Indeed. However, back in 1900, or thereabouts, there was a report that, by the end of the century, everyone in the world would have to be a telephone operator...
I really can't accept your picture of scarcity and want. I have enough faith in human ingenuity to believe that not only will my lifestyle continue, it will get better and better.
I just priced the touring model at Edmunds with all the stuff *I* want, and it came to just under $30k. Same result at toyota.com. I don't have student discounts, or anything, and I do have to transport 5 adults or near adults, plus associated impedimenta. No folding or spindling of seats or passengers allowed.
Oh, and BTW, is it at all possible that gas prices in other countries are *artificially* *high*?
I mean, how much tax is there on a gallon of gas in, say, the UK? I lived in the UK for a couple of years in the 80's, have loads of relatives there, and visit regularly. I know for a fact that government policy is to keep gas prices as high as possible (just right below where the peasants start to rebel) in order to encourage people to use public transport.
I'm afraid it actually *is* about how many years it takes to save enough gas to pay fro the added cost of the car.
When the green movement can give me technology that at least maintains my current lifestyle, while showing savings on the bottom line within a year or two, I'll go for it. Until then, well, it can keep selling to the true believers.
On carmax.com, right now, I can buy a two-year-old Ford Explorer, nicely equipped, for @22k. A decently-equipped Prius (sorry, no hairshirt for me) is going to run around $30k. There are no second-hand Prii for sale at Carmax.
Paying $8k more for a car with a much smaller load-carrying capacity doesn't cut it for me. I can offset current spending on gasoline against the principal and interest on $8k, and easily carry five people, all their luggage, and four bikes to the beach (e.g., Atlanta to Pensacola), and know that the technology under me is fairly well-understood and easily-maintainable.
Here in Atlanta, one of our local radio talk show hosts regularly sounds off about how those who go into schools of education are usually the least-capable of any given college.
I never gave him much credence, until now. This was a shocking display of poor judgment.
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Africa, for example, is depopulating via AIDS and starvation. I mean, look at what Mugabe has wrought. And something like 25% of South Africa's population is HIV-positive. Elsewhere, you've got islamists killing everyone who doesn't agree that we need to return to the 7th century. We don't call that business in Darfur a genocide for nothing. And the Hutus did in, what, a million Tutsis? Mostly with machetes.
Meanwhile, China has the one-child policy that, believe it or not, is working. Of course, since 10% of the Yellow River is liquid sewage, it won't be too long before things like cholera start to thin out that herd. And that's before considering that the one-child policy is females to be aborted at a massive rate. Believe me, China's going to crash.
Geez. Now that you have me thinking, we may well have more pressing problems than "Global Warming" (tm).
Actually, human population is crashing. Countries like Greece and Italy have average female fertility rates of around 1, meaning the population's shrinking by 50% each generation.
Well, theanks for the considered opinion. Much nicer than the normal knee-jerk "You're a poo-head" bit.
That said, have read this: "...as long as there are those out there delivering disinformation about climate change, we need to keep up the fight...", I found muyself womdering whose disinformation, and whose fight.
My wife's a marketer, and clueless about science. She's completely influenced by the loudest voice that spoke last. This is generally another marketer selling man-made global warming. She just doesn't get it when I refuse to accept that marketing hype is actual reality.
I remember when Mount Pinatubo blew back in 1991. We had red skies *every night* for a year after. That's what 10 billion metric tons of magma, and 20 million tons of SO2 will do for your atmosphere. The red skies eventually faded. The point? One volcano was able to change the look of the atmosphere for a year before things went back to normal. I don't see those same dramatic effects from human activity.
I am willing to invest in technology that saves me money. Fluorescent bulbs, for example. If environmentalists could give me a P&L statement showing me how to make money by consuming less energy, I'd be all over it. Oh, and as for making money by consuming less energy, please don't quote the Prius. The cost differential between it and. say, a Ford Explorer is such that it'd take a decade to break even in gasoline saved. I want technologies that pay me this quarter, this year.
Instead, all I get is the "We're all gonna die!" dirge, and a call for hairshits, oh, and shit all over the US - the world's economic dynamo - for consuming so much energy. And as I sadi, I'm no longer up for it.
Sorry if this is a bit disconnected. My build's failing, so I'm switching back and forth.
I attended a lecture by Ray Kurzweil, where he talked about medical breakthroughs that are on the point of revolutionizing human life.
Among other things he talked about blood substitutes, describing how the day is near when you'll be able to take a single deep breath and sit on the bottom of your pool for 15+ minutes, so efficient will be your (artificially enhanced) uptake of oxygen.
