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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#270476: Feb 7th 2019 at 6:50:09 PM

OK, hang one. First off, kudos on citing Sustainable Energy Without Hot Air by David Mac Kay, a very readable and useful guide on how much energy is available from various alternative sources of energy, relative to average energy consumption in Great Britain and other coountries (a much more accessable version is available for free here.

However, I've read SEWHA, in particular his chapter on nuclear energy sources, and that is emphatically not what he concludes. He is in fact a proponent of nuclear energy, and documents that we have enough uranium and/or thorium to last us at higher than current consumption levels a thousand years if not more. Building and decommissioning nuclear facilities is difficult and expensive (it is by far more expensive across the lifetime of the reactor than the fuel itself), and the fuel does present a challenge in terms of storage and safety, but nevertheless he concludes that these barriers are surmountable using current technology.

Oh wow, I expected the source to be bogus but this is way worse.

That said, I dont fault AOC too much for leaving out nuclear energy. Right now the main priority is to gain public support for the idea of using sustainable technology to create jobs and grow the economy while protecting the climate (ie, the so called "Green Deal"), and the specific details will be negotiated later. True, alternative energy is not price competitive without either nuclear energy or importing large amounts of electricity from solar overseas (in which the main barrier is the lack of efficient storage technology), but that's a case that can be made later.

This is really comforting, thank you smile

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 7th 2019 at 9:50:30 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#270477: Feb 7th 2019 at 6:52:45 PM

[up][up]We need better trains.

i'm tired, my friend
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#270478: Feb 7th 2019 at 6:55:33 PM

We need both.

Fun fact: The Republican candidate for governor of California in the last election had "Stop building the train" as a big part of his platform.

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#270479: Feb 7th 2019 at 6:58:33 PM

I've got an honest question: How hard would it be to connect the country by high speed train? I know there was difficulty in California and along the East Coast, but as I do not know much about this, I was wondering if anyone here knew what the main obstacles are?

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#270480: Feb 7th 2019 at 6:59:53 PM

Political, mainly. We know how to do it, technologically, as far as I am aware.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#270481: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:00:40 PM

The US has one of the best connected rail networks in the word.

The problem is that it’s all build for freight and not passenger transport.

Also the serious lack of transport infrastructure on a local level hurts trains, there’s no point getting a train a moderate distance to another city if you have to rent a car when you get there, it’s easiyer to drive.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#270482: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:01:26 PM

I've got an honest question: How hard would it be to connect the country by high speed train? I know there was difficulty in California and along the East Coast, but as I do not know much about this, I was wondering if anyone here knew what the main obstacles are?

I do not know, but I do know that hypothetically if one wanted to find a comparable example Canada would be a perfect fit in that like us they have an exceedingly large territory with a populace who are unevenly distributed throughout it.

But unlike the US they have good public transit, which would make them a useful case study for how we could go about expanding ours.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 7th 2019 at 10:02:24 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
FluffyMcChicken My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare from where the floating lights gleam Since: Jun, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
#270483: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:04:25 PM

The auto industry will lobby and fight as fanatically as Japanese troops on a Pacific island before they let a cross-continental high-speed passenger rail network be discussed.

Edited by FluffyMcChicken on Feb 7th 2019 at 7:04:52 AM

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#270484: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:07:38 PM

Oh absolutely, as will the health insurance against Medicare for All but that just means the Democratic Party can crush two metastasized industries smile

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 7th 2019 at 10:08:14 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#270485: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:16:55 PM

Could we do a deal with the devil then and look into car trains?

As Silasw mentioned, the issue appears to be that the network is geared up for freight not passengers, and there isn't such a reliable infrastructure once you arrive to avoid having to hire a car when you get there.

So what about driving your own car to the station, onto the train and therefore having use of it at the other end?

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#270486: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:18:58 PM

[up] Well, than thet defeats the greener ambitions of moving people onto trains and out of their cars, right?

Unless you mean loading the cars onto a train, in which case there probably isn't the room to do so.

