Rip the top off of a mountain in Apalachia and poison the river - that's OK as I can't see it from my house.
Offtopic, but that's largely a myth driven by environmentalists who don't actually know anything about eco-engineering or mining. I know someone who works for the Pennsylvania DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) doing mine reclamation and asked him about it once upon a time. Under the regulations in force in his state (and according to him, West Virginia) mountain top removal doesn't poison any rivers and doesn't destroy any mountains. The mining outfits are required to save the refuse from the removal and fill it back in when they are done. They are required to take steps to prevent the run-off from their operations from making it into the water supply.
And while yes, trucker quality did go down somewhat a few years back when the big carriers started putting people through two week trucking schools, the reason we hang out in the passing lane is because of all the slow assholes in cars in the other lanes. They can accelerate from 55 to 65 in a couple seconds. It takes us up to a minute or so, depending on conditions.
It's been my observation as a non-trucker that the majority of the non-truckers on the road treat you guys like shit. Pulling in front of 18 wheelers and forcing them to slow down, riding in your blind spots, pulling alongside when you need to swing wide to make a right-turn, etc, etc. It drives me nuts when people pull this crap and I've never even driven an 18-wheeler. It just seems pretty damn rude and inconsiderate.
For what it's worth I always stay out of your way and am happy to flash my lights to signal that the lane is clear when you are trying to change lanes. I don't think your profession gets the respect it deserves.
What do these fucking rednecks think the signs are for, to pad the "sign budget" for next year or something?
Wow, tell us what you really think of the profession you arrogant elitist asshole. Have you ever driven anything larger than a piece of shit subcompact rice burner? Do you have any idea of what driving an 18 wheeler is like? How you are held to a higher standard and are always one accident caused by the stupidity of another away from losing your CDL?
...their employees, who quite liked working for a small local company rather than $Monolith_Company who don't give a shit about anyone, don't get any say in the matter.
When those employees come up with the capital to start a company and assume all of the risks in doing so then they can have a say in what happens to the company. It's utter bullshit to think that someone who collects a paycheck every Friday and whom can walk away at any time deserves the same say as the person who mortgaged his house and went into debt to start the business in the first place.
If I had a business I would certainly take my employees into consideration when deciding what to do with that business but at the end of the day the decision is mine and mine alone. If I want to sell out and retire to a tropical island filled with naked chicks that's my right.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need is the way of the future
Ok Comrade.
and attempts to deny this simple mechanical law of nature will only result in even more suffering for us.
Simple law of nature? What the heck are you smoking and why aren't you sharing it? The only law of nature is survival of the fittest. I don't think the gazelle being eaten by a lion volunteered to be eaten because the lion needed food.
What's wrong with being bought out? If your idea is good and your business plan is decent then odds are that you can set it up in such a way that you can retire with the proceeds from being bought out.
Friends of mine got into the ISP business back in the day before it was even on the radar of $Monolith_Company. $Monolith_Company eventually bought them out. They've since spent their days traveling the world and working because they want to, not because they need to. What's wrong with this outcome?
is that any macroscopic object with a temperature emits a blackbody(-ish) spectrum which, since it spans the entire range of EM radiation, emits some light in the visible portion of the spectrum.
So the human body gives off the occasional gamma-ray?
No. It is in our national interest to fund primary and secondary level education
I don't disagree. The only thing I take exception to is the fact that the Federal Government is involved. Every dime of Federal money comes with political strings and mandates that may or may not make sense on a local level. It would be far better if the school system was funded and controlled locally.
Barring terribly inequitable starting conditions, If he's better able to adapt than you, doesn't he deserve to prosper more?
Dude, haven't you been paying attention to our fearless leftist leaders? We should take from the one who is better able to adapt and give to the one who is not.
comparing it to a bunch of butcherous assholes who invaded foreign mands at point of sword and smallpox in search of gold and spices is not a comparison worth making.
