safety measures in order to catch COVID-19 in an attempt to "get it over with" is not a safe way to build up antibodies against the virus, instead recommending following regional health guidelines and getting vaccinated.

Alexander also released a pre-printed, embargoed report on the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine. The final version of the report did not conclusively support the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, nor did the version that Alexander leaked.

Preprinted reports are often provided in order for researchers to ask colleagues and peers for comments, otherwise known as an informal peer-review process. As the British Medical Journal explains, these works are under embargo "to ensure that health information reaches the public domain in a responsible manner."

At an anti-lockdown rally in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 4, Alexander told parents to “stand up now” and refuse to vaccinate their children until pharmaceutical companies and the government waive their liability protection. Canada, however, currently has a Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) which provides financial support to those who have experienced a serious and permanent injury as a result of receiving a Health Canada authorized vaccine, administered in Canada on or after Dec. 8, 2020. Health Canada has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages five to 11.

On Feb. 5, Alexander tweeted photos of a large crowd at the convoy in Ottawa, writing: “What the media won’t show you!” Media outlets covering the event have reported widely on the number of people attending the convoy in Ottawa and in other cities across Canada.

CONVOY OPERATIONS

TOM QUIGGIN: Tom Quiggin describes himself as “protective intelligence” for the Ottawa convoy, releasing “intelligence reports” on Google Docs for protesters. Quiggin once worked as a security intelligence expert for the Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies (CSIS). 

He has been previously interviewed and used by CTV News as an expert source, including in 2009 for a CTV News story about 20 Greenpeace protesters arrested on Parliament Hill, in which he said security there “has been a problem for years.” 

"There's no one in charge of security on Parliament Hill and there's no one responsible for security … directly," he told CTV News' Power Play. "There's the RCMP, the House of Commons police, the Senate police and on the perimeter, there's the Ottawa police."

Quiggin was also interviewed on Power Play in 2010 as a security expert on the fire bombing of a bank in Ottawa, suggesting that the fire in the bank was arson. 

“If, however, their intent is to create a larger atmosphere of fear and intimidation, if it attempts to change what the policy makers think at the G20 or the G8 conference … then that rises to the level of terrorism," Quiggin told Power Play.

An incident at an apartment building in the “red zone” of the convoy demonstrations in Ottawa is currently being investigated as arson. 

CTV News has not used Quiggin as an expert source since 2010, but published a Canadian Press story in 2016 on a report authored by him about what he claimed were “extremist teachings” at mosques and schools. The National Council of Canadian Muslims said the report was "yet another anecdotal attempt to vilify" members of the religious community. 

In recent years, Quiggin has become a proponent of anti-globalist conspiracy theories, including one that “The Great Reset” outlined by the World Economic Forum to help the global economy recover from COVID-19 is secretly a plan to bring about economic collapse and establish a socialist world order.

Quiggin is the co-author of a book called “The New Order of Fear,” which is described on Amazon as “a fictional work that explores how globalists wish to remake our world into a Marxian-inspired totalitarian system.” Quiggin advertised the book in a pinned tweet: “Justin Trudeau is found dead in his bed, strangled with a pair of Halal socks, given to him by Cabinet Minister Omar Alghabra.” 

DANIEL BULFORD: Cpl. Daniel Bulford is an adviser for the “Taking Back Our Freedom” group and is a former RCMP officer associated with the “Mounties for Freedom” group which, according to its website, supports“the millions of Canadians who believe that all forced COVID mandates and vaccine passports are crimes against humanity.”

Mounties for Freedom has called upon the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and also asked Attorney General David Lametti to open an investigation into the government’s COVID-19 response. 

Bulford said he quit his job at the RCMP on Dec. 15, 2021, after refusing the organization's vaccine mandate to get vaccinated against COVID-19.  

PAT KING: Pat King is a far-right protester who has said in videos posted to social media that there may be future plans to target politicians' homes and that "the only way that this is going to be solved is with bullets." He has called for the arrest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly.

King has gained attention online for a video posted to Twitter in which he decries the "depopulation" of white people, and well as another video posted in 2019 in which he makes racist remarks about Jewish, Muslim, and Chinese people.

While meeting with protesters, Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer approached King and appeared in one of his videos posted to social media.

King is beginning to emerge as a key player in the operations of the convoy. King is often seen in the downtown Ottawa protest “red zone” and in what he calls a “command centre,” but it is unclear where he stands in the hierarchy of the convoy’s organizers. 

BRIAN DENISON: Brian Denison is a former Calgary police officer who resigned on Dec. 18, 2021, after declining to get a mandated COVID-19 vaccine. In his biography on the “Taking Back Our Freedom” website, where he's listed as an adviser, Denison said he “was suspended and charged with discreditable conduct and insubordination” by the Calgary Police Service.

In a Feb. 8 YouTube video directed to police officers across Canada, Denison said “there is an evil in this world” and that police chiefs and government are “providing unlawful orders” to officers at the protests. He says these officers are “just like him” and are “obliged to stand down.” 

He also suggests that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson and Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly are “criminal” for their actions against the protesters. 

Police have often been present and made arrests at previous protests in Ottawa -- both large and small -- including protests in 2020 over the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline through Wet’suwetʼen First Nation territory in British Columbia, land that is unceded. 

With files from Christy Somos, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/ILExOQq

[kyndaris]

A Hero Lies in You

On April Fool’s Day 2019, a video was released showing the latest game in the Yakuza franchise. Many thought it was a prank. The reason why? The sudden change in combat. Gone was the brawler beat-em-up that was associated with the series. In its stead was a turn-based system reminiscent of role-playing games. Characters waiting for their turns before utilising special skills? In a franchise known for its hard gritty storylines about gangs duking it out in the streets of Japan? ‘Haha Ryu Ga Gotoku. You thought you could fool us, but we see right through you. This isn’t our first rodeo and you’re not Square Enix,’ was many a thought when the footage had been viewed by thousands online.

