patrick.net

Straw Man says

Again, it's impossible to shoot down a bird with a rifle. Even more so for a drone. Adding "assault" to the definition doesn't make it more possible. To have a chance at shooting down a flying object you need, basically, to deliver a cloud of projectiles, which is achieved either by shotgun-type weapon, multi-barell machinegun (think 4-barrel DSHK or, better yet, Gatling), cannon with shrapnel projectile, or missile with shrapnel-loaded warhead. Rifles are useless against flying objects.

Useless, ineffective, unlikely...yes. " Impossible"? No.

Back when we were kids in high school I was out with a friend waterfowl hunting and we had a poor day, as it was toward the end of the season when the birds were shy and educated to decoy spreads. Anyways, we were putting away our guns when we hear flocks of geese start to get up and move to their roosting ponds. My buddy pulled out a 10/22(rifle) from his pickup and popped a 50rd magazine in it(this was when you could buy high capacity magazines in California), and start unloading on this flock of snow geese 150 yards up when they came over us. To my surprise, one actually fell.

It fell into some thick brush and we looked for about half and hour but couldn't find it in the in the waning sunlight. We kept that incident to ourselves as we would have been in big trouble with our dads for the illegal method of shooting birds, but more importantly, the unethical take and waste of game.

thomaswong.1986 says

If your a foreign citizen, working in the USA, your income is taxable back home. Since your not reporting it makes you a criminal... simple !

No it's not. Only the US taxes non resident income. You haven't been able to comprehend this yet have you? Keep working hard and you will graduate 8th grade soon. There's no shame in taking so many tries to get through.

thomaswong.1986 says

Like i said, not my game.. you figure it out why the Govt is screwed up.

You are the only one that is screwed up, just admit you are too ignorant to answer the question.

thomaswong.1986 says

JFP says

There are two problems with moving out of California if you are in Tech:

1) if you leave, you are going to be priced out of buying a house pretty quickly.

2) There is a much smaller pool of jobs to choose from. So, if you do move there it's difficult to find your next job that means lower chance to advance your career. There's also less chance to work on cutting edge technologies.

Tell that to the sales people in the field working for real Tech companies...

They are racking in more $$$ than you can imagine! If You work in SV

Tech... I really encourage you to talk to your Sales People, or Service

Engineers... You wont hear them complaining being far from the

Mothership or California...

I'm not talking about sales engineers. That's just changing the subject.

thomaswong.1986 says

JFP says

Yet, the competition for engineers among internet and software companies in SV remains intense. You are living in the past. You are fixated on hardware, while the future is software.

Its equally true for GE United Technology and many others who employ SW folks...from Maine to Washington to Texas and Florida SW industry are spread far and wide...It was very true we were central a must to be here.. but now everyone can do programming... there are no boundaries or restrictions.

Its all ying and yang.. a balance between SW and HW for products to work flawless.

I'm just going to have to give up in arguing with you, because it's pointless if you are seriously going to continue to maintain that the tech industry is not centered in SV. The experience of everyone I know in the tech industry is completely different than your reality.

thomaswong.1986 says

lets be more competitive than TX and also have homes cheaper.. it wasnt that long ago, we saw fairly large homes like mine around $200-250K. But some went ape shit and think they are worth $700K or so... what are we Connecticut ? Hard to imagine Connecticut was more expensive than the Bay Area ....

We are more competitive than TX, which is why SV and the BA has 10X's more tech related companies with salaries that they are paying as higher to attract better talent. That's a given. Also- while I haven't lived here as long as yourself, I've lived here long enough to talk with many who have, including current and former neighbors, some whom bought houses as long ago as 50 years ago.

So for example, there was an older couple kitty-cornered from me when I rented a house for almost 10 years. They had paid close to $30,000 for their small-ish older house in the late 60's. For comparison, my parents bought their custom-built new home in the mid-70's in North Carolina on 15 acres of land for 17k. So in other words, even back then there was a HUGE delta in prices between the BA and other parts of the country. What's more, virtually every person I talked to had to really scrimp and save for their houses, and there was at no point a time when any of them felt that they had gotten some incredible deal.thomaswong.1986 says

while it may be hot outside of SF city.. you see people bundled up

in sweater trying to smoke to keep warm... In Summer !!!!

