dpberr

Last night's episode was interesting from a details point of view for me. I find it odd the show dwells on the alleged lack of weapons but gasoline and diesel - apparently in abundance years after the last refinery cranked out a gallon - is so available that the Saviors are driving 2.5 tons and pickups and Alexandria is driving 80s vans and Suburbans.

Whoever green-lighted CHIPs should be not only fired but launched into space by SpaceX.

If SpaceX pulls that off without casualties or calamity, it'll be like what the Internet was to the 90s in terms of technological frontiers. It'll also make NASA and its insistence on low orbit nothingburger shuttles for 30 years look small.

He shouldn't have been released in the first place.

Throwing one Dr. Carson into the furnace and needing the other Dr. Carson at the Hilltop has a good chance of serving as an ignition point for the war. It'll be interesting to see if Eugene leads the Saviors to the right machine shop.

The Bills trade Sammy Watkins in a draft day deal.

I think pensions are THE collection of hairs that will snap the backs of many states. It's about as close as you get to a financial "extinction event" for a town, school district or state because it's so big. It was a crisis in 2000. Today it's like looking at a Category 5 hurricane on collision course with your town. I'm involved in the pension issues in Pennsylvania and insofar as PA goes, much of the state's pension issues are due to self inflicted wounds, very unfavorable demographic trends and a pension agency and legislature that steadfastly refuses to reform. During the 90s, legislators voted in very generous increases in benefits and the required employer contributions to the system were near zero because "times were so good" I agree with Will in that their actuarial calculations are based on voodoo/wildly crazy projections - still expecting a 7.5% return when it's more like 3-4% and that's being optimistic in my opinion. The candid truth is that Pennsylvania is running out of taxpayers and has a 3 billion dollar state deficit to boot at a time when there is this big surge of retirements putting strain on the system. Calculations by the state's independent fiscal office project a retraction in working age population in PA absent a very optimistic surge of international migration. When taxpayers reach retirement age, they check out to FL, AZ, TX en masse. The age groups backfilling that loss aren't on the tax rolls at all or are making substantially less in income. So in short, there's a lot of people taking from the system and fewer feeding into it.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Andrew Bogut be the most important player in the NBA should the 76ers waive him. Off the top of my head, GSW desperately needs rim protection and the Spurs would love to have yet another big man to compete with the Clips and GSW in the playoffs.

Tough call on this one. You or I would probably be arrested if we not only pulled a gun but then discharged it over some kids on the lawn mouthing off. Ironically, he probably should have called the police and let the uniforms handle it.

I chalk this "change" to the white hot roasting of Berchtold and the terrible execution of his job duties we provided on this very message board. I'm glad the hall walkers are being put on notice.

I chose TT. I'm not the biggest fan of his nor his biggest critic. I think he's ok but has potential to be better.

Favorite: Siege of Firebase Gloria Runner-Up: Aliens

...if the coaching staff has the courage and conviction to make adjustments at halftime to "the" plan.

This Russian story/narrative sounds like an episode of 24 where the Russians are set up as the bad guys but aren't and it is revealed around episode 8, that the bad guys are somebody else entirely. This It's the terrible Russians "story" has always smelled.

FEMA has had everyone with dams from the Corps to the state out to expensively test, probe and model the spillways because in their opinion, the spillways are the weak points because of flawed or outdated engineering, hydrology or the safety factors built into the spillways. It's like looking at the concrete and steel in a parking deck or a building - can you see the failure before it happens? Dam issues aren't new - it's a big problem in the US. However, this situation is dramatic and has drawn attention to the issue. In some cases, the engineering, hydrology and the safety factors considered for auxiliary and emergency spillways were flawed from the start or outdated. In the case of this Oroville dam, it appears that the state did none of the above or ever attempted even a minor flow test of the emergency spillway. Of course this begs another question - if they tested this primarily earth emergency spillway and it failed, and it led to catastrophe, would that actually have been worse situation? In a way, they have dangerously built something they have no evidence of knowing it'll work when it needs to.

"How can they use the emergency spillway if the elevation hasn't reach it yet. Just like your bathroom sink. Water won't go down the hole to the drain if it can't reach it." Interesting question. I suppose you'd have to look back at points since 1968 and see if there was the opportunity to test it. I'm surprised that the state never tested an emergency spillway on a flood control dam. The Army Corps routinely conducts emergency spillway and gates on their dams.

This dam,like many others was more than likely designed for flood protection primarily after some apocalyptic flooding in the 1950s where the flooding was the heaviest on record. I know that sounds bizarre considering the bad drought the state has been in, but it wasn't always that way. https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/1137f/report.pdf I understand your idea - they'd essentially need to pump it to above ground or below ground storage tanks.

Owens should be in the Hall of Fame. They blew it. I watched the Eagles/Patriots Super Bowl from 2004. Owens, essentially playing on one leg, kept the Eagles in that entire game. I've never understood the Terrell Owens hate, especially from Bills fans. He played hard when he was here and treated the fans and area well.

John Wick is the best role of his career. He fits that character. The Wick movies are interesting. The Russian mobsters are overdone villains at this point IMO, but the little plot devices and the "world" the movies have made from the hotel to the various outfitters is a neat touch. I applaud Reeves because he does a serious amount of weapons training to make it legit. He'd probably win a 3-gun competition with little problem.

There's probably some hubris at play there - they feel they control the entire area and everyone in it. What marveled me about the explosives is how complicated it looked. That was some real deal wiring know-how. All that was missing was it being run by a gold watch.

I have a problem with the state never using the emergency spillway - ever. The dam has been around since 1968 and doesn't it make sense to use it and test it at least once a decade or something?

Talented, yes. Talent is like energy, however. The IT is about turning potential to kinetic. That's where the separation exists.

I have no doubt there was a Buffalo-area fortune teller sitting alongside Brandon since he was told they are "determining" futures. #analytics

What's an example of an anti-sports guy? Is that a millennial generation thing? I know guys who aren't necessarily into professional sports but are avid fishermen, hunters, golfers, outdoorsmen, beer league softball MVPs, etc. Does that count?

I disagree that the Bills comeback is now #2 behind last night. The Bills not only had a bigger deficit to overcome but overcame it with a backup quarterback and not in the comfort and predictability of a domed stadium.