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Post by timothylane on Jan 25, 2020 9:42:59 GMT -8
Actually, that statistic about welfare spending illustrates precisely why a lot of people would want to stay in the EU. If you're goal in life is to live comfortably without effort, and you didn't inherit enough of a fortune to enable you to do (like Stanley Moon's grandfather in Bedazzled, who inherited over a million pounds and then "frittered it away in wine, women, and loose living"), the EU is the place for you.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 25, 2020 15:55:50 GMT -8
I don’t know what part is the corrupting influence of welfare (of all types) or belief in “The European Project.” And although there is a lot of rationalizing overlap there, I do think the EU represents a larger, more “Progressive” view of mankind as believed in by many…as opposed to every other way to order society which isn’t “Progressive” and thus, by definition, is just various forms of retrograde.
I think in the end that Islam combined with their liberal EU enablers will do more damage to Europe than Hitler ever did. But time will tell. In the meantime, it is obviously the right thing for Britain to get out and they should have done so twenty years ago.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jan 26, 2020 16:05:32 GMT -8
This is why I do not ride in private air transport. Kobe Bryant |
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Post by artraveler on Jan 26, 2020 17:03:07 GMT -8
This is why I do not ride in private air transport. I agree, although you never know who really runs anything anymore. How about a nice tour of SE Asia oil Air America? |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 26, 2020 19:02:33 GMT -8
Yikes. Helicopters are indeed dangerous — or private transportation, in general. A friend of mine was a helicopter pilot for a while. I’ll have to ask him when I see him next why he got out of the business. Maybe he knew the odds were against him the longer he stayed at it.
I’m given to understand that, if the pilots become incapacitated, the jumbo jets these days can land themselves if need be. Know how the Wright brothers started their landing procedure? They first shut off the engine and then coasted to a landing.
Apparently it is part of getting your license to demonstrate the ability to land a helicopter without power using autorotation. I have no idea how difficult that is:
One commenter says:
Can most single engine planes coast to a landing? Does a 747 basically fall out of the sky if it loses all engine power?
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Post by kungfuzu on Jan 26, 2020 20:19:24 GMT -8
I have flown in only one helicopter and that was the one Pan Am used to run between New York City and Kennedy International Airport. It was a very rough, noisy and shaky ride, but that was to be expected given the nature of the beast's rotating propulsion. I would have missed my flight had I not taken it, but I decided to try and avoid helicopters in the future. I have, so far, been successful.
Airplanes can glide a surprising long way without engine propulsion. It will vary from aircraft to aircraft. It may not help commercial planes much as they are so large that they need runways to land on. On the other hand, I would bet a fair number of smaller private planes have not crashed as they can land on roads and other flat areas if needs be.
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Post by artraveler on Jan 26, 2020 22:16:54 GMT -8
The problem is airspeed. Once it falls below the speed needed to maintain airflow over the wings than the aircraft becomes a brick. For a small plane this is less critical and gliding to a landing on any flat surface is easier, but not in any way assured. For a large aircraft like a 747 my guess is critical airspeed must be about 200 knots, for a piper cub it is about 75. Either way if you fall below it you will be the first one at the scene of the crash.
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Post by timothylane on Jan 27, 2020 6:56:47 GMT -8
As far as I can tell, the higher a plane's maximum speed, the higher its stalling speed. I suspect there's a relationship there, though the difference between the two is increased by being able to shift the wings.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 27, 2020 8:42:40 GMT -8
Okay, that makes sense. Thanks. As for the helicopter crash, what I read this morning suggests that they took off in bad weather. I also learned that Trump is a bum for expressing shock and regret at the accident. There are some decent comments to what is otherwise a very bland article at American Thinker. Although I don’t know much about the rape situation, one commenter wrote: Put that in the realm of “Tell me what you really think.” I understand that celebrities think they are a privileged set not bound by the laws (and weather physics) of mere mortals. And I won’t sit here and tell you that I’m all broken up about it. But accidents such as this are horrible, whether the victim is a celebrity or an unknown (and there are both in this). I don’t dismiss the tragic deaths, but as more than one person said, the death of people whose lives are far more substantial than bouncing a basketball will be buried on page 3. I agree with this comment wholeheartedly: |
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Post by kungfuzu on Jan 27, 2020 10:14:50 GMT -8
I wouldn't say "yawn." More like, "that's a shame" and then moving on to the rest of my day.
This phony avalanche of "grief" is the result of the 24/7 news cycle and social media. The news media has to have something to say in order to generate dollars. They therefore hammer away at a story which would be worth a few sentences thirty years ago. Today, the only way to avoid hearing about this is to turn of one's radio and TV, literally.
As to social media, I despise all the phonies who send condolences via the public airwaves(?) expressing their grief and thereby gaining attention for themselves and demonstrating to the world how empathetic they are. Whatever happened to quietly/privately writing a letter, or sending a card of condolence, to the bereaved?
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 27, 2020 10:30:04 GMT -8
Yes, “Yawn” is rather harsh and I think you are correct on that count. But as a counterbalance to the sort of distasteful outpouring regarding Princess Diana’s tragic death, I can understand it.
It is entirely right and proper to express grief (despite whatever one is feeling) at such a sad event. This is called being civilized, as you well know. But, truth be told, if Kobe pressed the pilot to fly in bad weather, I grieve most for this victims of his alleged and as yet entirely unproven arrogance.
But who can say no to a king?
I suppose it is just the nature of things to take more notice of famous people. There was obviously much attention accorded Glenn Miller’s death in 1944. Both men accomplished great things in either sports or music. And even before the age of Twitter, there were nitTwits galore including this from Artie Shaw:
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 27, 2020 10:32:10 GMT -8
That aspect, of course, in undeniable. Virtue-signaling doesn’t take time off even when there is tragedy.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jan 27, 2020 11:50:40 GMT -8
Once again, great minds think alike.
Your point was touched on when JFK Jr. and his wife went down while flying to Martha's Vineyard. Was he arrogant, was his wife nagging him to fly, what possessed him to try and do something he had never before done, at the worst time to try it?
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 27, 2020 12:03:58 GMT -8
Put that also in the GMTA category. That incident was also on my mind as being perhaps similar.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 28, 2020 8:28:23 GMT -8
Here’s an article with some detail about the helicopter crash. Basically, the pilot recklessly was flying with very little visibility until he ran into the side of a mountain.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jan 28, 2020 11:40:35 GMT -8
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Post by timothylane on Jan 28, 2020 12:00:45 GMT -8
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Post by artraveler on Jan 28, 2020 12:15:17 GMT -8
"All I can say is that Glenn should have lived, and 'Chattanooga Choo Choo' should have died." Actually Glenn Miller, Elvis and Howard Hughes shared a place in the Florida Keys. The rumors from MIB that Elvis went back to his home planet are false. Currently Howard Cohen is the only one in the Keys safe house, but I understand they are setting up a room for a very tall person. |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 28, 2020 12:29:40 GMT -8
Chambers sounds like a sensible fellow. I’m so out of the news cycle, I hadn’t heard of that. Our hometown newspaper is so obnoxiously liberal, it’s fit for nothing but the bottom of a birdcage.
There’s some sense in that. I’ll snap a photo of the sign if I find out where it is and if it’s still up.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jan 28, 2020 12:41:48 GMT -8
I though it might be good to show that there are still a few reasonable people in your neck of the woods.
I must say that I agree with him about Trump's Twitters. If the man could cut back just 30% of these blurbs, I think he would do himself a world of good. But you know what they say, "Character is destiny."
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