What gamers did not know was that this was no gag. Fast forward several months to August 2019 and it was confirmed that Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon, starring new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban, would actually incorporate turn-based battles. There would even be JOBS! 

As I had just finished playing through Kiryu’s story, as well as Judgment, in 2020 I was eager to see what new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban would bring to the table. From trailers, I could already see how much livelier Ichiban would be in comparison to the more stoic Kiryu. And, in contrast to Yagami, he was definitely more of an idiot. A lovable idiot, to be sure, but an idiot nonetheless.

Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon released in a huge week for video games. While I would have preferred to play it earlier, I had other huge titans to wrestle into submission first. Once I had managed to satiate my Ubisoft open-world needs with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, I dived head first onto the streets of Yokohama, ready to bust some heads.

The game opens on a play. For a moment, I thought I had somehow purchased the wrong game. But as the lengthy prologue progressed, it was very clear that this was most definitely a Yakuza game. It just needed to set up a little bit of the tale, starting with Arakawa Masumi - father figure and role-model for our erstwhile hero. It isn’t long before players are introduced to Kasuga Ichiban with his trademark ‘punch perm.’ Born in a soapland and raised by those that lived on the fringes of society, Ichiban, rather than being hardened by his experience, is empathetic and not afraid to show emotion. Tasked with collection, he interprets his orders in a way to benefit those that are struggling. His goofball attitude immediately makes him a character one can connect to. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s a bit of a nerd, having played Dragon Quest during his childhood and likening many of the people around him to things in the game.

It’s not long before the plot escalates and Ichiban volunteers to give himself up to the police. Sentenced to fifteen years in prison, he inadvertently extends his sentence when his Patriarch is insulted by one of the fellow inmates. After nearly two decades spent in prison for a crime that he did not commit, Ichiban is released with little fanfare and no waiting convoy. Disappointed, he takes it in stride. The first thing on his order of business: to get his signature punch perm and reconnect with his second father-figure and Patriarch of the Arakawa family.

Along the way, he is dogged by a former policeman: Adachi. At first, it isn’t made clear why Adachi seeks Ichiban for help. After all, Ichiban had supposedly killed another yakuza in Kamurocho, Tokyo. Adachi, on the other hand, was a detective in Yokohama. Why would he have any interest in uncovering the truth behind what had put Ichiban behind bars?

After a few shenanigans are had in and around Kamurocho, our protagonist is shot and left for dead - waking up in a homeless shelter in the heart of Isezaki Ijincho. Climbing his way from rock bottom, Ichiban embarks on a journey to uncover the truth, stumbling upon a series of events and unearthing a vast conspiracy in which he was to serve as a pawn.

Many of the earlier chapters felt a little contrived. In particular was the death of Nonomiya. While it served to move the narrative forward, it was most assuredly a means to an end that didn’t highlight any significant character growth. Poor Nonomiya was fridged just to bring Ichiban into conflict with the Liumang branch of the Ijin Three.

It was only in the later chapters that the story picked up steam - with the confrontations with Bleach Japan and the encroachment by the Omi Alliance. Joined by a menagerie of characters like Zhao, Saeko, Han Joon-Gi, Nanba and Eri, there was a lot to keep track on as the plot barrelled forward at a breakneck pace, connecting Ichiban’s past with his current present and all the while setting up a juicy conflict between two men that could have been brothers. And honestly, the ending with Arakawa Masato and Ichiban got to me. I loved how that Ichiban was finally able to reach his old charge by being vulnerable and finally letting out a little of his resentment at the life Masato led, despite the fact that he could not use his legs.

The characters were superbly written and their motivations were a good reflection of the human condition. The themes of family and finding a home were evident, right from the start, even though a lot of it was glossed over by Ichiban’s desire to be a hero in a video game.

(I also really liked Seong-hui and would love to see her be an actual playable character in possible future instalments. On a side note, Arakawa...you cannot simply say: ‘See you tomorrow, Ichi,’ and expect to walk away. You basically wrote your own name into the Death Note with that line!)

As far as aping Japanese role-playing games go, however, Yakuza: Like a Dragon falls woefully short. While the Tendo twist was a good one - it was pulled a little too early. Worse, there was no world-ending threat. Everyone knows that a Japanese role-playing game MUST HAVE A VILLAIN/ EVIL GOD FIGURE THAT INTENDS TO DESTROY THE WORLD. Yakuza: Like a Dragon was too focused on old childhood rivalries to extend it further afield. I mean, yes, Aoki Ryo hoped to pull the strings of the Japanese government as chair of the CLP, but WHERE WAS THE METEOR HURTLING TOWARDS EARTH? 

Honestly, 1/10 for holding true to Japanese role-playing games.

Other than that, the summons with Pound Mates was amusing. As were the side stories. Honestly, there can never be enough side stories to flesh out the wacky world of the Yakuza franchise. So many old favourites made their return. From Pocket Fighter (now dubbed Dragon Fighter) and Gondawara Susumu with his baby fetish.

Also, I didn’t think I’d be so obsessed with it, but I think they cracked property management this time round. Ichiban Confections, later known as Ichiban Holdings, was a blast to manage and accrue juicy money for.