Nice. Howabout, oh, I dunno - the other 6 billion people - like in Liberia, or Ghana, or Burkina Faso or Bolivia, or Cuba, or North Korea, or Mongolia or China or the Maldives, or Tuva, or Armenia or Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan or India or Somalia? Or better yet, how about using the billions you would piss away on a Mars mission and get clean water to some of the place I mentioned? And maybe some decent medical treatment and educate the women. THAT would do far more to instill good will around the world than engaging in proxy wars over resources and using the third world as the battle ground.
If you are going to be a hippie liberal douche, at least stop bogarting the pipe and pass that shit around;)
Does this mean that white man was never meant to settle the Americas? Of course not. We're here.
I can think of some Native Americans that would say that.... Of course it's not our fault they never bothered to research gunpowder or develop resistance to smallpox;)
Don't forget... criminal and civil law are significantly different. Civil lawyers are WAY overpopulated. We need to cut off some of the lawsuit supply (fix copyrights/malpractice/tort law), at least cull a bit of the herd somehow.
I think we need to cull them out of Congress. Has anybody stopped to wonder why Congress is so good at passing mandates that are completely impractical in the real world? I tend to think it would do us some good if the people writing our laws included more engineers/doctors/law enforcement/technology/business/etc people and less lawyers. Lawyers are entirely too good at coming up with solutions that look great on paper and completely suck in the real world.
He's my third favorite lawyer, right behind the lady I hired to handle my divorce and the man I hired to handle my bankrupcy. When you need a lawyer, you NEED a lawyer.
I see your bankruptcy and divorce attorneys and raise you a criminal defense attorney who got my name cleared of a felony I didn't commit:)
Lawyers can be a real PITA at times and I think they have too much influence in Washington (how many Congress-critters are lawyers?) but you are absolutely right: When you need a lawyer, you NEED a lawyer. I suspect that the people who always complain about them have never needed the services of one.
I thought it stated already that China has as much insentive to avoid hostilities against us as we do.
They have that incentive because they know they can't win.
So, is the potential of China attacking the U.S. a real threat? Just as long as it is militarily, because they wouldn't dare us touch us economically, is that it?
It's not about them attacking the US. Neither side is particularly likely to attack the homeland of the other side. Nothing to gain and everything to lose.
It's about them acting regionally in a manner that threatens our interests and/or our alliances. Right now they don't dare attack Taiwan because they know they can't succeed. Our naval and conventional force supremacy negates any chance of success. What happens if we no longer have that supremacy and they invade Taiwan, presenting us with a fait accompli before we can respond?
Do we honor our treaty commitments and launch a war that will drag on for years with no clear path to victory or do we abandon the Taiwanese? If we abandon them then why should our other important Allies trust us? History suggests that if the free nations of the world aren't united then war will break out sooner or later. The United States is the first and last line of defense for the free world. If the rest of the world can't trust us to honor our treaty commitments then what happens? The best case scenario is a global arms race the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Cold War. The worst case scenario is World War III.
I'm sorry but from where I sit I see it as hugely important for the United States to maintain our supremacy in all types of warfare. It will continue to be important until another free country with the willpower and resources to replace us emerges on the world stage. The EU doesn't have that willpower and India doesn't yet have the resources. That may change over the next few decades but until it does we are still the first and last line of defense for democracy. We forget that at our own peril.
Of course, I doubt that any of that would even require the services of the F-22 - The F-15 with good pilots would probably still do well against those threats
Actually the E-3 is more important than either the F-22 or the F-15. The E-3 would make it a lopsided affair with F-15s because we'd have better command and control. With the F-22 it wouldn't even be sporting -- it'd be a massacre.
The F-15 without AWACS support would still win but it would be much closer to a fair fight. Particularly if the Iranians bought modern air to air missiles from Russia and had the training to employ them effectively.
So what happens if TWO enemy fighters attack, each targetting one of the pair?
Then you rely on the ability of the Wildcat to absorb damage and the Zero's tendency to burst into flames after a single machine gun burst. The Wildcat could absorb a considerable amount of punishment and had armor/self-sealing fuel tanks in place to ensure that the pilot could keep fighting. The Zero had none of these systems and as a consequence it was much easier to destroy.
