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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • My theory is related to your #1, but I’m guessing that the military is testing the detection capability of their systems. It would explain why the sightings have been all over the place. They are basically sending them out to fly in various different patterns from different approach vectors (“coming in from the ocean”) to ensure that the radar and likely more sophisticated drone-specific hardware can detect them. It would also account for why there have been such a variety of reports of different sizes and characteristics of the drones (the credible ones, not the people filming airplanes).

    I think the success of drones in the Ukraine conflict has accelerated the concerns of the military and DHS, and they felt the need to accelerate the install/upgrade/test of their defenses.



  • I feel bad for the family. Losing a loved one sucks. I don’t know anything else about him, his family, or their life outside of this story to build an opinion on their suffering, but I’m sure it is immeasurable and only made worse by the media circus that has developed.

    But one thing I do know is that this same terrible thing happens to so many families across the world every day. And the impacts can be harder than just dealing with the loss - what if the person murdered was the earner for the family? Or supported their disabled partner or child? What if a couple wasn’t married/legally bound, so the partner can’t get any of the deceased’s benefits? Imagine having to try to figure out childcare if you were a stay at home parent and had to go back to work. Imagine having to go back to work period after suffering a loss like that?

    This is where my lack of sympathy for the current situation manifests - because Mr. Thompson’s family is ridiculously rich from his time as CEO of UHC, they will not have to worry about these scenarios. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy safety and security and eliminate worry. They will be able to fully mourn their husband and father, knowing that their millions and millions of dollars are sitting there earning more money without them having to lift a finger. Their future is secure.

    To become that rich you either profited off the efforts of others, or profited from the suffering of others. Or both.




  • Wer früher stirbt ist länger tod (english title: Grave Decisions) is an absolutely incredible movie. It won a ton of awards, but is relatively unknown in the US.

    Wiki summary. “The film is about an 11-year-old Bavarian boy (Sebastian Schneider) who feels responsible for his mother’s death, who died during his birth, and naively attempts multiple ways to reach immortality (procreation, reincarnation, sanctification, rockstardom) to prevent his tenure in hell.”

    While this description may sound somewhat dark and serious, it is a light-hearted, inspiring movie with great music, visuals, and proper Bayrisch dialect (I have to use German subtitles to understand any of it).

    Side note - if any EU folks here can help a brother out with getting an electronic copy with proper English subtitles, I would be very grateful. I’ve been wanting to show it to all my friends, but only have a German-subtitled version.





  • I rode a few Zeros at a promotional event and really enjoyed them. I had an Africa Twin, and was mostly going on longer rides out in the sticks, to which I agree with other posters suggesting the range isn’t great. However, I’d love one for a commuter to get to and from work, as well as for a quick spin whenever I got the itch.

    But the $12k+ starting price just isn’t where it is at for the moment, considering less than half that can get you a 70+ mpg commuter bike.

    Hoping when I get back into motorbikes when the kids grow up, there will be a plethora of cheap, fun commuter/city EVs.