The bartender of Survive also looked very familiar. I mean...what with the huge scar across his face. My suspicions were confirmed when I searched up Kashiwagi up on the Yakuza wiki page and was awarded with the fact that HE MANAGED TO SURVIVE THE ASSAULT HELICOPTER FROM YAKUZA 3!!

Other than that, my few other gripes involved the implementation of the levelling system and the way area of effect skills were handled. In particular, the pathing for how characters moved around the battlefield proved, at least to me, a bit of a frustration. Often, characters would be blocked by a knee-high fence or a corner. Sometimes they would be able to go around, but other times the game (after several seconds of watching them fail to walk through a solid building) warp to the enemy that I had targeted to launch their attack.

And even though the combat is turn-based, most of the enemies tend to walk around the battlefield - either clumping together or distancing themselves from each other. What truly annoyed me was when there were moves that could be used as an area of effect, with the MP cost to go along with it, but were limited by their effectiveness when the enemy combatants were too far away. Yes, it makes sense, but golly gosh, how much of a pixel measurement does it have to be for it to not hit?

Besides that, the levelling was also a bit of a tedious chore. Were it not for the invested vagrants, I feel like I might have put the game down with how much grinding there was - particularly when it came to the various jobs. The biggest hill to climb was from 20-30. Without the exp (experience point) boosting items, it would have been a torturous slog. I know that in the original Japanese release of the game, the cap for jobs was level 30, but if you change it to 99, please, for the sanity of all the gamers out there, tweak the requirements to make it easier. And maybe give normal trash mobs a bit more experience points for the playable characters to munch on. 

Goodness, imagine having to grind on level 55 Ornery Yakuza and receiving a paltry 1000xp for each battle (when, in order to level up a job, you needed almost a million).

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a break from the traditional formula that’s been a staple of the franchise for many years. Much like Ichiban, it’s a bit of fresh air to liven up the experience that might have gone a bit stale after I slogged through the whole Kiryu arc last year. With a few tweaks, and a few more Persona 5 CD soundtracks, I’m eager to see how the story evolves and whatever contrivances Ichiban will somehow force him into.

Although, to be fair, is it still appropriate to call this franchise Yakuza when the game literally saw the dismantling of the two biggest clans? Then again, Civilian: Like a Dragon 2 just doesn’t have the same ring to it. In any case, I hope the next one comes soon and we’ll be able to have Seong-hui in our party. I feel like she’d be wielding a gunblade.

(Did I just use a lyric from Mariah Carey? You bet I did! I had been tossing up the idea between this line and ‘I need a hero.’ Why? Well, I think that would be self-explanatory after knowing Ichiban’s proclivities. And it fits so, so, so well!) 

[greatworldwar2]

• Ilyushin Il-2 Ground Attack Aircraft

The Ilyushin Il-2 or Shturmovik was a ground-attack aircraft produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. With 36,183 units of the Il-2 produced during the war.

The Il-2 was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team at the Central Design Bureau in 1938. TsKB-55 was a two-seat aircraft with an armoured shell weighing 700 kg (1,540 lb), protecting crew, engine, radiators, and the fuel tank. Standing loaded, the Ilyushin weighed more than 4,700 kg (10,300 lb), making the armoured shell about 15% of the aircraft's gross weight. Uniquely for a World War II attack aircraft, and similarly to the forward fuselage design of the World War I-era Imperial German Junkers J.I armored, all-metal biplane, the Il-2's armor was designed as a load-bearing part of the Ilyushin's monocoque structure, thus saving considerable weight. The prototype TsKB-55, which first flew on October 2nd, 1939, won the government competition against the Sukhoi Su-6 and received the VVS designation BSh-2 (the BSh stood for "Bronirovani Shturmovik" or armoured ground attack).

The BSh-2 was overweight and underpowered, with the original Mikulin AM-35 1,022 kW (1,370 hp) engine designed to give its greatest power outputs at high altitude. Because of this it was redesigned as the TsKB-57, a lighter single-seat design, with the more powerful 1,254 kW (1,680 hp) Mikulin AM-38 engine, a development of the AM-35 optimised for low level operation. The TsKB-57 first flew on October 12th, 1940. The production aircraft passed State Acceptance Trials in March 1941, and was redesignated Il-2 in April. Deliveries to operational units commenced in May 1941. One of the first 1940 photographs of the Il-2 show it equipped with two MP-6 23 mm autocannons developed by Yakov Taubin. The MP-6 gun weighed 70 kg and developed an initial muzzle velocity of 900 m/s. It operated on the short recoil principle and had a rate of fire of about 600 rpm. In the early Il-2 prototypes, these guns were fed by 81-round clips. In flight, these clips sometimes became dislodged because of their large surface, which caused them to experience significant aerodynamic pressure. Subsequently, in May 1941, development of the MP-6 gun was terminated and Taubin was arrested and summarily executed in October that year.

In early 1941, the Il-2 was ordered into production at four factories, and was eventually produced in greater numbers than any other military aircraft in aviation history, but by the time Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941, only State Aviation Factory 18 at Voronezh and Factory 381 at Leningrad had commenced production, with 249 having been built by the time of the German attack. Production early in the war was slow because after the German invasion the aircraft factories near Moscow and other major cities in western Russia had to be moved east of the Ural Mountains. Ilyushin and his engineers had time to reconsider production methods, and two months after the move Il-2s were again being produced. After threats by Stalin to increase production, Stalin's notion of the Il-2 being 'like bread' to the Red Army took hold in Ilyushin's aircraft plants and the army soon had their Shturmoviks available in quantity.

