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David Cordell

Questions:

Is it possible to bring the Chinese spy balloon down without blowing it up? How?

Can we shoot a hole in it that would cause it to lose altitude, then when it gets low enough, have big helicopters grab it?

Is it filled with helium (non-flammable) or maybe hydrogen? (Think, the Hindenburg explosion.)

Wayne Gary

David,

The Air Force could punch holes in the balloon with the cannons on either the F22 or F35.  Both have a stated service ceiling of 65,000 ft.  The reported height to the balloon is 60,000 ft.  If they were to use the cannon to punch holes it would make a slow descent.

The F15 and F16 both have a 60,000 ft service ceiling.

All have 20mm vulcan cannons.

David Cordell

So the 400 sq mile debris field was just BS.

They are saying that Biden wanted to shoot down the balloon, but the Pentagon advised against it. Not credible. He was the dissenter on the BIn Laden mission.

ADDITION:

So, they finally shot down the balloon after it passed across the whole continent. 

I suggest a replacement for the phrase "closing the barn door after the horse has bolted" with "It's like shooting down a spy balloon after it has collected all the data."

Jerry May

Yeah David, agreed! A long time military friend of mine said "They aren't going to find anything useful. "All the the data/info collected is back in China!" And suggested there was a wide expanse in Montana where the timing

would have worked perfectly. Hell, even the Governor was on television saying "has anyone ever seen Eastern Montana?" And my friend also said, "Even there would have compromised sensitive sites! The US knew about that ballon as soon as it crossed our airspace; and should have been shot down!"

And I offered; "The high-ranking military officer stating on television that, "We are of course concerned about the debri-field which could endanger our citizens" was an insult in a way, given the fact that our jets were about to shoot down one of our own airliners (93) with American passengers on board during 911! Instead,our brave souls forced it down! (I don't think they were trying find a good safe spot to crash!)

I speculated with Ellen, that an "arrangement" was made to allow them to shoot all the pictures they needed as it traversed the entire country; but that to "save face" POTUS would be enabled to give the order to destroy it, and also announce to the American public it was "taken down" (one of the very few times I've observed him walking UP to the cameras, instead of angling away from them!"

No, to this observer.......none of these actions pass the "sniff" test!!

Jim Bedwell

David C & Jerry,

YEAH. VERY FISHY about this Chinese balloon. If you assume that the Biden Family criminal syndicate (VERY safe assumption - they all belong in prison for selling out our country) was obviously pedding influence with Ukraine, Russia, Red China, Kazahkstan, etc., as FNC has faithfully pointed out the last few years, it becomes obvious why Joe Biden has soft-pedaled any of his positions/responses to questions about China for so many years now. Joe has repeatedly described Red China as some kind of good-natured, friendly competitors rather than the mortal enemy those Communists are to us (and to Taiwan and everybody else for that matter).

The Biden administration, as evident in almost ALL statements and other communications emanating from them, is simply full of liars, starting at the top, so they're constantly lying to the American public, i.e., just the opposite of their early pronouncements of being such a transparent administration.

Similarly, Obama said after he left office (or shortly before - I can't remember) that his administration was so free of any scandals, another BIG lie, as pointed out so often on FNC. 

In conclusion, with these last 2 Dem administrations, up is down, east is west & vice versa, and the truth is lies or "Russian disinformation", and the real lies have become the "truth" that they constantly and dishonestly try to sell to the public, with the conscious collusion of their partners, namely, the corrupt legacy media, big tech & pharma, the high levels of MANY executive department entities (e.g. FBI, DOJ, DHS, etc.; i.e., deep staters like Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Andrew McCabe, James Comey, James Clapper, Alejandro Mayorkas, etc.), academia, Hollywood, the Dem Party in Congress (especially Swalwell, Schiff, Schumer, Pelosi, etc.), et al ad nauseum. The key word in my mind concerning all this evil behavior would be CORRUPTION aka, concerning our government, high crimes & misdemeanors (mostly felonies however). Not only can you just NEVER trust anything coming out of their mouths, but also it's very safe to assume the exact opposite of everything they're communicating.

Jim Bedwell

Speaking of government corruption, here are my 2 favorite scenes (the 2nd one is the last scene in the movie) from "Burn After Reading", a Coen Brothers flick - J.K. Simmons is great here as the boss who's trying to make sure his department's dirt is swept under the rug & KEPT THERE:

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

I really get a kick out of watching J.K. Simmons' characters.   He is such a good actor.  We recently watched WHIPLASH with him as one of the main characters, and thoroughly enjoyed his intense performance.  I recommend the film to all of you.  The young drummer was equally good!  Great movie!  Excellent music too!

David Wier

David C:

the news I saw said that Biden wanted to shoot it down over a week ago but the Pentagon told him there would be too much possible damage from it when it came down

Lowell Tuttle

Is there some kind of treaty which allows countries to fly spy sattelites over other countries like that balloon flew over us?  

Is shooting down a satellite over your own air space a different scenario?

We sell 200 billion in exports to China and they sell 600 billion in exports to us.   The two economic giants have more financial total stake than any other two countries.

The frenzy of this issue, which might be over sensitizing us (and them) could ruin a lot of economic benefit both cultures enjoy.   

And now the backlash...I am just thinking, sorry

Wayne Gary

David W.

I would call it a CBA. Cover Biden's Ass statement. The Air Force could have used the 20mm cannon on the F22 to punch holes in the balloon and have it slowly desend to the ground. Instead they waited until it was at sea to use a missle that distroyed the balloon and it came salmost straight down.

Steve Keene

David W. and Wayne,

Now the NSA comes out and says there were several balloon surveillance events during the last administration's term.  I have never seen such foreboding columny by one party and its media, government and big tech allies against the other opposing party.  It is clear evidence that this is the most evil and ruthless group to ever wield power in this country.

Wayne Gary

From 
Babylon bee

PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA — Locals and Groundhog Day enthusiasts alike were caught off-guard today, as the eponymous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, emerged from his burrow and declared to the crowd gathered at Gobbler's Knob that there was a cache of documents marked "Classified" in his underground home.

"I know you're all here waiting to find out if I saw my shadow and if there will be six more weeks of winter and all that stuff," Phil said, "but I thought you all might want to know that there's a big stack of files and folders down there stamped ‘Classified' and ‘Top Secret' in red ink. Not sure where they came from. These are probably important, right?"

DOJ officials scrambled to retrieve the documents from Phil's burrow as word began to spread among the assembled media that yet another hidden stash of Joe Biden's classified documents had been discovered. The White House quickly issued a statement on the incident. "These documents do, in fact, belong to the President," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "The documents were, indeed, temporarily stuffed into the burrow of one Punxsutawney Phil by an unknown person. The documents, are, however, highly classified, therefore I am not at liberty to discuss the situation any further."

At publishing time, Punxsutawney Phil was reportedly planning to give an exclusive interview to Tucker Carlson this evening about overhearing people mentioning "the Ukraine deal" and "Hunter's laptop" last fall as they were stuffing the documents into his burrow, but he was quickly subdued, muzzled, and forcefully escorted away by federal agents for waterboarding at an undisclosed government location.

Wayne Gary

I need a go-fund me to attend the Babylon-bee night in Ft Worth.  tickets start at $79.00

Gary Puckett

Jim in answer to your post, all I can quote is Isaih 5:20 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" In the end times, which I believe we are in, men will be lovers of themselves and turn from the saving grace of God Almighty and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ and shall reap the benefits(which there are none) of their actions.

Jim Bedwell

Gary Puckett,

AMEN, brother! Thanks for quoting holy scripture for us!!! EXACTLY!! Sounds like you're born again as I am (as of August, 1989).

Chief Agonized,

YEP. It's all totalitarian, fascist neo-Marxism parading as the benevolent-sounding misnomer of "progressivism"; it's ALL about the ultimate goal of TOTAL power & control in perpetuity. 

Chief Agonizer

Jim Bedwell

So here are the AFC championship game stats 1996-2022.

There have been 27 completed seasons (with the upcoming Super Bowl game finishing off the 27th one), 1996-2022 since the Cowboys last appeared in an NFC championship game. 

Team                   Appearances       Wins       Super Bowl Wins

New England               14                 10                   6

Pittsburgh                    7                   3                    2

Denver                        5                   4                    3

Kansas City                  5                   3                    1     (maybe 2 next week?)

Baltimore                    4                    2                    2

Indianapolis                4                    2                    1

Tennessee                   3                    1                   0

Jacksonsville               3                    0                   0

New York Jets             3                    0                   0

Cincinnati                   2                    1                   0

Oakland/LA/Las Vegas 2                    1                   0

Buffalo                       1                    0                   0

San Diego/LA             1                    0                   0      Playoffs Record 1996-2022

Houston Texans          0                    0                   0            4-6 (1st season 2002)

Miami                        0                    0                   0            3-8

new Cleveland Browns 0                   0                   0            1-2 (1st season 1999)

So the Cowboys, of the 6 total NFL teams with no conference game championship appearances since the beginning of the 1996 season, are then the 6th worst team out of the 32 franchises; i.e., the best playoff-games record of the 6 WORST. In a word, Jerry Jones: PATHETIC!!!

Wayne Gary

Here's a good one.

Lowell Tuttle

Ok, Houston beat Dallas today.   You guys only got Kyrie Irving for the Mavericks.   We actually had an ambulance stolen from a fire station...

Houston is #1.

Steve Keene

Gary,

Is it true you are living in the Yakima Valley in the town of Union Gap,WA?

Steve Keene

Hollis and Lowell,

I just read that a train derailment on the Pennsylvania Ohio border has forced the evacuation of a wide area including several towns due to burning of toxic chemicals released from the rail tank cars.  Billowing smoke containing vinyl chloride and diesel is releasing chlorine gas and volatile components including hydrocarbons into the air.  The two governors of these states have declared a disaster that must be cleaned up by our tax dollars in the  amount of nearly one billion dollars. These are the same two governors that adamantly oppose crude or natural gas pipelines for fear of the environmental impact.  What they have decided to do is a slow release of the chemicals and hydrocarbons into a trough that is set on fire to release the resulting chlorine gas and hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.  Several counties had been told for residents to stay inside for the next week until the burn is completed.  Schools are closed and all businesses are closed for the immediate future.  A value for that has not been calculated or added to the estimated costs.  No evaluation of the affects on the atmosphere and climate change ramifications can be estimated, but they are monitoring the air quality.  No money is expected to be collected from the rail line or tank car owners.

I am so glad they have this under control, but things could have been much worse.  They could have had a pipeline spill of the 2500 bbls near a dry creek like what happenned on one of the Keystone Pipelines last month.  That disaster resulted in about 40 yards of chemical or hydrocarbon soaked dirt that was soaked up with absorbent material and then the soiled dirt removed by backhoe and hauled to a disposal site.  I think the total bill was less than $25,000.00,  I am so glad as a taxpayer that I dodged that bullet.  By the way the cleanup was paid for by the pipeline company.  

David Cordell

To all my Texas Tech friends:

I'm sure you will be happy (cough, cough) to read this piece from today's Wall Street Journal. Time to increase your donations to your alma mater??

Gary Puckett

Steve:

No I'm not there, but have taken up residence in a place that "fits" me-The GAP.  You ever heard of it?

David Cordell

Especially for Mad Magazine fans.

Jim Bedwell

Chief Agonized,

You really need to lighten up. After all........

The border is secure.

Inflation is transitory.

The economy is vibrant and growing.

Joe Biden inherited a declining economy with growing inflation and job losses.

The Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.

Hillary Clinton had the 2016 election stolen from her.

The Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act - that's really working great.

The police need to be reformed since they're currently just instruments of white supremacy.

Our schools need to be reformed also to affirm liberating gender identification and choice.

Incarcerated citizens have been discriminated against unfairly and most should be released.

The most existential threat we face is global warming caused by man-made carbon emissions - the national government is on that. Every citizen should get behind renewable, carbon-free energy, electric cars, etc.

The second most existential threat we face is MAGA Republicans.

January 6 was an insurrection and the national government is on that as well.

The 2020 peaceful demonstrations were justifiable reactions to Saint George Floyd's death.

Red China is a friend and competitor.

That recent Chinese balloon was of no consequence; it was a weather balloon blown off course.

Iran deserves to get nuclear weapons and the national government will do everything to achieve that also.

The government at all levels, but especially the national level, really cares about all of us, our current situations, our families, and our futures.

In conclusion, the Democrat Party should be the instrument of needed change since the Republican Party is the agent of white supremacy, insurrection, and unfettered climate change. Our wonderful President will be explaining all this tonight before Congress with his perspicacity on full display.

Chief Uplifter

Steve Keene

Gary,

Makes sense to me and I have heard of it.  The Gap sells clothes made in China by willing 12 year old and younger workers who are grateful for the double shifts so they can earn a Chinese coke with a days wages.

I just have one question.  Are Gaps below the Mason Dixon line called Confederate or white supremacist Gaps?