DanG

Holy shit, man. C'mon. That's like saying the murder laws are unenforceable because you can't convict someone based only on the testimony of a single co-conspirator. No, you can't, you have to find other evidence. What other evidence? That's your question. There are a million answers, I'm not going to list them. Here's one: a third party witness. "Did you see person A hand person B this weapon?" "Yes." (Gasp) Enforcement! I'm not moving the goalposts, I'm pointing out a problem with your proposed solution. I was wrong to say that you refuse to accept any changes, sorry. I'm glad you support strengthening the background check system. I'm simply pointing out that a better solution would be to strengthen it while also closing up some of the holes. - Dan G

I'm not missing the point. You are being intentionally obtuse. The criminal fingering the seller would not be the only evidence used to convict. It would start the investigation. Would they always be able to find additional evidence? Of course not. But they would sometimes, and in those cases you have (gasp) enforcement of your unenforceable rule. Note: my stupid iPad won't let me paste in the rest of your post, so I'll paraphrase. You want to ban bump stocks. Great. But that takes away a freedom that other people currently enjoy, so we can't do that. Banning bump stocks takes away exactly the same amount of freedom as banning 100 round drums. Why are you in favor of one but not the other? I suspect it is because you don't own a bump stock. No more, no less. You want to fund the background check system and improve military reporting. Super, I completely agree. However, when you have transfers that aren't subject to the background check system, it is not a complete solution. - Dan G

I suspect that many suspects who obtained their weapon illegally will in fact offer up the person they got it from. Perps flip on their best friends all the time. You assume that when the guy they fingered denies it the police will just throw up their hands and quit. If that were how law enforcement investigations worked then no one would ever get convicted of anything. Luckily they don't, except perhaps when the state police have decided they don't want to enforce a law, like in Colorado. Also, thanks for proving what I suspected all along. You aren't interested in making any changes at all. You've set the bar at, "doesn't restrict any freedom that I or anyone else currently enjoy, whether Constitutionally protected or not." Reduced to its logical conclusion, that means no new laws whatsoever. It also implies enforcement of current laws shouldn't be strengthened, because that might also inconvenience you, which you have now defined as the loss of freedom. - Dan G

Sure it is. Like many laws it is mostly enforceable after the fact, of course. There is no Pre-Crime unit. If someone is caught with a firearm during the investigation of another crime it is pretty easy to ask where they got it, and simultaneously track the serial number. If the stories don't match up, you have pretty good probable cause. And yes, gun registration would make it significantly easier, but it is not a requirement. I don't see that as a Constitutionally protected freedom. The right to keep and bear arms doesn't say anything about the right to pass out guns to anyone you want. Again, not a Constitutionally protected right. And your contention that reducing the number of likely casualties in a mass shooting event was not the goal of the magazine size limit just shows you are being disingenuous. - Dan G

A. You keep bringing that up. When the state police announce that they think a law is unenforceable, and then don't try to enforce it, does that mean that the law was actually unenforcable? If I declare that I can't run a 5k, and then refuse to show up on the day of the race, was I right? Have you heard the phrase self-fulfilling prophesy? B. You declined to respond to a previous question. Allow me to repeat. What right did Coloradoans give up? - Dan G

Hitler came through on a lot of his promises. Did that make him a great man? - Dan G

What rights did Coloradoans give up? - Dan G

NASA specs and drawings are in centimeters, but the English unit dominance still runs through everything. I worked on one of the components in the Orion system just a few years ago. All the drawings were metric, but there wasn't a round number to be found. Convert them tominches and round numbers were everywhere. In other words, things are still being designed in inches and them written down in the formal drawings in centimeters. - Dan G

Nah, Trump would love MREs. Tons of calories and no flavor. - Dan G

I, too, enjoyed being part of the SOF community. The last thing any of the soldiers I worked with ever wanted to do was march around. - Dan G

If we stop pretending the parties are part of the government it will be easier to get rid of the duopoly. Making them pay for their primaries is a good first step. - Dan G

I think the Trump people fall into two general camps: those that have never even thought of doing their own research and just believe whatever Hannity/Limbaugh/Brietbart tell them, and those who know the memo is bullshit but don't care because it gives them an excuse to shut down the legitimate investigation. What the two groups have in common is their belief that it doesn't matter what the truth or consequences are, so long as their side is seen to be winning. - Dan G

I agree that restaurants are more enjoyable for us non-smokers now, but I still think it should be up to the owner. Here in Virginia you can still have a smoking section under very tight controls, including it being a physically separated space. Seems to work for those few restaurants that do it. - Dan G

Meh. They allow dogs in many restaurants in Europe with no problems. I think it should be up to the restaurant owner. Of course, I think restaurants should be allowed to permit smoking, too. - Dan G

I'm on board with Bill's yaw stability explanation regarding the center of gravity vs the center of pressure. That being said, this tendency to turn downwind is only valid for changes in the wind. If the wind is constant there will be no tendency to turn. - Dan G

I'm not sure weathervane is a good way of putting it. An airplane is like a weathervane with a large vertical tail surface. Parachutes don't have that. The only way they change heading is by changing the relative proportion of lift to drag on the right vs the left sides. I have trouble seeing how a cross-wind affects that change other than through the pendulus effect. In other words, if you didn't have a large mass suspended below the wing, and no vertical stabilizer, what force imbalance would cause a turn? - Dan G

As if the right wing doesn't operate entirely on rage. It is all Trump's got. - Dan G

I think the effect is due to how the two bodies (skydiver vs canopy) react to a sudden wind change. The canopy has low mass and thus low inertia, but high drag. The skydiver is the opposite (high mass and inertia, low drag). The skydiver is going to keep going in a straight line and only be affected lightly by the wing change. The canopy is going to be affected right away by the wind change. The result is the canopy is now slightly downwind of the jumper, and the pendulum effect as the system tries to return to equilibrium causes the turn. - Dan G

But parachutes don't. I think the only thing that could cause a downwind turn on a parachute is the different masses and drag forces on the canopy vs the jumper's body. - Dan G

Looks like the 2018 Midnight Massacre has begun. McCabe just got canned. - Dan G

And let's not forget, the Polish doctor is classified as a criminal because of a couple misdemeanors decades ago. - Dan G

Saying that a place is a shithole is not racist. Saying you don't want immigrants from those places implies that the people are also shitty. As usual, Trump doesn't come out and say what he means. He leaves enough wiggle room to let he apologists squeeze in and do what they do best. - Dan G

All you'd be measuring is how many people USING YOUR APP are going to the dropzone. It won't tell you anything useful unless you get a very high participation rate. It also won't tell you anything about tandem business unless you convince all the DZOs to share their data with you in real time. Good luck with that. - Dan G

I'm fine with the 13th amendment. What I don't like is the privatization of the prison system. Is it Constitutional? Probably. Is it a good idea? Not in my opinion. Not everything that is allowed by the Constitution is right. - Dan G

Do you think the 13th amendment was intended to allow private companies to profit from the slave labor of prisoners? - Dan G