Geez, everybody is so sensitive! My wife and I sometimes buy stuff from an Oriental Market (and that's what they call themselves, so don't blow me crap for using the word "oriental") and they've got some good stuff. I enjoy the lychee nuts and edamame. But they've also got some stuff that is not appealing to my Western palate. Showing pics of the stuff isn't mocking them -- it just points out differences between our cultures. And THAT is both interesting and NEAT. Loosen the bone, folks.
Gas Turbine engines are not exactly known for high thermal efficiency, but they can be made fairly efficient (providing they are proper bearing design, minimum compressor bleed losses, and a REALLY good regenerator) within a narrow operating speed. Unfortunately this makes it impossible to handle the peaks and valleys of normal automotive driving. So he tacks the supercaps on to handle that -- they have excellent power density, but poor energy density (meaning you can theoretically cover just the transients with them and let the turbine cover the steady state portion of the drive load).
It's an attractive bit of powerpoint engineering with technology culled from Popular Science tidbits, but his promised end numbers are SO ABSURDLY high, it's evident he's speaking from his rectum. As someone who has actually worked on gas-turbine hybrid vehicles, I think he's gonna find the practical aspects a LOT tougher than he envisions. Good luck (but no investment money) to him from me.
@Dave- OK, perhaps "total scam" is a bit of a stretch on my part. My apologies for inferring that there aren't some kids with real peanut allergies... perhaps it's even more than 1 or 2 per country as I suggested :-)
I just wonder where they were 30 years ago when I was a kid. I never *heard* of anyone allergic to peanuts and almost all kids ate peanut butter sandwiches multiple times a week. I for one HATED peanut better (and still do) and would have loved to offer allergies as a means of defending myself against parents of friends that were forever trying to feed me it! 8-) Now, many schools ban them for fear that half the class will lapse into anaphylactic shock. What gives? And where I live (Western NY), the ADHD is really out of control. When something like 20% of the children in some disctricts are diagnosed to have a "disorder" and need meds, the definition is completely in disorder itself. Kids'activity level run the full continuum from very calm to rather hyper. That's normal -- suddenly everyone wants their kids doped up to mae them easier to manage. Others have observed that the growing list of allergies, disorders, and syndromes, is symptomatic of our attention-craving excuse-making culture.
@Leah- I'm really quite intrigued by your experiences, both under homeschooling and when you went to college. Can you elaborate more on both the method and subject matter in your home schooling and the sort of study you attempted in college? How were the teaching methods inadequate there? If you look at old liberal arts textbooks (that hint to course work of the day) in Google books, were things better suited 100 years ago? My hypothesis is that today's liberal arts education is but a hollow shell of that offered 100 years ago. The Classical Education of the Western Tradition is nearly dead and "liberal arts" fields of study in American Universities are largely fluff. Agree or Disagree? Your point of view is highly relevant.
@ Tom, I don't want to back & forth every line, but one thing is worth responding to. The reason that the price of a college tuition is increasing at twice the pace of inflation is because for every poor kid the school admits for free, a wealthier kid has to pay double -- essentially they are paying their own tuition and that of the one getting the free ride.
And for what it's worth, I knew a lot of Asian kids in engineering school who could afford the big $, because their father was a rich industrialist from either Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, &c. They aren't all there getting free rides form their homeland.
Education (especially a college education) is not a right or an entitlement. You (or your parents) need to be responsible for educating yourself or paying for admission to a place that will do so. Having the bill being footed by YOU ensures that you choose the school wisely AND work hard while you are there AND pick a field of study that will enable you to pay your bills upon exit. Why should the costs for all this be foisted off on other people?
Hey hey hey. I thought we went through this recently! It's Vodou, not voodoo anymore! I am aghast at the ignorance and failure to embrace other cultures being exhibited here.
Yeah, the peanut thing is a total scam. Undoubtedly, there is a person or 2 in every country who really might be allergic, but it's very in vogue now to have sickly kids with all sorts of invented problems, like allergies and ADHD, &c. "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" is the latest that is starting to become common. All we are doing is raising a bunch of future neurotic pansies.
Blah blah blah... The problem that the Western powers get into with running a war is not vanquishing the enemy -- that part is easy. The tough part comes afterward when we hang around to do "nation building" on the ground. As soon as that happens, guerilla groups start getting organized and casualities start piling up.
