wolfriverjoe

And while Trump fiddles, rates go up. Because uncertainty about what will happen means insurers hedge their bets. "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

That is arguably the dumbest quiz I've ever seen. Not making it a clicky because nobody needs to 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

Have you not figured out that no one with a reasonable level of intelligence and ability to think critically will take anything from that website seriously, ever? FIFY

Yep. From the article: The whole article echoes what I was saying. They know what they can get away with. They know how far they can push us. They are not stupid or crazy. And, on a lighter note (from FB): If Trump really wants to destroy the DPRK, he should just borrow some money from the Russian mob, buy it and turn it into one of his casinos. "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

Yellow Orange-stained sheets? FIFY

And, of course, reveal the launch codes to the entire world in doing so. I'm stuck between "Alice In Wonderland" and "Monty Python". "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

The command and control system is designed to give the POTUS unlimited discretion and the ability to act with great speed in this area. He does not need to consult anyone, he just needs to summon the aide who carries the codes. SecDef and JSC may not be anywhere near the man when the time comes. Those further down the chain have no idea what the circumstances are, just that a firing order has been given to them. They are very well trained to carry out those orders. If Trump, or any POTUS decides to start a war with missiles there is no one with the power to stop him or her. Please be careful who you vote for in the future. Yes and no. In the event of an attack, or an imminent one, then yes, the Pres orders the launch and it goes. But without that urgency, without that emergency situation, it would be likely that the chain of command would refuse. The guy carrying the codes might be the one to refuse, the SecDef might counter it, overall, it's unlikely that the order would be carried out. https://debunkingdoomsday.quora.com/Debunking-a-president-of-the-US-could-order-a-nuclear-attack-at-a-moments-notice-on-a-whim The guy in the story above that Ryoder linked was a "spear carrier", a silo guy. It was his job to follow orders. Questioning those orders will get you fired. For the upper levels of command, they are supposed to exercise judgement and discretion. "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 know if there are formal procedures or not. There is a fair amount of debate going on about using the 25th. But from the story: I'm going to guess that something along those lines has happened, is happening or will happen. Or at least I hope so. There are some pretty decent and professional folks in the upper reaches of the Pentagon. If they refuse an idiotic attack order, Trump will likely try to fire them. That would probably set off a chain of events that would end up with Trump being "25th'd." We've already pretty much reached the point where the admin people have said to ignore Trump's tweets. "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

Don't kid yourself. KJU is a lot more stable and rational than most seem to think. If you look at it from a detached, outside point of view, his actions make a lot of sense. What is his endgame? Stay in power. What is his biggest threat? Internal dissent from his own "court". Don't forget how he killed his own brother. How can he best maintain power? Make everyone (especially the entire DPRK) think he is the "Great and Powerful Outstanding Leader" (cue smoke and flames effect). What can he actually do? 1) - Attack the ROK conventionally. He could make a huge mess but in the end would be destroyed. He and the DPRK would cease to exist. 2) - Attack the ROK, Japan or perhaps US territory with nukes. It would be a much bigger mess, but in the end would end the same. He & the DPRK would cease to exist. 3) - Keep 'poking the bear' and continue on. "3" is where it's at and where it's been for a long time. There have been (roughly) a bazillion border incidents, commando raids (including kidnapping of civilians), shell attacks and even the sinking of the ROK Navy ship Cheonan. And what happened? International "condemnation" and sanctions. The sanctions do very little because the DPRK is almost completely isolated. It keeps the civilian population from getting a certain amount of aid, but KJU doesn't care about that. The condemnation makes KJU look like the rest of the world actually fears him and that he is the "Great and Powerful Outstanding Leader (cue smoke & flames effect again). All of this theater is directed internally. He likely doesn't care much about the outside world. He just wants to run the DPRK. His possession of nukes simply makes him more secure. We are less likely to attack if he has that option for retaliation. The idea of nukes that will fit on a missile doesn't change that much. Besides, he still has to figure out the missile itself. While they seem to be able to launch them sometimes, guidance and re-entry are still not there. look at how much "fun" both the US and USSR had back in the 50s & 60s figuring it out. KJU knows perfectly well that his baiting and teasing won't provoke an attack. Even if Trump was stupid enough to order an attack, the SecDef & JSC would likely over-rule the order unless KJU & the DPRK attacked first. Trump's immaturity and impulsiveness are simply playing right into KJU's game. KJU provokes, Trump responds with a stupid tweet. KJU shows his people how much the US (most powerful country in the world) is afraid of the DPRK's "Great and Powerful Outstanding Leader (more smoke & flames) and the DPRK never notice the fat little man behind the curtain (where in the hell is Toto when you need him?) "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

