It certainly sounds fucking backwards but then you don't have to go back very far in many advanced Western cultures to find mistreatment of women, children, animals, minorities, homosexuals & cripples.
I have a similar story about the father-in-law of a close friend. He worked for a major Telecom for a couple decades and was let go without warning along about 6 months before he turned 55, when most of his pension benefits would have kicked in. So, no pension for him but at the time he had over $2 million invested so he wasn't worried, started to live the easy life, spending time with the grandkids and taking the occasional contract job. Then while on a Mediterrean cruise, the DotCom market meltdown hit and he lost 3/4ths of his investments so back to work he went only to find out that job opportunties are scarce for the greyhaired, even when very well qualified. After a few years, he found another pretty good telecom job from which he recently retired due to poor health but, again, no pension. So he & the wife and living off of savings, gov't pension and whatever he can earn in stock dabbling. So far, he's doing okay but it's precarious for an old guy who's not in the best of health.
"In Teslas with Autopilot, all the hardware is already present for full self-driving"
Nope, Elon said some time ago that the current sensor suite isn't adequate for complete autonomy. That *might* be in the next iteration or the one after.
"However, due to the increased weight of electric vehiclese, they are subject to more tyre wear and they cause more road wear" I can't recall anyone making much fuss over the many, many, many F-150s, other trucks & SUVs that have been causing excessive tyre & road wear since the 80s, or acknowledging that 18-wheelers & buses should bear the burden of paying for most of the road repair since they cause, by far, most of the damage.
"Anyone who wages any sort of argument against sending as much money as you can to the tax man will be scoffed at"
Anyone who thinks that cutting taxes is the answer to every economic problem or that unrestricted access to guns is a right - and there are a LOT of those - SHOULD move to Somalia. Those who believe both should get a 1st class flight but since they're usually firm believers in being self-made / pulling oneself up by own bootstraps or whatever libertarian trope is the latest catchphrase, they can pay for the trip themselves.
Even companies who caught the mobile revolution early at various points couldn't prosper. I remember when Nokia looked unstoppable, and later RIM / Blackberry.
Nuclear is pretty safe - when done correctly - but a lot of the problems have been forgotten or covered up. If you look at the individual histories of plants, even in nuke-loving France, you'll find plenty of screwups. Ivanpah may be having problems but there are dozens of solar plants that operate safely, quietly and profitably. The SEGS units in the Mojave, perhaps 150 miles away have been operating safely & quietly, presumably profitably for 30 yrs, longer than many nuke plants
That can quickly become unenforceable, much like trying to jail people for spitting on the sidewalk if every 10th person refused to obey the law. If neighborhoods or gated communities went off-grid en masse, the city ordinances against it wouldn't be worth toilet paper.
California passed a 1.3 GWh storage mandate about 3 yrs ago, to take effect in stages over the coming decade.
The storage market is heating up and will likely explode as much as solar has in recent years.
Tesla has a plan to use battery storage along with SolarCity to provide utility & grid services and has already shipped 2500 PowerWalls and 100 PowerPacks this past quarter.
Fossil fuels have been getting subsidized for a very long time as has nuclear. What's been given to solar & wind so far is tiny by comparison. A good chunk of the military budget can be considered a subsidy to the petroleum industry and many more costs that are difficult to tabulate, eg, charitable donations & relief work in nations that have been destabilized by US foreign policy.
"less likely to point a gun at a 'helpless' victim if said person had a better than even chance of being armed themselves" In most cases they'd have the drop on you so armed or not, you'd still have a better than even chance of taking a bullet without being able to retaliate. Unless you're walking around without your gun at the ready and safety off, you're better served by body armor.
That's an excellent point and you've also almost entirely repudiated the case for law enforcement since only a small percentage will commit serious crimes. Well done.
"The big motor in a turbine uses rare-earth magnets"
Most do but it's not a requirement; Enercon is the 4th largest turbine maker, has 18,000 employees and doesn't use rare earths in their designs which go up to 7.5 Megawatts https://yes2renewables.org/201...
I drive an old beat up minivan. She won't let me drive the Tesla, but sometimes she lets me sit in the passenger seat. Free advice: Don't marry a woman who earns more than you do.
Slashdot Mirror
"All these worlds are yours, except Europa. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE."
I'm not a liberal, well except when being compared to a rabid rightwingnut with execrable reading comprehension.
It certainly sounds fucking backwards but then you don't have to go back very far in many advanced Western cultures to find mistreatment of women, children, animals, minorities, homosexuals & cripples.
And has no sense of humor.
Depends on the god. If it were Crom, nope because Crom doesn't give a fuck.
I have a similar story about the father-in-law of a close friend.