So why do this in the first place? Frankly, it's because we have a moral regard for the innocent victims in war and we try (despite periods of suffering) to leave the country better for the long run. Unfortunately, these humanitarian goals (even just delivering food in Somalia) are not consistent with efficient warfare, or minimizing costs of the conflict in terms of dollars or the lives of our brave armed forces.
Ultimately, we need to rethink how things are done. If the war is entered in the interests of our nation, it should be exercised in such a manner consistent with the interests of our nation, and everything else needs to be de-ranked. This means eliminating the post-war nation building. Let the Iraqis (or whomever) figure that out. If they do it on their own (like we did after the American Revolution) they will value freedom a lot more. If the "wrong people" get in power there, yet aren't a threat to us, that is unfortunate, but not our problem. If they are a threat though, we just need to take them out again and let them start over.
Qadafi (pick a spelling, any spelling) is not our 1st choice as a leader in Lybia, but he has (apparently) stopped sponsoring terrorism that threatens us, so we leave him be. Saddam was treated this way after the '91 Gulf War; he would have been left alone if he minded himself and abided by his prior surrender agreement. He didn't and brought today's result upon himself and his nation.
I'm pretty down on grafitti (read some of my prior posts on Banksy, et al), but a kid using chalk on a side walk is non-destructive, good creative entertainment, and has been part of being a kids for hundred of years. No harm done (as long as it's "clean" and non-threatening)... these neighbors are being pricks.
I also occasionally follow Shorpy.com, a blog with old photos. The following one from NYC 1911 shows some city sidewalk chalk "graffiti" (near the kid running at lower right). Great photo. http://www.shorpy.com/node/1783?size=_original
(there's a smaller version at here: http://www.shorpy.com/node/1782?size=_original)
Kudos to her. Whether you or the developers or the neighbors or whomever think she is crazy not to sell is frankly irrelevant. That's what property rights are all about. If I have something that you want to buy, you need to offer me something I am willing to agree to. If you (or your minions) force me to take anything less, that is THEFT. She's under no obligation to take offers for the benefit of her heirs, charities, or anyone else. It is HER property.
I'm actually surprised that the developers weren't able to "grease thë skids" with the local paid-for politicians. Nowadays after the Kelo ruling, it's pretty easy for anyone to steal your land by paying you what they want to pay for it and just convincing the local political machine in power that they are offering you "a fair price".
As for offering her "10x what is worth" , that is a crock. The property is worth whatever a rational individual or corporation is willing to pay for it. The developer offered $1M (and not a penny more), because that is *exactly* what it was worth. If it was worth less, they would have offered less. If it was worth more to them, they would have upped the offer rather than build around her. The problem they ran up against, is that it is worth more to HER. And that's all that matters, folks.
Hasn't anyone ever taken Economics? Were you all asleep in class? Geez.
Probably a lot of the reasons stemmed from the suspension of Nobel awards for 5 years during World War II. Immediately thereafter, the prizes went to WWII related global peace initiators -- The International Red Cross & Cordell Hull, the U.S. Sec'y of State who (regretably) pushed for the formation of the U.N.
Once the immediate global peace post-war issues were out of the way, Gandhi (seen as a *regional* peace leader) was at the top of the list again. He was the leading contender when he was murdered by another peace loving Hindu in 1948. It's widely believed he would have won that year had his compatriot not blown him away. Nobody else is to blame for that, so stop looking for conspiracies. They don't give the award posthumously (yet), but the Noble Committee is such a bunch of weak knees, I'm sure they will someday. And then Abraham Lincoln can get one, and John Lennon, and Princess Diana ... sigh.
Coming up soon, folks.
It's an attractive bit of powerpoint engineering with technology culled from Popular Science tidbits, but his promised end numbers are SO ABSURDLY high, it's evident he's speaking from his rectum. As someone who has actually worked on gas-turbine hybrid vehicles, I think he's gonna find the practical aspects a LOT tougher than he envisions. Good luck (but no investment money) to him from me.
Straight talk from Sid.
OK, perhaps "total scam" is a bit of a stretch on my part. My apologies for inferring that there aren't some kids with real peanut allergies... perhaps it's even more than 1 or 2 per country as I suggested :-)
I just wonder where they were 30 years ago when I was a kid. I never *heard* of anyone allergic to peanuts and almost all kids ate peanut butter sandwiches multiple times a week. I for one HATED peanut better (and still do) and would have loved to offer allergies as a means of defending myself against parents of friends that were forever trying to feed me it! 8-)
Now, many schools ban them for fear that half the class will lapse into anaphylactic shock. What gives? And where I live (Western NY), the ADHD is really out of control. When something like 20% of the children in some disctricts are diagnosed to have a "disorder" and need meds, the definition is completely in disorder itself. Kids'activity level run the full continuum from very calm to rather hyper. That's normal -- suddenly everyone wants their kids doped up to mae them easier to manage. Others have observed that the growing list of allergies, disorders, and syndromes, is symptomatic of our attention-craving excuse-making culture.
