The US is a Republic….

This is actually one of the differences between British and American English that I find the most confusing, and frustrating.

In Britain (and I far as I know, everywhere other than the US), Republic only means that a nation doesn’t have a Monarch.

What you mean when you say ‘Republic’ is what we mean when we say ‘Democracy’, which can take many different forms.

Looking it up it they might well have been Jays, I only got a brief look at them as I drove past the small tree they were perched on.

Thanks for the input 🙂

I’ve heard the argument from friends of mine (in the US), who are gun owners, that the AR ban is actually something of a futile gesture, since they are actually pretty similar to other rifles that will not be banned – if this is the case then other than the inconvenience of not being able to own the exact type of gun you might prefer, isn’t the AR ban actually little more than a bone to throw to the anti-bun lobby, with a negligible effect on the ability of people to own capable firearms?

I think the other thing that people who are in the ‘pro gun’ lobby fail to address is that the Second Amendment does not state there should be any limits on the arms people are allowed to bear – so does this mean that there should be no limits? Should someone of with the means be able to own any weapon, up to and including WMDs? Does it mean that there should be no legal regulation or limitation on who can own these weapons? If you concede that there should be any kind of limitation then the nature of the argument changes simply to where we should set the bar.

The pro gun lobby also fails to explain why they support the right of the people to bear arms, but neither in a well regulated way, or as part of a militia, as also stated in the Second Amendment.

Whether the law should be changed in the US seems to me like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, tbh. The US is already so awash with guns that the measures being proposed will have no real effect. Getting the numbers of mass-shootings down has to be done in a more intelligent way. Perhaps an annual safety course, gun owners licences, or mandatory firearms insurance could be instituted, the proceeds of which could be put towards mental health treatments?

Just a thought.

Since you directly compared European designs, to American, I will start there with my argument.

By your logic then Europe as a whole will be behind for years in aviation tech.

The Russians, Chinese, and Americans can build a 5th gen fighter. Where is the Euro-canard 5th generation fighter?

The Russians, and Americans have functioning strategic bomber forces, where is the Euro strategic bomber force?

The Americans, and the Chinese, have built advanced unmanned reusable space plane designs. Where are the Euro space plane designs?

The Russians, Chinese, and Americans, have developed Anti-sat abilities.

You seem to miss the fact that when the US develops these systems most of Europe doesn’t feel the need to. In the case of 5th Gen fighters, they are either jointly developing them with the US (in the case of the UK), or will simply buy from the US (such as the Netherlands).

You also don’t seem to realise that European nations don’t have the same requirements as the US. This, and a lack of political will, are why European nations don’t have a bomber force – they don’t need or want one.

As for space planes, I’m aware of USAF models, can you provide a source on Chinese ones? As for European space planes, the British Skylon design, while still on paper, has solved many of the technical problems that have stood in their way.

Given money, political will and time, any nation can produce top-notch equipment.

IIRC the SH was hailed as a major success, coming in on time and on budget. The Boeing tankers were only really controversial because of the procurement process and the choice between them and Airbus, not because they were technically deficient.

It’s also worth noting that comparing US 4th gen aircraft with Eurocanards isn’t really fair, given that the Eurocanards were mostly developed quite a lot more recently than most US 4th gen aircraft – not a fair comparison.

I’m also quite optimistic about the F-35, it has problems to be sure, but other than maybe some secret Chinese designs (which is unlikely), it’s going to be the most capable manned aircraft out there for some time to come.

Is this government debt, private debt or the sum of both?

Don’t forget that in the case of developed countries a lot of the government debt is actually owed to native investors through Govt bonds – it’s not quite the same as owing it to someone else as the country effectively owes itself.

I play it semi-regularly, it’s a fun game and certainly worth trying out as it’s free.

One thing I don’t like is that the tanks don’t really meet their historical capabilities versus one another, but then again that’s to make the game more fun I suppose.

I’m also one of the alpha testers for World of Warplanes 😀 This is also fun, I’d recommend giving it a go.

Also, moggy, I think that you can access a training mode, but only with other players. If you feel like something like that I’d be happy to tell you what I’ve learned through playing, just PM me.