He may be naming the UK as a locale... up until recently (and in many cases probably still true), the UK's libel laws were a nightmare for whoever found himself as a defendant - even if the defendant told the absolute truth, it may not be enough of an escape from liability depending on circumstance, timing, and delivery.

In the US, if you told the truth (and can prove it), you're generally safe from judgement (though not legal bills). Outside of the US, it may not be so cut-and-dried.

It's not as easy to sneak onto a military base (where, you know, base housing is located) as the TV/movies would have you believe. You do know that, right?

*Most* air-air fights (what few still occur) are done at distance with missiles.

However, many air-air combat aircraft are pressed into air-ground roles, and even otherwise, having a gun handy is very useful when you run out of missiles.

Welcome to Sunk Cost.

Sucks, but breaking that addiction is incredibly hard... doubly so when egos are just as much on the line as money.

Perhaps, though to be fair, much of this can be worked around (for how much? Tons o cash, eh?)

It's fairly standard that smaller/slower aircraft are very often more agile than the bigger boys - you just have to find the aircraft's strengths and play to those. For instance, the tiny T-35/F5 can commonly out-maneuver an F-15... at lower altitudes. At higher altitudes, the F-15 handles itself better in the thinner air of the upper stratosphere.

The F-16 is more than agile in lower altitudes, because it was built to be a combination air/air air/ground fighter, which leads me to believe that maybe these dogfights were conducted at lower altitudes... I am also curious (haven't looked) as to what the flight/fight profile of the F-35 is in the first place. if it's Air Superiority, then that usually means higher altitudes where there may be a better advantage. Anything else appears to be a whole lot of incompetence in design.

All that said, they had to know there were going to be compromises when doing the whole stealth (maneuverability) and STOL/VTOL (engine power) thing.

Or, best bet may be to scrap the damn thing and hold a competition for an aircraft that's worth a damn, and this time make the entrants build a working prototype *first*, without any governmental money up front... like they did in the old days.

True indeed, but also consider that in many of those parts of the world, the drivers are also stuck with having to grease the palms of some local poobah just to avoid having the wrath of the local constabulary come down on them.

Okay, it ain't that much different from how Portland works, but at least in PDX's case, the money is (well, mostly) passed along above-board, and it goes to the local government's coffers instead of some local sleazebag's pocket (well, mostly).

To be honest, the knee-jerk bumper-sticker mentality in your post didn't help your argument, which is what GP was pointing at without saying it directly. Maybe if you had constructed your post in a way that didn't mimic some frothing post from the comments section of Daily Kos?

I'll explain:
It's one thing to make assertions, preferably with evidence and/or at least some reason as to why you think a given ideology is to blame for said assertions.

It is another thing entirely to make blind assertions with no proof, and then compound the error by using slang terms lifted directly from the more turgid corners of political extremism; it simply does not help your case at all.

...you kidding? I'd kill to get rid of the IRS marriage penalty!

Depends on the state. Places like Nevada make it quick and easy, on the other hand Arkansas has onerous alimony laws** coupled with a long and tortuous process (I got to see it second-hand; my siblings and are from AR. It's one hell of an ugly process).

** for example, the lesser-paid spouse has full lifetime rights to a percentage of the higher-paid spouse's salary, retirement/pension, etc. unless the spouse receiving said money gets married again, or the higher-paid spouse's income drops (which necessitates another drawn-out court hearing, etc.)

If I were to lay money down on something, I'd say that in a couple of years, look for divorce laws to be targeted hotly in states where marriage is more strongly considered to be a lifetime commitment.

There is of course the flip side as well: federal and state tax penalties for being married, divorce laws (and the attendant alimony laws and etc as applicable by state, etc)...

I don't think it's going to be as rosy as proponents think it will be.

That's a big stretch for that clause... but then, the US government should have zero business with marriage in the first place.

Not to speak an opinion on the subject, but I do have a question:

Where in the hell in the US Constitution is there a "right" to "dignity"?

If that's the basis Kennedy used, then he obviously has no idea what is actually contained in the very document he claims to uphold.

Did it ever occur to you that many of us have just adapted to the environment that you (the royal you) created?

Let me put it this way: If I remained at the employer I worked at 10 years ago, my salary ($50k/yr at the time) would still most likely be less than 1/2 of what I'm making today, and that's counting the 'OMG we're hurting so bad financially but look - we're still being so generous!' 1-3% annual raises. Nice folks to work with, but yanno? fuck that.

BTW, it's not just money - I left my last non-contract job because the dizzy idiot that I reported to was very friendly and somewhat politically astute, but she had zero sense of mentorship, and decided that I was "too valuable to move into a management slot", in spite of the fact that I was bored out of my fucking mind in the role I did have, but apparently I knew too much to be so easily replaceable. A month later and I was gone.

TL;DR? I'm not there to look out for her career (or yours)... I'm too busy looking out for mine.

If you don't want mercenaries for employees, then pull your heads out of your backsides and stop treating us like chattel.

Depends on which Trimester we're talking about...

Give it time - apparently ISIS has a bit of a beachhead there.