An ancient muslim scholar from around the 11th century (forget the guys name) noted that in general the ruling classes (in his case of city states) come from the country where they have their own power base. After seizing power they get settled in the city and turn their backs on the power base and go corrupt and soft and self serving after a few generations and cease to have the attributes that put them there. But there is always another ruling class with an external power base to take over.

Sounds pretty much like our own current situation. All over the world governments no longer represent the will of the people. In some places this results in countries falling apart (Moldova, Georgia, Serbia, Ukraine, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia and possibly the UK and Spain) or becoming increasingly disillusioned by their government and increasingly propagandised by the media (just about everyone else).

Sounds like a bare metal format is needed to me too. And maybe time to welcome robot or alien overlords. Can't be worse than the current mob.

For starters I don't drive a multi-ton death machine unless your multiplier is less than 2.

I would contend that it is not possible to drive for any length of time and still have 100% of your focus on the road. Even if it were, I would further contend that the vast majority of people who are on the roads are not doing so. The relative safety of the roads would appear to contradict your statement.

I also ride motorbikes, and agree that compared with a car you are hyper-aware. Probably because you feel like you are in the environment rather than in a metal box, but even then once you start riding any distance you start thinking about the beer at the end of the journey, or the shopping you need to do, or feeding the cat or whatever.

Welcome to the world of protest. Where people being upset at something enough to take action there will always be people inconvenienced by said action.

It is called free speech. Please feel free to continue and we will do likewise.

Hey, I came here looking for witty comments about how the beta sux. Please stay on topic or I will have to mod you irrelevant.

Dunno where you dug up the straw man from. I never mentioned taxes. Or health care. Or micromanagement of their lives.

I just said they were fat because they want to be, and that impacts other people. I don't want to lord it over them. I just want them to keep their lard arses out of my space, stop blaming society for a problem of their own making and stop expecting other people to feel sorry for them or give them special consideration.

Fog lights: A driver is only permitted to use fog lights if driving in fog, mist or other atmospheric condition that restricts visibility.

If you are lucky they will pull you over and give you a friendly ticking off. If they need to fill their quota they will book you.

A quick google shows that the same applies to Ireland and the same advice is also in the UK highway code.

Or suppose the idea of speed traps is to raise revenue for the relevant municipality.

Personally I can't trust a police officer, full stop. The people I know who are coppers (extended family) are arrogant fucks who think they know better than everyone else. In my personal interactions with the police they have harassed rather than helped me, even when I have been the victim of a crime. And no, I have never been in prison or convicted of any crime.

The police are there to protect the rich, not to uniformly apply clear regulations for the protection of all.

On topic, the reason most of us flash other road users when we see speed traps is that we recognise them as unjust. I would say the majority of people break the law every time they get in the car, because the speed limits are constantly changing and our focus is elsewhere.

In Australia you are only allowed to use fog lights in fog. You could flash your normal headlights though if you are not a motorbike which have them on all the time.

If it is not competitive why are the Saudis (and other gulf states) investing so much money in it? After all, they have cheap oil to burn...

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles...

I think you will find PV would be a hell of a lot more competitive if governments did not subsidise alternatives - nuclear and hydro by indemnifying against disaster, fossil fuels by subsidising infrastructure (and in Australia by exempting them from diesal fuel tax) and not requiring mining companies to rectify sites after they have trashed them.

FFS you can see the damage that shale oil mining is causing in Alberta from space.

Because no one has demonstrated a commercially viable fusion reactor yet? Good enough reason?

I would also be prepared to bet that it is indemnified from compensation if something nasty where to happen. So add in the cost of insurance as well if you want to do a fair comparison.

Wish I had some mod points today.

Being fat is not a condition.It is a lifestyle choice that has impacts on others.Just the same as someone who smokes, doesn't shower, or doesn't clean their teeth.

I have sat next to quite a few fat people in my time on long haul flights.

I wonder how the world would react to a global internet shutdown.

It would cause immense economic and probably industrial damage. I wouldn't be surprised if it were treated as an act of war by many countries.

Hmm. That post kinda lost its meaning when /. stripped out the HTML start and end tags.