Wait a minute. Hold hearings? Openly discuss what may or should happen? Solicit input from people who may actually know something about it? Or be affected by it? Heavens to Murgatroid!!! We can't do that!! It's how the legislative process is supposed to work. "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

Tokyo had already suffered extensive damage due to conventional bombing and the resulting firestorms. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen in no small part because they had not been targeted to that point, and so the damage from the nuclear explosions would be more obvious. In other words they were experiments as well as military targets. Please note that I do think there were valid military reasons to use the bomb under the circumstances of the time. Don Actually, the bomb raids on Tokyo were primarily incendiary. The allies saw how much of the construction was flammable (wood and paper and such) and realized that it would be easier to burn it than blow it up. They were correct in that assessment. Estimates for casualties run into 6 figures. The raid in March is generally considered to be the most destructive of all of the war (and of all time). Wiki clicky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo And as has been repeatedly been discussed, there were multiple reasons for the use of nukes. Some were directly about the war, some were about other interests. And the use of the nukes was also multi-faceted. Some of it was direct (both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were legitimate military targets), some was psychological, to induce the Japanese to surrender. I don't think it was an easy decision, but I also believe it to have been the "best of a selection of bad options" given the circumstances of the time. "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

Dontcha just hate it when you spend a few minutes carefully thinking through a response, carefully crafting it, and then posting it just to see that someone said something similar, but was just a bit faster? "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

Hypochondriacs have symptoms of something all the time. If that symptom involves actually seeing the invisible people they're having a discussion with, then maybe they're on(to) something. . . Typical cases of psychosis are found in those that share common genetic disorders. Some have physical brain defects, while others have hormonal issues. Many within the science community believe that the idea of "God" developed as an evolutionary benefit. It's a human characteristic, not an illness. I'm sure many atheists have experienced it in one way or another. They may instinctively "pray" during times of duress or briefly have thoughts about the "other side" when a loved one dies. You can either choose to suppress that side of your humanity until it dies with you, or you can explore it. There are a lot of societal benefits to religious beliefs. That doesn't make any of it real, so exploring irrational beliefs and making the foolish assumption that they are true isn't really all that smart. So the idea that it developed as an "evolutionary trait" isn't farfetched. However, like so many other facets of life, it can be taken too far, misused and abused. Similarly, the pattern recognition ability is a major survival trait. Being able to see, say, a tiger in the grass, despite it's camouflage is important. Being able to see the face of a human predator hiding in the woods is also a good thing to be able to do. But when that trait is used to 'see' faces on Mars, and then argue that there must have been advanced civilizations because of it, or seeing the 'face of God' in a storm cloud and using that as proof of God's existence is stupid. And You don't really believe that, do you? "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

Are you using an actual "daisy chain" knot in the stows? I don't see it. If you are, stop. While a D/C will unstow itself as it pulls, it hangs up pretty easily. How often do you have to "snap" the lines to pull a D/C knot loose when the entire length of the lines have been daisy chained? Second, having both sides of the lines stowed together ensures even unstowing. Having them separate takes that away. It would be very, very easy for one side to unstow well ahead of the other. That would not be a good thing. Last, taking a 4" bight, folding it over and then stowing it is a recipe for knots. Don't stop thinking. There are likely better ways to do things. Innovation happens through thinking up new ways to do stuff that works now. But you have to do a very thorough "failure mode" analysis on anything new. I don't see this idea passing 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

Right. I know that. That's where my "God Stuff" comment came from. "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 wasn't. Remember, the stories tell that Jesus walked among the disciples after his resurrection. Doubting Thomas even got to poke at the nail holes and stab wound. Of course, those stories weren't even written down for a few hundred years after the "fact". But since it's "God Stuff", I'm sure that those stories were written down exactly as they happened (we really need a 'sarcasm' font). "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, Professor Kallend chimed in, and he's probably got the best answer for you. Personally, I'm 52, have been jumping for about 15 years. I can't go at it as "hard and heavy" as I used to, and I feel it more the next day. So what. It's still a lot of fun. I can still do reasonably well. I'm slowly coming to the realization that I'm a "crusty old guy", but I'm ok with that. I don't jump enough to be really good, or to advance to freeflying or that sort of stuff, but I'm ok with that. As long as I can exit without funneling, make my slot and remember the next point, as long as I'm not the one who screwed up the worst, then I'm cool with it. I intend to keep jumping as long as my mind and body allow me to do it safely. People like the Professor and a few others that I know give me hope that I will not have to stop for quite a while yet. "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

That promise of "eternal life" in heaven, where you don't have to die and everything is perfect is pretty attractive. The threat of "eternal damnation" in hell if you don't do the things they tell you to is also a fairly effective way to gain converts. Very classic 'carrot and stick' approach. "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, the "second hand conspiracy theories" coming from the anonymous sources have been pretty accurate so far. Have any of the major allegations that came out through anonymous sources been proven false? I can't think of any, but I may be wrong. "Major" meaning claims of significant illegal activity, by those close to the Pres, reported by major "main stream" media outlets. "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

Isn't he in the running for the WH comms position? I'm sure there's a good spot for him over at the DNC for the 2020 election cycle. Sounds to me like he would follow in the footsteps of someone else. (from the linked story) "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

Maybe when one of their own says it (instead of those liberals who must always be opposed), people like Rush will be able to look at Trump's embracing of mass-murderer Duterte and his genuine admiration of de-facto dictator Putin's 'strong' leadership and acknowledge that it is not right. These are not the actions and ideals that any democratically elected official should be praising, or - perish the thought - desire to emulate. Don't bet on it. Admitting they were wrong, accepting that the stories in the "main stream media" were correct, admitting that the "liberals" were (gasp!) correct in their assessment of Trump are all things that those types are never going to do. It's almost as if they would rather see the country go down the tubes than admit they made a mistake. Wait a minute, scratch the "almost". "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

First cell phone was a #4 (or similar) circa 1997. In 00, I got a #5. Motorola Startac, the first of the "smaller is cooler" phones. It was also the first "no roaming" nationwide plan with Verizon. I had that until 09(?) when it suddenly stopped working. The phone itself worked just fine, but it couldn't find a signal. The Verizon guy was amazed. He hadn't seen one of those in years. The support guy he talked to was also amazed. They no longer had any documentation (paper or electronic) on it. The network had updated and it was left behind. . Had rotary dial phones in my parent's house forever. When mom finally gave up and sold it in 07, they were still there (installed roughly 1973). The kids of the people that bought it were absolutely dumbfounded by them. They had no idea how to make them work. I'm kinda amazed that they still did actually work. "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

Guy is in a bad car accident. Traumatic brain injury. Comatose, non responsive. He's in the long term care at Ohio State University Hospital (location is important). Doctors regularly ask him questions, trying to see if he is in any way responsive. Family is warned that they will have to consider pulling the plug in a few weeks if no change. So what gets a response? When they ask him if he likes Michigan. "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

Experience can produce wisdom, but only in those open minded enough to learn. In an unfortunately large number of people, it just entrenches their belief system. Good or bad. I know lots of "elders" who think skin color matters in terms of intelligence or rights, that women are lesser than men, that gays should be shunned, and on and on. Simply making it to old age doesn't automatically guarantee wisdom. "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

The very simple problem with that is that Trump is not a 'successful businessman'. He's a "Trust Fund Baby" who thinks he can 'wheel and deal', when all he can really do is con people. He's a pretty good con man. His "Trump University" scam is a good example. The problem is that while he seems to have conned about 1/3 of the country (35% to be exact), the rest of us see right through 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