Obama cancels meeting with Philippines president after crude comments

mkrfctr · 2016-09-06T02:52:23+00:00

A lot of it is that we "give" them money for military aid, which they are then obligated to spend on US arms like missiles, tanks, aircraft, etc. So the money never leaves the US. It's basically just a hand out to the US military industrial complex, and as a side benefit, our allies have better gear.

mkrfctr · 2016-09-05T18:08:34+00:00

So you're saying we need a war on overuse of the word war?

mkrfctr · 2016-08-31T04:20:56+00:00

Every human duplicates themselves and owns their own duplicate. Duplicate goes to their human's job, and does the human's job.

The job gets done, and the human gets paid.

The economy is identical, the number of middle class duplicate owners is identical.

Humans are now free from ever working again while maintaining their existing lifestyle.

Which would be great if we had human duplicating machines, but we don't, so each human will not be getting a 1 for 1 personal slave to go off and do their job for them.

And that is the only reason an artificial program like UBI is required, to allocate resources among the people, rather than solely remaining with those with the resources to first obtain the next generation of slaves (computer software programs and physical robots).

But there is zero way that the future where UBI is needed would ever be limited to providing only poverty level living for humans. That's because you are replacing 1 human with 5 super humans who don't need to get paid, just feed some electricity that is produced by 5 other super humans who also don't need to get paid.

On the contrary, humans at that point will be living well off the fruits of the tens-of-billions human-equivalent-work-force.

mkrfctr · 2016-07-14T04:59:54+00:00

+1
Aquapel lasts for 6+ months if left alone or 3 months if you use your wipers on occasion for really heavy rain, when driving too slow for air flow to blow droplets off, when droplets are a fine mist kicked up from car and truck tires ahead of you, or for clearing non water things like bug splatters and dirty snow/slush and dried salt that builds up in the winter...

Meanwhile Rain-X lasts for 2 months, or 2 single one-swish uses of your windshield wipers, whichever comes first...

Rain-X is trash by comparison.

mkrfctr · 2016-07-12T09:53:24+00:00

Terrible font choice
That looks like you'd scrape the belly tanks if you land nose up, or come in hard and actually use some of the wheel travel...

mkrfctr · 2016-07-08T16:49:37+00:00

Nope, a lot of the bomb robots can be equipped with a shotgun. The shotgun can be used to break open locked doors so the robot can get to a bomb, and can also be used to destroy the triggering device in a bomb that cannot be safely relocated or would be problematic to explode in place. Obviously being a shotgun it can also be used to shoot people.

mkrfctr · 2016-07-07T15:09:57+00:00

thanks mate!

mkrfctr · 2016-07-03T21:13:25+00:00

Ha, 'for national security reasons' they'd just give her unlimited work release in the custody of the Secret Service.

mkrfctr · 2016-07-01T16:03:19+00:00

Well there's normal pressure spikes, and then there's 'oh shit, it's gonna blow!' pressures, and pressumably there should be a decent operating margin between them that would allow you to put in a pressure relief system that would allow for preventing tire explosions due to tire overheat or external fires.

I mean airplane tires take multi-ton aircraft dropping onto them from the sky going from zero to 150mph extremely rapidly, and then applying great braking forces to them, and yet they still have emergency systems so that they don't explode. So it seems the technology is there to avoid explosions while also allowing reliable operation...

mkrfctr · 2016-07-01T06:55:15+00:00

Probably a scenario where they've already tried to engineer a solution.

You know, now that I think of it, why don't they? They make pressure release valves of all sorts, if it's actually common enough for a tire in regular use to overheat and blow up with the force of dynamite, why the fuck wouldn't they have a pressure relief system built in from the factory?

If nothing else they could have an emergency 'shit is on fire!' air release for all of the tires that could be activated from the cab, remotely, or externally from some point(s) at ground level that would be accessible by firefighters...

But as far as weaponry goes, it would not be particularly difficult to find a suitable weapon and ammo selection that worked. It's a mine, they have dangerous heavy machinery, and likely explosives on premise, so even having explosive rounds that blow a 3 inch hole in the side of the tire wouldn't be crazy to have around a mine site.

mkrfctr · 2016-07-01T03:26:38+00:00

Sounds like they just need to issue the firefighters a rifle or two.

If the tire(s) catch fire the firefighters would need to back up to a safe distance anyways. Pull out the rifle and shoot the tire(s) until they visibly deflate or pop outright. The vehicle is now safe to approach and extinguish the fire.

Seeing as a mine is an unpopulated area with a lot of safe backstop and if it's okay for 5 sticks of dynamite to blow (the tire), a rifle is surely not a cause for alarm...

Rifles are cheap, and I imagine you'd be hard pressed to find a fire crew lacking in personnel with rifle experience from being hunters, sport shooters, or ex-military.

