>>111220
Just fly in an AWACS and shoot down all targets via space lasers.

>these days even a third world shithole could produce high tech bullshit from off the shelf components

In other words. We even as a non-third world nation are not fully there yet, and you can't snag this part at home depot either.

We do not currently (acknowledged) have railgun launched Mach 6 ramjet drones or space lasers to fight on the battlefield, but what seems to be getting the job done (killing peasant morons in the Middle East with scant air defenses) on a budget is the Reaper drone. The F-35 was reported to replace CAS-smashers like the venerable A-10 Warthog, but this was a fantasy and the service life was further extended (even though many need lots of maintenance like new wings and fixing fuselage cracks) to around 2022. The A-10 may well be replaced by drones...
Reaper Drones: The New Close Air Support Weapon May 10, 2017 https://breakingdefense.com/2017/05/reaper-drones-the-new-close-air-support-weapon/
The Reaper has grown into a key Close Air Support (CAS) tool for the US military and should not be viewed primarily as an Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance (ISR) asset. ...Another factor to take into account with so-called fast-mover aircraft like F-16s, F-18s, B-1s, B-2s and F-15s is that the enemy can hear them coming. The enemy often scatters when they hear the roar of an approaching fighter or bomber, which can be extremely useful. With an MQ-9, “they don’t know we’re there.” That can be useful if the goal of a mission is to kill particular personnel or to wipe out an enemy position — less so if the goal is to scare them off without striking, as was often the case in Afghanistan because of restrictive rules of engagement.
In Libya, more than 70 percent of the Reaper strikes were “danger-close” CAS missions, where exquisitely accurate targeting and the lowest amount of collateral damage possible were key. Hellfire missiles, originally designed to be used by attack helicopters, have smaller warheads than bombs and can be carefully guided during a strike to avoid destroying a building.
“We dropped 100s of Hellfires and handed that city back to the Libyans intact because we were using highly accurate weapons,” Col. Joe said. Most important, not a single civilian casualty caused by a Reaper strike was reported during the Sirte operations.
The larger lesson from that operation may be a new approach to working with local forces against terrorists and more organized groups. “We took an indigenous ground force we supported and we enabled them to take back land from our common enemy of ISIS,” the 432 commander says. “In many ways, it was the coming out party of the MQ-9 in urban CAS and our ability to go after an embedded enemy danger close.”
How close were the enemy and friendly forces? “We had shots as close as 25 meters,” Col. Joe says. One effect of the Reaper’s persistence — its ability to stay over one area for up to 20 hours — was the sense of protection it offered to friendly forces on the ground. “We took MQ-9s and we watched and protected the indigenous forces. If ISIS m

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The thing people forget when they start talking about drones replacing piloted aircraft has nothing to do with technology or physiology or even tactics. It's a matter of ethics. It's going to take a LOT longer for us as a species to be comfortable with the idea of an AI willfully taking a human life. If we're smart that should never happen.

To which a drone proponent would say "they're still piloted by humans, just far away. This removes the ethical issue, and it removes the pilots from harm's way, it also means the aircraft magically becomes better".

If you're only thinking about fighting rebels in mountains, then you might be right on some accounts. However, if you want that same military to be able to contend with foreign nations, it is dangerously wrong. In a war with a peer nation, the communications systems those drones use will be removed from use by one means or another. So then you're stuck with weapons you can't use, unless of course you're willing to give them control over killing a human being.

So not only are drones a dangerous solution to problems that don't exist, they can increase the likelihood we give the power to kill over to a machine running cold logical code. Code written to target whomever the controller programmed last.

Or we could continue to design manned aircraft because we're at a limitation of material science right now, and methods of propulsion. Human pilots aren't really holding aircraft design back. Jets wouldn't magically get faster, the electronics package required for complex drones is quite large. Humans aren't holding back aircraft like discovery channel shows might make you believe. Maneuverability being capped at ~9Gs has very little to do with human pilots now. Flightsuits have also advanced in the last 40 years, pilots can comfortably handle 9Gs for HOURS, and 11g for a few minutes, in the right suit. There's stuff in development that could push humans past 15g sustained (mostly centered around spaceflight, but technologies can still be applied).

It will be far easier to engineer weapon systems that overcome the limitations in material science, (who knew trying to get materials to maintain their perfect positioning while rapidly accelerating in various directions is hard). This is why there's the renewed interest in turreted defensive weapon systems on aircraft. It's much cheaper to make a 9G fighter that will survive for 15 years before needing service life extension programs, put a human pilot in it, put 360* defensive weapons on it, and then blame any mistakes on the human pilot if the targets turn out to be children. It's a lot easier for politicians to avoid questions if they already have a fall guy in place. Drones get swept away, or become AI-driven. It's a lot harder to avoid blame if it was literally just carrying out orders

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Meanwhile back on topic... You are not paranoid if they are really after you.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/357465/pentagon-accidentally-exposes-web-monitoring-operation

>"The data exposed in one of the three buckets is estimated to contain at least 1.8 billion posts of scraped internet content over the past 8 years," UpGuard said in a Friday report.

>Much of the data was scraped from news sites, web forums, and social media services such as Facebook and Twitter. The information includes content relating to Iraqi and Pakistani politics and ISIS, but also social media posts made by Americans.

>>111283
>scraped internet content over the past 8 years
It is said that everything that goes into Internet, stays in it forever. Now I can become just a little more certain about it.

Thanks for paying your taxes, OP. Millions on welfare are counting on you!

>>111163
>why am i always supposed to thank military ppl and cops for their service

Simply put don't. You are not required to and vets typically do not want you to.

It is a catch 22.

You thank me, and the only show reel that plays in my head is all of the FUBAR things that went down. Things that only make me lament that I am no longer there doing the deal.

If you thank me, I will be cordial and say something like "no problem" and think that you are a tool for not suiting up yourself.


>thanks me for paying my taxes and earning a living in the private sector by producing something of actual value (food in my case, i grow it on a farm)

https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21643191-crop-prices-fall-farmers-grow-subsidies-instead-milking-taxpayers

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>>111236
>pic
Fuck.

>>111238
generating blowback terrorism keeps the military industrial complex in business and the federal government deep in debt which in turn keeps the american citizens overtaxed and that impoverishment gives people less incentive to work on their own behalf.
thank you to all the soldiers for volunteering to be tools
its all fine for them, they get their pension, lifetime free healthcare and hiring preference for other taxpayer funded government jobs which pay more for less risk once they've done their turn in the military. what a bunch of selfless saints, i really feel strongly that i owe them something more than they're already getting.
if anyone protests the system less than politely these same soldiers are all ready to turn their guns on them too.

>>111163

>>111214
give them explosive diarrhea too

>>111219
Bat Guano is the best robot overlord.

>>111212
Get a 4k TV, don't worry about the "smart" aspect too much, they'll all have it, but within 2 years the "smart" bit will be outdated.
The TV will still work fine, you'll just plug in an external dongle and be good to go.

Earlier this week I got my sister-in-law a gift certificate for maternity clothes.
Today she lost the baby.

>>111252
Shitty.

The old British papers had more alliteration.
Punch publishes: "Puerile punks pester people and passers-by with pellet guns, peeving the populace and perplexing the police."
"Ill-begotten Irish immigrants implicated in imbroglio!"

Seven stung in swinish Soft-Air shooting in Silkmore Road at Stafford!

>>111133
10/10 Would by Bat Guano based paper

>>111137
Bully Brit backs bat's bid to begin bimonthly handbill

>>111139
Mulato Minstrel Makes Mischief for Mild Mannered Master of Arms.

u don't have to buy health insurance anymore either

Reading this thread almost a year later is a bummer.

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-wont-accept-tax-returns-next-year-without-health-coverage

>>111123
that just means that anyone who doesn't have health insurance isn't committing a crime if they don't file. of course they'll still be charged and sent up because people too poor for insurance can't afford the 6 figure lawyer bills to take bullshit like that to court. where the hell is grover torquiest when you need him and how the fuck is all-republican government letting this happen? i though they were against the excesses of government and the democrats were the heavy taxes/big spending authoritarian party and the republicans were the small taxes/small government/balanced budget/freedom loving libertarian types

>>111126
>how the fuck is all-republican government letting this happen? i though they were against the excesses of government and the democrats were the heavy taxes/big spending authoritarian party and the republicans were the small taxes/small government/balanced budget/freedom loving libertarian types

>believing this
>2017

there has never really been a difference. there never will be.

Good news everybody: the republicans want to ban people from saving money for retirement to fund tax breaks for corporations!
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-talk-of-capping-401k-contributions-at-2400-per-year-2017-10-20
>Proposals floating around Washington to cap the amount that Americans can contribute before taxes to 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts are unsettling professionals in the retirement industry.

>Republicans are looking for ways to generate revenue to support broad reductions in individual tax rates. One idea is to limit the amount of pretax money households can sock away for retirement saving. Such a move would likely generate significant political blowback but it hasn’t been explicitly ruled out, stirring worry among industry lobbyists.

>Members of the House Ways and Means Committee are widely expected to release a version of the tax bill by mid-November. Specifics on a wide range of issues remain unclear. Emily Schillinger, a spokeswoman for the Ways and Means Committee, declined to comment.

>Lobbyists and others in the retirement and financial services industries who have spoken to congressional staff and committee members say lawmakers are looking at proposals that would allow 401(k) participants to contribute significantly less than what is currently allowed in a traditional tax-deferred 401(k). An often mentioned amount is $2,400 a year. It isn’t clear whether that would only apply to 401(k)s or IRAs or both.

  The DMT Moment - JRE Toon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq0TP6WpyBs

SON DID I EVER TELL YOU ABOUT THE TIME I GOT 306 ELECTORAL VOTES?

>>110884

trump has to use a fucking body double to hide the fact that his wife doesn't want to be seen near him.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4995134/Conspiracy-theory-suggests-Melania-using-body-double.html
>During the press conference, Trump pointed out the presence of his wife even though she was standing in clear view of the cameras.

>'My wife, Melania, who happens to be right here,' he said.

  dude is 9000x more punk than lou reed or johnny rotten ever were. gg tried way harder to offend society and an ended up dying moronically and people made fun of at his funeral. trump goes balls to the wall doing the same stuff gg tired and hes the most popular man on the planet.

the nra putting that work in.

(your)

One day guns will speak for themselves.

(ebin)

Guns are gud.

(GET)

>>111110
>>111109
>>111108
>>111107
>>111106
>>111105
>>111104
>>111103
Hello, new friend! It is common courtesy to restrict double posting. Take the time to compose your thoughts and enter them into a single post.

>>111061
Why are you talking like that?

Did we really strike you as a center for Trump support?

>>111115
For some reason people assume that being pro-gun = being a bible thumping republican...

>>111118
Well to be fair to their pea brained assumptions, not many gun owners are going to be voting Dem except on a local level or if they have a more pressing concern (a gay or minority gun owner might vote Dem because they feel Dems history of catering to gaymosexuals and Basketball Americans better represents them because they might feel those rights edge out guns rights, not judging them, just stating a fact).

Republicans are far more likely to have our back and not as likely to stick some nanny state approved blunt tipped knife in it. Democrats even with a history of being pro-gun are looked with suspicion because of their parties history with loving gun control long time. Take that cunt Joe Manchin from Best Virginia who despite being from a state with a history of clinging to guns harder then their cousin wives Ol Joe decides to dip his wick in the gun debate by trying to doing universal background checks.

Its no wonder that Joe is getting his nuts stomped by his constituents with many people thinking he might do a party switch like the WV governor did recently.

But it illustrates something about WV, that a state formerly so blue that the only thing bluer was the meth they been cooking has massively turned red as of late. Because the Democrats stopped appealing to them, their hostility towards the working man especially when that man is working with coal, their disgust with how some country boy (don't call him southern or you might get shot) might want to own guns and even more shockingly use them but all responsible like, it bleed out all that blue.

Its no fucking wonder that WV IS a center for Trump support. Support for a goddamn billionaire New York liberal, he was seen as better then Hillary, I mean thats like a Neo-Nazi or a Muslim voting for a jew just because the other guy is so much worse. I'd laugh if I didn't feel like crying

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/west-virginia-how-bluest-state-became-reddest-n697491

>>111115
The goon is trying to make us somehow regret not voting for Hillary, when there was not even one benefit in doing so.
For everyone on this board, there was one single question to answer this election, "Who gets to fill the Supreme Court?"

As for the reason trump is using jews to fill government positions, the simple fact is that jews are the ones who are actively positioning themselves to both the options available as well as the gatekeepers who recommend the options. He's a new york businessman not an ideologue, so no thinking person should be surprised that he's using the resources available.

>>111120
>doesn't play by the rules
>lawful evil
If it doesn't play by the rules, it's not lawful. For fuck's sake.

The Federation of American Scientists and other organizations keep track of these nuclear stockpiles and regularly release updated weapons counts.

Below is a map that shows the best estimates of which countries have nukes and how many they have. http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-weapons-stockpiles-world-map-2017-8

Status of World Nuclear Forces
The number of nuclear weapons in the world has declined significantly since the Cold War: down from a peak of approximately 70,300 in 1986 to an estimated 14,900 in early-2017. Government officials often portray that accomplishment as a result of current arms control agreements, but the overwhelming portion of the reduction happened in the 1990s. Moreover, comparing today’s inventory with that of the 1950s is like comparing apples and oranges; today’s forces are vastly more capable. The pace of reduction has slowed significantly. Instead of planning for nuclear disarmament, the nuclear-armed states appear to plan to retain large arsenals for the indefinite future. https://fas.org/issues/nuclear-weapons/status-world-nuclear-forces/

Well, judging by the actions of US diplomats in the last several months, one can conclude that US and NATO has been preparing for set date and time for some sort of large scale invasion. Again. And again, only symbolically.

>embassy closure
>diplomat expulsion
>other sorts of bullshit

http://tass.com/world/970403
>The US failed to issue entry visas for the entire delegation of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces

https://sputniknews.com/military/201709201057537273-russia-inf-us-missile-treaty/
>The senior Russian senator warned that Russia is capable to arrange a decent response if US leaves the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Apparently, current lack of international policy in US (a direct consequence of Trump controversy) has been already exploited by some influential parties with their own separate interests. Weither it is a realistic scenario, or will it be put in action at all, is entirely different question.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/pray-we-never-have-to-shoot-down-a-missile-us-navy-survey-reveals-extent-of-pacific-crew-despair/news-story/4883acc5989e1c485fcec6a735c7ce01

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I don't think you ever really can have enough nukes

>>111102
Eh, then you pay for them.
Just to do a factory refurbish of an old B61 nuclear bomb (upgrading the fixed air fins for movable ones, exchanging the vacuum tube electronics for a microprocessor board, installing new data plugs, etc.) costs twenty million dollars. If that 750 lb bomb was made of solid gold, it would not cost that much!
An example of a defense contractor turning a simple upgrade job (they do nothing to the actual nuclear weapon within the bomb casing) into a nine billion dollar swindle.