Pooky

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was what is termed as a “Fracture Critical” bridge. In short, this means there is zero redundancy in the structure, so that if a component fails, its function can not be transferred to another component or system. Additionally, if a major system fails in one part of the structure, the remaining parts of the structure will also fail, leading to a total collapse, as happened here. According to the DoT, there are over 18,000 fracture critical bridges in the U.S.

So, the Mexican President is attempting to blackmail the U.S. administration over controlling the Southern border? And Sleepy Joe is just going to let this fiasco continue 🙁

When a pilot is on board, they have full authority over the ship. If the ship was being towed, the tugs would be controlling the direction and speed of the ship. In addition, must tugs are pretty powerful, far more so than the bow thrusters the ship would be using to assist in manoeuvring. The chances are good the impact with the bridge could have been avoided.

I have been on a container ship, where the steering failed leaving port. We were only 16,000 tons, but it took almost half a mile to bring the ship to a stop with the engines full astern, if my memory serves. We missed Hythe Pier oil jetty in Southampton by less than 10 yards. We also had a pilot on board and he was white as a sheet when he disembarked. Nothing he could do about it. This ship displaces 100,000 tons and at 8 knots, you’re looking at miles to stop it. With a total power loss, you’ve lost the ability to reverse the propellers. That ship was not stopping anytime soon. That they were able to get off a mayday and the authorities managed to stop traffic on the bridge saved countless lives. This could have been a lot worse.

Letitia James’ ego is the first known victim ☠️

Are they grown-up enough to have temper tantrums? 🤔

Ouch!!!! 😣 That’s got to hurt AG James’ ego just a tad 😎

But it’s in Florida, so it’s related to a real swamp, not a metaphorical one, so it may, indeed, fly 😎

It’s not the charges themselves that arouse suspicion, it’s the timing of the cases to impact the 2024 Presidential Elections and the campaigning cycle that precedes them, that stokes the fear of state-sanctioned electoral interference. What is ironic is the political capital DJT is deriving from this very obvious attempt to sway the electorate. That none of the prosecutorial actors can see that, regardless of the outcomes, the interference is having the opposite effect to that which they desired is truly mind-numbing.

Tulsi Gabbard, who ruined Kamala Harris in 2016. I like her. 😎

Worse for her, she is already held in contempt of the general public. 😒

In the eyes of the non-partisan public, Fani Willis is fatally compromised, she just can’t see it. It no longer matters which way this case goes. Conviction, acquittal, or dismissal, DJT will only benefit politically, regardless of outcome. But her ego won’t let her see anything but the illusion of personal glory should she get lucky and obtain a conviction.

If you want realistic WWII air combat, Battle of Britain is unsurpassed (still). For modern day combat scenes, Les Chevaliers du Ciel beats out both Top Guns (even though it’s French 🇫🇷).

Haven’t watched it myself, but I hear from other plane buffs that the visual effects aren’t quite there. Still better than Red Tails, though 😗

No plagiarism here. My MIL is part of the 99% 👿

99% of lawyers give the other 1% a bad name. 😒

I doubt A President DJT or his administration would engage in lawfare. I suspect there will be other targets he will be busy dealing with. But I would bet a large amount of money that the Democrats will escalate their lawfare to try to obstruct a DJT presidency, even more so than in his first administration.

If the last time DJT got elected is anything to go by, they’ll be setting themselves up for disappointment … same as the majority of the US population 🤣

Segregation and perpetuating is the end goal of the Democrat Party. If people are actually allowed to look past their differences, far more similarities appear, which would deprive those divisive politicians of their whole raison d’etre.

And yet the Democrats, their affiliate and their donors are the only party in this country actively seeking to divide its citizens along racial, political and religious lines. Funny that. 😒

I never took Mark Cuban as a fool before his latest pronouncements. Sleepy Joe is indeed a traditional politician. On the world stage and in domestic politics, that makes him predictable, which keeps the political class and world leaders comfortable that things will continue along a path that can be relied upon. DJT is not a traditional politician. He is a disruptor, working in a transactional world. That takes away the predictability and prevents an adversary preempting his moves. In the current, finance and trade-heavy world market, the transactional has the advantage over the traditional. For all the bleating over oil sanctions against Russia, their income is still booming. When DJT sank oil prices below $0 a barrel, Vlad the Imputint was terrified as their major source of revenue evaporated. Everyone bleated about the compensatory measures needed to mitigate the trade tariffs imposed against China. No-one noticed the imbalance in the return tariffs from the Chinese, who understood they were going to take a kicking. No-one mentioned the repatriation of manufacturing by other nations (I was in Japan at the time and it was big news there) out of China, knocking their domestic growth down by between 2 and 3% even as the measures were ramping up. Cuban, as a businessman, should be in a prime position to note things like this. It lessens my opinion of him that he doesn’t.

Doesn’t skipping take longer than driving? 🤔

All of them did. In a unanimous opinion, SCOTUS agreed that Democrats and Never-Trumpers, in their bid to preserve Democracy and prevent the presumed wannabe Dictator from even getting on the primary ballot, were, in fact, acting in a pseudo-dictatorial manner themselves and attempting to destroy Democracy. ☠️ Oh, the irony.