He gave a great speech. I recommend his book, "The Singularity is Near."
I listen to the BBC World Service every day on my way to and from work. In my gas-guzzling SUV.
Just about every story is about how the world is ending, mostly because of man-made global warming. Yesterday, I heard that dams and hydro-electric power release more greenhouse gases than coal-fire electric plants. If they keep on like this, the only option for humanity will be mass suicide. Though, only if a decomposing corpse releases less methane than a living person, I guess.
Earlier this week there was a story about RFID devices in trash cans, to measure and control the amount of garbage thrown out by Britons. If this were in support of the George Bush's Global War on Terror, the masses would be out on the streets, but any invasive authoritarian measure can be justified in order to "Save the Earth" (tm).
I'm over it. Bother me no more with stories of global warming. At this stage, it's become a catchphrase to justify all sorts of bureaucratic intrusion and control, instigated by the watermelon left (green outside, red inside).
Hey -- Mister "I Don't Need The Newspaper Any More, I've Got A Computer" -- remember us? Yep, it's your old pal, the New York Times. The one that you used to welcome to your house every morning before you bought a goddamn modem from goddamn Best Buy. The one you threw in the trash after you got your goddamn flashy high speed connection. Does that refresh your memory?
Well guess what. We still have something that you can't get at your precious internet: investigative reporting. Did you know our reporters recently obtained a secret database containing a list of over 20,000 clients of the notorious "Quint State Madame" Destinee Hills?
And did you know what phone number we found on that list? 746-555-7314. Does it ring any bells? It should. It's your cell phone.
So may I suggest renewing with the New York Times today? For the low, low price of $499.95 per month you'll get money saving coupons and our promise that this information doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Slashdot Mirror
Indeed. However, back in 1900, or thereabouts, there was a report that, by the end of the century, everyone in the world would have to be a telephone operator...
I really can't accept your picture of scarcity and want. I have enough faith in human ingenuity to believe that not only will my lifestyle continue, it will get better and better.
I appreciate your opinion. That said, I don't think you actually read my original post, where I made the basis of my comparison quite plain.
Gotcha, thanks. I do have a hitch, so I can carry four bicycles.
I just priced the touring model at Edmunds with all the stuff *I* want, and it came to just under $30k. Same result at toyota.com. I don't have student discounts, or anything, and I do have to transport 5 adults or near adults, plus associated impedimenta. No folding or spindling of seats or passengers allowed.
Oh, and BTW, is it at all possible that gas prices in other countries are *artificially* *high*?
I mean, how much tax is there on a gallon of gas in, say, the UK? I lived in the UK for a couple of years in the 80's, have loads of relatives there, and visit regularly. I know for a fact that government policy is to keep gas prices as high as possible (just right below where the peasants start to rebel) in order to encourage people to use public transport.
I'm afraid it actually *is* about how many years it takes to save enough gas to pay fro the added cost of the car.
When the green movement can give me technology that at least maintains my current lifestyle, while showing savings on the bottom line within a year or two, I'll go for it. Until then, well, it can keep selling to the true believers.
I own a 1997 Ford Explorer. Love this car.
On carmax.com, right now, I can buy a two-year-old Ford Explorer, nicely equipped, for @22k. A decently-equipped Prius (sorry, no hairshirt for me) is going to run around $30k. There are no second-hand Prii for sale at Carmax.
Paying $8k more for a car with a much smaller load-carrying capacity doesn't cut it for me. I can offset current spending on gasoline against the principal and interest on $8k, and easily carry five people, all their luggage, and four bikes to the beach (e.g., Atlanta to Pensacola), and know that the technology under me is fairly well-understood and easily-maintainable.
My next car will be an Explorer as well.
Here in Atlanta, one of our local radio talk show hosts regularly sounds off about how those who go into schools of education are usually the least-capable of any given college.
I never gave him much credence, until now. This was a shocking display of poor judgment.
Oy! In other news, you can buy pizza in Italy.
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Africa, for example, is depopulating via AIDS and starvation. I mean, look at what Mugabe has wrought. And something like 25% of South Africa's population is HIV-positive. Elsewhere, you've got islamists killing everyone who doesn't agree that we need to return to the 7th century. We don't call that business in Darfur a genocide for nothing. And the Hutus did in, what, a million Tutsis? Mostly with machetes.
Meanwhile, China has the one-child policy that, believe it or not, is working. Of course, since 10% of the Yellow River is liquid sewage, it won't be too long before things like cholera start to thin out that herd. And that's before considering that the one-child policy is females to be aborted at a massive rate. Believe me, China's going to crash.
