redkow97

Okay - so let them do that. I'd prefer to take the high road, rather than blurring the line of who is the terrorist. ISIS has no army. ISIS has no Air Force. ISIS has no capability to carry out anything but the soft-target attacks we've seen copied since 9/11/2001. Certainly even 1 casualty is tragic, but I don't see how further retaliation on the part of the United States does more good than harm. Defense. Control our boarders and monitor those who we allow through. I just don't see bombing improving our image in the Muslim community.

you liked shooting it, and you've rationalized the cost of ammo. Go for it. I like to shoot cheap and limit myself to common cartridges (9mm, .22lr, and soon, 12 gauge) - but if you're not bound by that self-imposed restraint, buy it. You can always sell it. I made a list of all the guns I WANT, and all the guns I can actually rationalize purchasing - both lists were longer than I would have expected...

I would support "eradicating terrorism" if I thought that would actually deter the practice. The fact is, even very targeted U.S. drone strikes have resulted in collateral casualties like the Doctors without boarders debacle, and who knows how many innocent civilians. Those people matter - if not from a moral position, from a public relations perspective. Pretend your wife and kid were blown to pieces by a Pakistani drone strike while you were at work. Maybe you know that there was a terrorist living next door to you, and maybe you don't, but are you going to sit back and think, "you know what - Jeff next door was a radical. I don't blame Pakistan for blowing up his house. I'm cool with Pakistan. My wife and kid were just collateral damage." Fuck no. If you didn't already share Jeff's Pakistan-hating radical ideas before, you do now. For every 1 terrorist the US publicly kills, they legitimize 10 more in picking up the cause of the fallen. Get covert. Get better intelligence. Get busy. But news footage of bombers isn't the way to dispel the myth that the Western infidels want to kill Islam.

I have noticed that reviews of most Harbor Freight tools are mostly dependent on the buyer's expectations. I think you'd be happier splitting a higher-quality machine with 1 or 2 other people.

I agree, but people don't like to feel helpless. Accepting this reality isn't something most Americans are willing to do. I am of the mindset that retaliation is warranted, but without extremely targeted strikes, we (meaning the U.S., France, etc.) just look like the bullies the extremists want us to be. In some sense, I'm fine with that - "you mess with the bull, you get the horns," and all that shit. But the practical side of me wins out, and I don't think fighting an idea with firepower is an effective response. I think collateral damage and public displays of violence (even warranted) only serves to help recruit more extremists against the U.S. It's hard to armchair quarterback this situation though, because there is a ton of information that we just don't have, and don't know how much the government has. I have not watched much of the news this weekend, but I caught enough to see that at least one of the identified bombers has been on a watch list for 4 years or something like that. He's on a watch list, but they didn't know he was involved in this plot??? WTF?

Eliminating religion is as dumb as mandating it. Neither will ever happen. You can't control what people believe. You also can't combat those who are happy to die for their cause - all you can do is help them get there faster.

Harness? isn't that the mechanic with the back problem from "Gold Rush?"

I just went on the plate site, and I can't believe some of the things that ARE available. SHT BOX (for my car), BON3R, COMUTER, are all valid plates!

I believe someone ran a 1/4 in one on that old Speed show "Pass Time." Might be able to find that on YouTube. I liked that show.

My brother and I both rode in the snow to get our bikes back to my parents' house on a few occasions. It's unnerving to say the least. I only did 7-10 miles on the highway (light snow falling, not much of anything on the ground), and then a few miles from the exit to my parents' house with snow covering the road, but nothing more than a dusting. Their street had 4-6" of slush and other crap though. The plow clearly hadn't been down it since the night prior. It was packed from cars driving on it, and parts of the street were visible, but it was a 2nd gear crawl with both feet skimming the ground. I'm probably lucky it was down-hill. My brother was truly a beast getting his bike back home from OSU's campus 2-3 years in a row. I can't remember when he actually bought his bike, but he had it on campus every year after. He would ride home for Thanksgiving break, and if there wasn't snow on the ground when he left, he would take the bike back until Christmas! He rode up 71 in falling snow at least twice that I can think of. Stopped frequently to warm up (no heated gear or heated grips on his XJ600), but never complained about anything more than my mother's insistence that he call and give updates every 20-30 minutes so we knew he was keeping the bike upright. Ironically, he just texted me Wednesday after putting his SV down at a wet intersection. Apparently he's better at snow than rain.

