JoeWeber

As did the so called "moral majority". Your silent majority is no more silent than the moral majority is moral. So these self appointed elites you are bugged by, are you of the belief that they actually self appointed themselves and weren't somehow elevated by the consensus of a majority of someones? Again, to my reading at least, while you strive to play neutral in how you pose things the truth is far from that. Anyway, I asked before and I'll ask again: how much of what you believe about social and political issues comes from your Christian faith? Ron, to his credit, pulls no punches but it seems the majority of Christian believers want to pass it off as something they just do one day a week but don't think about otherwise. As I see it that is the real elephant in the room.

Beautiful.

My hope is to add Twitter to MySpace and every other ridiculous social media platform I've never used.

It's only a strawman if you know you are doing it. Otherwise it's a kerflunkumdiffle.

Worked just fine in 2020, seems to me.

You're right, of course. But while there are some DZ's that are so far out of whack they will be washed out for many it will boil down to how much grace time operators will have to come into compliance and how much in engine overhaul reserves they have in the bank. Many operators of turbine aircraft buy engines that are already beyond TBO (time before overhaul) and run them for a few thousand hours more. Those core engines will suddenly have no value in the jump market and will need to be overhauled. I built a Turbine Engine Leasing company to supply rental engines to part 135 operators (I know better than to lease to jump operators) so they could keep going while their engines were being overhauled. Overhauling small and medium size PT6 engines can take months and cost several hundred thousand dollars each and often as not you need to get in the queue. Also, the cost to overhaul a first run TBO engine is a lot less than a second run 8000 hour engine. Those get paid for with game show checks, you know, the big ones like they give out on TV. Please know that an engine at TBO isn't an unsafe engine. Even in jump op's if they are properly maintained a couple thousand hours past TBO isn't a problem, hence the successful and FAA approved TBO extension programs. The good news is that thanks to Ray Ferrell showing us a couple of decades ago that brand new aircraft and engines were affordable in the jump industry, and also owing to the several higher horsepower options that were developed for Caravans, there are now quite a number of "fresh" and more modern design engines hauling jumpers in the market. They'll all be OK. But if you have a Twin Otter or two and all of your -27's or -34's are old and second run that's a problem.

Someone must have counseled that now was an inopportune time to go to court arguing that you shouldn't need to pay your lawyers.

You need to get comfortable in your skin. If you can't afford several judges or a flock of sycophants or a gaggle of attorneys or, for that matter, a shaft of proctologists that isn't societies problem: it's your problem.

Why thank you. Dare you say why we are so amusing?

Which brings us to the issue of reparations. In light of all of the personal benefits received, please explain why they shouldn't be forced to cough up the cost of getting them here.

How is it his fault? They let you do anything, even grab 'em by the pussy.

Exclusive. My bookkeeping sucks. I can't remember if I owe Lippy or he owes me, assuming he's a him/yo.

And another free jump.

They meant don't kill your next door neighbor but the guy's in the next town, well, fuck 'em.

If you're scared I'm petrified. How do you harden a lithium/solar system like we have on the Peoples Republic of Joe?

Thanks, I definitely needed that clarification.

I'm still aghast that there are any guys out there publicly arguing that if you don't last 10 seconds it's not sex.

I don't believe in any Gods including the currently popular ones. I absolutely try to be tolerant of any and all of the lifestyle choices my fellow mammals make that don't impact me negatively if for no other reason than to do otherwise is a waste of time and energy. But I didn't ask if you believed in God I asked if you were a practicing Christian. What I mean by that is do the tenants of your faith dominantly inform your sense of morality, ethics, and politics?

Bill, are you a practicing Christian?

Back to the war in Ukraine, I'm evolving. I now think we, and our allies, need to ramp it up and provide whatever Ukraine needs to punch through the defensive lines Russia painstakingly built. We need to not only supply ATACM's but we need to release the obligation to only use the weapons on Ukrainian soil. We all need to recognize that Russia will not attack Europe at this stage and so loosen up restrictions on held back munitions and weapons, especially air defense equipment and lots of it. If Ukraine doesn't have a real breakthrough success and soon support will likely falter. Timing, as ever, is the real game.

Yep.

I've been looking for responsible homes for my guns, I would jump at the chance to trade them for cash or booze.

Indeed, like a slew of bullshit SC decisions. What is it with the gun huggers? Do you really think that the increase in the numbers of automobile crashes is a function of fewer slow down signs and has zero to do with the increased number of cars?

Statements like this one are why some here find it hard to take you seriously. Assuming, with confidence, that included in your "multiple reasons for gun violence" is mental illness how do you know that the easy availability of guns, the lionization of American gun culture by the Right, or even your own individual staunch support of guns like the AR-15 "platform" haven't contributed to what triggered some act of gun violence. You're right, oddly enough, when you make the argument that the problem is more complex than the guns alone. Too complex, apparently.

That's a crock of shit. "Gun violence" may have a taint of wokeness from your perspective but it is not a pejorative term meant to demean and harm others.