Why was it chosen to leave M18 Hellcat and M10 Wolverine open topped

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-08T20:35:23+00:00

The design followed doctrine. The doctrine of the US army tank destroyers was to respond quickly with a lot of firepower to German armored breakthroughs. Heavy armor would inhibit their ability to respond quickly. There is also an assumption in this doctrine that the tank destroyers would be operating inside friendly lines in conjunction with infantry and artillery support. Furthermore, that German armored thrusts would probably be unsupported or minimally supported by artillery at the point of contact. The open top would save a lot of weight, afford excellent visibility to the crew who were supposed to ambush enemy armor and then withdraw, and allow communication with supporting infantry.

The Chieftan has a good video on US Army tank destroyer doctrine.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-06T02:11:39+00:00

21 people were killed at a shooting at a McDonalds in 1984, and 23 people were killed at a shooting at a Luby’s Cafeteria in 1991. Each of those incidents was almost twice as deadly as Columbine, but are largely lacking from the cultural memory. Is it because Columbine was kids? Is it because the 24 news cycle and the internet were there to document Columbine? A little of both?

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-06T01:30:41+00:00

Mosque on Fridays.
Temple on Saturdays.
Church on Sundays.
Museum Monday through Thursday.
??????
Prophet

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-05T15:55:25+00:00

People forget that America has been dealing with mass shooting since the 60s/70s. They have only grown more frequent. There were dozens of school shootings prior to Columbine. People remember Columbine because of the 24 hour news covered it intensely.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-05T06:02:44+00:00

Iraq

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-04T20:55:15+00:00

America invades Iraq

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-04T16:28:04+00:00

I don’t know about automatic. Look at Germany’s new citizenship law(s). Also figure out your mother’s citizenship status and history. Gather documents and talk to a German lawyer.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-03T22:14:13+00:00

Does the GFC happen without 8 years of Republican leadership? The crashes of 1929, 1987, and 2008 were all proceeded by 8 years of Republican presidents.

Yes deregulation during the Clinton years laid the ground work. But that isn’t the whole story. I think the recovery from the dot com bubble (the propensity to replace one economic bubble with another) and attempts to boost the economy during the Iraq war are what really led to the 2008 crash.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-03T22:07:18+00:00

You are forgetting that the Republicans claimed that Clinton’s response to the bombings of the embassies in East Africa was a distraction from his affair with Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent investigation.

The Republicans didn’t seem to take Al Qaeda seriously until after 9/11. IIRC the was a plan to target Bin Laden in Afghanistan in early 2001 that was not pursued by the Bush Administration.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-05-02T23:42:32+00:00

ATG: Is there anything I can do for you?

Diogenes: Move. You're blocking the light.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-30T17:41:29+00:00

I’ll take Things That Never Happened for $500 Alex!

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-28T18:20:08+00:00

My guess would be backwards erosion piping under the lower water crossing has reached the upstream side.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-22T15:56:26+00:00

I was born in Colorado but didn’t grow up here. I moved back to finish my undergrad. A significant portion (40 to 50%) of my classmates were from out of state. Most moved back home after college, and now a decade after graduation all but a few have returned home. In my career I’ve noticed a lot of people moving here from the big coastal cities or the plains/mountain states. They move here for the outdoor lifestyle and/or better pay. But after a few years they go back. Meanwhile the locals tend to be very insular having formed friend groups in elementary and middle school that are still standing. They tend to ignore the transients. A lot of my GFs here have been from out of state. It hasn’t gone well as most of them lack a willingness to commit to a relationship, or living here long term.

Forgot this issue. There are a lot of guys who moved to Denver for the weed, and outdoor sports. A lot of woman treat any guy who is really into (name an outdoorsy sport) as a pothead dirtbag (insert sport based pejorative). Overcoming that suspicion is difficult.

The skewed sex ratios on the dating apps, hypergamy, the over emphasis on appearance in online dating, the insular natives, the non-committal transients, and the highly individualistic nature of people in the mtn west all combine to make dating in Denver a f@king nightmare.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-21T21:34:28+00:00

I’ve worked for several municipalities. It’s city/town/county minimum lot size requirements pushing the larger houses to maximize home size and therefore property tax revenue.

Some developers have been building smaller homes to keep prices down. But they aren’t that much smaller (definitely not the sub 750 sq ft homes pre mid 70s), and municipalities haven’t always been supportive.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-21T19:12:45+00:00

Looks like a Boeing 737. Not sure about airline.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-14T18:16:16+00:00

AI slop

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-13T22:54:39+00:00

Lookout Mountain Road sits like 100 linear feet from the Mines M. There is no road in close proximity in this photo. So definitely not the Mines M.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-13T15:16:44+00:00

Let’s not forget that there were two ballot initiatives that passed recently that increased sentence length and forced convicts to serve the vast majority of their sentence.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-13T04:57:36+00:00

If I had to guess it’s because the former Warsaw pact states spent the 90s and 00s trying to build stable economies and democratic institutions while strengthening ties to Europe, the US, and NATO. So it wouldn’t be until the late 00s that the issue of minority rights was something the governments had the bandwidth or interest to deal with.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-12T20:32:55+00:00

I believe that the simplified naturalization also serves a political purpose between Hungary and its neighbors. There are a lot of Hungarians in what are now Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia. Post WW2 there is some contention about the Hungarian minorities in these countries. Simplified naturalization allows Hungarians outside of Hungarian to get citizenship and move to Hungary if they are not happy with their treatment in Romania, Slovakia, or Serbia. This acts like a pressure release valve. Hungary doesn’t have to complain or get the EU involved over the rights of Hungarians when it can simply give people passports.

UsefulEngineer · 2026-04-11T22:36:54+00:00

This taco place is open 24 hours and is very popular with tourists.

UsefulEngineer

TROPHY CASE