sherpa

There are extremely stringent requirements regarding who has access to weapons produced for the US military. No such limitations are effective in our civilian gun culture.

Very good. My "contrarian impulses" know a bit about air defense, drones, what they are capable of, how to employ them, and deal with them if you have a respectable air defense. To your suggestion, I have a four year old granddaughter and we greatly enjoy flying her kite on my property. It's a learned skill.

The cheapest way to deal with them is to jam them. Requires nothing kinetic, and no other weapon. Prox fuses have been in use for decades in a wide variety of applications. Nothing new.

The secret to "team building" is the same in other relationships. If you get to the point that supporting other people is more enjoyable and desirable than simply promoting your own interests, it magnifies your talent. Teams that get to that point get it. Teams that have 53 players that view themselves as independent contractors, seeking the highest bidder, as the draft process and agents promote, don't. I think that's where the Dolphins are. It's normal human nature. It's how the US military and successful marriages work.

This entire thread, while interesting, is filled with stuff from people who should not be regarded seriously.

Simple answer for me. Yes. Absolutely. Already did it, and having done it, came t the realization that it is worth it. Concisely, learning what I did as an officer, being at sea, having access to what was really going on day to day, further committed me to thinking it was worth everything. Some things in life are worth defending so that other people, if you don't survive, can live.

I don't give a rat's about Trump, but I will say that he did not put the energy industry in his crosshairs, and we are experiencing the results of someone who did. Nothing....Absolutely nothing is going well under Biden. Total failure.

I am not often interested in what these bills are called, and accept the difference. I was referring to the Biden "Build Back Better" legislation, which failed, and was clearly proposed as an "infrastructure bill," much the same as the silly "shovel ready" bill, which passed, but was equally a failure.

Nice trick, but isn't going to work, among informed. The "infrastructure bill" was anything but primarily an "infrastructure bill." If it was, it would have passed. It was nonsense.

Short story about the original TopGun. Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer, wanted a young Tom Cruise to do the movie, but Cruz wasn't sure. My best buddy and squadron mate in the Pacific Fleet Adversary Squadron was Curt Watson, who was now in the Blue Angels as Blue Angel 3, the left wingman in the diamond, and he was the one that took Cruz on a familiarization flight in Blue Angel 7, which is a two seater used for media rides etc. Here is a two and a half minute video of that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO3G1aI-***** Kind of funny, but when I was going through TopGun the movie folks were just talking about doing the movie and what I remember most was the F-14 squadrons at Miramar trying desperately to get to their particular the ready room as part of the movie because the claim was that the studio was going to spend a ton of money to upgrade it.

Your head is not worth shaking. The "cult?" I am a member of a "cult? Day after day, week after week, month after month, responsible leader of the energy industry talk about this, but I doubt you guys are even aware of it. Instead, having created the atmosphere that Biden and the anti energy group that supports him has done, and seeing the predictable reaction, you complain about the Saudis not ramping up production. It's always someone else.

This is the kind of juvenile response you are known for, on many different issues. The oil market is an international commodity, and a good deal of the price of crude is based on "atmosphere." Throughout the years, it has been estimated that about 20% of the price is completely emotional. When you have the president of the United States enacting legislation on day one, and many follow ups that is hostile to domestic production, you are going to dramatically effect a number of things. Not just direct production, which is untenable, but the motivation for future capex to develop additional production. There is a massive disincentive to produce, as the costs and time to get to market are high risk. It is an illusory argument to claim that this administration, and many European ones, have not sown the seed of this idiotic and unnecessary rise in crude. They got exactly what they deserved.

Two points. The move to non carbons is well underway and not stoppable. The effect of Trump or anyone else, and I certainly hope it is someone else, being elected and influencing the price of oil would be the result of a change from the very foolish posture of creating an hostile environment for reasonable energy production and self reliance. Biden has screwed this up in an undeniable fashion, from pipelines to oil terminal regulations, to governmental permit regulations and requiring idiotic governmental requirements from agencies like the SEC to have a cut on this, and across the entire energy complex. He, and many European leaders created this situation where the Russian thing had a far more impactful result than would have happened had reasonable policies from reasonable leadership prevailed.

Isn't that Blumenthal, the CT Senator who lied about serving in Vietnam standing behind her?

Should we listen to someone who uses a symbol of a totally failed regime that destroyed half a continent for about three generations? Or maybe we should look at past attempts at prescience. From "Delete Account." Feb 15 A Russian invasion of Ukraine is highly unlikely because all the players in this stupid game are ultimately rational actors. Everyone here stands to lose so much more in the long run (economically and militarily) than they can ever hope to win. So fingers crossed, but yes it’s looking a lot more like political theater serving to benefit multiple international leaders, namely Biden and Putin, with their respective constituencies’ approval. The worldwide military-industrial complex is also benefiting greatly, of course, and this may very well be the main motivation. For anyone still wondering what Russia’s endgame is, the best guess would be “economic leverage into the European market.” All of Putin’s aggressive military posturing strikes me as his own unique style of diplomacy. Is he trying to rebuild the Slavic empire from the glory days of the Soviet Union, with the invasion of Ukraine as the first key step? Very doubtful. Way too costly, IMO. NIce call.

I am not saddened to see Wallace go. It was obvious opposing teams were going after him all the time. If Hyde doesn't make that superb pick in the playoff game, 39's back jersey would have been in another highlight, getting beat badly on a double move to tie the game.

It's interesting to link slavery into a discussion about abortion. Up until about 1860, slavery was considered to be a normal process. It existed, and was viewed as acceptable for centuries. Suddenly, we evolved our human rights consideration and viewed it as the abomination it is. Rightly so. Perhaps we will evolve the same way, and consider human life to be sacred from some point prior to birth. If that happens, abortion, especially late abortion, will be viewed the same way as slavery is now.

He's a local kid, and I don't see much upside.

Speaking for myself and our family, and nobody else. The second my wife told me she was pregnant, and all three times, we considered it, and treated each as human life.

Kelly'skis heroes.

I think he experienced that epiphany the same time I did. The third quarter of the second Jets game.

Haack had an uncomfortable pause between catch and drop. This kid does not. I'll take the Bills scouting over "Thats No Moon." This kid is going to be a fun training camp story and a fan favorite during the reg season.

Sweet Jesus....You get a Nov tailwind behind this kid and NORAD will have to be notified. With prevailing westerlies, if near midfield, I think he can make Syracuse.

"The Bills have won the toss, and elected to punt."

I saw a video of him yesterday and when we got him, I can seriously see punting on first down just to "send a message."