Ever talk to a veteran of that conflict? I have. One of them described having a Japanese fighter on his tail and hearing the enemy bullets bouncing off the armor plate behind his seat. If that situation was reversed those bullets would have been going through the Japanese pilot. Eventually his wingman was able to engage and destroy the Japanese plane. His machine brought him home alive and allowed him to keep fighting long enough to secure victory. The same would not have happened if the situation had been reversed and it was a Zero with an American on his tail.
And yes, it probably is possible for a country to sneak an invasion force into Canada or Mexico, especially if said country ships mass quantities of connex containers here (to N. America) on a daily basis.
Exactly! So, tell me again, why are we afraid of China building up their weapons and overcoming us militarily?
Because if they do that it places us in a very bad position. If they went after Taiwan do we fight a nasty war with China or fail to live up to our treaty obligations to the Taiwanese? Fail to honor those obligations and no other nation has any reason to trust that we'll honor our obligations with them and all of our alliances (NATO/ANZUS/Japan being the most important ones) fall apart. If those alliances fall apart then you further embolden the non-democratic states to blackmail the democratic ones. Before you know it you are fighting an even larger war and millions of people are dying.
Honor the treaty obligations and you are facing a war with China that neither side can really end. Both sides have the resources to absorb major defeats and keep fighting. Neither side really has the ability (in China's case) or political willpower (in our case) to invade and pacify the homeland of the other side. So, how do you end such a war?
No, it's important that we maintain our conventional military superiority so that none of this happens. Peace through strength.
Slashdot Mirror
Federal Judges are appointed for life, and can acquire Secret Service protection without too much difficulty.
Umm, I thought it was the US Marshals Service that protected Federal Judges?
So what? You've linked to some pictures that do nothing to dispel the points that I made.
and promptly go bankrupt leaving the taxpayer holding the bag.
Not in PA they don't. In PA they have to put up bonds to cover the costs of cleanup before they are allowed to start mining.
Rip the top off of a mountain in Apalachia and poison the river - that's OK as I can't see it from my house.
Offtopic, but that's largely a myth driven by environmentalists who don't actually know anything about eco-engineering or mining. I know someone who works for the Pennsylvania DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) doing mine reclamation and asked him about it once upon a time. Under the regulations in force in his state (and according to him, West Virginia) mountain top removal doesn't poison any rivers and doesn't destroy any mountains. The mining outfits are required to save the refuse from the removal and fill it back in when they are done. They are required to take steps to prevent the run-off from their operations from making it into the water supply.
And while yes, trucker quality did go down somewhat a few years back when the big carriers started putting people through two week trucking schools, the reason we hang out in the passing lane is because of all the slow assholes in cars in the other lanes. They can accelerate from 55 to 65 in a couple seconds. It takes us up to a minute or so, depending on conditions.
It's been my observation as a non-trucker that the majority of the non-truckers on the road treat you guys like shit. Pulling in front of 18 wheelers and forcing them to slow down, riding in your blind spots, pulling alongside when you need to swing wide to make a right-turn, etc, etc. It drives me nuts when people pull this crap and I've never even driven an 18-wheeler. It just seems pretty damn rude and inconsiderate.
For what it's worth I always stay out of your way and am happy to flash my lights to signal that the lane is clear when you are trying to change lanes. I don't think your profession gets the respect it deserves.
What do these fucking rednecks think the signs are for, to pad the "sign budget" for next year or something?
Wow, tell us what you really think of the profession you arrogant elitist asshole. Have you ever driven anything larger than a piece of shit subcompact rice burner? Do you have any idea of what driving an 18 wheeler is like? How you are held to a higher standard and are always one accident caused by the stupidity of another away from losing your CDL?
...their employees, who quite liked working for a small local company rather than $Monolith_Company who don't give a shit about anyone, don't get any say in the matter.
When those employees come up with the capital to start a company and assume all of the risks in doing so then they can have a say in what happens to the company. It's utter bullshit to think that someone who collects a paycheck every Friday and whom can walk away at any time deserves the same say as the person who mortgaged his house and went into debt to start the business in the first place.
