A snatch truck with a wheel lift is even quicker, and having done repos with a friend I can say bystanders rarely say or do anything.
Once you get the vehicle off the property they can't legally block you from taking it (in my State) so we'd shoot the wheel lift under whatever end of the car was handy. Depending on the car we'd even leave a hitch ball attached to the wheel lift and snag the lower core brace (they were all owned by my buds car lot) and drive off instantly rather than locking the wheel lift bars. (It was an old Century for those who care.)
You can drive down many a residential street or parking lot with the rear brakes locked, tires boiling smoke, and no fucks given!
The flatbed ("rollback") cares not even if there are no wheels on the target vehicle. It'll skid just fine.
There are already plenty of people machining parts for modern weapons. It's legal. You can make them for yourself in your home workshop, and it doesn't cause problems.
The problem isn't weapon availablilty, which is universal.
The first problem is unwillingness to punish or kill the people who commit CRIMES with weapons. The second is unwillingness to lock up mental defectives and remove them as a social problem.
Criminals stop being a threat if they never get out of prison or if they are dead. The whole concept of "reforming" such folk has been accepted due to repetition, but it's absurd and they know it.
When the US was serious about dealing with mental defectives, it locked them up and left them there. It being MUCH cheaper to throw a few drugs at the crazies, pretend they will take them, then dump them on the streets, that replaced loony bins. When they act out, they go to prison, which is the other industry that replaced loony bins.
Don't want problems from mental defectives? They can't be helped, only stoned, and they won't stay stoned unless they are controlled. Don't want problems from violent criminals? Lock them up for life and work them so the system turns a profit.
I won't miss either lot. The majority of people are decent folks and won't miss them either.
The Japanese didn't NEED to spend on a military to defend them during the Cold War because the US military did that for them instead.
That's not a victory for pacifism. US forces were ready to nuke China and North Korea at no notice. Nukes were loaded on aircraft sitting Alert at many Asian bases including some in South Korea.
The same fellow who helped give Japan its sudden taste for pacifism by burning hundreds of thousands of its people to death in WWII "fire raids" (some of which bagged more of them than either Hiroshima or Nagasaki) then helped build and run the Strategic Air Command whose nuclear umbrella sheltered Japanese growth.
Since when is seeing a part of a GLOBAL population as an enemy "sociopathic"?
The definition of "society" is subjective, and if ones own is specific and not general, it's hardly "pathological" for them to kill enemies with no remorse.
If a band of chimps attacks a competing band, is that "sociopathic"?
No, "computers" give you different displays of information and simplify some tasks, but you still have to know how to USE those computers, interpret what they tell you, and not get task saturated so you don't CFIT, select the wrong weapons release settings and shack a target with your wing tanks, or otherwise have a bad day.
There is so much info that writeups such as "IFF does not work in OFF mode" are real (the switch sequence on the control box wasn't intuitive) and "CND" (Can Not Duplicate) signoffs of writeups are moderately common because said writeups can often be bogus. (Of course, some won't duplicate on the ground so "swaptronics" is done with line replaceable units to see if the problem moves to another aircraft.)
"Knuckle dragger"? Sure pal. What pilot refers to the people who take his entire aircraft apart and reassemble it as "knuckle draggers"?
Every system the pilot uses, maintainers not only operate, but troubleshoot (life isn't all BIT checks nor is every possible condition covered in Technical Orders) repair and modify.
I was a maintainer (avionics, engines, later crew chief) for 26 years (1981-2007 on Broncos, Phantoms, F-16 A/B/C/D/CJ) and experienced highly effective non-flying DCMs (Deputy Commanders for Maintenance), the attempts to do away with them, and the return of powerful Maintenance Squadron commanders.
Running Maintenance in no way requires being a pilot and in many ways is better done by one not of a "pilot" psychology. It has everything to do with holding sufficient rank to communicate with squadron commanders on a peer level when deconflicting their needs/desires with requirements of maintenance, inspection, paint/coating, airframe availability for mandatory ground crew training and so forth.
I've had very good pilot squadron COs, but their specialty is FLYING and having them run maintenance too is (further) task-saturating them with shit they don't need to micromanage.
"contract management,"
Only in specific areas where their expertise as flyers matters. Most USAF contracting isn't that.
The US public education system has become worthless since the 1960s. It demands nothing of students and that shows. (Some community colleges have to teach students, who are high school graduates, how to read rules and tape measures as part of their training to enter the workforce!)
"Gone are the days of fighting cables and air pressure. It's all computers. "
I've been in the back seat of an F-16 D-model (I was a crew chief and we got rides when there was no one scheduled to go up for other purposes). The G-forces are considerable and you certainly do "fight" them (straining maneuvers etc). Flying any modern fighter takes considerable physical endurance.
A "belly" doesn't indicate lack of resistance to G's.
That's been going on a very long time and hasn't stopped potential aircrew. The perception they won't get a slot for their effort IS a deterrent.
What does piss off pilots and ruin RETENTION (which creates shortages) is their "extra duties" and square-filling they are tasked with when not flying. If the Air Force wanted to retain pilots it would reduce the bullshit they have to put up with. It's not as if pilots aren't vocal about it. Many would be delighted with a full career "flying track" even if they weren't promoted as quickly. With command comes a desk, and that desk never empties.
Pilots do not live in "hellhole" conditions, and neither to most Airmen when deployed.
Keeping it real, warships are MUCH sexier than the merchant ships they sank and the entertainment value of submarine crews actions (most of the family members who actually KNEW them are either elderly or dead by now) is greater than that of the crew of some forgotten oiler or collier or cargo ship they sent down with all hands.
Although some (not all) LEOs would differ, mass gun ownership isn't much threat to police (remember the PERCENTAGE of weapons used in crime is microscopic) and no great number of so-called "assault weapons" are used against them.
" The Second Amendment isn't about deer hunting or self-defense, per se, it's about being able to overthrow your government when you need to, as the guys who wrote it had just done."
That's a good thing. Americans are so heavily armed that if it does become necessary to kill a toxic government we can damn well do it with overwhelming force. It would be bloody, but the number of weapons owned by US citizens dwarfs that in places such as Syria.
Our military is tiny and dispersed and the police would be completely outnumbered (besides both groups being promptly divided) if the shit hit the fan. Even unarmed rioters are barely controllable in some situations. There are more than 2 million AR-15s and relatives alone in circulation.
If our government truly turns on us we should do what our Founders did and waste the fuckers until they quit.
We wouldn't have a country if our predecessors hadn't punctured their lawful government and its armed forces with shot and shell.
In the end, political power flows from the barrel of a gun. That means you aren't "free" without the power to slay your opponents. That power may be delegated if you trust others sufficient, but it must exist.
Of course the maps weren't as pretty, but this has been done to death.
The danger of nuclear war in minuscule compared to the days when Soviets and Maoists were a threat. Now Russians and Chinese are our business partners.
Violence in the US isn't "prevalent", it's "publicised".
Most of the US is quite cozy, with violent crime being largely confined to areas where toxic people prey on each other.
Much crime is VERY geographically restricted. For example I live in a county with an impressive number of assaults and propertly crimes, but I don't live in the "bad part" of that county. I've never had a problem in thirty years.
It's also an area where anyone burgling a home would expect to be shot, so crooks only hunt familiar territory. We pay the police to make sure their operational radius is short, so to speak. "If you don't belong there, stay the fuck out because it's not yours."
Slashdot Mirror
A snatch truck with a wheel lift is even quicker, and having done repos with a friend I can say bystanders rarely say or do anything.
Once you get the vehicle off the property they can't legally block you from taking it (in my State) so we'd shoot the wheel lift under whatever end of the car was handy. Depending on the car we'd even leave a hitch ball attached to the wheel lift and snag the lower core brace (they were all owned by my buds car lot) and drive off instantly rather than locking the wheel lift bars. (It was an old Century for those who care.)
You can drive down many a residential street or parking lot with the rear brakes locked, tires boiling smoke, and no fucks given!
The flatbed ("rollback") cares not even if there are no wheels on the target vehicle. It'll skid just fine.
Good times.
There are already plenty of people machining parts for modern weapons. It's legal. You can make them for yourself in your home workshop, and it doesn't cause problems.
http://www.cncguns.com/
The problem isn't weapon availablilty, which is universal.
The first problem is unwillingness to punish or kill the people who commit CRIMES with weapons. The second is unwillingness to lock up mental defectives and remove them as a social problem.
Criminals stop being a threat if they never get out of prison or if they are dead. The whole concept of "reforming" such folk has been accepted due to repetition, but it's absurd and they know it.
When the US was serious about dealing with mental defectives, it locked them up and left them there. It being MUCH cheaper to throw a few drugs at the crazies, pretend they will take them, then dump them on the streets, that replaced loony bins. When they act out, they go to prison, which is the other industry that replaced loony bins.
Don't want problems from mental defectives? They can't be helped, only stoned, and they won't stay stoned unless they are controlled. Don't want problems from violent criminals? Lock them up for life and work them so the system turns a profit.
I won't miss either lot. The majority of people are decent folks and won't miss them either.
No one is going to press charges on a female for lying on a grant proposal.
She'll leave, that will end it.
The Japanese didn't NEED to spend on a military to defend them during the Cold War because the US military did that for them instead.
That's not a victory for pacifism. US forces were ready to nuke China and North Korea at no notice. Nukes were loaded on aircraft sitting Alert at many Asian bases including some in South Korea.
The same fellow who helped give Japan its sudden taste for pacifism by burning hundreds of thousands of its people to death in WWII "fire raids" (some of which bagged more of them than either Hiroshima or Nagasaki) then helped build and run the Strategic Air Command whose nuclear umbrella sheltered Japanese growth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_LeMay
Since when is seeing a part of a GLOBAL population as an enemy "sociopathic"?
The definition of "society" is subjective, and if ones own is specific and not general, it's hardly "pathological" for them to kill enemies with no remorse.
If a band of chimps attacks a competing band, is that "sociopathic"?
Test some folks who have performed heroically in combat, killing others to defend their friends.
An "empathy disable" switch did not evolve by accident.
"Personally I'm banking on GNUstep actually getting finished and offering an osx-alike experience on Linux."
To succeed, copy success.
"now"......."NOW"?????????????
Kissinger, Arafat, Peres, and Rabin among others won Nobel Peace Prizes.
The Nobels should get less respect than an Emmy award.
Easy enough to flood such an app with lulzy disinformation and make it useless.
Such schools also tend to be in areas whose demographics aren't prone to a high violent crime rate.
"Computers do EVERYTHING. "
Maybe in your flight sim game.
No, "computers" give you different displays of information and simplify some tasks, but you still have to know how to USE those computers, interpret what they tell you, and not get task saturated so you don't CFIT, select the wrong weapons release settings and shack a target with your wing tanks, or otherwise have a bad day.
There is so much info that writeups such as "IFF does not work in OFF mode" are real (the switch sequence on the control box wasn't intuitive) and "CND" (Can Not Duplicate) signoffs of writeups are moderately common because said writeups can often be bogus. (Of course, some won't duplicate on the ground so "swaptronics" is done with line replaceable units to see if the problem moves to another aircraft.)
"Knuckle dragger"? Sure pal. What pilot refers to the people who take his entire aircraft apart and reassemble it as "knuckle draggers"?
Every system the pilot uses, maintainers not only operate, but troubleshoot (life isn't all BIT checks nor is every possible condition covered in Technical Orders) repair and modify.
"maintenance support,"
HAHAHAHA! My sides!
I was a maintainer (avionics, engines, later crew chief) for 26 years (1981-2007 on Broncos, Phantoms, F-16 A/B/C/D/CJ) and experienced highly effective non-flying DCMs (Deputy Commanders for Maintenance), the attempts to do away with them, and the return of powerful Maintenance Squadron commanders.
Running Maintenance in no way requires being a pilot and in many ways is better done by one not of a "pilot" psychology. It has everything to do with holding sufficient rank to communicate with squadron commanders on a peer level when deconflicting their needs/desires with requirements of maintenance, inspection, paint/coating, airframe availability for mandatory ground crew training and so forth.
I've had very good pilot squadron COs, but their specialty is FLYING and having them run maintenance too is (further) task-saturating them with shit they don't need to micromanage.
"contract management,"
Only in specific areas where their expertise as flyers matters.
Most USAF contracting isn't that.
"Privacy is illegal because actually different societies are illegal."
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
I also grew up around polio survivors etc.
