Steam Flyer

Well, kindly remember what Trump himself said, many times, before the 2016 election... However it's part of the problem that our culture has sunk to the level of "fair" equals "I win" to entirely too many people. - DSK

I totally agree, a heck of a lot... very possibly a majority... of people in this country think it's all going sour, that the American Dream is lost... but my point is that the ones who are eager to vote for a candidate whose most famous statement is YOU'RE FIRED and who brags about the size of his dick, those voters deserve to be kicked to the curb. They are not going to make a positive contribution no matter how they are coddled. There is also very little outside anecdote and media myth to show that the Obama-then-Trump voters are more than a tiny number. Lots of counties tallied for Obama and then for Trump, but dirt doesn't vote. The math works easily if you assume that a large percent of Obama voters stayed home. The biggest problem facing America is that we're saddled with a huge media machine that sells hate and divisiveness... not solely the Fox/Rush axis although that's their main product, by now it's proven to be such a lucrative market that there is a wider market than just racist righties. But the pervasiveness of Fox/Rush hate spew, it's wide acceptance, is why a candidate like Donald Trump saddled the Republican Party and rode them like a carnival pony. As long as we are being sold a vision of gun-waving pinheads chanting LOCK HER UP and bug-eyed lefties waving rainbow Bernie flags, this country is headed for disaster. Frankly I think it's too late, the government has been seized by people who don't give a shit about the country, the voters, the Constitution, or anything except their own power and wealth... and they're not going to let go easily. - DSK

I hope you're not an engineer or an artist. It's heeled about 44 degrees. I was going to walk away from this blatant challenge but then coffee spoke... You're right, using the angle of the traveler lines to the horizon I get about 43 point mumble degrees. Dunno why it looked so much less Not a big deal, sailing-wise, especially to these boats which are not the "best-sailed flat" type we all know and love. Well, as long as water is not gushing in... FB- Doug

Add it up. How many minutes per week do Rush/Fox/InfoWars etc etc expend in vilifying Hillary? The air time is impressive, and air time is money. Is it a "vast right wing conspiracy?" I don't think so, but it's certainly consistent and very very little of the bad things they say about her are based in truth. - DSK

She didn't give away the election, she just didn't run it all that well. I go around and around with a close friend on this, whenever the subject comes up (usually brought up by them) they get pissed off and start yelling about what a stupid asshole Hillary is, and how she "should not have been allowed" to run. Which is silly, this is America. Anybody can run for President. Hillary's problem is that more money than the combined advertising budgets of Pepsi, Budweiser, and the Super Bowl, were spent every year for many years to convince the American people that she is some kind of demonic hag. And it worked. If she had listened to her husband, one of the best politicians this country has ever seen, she would have won anyway. How many babies did she kiss? How many high-school fotball coaches did sh shake hands with? How many out-of-the-way BBQ places did she pop into? Of the key states that she could have won but didn't how many did she ignore? The bottom line is, I think Hillary is pretty smart but she's no genius and she's allowed herself to be surrounded by sycophants who are not doing her any good. A lot of successful people fall prey to this. The fact that she tried and failed does NOT make it her fault that Trump won. - DSK

So, Dog, where was Antifa? Dog? Hello? - DSK

No he's not. He has those votes. good example of how people will vote to cut their own throats if you sell it to them using their own prejudices. My community runs heavily to northern and big-city retirees, and equally heavily to loyal pre-Trump Republicans. They are appalled by him but none of them would EVER vote for ANY Democrat. If Trump really really disgusts them, like two or at most three days before the election, they might not vote. He can do anything he wants, crash the economy, including draft all their kids/grandkids and get them all killed in a war, lose that war, maybe get Chicago & Philly & LA nuked, and they'd have forgotten about it in a week. - DSK

The Swede is somewhat of a different style of boat: long narrow hull, doesn't build up excessive weather helm nor lift the rudder out of the water until heel goes WAY out of control; rig inboard and balanced to keep the boat driving not stalling. I have not sailed a Swede 55 but a few of it's smaller cousins and they don't reward handling them like a modern racing boat, they don't power up until the point of heel long past a modern boat would be stalled and probably unsteerable. I raced a 6-Meter for a while and it was similar in handling (except that it probably didn't steer as well, the helm was almost irrelevant to that thing). The pic looks like she's only at 30 degrees or so, our 6 used to peg the fun-meter at 45 for long stretches. The winches were bit further inboard though FB- Doug

For now he is. The bloodhounds are on his trail but his buddies in the sheriff's department are trying to help him evade justice. - DSK

FIFY How come there is ZERO evidence for this "terrorist" and the story keeps changing? He was supposed to be plotting imminent attacks, right? Oh well, as I said before, the Trumpettes feel like the only good raghead is dead raghead, right? What happens when Trump decides to drone strike one of your grandaughters weddings? Why wouldn't he? The trade war is a stupid disaster, the US has achieved exactly zero of it's goals. Is China going to respect intellectual property/copyright law now? Stop manipulating currency? Encouraging NATO members to up their contribution would be a good thing. Threatening them, insulting them, and then whining they don't help us against these raghead terrorists is just stupid. If Trump is reelected the US will probably be kicked out of NATO; perhaps not a bad thing from some peoples' viewpoint but turning NATO into an alliance against us is really bad. It's one thing to intelligently pursue an isolationist policy, that's been a conservative goal for a long time. Making enemies and starting wars on whim is stupid and will result in major harm to the US. - DSK

What you don't realize is that they're all Hillary. She had them all killed and realistic masks made from their faces, and when she wants to do something really radically leftist and corrupt, she puts on her Pelosi or Kerry mask. When she wants to infiltrate the US Senate and try to seduce loyal Trumpublican Senators away from their duty to your Fuhrer, she puts on her Mitt Romeny mask... or just tells everyone she's Susan Collins, doesn't need to wear a mask for that... Hillary drinks the blood of Saudi princes and shits plutonium! - DSK

I'd be interested to hear what policies of his you feel have countries best interest in mind. Some, like being anti-immigration, is a legitimate enough policy stance although it is very much against American history and principles. Others, like sucking up to Russia and North Korea are stupid and dangerous and very destructive to this country. And murdering foreign leaders on bullshit pretexts is not just destructive to this countries' interest, it is outright criminal. Trade war? Tearing apart NATO? There's a long long list. - DSK

And not to mention that she's arrogant, too - DSK

Where's their artillery? What's their comm plan? A bunch of guys running around with guns that managed to not shoot themselves, or anyone else, by accident, is barely a good start. I bet 3/4 of them would shit their pants at the sound of a bullet thwipping past their head.... or the sight/sound/smell of the guy next to them getting gut-shot. But let's not be too negative. Let's give them a participation trophy and a hearty congratulations for not shooting themselves. - DSK

Agreed. Why will men go 'over the top' into almost certain death? Not just that, but to die horribly... or to survive maimed... it's completely intangible and impossible to calculate. But it -is- possible to teach leadership such that you will have men capable of inspiring that level of motivation, dedication... whatever you want to call it. The Space Force, as I understand the news, is just a renamed Air Force unit that already existed. Nothing has changed except the unit patch on their uniforms. BTW have you ever read any of the Niven/Pournelle John Christian Falkenburg series? Very good stuff IMHO, a little overdone perhaps in the military romance but enjoyable reads. - DSK