lol-ing at your comment, and your .sig :D

MOOOOOOM!!! The curiosity team won't share their awesome rover with me!!!!

Does he endorse the workers owning the means of production? If not, then he is not a communist. End of discussion.

Whatever Sunni state emerges there, I think that the descendents of that state don't want to have their entire ideological history tainted by ISIS and ISIS's barbarity. It will be a difficult legacy to live-down, and it will be hard for such a state to grow into a modern nation and world-citizen.

The Iraqi government lost control over those arms, because they were never a legitimate government in the first place. The US propped up the best puppet they could find (Maliki); and in fact, they originally tried to install Chalabi - who was so obviously corrupt that it failed; but they could at least get enough support for Maliki to get him elected - but the fact is, the entire government, and army apparatus that was erected to support it, was simply a way to channel bribes to the most-connected people.

When you have a government and administration that's composed of incompetent, but well-connected people, it falls over as soon as it is tested. They were only interested in their cushy positions, and covering their own asses. They didn't give a flying fuck about "Iraq".

A power vacuum can only be filled by anything, when there is power left sitting around. In the case of these "latent extremists" - the question is: who armed and empowered them in the first place? It's not a case of latent extremists filling a power vacuum. It is a proxy-war, and war-profiteering.

soil and bedrock composition is probably different in California, but their Diablo Canyon plant is safe from Tsunamis, set up on a 30 meter bluff. It also has a gravity-fed emergency cooling pond, and is internally reinforced against earthquakes. The bean counters didn't win that one.

Russia has already threatened Ukraine with nuclear force. No, I don't think the US will step in.

Jesus: Russia signed a treaty to not invade Ukraine, in exchange for Ukraine's nuclear disarmament. Ukraine disarmed. First nation to do so in the history of nuclear weapons. Then Russia invaded. You want to trust them with another treaty? Suckers!

. . . the invisible hand has a thumb up his butt.

wild boars eat mushrooms.

Okay, but for example:
I am pretty overweight, but I'm in pretty good physical condition. I currently weigh 180 lbs. On this planet, I would weigh 315 lbs. That's like carrying 135 lbs of extra weight. If I'm backpacking, I carry anywhere from 25-35 lbs total, and I can "go" all day like that. I get pretty wiped out, but it's something I can adjust to, over time. I've hiked at 70 lbs, carrying equipment for other "less capable" people. That's really about my limit. This seriously cuts my hike range from about 15 miles in a day (max, really humping hard) to about 5-7. After a day like that, I'm fucking beat. And that is where I can take this pack off, and set up camp, cook, eat, sleep. I could pack 135 lbs, but I wouldn't get far, and I'd probably hurt myself trying.

When I train, I train with a pack that starts at about 10 lbs, and I ramp up over a few weeks to 40 lbs. And that is gradual enough, to avoid injuries, while building-up strength. And this increases my capacity and performance, but this takes weeks. (and as I get older, it gets much harder).

I see absolutely no way in hell I'm going to deal with an extra 135 lbs of weight, 24-hours a day. I'm not going to "build-skeletal tissue" or strengthen my body's structure. What will happen, physiologically, is I'll "survive" (minimally) maybe a day. My joints will get beat all to hell. I will be too sore to move for another few days of immobility. If I stayed on the surface, it's pretty likely I'd not recover.

I think that a "1.25 g" planet might be survivable for short periods. And this level MIGHT be enough for "physical toughness" to develop (over time), given a proper training/rest regimen, proper nutrition, and medical assistance with things like testosterone, HGH, and whatever other "black-magic" stuff that the pro athletes are taking.

I'd also tip my hat to probably the top-10% of the genetic bell-curve; those individuals who have rare, natural gifts of athletic ability, and while they are in their prime years of life, to MAYBE be able to adjust long-term to 1.5 g.

Indeed, impressive!

right after they figure out that those sponsored tiles are all listed in my /etc/hosts as 0.0.0.0. . . .

No - this is exactly what happened with Television.

We had 3 broadcast channels which were ad-supported.

then we had the option to purchase around 20 channels.

Then, all of those channels which we PAID for with cable, became ad-infes.... ad-supported. And you had to pay EXTRA for more ad-free channels.
Then many of those extra channels also became ad-infested.

Then we got the internet, and the option to pay for ad-free TV. Then motherfucking HULU comes along, and rams ads down your throat for content you paid for.

They don't "get" it: people want a way to escape the fucking ads.