riddler

Sadly, we've had one or two good jumpers die while playing with fire at the DZ. Since then, I think we've gotten sensitive to the subject. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The main advantage now to electric cars is reducing hundreds of millions of pollution sources to a few hundred (power stations). If you can accomplish that, then it's quite a bit easier to control the pollution sources (i.e. stricter requirements on power plant emissions). Ultimately, we may go really crazy and build a lot of nuclear plants to replace the fossil-fuel ones. But for either of those things to happen, someone needs to tell them to do it. And that ain't gonna happen. The corporations tell the government what to do, not the other way 'round. Which was my original point. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I never said "clearly superior". I said viable. And yes, all options involve compromise, which is why I said viable and not superior. But driving gasoline autos compromises our only living space, which to me is a much greater compromise. Electric cars are not nearly as good for the environment as gasoline-powered, primarily because most power plants in this country are fossil-fuel burning, so I would not consider them superior. Some day, we may change our electric-power infrastructure to cleaner sources, at which time, electric cars will be viable. But how many people do you know that have ever owned an electric car? I know one. Hydrogen power is viable and clean, if generated from water using clean electricity. Even biodiesel makes more sense overall, considering it is slightly better for clean air than petrol. 100% of the cars on the road today are gasoline or diesel powered - I make that statement because it's really like 99.999-something, which is close enough. And there are hundreds of millions of autos in the US, none of which burn anything except gasoline. There's only one reason for that - corporate greed. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No that's the problem. He and my father didn't get along, and so I didn't know him that well, and saw him maybe three or four times in my entire life I'm just interested in this from more of a genealogical perspective. I did some searching for military rank, and couldn't find anything related, so I figured I would ask some of the experts on here. Thanks! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Corporations do decide that all cars will be gasoline powered, when there are clearly other viable choices that are better for the environment. Who cares if a really efficient vehicle gets 30 MPG vs an SUV that gets 15 MPG, when people drive 25,000 miles a year and have three cars per family (one has good gas mileage, one has poor, and one is in-between), and they're all burning gasoline? That's like saying we're going to force everyone to drink used toilet water, but you get a choice between the regular toilet or the low-flush toilet, and most families have two or three bathrooms anyway, with different toilets in each one. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Full story Here. The only reason that I'm interested in this is because my grandfather was part of this group. When he died some years ago, my father received a letter from then-president Clinton thanking the family for his service to the country. I thought it was kinda funny, considering my grandfather was a staunch Republican and gave a lot of money to Clinton's opponent I checked the National Archives online, and I see ranks next to the names. When I found his name on the list, I saw CPC-3 next to it. I have no idea what this is?? Can anyone with a background in military or military history tell me what CPC-3 is? I know he was in the army at some point, but I don't know what division, or anything like that ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

An ideological opinion at best. We, the citizens of America, do not decide what the energy policy is, even though we like to pretend we do, because we are not a democracy. In my opinion, corporations control every aspect of national policy in this great country. And there are too many corporations that have too much to lose (in their collective minds) by change. What happens when you have an efficient mass-transportation system? Oil companies buy it out and put roads in place to encourage gasoline usage. What if someone invented an energy source that was more efficient than oil, at almost zero cost, and produced no environmental damage? You can bet that the corporations would get their politico puppets in Congress and the White House to shut it down, or they would buy it and bury it, or they would hire actors and actresses to proclaim how "uncool" it is, or worse. And the US is a model for economics of many smaller countries. In the Cayman Islands, the government outlawed individual use of alternative electricity. Their justification was that wind turbines killed bats and solar energy can only be supplied for half of a 24-hour period. But the real reason was likely a bribe from the Caribbean Utilities Company to the government to ensure that everyone on the islands are buying electricity from them. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Needing a beginning and end to something as infinite as the universe is the sort of limited capacity for understanding that starts all the religious Dogma to being with. There doesn't need to be a beginning or end just to satisfy the banal whims of hairless apes on a tiny planet at the edge of an average galaxy. Look up Boson and Fermion, and you might find particles that are even smaller than protons, electrons and neutrons. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Why? He's already got the Honda Shadow In my course, 90% of the bikes were Shadows and the other 10% were a mix of low-end Ninjas and other bikes that were all at least 15 years old. We beat the crap out of them, and they still ran. Good course, though. Highly recommend it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Definitely male. I could never curse at a female like I curse at my computer. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here's a better idea to make money. Look around for other people's ideas that are just beginning to make market penetration. Blatantly copy the idea, make a few cosmetic changes and call it your own. Get some minor V.C. people to back you, hire people to construct 10 times more than your competitor (remember, it was them that stole your idea), and get the best marketing company out there to make sure everyone hears about your product before they hear about the other guy's. Get a partner to help you go public, shore up the stock with false claims about expected earnings, then sell to a struggling F500 company that wants to look like a winner again, all before the FTC warrants, investor suits and patent claims come rolling in. With your extra cash, you can do your own V.C. for the next round, or use your rep to get a mainstream V.C. to back you for something REALLY big. I could name a few dozen "entrepreneurs" who did just this. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Those commies have a lot to learn about faking things. Milli Vanilli sold 30 million records on fake singing. I'll bet that little girl didn't even get paid a fistful of Renminbi. When Brittany does it, it's even cool. Ashley, Mariah, Pavarotti, more western singers than can easily be counted. Hopefully the socialized medicine will at least get braces for the little girl that did sing, but had "buck teeth". Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Let's see. Lots of people have trouble getting pregnant, or carrying a baby to full term. Many children die before reaching maturity. Our bodies are relatively frail, even we humans can create stronger machines than ourselves from raw materials. We are susceptible to thousands of diseases, and yet still manage to populate ourselves enough to kill the only habitable space that can support us. I'm guessing this designer ain't so intelligent. It's like Microsoft Human 1.0, and we are the virus that's trying to destroy our own hard-drive. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yeah, there is, there is. It's called Radiocarbon dating. However one defines a "day", the radioactive half-life of certain atoms are as precise as clock-work, at least on grand scales like are involved with extinction of species. Radiocarbon dating shows the earth at much older than 6,000 years. It shows dinosaur bones (most of them) as being much older than homo-sapiens. It does not disprove the Bible, or God. As a matter of fact, the Bible doesn't say the Earth is 6,000 years old. Nor did God. It was started by an Archbishop, James Ussher, who tried to count backwards from the lives of everyone mentioned in the Bible (so-and-so Beget so-and-so). And even he said the earth was only 4,000 years old. It's since been revised (evolved, you might say) to 6-10K years. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'll vouch for ryoder here and testify that he has never, once tried to get me alone in the woods. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've had the opposite experience at the border. Usually, when I go to Canada in an auto, I'm greeted by friendly, smiling officers (and once a really cute young lass), who encourage me to come into Canada, spend all my money and leave. That's the way it is in most other countries, and I've come to the summary that it's the way things should be. Then I come back to the States, showing a valid US Passport, driver's license, etc - keep in mind, I've never even had a speeding ticket in my life - and the US border people are complete jerks that think I'm hiding half a ton of pot and an Al-Qaeda manual in my ass. I understand the need for good security at our borders, but for some reason, I always seem to get US border patrol that's feeling a "hunch" that I'm some sort of bad guy, and I don't think I'm the only one to feel that way. Maybe it's because my record is too clean? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, considering neither of us has been a State Governor or Federal Congressman, I'm not going to deny that I am in fact "naive" about what it takes. Nor am I going to go so far as to say "you're wrong". It's simply my opinion that experience in Federal Congress has more of a bearing on a President's effectiveness than being a State Governor. Edit, once again, for spelling. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Judging from the severity of the beatings, I'm more likely to believe Meth than Cocaine ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Norm Kent rocks. Not only is he a talented videographer, but he's a super-nice dude. I've had the misfortune of meeting a few other "famous" video people that were complete jerks to me (on more than one occasion), but not Norm. He patiently answered my ignorant questions and let me handle his headgear and was, in general, very cool. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What do you think the cops do with all their confiscated drugs? The next few months may be a great time to visit Australia. The cops will be peace-loving, pupil-dilated hippies that want to hug everyone. You might even see some uniformed cuddle-puddles in the streets of Sydney. We need more X and Pot drug busts like this so the law enforcement stops going off and beating the crap out of people. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm referring to Federal Congress, not state congresses. I don't equate the two (except maybe in the level of corruption). Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I believe the opposite. The POTUS has to deal with Congress to get any legislation passed, and it helps to know how Congress works, and connections in Congress. A governor is more like a local lord that rules a smaller fiefdom at his/her own discretion and rarely deals with Fed Congress. The position also involves something called compromise that Governors don't have to worry about. I'd rather have a President with 4 years of Fed Congress experience than a state Governor with 6 years experience. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Consider this. You are applying for this important job as the CEO of said multi-billion dollar a year corporation. You've never been in management at this company - your closest association was as an outside vendor with some basic knowledge of the industry. Of course, your dad was CEO before, so that counts for something. But it doesn't overshadow your previous history of alcohol abuse, including a conviction for drunk driving. Nor does it make up for the fact that you rarely showed up at your previous job, or that the homophobic board members snicker about you being the head cheerleader in high school. George W served zero years in Congress before becoming the current President. He is an arrested and convicted drunk driver. He became a pilot after "achieving" the lowest possible score, and by all accounts never really showed up for work in the National Guard. Every single one of his elections, including Governor of Texas, was close and contested. Since that is the resume of the current President, then I think Obama may be over-qualified. Ed for spelling. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Consider this. As one of the most educated, well-spoken, rising stars of a corporation, you are quickly promoted to management. During that interview, someone asks if you would like to be CEO some day. You say, no, you don't have enough experience. Years later, when you are jockying for that job as CEO, someone says they remember years ago when you said you didn't have enough experience, and therefore you must not have enough experience now. An even better example: the management of said company is full of the most corrupt, greedy, self-serving and crony-istic people that have been there since before Christ was a mess-cook. And everyone knows it, the customers, the employees and the government, which is currently investigating the company. The board of directors wants a new face for the company that appears to have at least a few shreds of moral decency, to try to change the direction so that they don't get fined by the IRS, jailed by the FBI and mobbed by the public. Maybe in the face of such crud, it's better to hire someone who hasn't been as tainted by the system. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That is definitely something for every voter to consider. But my statement was made about what was said, and the way it was interpreted on this thread title. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD