The FORD Lounge

[Gary Lewis]

Recording it!  The grandtwins are 5 hours away.....

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bob and Doug's EXCELLENT adventure!   
It must be cool from the Daytona pier.
You can feel the shuttle from there.


I love how the plume expands when passing Mach.  

Fingers crossed for OCISLY

Edit: Simone Biles doesn't stick it better!   

[ArdWrknTrk]

I still get goosebumps....


27,000 mps
I love it!

[ArdWrknTrk]

SSS

YES!

Everything nominal so far!

[Gary Lewis]

[Dorsai]

Meanwhile, my brother is mad...he was down in Florida with his wife for the first launch attempt.  When he found out the weather forecast for today was no better than for Wednesday, they came back home yesterday.  Oops...

[ArdWrknTrk]

His call.  🙄

[Dorsai]

Well, we were watching his dogs while they were gone, and I think he was worried my wife was going to strangle one of them if he didn't come back.

[Nothing Special]

... waiting to see if Minneapolis is going to burn for a 4th night in a row.  Scary stuff!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Without getting political,

I watched video of the commission of homicide.
Justifiable? Criminal? Accidental?

One thing I find REALLY questionable is that allegedly both the killer and the victim had worked as bouncers at the same club.
It's a big world, but that's freakish coincidence.

Two wrongs don't make a right.
I witnessed rioting, looting and towns/neighborhoods burning with less provocation than this in the late '70's and early '80's.
Usually started by planted rabblerousers.

[Nothing Special]

Yeah, there's enough going on that taking it political isn't necessary or helpful.

Yes the killer and victim both worked security at the same place, but apparently there wasn't a lot of overlap, and no evidence that they ever met there (although they certainly might have).

The one cop has been charged with 3rd degree murder, but there were two others also holding the man down while a fourth watched.  No charges against any of them yet (but all four were fired withing a couple hours of the incident).

There is a curfew "here" from 8:00 PM - 6:00 AM, but there are still a lot of peaceful protests going on now at 10:00 PM.  The entire MN National Guard has been mobilized (the largest mobilization in MN history) and is working with police, sheriffs deputies and state patrol to break up the people who are violating curfew, hopefully before the assemblies turn violent like they have the last three nights.

And yes, the working theory is that there are peaceful protesters and other groups that are doing most of the damage.  But the rioting, looting (is is still called "looting" when it's a bank?) and arson is coming out of the groups of protesters.  So officials were very clear all day that while the protests were legal and protected, being out after curfew is not legal and will not be tolerated.

By the way, I said "here" because I'm not home now.  We're at my folks cabin but heading home tomorrow.  My house is probably 5 - 10 miles from most of the action, but there has been looting at a shopping mall I can see from my living room.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, I think it's still looting, although I don't know if it's instantly a Federal offence like bank robbery.
Arson of the PD seems a much more serious crime to me.

Hope you and everyone else in the twin cities stay safe.

[Nothing Special]

Two nights ago they reported 170 businesses in St.Paul had been damaged.  No numbers reported for Minneapolis, but it was much worse.  Then last night was even worse in Minneapolis, but much more quiet in St.Paul.  Tonight with vastly more law enforcement personnel it seems to be quieter.  The news is showing a few small fires getting started but being put out quickly, and even those seem to be more debris in the street rather than buildings.  And looting started at one store but law enforcement came in fast and hard and shut it down.

We're definitely safe tonight, 80 miles away at the cabin.  But yes, I sure hope this calms down soon.

[ArdWrknTrk]

We didn't see nearly the same protest here in NY when Eric Gardner was killed on camera at the hands of the police, begging for his life.

Over selling loosie cigarettes on the corner?!?!?

[Nothing Special]

As I understand it this started over passing a counterfeit $20 bill (something my father-in-law actually got caught doing once).

[85lebaront2]

What bothers me is the "protests" in many major cities. I am currently in Newport News VA as Mary is in the big Riverside hospital (ours on the shore is a satellite). Not only does Newport News have a large black population, mostly in what is called "East End", but I have seen and been exposed to a wildcat strike that went into rioting back in the late 60s at the shipyard. First night they burned an NNPD cruiser, second night the VSP had a damn water-cooled machine gun set up, and when the crowd got rowdy they turned the dogs on them and then tear gas from the upwind side. Yard shut down 2nd and 3rd shifts. I was on 3rd shift and had driven from Virginia Beach to be turned away at the gate.

When we leave here to go home our route goes through Hampton, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Up until the point where we get onto US 13, we are on I-64, we get onto US 13 in Norfolk and go about 3/4 mile and are in VB, then it is at first a busy road with fast food, gas, truck stops etc for about 2 miles, then a nice 6 lane divided highway to the CBBT. Choke point on US 13 is at the "Norfolk Premium Outlets Mall" just inside the city line.

I am hoping first that we don't have those "protests" and second, if we do they will not be on the major roads.

[Ray Cecil]

My bud came over yesterday to work on his truck, replaced both upper control arms, and he asked me, "what do you think about all these protests." I said "what protests?". He looked at me like a big booger was on my face.....

I live under a rock. The most time I spend looking at a screen is when I get on here to attempt to catch up, which I never can. I also rarely listen to a radio. My mental health has gotten much better after unplugging 90%.

As far as what happened, I havent watched the video, but it sounds bad, as though it was totally a murder. I need to talk to my cop buddies.

[Nothing Special]

It's really hard to see the original incident as anything but a murder.  Also typically after something like this the cops are placed on "paid administrative leave" pending the investigation.  In this case all 4 cops were fired within a couple of hours.  The next day the ST.Paul police chief, Ramsey county sheriff and Hennepin county sheriff were all calling for an arrest.  And about day 2 there were 3rd degree murder / manslaughter charges against the one cop and he was in jail.  (Minneapolis and St.Paul are just across the Mississippi river from each other, St.Paul is in Ramsey county, Minneapolis in Hennepin, and the incident took place in Minneapolis.)  So yes, this was a big one.

Living at ground-zero for this, the thing I didn't see coming was the riots all across the country.  That finally made our local news last night.  But I guess the good thing about that is that locally things did stay pretty quiet last night so we could look outside for a bit.  (The rocket launch hasn't been mentioned here.)

[Ray Cecil]

A murder is a murder, whether its a cop or civilian. There is never any reason to do what has been done.

I am very confused though. If the skin colors were reversed...would there be riots? Everyone knows the answer to that question.

I know this is a slippery slope, so probably time to dig in the heels and stop. However.....everbody knows the deception, shock and awe, double standards, and propaganda tactics....well....thinking people notice these things. Its the big reason I live under a rock most of the time. Im tired of it.

What I think our black friends need is more Candace Owens, and less Jesse Jackson. Black lives do matter, but so do all other lives, especially the unborn.

It drives me nuts. We murder millions of babies, promote sugar intake which kills millions, promote sedentary lifestyles which kills millions....but 1 black man getting murdered by a crap cop and we all riot and burn innocent business owners properties....it shows the ignorance of the people, and the unwillingness of those who know to speak up.

We have instant access to information, yet we still know very little. Humanity has little hope for long term survival in the current mode in my opinion.

[Nothing Special]

Lots of feelings, thoughts and opinions there.  I won't get into that here unless Gary thinks it's appropriate.  But what I will say is that the last few days have made it completely clear to me that the "black community" and the "white community" are completely unable to communicate with each other.  Without that being addressed I don't see an end to the overall problems.