JohnRich

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! The North Koreans used Chinese weapons, so he wouldn't have captured a Luger in battle from the North Koreans or Chinese either. Luger production ended with WWII in 1945. The age also doesn't make sense. He's 84 years old, therefore born in 1928. The most likely place to acquire a Luger would have been WWII, which ended in 1945. He would have been 17-years old in 1945, so he's not likely to have fought against the Germans. So then he could have bought it after the war, or acquired it from his father. By the time the Korean war came around in 1950, he was 22 years old, prime Army material. I don't question his Korean war service. However, I don't think the Army let you bring personal WWII souviners into battle with you. The Army would have given him a Model 1911 .45 pistol, and/or an M1 Garand or M1 Carbine. So the story still doesn't make sense. A WWII German Luger used by an American soldier in the Korean War? Not likely. It's more likely that this is just another case of a gun-ignorant newspaper reporter getting their guns, or their wars, or the story, mixed up. Probably just a case of a Korean War vet using a WWII collectible for self defense. And the reporter decided to spice up the story with the incorrect material.

Canada is naturally protected by geography, and meteorology - it's so darned cold that nobody wants to live there anyway. They're also blessed to have their single neighbor, be a very friendly one. Yes, those some of those same attributes are true about America too. But we also go to the aid of others who are in need, and when you do that, it makes you enemies of the tyrants who would attack their peaceful neighbors. If bullies are picking on the school geek, and you stand up for the geek, that makes the bullies want to pick on you too. The answer to that is not to just let the bullies have their way with the geek, and for everyone to cower in fear. No, the answer is for MORE people to step forward and stand up to the bullies. Like it or not, the world depends upon America to keep the bullies at bay. If we shirk that duty, then all hell will break loose, and the world be a far worse place. Sure, we could withdraw all our troops from foreign lands, become isolationist, and just sit back and mind our own business. But what then do we say to our friends overseas when Iran attacks them, or North Korea attacks them? Do we just say; "tough shit, not our problem!" Is that the kind of America you want? Freedom. Not just for ourselves, but for Europe, the Pacific rim and parts of the Middle East. And for millions of immigrants who come streaming here in droves from oppresive places, because of that freedom.

News:US self-defence expert banned from entering UK Tim Larkin tried to board a plane from his home in Las Vegas on Tuesday, but was given a UK Border Agency letter saying "his presence here was not conducive to the public good". Mr Larkin, who was due to host seminars, told the BBC the move was a "gross over-reaction". Mr Larkin had been invited to be a keynote speaker at The Martial Arts Show conference in Birmingham on 12 and 13 May, and to hold a seminar in Tottenham. The Home Office said he was subject to an exclusion order. A spokeswoman said: "The home secretary will seek to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good..."Full story: BBC Self defense is not conducive to the public good? Dang, I guess they ought to ban that martial arts show too! You can't have people running around hitting each other! So let's see... Brits aren't allowed to keep and bear arms for self defense, and the government doesn't want them to know how to use martial arts for self defense either. So where does that leave them? Run, hide, pray, beg... Good luck!

News:Man, 84, shoots home invasion suspect with Korean War gun "Police said they caught a home invasion suspect moments after he was shot while breaking into a home Tuesday morning. According to police, Raymond Hills, 25, fled from the Elizabeth Township home just after 4:30 a.m. when 84-year-old Fred Ricciutti shot him with the German Luger he used in the Korean War..."Full story: WPXI.com

The best Avenger, ever!

Jesus is proud of people like you - NOT. And what happened to Jesus?

I disagree. With a large enough military budget ("defense" is an advertising euphimism), wars become virtually guaranteed, for the military must flex, justify and perpetuate itself; and the civilians who command it will be all the more tempted to use it imprudently. If you have a scenario like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" where annihilation is assured if you start trouble, then trouble won't be started. No doubt America's might has suppressed the desires of many dictators who otherwise would run amok. Like North Korea. The other end of that spectrum is just as bad, like before WWII where Hitler and Tojo thought that America was so weak and neutral that it wouldn't get involved. And then we had to start from behind, and lose hundreds of thousands of lives regaining our power to beat them. Weakness encourages war, from those who love to take advantage of other's weakness. Want a recent example? Just look at Sadam Hussein around 1990, and an American diplomat named April Glaspee. She was like Neville Chamberlain. She led Hussein to believe that America would do nothing if he invaded Kuwait. So Hussein proceeded with his plans, based upon his perception that America was weak and unwilling. And look at all the mess we've been in every since because of that. We need to be strong enough so that no one dares to fuck with us. But we don't need to wield that power unnecessarily. Walk softly, but carry a big stick. And you do have to give bad actors a whack once in a while to let 'em know you mean business. Otherwise, you're back to being weak again...

That's exactly what I was going to say!

That sounds screwed-up to me. If users don't have instructions, and just go about installing it any which way they can conjure up, the altimeter is MORE likely to fall off. The best way to avoid that is to provide clear instructions on the proper way to mount it. Unless, that is, that even when mounted properly it can still come off. And in that case, it indicates a design flaw, and they shouldn't be marketing it.

News:U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan: Obama vs Bush "On July 7, 2011, U.S. troop deaths from the war in Afghanistan since President Obama took office reached 1,000. That means that nearly two-thirds of the U.S. fatalities in the war in Afghanistan have occurred during the Obama administration, which has managed the war for a mere quarter of its duration..."Full story: Just Foreign Policy

Update:Judge dismisses DWI charges against ex-FAA chief "A judge on Thursday tossed out drunken driving charges against the former head of the Federal Aviation Administration after seeing video of the traffic stop and ruling that the officer had no legitimate reason to stop the driver..."Full story: Aviation Pros

Ask him what his "MOS" (spoken by saying the three letters) was. Report back with his answer.

