wolfriverjoe

The 'spectre of a Clinton Gun Grab' was a myth perpetrated by the gun lobby. How many guns did Obama ban? How many fools paid WAAAAAAY too much for guns in 08?

I'm not sure that 'terrorist' is correct. I think they are 'insurgents'. Yes, a bit pedantic. In any case, this is really idiotic. Apparently their plan was to kidnap the governor and take over the Capitol building. Then they'd be in charge. What the hell was their endgame? I'm guessing that they expected the 'silent majority' to rise up and support them. You know, like Bush & Cheney expected to happen in Iraq in 03. Did they not realize that there's a succession plan? Did they think that the Capitol building has 'magical powers' and whoever controls is 'in charge'? Did they not think that the cops would fight back? Did they think that Trump would tell the FBI to 'step back and stand by'? Currently 13 people have been charged. Apparently they started the plot back in August, and the FBI had informants in on it from the start. Somehow I'm reminded of the old show "Taxi" (anyone else remember that?) There was an episode where Latka (Andy Kaufman) was being recruited to join the 'resistance' back in his own country. He was all pumped up to 'free his homeland' until he finds out how many are in the 'resistance army' IMDB:

Because discrimination is illegal. If someone wishes to sell 'to the public', they have to sell to the whole 'public'. A baker is permitted to choose to sell or not sell wedding cakes. But if that baker chooses to sell wedding cakes, he has to sell wedding cakes to everyone. They cannot say "I'll sell wedding cakes to anyone except black people" or "I'll sell wedding cakes to anyone but Jewish people". And all Trump has to do to stay on Twitter is to follow the rules. Those same rules apply to everyone. But he's been ignoring rules his ENTIRE LIFE. I don't think he's capable of exercising enough restraint to do that.

Very true. At least for now, it's going to be a 'good weather' system. Deciding where the road is under a coating of snow is difficult, even for humans.

Probably the most times the word 'skydiver' has been uttered in the major media (both 'sports media' and 'straight press') ever.

Ron doesn't fear Q. He supports it. KInd of like he said that he wasn't afraid of white supremacists (I think it was in another thread). And, being an older white male who flies a confederate flag (I recall him posting that he did), he has very little to fear from them.

Yes, they are supposed to. Yes, they do. Not surprised in the least that 'political expediency' over rode good judgement.

My previous prediction was that line haul on the toll roads would be first. At least the first for big trucks. The ones I'm most familiar with are the Indiana (I80/90) Ohio (I80/90, I76), Pennsylvania (I76), New York (I90, I87) and Massachusetts (I90). Line haul is basically exit to exit. They pull double & triple 'pup' trailers (shorter -27') and 'turnpike double' (two 48' trailers). The triples & turnpike doubles don't get pulled off of the turnpike. They have 'make up/break up lots' at the exits. A driver would have to bring the trailers to the lot, build the 'train', hook the autonomous tractor and push a couple buttons. Mapping those roads would be pretty simple. Not trivial, but not difficult. Depending on the type of mapping needed, much of it is probably already on file. Down to the location of the signs and thickness of the pavement. AFAIK, there's good cell coverage all along those roads.

Somehow it's not surprising that the people who support the guy who is probably the greatest con man of the latter 20th/early 21st centuries are also the proponents, the 'faithful' for the "Q" garbage. Seriously, when are the 'tribunals' at Gitmo going to start?

One of the things we tend to forget about the election is that it's pretty much a 'county level' event. The election officials are county workers. Usually known to the community. That doesn't mean that they can't or won't pull some crap to tilt the election one way or another, but it really doesn't happen much. And I've seen a LOT of stuff going around on FB that local LE (all over the place, not just local to me) are saying that any 'volunteer poll watchers' who even appear to be trying to discourage any people from voting will be 'dealt with in an appropriate manner'. From what I understand that means warnings, trespassing citations, and then arrest.

It can be. For 'caplock' stuff, the standard #11 cap isn't a huge deal to replicate. For smokeless stuff, and the more modern black powder that uses the "209" shotgun primer, it's a bit more involved, but not impossible. Of course, if you take a 'historical step backwards' and go with a flintlock, no primers needed. I had this discussion with him. He said he'd most likely go with home made #11s.

Oh please. Guns won't have much value. There's just too many of them. Same as vehicles. Ammunition and fuel will be the commodities that will have value. There's a fella that used to show up at the shooting range I'm part of. He did a lot of home gunsmithing, mostly 'parts replacement' or simple customizing. He also did some rather interesting stuff as a 'can I do it?' exercise. He loaded most of his own ammo, so he tried to see if the steel cases could be reloaded. They're really common and the loaded ammo (used to be Chinese, now it's mostly Russian) is pretty cheap. He found he could get the cases to resize with a lot of lube and effort, and they would usually reload and fire two or three times before they split. As he put it - If I really need to, I know I can. He also made a couple of batches of black powder from scratch. Simple tests (using a chronometer) against both 'factory' black powder and Pyrodex (black powder substitute) showed it was comparable.

Maybe, maybe not. The truly disgusting part about this is how hard it is to tell if Trump was deliberately trying to push Biden hard enough to bring his stutter out, or if it was just "Trump being Trump." I don't believe he's organized enough, nor smart enough to deliberately do this. But he has people who are. And if one of them said something like: "If you push him hard enough, if you antagonize him enough, it will bring his stutter out. Once he starts stuttering, you can push the 'senile old man' button." The fact that he hammered on Biden's dead son is a good example. Again, is it a deliberate attempt to get Biden rattled enough to lose control, or is it simply Trump being a despicable pile of garbage?

An interesting point I found on FB. I don't know a whole lot about stuttering, but I do know that stress makes it worse. Again, I don't know what Trump's prep and plan were, but this is about his speed.

You mean like this: https://ifunny.co/picture/tattoo-of-leviticus-18-22-which-forbids-leviticus-19-28-jCe0mFev5

The number of abortions at 7 months is pretty small. The number done when the mother's life is not in danger or when they find serious defects in the fetus is just about zero. The idea of abortions that late being done for birth control is one that has been fabricated by the 'pro-birth' crowd (they sure as hell aren't 'pro-life' - the last 7 months have demonstrated that pretty clearly).

Me? No. As I noted above, about a decade ago, I took a good long look at what sorts of 'disasters' I might face, where I live. No earthquakes, no floods, no hurricanes. No race riots, there's really nobody but white people in the area (seriously, minorities are really in the minoritiy here). And, while I live a block from a fairly big cemetary, as far as I can determine, there's only 2 people on record (well, questionable records) coming back from the dead. And that was a couple thousand years ago. Not worrying at all about zombies. But it can be a fun intellectual exercise. I knew a few fairly hardcore survivalists back in the 80s. Or at least they thought they were. They really hadn't thought through all the scenarios they imagined. I had a found a decent amount of amusement asking them 'well, what if this happens?' Or 'what if guys like that show up?' Their ideas of fortifying a large building were pretty laughable. Especially when the local National Guard armory has mortars.

That all sounds great, and may even be true, to a degree. But I think a more powerful motive is simple greed. The "I got mine, you can't have any of it" mentality.

At what point in time did Biden tell the Antifa to 'stand by'? Many are wondering if he plans on telling them to "Step Up" for the election. You know, to prevent 'voter fraud', which to them would mean not allowing 'those people' to vote. Or maybe after Trump loses. He could call for an armed march by them. Maybe he could tell them to wear brown shirts instead of the polo shirts they like.

Find a good place to hide. If you find a place that's really hard for someone to get into, it will be really hard for you to get out of. If you find a place where you can see for miles and miles, it will be easy for others to spot you. Don't make any noise, smoke (during the day) or light (at night). Hope that nobody with more people or bigger guns finds you. Being alone (either one person or one family) sucks. Building a community is a far, far safer bet. Some would. There are those who want one now. They tend to be the frightened type. They want a 'strong leader' to tell them what to do.They want someone to keep 'those people' out. You know, by building a wall or something. The problem is that those sorts of people want a dictator who's 'like them'. Even if he's not. They think that he will protect them. They never understand that they are not even pawns for that dictator. They're nothing. The dictator will let them die by the hundreds of thousands. And pretend that he's doing a 'great job'.

The Proud Boys are hardcore white supremacists. They advocate violence against minorities (both racial and religious). Trump issued what sure sounded like operational orders to them. Are you in any way shape or form ok with that? Are you ok with the president giving orders to what are basically Nazis?

I don't know about you, but I think oneof the major issues is that a sitting president gave what sure sounded like operational orders to a violent white supremacist group that's been classified as 'domestic terrorists' by the FBI. Those stupid racists sure took it that way. Apparently, they've already put "Stay back and stand by" on a patch.

Also the morons who have been conned into believing that any sort of 'social program' is a slippery slope that will lead to government control over every aspect of our lives. No, I'm not kidding. I know far too many fools who believe that.

For #1 - I hope so. But I doubt it would be totally enforecable. For #2 - Look at how long it took for damn near everyone to have a smart phone. I think the tech will come fairly soon. I wouldn't be surprised to see the turnpike line haul trucks without drivers before I retire (at least 10 years away). As far as the 'call center' approach. It worked 'sorta ok' for the drones, in part because they're planes. We've had autopilots for planes for a long, long time (over 100 years). Planes don't have to follow roads or avoid other traffic (much). So the drones could be on auto pilot from the launch site until near the target. A bit different for trucks on the interstates. But, again, the level of AI needed to operate in that environment (limited acess, similar speeds, gentle curves, ect) isn't super high. The level of distraction that humans experience and still operate mostly ok is really high. Operating a big truck in an urban environment is not something that is going to happen autonomously for a long time. Maybe not in my lifetime.

Oh, come on Professor. Remember the 'backyard fallout shelters' back in the 50s & 60s? (before my time) The 'survivalists' from the 70s & 80s? The "Y2K" fears? This sort of thing pervades human history. Even on here, Ron has been getting ready for "SHTF" for a loooong time. He expected it during the Obama administration. Maybe even before that. Even FEMA says people should have short term supplies of necessary items. For people who live in areas subject to widespread disasters (fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, ect) where large areas can be without power, water, food, medical help, ect for 'more than short' periods of time (more than 3 or 4 days), this sort of 'prepping' is a really good idea. Wendy's idea of neighborhood 'networking' is even better. Know your neighbors, who can offer what and band together in case of emergency (Ron's 'tribe' up in the mountains is the exact same thing). It's kind of funny. After the Swine Flu outbreak a decade or so ago, I took a look at my own situation. It wasn't bad here, but there were a lot of reports of how widespread the shutdown in Mexico was. Lots of stuff got closed down, even grocery stores. I tried to evaluate what sorts of disasters I'd be at risk for, and what could & should I do. Earthquakes, floods & hurricanes simply aren't a real threat here. Tornadoes, but those tend to be localized. My house & neighborhood might get blasted off to Oz, but not the entire town. A couple grocery stores might get flattened, but there's others in the neighboring towns. Power here is from the local hydro facility. No worries about coal or other fuel supplies. They've said in the past that they can supply the town and pretty much isolate us from the rest of the grid if needed. Honestly, the biggest threat I could identify was either widespread civil unrest (unlikely) or a pandemic. So I made sure that I was in a position that I could be safe and reasonably comfortable in my house for an extended period of time. All I really did was slowly stock up on food that would last well. I'd buy 2 or 3 extra cans of soup, stew or what ever; and extra box of pasta or bag of rice, a couple extra bottles of water. Some extra frozen stuff, but not a whole lot. I can't really justify a generator. I've lost power a handful of times in the 17 years I've been in this house, and never for more than a couple hours. That stuff got stashed down in the basement. Basic supplies like soap, TP, paper towels, ect are something I've always kept a couple months supply on hand. Store what you eat, eat what you store is a good piece of advice. I wondered if I was being over-cautious, but I also figured that if I lost my job or something like that, I'd have enough food for a while if money got tight. "Disaster" has a wide variety of meanings. However, during this pandemic, stores never shut down. Stupid people panic buying all sorts of stuff made for spot shortages here & there. But production and supply chains never shut down (I drive truck - I see how much stuff is being shipped & delivered). So the idea of not being able to get essentials for an extended period never materialized. But it was actually pretty nice to not have to worry.