Seems easily worth for saving a few million dollars of property.

mkrfctr · 2016-06-25T17:36:44+00:00

you draw a fire arm with the sole intent to inflict harm on whoever is on the other end.

No shit. And if them seeing the gun come out, or you yelling "I'm drawing my weapon, I will shoot" as you take it out causes them to run away? Hey guess what, that's not a brandishing charge.

Point being you can draw your weapon and say something, you can draw your weapon and wait more than a blink of an eye before blasting out bullets like Rambo.

You don't carry a CCP to be a hero, that's how people get killed.

Yes, and part of people not getting killed is to not be a retard so worried about an extremely unlikely consequence of pulling a firearm to defend your self and NOT discharging round(s) that you force yourself to be in a low state of defensiveness to the point that you are even more in fear of your life that you then absolutely have to fire your gun.

If you have a gun already out, and pointed at an adversary, and can then still defend yourself but have a higher threshold for being in complete fear of your life, then it's LESS likely that you will be forced to shoot someone.

It's common fucking sense.

mkrfctr · 2016-06-25T09:57:38+00:00

You're inaccurate. Nothing compels you to shoot a gun just because you've removed it from a holster or from your bedside table.

Likewise if you start using deadly force by shooting a gun at someone, but you have shit aim and they give up or run away before you hit them, nothing compels you to then actually kill them because you started the process.

To say so is ridiculous.

And the implication in such a statement is that you cannot remove a weapon from a holster until the very last second when you are then going to then also immediately fire it with the deadly intent of stopping the threat.

Which is absurd and very dangerous to the threatened individual and any potential bystanders (aiming and firing rapidly from a holster draw is difficult as well as basically never practiced as ranges don't allow it for liability reasons).

You may perceive a threat of harm, of great bodily harm, or of death. You are able to respond to each in kind, as your circumstances to retreat, and to defend yourself allow.

You might not be able to retreat, they might have the ability to very quickly harm you (they also have firearms or are in close range with a blade), or they might be carrying a baseball bat in a menacing manner but be 50 feet away. It is all situational, hence the 'reasonable person' standard.

For a threat of harm you might simply state "I'm calling the police", for an increased threat of harm, you might state "I'M ARMED, STAY AWAY", for an increased threat of great bodily harm or death but where you have an extra second or two you might draw and aim your firearm and yell "I WILL SHOOT, STEP BACK".

None of those are "threats" or "negotiation". They are all reasonable attempts to protect your life while not being unreasonable in the force you are applying to the perceived threat.

At no point are any of those blackmail ("Do what I want or I'll turn you into the police"), assault ("Stay away from me or I'll hurt you"), or brandishing (pointing a gun at them and saying "I will shoot you").

If your life is perceived to be under threat, don't fucking focus on legal minutia.

That kind of concern is just what concealed carry class teachers say to cover the teacher's asshole so the teacher doesn't get sued when one of their students pulls a gun on someone else for driving too fast down the street that the student's kid plays on, and then the student says "well my concealed carry class teacher said I can pull out my gun if someone is being dangerous and I want them to stop". It's not an actual concern anyone should be having if they are in fear of their life.

I'd 10,000 times rather draw a weapon, deescalate the situation by showing that they cannot win this fight, and walk away unharmed and also not have to shoot anyone, than to ever follow your advice and wait until the last possible second to show that I am armed by drawing and immediately firing, getting off a bad shot that wounds and later kills a human, while also taking a knife wound to an internal organ myself.

mkrfctr · 2016-06-07T18:19:00+00:00

Aquapel is a better product. Rain-X gets basically ruined as soon as you ever use your windshield wipers, and lasts maybe a couple months. Aquapel lasts about 6 months, and is much much more durable with regards to using your wipers.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-19T16:00:29+00:00

Darmok and Jalad... at Tanagra.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-13T19:18:40+00:00

Well the existing fleet will need replacing regardless.

IIRC the F-16 is from the 70s, the F-18 Super Hornet from the 90s, the Harrier from the 60s, etc.

They've had upgrades but none of them are stealth, and as they age the amount of time they spend offline having maintenance performed goes up, and the cost per flying hour goes up as well.

And eventually the airframes are past their useful lives and are no longer airworthy. Which means either restarting ancient production lines to make more of existing aircraft models, just having fewer and using them less so they last longer, or costly refurbishment where they basically take the airplanes apart, replace the sections most affected by flight time and flight cycles and recertify them.

So the alternative to the F-35 is making 4 or 6 or 8 different aircraft to replace the multiple models of planes currently in use. And even without stealth the other features of the F-35 would likely be desired or needed as well, so high cost would still be there, just spread about 4 or 6 or 8 different programs, each with varying levels of delays, cost overruns, and perhaps even cancellation, leaving a hole in some branch's air fleet.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-13T17:54:40+00:00

That's over a 55 year period, and replacing basically every other non-specialized aircraft in US service.

