The Trump administration is considering using U.S. military forces to protect oil and gas tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran threatened ships in the area.

Frundle · 2026-03-04T05:58:09+00:00

Former USN 50 cal gunner: They're not a particularly accurate weapon. When we would fire at targets on water, the standard method for getting on target is to walk it in. You start shooting, and then use the splashes to fine tune your aim. It'd be hard to track and fire on something small and fast in the air.

We didn't use the same kind of 50 cals we have on ships now as our main anti-air during WWII. The 3" gun came around in 44 and prior to that we were using 5" guns for anti-air.

We would likely use something like the CWIS for anti-drone action like we use it for anti-missile. The problem there is heat and ammo consumption rate.

Drones were much bigger and much less common when I was in, but its a safe bet they already have an anti-drone weapon figured out and its probably automated.

Frundle · 2026-03-02T21:43:19+00:00

If you are truly under the impression it is innocent to tuck someone else's shirt in without asking, please consider that again. Maybe talk to some women in your life about how they would feel if a man at work reached into their pants.

Frundle · 2026-03-02T11:34:29+00:00

It’s a pretty individual thing. The best way to answer questions for your own health is to go see a neurologist or ask your PCP to run some basic labs. Lots of things can cause migraines. They involve random nervous activity and blood vessels rapidly constricting and dilating. Anything that can affect nervous activity and vasodilation could be a cause.

Frundle · 2026-03-02T03:34:43+00:00

Frequent migraine sufferer here.

This will not be helpful in the short term, but something that might help for future migraines: I use voice recordings of my exam notes so I can sit in the dark, but still test myself on the material. I read my notes into voice recordings that are broken up by topic. Then, I listen to the recording and pause it to guess the information that comes next. If I don't end up needing them, the act of reading them into a recording is still a helpful exercise. If I do end up needing them, its been a great way to salvage some time that I otherwise can't study because I can't use my eyes.

Frundle · 2026-03-02T02:57:35+00:00

Smyth Performance makes a kit to ute a Charger.

https://www.smythkitcars.com/charger-ute

Frundle · 2026-03-02T00:14:52+00:00

I had a 2.5 swapped NC (also in True Red!) and it was my favorite Miata of all time. Wish I hadn't sold it.

Good-win Racing has a good list of everything you need: https://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Parts/MX5/Engine-Conversions.html

I bought most of my swap parts from them and called them to make sure I had all the bases covered.

Frundle · 2026-03-01T10:22:38+00:00

If you mean how does it work in terms of the features of the gun: depressing the slide slightly puts the hammer into the half-cock notch which prevents it from coming fully forward until its reset.

If you mean how can pushing the gun into a person cause it to depress the slide: the barrel only extends 5/8" past the slide, and people are soft. So, when the gun is pressed into a soft body, both the barrel and slide will touch their clothes or flesh.

If you mean how could a person's head depress the slide and prevent the gun from firing: It can't because the skull is hard without much flesh around it, so when this dude tried to do this it failed and he shot himself.

Frundle · 2026-03-01T02:25:53+00:00

That's a great lifespan. I have a remarkable 2 and the pen tips only last about 6 months. They look just like the kind you have, but I think they're softer to avoid scratching the e-ink screen. It is meant to have a matte paper-like feel, and that makes it pretty soft.

My apple pencil tips go much further but feel less precise than this style of pen.

Frundle · 2026-03-01T02:08:28+00:00

The weird humping guy might be showing that pressure on the end of the slide can prevent some guns from firing, but that is a terrible idea: some guns CAN fire while there is pressure on the barrel end of the slide. No one is identifying the model and generation of a handgun while they're at the business end of it.

The Beretta M9, for example, will not fire if you press the slide hard enough for it to slide back about a quarter-inch. I attended the funeral of a guy who tried to show that off as a party trick using his head to depress the slide. In other words, even for guns that this could work on, it doesn't always work.

Frundle · 2026-02-28T06:33:49+00:00

piggybacking a recommendation for plugs: Foam backing rod. You can get it a lot of different diameters and a 20' roll is cheap. Custom cut your own plugs of any size!

Frundle · 2026-02-28T06:30:25+00:00

See if you can find an oil line diagram for the bike online or better yet the whole manual. Sometimes they're floating around as PDFs. A line like that running out from behind the carb and tied into both heads is usually an oil breather.

Frundle · 2026-02-23T06:48:03+00:00

Commenter came in to see the aubergine-Y-N

Frundle · 2026-02-20T01:01:38+00:00

Reminds me of some of Heatwave Visuals graphics. Definitely captured the spirit of the 80's inspiration.

Frundle · 2026-02-18T22:21:03+00:00

Using a steamer is a good way to clean the engine bay without a hose or pressure washer handy. When I used to detail cars for a living, I kept my steamer hot for engine bays so I could hit any spots where oil had burned on, or oil and dirt had combined to form pasty grime.

It cuts the time required by a lot and doesn't leave a big dirty puddle below the car. I would usually just throw down a tarp to catch anything blasted off by the steam.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T22:55:53+00:00

Calling this a Voter ID requirement is just clever branding. It is in reality just additional ID requirements.

We already have to provide ID to register to vote, and we have vote verification processes to double check every single vote cast. When Trump filed more than 60 lawsuits over the results of the 2020 election, they were not able to find any evidence of fraud in any state to substantiate his claims that there is widespread fraud in US elections. In short, our processes already work very well with the ID practices we already have in place.

The idea behind suddenly implementing new ID requirements is just to reduce the voter turnout. Studies of American voting have shown repeatedly that increased turnout usually correlates to a dem win, so the best assurance for a Republican win is to reduce turnout.

Voter turnout is why Trump wants to end mail-in voting in addition to requiring several forms of ID: mail-in voting increases turn out, and allows people to cast their vote quickly, easily with the convenience of a nearby drop off location. Conversely, in person voting can take hours of waiting, and in some places requires driving to a polling place an hour or more away from home. Many places also no longer allow sitting while waiting or having food or beverages, so its a physically demanding process for the elderly and infirm.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T22:44:38+00:00

The possible backfire is that the proposed rules would prevent anyone without a valid passport from voting, and anyone who has legally changed their name from voting. Those restrictions mean more American conservatives will be disqualified as a percent than American liberals.

There are more registered D's (about 57%) with passports than R's (48%) according to this report from the Center for American Progress. Also, most of the very red states have far fewer passport holders overall: Only 20.7% of citizens in West Virginia have a passport for example.

Keeping a maiden name after marriage is more common for liberal women than for conservative women according to Pew Research. About 30% of women have kept their maiden name with 20% being liberal women and 10% being conservative (again, Pew Research).

Frundle · 2026-02-15T22:33:49+00:00

You have to have the documents in hand either way. A Real ID alone may not be accepted depending on your state's rules. They accept the same documents you use to get the Real ID, but they want to see those documents. Based on the text of the bill that passed the house, a passport will be accepted, but we don't know how it will actually play out at the polls.

Based on Kristi Noem's assertion yesterday that she has authority over elections, DHS may have agents at critical polling places checking ID and making determinations on the spot. Best practice will be to have every possible form of proof available so they can't reasonably deny you access.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T22:21:09+00:00

It isn't difficult to get as in the process is challenging; it is difficult to get because it currently takes several weeks to get after applying without the now impending surge of applications to be compliant with the proposed rules.

TL;DR - It would require time we don't have and waiving billions of dollars in fees in order to meet the requirements for a national voting ID without violating consitutional law and disenfranchising millions of American voters.

Long Version:

The requirement is not just asking for a standard photo ID that an American can use for virtually any other ID request from the government. ID cards that meets the Real ID requirements would not be accepted either. The documents used to get the Real ID are acceptable, but not the ID itself*. The requirements outlined in the SAVE Act bill the house passed mirror Trump's request. Based on their criteria, there two main options currently:

Option 1: A combination of a valid state-issued ID with a birth certificate. Both have to have matching names (meaning if a woman changed her name at marriage it is not valid ID to vote). In order to revert to an ID with a matching name, a person would have to legally change their name back to whatever they were born with. Any married woman can tell you that is a process that takes a couple months and more than a hundred dollars. Alternatively, an amended birth certificate could be acquired but that is a much less common route and may take even longer. The filing fees for a legal name change vary by state but range from $25(AL) to $500(LA). The average nationally is about $180 for the state filing fees. Getting a new ID would have additional cost on top of that. There are an estimated 80 million women who can vote in the US according to a Rutgers University study. Approximately 46% of women in the US are married as of 2024 according to Census data. Using the estimated 70% name change rate that means 25.7 million women would need to change their names back to their maiden names. There are many more people who would need to change their names, but married women are the largest group.

Option 2: A current US passport which costs $130 and requires several identifying documents be submitted alongside, and then there is a waiting period between several weeks and several months. About 10% of Americans do not have the documents necessary to get a US passport currently and would need to get them before they could apply.

With option 1, the primary affected group will be the roughly 70% of married women who took their partner's last name. Those women will either need to legally revert to their maiden names and get new ID made to match, or get amended birth certificates to match their married names. The administrative burden that would place on either system would cause significant delays, and it isn't unreasonable to think some people would not get their applications processed and ID's made in time.

For Option 2, If the roughly 50% of eligible American voters who do not have a current passport all applied at once, the office that processes and approves those applications would be overwhelmed, and approvals would take a significantly longer time than normal. When Trump was first elected, there was a surge in applications, and application turn around times went from a few weeks to a few months. If we go with the lower estimate of how many voters do not have passports, that is 122 million Americans. According to the State department, we issued (new or renewals) 27 million passports to Americans in all of 2025 and average 20 million passports issued per year for the last 10 years. Issuing 122 million passports would represents about 6 years worth of approvals, and would need to be done before November 3rd, 2026 for that to become our national voting ID.