If I had a business I would certainly take my employees into consideration when deciding what to do with that business but at the end of the day the decision is mine and mine alone. If I want to sell out and retire to a tropical island filled with naked chicks that's my right.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need is the way of the future
Ok Comrade.
and attempts to deny this simple mechanical law of nature will only result in even more suffering for us.
Simple law of nature? What the heck are you smoking and why aren't you sharing it? The only law of nature is survival of the fittest. I don't think the gazelle being eaten by a lion volunteered to be eaten because the lion needed food.
What's wrong with being bought out? If your idea is good and your business plan is decent then odds are that you can set it up in such a way that you can retire with the proceeds from being bought out.
Friends of mine got into the ISP business back in the day before it was even on the radar of $Monolith_Company. $Monolith_Company eventually bought them out. They've since spent their days traveling the world and working because they want to, not because they need to. What's wrong with this outcome?
Guy Kawasaki gave one really good suggestion to test your idea: convince a woman
Dude, the guy is asking his question on Slashdot. The odds that he knows any women or has the guts to talk to them if he does are slim to none.
Now if you'll excuse me, the microwave upstairs just beeped. My hotpockets are done!
is that any macroscopic object with a temperature emits a blackbody(-ish) spectrum which, since it spans the entire range of EM radiation, emits some light in the visible portion of the spectrum.
So the human body gives off the occasional gamma-ray?
No. It is in our national interest to fund primary and secondary level education
I don't disagree. The only thing I take exception to is the fact that the Federal Government is involved. Every dime of Federal money comes with political strings and mandates that may or may not make sense on a local level. It would be far better if the school system was funded and controlled locally.
Barring terribly inequitable starting conditions, If he's better able to adapt than you, doesn't he deserve to prosper more?
Dude, haven't you been paying attention to our fearless leftist leaders? We should take from the one who is better able to adapt and give to the one who is not.
comparing it to a bunch of butcherous assholes who invaded foreign mands at point of sword and smallpox in search of gold and spices is not a comparison worth making.
Nice. Howabout, oh, I dunno - the other 6 billion people - like in Liberia, or Ghana, or Burkina Faso or Bolivia, or Cuba, or North Korea, or Mongolia or China or the Maldives, or Tuva, or Armenia or Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan or India or Somalia? Or better yet, how about using the billions you would piss away on a Mars mission and get clean water to some of the place I mentioned? And maybe some decent medical treatment and educate the women. THAT would do far more to instill good will around the world than engaging in proxy wars over resources and using the third world as the battle ground.
If you are going to be a hippie liberal douche, at least stop bogarting the pipe and pass that shit around ;)
Does this mean that white man was never meant to settle the Americas? Of course not. We're here.
I can think of some Native Americans that would say that.... Of course it's not our fault they never bothered to research gunpowder or develop resistance to smallpox ;)
Colonizing the moon would mean whoever lives there will always spend their time in giant glass bubbles.
That doesn't sound much different from the poor bastards who have the misfortune of living in a major city ;)
Don't forget... criminal and civil law are significantly different. Civil lawyers are WAY overpopulated. We need to cut off some of the lawsuit supply (fix copyrights/malpractice/tort law), at least cull a bit of the herd somehow.
I think we need to cull them out of Congress. Has anybody stopped to wonder why Congress is so good at passing mandates that are completely impractical in the real world? I tend to think it would do us some good if the people writing our laws included more engineers/doctors/law enforcement/technology/business/etc people and less lawyers. Lawyers are entirely too good at coming up with solutions that look great on paper and completely suck in the real world.
He's my third favorite lawyer, right behind the lady I hired to handle my divorce and the man I hired to handle my bankrupcy. When you need a lawyer, you NEED a lawyer.
I see your bankruptcy and divorce attorneys and raise you a criminal defense attorney who got my name cleared of a felony I didn't commit :)
Lawyers can be a real PITA at times and I think they have too much influence in Washington (how many Congress-critters are lawyers?) but you are absolutely right: When you need a lawyer, you NEED a lawyer. I suspect that the people who always complain about them have never needed the services of one.
the whole point of space exploration is to find a way to permanently get rid of our lawyers*, politicians and telemarketers
I thought we had firearms and pitchforks for that?