The first use in action of the Il-2 was with the 4th ShAP (Ground Attack Regiment) over the Berezina River days after German invasion began. The aircraft was so new that the pilots had no training in flight characteristics or tactics, and the ground crew no training in servicing or re-arming. The training received enabled the pilots only to take-off and land; none of the pilots had fired the armament, let alone learned tactics. There were 249 Il-2s available in June 1941. In the first three days, 4th ShAP had lost 10 Il-2s to enemy action, a further 19 were lost to other causes, and 20 pilots were killed. By July, 4th ShAP was down to 10 aircraft from a strength of 65. Tactics improved as Soviet aircrews became used to the Il-2's strengths. Instead of a low horizontal straight approach at 50 metres altitude, the target was usually kept to the pilot's left and a turn and shallow dive of 30 degrees was used. Although the Il-2's RS-82 and RS-132 rockets could destroy armored vehicles with a single hit, they were so inaccurate that experienced Il-2 pilots mainly used the cannon. Another potent weapon of the Il-2s was the PTAB shaped charge bomblets (protivotankovaya aviabomba, "anti-tank aviation bomb").

PTABs were first used on a large scale in the Battle of Kursk. The Il-2 was thereafter widely deployed on the Eastern Front. The aircraft could fly in low light conditions and carried weapons able to defeat the thick armor of the Panther and Tiger I tanks. In the Battle of Kursk, General V. Ryazanov became a master in the use of attack aircraft en masse, developing and improving the tactics of Il-2 operations in co-ordination with infantry, artillery and armored troops. Il-2s at Kursk used the "circle of death" tactic: up to eight Shturmoviks formed a defensive circle, each plane protecting the one ahead with its forward machine guns, while individual Il-2s took turns leaving the circle, attacking a target, and rejoining the circle. Ryazanov was later awarded the Gold Star of Hero of Soviet Union twice, and the 1st Assault Aviation Corps under his command became the first unit to be awarded the honorific title of Guards. In 1943, 26 Shturmovik sorties were conducted. About half of those lost during were shot down by fighters, the rest falling to anti-aircraft fire.

During the Battle of Kursk, VVS Il-2s claimed the destruction of no less than 270 tanks (and 2,000 men) in a period of just two hours against the 3rd Panzer Division. Perhaps the most extraordinary claim by the VVS's Il-2s is that, over a period of four hours, they destroyed 240 tanks and in the process virtually wiped out the 17th Panzer Division. The 17th Panzer did not register any abnormal losses due to aircraft in the summer of 1943, and retreated westwards with Army Group South later in the year, still intact.

The main problem with the Il-2 was the inaccuracy of its attacks. Towards the end of war, the Soviets were able to concentrate large numbers of Shturmoviks to support their main offensives. The effect, however, was often more psychological than actual physical destruction of targets, particularly against dug-in and armored targets. While some attacks against large unprotected targets such as horse and truck convoys and railyards had devastating results, attacks against dug-in point targets were usually ineffective. The frequent duels between dug-in 20 and 40 mm AA guns and Il-2 attackers never resulted in the complete destruction of the gun, while many Il-2s were brought down in these attacks. The heavy armor of the Il-2 also meant that it would typically carry only comparatively light bomb-loads, which together with the poor accuracy of its attacks made it a far less deadly attack aircraft than contemporary Allied fighter-bombers such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Hawker Typhoon.

Thanks to the heavy armor protection, the Il-2 could take a great deal of punishment and proved difficult for both ground and aircraft fire to shoot down. A major threat to the Il-2 was German ground fire. In postwar interviews, Il-2 pilots reported 20 mm (0.79 in) and 37 mm (1.46 in) artillery as the primary threat. While the fabled 88 mm (3.46 in) calibre gun was formidable, low-flying Il-2s presented too fast-moving a target for the 88's relatively low rate of fire, only occasional hits were scored. Owing to a shortage of fighters, in 1941–1942, Il-2s were occasionally used as fighters. While outclassed by dedicated fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190, in dogfights, the Il-2 could take on other Luftwaffe aircraft with some success. While the Il-2 was a deadly air-to-ground weapon, and even a fairly effective interceptor against slow bombers and transport aircraft, heavy losses resulted from its vulnerability to fighter attack. Losses were very high, the highest of all types of Soviet aircraft, though given the numbers in service this is only to be expected.

Some surviving examples still remain of this aircraft one is 1872452 – Airworthy with the Wings of Victory Foundation in Moscow. It was recovered in 2015 from the bottom of a lake near Murmansk and restored. Another is under restoration to airworthy condition at the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology in Moscow. Finally an additional is at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Washington. It incorporated parts of an aircraft recovered from a swamp near Pskov and was restored.

[stlplaybox]

Top 10 Transformers of 2019 - Part 1

If you’ve been following, it’s been two years since my last one of these. Technically more given that we’re now deep past the winter of 2020. But end of year lists have a wistful character. They keep ajar a casual window into that tricky thing that is memory lane. They crystallise memories, feelings and journeys into something that attempts to qualify and quantify the experiences of some arbitrary tract of time in our lives. When life comes faster at you with each passing season, where each year seems faster than the last, lists offer some solace, some sense of growth, some recognition of where we’ve come from. 

I guess that’s why despite 2019 seeming so distant, I’ve persisted with making this list of my top 10 Transformers of 2019. There is something different this year though. Something I’ve been plugging away at for awhile now. This year I bring together my nerdy side with my collecting and underpin it with a Transformers scoring system. Yes, I’ve developed and calibrated a scoring system for Transformers. Why you ask? Well the easy answer is I’m a data person and I like to frame the way I look and understand the world through code and data.

The longer answer is I like to understand myself, understand why I collect and like what I like. With so much available these days, it’s easy to lose track of what really resonates with us, chasing that new shiny thing, that new experience, and quickly forget why we’re buying what we buy. This scoring system is my attempt to track this and quantify not just what I have purchased but also what I purchase going forward. So this year, you’ll see me provide two scores. My “weighted”  / subjective score and an ”objective” score in brackets. Both are out of 100.  

Where does this difference come from? In designing my system I recognised that how we value things differ from person to person. For instance some people place high emphasis on transformation and handling while others adore articulation and sculpt. So my scoring system attempts to factor this in by providing a “weighted” score to reflect my personal subjective leanings. The objective score is how it ranks objectively on each of the metrics scored. So that’s some context but I won’t bore you with too many more details. If there’s enough interest, I’ll write more about it sometime. But I will say this scoring system is great as I already what my top 10 for 2020 is at this stage!

A part of me was going to separate the list into transforming and non-transforming toys but I decided against it. They’re all Transformers in the end, it’s the reason we buy them. Whether its a plushie, a statue or articulated action figure they all have their merits.

One last note is I’ve also added to each figure a section called “a moment” where I try to capture a moment of where I was, how I felt when experiencing this figure. I spend a lot of time with these figures behind the camera and posing them, often in lovely natural places where I’m reflecting on a lot of things about the world, life and whatnot. There’s a range of feelings that come with that and for me that’s part of what collecting is about, the emotions these figures stir in you.

So without further ado, let’s roll out!

Honorable Mentions:

MP-44: Convoy

Weighted Score: 89.0% (88%)

Why: While its where my love for Transformers comes from, G1 is no longer where my collecting heart lies. The price, the over-engineering, and QC issues… there were a lot of reasons I didn’t want to buy this. But we lost a dear member of our community @TCracker/@hirohitokusanagi last year and this was a figure he was desperately trying to hold on for. That he couldn’t made this something I felt I had to experience. Even more so as I struggled with my own battle with cancer. This figure is a good figure but sometimes we buy things and they mean more because of the people we’ve met along the way. Simon brought so many sparks of joy with his photography and the opportunity to dedicate a shoot to him was the best way I could honour him. Whenever I shoot this figure, I think of Simon and am grateful for the inspiration he provided and his contribution to our community.

The Moment: It was early spring when this figure arrived. We were due in NZ the day after and I was in a horribly weakened state after my sixth round of chemo. But I hobbled the 2km to my post office to pick it up and shoot it that sunset. My process is to normally spend time experiencing a figure before trying to transform and photograph at sunset as its a small window of 20-30 minutes at best. But I knew time was against me and that with a few weeks in NZ it’d really bother me not being able to have a crack at it given how much it meant to me. So in the days preceding that day, I’d watched video after video of the transformation. I started sunset with the video on the big screen TV in case I needed to refer to it. It was one of my most intense shoots of the year and a lot of that pressure self-imposed. But emotionally, it was one of the most fulfilling.

Iron Factory Blue Flash

Weighted Score: 89.5% (86.7%)

Why: The only thing I owned of Bluestreak as a kid was a jigsaw puzzle. In it he was depicted in this sleek and flashy blue. From that moment, I’d always dreamt of owning an awesome blue Bluestreak. And despite happily owning the Masterpiece and Collector Club version, this was the one for me as it combined that essence with a neo-G1 design.     

Moment: Sitting by our local waterfall not long after I’d been diagnosed with cancer it was quite emotional. I remember staring blankly at it and not starting the shoot as the water cascaded in the background. Thinking about that puzzle, the life I’d led in primary school and how far I’d come. 

With that let’s get into slots 10-6!

10. Amazing Yamaguchi N-14: Optimus Prime 

Weighted Score: 90.1% (86.9%)

Why: Expressiveness is an area that’s increasing at the top of my want list for a figure and this has it in spades. Between the different hands, the stellar ab crunch and butterfly shoulder, it maximises its pure action figure focus to give us a figure that’s so much fun to pose with emotion. It’s really one torso swivel away from greatness.  

Moment: The moment comes from this year where I combined a shoot with Siege Omega in base mode where it captured all the emotion of leaving your home, being unable to stay because you need to seek refuge elsewhere. Something that I think that’s understated about Transformers is that they’re refugees and that shot really captured the weight of emotion of having to leave. 

9. Master Made SDT-06: Overlord

Weighted Score: 90.5% (90%)

Why: For as long as I’ve been doing these lists, there’s not a year I remember when Master Made did not make an entry. They continue to put out some of the most beautifully engineered and fun figures on the market and Overlord was no exception. The sharp edges of the jet half combined with the bulk of the tank are top notch. Add the extra non super-deformed head so that one can use it with Iron Factory legends and combine that with their neo-G1 take on it, this thing hits all the right spots.  

The Moment: I remember setting in for sunset in late autumn with the jet mode on an evening after I’d come home after bouncing in and out of hospital as they hadn’t been able to work out what was going on with my body other than it was failing. This sense of soaring as I photographed him was something that put a smile on my face in that moment of uncertainty.

8. TLK Hot Rod (Unique Toys K-03 La Hire)

Weighted Score: 90.7% (98%)

Why: This is the first figure where I want to talk about the difference in the weighted score and the objective score. This figure is objectively one of the best Transformers in my collection at 98/100. It scores so high across articulation, engineering, handling, aesthetic, paint job that it actually is the highest scoring figure in 2019. However it gets brought down because of one thing: connection. I gave up on watching the Bayverse movies as I just weren’t enjoying them anymore and so as great as this figure is, that’s why it ends up scaling down to 90.7. Maybe if it had more elements of G1 Hot Rod I’d have connected with it despite not seeing the movies but that’s not to be. With that, you’re right to guess that one of my strong subjective weightings is “connection“.    