Edited by AzurePaladin on Feb 7th 2019 at 10:19:41 AM

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#270487: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:22:53 PM

It might be cleaner than all the cars driving individually, if the science is there. If you can fit fifty cars on a train that will pull them from Topeka to Des Moines and generate less pollution than those fifty cars driving individually, then that might work.

The problem is, you're going to either have to have regular train cars (dining cars, etc.) for people to walk into and sit in during the trip, or else they'll just sit in their cars with the engines running for A/C, music, and so on. It would basically need to be designed similarly to car ferries.

It's been fun.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#270488: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:25:37 PM

Could we do a deal with the devil then and look into car trains?

As Silasw mentioned, the issue appears to be that the network is geared up for freight not passengers, and there isn't such a reliable infrastructure once you arrive to avoid having to hire a car when you get there.

So what about driving your own car to the station, onto the train and therefore having use of it at the other end?

Not really, any mass movement towards decreasing the numbers of cars on the road will inevitably result in automobile maker backlash. The problem with dealing with the devil is that you're dealing with the devil.

Furthermore, if there isn't reliable infrastructure then we could just y'know make some more. Independent of the Green New Deal the Democratic Party already has a comprehensive infrastructure plan so it's not like there isn't precedent for just creating more infrastructure. The entire point of the Green New Deal is that it's comprehensive and ambitious, this sounds like an obstacle whose subjugation is exceedingly possible.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 7th 2019 at 10:26:46 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#270489: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:26:21 PM

Actually I think the car train idea is great. The point of railways isn't necessarily to get people out of cars, it's to compete with airports. A car train would be really good at that-it gets you to the location you want to in the relative comfort of your car, and better yet, you get to bring your car with you.

Y'see, the big thing with trains is that they limit human mobility-you have to follow the train's schedule and it only takes you to where the rails go. This is why there's the term "railroading". By contrast, you have a lot more freedom of motion with a car.

If you can get your car loaded up onto a train with you safely inside of it, you can basically switch between train and car depending on what's more convenient for you.

Leviticus 19:34
singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#270490: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:28:50 PM

Europe has a fair few of them, and Amtrak does have its Autorail service between Virginia and Florida.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#270491: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:36:56 PM

Man, this thread moves fast and I don't remember to check it often enough to avoid finding a big backlog just as I'm about to turn in for the night. Anything major over the past 20 pages that hasn't been covered by, say, the WTFJHT feed? I hear Trump is whining about Adam Schiff recruiting former White House employees for the House investigation into Trump.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#270492: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:45:29 PM

Driverless Uber/Lyft also provides a possible solution, as taking an Uber between cities isnt as inexpensive as a train, but arranging to be taken to and from train stations is easy.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#270493: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:54:12 PM

Because anything that makes Trump mad is generally a good thing:

Trump furious after Schiff hires former NSC aides to help oversee his administration

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/politics/adam-schiff-trump-white-house-staffers/index.html

Washington (CNN) — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has hired officials with experience at the National Security Council to help with his panel's oversight of President Donald Trump's administration, according to a committee aide.

The aide declined to say how recently the newly hired officials worked at the council, whether they served under Trump or to identify the individuals. But the move appears to have enraged the President and some members of his senior staff, who view the move as an intrusion. It comes as Democrats prepare to wield new investigative power after winning a House majority in 2018.

Trump fumed on Twitter Thursday about the recently launched investigations led by the Democratic intelligence chair and suggested he was raiding the White House staff.

Edited by sgamer82 on Feb 7th 2019 at 8:54:22 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#270494: Feb 7th 2019 at 7:56:33 PM

https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f

David Bezos (Amazon and the Washington Post) claims that the National Enquirer was attempting to blackmail and extort him as part of a larger campaign on behalf of President Trump as well as the Saudi government.

Some samples:

Back to the story: Several days ago, an AMI leader advised us that Mr. Pecker is “apoplectic” about our investigation. For reasons still to be better understood, the Saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve.

A few days after hearing about Mr. Pecker’s apoplexy, we were approached, verbally at first, with an offer. They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation.

My lawyers argued that AMI has no right to publish photos since any person holds the copyright to their own photos, and since the photos in themselves don’t add anything newsworthy.

AMI’s claim of newsworthiness is that the photos are necessary to show Amazon shareholders that my business judgment is terrible. I founded Amazon in my garage 24 years ago, and drove all the packages to the post office myself. Today, Amazon employs more than 600,000 people, just finished its most profitable year ever, even while investing heavily in new initiatives, and it’s usually somewhere between the #1 and #5 most valuable company in the world. I will let those results speak for themselves.

Here's the blackmail e-mail.

OK, back to their threat to publish intimate photos of me. I guess we (me, my lawyers, and Gavin de Becker) didn’t react to the generalized threat with enough fear, so they sent this:

From: Howard, Dylan [dhoward@amilink.com] (Chief Content Officer, AMI) Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2019 3:33 PM To: Martin Singer (litigation counsel for Mr. de Becker) Subject:. Jeff Bezos & Ms. Lauren Sanchez Photos

CONFIDENTIAL & NOT FOR DISTRIBIUTION

Marty:

I am leaving the office for the night. I will be available on my cell — 917 XXX-XXXX.

However, in the interests of expediating this situation, and with The Washington Post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report, I wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our newsgathering.

In addition to the “below the belt selfie — otherwise colloquially known as a ‘d*ck pick’” — The Enquirer obtained a further nine images. These include:

· Mr. Bezos face selfie at what appears to be a business meeting.

· Ms. Sanchez response — a photograph of her smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene.

· A shirtless Mr. Bezos holding his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring. He’s wearing either tight black cargo pants or shorts — and his semi-erect manhood is penetrating the zipper of said garment.

· A full-length body selfie of Mr. Bezos wearing just a pair of tight black boxer-briefs or trunks, with his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring.

· A selfie of Mr. Bezos fully clothed.

· A full-length scantily-clad body shot with short trunks.

· A naked selfie in a bathroom — while wearing his wedding ring. Mr. Bezos is wearing nothing but a white towel — and the top of his pubic region can be seen.

· Ms. Sanchez wearing a plunging red neckline dress revealing her cleavage and a glimpse of her nether region.

· Ms. Sanchez wearing a two-piece red bikini with gold detail dress revealing her cleavage.

It would give no editor pleasure to send this email. I hope common sense can prevail — and quickly.

Dylan.''

Yeah, that's blackmail.

Notably, the NE is cooperating with the investigation of Trump at this time.

Yeesh.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 7th 2019 at 7:59:46 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#270495: Feb 7th 2019 at 8:02:24 PM

RE: car trains: Already a thing, just in one part of the country. Now, if you wanna talk running such trains in other parts of the nation...

i'm tired, my friend
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#270496: Feb 7th 2019 at 8:05:32 PM

As much as I don't like Bezos, what that damn rag tried to do is wrong.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#270497: Feb 7th 2019 at 8:07:58 PM

Given Trump's history with the Enquirer and the fact it's very likely the Saudi part has to do with a certain reporter's murder, it's nasty as well as obvious.

Its also fairly weak blackmail material given he's already in a divorce over his affairs.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#270498: Feb 7th 2019 at 8:09:41 PM

That's like something out of the Hamilton musical.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#270499: Feb 7th 2019 at 8:16:07 PM

Someone on RPG.net summarized it succinctly.

Was the Enquirer just not paying attention when Gawker fucked with bazillionaire and literal vampire Peter Thiel, and he uses his power and influence to basically bury them? Were they just like in the bathroom when that happened?

Thiel had 2 billion while Bezos has 89.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 7th 2019 at 8:17:04 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#270500: Feb 7th 2019 at 8:20:55 PM

I’m hoping this somehow leads to both Bezos and Trump/The National Enquirer losing.


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