Comment Re:Yeah, I'm an AC - so what. (Score 1) 596
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Created one, but can't sign in cause the sign-in form rarely shows up (flash?). grrr
-T
In the past 5 minutes there have been no additional signatures.
13,801 to go.
Apparently I'm not the only
Created one, but can't sign in cause the sign-in form rarely shows up (flash?). grrr
-T
tm
The rocks are small and look like small bits of concrete, but can be crushed between your fingers. You have to keep them super dry or they start to emit gas just from the atmospheric moisture, which is easily smelled, and would probably show up on the airport screener's volatiles sniffer (I assume the xray machines have these built in these days, tho I have seen some of the wipe-pad ones still around). Otherwise they would blend in with a handful of normal gravel.
-tm
-tm
Except that once you've been arrested they can run your DNA profile against all unsolved cases. Hooray for false positives!
And they dont for fingerprints?? (Which have a much higher false-positive rate)
-Tm
Tm
*Yes, some are state-level, and some (like bottled water and soda) are for government establishments/schools only, and I think the handgun ban got overturned by the NRA as did DC's, and some are just other proposals. Im glad to see our elected officials using their time so effectively to give us the best supernanny city around!
-tm
Well it's like that here in Canada and no big whoop. Them taxing us by the mile is more like putting a leash on every citizen in the country and punishing them for the "luxury" of car travel..
Err, more like the "Luxury" of paved roads and bridges. How do you think they get money to repave them when they wear out, or expand them when they get too congested, or retrofit or replace bridges when they get too old? Seriously, car travel is not free, it requires upkeep of both your vehicle, and the places you take it. Even dirt roads have to be regraded every few years or they get washed out or washboarded so bad you could walk faster on them.
Bunch of crybabies that want everything for free and feel they are entitled to it.. ugh. Hypocrites too, when they complain that "Obama Care" will require them to do this or that, they want to be able to pay for only what they need/use. Now the "pay per mile", basically pay ONLY FOR WHAT YOU NEED/USE comes up for transportation and they want nothing of it. Heh.
-Tm
We're already doing this through Federal and State gas taxes.
That's why I hate this proposal so much... not only is it a new tax, but now you're triple penalizing someone for having a long commute. They're already paying more in gas taxes and tolls because they're driving more, but now you're getting hit again with a mileage tax as well.
No, it is not a penalty for a long commute, it is paying YOUR share for the upkeep of the roads YOU use. Why should my vehicle, which sits at home most of the week while I ride a train to work, pay a flat fee for road upkeep to subsidize other people's commute? I actually already do in the form of Licensing Fees, which in California, for pickup trucks, is based on weight. If its taxed per mile it will be fair for me to pay less since I drive less thus damage the roads less, right?? Same with the gas tax, I drive less, I use less gas, which results in less emissions, thus I buy less gas and pay less in tax there. The new mileage based fees are to get hybrid/EV cars to start paying for their share of road upkeep. These are similar to the arguments being used against "Obama Care", and other "Socialist" programs (ie: I only want to pay my fair share, why should the gvmnt force me into blah blah blah). Funny how it reverses when your car and gasoline are the targets (nooo I want to be subsidized!!). If you dont like paying taxes and gas for such a long commute, MOVE CLOSER TO WORK! Its not my fault you got a job far far away and decide to DRIVE there.
-Tm
Ironically, this whole crisis was caused because they did precisely that—the reactors shut down automatically for safety reasons, and then they had no power with which to keep the pumps running because the diesel generators were underwater. Had pretty much any one those reactors not automatically scrammed, it is likely that things would be in better shape than they are now.
Thank you Captain Hind Sight, BUT Not sure how a runaway critical reaction is a better outcome than the current situation. If the SCRAM units did not kick in, the reactors would remain critical, and the state of the rest of the plant would be unknown. What happens if the quake knocks the control rods out of alignment, or disrupts the turbines that generate the power, or bends/cracks/breaks the coolant lines? With a critical reactor the designed power output is up in the 1.1GW range, anything going wrong that could disrupt the cooling systems gives that power nowhere to go, and 1.1GW (or more, if the reaction does actually run away) is a whole bunch of power to concentrate in one spot. SCRAM units take a maximum of 4 seconds to fully insert the rods to stop the reaction, leaving little time for anything else to break and prevent their use. It was the 100% correct thing to do. Even IF the tsunami didnt wipe out the generators AND POWERLINES (remember, it took them over a week to run a new powerline to the plant) between the plants, and one stayed operational, running pumps with nothing in them to pump does little good (cracked cooling line/evaporated coolant/steam releases), as does powering broken pumps or pumping coolant through broken lines (they still arent sure the pumps or lines are operational in some of the buildings).
What went wrong, besides under-designing the seismic and tsunami resistance of the plant, was placing the generators in a position where a tsunami could wipe them out. Had they been on the roof, or on/in an elevated structure (like the top floor of the reactor building itself??) and as protected as the rest of the facility they probably would have remained operational, and kept the coolant flowing long enough to get mains power back without anything reaching any worrisome state.
Newer fail-safe reactor designs are in evaluation as this is all happening. It takes YEARS to get anything rolling with these plants, you cant just switch them out one day. It is the goal to replace the old ones, it just takes time and lots of $$.
If they were so unconcerned with saving them, why did they wait on the sea water? they could have done that days sooner but didn't because it would render the reactors useless.
Because then you end up with radioactive salts to deal with. Pure water will cool without transporting radiation, since theres nothing in pure water that will take on the extra particles. Salt also accelerates corrosion, and when the water boils away, it leave a nice crust all over everything, possibly clogging pipes/pumps/valves, as well as adding insulation to stuff thats already too hot.
"If I do not want others to quote me, I do not speak." -- Phil Wayne