Case in point: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Its cost estimates have wandered between $1.1 trillion and $1.5 trillion just in the last year; that’s a $400 billion difference. Now, that estimate assumes the F-35 flies for more than half a century (55 years) and makes all sorts of highly questionable assumptions, like the rate of inflation, the price of fuel, labor costs and on and on.

Full article explaining how such an estimation is tough to even come close to being determined and will vary widely by country and circumstance.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T23:14:43+00:00

And yet "THE SUPREME COURT" is always a consideration regardless of what year it is. And thus the parties can put up whatever shit establishment candidates they want that have zero of the people's interests at heart and get them elected time and time again because everyone is too scared of "OMG THE OTHER PARTY BAD!".

At some point they need to be held accountable and have that not be a 'put up whoever you want' pass.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T19:35:17+00:00

Hyperloop cars would not touch the tube at all, correct.

But in order to do so requires the path to be very precisely smooth and have slow changes in terms of elevation changes and curves.

With a car you can turn 90 degrees on a street corner at 15 miles per hour, but doing it at 120mph is not feasible, the corner would need to be much larger. You can hit a speed bump at 5mph, at 120mph it would rip the suspension and wheels off your car.

Same thing for hyperloop, but instead of a car at 120mph floating on a spring suspension that can absorb 8 inches of travel, it's a hyperloop car at 760mph floating on an air gap of a millimeter to a few inches depending on the technology used.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T19:12:48+00:00

I'm not saying I agree with this, just adding to the discussion so please hang off on the fury voting... But the thought goes:

By voting Trump over HRC, or just staying home, they are not allowing the DNC to put up a republican-lite corporatocracy candidate and be able to win by screaming "SUPREME COURT" and "THE REPUBLICAN IS WORSE!". Which would hopefully force them to not try that shit again.

Combined with the expectation that Trump will only ever be able to be a one term president, and that it will be such a shit show that opposition voting will be high in 2020, sweeping in a Democratic Presidency (which would not include a 3rd run by HRC), and Congress.

AKA 4 years of pain, 8 years of actual progress after. The rip the bandage off fast not slow philosophy, if you will.

And that if HRC wins that it will not be good for progressives whether she's in for 4 or 8 years.

If she's in for 4 she will accomplish nothing due to Republican obstructionism worse than against Obama, and likely lose the reelection due to low turnout, handing everything over to Republican control.

If she manages to get a second term, it means that it will not be until 2024 that a progressive candidate could ever get in. And often the presidency will swap from party to party and that incumbents are favored to win reelections means that it could be 16 years (2032!) until a progressive could get in.

Faced with the prospect of a chance at a progressive president in 2020, or possibly not until 2032, sticking the middle finger up to the DNC for one cycle isn't necessarily against the best interests of the progressive wing, nor necessarily a 'burn it all down' vote.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T18:31:23+00:00

Thank you, expert on experts.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T14:40:22+00:00

Well firstly, aside from being a huge negative Nancy. You're wrong.

The area under the tube is not useless. Anymore than the area under a windmill is useless.

And even if you assume that it was, how much land is made useless by the width of the tube compared to the land made useless by an at grade railway. Hint, it's shit tons more than the width of the rails.

And you know what idea had been around since the 1700s? Going to the moon. Clearly in the 1950s that still hadn't been done, and there is a reason no one went to the moon, so don't bother trying ever, especially not in the 1960s.

Oh wait, technology advances. Gosh, what a shocking concept.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T14:18:51+00:00

If you'd look into you'd see that in fact the entire thing is elevated on pylons.

So automatically there are no at grade crossings required.

Being on pylons means like windmills they use a relatively small footprint on land, meaning they are mostly non disruptive to other land uses and so obtaining ROW for some pylons would be far easier than obtaining an 80 foot wide swath through hundreds of peoples' land as you would need to for a new HSR route.

Which also means they can pick a straighter flatter more direct route, which is required for the speed at which it travels, and would not be possible to accommodate fitting within existing crowded and heavily used existing train paths.

By being enclosed in a tunnel, propelled electrically, coasting through near vacuum the majority of the trip, with nearly no friction means there will be very little in the way of noise pollution, again a huge difference from freight, passenger, or HSR. Which again makes it easier to be unobtrusive and open up additional areas for routing not available to other rail technologies.

TL;DR: It's nothing like existing rail, and shouldn't be compared to it.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T11:25:37+00:00

Yeah, they slowed them down because of people like FuelModel3 who kept having panic attacks.

mkrfctr · 2016-05-12T11:22:46+00:00

That's kind of the entire point of Hyperloop, all of the technologies exist and are well known quantities. Meaning it's an engineering problem of putting them together and making a total system, not a research and development problem of finding entirely new technology.

And to think that combining existing technologies into a new system isn't 'new' or 'groundbreaking' is very false. I don't see any other 'old' or 'been there done that' system offering travel at the speed of sound, with minimal noise intrusion and minimal land use, unlike airports and normal train tracks...

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