Again, our proposal isn’t that we should cover all of this land in solar panels, or that it could easily power the world on its own. We don’t account for the fact that we’d need energy storage and other options to make sure that power is available where and when it’s needed (not just when the sun is shining).
This is a thought experiment more than a plan.
I don't think this was "blistering." At the time watching it as a kid I thought it is weird that nobody ever talked about the Cardassians or the war before. But things get introduced like that in Star Trek. And it is a big universe. I don't think this is the worst or the most pivotal of retconning because it fit into the story and quickly got expanded on.
Chekov hadn't met Khan. WW3 didn't happen in the 90s. Mark Leonard was both a Romulan AND Soock's daddy. Picard meets versions of his parents during TNG that are nothing like the ones in PIC. Virtually all main TNG main characters lost at least one parent early in their life (or their sight). There is no way in hell that Riker can just stay #1 after Wolf 359 and not get his own ship. There wasn't a queen but baby borgs! Scotty knew Kirk was dead already. And there are plenty of cases when beaming through shields is possible.
That's just a few examples that grind my gears more than the introduction of the Cardassians. But I love Trek and am willing to forgive a lot.
Trek is a statue that many sculptors work on at different times. Inconsistencies must happen as a result. It's not like The Expanse where the story has been written down before in great detail before they started filming. They took liberties from the original but would've succeeded at sculpting their piece of marble as planned if it hadn't been for the assholery of a certain Mr. Anvar.
To be fair to the lad, he didn't peddle his wares. He just says if there isn't a European strategy to develop their own models it is very likely that Europe would run on Chinese made ones that are more open source, whereas American ones become increasingly closed source and expensive to license. Now, that's his prediction and I don't really believe him. But this article at least doesn't make it seem he wrapped his doom and gloom prediction in a Gemini sales pitch.
First of all, they did not pick any language at founding. They refused to settle on one. And I don't think they ever changed that (although I wouldn't put it past the current administration to do something like that because 47 has the best words as we all know). English is de facto the language of the US like Bern is de facto the capital of Switzerland but it isn't set in stone.
German was briefly seriously discussed. That would have been funny.
I think the influence of the British Empire has done more to make English the lingua franca. But I think it is conceivable that we would be conducting a lot more diplomacy in French or Spanish if they had won out. But there are still huge chunks of Africa and Oceania that speak English. And Hockeyland. And big business hubs like Singapore or Hong Kong - the language of trade would still be English.
Why would Americans elect a serial bankruptcy business man, narcissst, and convicted sexual assault felon to appoint this loon?
Because there are no simple answers.
47 wants to disrupt and cause chaos in everything. The department of health is just another area for chaos, hence the appointment of this guy. I think it's fairly safe that most Americans - and that includes many nominal supporters of the current GOP cultish clowncar - do not take their health advise from worm brain. It's just unfortunate that he's in a position of power where he will cause harm that will prevail long after he's retired, or dead.
This is the Telegraph talking about Labour government plans. Of course they would present it like that.
I personally think the better way is to make people realize themselves that not driving is the better option. Linking omnipresent cameras with driver databases to implement a vague system of fines administered by the councils does not instill me with enough confidence either. I see contested fines clogging up courtrooms (or whatever legal recourse there must be) for years.
Raise parking fees, reduce parking spaces - at a relatively slow rate to keep predictable outrage local and small enough. Implement a system where every car purchase needs to be accompanied by a proof of parking like in Japan (owned driveway or rented spot). Invest in public transport and infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists. Tax breaks for infrastructure that's missing (a supermarket, a clinic, a theater, etc.). That would make more sense to me than the threat of punishment through this somewhat Orwellian system.
East Germany was an authoritarian state without rule of law. This can be true at the time as the fact that in most cities they created neighborhoods that come close to this 15-min ideal. Childcare, multi disiplinary medical "poly clinics," and decent public transport. Sure, long lines at the grocery store and an 18 year waiting list to buy a shit car. But it strikes me as extremely dumb to ignore useful lessons from that out of cold war principle.
A person on YouTube made a video? Oh no ....
I think this is worthwhile posting again as a "TIL that leaf blowers are a good way to defend against tear gas" when this post gets removed for falling fowl of rule 1.
Define "Christian." If it's anybody who claims to be, probably quite high. If it's more value-driven (love thy neighbour and all that), this correlation falls off a cliff. Pedophile is probably within the statistical rounding error margin of the entire population.
The correlation of being ICE and loss of human decency is nearing two perfectly overlapping Venn diagram circles.
The benefit it affords us is being able to easily write our name into snow. That can be pleasurable under certain conditions, mostly alcohol-infused ones. Beyond that the only pleasure I could possibly see is the relief to have made it to a toilet and not having pissed your pants when you were dying for a one. The length of the urethra is not relevant in that case. I've personally never pissed and thought the experience was physically pleasing - beyond what I've already mentioned.
The trick with a space elevator is that the cable needs to be very thin. The material needs to be strong. That's just two reasons why we're still far from putting that to any real use.
I don't think having a small line through our atmosphere will slowly poison us. The extra radiation that would make it through is probably a rounding error. The material would have to be such that it doesn't attract radiation. And even if we discovered that this could be a problem, if we have become smart enough to build this space elevator, we'll probably be smart enough to figure out a way to filter it out.
You'd be surprised how many people don't take the time to read a long article like that but will have a quick glance at the comments.