The US public education system has become worthless since the 1960s. It demands nothing of students and that shows. (Some community colleges have to teach students, who are high school graduates, how to read rules and tape measures as part of their training to enter the workforce!)
"Gone are the days of fighting cables and air pressure. It's all computers. "
I've been in the back seat of an F-16 D-model (I was a crew chief and we got rides when there was no one scheduled to go up for other purposes). The G-forces are considerable and you certainly do "fight" them (straining maneuvers etc). Flying any modern fighter takes considerable physical endurance.
A "belly" doesn't indicate lack of resistance to G's.
That's been going on a very long time and hasn't stopped potential aircrew. The perception they won't get a slot for their effort IS a deterrent.
What does piss off pilots and ruin RETENTION (which creates shortages) is their "extra duties" and square-filling they are tasked with when not flying. If the Air Force wanted to retain pilots it would reduce the bullshit they have to put up with. It's not as if pilots aren't vocal about it. Many would be delighted with a full career "flying track" even if they weren't promoted as quickly. With command comes a desk, and that desk never empties.
Pilots do not live in "hellhole" conditions, and neither to most Airmen when deployed.
Keeping it real, warships are MUCH sexier than the merchant ships they sank and the entertainment value of submarine crews actions (most of the family members who actually KNEW them are either elderly or dead by now) is greater than that of the crew of some forgotten oiler or collier or cargo ship they sent down with all hands.
http://www.usmm.org/shipsunkdamaged.html
http://www.worldnavalships.com/merchant_navy_losses.htm
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/other/sea/secondfleet
Although some (not all) LEOs would differ, mass gun ownership isn't much threat to police (remember the PERCENTAGE of weapons used in crime is microscopic) and no great number of so-called "assault weapons" are used against them.
" The Second Amendment isn't about deer hunting or self-defense, per se, it's about being able to overthrow your government when you need to, as the guys who wrote it had just done."
That's a good thing. Americans are so heavily armed that if it does become necessary to kill a toxic government we can damn well do it with overwhelming force. It would be bloody, but the number of weapons owned by US citizens dwarfs that in places such as Syria.
Our military is tiny and dispersed and the police would be completely outnumbered (besides both groups being promptly divided) if the shit hit the fan. Even unarmed rioters are barely controllable in some situations. There are more than 2 million AR-15s and relatives alone in circulation.
If our government truly turns on us we should do what our Founders did and waste the fuckers until they quit.
We wouldn't have a country if our predecessors hadn't punctured their lawful government and its armed forces with shot and shell.
In the end, political power flows from the barrel of a gun. That means you aren't "free" without the power to slay your opponents. That power may be delegated if you trust others sufficient, but it must exist.
Surviving submarine commanders, and Admiral Doenitz who commanded them, wrote memoirs.
There are plenty of first-hand accounts of submarine warfare from participants. They are in dead-tree media but still available.
Also very interesting are accounts of commerce raiders and Q-ships in both wars.
It bears reminding that wreck diving costs money, and is fun.
Make a historically entertaining case for sponsorship then have at it.
Wrecks are somehow more interesting to the public than the same or similar vessels preserved on land.
Of course the maps weren't as pretty, but this has been done to death.
The danger of nuclear war in minuscule compared to the days when Soviets and Maoists were a threat. Now Russians and Chinese are our business partners.
Detente worked, thanks be to Richard Nixon!
Violence in the US isn't "prevalent", it's "publicised".
Most of the US is quite cozy, with violent crime being largely confined to areas where toxic people prey on each other.
Much crime is VERY geographically restricted. For example I live in a county with an impressive number of assaults and propertly crimes, but I don't live in the "bad part" of that county. I've never had a problem in thirty years.
It's also an area where anyone burgling a home would expect to be shot, so crooks only hunt familiar territory. We pay the police to make sure their operational radius is short, so to speak. "If you don't belong there, stay the fuck out because it's not yours."
"Sadly, that will never happen."
What's "sad" about that?
What I want would be better served by the failure of Microsoft. I don't care for the company or its products or its influence so I want it to die.
...to fix defects and to add features.
If you must constantly update, your product is broken and your users are beta testers.
I feel dirty using the Internet.
I know everyone who CAN snoop on me does.