wolfriverjoe

Well, then you weren't paying attention. It was pretty big news when it all happened. The anti-gun crowd decided that they were going to sue the gunmakers out of existence. So they filed a lot of lawsuits. NONE of them made it very far, but the gunmakers had to defend each and every one of them. When it was pointed out that the suits had virtually no legal standing, were going nowhere and had no chance of winning, the anti-gun folks basically said "we don't care, we are going to bankrupt them this way." And it's not blanket protection. The parents of the kids from Sandy Hook are suing Bushmaster/Remington. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Just had Safety Day on Saturday. 7 fatalities, 29% of the total. Big topic of discussion. We even had an "Simulated EP race" where two jumpers were shown a pic of a situation and whoever reacted correctly first won the point. Winner at the end won a case of beer (well, Hamm's). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I think he does it on purpose. He has shown to be perfectly capable of proper spelling, grammar and punctuation when he chooses. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, what the NRA primarily did during that time was to expose a lot of abuses of power and violations of both the law and their own policies. Bush (first one) resigned his membership over the "jackbooted thugs" accusation, but there was a lot of truth to it. The "Gunwalker" scandal from a few years back seems to indicate that they still don't have a clue. Just to be clear: Gun dealers notified the ATF that suspicious people were wanting to buy a lot of guns. The ATF told those dealers to let the sales take place. The ATF claimed that there was an ongoing investigation. However, they had no assets in place to track the guns in Mexico, they had no cooperation with or even notification to Mexican authorities that this was happening. They were simply allowing these guns to be shipped to Mexico. Kinda funny how all the hoopla about "Mexican drug dealers are using guns bought in the US" disappeared after the facts came out. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Why? I'm not sure I want to go down this path, it's surely long and full of facepalm. Oh, piffle. Trump wants to build the border wall to protect us from "Mexican Rapists." What did Obama do about immigration? (other than deport more illegals than previous administrations) Trump wants to abandon the Iran deal to punish them for their nuclear ambitions. Obama paid them for the deal (well, it was actually money that belonged to them, but who cares about that) Trump wants to ban Muslims from the US to protect us from 'terrorism'. Obama called Islam a "religion of peace" and said that the war on terror wasn't a war on Islam (oh, wait. That was Bush) Trump supports and defends the KKK. Obama sure as hell didn't do that. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, I would guess that the FBI would have recognized the "Jones" name, and likely figured out who he was. They would have understood that he wasn't just 'some nut'. But I highly doubt that they would have accepted his offer of assistance. They were 'in control' of the situation. They 'knew what they were doing'. There were a few people who offered real assistance and advice to the FBI. Not just 'nuts' but folks who knew and understood Koresh. All were rebuffed. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You don't have to ask that hypothetically. Ron has made it pretty clear that he supports the Rs and Trump. And any criticism of them, or reports of 'unpatriotic' behavior is simply 'fake news.' OTOH, he has also made it clear that the "socialist/communist/liberal" democrats are his 'enemy.' I highly doubt you could convince him otherwise. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I don't disagree with that at all. Given that the US, in theory the 'shining beacon of democracy', has for it's president a 'wannabe demagouge', who is almost certainly influenced by Russia, I think the world may well be in trouble. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, yes and no. I agree that, in general, diplomats cannot go 'off script.' But, the SecState really isn't a 'diplomat.', he's the face of US foreign policy. He's 4th in succession for the office of president. And what he said was really necessary. If Trump didn't say it, it still had to be said. If Trump was too scared to challenge Russia, too stupid to realize what this means, or simply told by his owner to shut up, it still had to be said. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, to be clear, I'm not disparaging a shotgun as a weapon of choice in a interior, residential setting. They do have some attractive characteristics. But the idea that the shooter "doesn't have to aim particularly accurately", especially at closer ranges, is... Bullshit. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Were you raised in a country where the President had bragged of grabbing women by the genitals, of entering womens' changing rooms uninvited, had admitted adultery, mocked a disabled man, made racist remarks about a judge and refused to condemn neo-Nazis? I don't recall '50s America being like that. Well, in the 50s, Jim Crow and segregation were still in full effect, women had virtually no rights (most rapes went unreported due to shame), the disabled were hidden away out of shame and fear, rich and powerful men had affairs (but were usually discreet enough not to brag about them publicly) and the KKK was very popular. Nazi's weren't tolerated so much, mainly because a the memories of them in Europe were still pretty fresh. But racism and bigotry towards anyone who wasn't white and Christian was still pretty popular. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, given our own behavior, especially in the Middle East and South and Central America, that would be more than 'just a little bit' hypocritical. And I'm not just talking in the "distant past", I'm talking in the past 50 or 60 years. Or less. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

In the highly unlikely event that I ever feel the need of a firearm for home defense, it will be a 12 gauge shotgun. Couldn't agree more. You don't have to aim particularly accurately, there's less chance of ammunition overpenetrating and, in the case of a pump action, just the sound of racking the slide attracts people's undivided attention. Bolding mine. I hope you don't really believe that. Or maybe I do. Inside a typical dwelling, a shotgun pattern opens up only an inch or two. The myth that a shotgun has to "only be pointed in the general direction" of the target is a load of garbage. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, when any group has held power and privilege for a long time, they get used to it. And when they are forced to treat those they have held power and privilege over as equals, they feel persecuted. If it's a group that they consider very inferior to themselves, then they feel it more. When the Evangelicals are forced to treat Muslims as equals, they hate it. When bigots are forced to recognize that a Black man is president, they hate it. When sexists are forced to face the possibility of a woman as president, they hate it. So they make up stories, blow small incidents waaaaaay out of proportion, scream 'you are persecuting me" and pass laws that protect and justify their discrimination ("protection of religious freedom, anyone?) and generally act like assholes. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, you own the piece of plastic that the information is embedded into (presuming a movie on DVD), but you don't own the information (the movie itself). You simply have a license to use that info. And it's a pretty limited and specific license. It's called "Intellectual property" and there's a lot of law/legalities on it. The same applies to a tandem video. There is usually a license agreement (somewhere) that states that the DZ still holds all rights to the video, prohibits commercial use or duplication, ect. Most places don't make a big deal of customers posting/sharing on social media, but any commercial use is often stopped if the DZ becomes aware of it. For example, I have heard (no direct personal knowledge) of a used car lot owner who did a tandem, and then used part of the video in a commercial for his business. Part of the waiver included the video license, which clearly stated this wasn't allowed. It was stopped. But, to a question posted above, none of this applies in a court of law. If a judge issues an order for the DZ (or other owner of the video rights) to produce it, it must be given to the court. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, there's 'just a little bit' of marketing hype attached to bottled water. "Hydrogenated" water, "Alkaline" water, "Deep Ocean" water, "Raw" water, "Hexagonal" water, the list goes on and on. Barnum was right. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, what exactly are you asking? If it's a 'strict liability' issue, a signed statement from the buyer stating that they were aware of the issue at the time of purchase would probably suffice If it's a morality/conscience issue, then it's a bit tougher. I think you might be referring to the worn out Velo from the '16 SDAZ incident. In that case, did the seller sell a bad canopy to an unknowing buyer? Did the seller do the equivalent of selling a souped up Camaro with bad brakes to a clueless 16 year old kid? Did the buyer know he was getting a crappy canopy but bought it anyway? Did he promise the seller that he would get the weak points patched? So, for a seller with a canopy that needs a reline: The buyer wants it because it's lower priced, but the seller is wondering if the buyer is short on funds and is going to 'cheap out' and wait on the reline because they will last "a few more" jumps. One could argue that as long as the buyer has been told of the defects, the seller is off the hook. But, from seeing your posts on here, I don't think you would feel completely 'off the hook' if the buyer didn't get new lines and got hurt because of it. Maybe give the buyer's DZ/S&TA/Rigger a call and let them know. It's at least somewhat likely that the seller became aware of those people during the vetting process leading up to the sale. As in, the buyer talked to the DZ and made sure the jumper was a real buyer, not a scammer. The seller talked to the S&TA to make sure that experience/skill were appropriate for the canopy. Let them know that the lines are not the best. And that the buyer knows they need replacing. Is this "snitching" someone out? Maybe. It would be a tough call. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, it's an interesting situation. To a certain extent, you are both right. And Billvon has a tendency to be obtuse like that. I often wonder if he's doing that because that's how he really feels, or if he's just doing it to fuel the debate. If it was as clear as either of you are representing, then it wouldn't have gone this far. I tend to go along with the idea that one side of the contract failed to fulfill it's obligations, so the entire contract is null and void. Daniels needs to repay the $130k and they need to start all over. If it were a simple situation, it's entirely possible that's what would happen. But it's not a simple situation, nor are the participants 'ordinary citizens.' PLUS... According to Sanders (who is far from a 'reliable source'), the arbitrators already ruled in Trump's favor. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Hey, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. One man's gouger is another man's capitalist. But I think Phil's point was simply that there is not a lot of difference between the evil of Shkreli and that of the Falwell's. They both profit from the AIDs afflicted community in one way or another. Oh, absolutely. The "Robber Barons" of the "gilded age" were great capitalists. Form a monopoly and gouge the living shit out of the customer. However, the government found that behavior damaging enough in many respects to prohibit it. I've thought Falwell (both of them) are about as evil as it gets. In many ways more so than Shkreli. Hiding their hatred and bigotry behind their "god". "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Not quite sure what you mean by that. Shkreli bought the rights to an AIDS drug, and then jacked up the price to the point many could no longer afford it. Not sure how that constitutes "providing". I'd call it 'price gouging.' You know, like the title of the thread. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Interesting question. The whole 'concealment' thing makes the contract fishy. But she both signed it and has abided by it up to now. Her lawyer obviously thinks he can get it tossed. Trumps lawyers... Well, they might think they can get it upheld. Or they might think they can frighten Daniels into believing they can get it upheld. Or they think they can 'improperly influence' the court into finding for them. Or they are following the directives of the Mango Mussolini, who seems to have the amazing ability to convince himself that anything he wants to be true is true. His followers have that skill too. Then there's the whole "NDA" thing. Both Cohen and Sanders opened their mouths about it. I don't know enough about them to say whether or not that does anything to Daniels, but it might. I gotta admit it makes a hell of a distraction for the Russia investigation. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

So did you blow up your house 8 years ago trying to chop through a screwdriver based on my advice? More importantly: Did you get video? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification. I know a fair amount of people with carry permits, and probably a 'handful' carry on a regular basis. One guy, who works at a pawn shop and carries a large Beretta 92 in a shoulder rig, is not subtle at all about it. I will occasionally ask "when is the doctor going to remove that growth under your arm?" The rest carry small to medium stuff, as big as a compact 45. Unless you know it's there and know what you are looking for, you won't be able to tell. With a couple of them, even if you do know what and where, you don't see it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Just out of curiosity, how do you know 'very few people carry concealed'? You say 'weeks without seeing a firearm'. How do you know you are seeing them, or more accurately that you 'aren't not' seeing them. The whole idea of concealed carry is that people don't see it. While some stuff makes fairly obvious bulges (shoulder holsters are the worst), some are quite discreet. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Thanks. And just to be clear, I don't believe arming teachers will solve the problem. It would not be for everyone, and maybe not even for every school. The individual choices that must be considered are both numerous and very critical. 'Individual' meaning both for each school and for each teacher. But it's one way to potentially reduce the carnage should something like this happen. The odds of a teacher being in just the right place at just the right time to stop a shooter before anyone got killed would be well beyond winning the lottery. However, there have been a couple instances where an armed school staff member (principal in one case, janitor in another) was able to retrieve a gun from their car and confront a shooter well before they would have stopped on their own. Before anyone asks, no I can't find links to these. They were a long time ago, before everything was on line and the archives to the sources aren't available to me (not unless I pay for them). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo