riddler

A taser should be used in defense, not as a caddle-prod. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It's likely that half or more of the mean, racist, and otherwise foul comments that we see on the boards are 10 to 14 year old kids. They have the time to do it, they're at an age where they want to break the rules and see everyone's reaction, and there's zero liability for their actions. The anonymous "post your thoughts here" textboxes are the modern equivalent of putting out free spray-paint cans in front of a brick wall - rational people will see no use for it, and kids (or arrested-development adults) will spray paint large penises and snicker. Edit for spelling Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've seen it at antique stores that have been around Denver for 20+ years. Usually, when I see them, it's a going out of business sale right around the time they are getting rid of last year's inventory, and magically, they make enough money to stay in business, followed by another going out of business sale at the exact same time the following year. When I was a kid, this guy Marks-Lloyds, who owned a fur store, would have television commercials going every day about how he had to close his business of 30 years and how it would mean 40-60% off every fur. This went on for about 10 years while I was growing up. I think the guy is dead now, but his business is still there. The funny thing is that I now live only a couple of miles from his store, and every single weekend, for the last 10 years at least, there are fur protesters picketing in front of his store. Between the going out of business and the protesters, he still manages to stay in business for 56 years! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/15/texas.sky.debris/ Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The cool thing about this particular Friday 13th is that it is in February (28 days). Therefore, there will be another Friday 13th next month. Two-for-one special this year Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

BTW, if there's one sign that describes me the best, it's the Snake-Holder! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So I'm NOT a Libra? But, the description fits me perfectly: See? A perfect description of me. Let's see, if my sign is off by one, then I'm either a Virgo or a Scorpio. Wow! That describes me even better than a Libra. What about Scorpio? Hey, that sounds like me, too! Wow, why do all these sun signs sound like me? Could it be because I really like flattery?? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Even if Obama wanted to quadruple the national debt, as Reagan did, I don't think it would be possible. The American dollar and economy would collapse entirely before that happened. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Fine with me. My mortgage is owned by Citi. I'll bet whoever buys the assets would let me renegotiate the final price When you buy up the assets of a bank that large, you want to cash in as much as possible right away to unleverage. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

People talk a lot about this, but I don't see commercialization as a problem for the foreseeable future. Sure, some people will want to go into space just to experience it, but there aren't many that can afford that. Commercialization won't be a problem until we find something really good out there to exploit. Maybe gold in asteroids, or diamonds on the moon. Until then, it's just a novelty, and I don't see a whole lot of people doing it (unless the price gets down to $500). Funny that you mention Wall-E. I haven't seen it yet, but I should be getting it in the mail from Netflix today Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What if you had to suck the milk straight from the cow's nipple? Edit to add some visuals. Not safe for queasy people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWlAYMhVp-w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCDOJQiJQ8M&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NvA0CRaEuk&feature=related Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Was he the one I saw on a few otters at WFFC in 2001? I was thinking - man, they make jumpers younger every year But then again, I'm taking my two-year old to the tunnel She's still a little afraid to fly, but she's getting inside the chamber, at least. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Correct - it failed two years after launch, so it was adrift. But it was still in one piece, so I would count it as full satellite collision. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Funny how people that are totally OK with drinking the breast-milk of cows are repulsed by this idea. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, I posted this story because it's such a rare occurrence. In fact, it's the only one that I know of. There have been other collisions between satellites and debris, but I don't know of two full satellites ramming into each other. LEO is much more of a problem with debris - the higher orbits are quite a bit less crowded. But even at LEO, a collision is rare. As my former boss at LMA used to say "there's a lot of space in space". Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_sc/satellite_collision Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

1) You sound like the Republican stumpers that claim GLB was "modernization" of the banking system. If letting banks take your deposits to Vegas and gamble them is modernization, then I say we let the bookeepers in sin city balance the federal budget. 2) It was not a new idea - it was entrenched in same the flat-earth, Keynesian economics of the GOP. Less government, more privatization, blah, blah, and oh, yeah, we'll put some of that money into the pockets of the politicians as well. 3) On May 6, 1999, the Senate passed the bills by a 54-44 vote along party lines (53 Republicans and one Democrat in favor; 44 Democrats opposed). On July 20, the House passed a different version of the bill on an uncontested and uncounted voice vote. When the two chambers could not agree on a joint version of the bill, the House voted on July 30 by a vote of 241-132 (R 58-131; D 182-1) to instruct its negotiators to work for a law that ensured that consumers enjoyed medical and financial privacy and also "robust competition and equal and non-discriminatory access to financial services and economic opportunities in their communities" (i.e. protection against exclusionary redlining) The bill then moved to a conference committee to work out the differences between the Senate and House versions. Democrats agreed to support the bill after Republicans agreed to strengthen provisions of the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act and address certain privacy concerns; the conference committee then finished its work by the beginning of November. Source Wikipedia. It was party-line from beginning to end. At the end, the Democrats caved in to get support for their program, which ironically, some Republicans are blaming the whole mess on. 4) Which correction are you talking about? The one that lost 3.6 million jobs, as a direct result of GLB? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

How about a "rate this post" option? 1-5 stars. People can sort through by quality, rather than quantity. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here's a link that doesn't require a YouTube adult login. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

See the movie Idiocracy. 500 years in the future, Starbucks has changed their product line from coffee to hand-jobs. More comparisons between America and the Roman empire. When the economy was faltering in Rome, the emperor Caligula prostituted his three sisters, as well as most of the nobles wives that frequented the palace. Easy money. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

And atheism is not spiritual. If you want to play both sides of the field, there are the agnostic and/or pantheism genres. I'm sure people that believe in mysticism of some sort can mold their beliefs enough to fit within the framework of AA. But Atheists? It sounds to me like AA is trying to push God in some form, shape or function. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hey, I'm a left-leaning liberal, but I actually thought Bush I was an OK guy - despite his anti-abortion stance. But we can still blame him for raising a couple of corrupt kids, right? Right? Bueller? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This? OK, I cheated on my quiz and used Google - so whack my knuckles with a ruler. It's more interesting if you remove the 20-25% decline from 2007 and 2008 - toward the end of when banks were investing heavily in housing - that's a hockey stick that would give Al Gore a hard-on. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Banking is much more of an issue than housing. It was the Republicans that deregulated banking and let them take your money that you put into good faith into an account, and gamble it away (on an over-inflated housing market). Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sorry to hijack your thread, but any post that gets Skymama talking about her naughty thoughts is not wasted If it makes you feel better, head over to Speaker's Corner and derail my poll about the Stimulus Package. No one's paying attention to it anyway Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD