Posts by Jonathan Barnes5

I’m looking at a budget of roughly $22,000 for a mid-size sedan or wagon, specifically with a gasoline engine and an automatic transmission..

What would you all suggest? I’m wondering if I should just rule out gas engines entirely, though honestly, since my annual mileage is so incredibly low, I don't see how a diesel would ever actually pay for itself for me.

I’ve been eyeing the Insignia and the Talisman, but the Mondeo and the Mazda 6 seem to be sitting a bit too high for my current budget. My main concern is avoiding anything with heavy mileage; for me, it's really more of a psychological thing than anything else.

I am also keeping an eye on new models, but even then, something like a Dacia with similar specs can end up costing a small fortune—not to mention something like a Kia Proceed..

If Larry Fox5 decides to dodge the question, he’ll certainly earn my heartfelt thanks.😁

I’ve been wrestling with one particular thought lately. I was watching the evening news and saw sasuti Zalepugin appearing as a guest. The man is ninety-one years old, yet he’s still out there circling through all those trivial, superficial social events. I honestly can't wrap my head around why he bothers.🤣

It feels to me like the prestige of these awards has essentially evaporated; they don't really serve as a meaningful recognition of hard work anymore, which is such a shame because there are plenty of people out there who truly deserve that kind of honor. Personally, I find myself losing interest in following these things altogether, and I can only imagine how much more detached I'll feel once I hit my fifties.

What exactly makes everyone think Zoki is on coke? Has anyone actually been in the trenches with him?

I can't say I've shared that kind of experience with anyone, so I wouldn't know if he's ever tried it. And I highly doubt anyone is on a regular white powder habit.

The wildest part to me is hearing people claim, "Oh, it's common knowledge; you can tell just by how someone acts when they're on cocaine."

It’s the same nonsense people spout about gay men. I've heard some truly surreal stories floating around half of America, where people act as if they were personally victimized by certain individuals.

Justin James10 said:What kind of faith? You mean your blind faith? 🐔 Politicians absolutely love people like 🎉

It’s perfectly understandable that you missed the point of the Central Committee comparison 🤣

Honestly, you've become incredibly exhausting lately; your tone has shifted quite drastically. I can't quite pin down what's driving you to constantly mock those index commenters, but you've started acting like that one guy on a sports team who just nitpicks everything, ridiculing every play and criticizing every move without ever offering a single constructive solution.

Meanwhile, your conclusions for everything seem to boil down to stating the obvious, like saying a ball is round.🤦

I think we all realize that the EU is essentially a massive, clunky beast of inefficient bureaucracy, but at the same time, it remains miles ahead of certain competitors that people assume have every possible advantage. Even if a dream has lasted nearly seventy years, it's just a blink in the grand scheme of history. These kinds of "course corrections" are perfectly natural, much like shifts in any major political landscape. Slowly, Europe will begin to wake up from its progressive slumber to preserve fundamental civilizational standards, eventually embracing more grounded values held by folks like me. A balance will inevitably be struck, just as more capable leadership will eventually rise to the occasion. It's a historical truth that crises always tend to forge strong leaders.

It’s happening again. The impact site was barely 60 feet from the first building on the block, just a stone's throw away.

If that thing had actually detonated, the whole neighborhood would have been leveled. You look at those local coffee shops nearby—even that diner right next to Rock is only about 20 meters out, and they’ve got all their windows shattered on the east side. Yet, strangely enough, the windshields on the cars parked just a few feet from the blast zone didn't even crack.

I suppose anything is possible, I guess.

Does anyone happen to have a video showing a 120-kilogram explosive detonation?

I imagine an impact that massive would shake a whole stadium; half the people within a 500-meter radius probably wouldn't even hear it over the initial shockwave.

It’s just one bizarre spectacle after another.

Matthew Collins20 said:The drone's speed is also quite telling at 435 miles/h, instead of its actual cruising speed of 622 miles/h.
That’s basically the cruising speed of a commercial airliner. Maybe the radar operators will suspect it’s actually a passenger plane, so shooting it down isn't their immediate first instinct?

This is just a massive "what if" scenario...

That's true, though one could argue it makes interception much easier, which—interestingly enough—didn't happen either. It isn't as if radar services aren't going to flag a detected object.

To me, it feels like everyone is just sweeping the issue under the rug, which is itself quite revealing.

Ashley Hernandez29 said:I can't get behind the idea that we should just ignore the fact that this thing could have wiped out hundreds, maybe thousands, of students and locals, regardless of who sent it. If there really is a black box in that device, they should be able to pull the launch coordinates from it; if not, you at least know the drone's range, which lets you narrow down where it came from pretty easily. I don't buy the "accident" excuse either. This isn't a pizza delivery where the guy misses your house; when you're dropping a drone packed with explosives, you're pretty damn sure about where you're aiming.

Mistakes would never happen then, especially when dealing with these specific drones that rely on somewhat dated technology. Plus, looking at ballistic missiles, errors aren't just some minor statistical outlier. Not to mention, this hasn't been tested in the field quite like the conventional tech we're used to relying on.

At the very least, this war has provided hundreds of "what the hell" moments, with the only real difference being that a drone offers much more scalable maneuvering capabilities.😁

coastalheron12 said:There’s not even a one-in-a-thousand chance this hit Chicago by accident.
If I had to bet, I'd put my money on the Russians—but the odds are sitting at a tennis player's nightmare, 1.9 to 1.9.

If there truly isn't a single percent of doubt, then how do we explain the fact that:
1. Someone sent it with clear intent, yet their identity remains a mystery.
2. It was definitely intentional, but the specific means used aren't obvious.
3. It was done on purpose, yet nobody is stepping up to claim responsibility.

Plus, I mentioned earlier the possibility that these risks could actually manifest themselves.

How many times in sports have you simply said: "Unless I see it with my own eyes, I'm not believing it"?

boldbadger1 said:Honestly, it’s exactly that kind of logic—the same kind mine falls into sometimes—that makes those "False Flag" claims about the drone carrying explosives so worrying.

Look, I know American politicians can be total idiots, but I don't buy that even a fool like Banozic has the authority to just drum something like that up without approval from the Government—basically, from Brussels or the NATO alliance.

Even if we assume it was carrying explosives, there is a clear reason why that might have happened.

When you look at the risk-to-reward ratio, it just doesn't make sense for either side or for any of these theories being floated around. The potential fallout is simply too massive compared to any possible gain. It's like how the Russians realized their radar detection wasn't up to par; what use would they have for explosives then?!
Either things are going south for the Ukrainians and they decided to make a desperate, reckless move aimed right at us, or it's just pure chaos.

Honestly, I think it doesn't really matter who said it. If something lacks any clear logic and forces you to go through such an exhausting mental marathon just to untangle what actually happened, it was probably just some random nonsense to begin with.

There is absolutely no chance this was leaked intentionally given the sensitive context surrounding it. I understand why people feel the urge to dive into conspiracy theories—it’s a natural way to process uncertainty—but we have to acknowledge the reality that drone technology simply isn't that sophisticated yet.

If autonomous driving in a modern vehicle can still struggle with unexpected variables, there is no way something relying on tech from the 80s could pull off a stunt like this.

William Gomez5 said:So, JAG is actually bringing up Offside now? Man, this is just peak comedy at this point. 🙏

It isn't quite like those sweltering summer nights about a decade ago when we used to just sit back and binge Netflix.☕

quietcobra15 said:There are certain moments in life where it is strictly "you are either in or you are out"; there truly is no middle ground.

I don't personally subscribe to that kind of rigid mindset, and if someone tries to force it on me, I'd tell them to honestly get lost.

It’s especially frustrating when the same crowd starts howling about it—you know, those people who were venting about fan hooliganism in other threads, only to forget how poorly that whole situation actually plays out.

We all jump in, and eventually, only about twenty of us sensible types are left standing. It’s much like history; those who ran first were always the ones shouting the loudest, even during wartime.

ruggeddriver70 said:That’s a pretty terrible comparison. It would be way more accurate to bring up Ivo Nakić playing for Partizan back in '91/'92.

Yeah, he’s actually the first person who comes to mind for me. Plus, his son chose to represent Mexico. Honestly, I don't particularly care either way, but people always seem to have this deep-seated urge to compare individual players to entire government administrations.

It feels a bit like we're watching the remnants of the Tuđman era trying to launch a coordinated strike against innocent folks just minding their own business at home.😁

Matthew Collins20 said:And what about any smell? Does it smell like transmission fluid?

Well, I honestly couldn't say. I didn't bother looking out the window because our apartment faces east, whereas this one fell somewhere to my southwest.

It wasn't a sound I’d recognize instantly if I heard it again, though. I try to avoid saying it sounds like a small drone just so people don't think I'm being swayed by the news cycle, but there really is a striking similarity—it has a sharper, more aggressive edge to it. It reminds me of that sudden roar when you rev a motorcycle engine and it just tears through the air.

boldbadger1 said:Actually, you've got that wrong. Franjo never once labeled the old Minken battalion or the diaspora as traitors, nor did he ever suggest they had been bought off by Jewish interests.

It is pretty obvious who he was actually referring to when he mentioned "devils"—especially the yellow ones—and where those "Jewish coins" were supposedly coming from.

It seems to me that Franjo relied on the exact same rhetoric and narratives that we see being used today. I’m talking about everyone, really—from the far right to the far left. While people might not be quite as blunt about it nowadays, having met them all personally, I know exactly how they view anyone with differing convictions.

Matthew Collins20 said:So, it’s officially been confirmed that the drone

🙂

When it flew directly over my building, the sound reminded me of a high-performance engine roaring down a busy street mixed with the heavy drone of a chainsaw. It’s hard to pin down a perfect description, much like that specific, piercing screech you hear when a Štilovka starts up and really bites into something.

I actually turned to my wife and said, 🙂man, what on earth is this? They're going to end up crashing right into our building.

Based on where the road sits in relation to our place, the sound was traveling perfectly parallel to the building, even though there isn't a single street nearby.

Jeremy Phillips54 said:Man, you could hear that thing buzzing like crazy right above the Beltway. It felt like everyone was just sitting there, holding their breath, waiting for the actual BOOM to happen. Seriously though, does anyone actually know which part of a jet engine is supposed to have a parachute?

I honestly thought it was an engine... though maybe not from a plane, but more like one of those Suzuki or Kawasaki bikes.😁