Have you ever lived in either the Northeast or midwest? I lived in the Northeast for a few years and let me just say that weather for about half of the year makes a BIG impact on daily life. There is a big difference between going outside and having your still wet hair from the morning shower freeze instantly, and being outside period actually hurts from it being so cold versus a day like today in the BA where its supposed to be in the 70's... in January. People say that we pay a "Sunshine tax". There is actually some value to having weather that's for the most part mild and pleasant for most of the year.

edvard2 says

Have you ever lived in either the Northeast or midwest? I lived in the Northeast for a few years and let me just say that weather for about half of the year makes a BIG impact on daily life. There is a big difference between going outside and having your still wet hair from the morning shower freeze instantly, and being outside period actually hurts from it being so cold versus a day like today in the BA where its supposed to be in the 70's... in January. People say that we pay a "Sunshine tax". There is actually some value to having weather that's for the most part mild and pleasant for most of the year.

Totally agree, but you are wasting your time debating Thomas.

JodyChunder says

rooemoore says

I have a friend who owns a condo in SF but is applying for a job in Indianapolis. He tells me the city is a lot nicer than it is given credit for and that the cost of living is about 45% lower than the BA.

All true. Some really fine residential architectural gems, there, too. I will say, however, that the weather is pretty tough to take. Very very cold, and muggy in the summers.

I can't agree with the first part. I grew up in Indiana and we used to call it "India-noplace" or "Naptown". But yes the climate totally sucks.

OH, YEAH, GIMME GIMME GIMME, I'M SUCH A WONDERFUL PERSON, PUT ME IN CHARGE OF THE MONEY, GIMME GIMME GIMME, I'LL SOLVE ALL THE HORRID PROBLEMS, I WILL GIVE MONEY AWAY FOR FREE LIKE THE GOOD OLE DAYS, GIMME, PLEASE, GIMME.

This is the part that jumped out at me. Dead men tell no tales:
... it points out that Stevens had rejected additional security. The Defense Department had provided a Site Security Team in Tripoli, made up of 16 special operations personnel to provide security and other help. The State Department, according to the report, decided not to extend the team’s mission in August 2012, one month before the attack. In the weeks that followed, Gen. Carter Ham, the head of Africa Command, twice asked Stevens to employ the team, and twice Stevens declined, the report said.

Benghazi-9/11 death & injury score. Bush & Republicans leading by wide margin.

I'm sure the House of Republicans will massively increase spending for security for all Americans,globally. That should be simple. They spent a few bucks on two unfunded wars.

Bush/Republicans know how to use money efficiently & prevent waste.
They will soon be able to pay for $4-6 trillion wars.
Illusional Economic Geniuses.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ea6_1308237590

Ellen Brown, Web of Debt:
"The approach was pioneered in North Dakota, the only state to escape the 2008 banking crisis. North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, the lowest foreclosure rate, the lowest default rate on credit card debt, and no state debt at all. It is also the only state to own its own bank."
I guess their great economy is due to Red State voting. lol
Wonder if the oil boom has anything to do with the state economy?
Finding massive reserves of oil probably wouldn't help other states.

The GOP knows they have to keep talking about thing thing for another three years. So far they've succeeded in doing so for almost 2 so far.

I give up. Some fresh ideas, some fresh thoughts on how to turn this country around. next repub primary should be fun-Benghazi, Benghazi, Obozocare , blah, blah , blah.

Maybe I should move out of this country for a few years and/or decades and come back when our leaders start making sense. Oh wait, this is the only first world country that charges taxes on expats/non-resident citizens. It also demands they declare their bank accounts to the IRS and will threaten foreign banks-thanks to OBozo the clown. Do the republicans bring that up in their attacks on him-nope. Sigh..

"manipulated" doesn't make sense, unless entities are so big as to "corner" a market, which makes no sense. Except possibly in the short run and at extremely great risk of the manipulator losing more than they can afford to lose.

That is,.. at risk of risking more than they are allowed to risk (see clearing firms rules etc).

But sure very short term minor manipulation happens. For example say some trader, who makes markets in gold, keeps on selling to buyers (at prices that give him the edge at the time that he sells but at some point he's short way more contracts than he wants to be.

Well, in a period of light volume he might try to push the price down through key support to elicit some selling at lower prices (good prices for him) where he can cover some of his shorts.

The risk is, what if the number of contracts he can buy at those lower prices is way less than the number of contracts he sold to push the price down. And buyers come in an bid the price right back up. Now he's short more than he was before and lost a lot on his attempt to take prices down to where they don't want to be.

The same concepts apply to the big guys.

Was the oil run up in 2007 manipulation ? Maybe. But I would argue that a lot of people believed in peak oil, which still a real concept at some point, but maybe alternative energy can keep up in such away that by the time oil production is actually dropping, demand will be too.

But my point is that the market was wrong, not because of manipulators, but rather just because it was. Did some big trading operations get long at some point, and bid up the price in front of some big interests that were effectively "short" either literally or in the sense that they had to buy oil ?

Sure. That happens in markets. But in my view the markets just got it wrong.

And then we went in to the great recession where demand fell off a cliff.

I'm not saying manipulation doesn't happen. I think that the money markets are manipulated a little with QE. And there was a time when Gold and Silver were manipulated by the hunt brothers. But they had their heads handed to them.

edvard2 said: The GOP knows they have to keep talking about thing thing for another three years.
Take solace in the fact that some GOP PAC is spending their hard earned money on a Benghazi "documentary film". It will all be for naught if some dark horse candidate emerges in the Democratic primaries and defeats Hilary (or for for some reason, she decides not to run).

The FED would have a keen interest in seeing that the price of gold stays down and they certainly have the ability to do so.

The cause of the crash seems conflicting and debatable, so let's look at motive. What is the motivation to take down the whole plane? To kill at least one person on board. Who? 230 people perished and it is a lot of research to find connections.

Here is the passenger list:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/twa800/list01.htm

Could it be these two?

"For them, Paris held the allure of money to do business. They were insurance company executives. C. Kirk Rhein Jr. was the chief executive of Danielson Holding Company, an insurance company in Manhattan, and he was on Flight 800 with William R. Story, who heads Danielson's main subsidiary, and Charles H. Gray, president of the Midland Financial Group, a Memphis company that was being acquired by Danielson. The merger was to be completed in September, and they were on their way to France to arrange financing."

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/19/nyregion/explosion-aboard-twa-flight-800-victims-lives-beauty-business-sports-scholarship.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Who wants to spend the time trying to figure it out?

bgamall4 says

I am wondering how a fuel tank that is empty can generate that large explosion?

Take an empty gas tank off a car and weld a crease that is damaged.

I won't expect that'd you'd be able to give an answer when your study is finished.

I worked at a machine shop in my younger days. We'd seriously draw straws at who would get to weld the gas tank that day.

For comparison, drop a match in a bucket of gas. Guess what, nothing will happen (I've done it). The match will just extinguish.

Now drop a match in an empty gas can.

Expect a completely different result.

He's suing them because they did not warn him their private parts could be used as weapons.

Indiana Jones says

The cause of the crash seems conflicting and debatable,

No it doesn't. There is nothing to debate.

Indiana Jones says

so let's look at motive.

Why? It was an accident due to mechanical failure. Accidents do not have motives.

And there's cockeyed arms all over the place. That arm in the middle isn't even connected to anything.

Wow bgam, you posted on at least 20 of your own old threads today. What's with that. Feeling ego challenged? Is it a slow day at the asylum? Did they run out of thorazine?

How does the author of this article even have a job anymore? I guess when you're a tabloid rag, no one really cares.

"Correction, 12:26 p.m. ET: An original version of this story said that Reince Priebus referred to Mitt Romney's comments as "racist." He said it "hurts us." Business Insider regrets the error."

http://www.businessinsider.com/reince-priebus-immigration-reform-rnc-steve-king-self-deportation-2013-8

I'm not big Tea Party cheerleader but you need a different link as with this article you don't know when the 24 year old author(Brett LoGiuratois) looking to make a name for himself, is going to have to come in months, or years later, and apologize for falsifying a quote.

Someone wants respect and Liberals don't know what they mean by that. TPB passes out from being shocked.

Teaparty in 2014 and 2016, they seem to be only ones in the last 8 years that hasn't lied. Their track record speaks for its self, in the way the Liberals and the GOP so desperately want's to sweep them under the rug, and calls them names. I especially like the part where you guys liken them to the KKK, even when they have plenty of black supporters, and leaders.

bgamall4 says

Apparently what we get with "competition" is just an oligopoly. I would rather have a government controlled monopoly than an oligopoly that no one controls. Turns out we pay more than any nation in the developed world.

What you said! That is the biggest problem I have with the Dimluted Liberal mentality.

You sonsofbitches would rather have a just as fucked up scenario as apposed to another fucked up scenario, because it frames your Liberal utopian fantasy to suit your skewed view of the world.

I don't give a fuck who benefits from a stacked deck, the point is to not have them in the first place. You're preference really lacks the vision of Leadership and Prudence.

It really seems to me, you guys don't want Socialized medicine, what you would really love is the unabated medical billing machine just as long as there's a Nancy Pelosi in the mix somewhere, making millions at the tax payers expense, while laughing at the stupid American people. Pass it to see what's in it.

CaptainShuddup says

If we had a "Single payer" it would be nothing more than a Monopoly that would be free to charge at will while they enjoy a protected market without any competition.

So basically, you are asking for single payer + death panels?

(sarcasm alert)

justme says

CaptainShuddup says

If we had a "Single payer" it would be nothing more than a Monopoly that would be free to charge at will while they enjoy a protected market without any competition.

So basically, you are asking for single payer + death panels?

(sarcasm alert)

What he wants is free medical care.

ALL developed countries have single-payer system funded by a payroll tax just like social security and medicare. No one in all other developed countries worry about not being able to afford medical care at any time during their life. Nobody ever goes bankrupt because of medical bills unlike in USA where medical bills is the number one reason for personal bankruptcy. EVERYONE IS COVERED FROM BIRTH TILL DEATH FOR ALL MEDICAL NEEDS and it costs those countries about 8% of their GDP vs 17% in USA which still does NOT COVER ANYBODY FOR ALL THEIR MEDICAL NEEDS DURING THEIR LIFETIME !
The difference is that there is NO INSURANCE COMPANY involved in health care. They ALL have National Health Insurance administered by their governments. NONE OF THOSE COUNTRIES WOULD EVER THINK OF CHANGING TO USA SYSTEM ! Just compare with Canada ! Sure there are delays and abuses in their system too but EVERYONE IS COVERED FOR EVERYTHING FOR LIFE at half GDP cost !

It's never been a better time to convict a realtor!

And people wonder why the economy is shit. Spending half your income on rent is like having half your income cut. You can't spend it on goods and services that lead to the virtuous cycle of production and consumption.

Instead of complaining, they should just pull themselves up by bootstraps and use some work ethic to construct a cardboard box or a tent under a highway overpass. In return for their puritanical diligence they will always breathe the outdoor air and enjoy unlimited square footage.

CaptainShuddup says

Teaparty in 2014 and 2016, they seem to be only ones in the last 8 years that
hasn't lied.

Death panels and Kenya? Is that lying or just playin dirty?

HydroCabron is Kochel 271 says

I betbgamall4 says

HydroCabron says

Not possible.

Reagan would never have done that. That would have been a doctrinal deviation.

But that is what happened....so what do you mean?

I bet you believe that Bush's tax cuts didn't generate an economic boom either, and that Saddam didn't have WMD.

You probably don't even remember John Wayne and Reagan, fighting the Japs at Tarawa!

Bush's tax cuts are the only reason I was able to save up for a down payment although prices went up cause a bunch of other people saved as well so I dunno if it was a net benefit but god bless his benevolent soul anyway.

If only She could turn back time.

I'd write everyone a note that argued with me from 2008 all the way to October 1st 2013 about how great Obama was and I was on the wrong side of History. I'd write do not open until October 1st 2013 on the envelope, and just hand it to them. I wouldn't even as passionately argue with them. I've learned something the Republicans knew all along. "You can't fix stupid".

I'd just write a note that says...

"Obama won and we "ALL" lost."

bob2356 says

What he wants is free medical care.

There's no such thing as free. I would just rather our tax dollars go to shit that would have a better lasting impact. Like healing the sick, with out a billing system or profit center in the center of the operation. Food security should come from prudent regulation of commodity markets, not in the form of a plastic card. That the Grocery lobby lobbied to increase food stamps so they can just raise the price. While those in the middle class, that don't qualify for SNAP can just make do with out, while the Liberal Fantasy camp gets to feel like they made a difference because the middle class is eating an involuntary poor diet, while the poor load up a grocery cart or two.

The growers asscn, Grocers asscn, food processors, and all those involved in the production and delivery of all things food, especially the commodity investors. Really wants to thank the Liberals and Obama from the bottom of their greedy disgustingly evil little hearts.

Anyone do the numbers on how much money congress members have leveraged in the energy and food commodities?

I would really like to see who owns Swift meat packing stocks, that the Chinese now own a monopoly of all raw pork products made in this country.

Single payer would be bsically medicare for all. but they would have more leverage than medicare has now. They would dictate what they are willing to pay for a lot of services.

Canad has single payer. Their doctors and hospitals are for the most part private enterprises.

It's true that if we did single payer, we might not do it as well, by trying to offer supplemental policies to satisfy the rich who want gold plated coverage, and to overcome arguments about excessive rationing or paranoia about death panels.

But yeah, Canada as single payer, that is what people mean when they say single payer.

If only the captain would do a tiny bit of homework before he starts in with his fiction basedcomments.

if we didn't have an idjit like Bush- a lying, cheat like Obama would have never been elected.

Those botox laden oldsters sure wind up with a creepy look.
Like they are laced with formaldehyde and ready for the viewing....

her whole face should look like that wedge of canals on the lower right chin..

Single payer systems work elsewhere when everyone contributes the same amount of money each month, including their unemployed.
Sort of like a utility payment.