OldHat63

Go punch the sumbitch 2 more times for not warning you sooner and take 30 days... Hopefully in a month she'll forget all about you. :shake:   ( Funny thing about exes... there's usually more truth to whatever they say than most men wanna hear or know... until they discover it for themselves. )

  The only thing I can say is that when it comes right down to it, they're ALL crazy.  At least that's been my experience/luck... :shrug:   For what it's worth, Obama called the one we're talking about here 'even-keeled'... http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/10/even-keeled-white-house-staffer-arrested-after-shooting-at-boyfriend-with-his-own-gun/?google_editors_picks=true   KInd'a makes me wonder about the First Lady... y'know? Might be worth it to see ol' Barry get caught in the same situation Bill Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky, just to see how calm Michelle really is... or isn't.  :devil:

It seems even his staffers can't behave themselves when they're around:   http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/10/politics/white-house-staffer-arrested-domestic-violence/index.html   Now y'all KNOW this just HAS to somehow be the gun's fault. :shake:     It's been a rough/busy few days for me, and I haven't had much time to stop in here, but I thought I'd at least share this latest little bit of "news". It seems that every body and their cousin is shooting/shooting at everybody else here lately... and apparently White House staffers aren't exempt from the trend.

  Sure... just as soon as somebody defines what "Airspace" is exactly.   Where does it start? Where does it stop?   The stopping part is pretty easy: Where's the air stop, and it just becomes space?   The starting part... not so much.   Building codes around here won't let you put up a house that's taller than 35 ft. above the ground it's setting on. And I have trees on my property that are in the 60 to 80 ft. range. And I've already asked earlier about a minimum ceiling for civilian aircraft.   So... what number are we using?  Anything above ground level? Or is there some more reasonable altitude to be considered?   You mentioned a reasonable expectation of privacy, so how about a reasonable expectation of ownership? No one would find it acceptable to have an overpass built 90 feet above and across their property and home without their permission, I think, so why should anything else be any different?

  I have no idea how a judge there is going to respond to what's happened. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to guess at this particular incident at all.   The whole thing though... and everyone here's comments on it, does make me wonder about property and privacy rights, as well as how far up those rights extend. And that's what prompted my first post here.   I mean, let's say a person figured out how to hover, say, 25 feet off the ground - without any sort of obvious vehicle. And he/she is within the bounds of your property lines.    Are they trespassing or not? If so, what's the upper limit to that claim being good? If not... why? 'Cause they aren't touching the ground?   As a side note, anybody inclined to fly a drone into my "airspace" here... go ahead. 'Cause there's very little open space that you can fly anything into without a tree "eating" it. And above that, well, you ain't gonna see anything but tree tops and maybe a small patch of my roof.   Oh, and as to my second post here... it was simply in response to what you asked, since it'd be rude to ignore you... even though I figured you should already know the answer.   Although I'm rather curious to see how it all turns out, it's mostly because of the questions that are going to eventually have to be both asked and answered.   One other thing... You mentioned the drone dropping... What if it had some sort of failure on it's own, then dropped on and hurt the property owner or his kids? Would it be a case of assault? Would something like that make the drone a dangerous trespasser?   Like I said, there's a lot of questions with this stuff... and they are certainly gonna need answering.

  I was thinking that when the video came out on YouTube of the Drone firing a pistol. It can't be much harder to rig a drop mechanism for a grenade or other explosive. For that matter, turning one into a flying fire bomb should be all too easy as well.   And never mind ISIS and the like... Folks want to lose their minds over "evil guns" and mass-shootings... what happens when the stuff we're talking about gets tried out by people who like to use theaters, schools, and churches as targets of opportunity?   And I'm equally sure that somebody's going to get the idea to fly something into a prison or jail that doesn't need to be there, eventually.   So, it seems to me that the general public might have a whole new inanimate object to blame for what people do, pretty soon.   Who knows... it might be kind'a nice to see something other than firearms catch the blame for the mayhem, for a change.

1. - Apples and Oranges.  Especially since we both know that depending on exactly where the trespasser is, they may automatically be considered a threat, according to TN law. ( Anybody remember the off-duty deputy a few years back that was on the front porch of a house he didn't own, and was shot by the home owner through the door?  How'd that turn out? )   Also... TN allows for the use of force - but not lethal force - to terminate simple trespass.   2. - Since a drone isn't alive, no amount of force used against it can be considered "lethal". It's not alive, so it's nothing worse than property damage.  The only trouble that will come is from such things as firing a gun where it's illegal, or endangering others.   One way or the other, we're not discussing shooting humans here... only their toys.

  This, maybe? http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/01/faa-investigating-drone-airplanes-jfk/30985905/

A question....  Does the FAA have an established Minimum Ceiling for civilian aircraft over populated areas?   If so, I would think that it would apply to drones or any other "telepresence" not on "official business" or otherwise without the property owner's permission. ( A warrant should be required for that Official Business, BTW. )   In other words, anybody flying a drone over somebody else's property below a certain altitude should have to deal with the same rules or laws as any other trespasser.   Anyway, if there's no such minimum, maybe there should be, and maybe it should also be applied to drones or other AC aircraft....

  Wear, tear, and physical stress, maybe? Couple that with the wrong genetics and possible chemical "supplementation", and I can see where folks might kick off a bit sooner than most.   In the end, who knows?  His time was obviously just up. Does seem like as good a way to go as any though.... have one helluva ride then die peacefully in bed? :shrug:

  Nah, it's right there, staring back from the mirror every morning. Always has been.     And usually, it's not a pretty sight.  :eek: ( I suspect none of us ever really feel old until we slow down enough to actually notice all the wrinkles, bags, and gray hair... )   I have to admit though, it's pretty shocking sometimes, to be thinking about some event I remember as clearly as yesterday... then realize there's 20, 30, or even 40 years between then and now.   ...at least until I start remembering how much other crap fits in between here and there.

  Only you and Fred Flintstone would make the claim that human feet are a viable mechanical braking system... :shake:   Y'know, the funny thing is, put a roof and some doors on it, and that thing is a pretty close approximation of at least a couple of my first cars. Certainly no more dangerous, I'm thinking. :-\

Hmm.... head-first riding position, ball-bearing wheels, no suspension to speak of, primitive, limited steering system.... and no brakes. What's not to like? .... if you're Charles Darwin, that is. :devil:

  Send all the politicians shovels and tell 'em to see if they can dig themselves out of THAT problem? After all, isn't that how the folks there handle things when they find themselves in any sort of hole? Just dig more and faster? :devil: "What? We've spent too much? Well then, just spend some more until we correct this problem!"   Does that sound about right?

 Gonna take way too long though. The rats'll have far too much time to leave the sinking ship.  :-\   http://www.morningticker.com/2015/07/is-washington-dc-going-to-disappear/