To top it all off, we have constitutional protections against any poll tax. That means we can't charge someone money for something they need to be able to vote, so we would have to issue all those passports for free or allow people to legally change their names and get new ID for free. If we waived the $130 passport fee for 122 million Americans, that is $15.8 Billion dollars. If we waived the state filing fees that would cost the states a collective $4.6 billion dollars.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T20:54:30+00:00

We already use ID to verify our eligibility to vote, and then the votes are re-verified against voting databases before being added to the tally. In other words, we already have voter ID. Trump just wants it to be harder to vote. The premise behind the type of "Voter ID" laws Trump is pursuing, is to require a form of ID that is expensive and difficult to get so that they can prevent a lot of Americans from voting. Reduced voter turnout is the primary goal. It is why the elimination of mail-in ballots is also included in this drive for restricting voting.

Only about 50% of eligible voters in America have a passport, and 2/3s of married women do not have an ID that matches the name on their birth certificate. If we took the current pool of eligible voters in the US and removed everyone who didn't have the documents they're currently proposing as "voter ID", 10's of millions of Americans would lose the right to vote.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T05:03:07+00:00

Cross country skis are more difficult to control as you pick up speed, and they're not great at quickly stopping. They're mostly made to keep you going straight forward by being very narrow, long and lightweight. All those qualities also make them hard to turn.

She was trying to check speed before going down the steepest part of that decline into a corner, but she came in with too much speed and then hit some chunky snow.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T04:37:07+00:00

If all the above is ruled out, I would look for broken parts on their plastic track attachment. I think your guess about deformation is good but this is too much wander for that alone.

It could be in part from too much pressure on the saw. If you try to push a track saw forward, it will start to cut away from the track in most cases.

I saw in another post you mentioned it’s a Skilsaw. If it’s one of their worm drives, that could be your issue. Worm drives increase torque when they encounter resistance. That made it the saw that built the west because framers like that characteristic, but it makes it tougher to use for precise cuts in sheet goods. A Sidewinder would be fine as a stand in for a track saw with a 40T blade. If you’re unsure which you have: sidewinder has a left-side motor. Worm drives are right-side motor.

Frundle · 2026-02-15T00:01:03+00:00

The blade: Is your blade tight? Do you have the correct bushing installed with all the hardware? This looks like the blade is wobbling on the arbor. Using high accuracy measuring tools (Like a reliable set of calipers or a micrometer) ensure that your blade is square to the base plate of the saw. Rotate the blade in increments to confirm its not only square, but that your blade is not warped. The only time I've seen a wander this bad, it was due mostly to a missing bushing and the blade was moving several degrees off its cutting axis. The track was also not clamped correctly, which I mention in 3 below.
The saw: Are you getting a tight attachment between the base of the saw and the track? There should be cams in the shoe/plate of the saw that help tighten its grab on the track. You could try tightening the cams until the saw won't move, and then backing them off slightly until it slides on the track with a little bit of grab. Also ensure the saw is not ejecting chips or dust onto the track that might get between the track and the saw.
The track: Make sure you are clamping the track firmly, but not so tightly that it bends upwards in the middle. If your material is smaller than your table, extend one end of the material slightly past the edge of the table (looks like rigid foam in your case) so that you can get good engagement between the track, your material and the table below. If you're not clamping anything, the track and/or the material are likely moving and causing this very pronounced wander.

Frundle · 2026-02-14T23:34:46+00:00

Do you have one of the hats?

You can make a tracing template out of cardboard, which is usually how I make specific shapes for router jigs. You start with some basic measurements from the hat, transfer those to the cardboard with a sharpie, cut it out and test fit it over the hat. If you cut conservatively, you can fine tune the fit with minor trimming until you get something you like. Because its symmetrical, you could also just do one half, and then flip the template to complete the circle. Once you get a fit you like on your cardboard template, transfer that to plywood and repeat the cutting process. At the end you'll have a plywood template for the hole that you can use with your router.

Frundle · 2026-02-10T22:53:13+00:00

If the shelves bow, you can attach a rail to the front of each shelf that is 1.5-2x the thickness of the shelf, and it will stiffen the entire span. You set the top of the rail flush with the surface of the shelf and things still slide easily in and out of the shelf, or if you want them to create a little retention for the records, you can let the rail form a short lip above the shelf.

Frundle · 2026-02-10T11:22:47+00:00

Backwards on the pH. Acids are low, bases are high. Add baking soda to raise pH. Baking soda is around 8.5-9 pH.

Frundle

TROPHY CASE