What Sean said, doubled. THIS is the sort of sci/tech news that I like - laying out the facts clearly and cleanly.

Indeed - this is the sort of stuff that I LIKE seeing on Giz - and it’s well explained.

Doctor opens door, looks out.

Thanks for this reporting!

TLJ lost me at the Space Bomber scene. Then it kicked my sense of disbelief in the nuts during the Slow-Speed Starship Chase. (Seriously, enough time for the dumb-shit protagonists to fly to a CASINO planet, waste some time, and fly BACK? No. Just... no.)

This is the sort of shit I appreciate on Gizmodo. Thanks for the great article!

Antigrav.  And space travel.

“But wait, there’s MORE! - if you ORDER NOW you’ll get TWO for the price of ONE! And we’ll throw in FIVE FREE Bodypart Attach Kits!”

Only if Carol Burnett approves.

Lol. They have a ‘corporate culture’, I think, that sometimes depends on trying to generate as much OUTRAGE as they possibly can. People click on stuff they’re pissed off about - for or against, either way. The authors... seems like they’re not happy unless they’re pissed off about something and expressing it…

The difficulty is this article was designed for outrage, while being notably short on explanatory facts. I’ve got no idea how much, for example, a normal set of custom wide curtains would cost - and these weren’t exactly a simple set of drapes from WalMart.  

I think too many people just like spewing shit and look for every opportunity.  But that’s a hell of a way to try to run a country, much less a world.  Besides, life is too short to spend it continually pissed off, satisfying as it may be to the psyche...

Was it a ridiculous purchase? These were apparently custom-made Kevlar-lined drapes designed to collect spalling from an attack on the windows. It’s the designated ambassadorial residence, so they needed something that’d protect the occupants. If what they had before were WalMart specials, I can see why they they were…

“Reality. What a concept!”

Hey, now - they’re our ‘betters’, our ‘political elite’. Of COURSE the rules don’t apply to them, and shouldn’t! Because we NEED an elite class to rule over us, because if we don’t... well, just look at what’s happening with the economy!

Well, I sure wouldn’t expect it to happen!  ;)

I’ve seen on-line that the curtains are possibly Kevlar lined. Since it’s a diplomatic residence, I’d EXPECT some heavy-duty security measures. Bulletproof/blastproof glass, curtains heavy enough that they could at least slow whatever fragments spall off the windows if they shatter.

I expect politicians to shade the truth. (Or lie, whatever.) I also expect them to try to keep what they promise in their campaigns. Most, over the last 30 years, MIGHT try to keep one or two, maybe three in the course of their tenure. Some don’t even give a damn. Some ‘fix’ a problem with ‘unexpected’ results that…

It’s desperation clickbait. The economy’s doing a lot better, unemployment’s way down, tax revenues are up FFS after dropping the rates - so focus on the small shit and try to get people pissed and MAYBE people will vote ‘properly’.

I know.