riddler

How about selling arms to Iranians in exchange for money and the release of hostages, then taking part of that money and using it to fund anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua? It may not be logical, but it did happen. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My mom delivered mail in Commerce City, Colorado for 30 years before she retired. I'm amazed she survived. She has been assaulted by people (usually over a welfare check they are expecting), as well as attacked by several dogs not on leashes, and out of yards. Commerce City is a pock-marked scum-hole in the Denver area. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It started when they began making these cars that don't need an engine tune for 100,000 miles. Sounded like a great idea. What they didn't tell you, is when you finally need a tune, you will pay the same amount as if you had been doing it all along. I just got a quote of $89 to replace a fuel filter on a Ford truck. I'm pretty sure I can do it myself for about $6. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Right - there is no infrastructure for sending electricity right from a specific source directly too your house. You pay extra for wind-generated energy, and the power company buys wind energy equivalent to the total amount paid for by all their customers per their usage. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The only thing I saw was in the article about it costing "about the same as a comparable gasoline-powered car". Makes me wonder what their manufacturing cost is. Combustible engines are much more complicated, but batteries are expensive. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Cool! Itll be jus like my enginering schol, because there werent any english or grammer classe in that that on, either! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Zero emissions applies to the auto, not the source. I suggest that people look into the alternate source programs offered by many power companies in major cities. For instance, for an additional $15 month, you can ask Public Service of Colorado to deliver electricity to you from only wind farms. Or if you're really gung-ho, like my neighbors (he is president of the Colorado Auto Dealer's Association), you can spend $30K and power your home with solar. The point of my post is that electric cars are feasible alternatives to petrol cars for many (not all) people. The industry is moving in that direction, but I expect American car manufacturers to be last on-board. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Coming next year to the U.S. 100-mile range, 4 hour charge time, zero emissions (electric), top speed of about 87 MPH. http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/wheeldeal/2009/08/03/nissan-leaf-shocks-the-ev-scene/ Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

See - engineers can be kinky, too Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It's pretty bad, but it isn't that bad. I went to a school that had nothing but engineering degrees, one chemistry degree and one geology degree - the other 12 degrees were all engineering. Typically the guy/girl ration varied between 10/1 and 15/1, depending on how many freshman women they sucker .. err, "recruited", to the school. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The now democratic government is really gonna be scared when they see tax revenues for 2009. I know they ain't getting jack from my small business this year. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

After living in Denver for 36 years, I've figured out the secret to weather forecasting here. 1. Look outside the window. Whatever it's doing now, is the current weather. 2. That will continue to be the weather through tomorrow. 3. Sunny for the rest of the week. Go to school, drink yourself into a stupor for four years, and get a worthless degree in meteorology. If you're an 7+ on the attractive scale, and can read a tele-prompter, get a job with a news organization, request a few million dollars for "Computer models" (that really cost $50, and just check the NOAA site), and spend it all on more alcohol. When it's time for you to go "live", just follow the three steps above. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It's probably the mentality of people that feel that they've been victimized by insurance companies. As an example, one estimate that 10% of denied claims are unjust. $$$ for the insurance companies, and illness or death for people that rightly paid for that coverage. If you're really sick, how much time and effort can you spend fighting the insurance companies? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Great idea! I'm all for it (seriously, I would love to see this). Let's see, you've brought up several examples: 1. Smoking. Well, first you have to get all people with smoking-related illnesses to take responsibility for their own medical bills. According to the NCA, 438,000 deaths in the US alone are smoking related. Then, according to the ALA, the US has to foot the bill for about $100 billion in medical costs from smoking. So how many people are not paying for their actions? You've got to convince all of them to stop treatment for their life threatening illness, since they can't afford it. Then, there's the second-hand smoke issue, which is known to cause health problems in others. We don't even know how to measure that. Maybe taxes are just the easiest way to recover revenue for this problem. We can also sue the tobacco makers, since they are delivering an addictive substance. We've done both. I would really prefer they take responsibility for their own addiction, as well as pay for any medical costs for second-hand smoke illnesses, but how do you plan to do that? 2. Obesity. $147 billion per year, with half of that paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, so at least $75 billion in socialized healthcare for overweight people. All we have to do is convince all those people to stop getting government assistance for their obesity. Maybe direct them to weight loss clinics, or better yet, put them all on treadmills that generate electric power for the rest of us. There's no tax for obesity yet, but it'll come eventually. How do you plan to get all the fat people to start taking responsibility? We've already said that hospitals are required to treat people, regardless of insurance, so they can't be turned away. And we have substantial socialized programs for the elderly - should we take away their benefits as well? Here's another example you didn't mention. My dad is 100% disabled (Vietnam), and he gets free healthcare. Much of that healthcare has nothing to do with his war-related injuries (heart problems, etc). Should we take away the veterans benefits that are not directly related to their war injuries? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I had some Speedplay frogs, and I thought they were pretty awesome. Until my bike got stolen. They sold titanium as well, but I think it saved only 1/2 an ounce, and cost another $300. I'm not serious enough to justify that. One things about the Speedplay - if you are offroading, dirt and mud can get in the clips and make them hard to pop into. Good luck with wide shoes I'm lucky to have narrow feet and Sidis fit me well. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'd say for most skydivers, skydiving is one of the least dangerous things they do. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

When my children get sick, I pay out of pocket to take them to doctors. When my annoying neighbors are a pain in the butt, I do not spend three years salary going to war with them. Seems like a good way to manage my money, but maybe you manage your money differently. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Reparations is correct. Alcohol can and should be taxed because it represents a great social and financial strain for society - drunk driving, uninsured health effects, etc. Cigarettes for the same reason - health cost, second-hand smoke, even pollution from cigarette butts. It's not about "sin", it's about the financial and social burden imposed by our addictions. I don't cry boo-hoo over the plight of heroin addicts, and I don't feel bad for smokers that have to pay a fortune for a carton of cigarettes. If you can't take the tax, then give up the addiction. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Fair Game. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Not anymore than the lack of wearing seatbelts "causes" death. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm all for politicians having sex with interns. To me, that's one of the perks of the job. Just be honest about it. Your campaign should have that spelled out in the platform: "And when I'm elected, I plan to hire only attractive female interns, and I'm hoping to sleep with two or three of them, at least." Now, if you're married, you have to make sure your wife is on-board. There are a few options here: "I also plan to hire a couple of young male interns, so my wife can get some, too." or "My wife and I are planning some three-way action. Only open-minded young men and women should apply for these positions." Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Now, to be fair, only King James was really into waxing he-goats. *snicker* There are quite a few other translations and revisions that decided to eliminate such beastly references. http://bible.cc/daniel/8-8.htm New International Version (©1984) The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. New American Standard Bible (©1995) Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) The male goat became very important. But when the goat became powerful, his large horn broke off. In its place grew four horns. They corresponded to the four winds of heaven. King James Bible Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. American King James Version Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. American Standard Version And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven. Bible in Basic English And the he-goat became very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and in its place came up four other horns turned to the four winds of heaven. Douay-Rheims Bible And the he goat became exceeding great: and when he was grown, the great horn was broken, and there came up four horns under it towards the four winds of heaven. Darby Bible Translation And the he-goat became exceeding great; but when he was become strong, the great horn was broken; and in its stead came up four notable ones toward the four winds of the heavens. English Revised Version And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven. Webster's Bible Translation Therefore the he-goat became very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and in its stead came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven. World English Bible The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [horns] toward the four winds of the sky. Young's Literal Translation 'And the young he-goat hath exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, broken hath been the great horn; and come up doth a vision of four in its place, at the four winds of the heavens. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

OK, fine. Here's an article about someone that was killed at the hospital. Oh, wait, that was in the parking lot outside the hospital, so that doesn't count. But here's three people that got shot at the hospital. But I guess only the gunman died, so that doesn't count. What about the doctor that was shot? He didn't die either. Oh, wait, I found one that died. L.A. medical center. Does that count as a hospital? Point is, U.S. hospitals are no safer than hospitals in other "socialized medicine" countries. Just because healthcare is privatized here, doesn't make it medically safer, or physically safer. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

hooknswoop was bragging to me about how his new Sony CX100 puts 9 hours of HD video onto a 16 GB Memory Stick. So in a month or two, when the 256GB Memory Stick comes out, that will be ... 144 hours of video?? You can leave your camera on for the whole boogie. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

You're not alone. I've noticed that there are several people on these boards that are under the illusion that if the government gave out no money, then there would be no taxes. The US government, for all it's flaws, is still a capitalist entity. Even if they spent ZERO dollars on ANYONE (including citizens), they would still tax us at the same rate (or more). Just like a retail salesman charges the highest price they can, the US government raises taxes until people scream loud enough. It's ain't about what they're spending, it's about them taking as much as they can get away with. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD