when it’s actually cheaper (not to mention better for the kid) for the government to pay the mother to stay at home and raise their children.
As a person who has chosen NOT to have children, I find this sort of pro-procreatory thinking a bit disturbing. People with children already shift enough of their burdens on those of us who don't. From maternity leave from work to taking extra time off, to extra credits at tax time, people with children, especially young children get benefits and consideration people like myself can't begin to take advantage of. They use the kids as an excuse to foist work and office responsibilities onto the rest of us. (Oh, Jan has to go home early today because her baby is sick again, will you make sure that presentation she's been working on is ready for tomorrow's meeting? Thanks.)
If mothers (or fathers) are going to get paid to stay home and look after their OWN kids, I don't want to have to pay for that. Not even a little bit.
I hate to be negative, this is a really great achievement..But;
This is NOT a zero emissions aircraft. There are plenty of emissions associated with it's manufacture and assembly, with it's transportation to the flight line, with it's maintenance and upkeep. There are emissions (or perhaps radioactive wastes) associated with the generation of the electricity used to create the hydrogen used in it's fuel cell. Hydrogen by the way, when split from water by electricity is NOT the energy source powering the plane. the Hydrogen is like a storage battery and it's the electricity which actually powers the plane. Those compressed air cars are the same sort of thing, except here the compressed air is the storage medium and whatever powers the air pump at the station is the actual power source.
Like the solar powered car that drove up to the Arctic circle with diesel powered support van in tow, like the custom built biodiesel powered round the world yacht partly fueled by it's creators own body fats, this plane is an interesting experiment, but is a hell of a long way from being "Zero Emissions".
Ps: I think that human powered plane a few years back came as close to zero as one can get. The gossamer condor I think it was called.
I too absolutely dislike this movie. Dick Van Dyke is at best an overblown "Ham", his attempt at an English accent a horrible, laughable failure. Most of the other characters are over acted, the entire thing coming off as a live action cartoon, a cartoon which thinks very highly of itself in spite of how bad it actually is.
I don't like either of the two kids, I remember thinking them "creepy" when I saw the Gnome Mobile as a kid.
HowEVER...... I DO very much like one song from Mary Poppins. A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine go down.... My Mother used to sing that whenever we had colds and needed medicine. It became a little ritual within the family and yes, if our throats weren't too terribly sore, we'd get the spoonful of sugar as well.
I was made happy today Twice. Once by the accomplishment I am about to relate, and a second time right here and now, as I have been given a forum in which to relate it.
Where to begin... I live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. About three years ago, I acquired an old 40 foot long wooden commercial fishing boat. It once belonged to my grandfather, who built it in the 1940's and used it to earn a living for himself, my grandmother, my father and his brothers. The boat was sold in 1967 to another fisherman. I found it, quite neglected and forlorn. Of course I bought it, had it towed to our home harbor and began to fix it up. The engine was missing. Someone had sold it. I found a duplicate replacement. I wasn't running... I rebuilt it this past winter. We installed it yesterday. We put fuel in the tanks today. I started it up this morning. We left the harbor this afternoon. The sun was out. The engine muttered along. It was perfect.
As we were coming back into our home harbor, I suddenly realized that I had save my grandfather's boat. It's going to be alright. It's back in the family where it belongs. I became so profoundly happy, I wept.
Could you imagine if one of these girls began following you around the city? Every time you looked around, you'd see her walking towards you, that little smile on her face... You'd walk and walk... and she'd follow... You'd hop on a bus thinking you's be safe, but no, she'd be there, at the far end... waiting for you to get off again... that little smile, those perfectly laundered clothes, the hair... the little bow... unchanged... still smiling....
Stalking... creeping.... following you, but always at the exact same distance...
gtron: I would tend to disagree with you, but only on a minor point. The beavers (and other misplaced wildlife) are always natural in my book. They always do as they always have done, and they are darn good at it too.
It's the human intervention that was "UNnatural" and rather poorly thought out, as is usually the case.
Don't blame the poor beavers. They are just trying to make a living.
I don't think the child is automagically to become a Canadian citizen. Truthfully, I can't say for sure, but I do distinctly remember reading something a while back about a similar case involving a child being born in Canadian waters on a boat, and that child gained the nationality of the mother, who happened to be an American.
I believe the child will be a Ugandan, like her Mother.
As a person who has chosen NOT to have children, I find this sort of pro-procreatory thinking a bit disturbing. People with children already shift enough of their burdens on those of us who don't. From maternity leave from work to taking extra time off, to extra credits at tax time, people with children, especially young children get benefits and consideration people like myself can't begin to take advantage of. They use the kids as an excuse to foist work and office responsibilities onto the rest of us. (Oh, Jan has to go home early today because her baby is sick again, will you make sure that presentation she's been working on is ready for tomorrow's meeting? Thanks.)
If mothers (or fathers) are going to get paid to stay home and look after their OWN kids, I don't want to have to pay for that. Not even a little bit.
This is NOT a zero emissions aircraft. There are plenty of emissions associated with it's manufacture and assembly, with it's transportation to the flight line, with it's maintenance and upkeep. There are emissions (or perhaps radioactive wastes) associated with the generation of the electricity used to create the hydrogen used in it's fuel cell. Hydrogen by the way, when split from water by electricity is NOT the energy source powering the plane. the Hydrogen is like a storage battery and it's the electricity which actually powers the plane. Those compressed air cars are the same sort of thing, except here the compressed air is the storage medium and whatever powers the air pump at the station is the actual power source.
Like the solar powered car that drove up to the Arctic circle with diesel powered support van in tow, like the custom built biodiesel powered round the world yacht partly fueled by it's creators own body fats, this plane is an interesting experiment, but is a hell of a long way from being "Zero Emissions".
Ps: I think that human powered plane a few years back came as close to zero as one can get. The gossamer condor I think it was called.
I don't like either of the two kids, I remember thinking them "creepy" when I saw the Gnome Mobile as a kid.
HowEVER...... I DO very much like one song from Mary Poppins. A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine go down.... My Mother used to sing that whenever we had colds and needed medicine. It became a little ritual within the family and yes, if our throats weren't too terribly sore, we'd get the spoonful of sugar as well.
Where to begin... I live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. About three years ago, I acquired an old 40 foot long wooden commercial fishing boat. It once belonged to my grandfather, who built it in the 1940's and used it to earn a living for himself, my grandmother, my father and his brothers. The boat was sold in 1967 to another fisherman. I found it, quite neglected and forlorn. Of course I bought it, had it towed to our home harbor and began to fix it up. The engine was missing. Someone had sold it. I found a duplicate replacement. I wasn't running... I rebuilt it this past winter. We installed it yesterday. We put fuel in the tanks today. I started it up this morning. We left the harbor this afternoon. The sun was out. The engine muttered along. It was perfect.
As we were coming back into our home harbor, I suddenly realized that I had save my grandfather's boat. It's going to be alright. It's back in the family where it belongs. I became so profoundly happy, I wept.
Cheers;
Bruno.
Could you imagine if one of these girls began following you around the city? Every time you looked around, you'd see her walking towards you, that little smile on her face... You'd walk and walk... and she'd follow... You'd hop on a bus thinking you's be safe, but no, she'd be there, at the far end... waiting for you to get off again... that little smile, those perfectly laundered clothes, the hair... the little bow... unchanged... still smiling....
Stalking... creeping.... following you, but always at the exact same distance...
Ok, I'm going to quit now, I have the willies!
I don't think they are cute at all.
It's the human intervention that was "UNnatural" and rather poorly thought out, as is usually the case.
Don't blame the poor beavers. They are just trying to make a living.
:)
I believe the child will be a Ugandan, like her Mother.
"Global Warming"
"Think Global Act Local"
and finally, the most hated suffix I can think of; "Neo-(Anything)"