6 ms·

“Threat” might be an exaggeration. https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon-el-paso-drone-reports-11506981 https://www.newsweek.com/us-mili

“Threat” might be an exaggeration. https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon-el-paso-drone-reports-11506981 https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon...

lysace 9mo ago
Fox News first reported that the airborne object was intercepted after raising concerns of a potential drone operating near the southern border. Officials later concluded the object was not an unmanned aircraft but a party balloon, a U.S. official told the outlet. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon-near-el-paso-after-suspecting-drone-official-says https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-shot-down-party... US military shot down party balloon near El Paso after drone suspicion, official says Would be funny if they used some new fancy laser weapon to, let's say, discombobulate this imminent threat, as indicated by other reports.
- golem14 9mo ago
  99 Luftballons
  - lysace 9mo ago
    The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defence ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "'Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons#Lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons#Lyrics)
    - RupertSalt 9mo ago
      I'm learning to sing in German with Nena. I especially like the way she rhymes "Captain Kirk" with "Feuerwerk". https://genius.com/Nena-99-luftballons-lyrics https://genius.com/Nena-99-luftballons-lyrics In other news, Director Gabbard and Secretaries Noem, Hegseth, and Kennedy met with Secretary Leavitt for her big Gender Reveal Party in El Paso...
      - dragontamer 9mo ago
        She does that 'Captain Kirk' rhyme in the English version too though. The real treat for German listeners is the first verse: ich, mich, dich, and neun-und-neunZIG (zig is pronounced like ich in the main German dialect). With all of the 'neunundneunzig' (aka 99) repeated throughout the song, the ich/dich/mich/vielleicht rhymes is really a superior start over the English version. It's a rhyming scheme that cannot be replicated in English at all.
        lysace 9mo ago
        Live performance (2018!) in German with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO5lfJ9dhs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO5lfJ9dhs (I can mostly understand spoken German. Have heard this song in German many times before. Never got the message. It's tricky!)
        dragontamer 9mo ago
        For me, singing the words myself forces me to understand them. So just sing along. Every word, and understand as much as you can. ------ Once you know all the words, then the next step is to learn the grammar and learn how the words work together. If you give it a few months, full understanding will come!
- jacquesm 9mo ago
  Just think about the terrorist potential here. Buy a $10 party balloon, let it go near a major airport and they'll panic and shut down the airport. That's a lot of havoc for a couple of bucks.
  - w0de0 9mo ago
    It's one balloon, Michael. What could it cost, 10 dollars?
    - phil21 9mo ago
      A large Mylar party balloon with helium? Yeah probably about that depending on where you are and the balloon type and size.
      - deleted 9mo ago
        [deleted]
      - SideburnsOfDoom 9mo ago
        Yep. It seems like for this application you'd want a larger one, a few feet across, with a nice shiny metal foil coating for the radar to bounce off. So, not a $1 balloon.
  - ErroneousBosh 9mo ago
    Hast du etwas Zeit für mich? Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich Von 99 Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum ... well, El Paso as it turns out. the English rewrite of course starts: You and I in a little toyshop Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got Set them free at the break of dawn 'til one by one, they were gone...
  - cucumber3732842 9mo ago
    >Just think about the terrorist potential here. Buy a $10 party balloon, let it go near a major airport and they'll panic and shut down the airport. That's a lot of havoc for a couple of bucks. And rather than see the government have egg on face people (probably a majority here) will vote for politicians who promise all sorts of licenses and regulations on balloons because of it and then in 20yr when I complain and remind them that once upon a time every store used to sell balloons with no KYC BS they'll act like I'm some sort of barbarian, screech, wring their hands, clutch their pearls, etc.
JKCalhoun 9mo ago
YHGTBFKM. Unbelievable. Next I'll read they shot down "balloon boy".
- reactordev 9mo ago
  If he’s here illegally they might
BobbyTables2 9mo ago
* 99 red balloons go by … *

“Threat” might be an exaggeration. https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon-el-paso-drone-reports-11506981 https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon...

lysace 9mo ago

Fox News first reported that the airborne object was intercepted after raising concerns of a potential drone operating near the southern border. Officials later concluded the object was not an unmanned aircraft but a party balloon, a U.S. official told the outlet. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon-near-el-paso-after-suspecting-drone-official-says https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-shot-down-party... US military shot down party balloon near El Paso after drone suspicion, official says Would be funny if they used some new fancy laser weapon to, let's say, discombobulate this imminent threat, as indicated by other reports.

golem14 9mo ago
99 Luftballons
- lysace 9mo ago
  The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defence ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "'Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons#Lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons#Lyrics)
  - RupertSalt 9mo ago
    I'm learning to sing in German with Nena. I especially like the way she rhymes "Captain Kirk" with "Feuerwerk". https://genius.com/Nena-99-luftballons-lyrics https://genius.com/Nena-99-luftballons-lyrics In other news, Director Gabbard and Secretaries Noem, Hegseth, and Kennedy met with Secretary Leavitt for her big Gender Reveal Party in El Paso...
    - dragontamer 9mo ago
      She does that 'Captain Kirk' rhyme in the English version too though. The real treat for German listeners is the first verse: ich, mich, dich, and neun-und-neunZIG (zig is pronounced like ich in the main German dialect). With all of the 'neunundneunzig' (aka 99) repeated throughout the song, the ich/dich/mich/vielleicht rhymes is really a superior start over the English version. It's a rhyming scheme that cannot be replicated in English at all.
      - lysace 9mo ago
        Live performance (2018!) in German with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO5lfJ9dhs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO5lfJ9dhs (I can mostly understand spoken German. Have heard this song in German many times before. Never got the message. It's tricky!)
        dragontamer 9mo ago
        For me, singing the words myself forces me to understand them. So just sing along. Every word, and understand as much as you can. ------ Once you know all the words, then the next step is to learn the grammar and learn how the words work together. If you give it a few months, full understanding will come!
jacquesm 9mo ago
Just think about the terrorist potential here. Buy a $10 party balloon, let it go near a major airport and they'll panic and shut down the airport. That's a lot of havoc for a couple of bucks.
- w0de0 9mo ago
  It's one balloon, Michael. What could it cost, 10 dollars?
  - phil21 9mo ago
    A large Mylar party balloon with helium? Yeah probably about that depending on where you are and the balloon type and size.
    - deleted 9mo ago
      [deleted]
    - SideburnsOfDoom 9mo ago
      Yep. It seems like for this application you'd want a larger one, a few feet across, with a nice shiny metal foil coating for the radar to bounce off. So, not a $1 balloon.
- ErroneousBosh 9mo ago
  Hast du etwas Zeit für mich? Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich Von 99 Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum ... well, El Paso as it turns out. the English rewrite of course starts: You and I in a little toyshop Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got Set them free at the break of dawn 'til one by one, they were gone...
- cucumber3732842 9mo ago
  >Just think about the terrorist potential here. Buy a $10 party balloon, let it go near a major airport and they'll panic and shut down the airport. That's a lot of havoc for a couple of bucks. And rather than see the government have egg on face people (probably a majority here) will vote for politicians who promise all sorts of licenses and regulations on balloons because of it and then in 20yr when I complain and remind them that once upon a time every store used to sell balloons with no KYC BS they'll act like I'm some sort of barbarian, screech, wring their hands, clutch their pearls, etc.

JKCalhoun 9mo ago

YHGTBFKM. Unbelievable. Next I'll read they shot down "balloon boy".

reactordev 9mo ago
If he’s here illegally they might

BobbyTables2 9mo ago

* 99 red balloons go by … *