I'm really quite intrigued by your experiences, both under homeschooling and when you went to college. Can you elaborate more on both the method and subject matter in your home schooling and the sort of study you attempted in college? How were the teaching methods inadequate there? If you look at old liberal arts textbooks (that hint to course work of the day) in Google books, were things better suited 100 years ago? My hypothesis is that today's liberal arts education is but a hollow shell of that offered 100 years ago. The Classical Education of the Western Tradition is nearly dead and "liberal arts" fields of study in American Universities are largely fluff. Agree or Disagree? Your point of view is highly relevant.
I don't want to back & forth every line, but one thing is worth responding to. The reason that the price of a college tuition is increasing at twice the pace of inflation is because for every poor kid the school admits for free, a wealthier kid has to pay double -- essentially they are paying their own tuition and that of the one getting the free ride.
And for what it's worth, I knew a lot of Asian kids in engineering school who could afford the big $, because their father was a rich industrialist from either Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, &c. They aren't all there getting free rides form their homeland.
Education (especially a college education) is not a right or an entitlement. You (or your parents) need to be responsible for educating yourself or paying for admission to a place that will do so. Having the bill being footed by YOU ensures that you choose the school wisely AND work hard while you are there AND pick a field of study that will enable you to pay your bills upon exit. Why should the costs for all this be foisted off on other people?
Voodoo? Hoodoo! You do! Do what?
So why do this in the first place? Frankly, it's because we have a moral regard for the innocent victims in war and we try (despite periods of suffering) to leave the country better for the long run. Unfortunately, these humanitarian goals (even just delivering food in Somalia) are not consistent with efficient warfare, or minimizing costs of the conflict in terms of dollars or the lives of our brave armed forces.
Ultimately, we need to rethink how things are done. If the war is entered in the interests of our nation, it should be exercised in such a manner consistent with the interests of our nation, and everything else needs to be de-ranked. This means eliminating the post-war nation building. Let the Iraqis (or whomever) figure that out. If they do it on their own (like we did after the American Revolution) they will value freedom a lot more. If the "wrong people" get in power there, yet aren't a threat to us, that is unfortunate, but not our problem. If they are a threat though, we just need to take them out again and let them start over.
Qadafi (pick a spelling, any spelling) is not our 1st choice as a leader in Lybia, but he has (apparently) stopped sponsoring terrorism that threatens us, so we leave him be. Saddam was treated this way after the '91 Gulf War; he would have been left alone if he minded himself and abided by his prior surrender agreement. He didn't and brought today's result upon himself and his nation.
I also occasionally follow Shorpy.com, a blog with old photos. The following one from NYC 1911 shows some city sidewalk chalk "graffiti" (near the kid running at lower right). Great photo.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/1783?size=_original
(there's a smaller version at here:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/1782?size=_original)
I'm actually surprised that the developers weren't able to "grease thë skids" with the local paid-for politicians. Nowadays after the Kelo ruling, it's pretty easy for anyone to steal your land by paying you what they want to pay for it and just convincing the local political machine in power that they are offering you "a fair price".
As for offering her "10x what is worth" , that is a crock. The property is worth whatever a rational individual or corporation is willing to pay for it. The developer offered $1M (and not a penny more), because that is *exactly* what it was worth. If it was worth less, they would have offered less. If it was worth more to them, they would have upped the offer rather than build around her. The problem they ran up against, is that it is worth more to HER. And that's all that matters, folks.
Hasn't anyone ever taken Economics? Were you all asleep in class? Geez.
Once the immediate global peace post-war issues were out of the way, Gandhi (seen as a *regional* peace leader) was at the top of the list again. He was the leading contender when he was murdered by another peace loving Hindu in 1948. It's widely believed he would have won that year had his compatriot not blown him away. Nobody else is to blame for that, so stop looking for conspiracies. They don't give the award posthumously (yet), but the Noble Committee is such a bunch of weak knees, I'm sure they will someday. And then Abraham Lincoln can get one, and John Lennon, and Princess Diana ... sigh.