rhaig

get your whacko conspiracy theories straight! HAARP is used to control weather. -- Rob

depends on the unit. I have a friend who was in a local TX SG unit. They trained for swift water rescue, crowd control, emergency aid, setting up field hospitals (other TX SG units are medical units with volunteer doctors and nurses). To put in generally, they train for disaster response and relief. In the wildfires we had here a while back they deployed for cleanup, manage donation stations, work search & recovery, work brush cutting lines for prevention. -- Rob

do a little MORE research and you'll see that several states have "State Guard" organizations (not National Guard) which are not under the authority of the federal government, but only the state government. At least for the TX State Guard, these are not trigger pullers, they do not qualify with weapons, they do not deploy with weapons. I wouldn't qualify them as a state defense force at all. -- Rob

step 1 highlight the entirity of your quoted text step 2 google that text step 3 note that the first link returned is from snopes step 4 read the word "FALSE" next to the big red dot. -- Rob

From what I'd read it wasn't normal handgun ammo, It was a low power birdshot load. Note the cans... many of them are punctured at the same time. Also note that the only shot we see the recoil from is one with the phone in frame. When the phone is finally hit, only a few pellets hit the phone. I don't believe the shot from the copter that we see, nor the shot on the phone are bogus. I don't believe that both are the same shot from the pistol. I bet the shots that actually hit things are all hand fired. Editing is kind of like statistics. -- Rob

There are doctors who are going to a subscription-based plan. just google subscription based medical care lots of articles about many places switching billing models. -- Rob

did you see the one about the kid who got kicked off the bus for having a lego gun about the size of a quarter? (one of the guns you put in a lego figure's hand) -- Rob

it would add mass to the mechanism, but mounting the firearm to a mechanism designed to slow the impact of the recoil impact (spread it over more time) would reduce the amount force needed to counter it. Also the added mass would require larger lift and control capacity of the craft thus adding to it's ability to counter the recoil. Yes, it would add to the cost of the project. Another idea would be to not counter the displacement of the RC craft, but to embrace it. Use the displacement to help dissipate the recoil. It would require mounting the firearm off the line of the CG, and counter balancing it and expecting the spin with each shot. Or mounting it below the craft and expecting a flip with each shot. It would distribute forces differently through the craft, possibly increasing the number of shots it could make before damaging itself. But the tradeoff would be that it's going to likely be tougher on the control mechanisms. -- Rob

nope... didn't notice. been one of those days. I'll start drinking more. -- Rob

truth and facts kill lots of SC threads. -- Rob

can't have that... national sales tax is apparently racist... -- Rob

Many are Just waiting for Congress to release funding. so there was no reason to look at infrastructure upgrades 4 years ago when the not-so-shovel-ready shovel-ready jobs were going to fix our economy? and why are you -ing me... put your tongue back in your mouth unless you're going to use it in new and interesting ways. Most of congress are just self-serving assholes hoping to eek out enough traded favors to get the right no-show job when they decide to retire. on one side of the line, they want to say "see what we're doing!! and on the other side they want to say "see what they want to do??". Neither group gives a shit about the country. -- Rob

those could have been actual shovel ready jobs. -- Rob

They're screwed until volunteers show up to help (SAR, medical treatment, communications, nutrition, hydration, rebuilding). That happens a lot, you just don't hear about it because it doesn't make good news. They typically do so with donated supplies and food. That much usually starts before any fed aid. I don't think it should be relied on or expected. The benefits are certainly lopsided from a state point of view. -- Rob

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/18/us-france-tax-idUSBRE94H0AX20130518 Some here have proposed a tax on "wealth" even going so far as to suggest that if someone has to sell something off to pay their tax, then it's for the betterment of all. -- Rob

I grew up in KS. It's not uncommon for larger schools to have an area that is "better protected". But not all of them. And in the rare event that the underground shelters are used, it's not certain that the collapse won't kill as many as it saves. So there was real discussion... do we spend the money on a shelter that will survive a mid-level storm, do we spend 5 times as much on a shelter that will survive a high intensity storm, or do we spend the money on programs instead of having a very expensive storage area to use in that very small chance that we get hit with a storm. The soil is mostly shrink/swell clay. Expensive to build underground in where there isn't a rock layer close to the surface (which causes it's own expense). it all comes down to the money. Of course now everyone will be asking that question, and it will be politically advantageous to build the sturdy shelters. And in 5 years, when no storm has hit, there will be questions about why the money wasn't spent on programs. -- Rob

so the laws we already have against straw purchases make background checks of any kind ineffective. Thank you for clarifying that. -- Rob

we should make a law against that. that'll stop if from happening. -- Rob

every single car I've ever owned can do that on one tank. from the VW rabbit I had that got 32mpg on the higway with a 13gal tank to the chevy truck I have today that gets 15mpg and has a much larger tank. yeah, I'm one data point, but "hard pressed" ?? Bill's "a lot of gas cars" is more realistic and believable. (sounds much less like smoke-blowing) -- Rob

and yet the current cry is to ban "assault weapons" that have a similar size and frequency of use in crimes. -- Rob

and the reason that we have so few people on drugs in this country is because they are illegal. making laws banning firearms would surely make them similarly hard to get a hold of. I mean really... if you had to go through a background check at a gun shop in order to buy a gun, then surely criminals wouldn't be able to get guns at all. right? -- Rob

maybe it was the part about his post where he explained That could explain ALL of his assumptions. Either that or it's all the cheese. -- Rob

When California breaks off and falls into the Pacific Ocean, they will blame it on Bush. they're going to throw him a party? -- Rob

without comparing to previous administrations, I don't believe any administration should try to push the boundaries of their power. The boundaries of the government are laid out in this nice little document that so many politicians ignore. True. Like the AP is taking aim at the justice department over phone records right now. -- Rob

blah blah blah.... same old song & dance.... blah blah blah.... ignoring national trends blah blah blah... spewing the same old fear mongering that the media has been using for the past several years. In the climate debate this would be considered "weather" by our local self proclaimed experts and discounted as such. While meantime the national numbers for shootings are down (the climate). so yes... I'll be ignoring you. Because you are looking at the small picture and repeating the lies that you hear. parrot. That's what you most closely resemble right now. A parrot. -- Rob