That's the problem with a US national series. Racing in NJ and CA is too much travel expense. I also think race entry should be 100% free. If you can qualify, you can race. Tire expenses are enough to weed people out. The revenue should be coming from ticket sales and sponsors, not competitors...

I sincerely wonder if wood is cheaper or more expensive than the bill for my natural gas fireplace insert.

Hahahaha - This is so true. Also, I have it on good authority that LEO's will almost always run a vanity plate. Why? 'Because it's easy to remember. I can put it into the system without having to look up and confirm it twice. Keeps me occupied during boring shifts too.'

I dig your bike. Let me know if you want to trade it for something more highway friendly

That is why I asked. I'm curious how long they kept it up. I'm 32, so middle school was 20 years ago.

I watched a couple of videos on the Martin jetpack after the first one you posted. I think that is the most viable option right now, but, as expressed in the first video, it's not a "jet pack" as much as an ultra lightweight personal aircraft. A jetpack is worn. The Martin "jetpack" is a small aircraft. Semantics, perhaps, and certainly something I would look past to own one, but that's not what you picture in your head when you think "jetpack." Those 'rocket wings' can't take off from the ground. Disqualified (IMHO). But what an age we live in, right? There are competing jetpacks weighing between 100 and 250 lbs., with flight-times in the 10-30 minute range, and what appears to be quite a bit of real-world maneuverability and usefulness. Better efficiency will only lead to longer flight times, and more practical applications.

And it's possible that you're only breaking hunting regulations at that point. I've never looked up the law on use of bows on private property. That's actually a good idea, and a solid argument for me to pick up a cheap recurve bow. Which reminds me - Brian, I assume you went to the same middle school as me, but you're a couple of years younger. Did you still do archery in 7th grade?

The article YouTube just read to me says 10 minutes of flight burning 1 gallon of kerosine per minute. More if the pilot is heavy. Still cool. Not sure why they went with kerosine jet turbines rather than simple light 2-stroke engines, but clearly there has been a lot of thought put into their design.

Cool. Was that the full duration of its flight time though?

Most muncipaities have ordinances prohibiting the discharge of any firearm within city limits. There are affirmative defenses for instances of home invasions, etc., but WITHOUT LOOKING UP ANY SPECIFIC CODES, I believe it's an M4 where I live. Probably a just a fine. From an ORC perspective, it's been a while since I have looked it up, but my recollection is DO NOT FIRE OVER ANY ROADS, and don't create a "substantial risk of physical harm," or cause actual harm to any person, and you're still looking at misdemeanors. Probably an M1 though, so jail time is possible, and not completely unlikely. Shooting downward so you can credibly and confidently say that any missed shots impacted the ground behind your target would be a good idea. Recovering the bullets from the ground with an impartial witness would be better. Not getting caught would be best... I try to keep things inconspicuous and legal whenever possible. Pellet gun is about as far as I'll go unless a coyote is actively attacking my dog.

Interesting. I guess I'd worry more if I had smaller dogs, or a shorter fence. The internet says that coyotes aren't really pack hunters ...unless they're taking down larger prey, like a deer. So that's pretty much contradictory and useless information. That part makes me more concerned. If there are 2 or more of them, they're up for attempting human-sized prey. Suddenly my 75 lbs. dog seems more vulnerable, and our 35 lbs. dog is a sitting duck. I don't know how much my daughter weighs off-hand, but it goes without saying that she wouldn't fair well.

I used to work at a giant eagle in high school. Our manager had us deposit the recycled bags directly into the dumpster.

Minivans are amazingly useful. I hate myself a little for admitting that, but what other vehicle will transport 6 adults comfortably, tow 2 bikes, transport 4x8 sheets of plywood (protected from the elements, at that), and return 20+ mpg in mixed driving? Chryslers tend to consume a fair amount of oil as they age, but otherwise the bodies seem to rot before the powertrain has issues. I would consider one as a track hauler if I had a place to park it, and actually traveled often enough to rationalize it.

paper still exists? I am apparently a dirty hippy and use cloth bags. This is almost purely because I can't find a place to recycle the blue bags, and even with 2 dogs, we don't pick up enough shit to use all the plastic they give us when they put 2-3 items in each goddamn bag.

So I've got another "why do you do that?" question - Why is the Triumph rig up for sale? I don't expect specifics, just sad to see RD (apparently) pulling out of the AMA/MotoAmerica paddock.