He worked for a major Telecom for a couple decades and was let go without warning along about 6 months before he turned 55, when most of his pension benefits would have kicked in.
So, no pension for him but at the time he had over $2 million invested so he wasn't worried, started to live the easy life, spending time with the grandkids and taking the occasional contract job. Then while on a Mediterrean cruise, the DotCom market meltdown hit and he lost 3/4ths of his investments so back to work he went only to find out that job opportunties are scarce for the greyhaired, even when very well qualified.
After a few years, he found another pretty good telecom job from which he recently retired due to poor health but, again, no pension.
So he & the wife and living off of savings, gov't pension and whatever he can earn in stock dabbling.
So far, he's doing okay but it's precarious for an old guy who's not in the best of health.
"In Teslas with Autopilot, all the hardware is already present for full self-driving"
Nope, Elon said some time ago that the current sensor suite isn't adequate for complete autonomy.
That *might* be in the next iteration or the one after.
"However, due to the increased weight of electric vehiclese, they are subject to more tyre wear and they cause more road wear"
I can't recall anyone making much fuss over the many, many, many F-150s, other trucks & SUVs that have been causing excessive tyre & road wear since the 80s, or acknowledging that 18-wheelers & buses should bear the burden of paying for most of the road repair since they cause, by far, most of the damage.
"You don't get that with rigid labor markets"
Let's try something more flexible like outsourcing the management.
No golden parachutes for fuckups.
"Anyone who wages any sort of argument against sending as much money as you can to the tax man will be scoffed at"
Anyone who thinks that cutting taxes is the answer to every economic problem or that unrestricted access to guns is a right - and there are a LOT of those - SHOULD move to Somalia. Those who believe both should get a 1st class flight but since they're usually firm believers in being self-made / pulling oneself up by own bootstraps or whatever libertarian trope is the latest catchphrase, they can pay for the trip themselves.
Even companies who caught the mobile revolution early at various points couldn't prosper.
I remember when Nokia looked unstoppable, and later RIM / Blackberry.
How the mighty have fallen.
Yup, and I bet there's a whole group at IBM that curses Gates & Ballmer every time someone brings this up.
As I'm a long way from CA, the only thing that really matters if it helps or hinders the development & affordability of energy storage.
Nuclear is pretty safe - when done correctly - but a lot of the problems have been forgotten or covered up.
If you look at the individual histories of plants, even in nuke-loving France, you'll find plenty of screwups.
Ivanpah may be having problems but there are dozens of solar plants that operate safely, quietly and profitably.
The SEGS units in the Mojave, perhaps 150 miles away have been operating safely & quietly, presumably profitably for 30 yrs, longer than many nuke plants
That can quickly become unenforceable, much like trying to jail people for spitting on the sidewalk if every 10th person refused to obey the law.
If neighborhoods or gated communities went off-grid en masse, the city ordinances against it wouldn't be worth toilet paper.
I really should feel bad about wanting to mod you up.........
California passed a 1.3 GWh storage mandate about 3 yrs ago, to take effect in stages over the coming decade.
The storage market is heating up and will likely explode as much as solar has in recent years.
Tesla has a plan to use battery storage along with SolarCity to provide utility & grid services and has already shipped 2500 PowerWalls and 100 PowerPacks this past quarter.
Fossil fuels have been getting subsidized for a very long time as has nuclear.
What's been given to solar & wind so far is tiny by comparison.
A good chunk of the military budget can be considered a subsidy to the petroleum industry and many more costs that are difficult to tabulate, eg, charitable donations & relief work in nations that have been destabilized by US foreign policy.
"less likely to point a gun at a 'helpless' victim if said person had a better than even chance of being armed themselves"
In most cases they'd have the drop on you so armed or not, you'd still have a better than even chance of taking a bullet without being able to retaliate.
Unless you're walking around without your gun at the ready and safety off, you're better served by body armor.
That's an excellent point and you've also almost entirely repudiated the case for law enforcement since only a small percentage will commit serious crimes.
Well done.
"The big motor in a turbine uses rare-earth magnets"
Most do but it's not a requirement; Enercon is the 4th largest turbine maker, has 18,000 employees and doesn't use rare earths in their designs which go up to 7.5 Megawatts
https://yes2renewables.org/201...
"It was an armed robbery. AKA at gunpoint."
What difference does that make?
A knife or baseball bat are as deadly if you're close enough to be grabbing chicken wings.
It's Checks & Balances all the way down
It's America. Robbing or being robbed at gunpoint is guaranteed by the Constitution.
She has a Tesla? What do you drive?
I drive an old beat up minivan. She won't let me drive the Tesla, but sometimes she lets me sit in the passenger seat. Free advice: Don't marry a woman who earns more than you do.
Those women I prefer to date, not marry :-)