champu

Members
  • Content

    5,692
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Everything posted by champu

  1. champu

    Hunting

    That's why I have no problem paying more for cow than, say, chicken or fish. It trends pretty well with how much I don't want to do it myself.
  2. You own your house. The bank holds a lein against it until you pay back the money you owe them. Hence why you pay the property taxes on it and why they don't get a key.
  3. I think they should get rid of the "OA" and just keep the "SDI" portion of social security.
  4. I don't think the remote controlled or in-person nature of the attack is relevant to whether it constitutes terrorism. If the TTP sets off a roadside IED to destroy a convoy carrying coalition supplies that's not terrorism, even if it's phoned in and, yes, even if there are civilian casualties. If AQ sets off a PBIED in a cafe near a coalition base it's terrorism, even though the attacker was there in person and, yes, even if it happens to kill military targets.
  5. ...shall have his entire family tied to each other leg to leg and drawn by horse while he watches and then he shall be stoned to death... ...or he shall be asked very nicely to not ever ever do it agian... really this time...
  6. I've always been a fan of Child's Play although I realize it's not quite what you're talking about. Otherwise, I second adopt-a-family if you find information about that in your area.
  7. My advice would be to close your web browser.
  8. I wonder what the designation of the X-37B will be if it goes into "production" (loose use of the term) MQS-37B maybe?
  9. True, and I suppose Soyuz/Progress could indefinitely continue as ferries to and from a "construction site" in LEO to build more elaborate science or industrial facilities or to go elsewhere. My comment about feeling somewhat stagnant in the 1970s is probably more applicable to their DOS-based station design. I'm not sure how adaptable it is to future applications and I actually don't know how much work has been done to build the "next" thing. Agreed there. Like I said it was built to try and do everything and then when we decided, "hey let's do these couple things," we used it for those things instead of approaching them as individual problems.
  10. The best word I've come up with to describe the Russian space program is "rural." They have made marked improvements to their computer and control systems to improve reliability, but they are effectively stuck in the same-ol-mission of the 1970s of ferrying people and cargo to LEO. The nice thing about Soyuz/Progress is it gives commercial companies a real world price point to beat. The space shuttle had the opposite problem in that it couldn't decide what to be so it was just everything at once. It's almost a victim of its own success in wrapping up construction on the ISS. Now that we have a facility like ISS in LEO, we really don't need to keep lugging robotics, airlocks, fuel cells, payload bays, etc to and from orbit.
  11. The [46] is a footnote from the wikipedia article where the list is from. Likewise the 1.x numbers are section listings from the article's index. This is just a really goofy OP. Comparing, specifically, militaries around the world in terms of how lgbt friendly they are feels like taking a wrong turn somewhere. I think comparing countries in general in terms of their lgbt rights and comparing the rights of service members with the level of acceptance enjoyed in rest of that country both make a lot more sense. Mind you I'm for the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly (and voted no on 8 in CA, etc.) but I think this comparison is awkward at best.
  12. To learning lessons in beer rather than blood.
  13. I had a whole mess of golfing trophies when I was a kid. When I stopped playing I kept all the name/event plates off of them and threw the trophies out. I think I still have them somewhere. Trap/skeet and wrestling in high school and more recently skydiving have all been medals. The only trophy (a small figurine on a base) that I still have is actually from work and I keep it on my desk.
  14. One of the largest complaints regarding government shortcomings in the lead up to 9/11 was a lack of intelligence sharing between the military, state department, and the alphabet soup. They tended to guard things from each other. ...and this is why.
  15. The F-14 was replaced by the F/A-18 in the US leaving Iran the only country the operates them. The F-14 itself had replaced the F-4 (sort of) but Iran still uses those too, as do a few other countries.
  16. "Defense" is not a program. I would not mock the use the term "welfare" and refer to "defense" in a monolithic sense in the same breath.
  17. If you read the version of the story off the AP wire he's been planning this for a while, he procured a number of the bomb components himself, and set off a test bomb out in the woods earlier this month. From what I've read, I feel a lot more comfortable with this sting than some of the ones that were in the news a couple years ago. For anyone to whom my opinion means anything.
  18. Yeah, because the replies on this forum aren't disrespectful enough now. :eyeroll:
  19. That's being a bit silly, but I appreciate the devil's advocacy. One problem is that the DHS/TSA has stepped in and imposed itself on the air travel industry. At first it was welcome because, "holy crap a lot of people were killed," but as time goes on they are imposing further in an ineffective way. And whether it's on an individual or agency level is up for debate, but they forgetting their place. Now, technically having the TSA at the airport is optional, so we may see some airports give them the boot if they don't shape up. At that point you will be free to take to other modes of transportation if you don't feel safe enough flying.
  20. I don't think it was a serious suggestion. The only sure fire way to detonate explosives of all the various types out there is with more explosives.
  21. I've tried to address this in my previous posts but to state it more directly, it's the converse of the old adage about only having a hammer in your tool belt. When you think your job is just about pounding nails, it doesn't matter how many tools you have in your belt (hammers, tire irons, torque wrenches, measuring tape) because all you ever do is clench them in your fist and start whacking away with them.
  22. Exactly my point. To the traveller, it's the same or slightly worse than a metal detector in terms of convenience and not getting patted down. It also takes longer and it has added privacy issues due to the images produced. It's completely useless the way it's being used at present. Unless they can get their operators trained to the point where you can send a group of average people through with shoes on, a wallet, phone, and keys in their pocket and maybe a wrist watch on and only have 5-10% require any additional attention to resolve something, they need to ditch the machines.
  23. I can see the body scanner gaining more support if it's actually used in a way that can speed things up and provide passengers with more convenience. Taking your jacket, belt, and shoes off and emptying your pockets is slow and annoying but when you're just going through a metal detector it makes sense due to the limitations of that machine's ability to resolve threats. And if you do set off a metal detector, getting patted down seems reasonable because everyone involved understands the limited information a metal detector provides. The TSA is using backscatter machines like they are fancy metal detectors rather than being a whole new tool. Let me leave my jacket and shoes on and let me leave my things in my pockets. Use that big fancy machine you're making me walk through to resolve the difference between a cell phone and a weapon rather than patting me down just because you see "something."
  24. "Dear God, please-" "We're sorry, the deity you have reached has been disconnected. Please stand up, then try your prayer again."
  25. About 4 hours for static line (back at the dropzone that probably prompted this poll.) I like to think I turned out okay, haha. It takes the right combination of being smart, cool headed, and having that sense for what things you just need to take people's word on until you develop your own to be a fast learning skydiving student. It's hard to describe.