wolfriverjoe

One more reason to not shoot it down over land. Almost like the military knew what they were doing. Go figure.

Well, you might notice that there's nothing extra on those drones. No top shell (less aerodynamic, but small weight saving). No landing gear (hold it in your hand to launch, no need to actually land). The part I can't get out of my head is the concept of being targeted by one of these. Even a 'slow' drone is going to be way faster than an armored vehicle. So you're sitting on top of your BMP, and you hear the high-pitched whine of a drone. No biggie, you hear that all the time. Then you see that it has a large shape underneath. THEN you realize what it is and what it's about to do. This is reminiscent of the 90s 'robot' movie Runaway (Tom Selleck, Kirstie Alley & Gene Simmons). There was a scene where remote 'lock ons' were targeting a car on the highway. Nightmare stuff.

Charlie don't surf.

I figured you'd chime in, Professor. I know you have a hell of a lot of experience with these. Far more than me. All I know about this particular situation is what I've read. RPG warhead (no rocket tube, no launcher) goes between 4 and 8 pounds. Which is a lot for a drone. But the videos are showing what appears to be drones with the 'business end' of an RPG warhead in the bottom of the frame. And this article has pics of the drones with the warhead attached (note that there a no fuses on the tips of the warheads). Pics are on the ground, so there's no proof that those drones are lifting that particular warhead. The warhead noted in the article is said to be 2.6kg (about 5 1/2 pounds). https://eurasiantimes.com/ukraine-is-slamming-russian-tanks-rpg-7-rockets/

I'd be more interested in what GWB and Dick Cheney may or may not have in their files.

All that has to happen to 'make peace' is Putin has to leave Ukraine. It's on him. Currently, Putler is trying to draft a lot more people. Including those up to 60 years old. Anyone with half a brain and a bit of cash has left the country. And on the other side, the old adage 'necessity is the mother of invention' has proven correct again. US & NATO supplied Javelin anti-tank missiles are VERY effective. But not cheap. Something like $200k each. OTOH, a typical racing drone is in the neighborhood of $500. The warhead off of an RPG is a couple hundred (there are millions out there). The racing drone has First Person Video (FPV). That gives the operator a 'drone's eye' view of where it's going, either on a monitor or VR goggles. The RPG warhead has it's fuse replaced. Original fuses have a safety mechanism, where the warhead won't arm until it's travelled a hundred meters or so, to prevent an 'oopsie' from killing the operator. They swap it out with a simple impact fuse. It hits something, it goes off. There are comments with the videos that the speed of the drone (or lack of speed) would render the warhead ineffective. That's simply not true. The warhead has a shaped charge, and the design of the charge is what makes the 'supersonic blast wave' that punches holes in armor. The warhead doesn't need to be moving any particular speed to be effective. The Soviets used magnetic shaped charge 'mines' against Nazi armor. Sneak up next to a tank, slap the magnet onto a weak spot on the tank, pull the fuse, run - REALLY fast. So these guys are flying camera equipped drones, with RPG warheads around, finding Russian vehicles... And blowing them up. For a tiny fraction of the cost of a Javelin missile. There's a lot of video out there of these. Some interesting footage. One of the more telling videos is this one: As it says in the title, the crews from the destroyed vehicles all run away. All that is, except for one, who is clearly injured and is crawling on hands and knees. Alone. One thing that is absolutely ingrained into US military people is that you NEVER abandon your wounded. EVER. US Marines are particularly adamant about that. However, apparently 'every day is bowb your buddy day' in the Russian Army.

Maybe the idea of debris from it falling over land, where there are people and property was less appealing than shooting it down over the open ocean.

Hi Jerry, The original question that prompted this was the one about UPT refusing to return an 'unairworthy' container, right? For that particular question, I'd guess Bill Booth has enough experience with litigation that he (and likely his attorneys) have decided that there's less risk of getting sued, and less overall liability exposure in keeping the rig rather than returning it with an admonition to not use it. Obviously, this is a guess. But I think it's a reasonable one. And I also think it's not a completely unreasonable position for Bill Booth to take, given the litigiousness of our society. There's a saying in the classic car world that certain, particular cars are worth well into 6 figures, even if it's just a pile of rust with a VIN Plate and a title.

I thought the big concern was that a rocket that could get a small satellite to orbit was powerful enough to launch a nuke over the north pole to the US. It was never all that hard to 'look down at us'. With few exceptions, the ability to see just about anywhere from cruise altitude is and always has been pretty clear.

Biden's lawyers are saying the FBI found nothing. The FBI, of course, doesn't comment. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64488011

So if my perception of Evangelicals is that the vast majority (not all, but certainly most) are bigoted, hypocritical lying idiots, people who shit ALL OVER that Jesus fella and his teachings, then that's 'reality'?

Not really. Its estimated that less than half the households, and about 1/3 of the people have guns. Fun fact: A tiny percentage (3%) own about half the guns. Kinda like Brent, one is never enough. Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/us/gun-ownership-numbers-us-cec/index.html For those who consider CNN "fake news", just search it. There's a ton of stories, mostly saying similar stuff.

'Cuz he thinks it's funny. And he gets you to respond.

FIFY

So you're admitting that everything you say is a joke, not to be taken seriously. Well, I figured that out a while back.

I thought that was known for a while. Along with the simple concept that the Enquirer NEVER published stories about Trump. But did so a LOT about people he didn't like.

Apparently the Stormy Daniels payoff is being presented to a Grand Jury. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-stormy-daniels-grand-jury-b2272185.html NYT got it out first, but they have a paywall.

That ALL depends on who you are and what you look like.

Yup. But as an adult white male, that's a lot less likely. In fact, it's a lot less likely even if I don't do any of the 'don't appear to be a threat' stuff. My ex was super stupid. What she did could easily get a young black male killed. She just got yelled at a very little bit and got a 'fix it' warning.

Joe beat me to it, while I was composing this. I'm going to guess it's something along the lines of 'how not to antagonize a cop during a traffic stop'. It's something a LOT of people are not super aware of. My ex-wife came home from work one night (she worked 2nd shift, finished at 11), rather pissed off. She had gotten pulled over, and as the cop got up to her window, she reached into her purse for her wallet. The cop didn't like the quick movement towards a 'hidden area' (inside the purse) and yelled at her to 'keep your hands where I can see them'. She didn't like that he yelled at her. I tried to explain that: 1 - Traffic stops are the 2nd most dangerous thing for a cop to do (responding to a domestic disturbance is 1st). 2 - He has no clue who she is or what she may have done in the last 5 minutes that would make her desperate enough to try to harm him. Yes, running the plate gives the owner's name, but what if she had recently stolen the car, and used it in an armed robbery that hadn't been reported yet because nobody had found the body of the convenience store clerk yet. Not super likely, but it's happened more than once. She wasn't super happy with that explanation, but said she'd hold still if she got pulled over again. Turned out she had a headlight out. No big deal. The last time I got pulled over (headlight), I did a few of the 'standard good behavior' things. Turned off the main street with no parking onto a side street where there's less traffic. Turned on my interior lights (it was after dark) so the cop could easily see that I was alone in the car. Didn't dig anything out between stopping and her coming up to the window (cops don't like to see 'furtive movement' when they are walking up). When asked for my license, said it was in my back pocket and asked permission to reach for it. When asked for registration and proof of insurance, said it was in the glove box and asked for permission to reach for it. In both cases, even with permission to reach, moved slowly & deliberately. When I opened the glove box, I pushed the button and let if fall open, waiting a second for her to be able to see before I reached into it. All of this is standard "How Not To Appear To Be A Threat". But not everyone knows it.

Kind of funny sidenote. In Wisconsin, then-Gov Walker pushed through a law that basically banned public employees from being part of a union. BUT... Police & fire were specifically exempted.

#1 - It ensures that EVERYONE has the opportunity to vote. #2 - It pushes those who would like to vote, but get distracted or forget. I've missed a couple minor elections because I simply forgot #3 - It makes people decide. They can vote for one or the other candidate, or they can abstain (blank ballot). To be honest, I'm not sure that I agree with it. But I can see some advantages.

A lot of DZs tend to be 'manufacturer loyal'. The gear shop is a dealer for one or two brands, gets a discount on it, passes much of that on to the local jumpers with a 'staff discount' and/or 'regular jumper discount'. So there are 'more than a few' jumpers who have limited (or no) personal experience with other brands. Coming on here and asking a wider 'experience pool' for actual, real world information is not unreasonable.

Right. How many of the 'Back the Blue' or "Blue Lives MATTER!!!" crowd are willing to pay higher taxes? I just paid my annual property taxes last week. The Assistant City Clerk is a friend, and she and I always chat just a bit. She sort of complains how unhappy people are to pay the taxes, and she always laughs when I'm not. I've always said: My garbage gets picked up every week. The snow is plowed. And, most importantly, if I dial 911, the cops & fire trucks are there in about 3 minutes. That stuff costs money. I wouldn't be thrilled to pay more, but if necessary, I'd be willing. I guess that makes me one of those dirty 'Socialists'.

Well, the five cops got fired. There was bodycam footage. It's been released. The cops are all facing a variety of charges, including murder. Compare & contrast that with the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago. It took forever for the cops to release the footage, and required a judge's order (that was blatantly ignored for a while). The telling part was that the murderous cop was indicted immediately before the footage was released. The whole department knew it had been murder. And they tried as hard as they could to cover it up. There's a lot of difference between the two cases. Change is happening slowly, but there are improvements.