Moment: It was a warm morning in September last year when I got this figure. I was sitting on the balcony with my partner and feeling awful as it was not long after a round of chemo but I remember repeatedly going “wow”, “holy crap”, “wow” as I step by step learnt all the nuances of this beautiful figure. 

7. Cross Dimension Metallic Optimus Prime (MTCD-01P Striker Manus)

Weighted Score: 90.8% (88%)

Why: The Cross Dimensions line epitomises everything I love and want from Transformers. Fresh designs that take from various parts of the expansive TF universe without being slavish to any particular part. Despite already owning the first iteration of this figure, the dark metallic red, golds and blue elevate what was already a great figure way ahead of its time. Add the extra weapons pack all tinged with orange translucent highlights and you have yourself an absolute winner.

Moment: The joy of having him wield the translucent axe was magical. While the smokestack axes look nice, they don’t pack that same punch. I spent many hours in front of the TV posing him over and over.   

6. MMC Senator Ratbat (R-42 Ultio)

Weighted Score: 91.3% (90.7%)

Why: Since Takara did the Senator Ratbat in the TG line all those years back from the United Scourge mould, I’ve loved the idea of a Cybertronian Ratbat and boy did MMC deliver. If you’d ask me whether they could’ve done it from the Stray mould I’d have laughed but its executed so perfectly and keeps a lot of the great engineering and articulation present in the core Stray design while adding the wings that double as a cape in robot mode and pincers in alt mode. It’s a menacingly alt mode and that purple is just fine.

Moment: I’d had the figure for a little while and was itching to shoot it but between treatment and friends who were visiting it took awhile for me to get to it before and when I did I was thwarted by many boring sunsets. It took me almost a whole week where the days would be fine but then offer not that much by the way of an interesting sunsets. But when I got the chance, I loved shooting that alt mode from all of its glorious angles. I remember finishing and feeling an overwhelming sense of contentment. Things were looking up, I was a healthier, a bit stronger, and fortunate enough to have a great friend come visit.

That rounds out the first half of my top 10 list. Join me back in a few days when we work through the top five and I make some other interesting data driven observations about my collection in 2019. 

[aeonmagnus]

Transformers Masterpiece Optimus Primes.

[plasticsparkphotos]

My Top 10 Transformers of 2019.

Runners-Up:

- Iron Factory IF EX-29 Rush Beats - Takara Beast Wars Encore Big Convoy (Anime Ver.) #10. Transformers WFC: Siege - Refraktor Reconnaissance Team #09. Transformers WFC: Siege - Spinister #08. Transformers WFC: Siege - Impactor (Decepticon Ver.) #07. Transformers WFC: Siege - Ultra Magnus #06. Transformers Masterpiece - MP-46 Blackarachnia #05. Perfect Effect PE-DX06 Beast Gorira #04. Iron Factory IF EX-31 Dubhe #03. Iron Factory IF EX-36 Tyrant #02. Fans Hobby MB-08 Double Evil #01. Transformers Masterpiece - MP-43 Megatron (Beast Wars) If you'd like to hear my thoughts on these figures and why they were chosen check out the article here: http://plasticspark.ca/articles/top10tf2019

[raurquiz]

Transformers - Masterpiece - MP-10 Convoy - Golden Lagoon - Takaratomy

Part 1

[kayla1993-world]

And according to some sources, the rise in Conservative membership sale could dramatically affect both party's grassroots and the old power interaction between two factions.

Pierre Poilievre, the apparent front-runner to represent the Conservative Party of Canada in the next general election, would arguably hope to benefit far more from that instability.

"Pierre Poilievre's reception will be staged outside. There is no dispute, by a conservative source. The source has an intimate understanding of the party membership number of qualified leadership electors but is not associated with the Poilievre campaign.

The Poilievre campaign claims to have signed up more than 312,000 memberships, just below of half the about 675,000 eligible voters for the Sept. 10 poll, amid the party brass's rejection to verify for the reliability of campaign membership revenue figures.

This week, three individuals of different leadership campaigns alerted Global News that Poilievre's stats include a substantial portion of "new" Conservatives—members who may never have ever taken part in the federal party's politics.

But even though the vote has not even been recounted, the mass of insiders, including those from other campaigns, feel that Poilievre is most motivated to accept over with the chairman.

In a fresh Ipsos survey taken only for Global News, 49% of Conservative voters have a good impression of Poilievre, while 29% have a negative rating of the front-runner. Nearest rival Jean Charest came in with an approval rating of 45% form respondents. Because of the small sample size of 259 Conservative voters interviewed between July 12 and 13, the poll's credibility is still only considered being 6.9 percentage points.

It's hard to see a path to victory for anyone besides Poilievre, particularly in the light of Patrick Brown's disqualification, despite the reality that Conservative leadership contests oftenly show up as a great shock - the smart money was on Maxime Bernier in 2017, so everyone in the realize knew Peter MacKay would win in 2020.

Regarding Bernier's far-right offshoot party, one wag suggested it may be "Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives" or the "PPC."

If that's to be trusted, then the most significant inquiry is: What form of Conservative party is Poilievre constructing, and can it win — in a Conservative leadership election, but in the general elections?

Many who support Poilievre refute charges they are courting the far-right convoy mob. They claim the media oversimplifies the links, crying out in laughter every time Poilievre promotes a demonstration that incorporates gender-neutral people.

But the Carleton MP helps align with the beliefs of the convoy movement with his pro-"freedom" and anti-vaccine mandate messages. His long-held confidence that government should get few rulers corresponds well with the anti-authority movement that had already gained power in Canada as an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So even though this is not a lucky accident, a source close to the Poilievre campaign declared that some of his earliest statements — like as persuading provinces to require occupational licensing bodies to rule on immigrants' applications within 60 days and offering small loans to immigrants who still need advanced training to yield a professional certification — were built to dampen allegation that he had a far-right agenda.

But when the time finally comes for the next general election, people won't believe concerning his options to march with James Topp, an anti-vaccine mandate protested with well-established ties to Canadian far-right nonprofits.

One source, who agreed to discuss internal party politics on the condition that they could not be described, said, "The base has shifted drastically to the far-right, which opens up the (political) hub, the facility is wide open now."

His tactic is still: "Let's get those elections who don't normally vote or don't vote Conservative, the far-right persons whose own Conservative party is (not) far enough to the right, move (the party) to that far-right, unlock that, and that will give you that four (or) five points you need to form a government."

In a journey roughly equivalent to what former leader Erin O'Toole dared in 2020, some have assumed a pivot for Poilievre, going hard right during the leadership and then moderating ahead of the mentioned general election. Neither Poilievre's opponents agree that would be probable.

One supporter quipped, "Pierre is Pierre." Who are his supporters if "Pierre is Pierre"? An internal campaign document from June 4 states that Poilievre lured 118,996 members in Ontario, a significant electoral province at which Conservatives try unsuccessfully to give traction in the two elections just before.

The party has refused to disclose membership sales, something that makes it much harder to investigate them. And per the campaign, they however still sold 25,453 memberships in Quebec, 50,709 in British Columbia, and 71,759 in Alberta, the heartland of the Conservative Party.

In eligibility for the party's points-based, riding-weighted election, the Poilievre campaign can and should collect at least 100 memberships in all the 338 ridings, according to Anthony Koch, a director of communications for the campaign.

For this article, the Poilievre campaign declined to comment. A source close to the campaign declared that the distinct set of Poilievre supporters could be drawn to his campaign by three themes: "free speech," opposition to vaccine mandates, and fiscal restraint.

"There are participants to us who contradict COVID mandates? Another Poilievre campaign source who agreed to discuss strategy on the condition that they go anonymous said, "Yeah, I think that's safe to say.

The user claimed that COVID and the consequences of initiatives also "changed the dynamics" of conservative politics. White-collar workers could successfully carry one's work full time. The front lines were closer for blue-collar workers.

As opposed to a left/right dynamic, "(politics) has become a real class structure," the user claimed.

The conundrum for Poilievre will pressure those blue-collar voters—a consortium Erin O'Toole preferred after within his unsatisfactory bid for a department in 2021—that the Conservatives are their political home.

That's from a senior source with said Poilievre campaign. Little attention has been devoted to what occurs after the September 10 ballot. Those in power insist they are not even taking anything else for granted, notwithstanding this perspective that the campaign has already won.

The source added they don't honestly believe anyone ever appears to know who the new Conservative Party of Canada, that had 675,000+ personnel, is and can't say until September 11 when the ballots are counted and the granular analysis is done.

But per the source, "the vast, vast majority" of Poilievre's membership sales were to people who were peculiar to partisan politics.

If they voted, the source rumored that this was for Trudeau in 2015 because they wanted to smoke pot.

Those close to Poilievre guess that his economic message, something that minimizes taxes, addressing inflation, and cutting , will continue to be famous with the new Conservative base.

But as of up now, campaign officials recognize, that is just presumption. Few people will know these new members' belief systems or how they will converse without or add value to the party's grassroots politics.

These are discussions pertinent to September 11 for the Poilievre campaign.

[iamaleximusprime]

I used some of my BronyCon vendor earnings to buy the toy I’ve wanted since 2012:  MP-10 Masterpiece Optimus Prime/Convoy!  My cousin got him a while ago and I took a pic and showed it on my Tumblr back when I just got started with Tumblr but now I have him for myself and he’s epic!

What you’re seeing here isn’t even all that he is included with, I will make a separate post with everything the trailer, Roller, and Spike can do.

[allspark]

Joining us in the Allspark Studios today is the strongest and wisest of all Autobots, Optimus Prime!  Will he fulfill his role of protecting all the life on your toy shelves, or will he split into three autonomous modules and spend the day watching Nextflix with himself?  Tune in after the break to find out!

At this point, you could basically fill a small museum with all the different versions of Optimus Prime.  Each one has its own personality of design, with high points and limitations of the era within which they were created.  Having been a fan of the franchise for most of my life, I have owned nearly all of them, minus G2 Go-Bot Optimus Prime, which still leaves a void in my collector’s heart.  Every time I buy an Optimus figure, there has been a moment of reckoning, as I look at the new figure and compare it to the Optimus Prime in my head; the spirit of the character, as interpreted by my once 7-year-old’s mind as he watched cartoon Optimus in awe every Saturday morning in the 80’s.  While each figure is essentially him, none of them have ever truly come close to glory of the cartoon aesthetic of Optimus Prime while maintaining the ability to transform.  While we may be getting an official MP (and some 3P) that will do just this, finding a figure at the average collector’s budget just didn’t seem likely…then Hasbro dropped Siege Optimus on us.  Let’s see how he measures up!

Vehicle Mode

There are a lot of really good things going on in this vehicle mode, even if it does not perfectly embody G1 Prime’s cab mode.  It has the right basic square cab shape, clear-ish windows, tires on metal pins, and a nice amount of red, blue and silver with just a bit of white thrown in.  From a bit of a distance, it comes really close to getting things on the G1 dot, but there are a few elements that break the illusion.  Most of the non-slavishly G1 elements come out of looks versus function needs, and I am OK with that.