Take the long view, secure international cooperation and funding
Because what the space program needs is more bureaucracy......
Couple hundred years from now the first will be hitting Alpha Centauri
Not if we play the game with 'bloodlust' turned on.
I thought it stated already that China has as much insentive to avoid hostilities against us as we do.
They have that incentive because they know they can't win.
So, is the potential of China attacking the U.S. a real threat? Just as long as it is militarily, because they wouldn't dare us touch us economically, is that it?
It's not about them attacking the US. Neither side is particularly likely to attack the homeland of the other side. Nothing to gain and everything to lose.
It's about them acting regionally in a manner that threatens our interests and/or our alliances. Right now they don't dare attack Taiwan because they know they can't succeed. Our naval and conventional force supremacy negates any chance of success. What happens if we no longer have that supremacy and they invade Taiwan, presenting us with a fait accompli before we can respond?
Do we honor our treaty commitments and launch a war that will drag on for years with no clear path to victory or do we abandon the Taiwanese? If we abandon them then why should our other important Allies trust us? History suggests that if the free nations of the world aren't united then war will break out sooner or later. The United States is the first and last line of defense for the free world. If the rest of the world can't trust us to honor our treaty commitments then what happens? The best case scenario is a global arms race the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Cold War. The worst case scenario is World War III.
I'm sorry but from where I sit I see it as hugely important for the United States to maintain our supremacy in all types of warfare. It will continue to be important until another free country with the willpower and resources to replace us emerges on the world stage. The EU doesn't have that willpower and India doesn't yet have the resources. That may change over the next few decades but until it does we are still the first and last line of defense for democracy. We forget that at our own peril.
Of course, I doubt that any of that would even require the services of the F-22 - The F-15 with good pilots would probably still do well against those threats
Actually the E-3 is more important than either the F-22 or the F-15. The E-3 would make it a lopsided affair with F-15s because we'd have better command and control. With the F-22 it wouldn't even be sporting -- it'd be a massacre.
The F-15 without AWACS support would still win but it would be much closer to a fair fight. Particularly if the Iranians bought modern air to air missiles from Russia and had the training to employ them effectively.
So what happens if TWO enemy fighters attack, each targetting one of the pair?
Then you rely on the ability of the Wildcat to absorb damage and the Zero's tendency to burst into flames after a single machine gun burst. The Wildcat could absorb a considerable amount of punishment and had armor/self-sealing fuel tanks in place to ensure that the pilot could keep fighting. The Zero had none of these systems and as a consequence it was much easier to destroy.
Ever talk to a veteran of that conflict? I have. One of them described having a Japanese fighter on his tail and hearing the enemy bullets bouncing off the armor plate behind his seat. If that situation was reversed those bullets would have been going through the Japanese pilot. Eventually his wingman was able to engage and destroy the Japanese plane. His machine brought him home alive and allowed him to keep fighting long enough to secure victory. The same would not have happened if the situation had been reversed and it was a Zero with an American on his tail.
And yes, it probably is possible for a country to sneak an invasion force into Canada or Mexico, especially if said country ships mass quantities of connex containers here (to N. America) on a daily basis.
WOLVERINES!
Exactly! So, tell me again, why are we afraid of China building up their weapons and overcoming us militarily?
Because if they do that it places us in a very bad position. If they went after Taiwan do we fight a nasty war with China or fail to live up to our treaty obligations to the Taiwanese? Fail to honor those obligations and no other nation has any reason to trust that we'll honor our obligations with them and all of our alliances (NATO/ANZUS/Japan being the most important ones) fall apart. If those alliances fall apart then you further embolden the non-democratic states to blackmail the democratic ones. Before you know it you are fighting an even larger war and millions of people are dying.
Honor the treaty obligations and you are facing a war with China that neither side can really end. Both sides have the resources to absorb major defeats and keep fighting. Neither side really has the ability (in China's case) or political willpower (in our case) to invade and pacify the homeland of the other side. So, how do you end such a war?
No, it's important that we maintain our conventional military superiority so that none of this happens. Peace through strength.