I say we build a probe with our best propulsion option, and huck it that way. Sure, it'll be a couple dozen generations before it gets there, but its something for the grandkids to enjoy.

The citizens of the USA spend more every year on new cell phones than they do on the entire budget of NASA. Pick something else to bitch about.

Who cares, its finally an interesting enough target for us to actually think about building an interstellar probe. The sooner we launch one, the sooner our descendants get to hear back from it.

I imagine he means a tech in the same line of work as he is, who's workflow involves sitting in a chair watching scans finish.

Quit complaining and get back into your work cupboard you!

Indeed. On the rare occasion I have to man a register at work, within an hour, my back is spasming, and my legs are stocking up and getting stiff. I can work all day out on the floor stocking, lifting heavy cases, kneeling, getting up, up and down ladders with no problem, but standing in one place for an hour is brutal. I suppose if I had to do it more my body would adapt to standing still eventually, but it would be a miserable transition.

This 2 minutes to load bullshit has GOT to stop. a soldier was expiated toreload and fire in 15 seconds for at least 4 minutes. They used a paper cartridge, with the powder, wad, and ball wrapped inside, a solder would take the cartridge, rip the end off with his teeth, pour a little powder into the pan, drop the rest into the barrel, and ram it home with the rod. at this point, it was raise, cock and fire. Now, a Pennsylvania Rifle on the other hand, could take 30 seconds to a minute to reload, because the ball fit much tighter, making reloading a more difficult process. It also had a lot longer range, and was more accurate, and there was not a lot of them in existence.

This 2 minutes to load bullshit has GOT to stop. A decently trained musketeer can reload and fire in 15 seconds. They used a paper cartridge, with the powder, wad, and ball wrapped inside, a solder would take the cartridge, rip the end off with his teeth, pour a little powder into the pan, drop the rest into the barrel, and ram it home with the rod. at this point, it was raise, cock and fire. Line formation really meant aiming was not that important. Now, a Pennsylvania Rifle could take 30 seconds to a minute to reload, because the ball fit much tighter, making reloading a more difficult process, but the major portion of the armed forces in the revolution would have been equipped with standard muskets, not rifles, which, by virtue of their much greater range, where limited to what amounted to the first snipers.

I don't need a machine gun to keep people from stealing my TV. Locks, walls, and intelligence mostly does that. I need the machine gun because it is fun to shoot at rotten pumpkins and cinder blocks out at the gun range.

I somehow don't feel bettered as a member of society immediately knowing when celebrities show their crotches to children or whatever other 'scandal' and other drivel that the news outlets spew, pretending its relevant. Also, the lightning speed at which we lynch our public officials when they make some stupid remark is depressing, the speed of the internet has removed any opportunity for public persons to correct their mistakes before they burn their careers to the ground. Everyone says stupid things, its just that most of us are not under a twitter microscope 24/7.

I remember listening to an interview with someone who was a presidential staffer back in the 80's and he was talking about how the president had said something stupid, and they where all "well, we have a couple days to run damage control on this, because the papers have already run, and the next edition won't be out for a few days". Compared to today, where if any politician says anything half witted, its all over twitter and the rest of the internet in a matter of minutes. A lot of things have changed, and not all of them for the better. We now hold our elected officials to a hilariously high standard, because there is literally no time between the moment they make a mistake, and the moment they are judged for it. The fact of the mater is, they are human, and they fuck up just as much as we do, the only difference is we are watching their every move.

Give it a try, see if the cops don't stop you. Hell, there was a guy here who had one of those Katana hilted umbrellas, and they spent half the day searching the town and school for the supposed 'swordsman'.

Yeah, but the crossbow is cumbersome to conceal inside my waistband.

I think he's gonna need a video. I'm not saying you can't, because people do some impressive shit, but sub MOA at those ranges with a semi-auto is a spectacular feat, and we gun enthusiasts would love to see it.

http://www.longrangehunting.co... read that. Its not an AR-15 (which would be far harder to MOA at a mile) but the guy was putting 6 out of 7 .223 cal rounds on a 8" by 12" target at a mile.