The smokestacks are not the “right” proportion, and if they were, they would get in the way of transformation and posing/play. The “overcab” light section that also contains the grill, headlights, and bumper is needed to turn a heroic torso section into a flat-faced cab front.  All things considered, the only design element I find a little off-putting is the grill, which is covered in the same translucent blue plastic as the windows and lights.  I would have preferred for this section to have been grey or silver, but that is easy enough to correct with some touch up paint if it really starts to bother me.

The paint ops are nice enough on this mode, with the exception that the “battle damage” was not clearly designed with this mode in mind.  There is a little bit on the front just under the windshield, and the shoulder damage is still in view, but aside from that the rest of the vehicle mode is devoid of this random detail.  I understand budgets come into play, and perhaps this was the best medium between all or none in both modes, but it leaves the vehicle mode with random markings that just seem out of place.

One feature of the Siege line that I love on this figure is all of the 5mm ports.  Between the deluxes like Cog and Six-Gun, the Micromasters and Battlemasters, a creative young (or old) fan can turn Optimus into a veritable “battle convoy”.  It is even possible for Headmasters and Titanmasters to get in on the fun, if only as pilots for the added weaponry.  This is a great move on Hasbro’s part, and I think most fans will love it as much as I do.

  Robot Mode

Truck Mode was great.  Robot mode is where Siege Prime really shines.  First off, he has the right look.  Except for the wheels at his sides, the “overcab” panel (which could be looked at as a jetpack) and the panels on his forearms (which are way less obtrusive than the panels on Classics Prime), he is basically cartoon Prime.  Get rid of the battle damage paint and swap most of his greys with his whites, and he’s there despite those other details, all for the cost of a voyager (local pricing policies may apply).

One of the things that really pushes this Prime to the top of my personal list is the insane amount of articulation.  He has:

  Ankle tilts

Knee joints

Lateral knee movement

Lateral thigh movement

Hips on rotating swivels

Waist movement

Backward shoulder swivels

Shoulders on rotating swivels

Lateral bicep movement

Elbows

Swivel fists

Swivel neck

Partially moveable head on ball joint

He can do lots of awesome poses, such as the classic scene from the ‘85 movie where he transforms and blasts Decepticons from the air as he leaps above them.

This is truly one of the most iconic Optimus Prime figures ever, especially at anywhere near an affordable price for most fans.  If you throw in the added fun from all the 5mm ports and the ability to add weapons and other figures into the mix, he is well worth the cost.

  Transformation

While I was able to transform this figure back and forth without the instructions, the first time through was a bit of a learning curve to get all the parts in the right place.  While I enjoy a mildly challenging transformation, this might make Prime a little difficult for younger fans.  Don’t be surprised if you gift him to one of the kiddoes and find yourself being asked to switch him back and forth.  At least he’s not as frustrating as Car Robots were back in the day.

    Recommendation

I give Siege Optimus Prime 9 blast effects out of 10!  He is a packed with fun in vehicle mode, ready for action posing in robot mode, and very close to the ideal Optimus Prime with a price tag that won’t kill your wallet.  While he may still need some assistance if gifted to younger fans, I still think they will love him as much as the G1 generation will.  Make sure to keep your eyes peeled and pick him up as soon as you have the chance!

    Firedrive

During my review of Megatron and the Wave 1 Battlemasters and Micromasters, I lamented slightly about how HasTak ditched the Japanese Targetmaster molds from Legends in favor of newly designed Battlemaster molds.  Since then I have spent more time with Firedrive and Blowpipe and they have grown on me because of their designs.  There is a certain amount of curve or puffiness in the techno-organic, Cybertronian style that the Legends figures just don’t have.  Once you look at Firedrive’s shins and shoulders, you will see what I am talking about.  There is something very classic to their look, and I am happier now that we got new figures because of it.  I still wish Firedrive had a slight bit more articulation, but I will keep buying Battlemasters because they look great and come with blast effects.

    Lionizer

Lionizer is a Cybertronian lion whose tail becomes a back-mounted blaster, and who can also transform into a sword/blaster (Qualta blade, #farscape).  He comes with a slashing effect that also looks nice on Megatron’s sword/blaster.  I think he is my favorite Battlemaster so far.

    Race Car Patrol

This is a neat set of mini-figures.  Both Roadhandler and Swindler maintain vehicle modes that look close to their G1 forms of a Trans-Am and a DeLorean.  If that wasn’t cool enough, they have decently articulated forms for such tiny robots, and they can combine into a blaster (of sorts).  The only knock I will give them is that they don’t stand very well on their own if you do much more than a vanilla standing pose.

    Battle Patrol

These were the Micromasters I wanted as a kid (who was considered too old for toys by that time).  Topshot and Flak are great recreations of half of the original team.  There is something cool about tiny Cybertronian tanks and missile launchers, especially since they are a bit more in proportion to the city bots.  Due to the way their feet are designed, the Battle Patrol is more stable in standing and action poses than their Race Car Patrol brethren.  They also form a much more convincing blaster, which is almost as cool as having a DeLorean on the team.

      Siege Optimus Prime

  Lionizer 

  Firedrive

  Autobot Race Car Patrol

  Autobot Battle Patrol

  Siege Optimus Prime, Wave 1 Autobot Micromaster and Battlemaster Gallery and Review! Joining us in the Allspark Studios today is the strongest and wisest of all Autobots, Optimus Prime!