Geez. Now that you have me thinking, we may well have more pressing problems than "Global Warming" (tm).
Actually, I'm an Irish guy who escaped to the US.
After I got out of university, all it took was a couple of years of confiscatory PAYE taxation to convince me to leave.
I still retain a lot of the vocabulary, however.
Actually, human population is crashing. Countries like Greece and Italy have average female fertility rates of around 1, meaning the population's shrinking by 50% each generation.
Well, theanks for the considered opinion. Much nicer than the normal knee-jerk "You're a poo-head" bit.
That said, have read this: "...as long as there are those out there delivering disinformation about climate change, we need to keep up the fight...", I found muyself womdering whose disinformation, and whose fight.
My wife's a marketer, and clueless about science. She's completely influenced by the loudest voice that spoke last. This is generally another marketer selling man-made global warming. She just doesn't get it when I refuse to accept that marketing hype is actual reality.
I remember when Mount Pinatubo blew back in 1991. We had red skies *every night* for a year after. That's what 10 billion metric tons of magma, and 20 million tons of SO2 will do for your atmosphere. The red skies eventually faded. The point? One volcano was able to change the look of the atmosphere for a year before things went back to normal. I don't see those same dramatic effects from human activity.
I am willing to invest in technology that saves me money. Fluorescent bulbs, for example. If environmentalists could give me a P&L statement showing me how to make money by consuming less energy, I'd be all over it. Oh, and as for making money by consuming less energy, please don't quote the Prius. The cost differential between it and. say, a Ford Explorer is such that it'd take a decade to break even in gasoline saved. I want technologies that pay me this quarter, this year.
Instead, all I get is the "We're all gonna die!" dirge, and a call for hairshits, oh, and shit all over the US - the world's economic dynamo - for consuming so much energy. And as I sadi, I'm no longer up for it.
Sorry if this is a bit disconnected. My build's failing, so I'm switching back and forth.
I attended a lecture by Ray Kurzweil, where he talked about medical breakthroughs that are on the point of revolutionizing human life.
Among other things he talked about blood substitutes, describing how the day is near when you'll be able to take a single deep breath and sit on the bottom of your pool for 15+ minutes, so efficient will be your (artificially enhanced) uptake of oxygen.
He gave a great speech. I recommend his book, "The Singularity is Near."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Feud
In the immortal words of Eric Cartman: "Weeeeeeeeeak!"
You're not very smart, are you?
Spoken like a well-indoctrinated true believer.
http://www.usconstitution.net/
I listen to the BBC World Service every day on my way to and from work. In my gas-guzzling SUV.
Just about every story is about how the world is ending, mostly because of man-made global warming. Yesterday, I heard that dams and hydro-electric power release more greenhouse gases than coal-fire electric plants. If they keep on like this, the only option for humanity will be mass suicide. Though, only if a decomposing corpse releases less methane than a living person, I guess.
Earlier this week there was a story about RFID devices in trash cans, to measure and control the amount of garbage thrown out by Britons. If this were in support of the George Bush's Global War on Terror, the masses would be out on the streets, but any invasive authoritarian measure can be justified in order to "Save the Earth" (tm).
I'm over it. Bother me no more with stories of global warming. At this stage, it's become a catchphrase to justify all sorts of bureaucratic intrusion and control, instigated by the watermelon left (green outside, red inside).
Go fascism!
Forgive the historical reference. I was making a joke about a bunch of Democrat voters who accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan back in 2000.
I guess this means Pat Buchanan doesn't have a chance. Again.
At the Atlanta Journal/Constitution, I'm a Greek Cypriot named Sophocles Pantelas who emigrated to the US in 1948 at age 17.
Pretty fly for an Irish guy.
Dear Former Subscriber:
Hey -- Mister "I Don't Need The Newspaper Any More, I've Got A Computer" -- remember us? Yep, it's your old pal, the New York Times. The one that you used to welcome to your house every morning before you bought a goddamn modem from goddamn Best Buy. The one you threw in the trash after you got your goddamn flashy high speed connection. Does that refresh your memory?
Well guess what. We still have something that you can't get at your precious internet: investigative reporting. Did you know our reporters recently obtained a secret database containing a list of over 20,000 clients of the notorious "Quint State Madame" Destinee Hills?
And did you know what phone number we found on that list? 746-555-7314. Does it ring any bells? It should. It's your cell phone.
So may I suggest renewing with the New York Times today? For the low, low price of $499.95 per month you'll get money saving coupons and our promise that this information doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Yours in News,
Muck Raker, Acting Publisher