SayethWhaaaa

I've said this a stack of times, what worries me is that this bill garnered support from across the political spectrum. From Left to Right and everyone in the middle. And, it appeared few of them actually read the bill in detail to be aware of how it could be hijacked! A lot of them just assumed that blogs and websites wouldn't be targeted or that that kind of messaging wouldn't be enforced and supported it. If this who represents me now?? Best part is that it only applies to residents of South Australia! So if I was across the border in Victoria or Western Australia or somewhere overseas, that'd be okay. But if I posted from within SA, then I'd be breaking the law. You're absolutely right FC, you wouldn't be able to enforce it. Logging IP address for comments is something that the webmasters across SA would not monitor anyways and several have stated that they wouldn't do so as it would infringe a person's right to privacy. And the best part!! Absolutely the best part! Atkinson was quoted as saying "I will immediately after the election move to repeal the law retrospectively." -meaning he will dump the law after the election. I mean, that's assuming he is re-elected first! The writ's to enact this law haven't been delivered yet, so the law doesn't come into effect until that happens. So why not just ensure it's not enacted in the first place? Personally, I don't trust him since he's 'word' isn't worth much. He stated last last year that he would be open to discussion about his anti stance to an R rated ratings system for videogames in Australia (despite all the other AG's in Australia agreeing to one. Here, you need a unanimous agreement by the Attorneys General for it to be enacted) and then before his special 'committee' into videogame violence had released their findings into the public attitude towards the system, he came out as saying that he wasn't going to introduce one and that he didn't care about what people thought of him because he was doing it for the kids. Then there was the situation a few months ago (just before Christmas) where a developer wanted to develop a housing estate on the site of a recreation/sports centre (St. Clair's rec centre) in a particular suburb. The residents kicked up an awful sh*tstorm in protest because it would destroy some pretty nice parklands in the surrounding area. In response, Michael Atkinson again, ordered an inquiry into the effect it would have on the residents, before quietly rescinding this and giving the developers the go-ahead. Protesters arrived one morning to the developers started on the site from about 4am... So you'll understand why I'm a bit hesitant about this whole "won't be enforced" statement given his recent track record. I swear, if he gets re-elected this year, I'm crossing the pond to New Zealand or the US or something! We Adelaidians would deserve everything we get from that point on...

So I went to bed last night in a democratic state and woke up this morning in the People's Democratic Republic of South Australia. Because of this: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/labor-gags-internet-debate/story-fn2sdwup-1225825708827 In a nutshell, when making any online comment on the upcoming state elections this year, I must now list my real name and actual address otherwise I can be fined and the website hosting my comments, even if it's from a reputable, public website like a national news or newspaper website, can also be found in breach of the new law and fined accordingly. AND, the site I post my comments on, has to keep my details for up to six months and hand them over to the state government upon request. Failure to do so... yep, you guessed it, a fine. Even if it's something like "Hey, I saw the Premier out campaigning today." I still have to comply. What the f*ck?! *EDIT* And according to the late news tonight, the fines will be up to $5000 per person/organisation. Yay. :fu2:

The previous VVS orders are nothing to go by considering the pear-shaped economic situation of the time. They were simply unable to fund the numbers they wanted without an improved economic situation and a drastic reorganisation of military. You have to bear in mind that things like the Mi-28, Ka-50, Su-34 et al were programs in motion while the Soviet state collapsed and were lucky to survive at all. Russia today (almost 20 years after the fall of Communism) is in a much different place complared to then.

Hey Eject, just for future reference, grab yourself a flickr or photobucket account and it'll make it much easier for you to post screen shots. It lets you upload your photos there and post the link here, allowing it to be displayed directly in the thread. It just saves you having to upload a zip/rar file is all. That said, I love the screen shot!

Khan was great, but I loved IV. That one just stuck with me.

...also got a bit of a YF-23 look from some angles too.

I was thinking the EXACT same thing about it being the bastard offspring of those two planes. lol. These are the first real images I've seen of this plane... very nice.

...or I could just record it and not have to concentrate on the writing. SR-71...? Bah! Join the 21st century! We've got robots for that sorta thing now. One thing I find interesting. It's getting the nickname "iTampon" here, dunno about there.

Yeah, not much of a fan of apple or the way their customers have a bit of a fanatical attitude towards their products, but I really do like this. I like the idea of having a laptop class device that is more mobile that a laptop and less akward to carry around. I say that as a student who finds it hard to take mine into a lecture, fitting it on to those small notepad sized lecture seats and so on. I don't wanna have to buy a mini laptop specifically for that role. If I'm going to buy a new computer/data slate device, I want it to be much more than a glorified word processor . I think something like this would fit the bill perfectly, especially considering it's wirelss web and multimedia capabilities.

I love it!

...I'm... I'm speechless. Flabbergasted. I didn't think that kind of sentiment existed in the US any more. Massive thumbs up!

Jedi, you know anyone in foreign affairs who is "above" committing petty acts? I sure as hell don't...

That statement almost single handedly sums up the decline of the British Aerospace industry over the past 60 years. They used to produce real, practical innovation at every turn. Then after a while, political, then industrial, then economic pressure influenced (with the associated lack of political foresight) then led them to buying US equipment augmented slightly to assist UK industry somewhat. Now it just can't compete and this multinational approach won't either, if projects like this and the Eurofighter are the future. It's a shame really, because this will be a great aircraft, just like the Eurofighter. It's just that the political and industrial processes are killing it. Death by a thousand paper cuts. Something all the military services in the UK are experiencing too...

If you had to watch his show, Aló Presidente you'd be pissy with him too!

Yeah we do. It's the audience's duty to comment and heckle under performing comedians, no matter where they come from. But you guys do have some of the better comedians. Like why does Condoleezza Rice always sound terrified like she's staring down the barrel of a gun?? I always thought that was awesome! Rush always gave be a laugh with his rants, but then I realise he's serious...

Are they still building them?? I heard (From AFM) Russia was in the sh*t because their Il-76s are reaching the end of their useful lives, very quickly, with no replacement on the horizon. I thought most of these "new" aircraft were rebuilds and refurbs of existing Il-76s.

Just beautiful man. Great to see anything in Kiwi colours these days!

She called you just to tell you she has hooked up? If she's that petty to you, what does that say...? I'll drink a round for you and sh*tty exs dude!

Happy birthday Matty!

Congrats dude! I've gotta do this test again in a couple of months, although we have a 20m (65ft) Beep Test/shuttle run to go along with it. It's not a fun day! lol. So you're 7ft huh? I wouldn't have picked that...

Actually, I was thinking after I posted that that the US and China do interpret EEZ/UN Convention on the Law of the Sea quite differently, which was the crux of that particular issue. But yeah, I would be interested. Drop me a PM or something.

Who's permission? Joint Chiefs or the other governments? Because I'm pretty sure China had objections to that EP-3E they intercepted/crashed into over Hainan in 2k1. If the US does have an active program for ELINT in Venezuela, they'd definitely win themselves some widespread, grass roots Anti Chavez support just by jamming Chavez's Variety Show. Has anyone seen this? It's just like the Sam Rothstein show from the movie Casino, except with more Bush/US bashing and stupid pet tricks. Off Topic: The thing I find most interesting about Venezuela's F-16s is how after the sanctions came into effect, a lot of Western defense commentators said the F-16s wouldn't last long. That they lacked propper technical and maintenance expertise and spares would be impossible to come by. But they've done a damn good job and only cannibalised a fraction of the airframes thought they would need to (Several have been lost in crashes). Plus in exercises in Brazil, the 9(?) they sent performed well above expectation. What does surprise me is how their VF-5s are in worse condition than the F-16s and yet with Iran being something of a friend, I figured they'd be able to source parts and equipment through them... ...makes me wonder what they're doing with their F-16s that they're not doing with their F-5s.

It gets even more problematic with the law of unintended consequences. Suppose while you are stalking your grandfather, you bump into someone. The person is delayed enough that they miss their train. Their train derails...however, they weren't on it, and so they don't get killed as in the original history. Doesn't sound like much, unless they end up being pivotal in history later on through themselves or offspring...you don't really know. Even if time travel backward (forward is conceptually easy - one way) were ever possible, I don't think you would ever WANT to...at least in a physical, I could affect history, way. The lever of change would get HUGE the farther back you go. Read Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" for a conceptual example. FC All of this assumes that there is only one time line and that it's linear. From the POV of Multiverse theory, any changes made would simply branch from that originating time line into a new one.

I dunno what your US Orions are like, but I've been up close and personal with the RAAF AP-3Cs of the 92nd Air Wing here and they're mean bastards! I mean, they have to be now since some desk pushing douchebag in Canberra figured it was a good idea turning it into a strike platform and canning the Pig. I find the interct with a couple of F-16s to be a little ironic. Just curious, but was the P-3 in question an EP-3??

Oh, I thought you wanted to add an existing rack... wait... what?