Update:Woodbridge gun shop gains unanimous approval A planned gun shop that sparked a protest at last month’s Plan and Zoning Commission meeting was unanimously approved Monday night. There were 40 people at the meeting at Town Hall, and all but one said they backed approval of the gun store. Supporters wore black to express their viewpoint. One woman who opposed the business would not comment...Full story: Bulletin

Here are some photos I've taken recently I've giant anthills I ran across while hiking in the Texas prairie. 1) Ant hill creating a bare patch in the middle of lush grassland. It even kills the grass around the perimeter. 2) Another mound. Note the "roads" radiating outward from the mound, where the passage of thousands of ants marching in column has worn down the vegatation from their tiny little footsteps as they go off on foraging expeditions. 3) Close-up of a central entrance hole with busy residents.

Correction: It's an opinion from Arthur Herman, published in Fox news. Just because it's in Fox doesn't mean it's automatically wrong. Herman has a Phd in history and a Pulitzer prize. Mr. Herman's credentials: http://aei.org/scholar/arthur-herman/ Yeah, he's a professor, like YOU. Do all professors not know what they're talking about? Do you have a Pulitzer prize?

See: "New Zealand implements CAR part 115 regulation" Link: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4310551#4310551

News:Multi-level bunker found under East Austin home Jose Del Rio, a Vietnam War veteran, built a multi-level underground structure about 20 to 25 feet below the home. Code enforcement officials visited the home after receiving a complaint of possible excavation there. The city filled in the basement with concrete, and billed Mr. Del Rio $90,000 for the work. They then fenced off his property, and cut off the electricity, making it uninhabitable. Mr. Del Rio is out a $172,000 home because someone didn't like his basement...Stories: 1) Austin Statesman 2) Austin Statesman 3) InfoWars 4) Reason The "suspicious 55-gallon barrels" were empty. Great for emergency water storage though. The seized firearms were returned because they were all legal. The grenades were inert - just harmless souvenirs, no more dangerous than a rock. Lead acid batteries? Yeah, like the one in your car, for emergency lighting or radio. Compressed gas tanks? Yeah, like for your Coleman camp stove for cooking. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

I'm not too sure about the parachute either. For one thing, once the mice land, they won't be able to run and hide, because the chute will snag on things and hold them in place. That's a benefit I suppose, making them easy prey for the snakes. But then how do the snakes swallow them with a parachute still attached? Since they're dropped from helicopters, you could just sprinkle them out at treetop level, and the mice won't be hurt by the fall, and the snakes will hunt them down and eat them. I don't see how they really need parachutes. Maybe they're just saying that to head off complains of animal cruelty, but aren't really doing it. But then, I would think the poison alone would be enough to piss off the PETA folks. I'd love to see what a mouse parachute rig looks like...

There's a problem with that wording. "Unwanted" behavior is not necessarily "threatening". The two should not be put into the same category, as this makes people believe that most women are frequently threatened. When in fact much of this may simply be innocent behavior that is simply unwanted. For example, a married woman sitting with female friends in a bar may have someone offer to buy them a drink - that may be unwanted, but it's certainly not a threat. ...If he asked if she wanted a drink and yet he still bought it despite being told no, it is absolutely threatening - even in a crowded bar... I would say that amakes him a jerk, but it's not threatening. The definition of "threat":"An expression of intention to inflict evil, injury, or damage"Buying a woman a drink, even if she has already said she doesn't want it, is not a threat. All she has to do is push it aside and ignore it.

There's a problem with that wording. "Unwanted" behavior is not necessarily "threatening". The two should not be put into the same category, as this makes people believe that most women are frequently threatened. When in fact much of this may simply be innocent behavior that is simply unwanted. For example, a married woman sitting with female friends in a bar may have someone offer to buy them a drink - that may be unwanted, but it's certainly not a threat.

Yes, Bader spent the rest of the war in the Colditz POW camp because of a Me109, but I don't think you'll have that problem to deal with. Skydivers are a lot friendlier than German camp guards.

There seems to be a conflict between protecting the players from bodily harm, and from protecting the player's income. They shouldn't be putting the income of rule-breakers above the health of their victims.

Understood, but at least one person seems to be using that term in a different sense, and if you try and interpret his statement using the actual definition, then you won't understand what he's saying. So I'm not saying we should invent new definitions, but I am saying that we have to understand the viewpoints that people have based upon their own personal definitions. Not seeking validation. It's simply a theory I've put forth for discussion. Our brains adapt to a great many things from repeated exposure to those things. In skydiving, we learn to overcome our fear of falling. We develop an innate sense of timing so that we know when it's break-off time without looking at our altimeters. Our brains no longer recognize the loud wind noise because it's tuned out. Oh it's still there all right, but we don't "hear" it any more because it's a distraction, in the same way that a husband tunes out a nagging wife. Perhaps it's also possible to adapt to that droppy feeling. Maybe, just like that wind noise, we learn to tune-out the droppy feeling and just don't notice it any more.

Is the pilot wearing an emergency bailout rig? If so, drag him out the door with you and pull his ripcord for him. Screw the airplane. If you can keep the plane flying level, perhaps you can give him some time and see if he will regain consciousness long enough to land. If he doesn't have a rig and stays unconscious, he's screwed - bail out and save yourself. If someone wants to try and land the plane without having any pilot training, let 'em. It's their own life they're gambling with, to try and save another.

As a jump pilot, when the last of the jumpers are out the door, and you push the yoke to dive towards the ground, do you get the "droppy" feeling from the lessened G forces when you start your dive and accelerate vertically?