That makes sense.

Yeah, it was more a case of trying to attack a weak spot. They knew MS was doing all kinds of anticompetitive stuff, but thought the browser bit was an easy target. In actuality, I think the bundling prosecution poisoned the well for the possibility of prosecuting for the real problems.

Keep in mind that the loans were available to any American automobile company. That at the time the legislation was written Tesla didn't even qualify for the loans should be even more kudos that Tesla was able to qualify themselves for the requirements to receive the loans. It was originally intended as a sort of bail-out to GM, and sort of fortunate that Tesla could submit a request for the same loan program. I have no idea why Fisker didn't qualify (or even if Fisker even tried), but that is a completely separate issue too. Also note that these loans had nothing at all to do with the Obama stimulus packages, something that it has been frequently been lumped into by clueless individuals since the announcement of the loans did take place about the same time other money was being doled out to a whole bunch of other companies under other programs.

I'll agree with you on principle here that the loans should never have been offered to anybody in the first place, but to single out Tesla in this case and claim that these loans are proof that the government is somehow favoring one company over another is simply false. It is a sort of favoring American companies over foreign counterparts, but that is international business negotiations where other countries do the same thing to companies based in their country.

Tesla is breaking the industry in the right way too.... by being competitive and making a better product. I like that. There is nothing which can stop GM, Ford, or any other major automobile company from doing the same thing in terms of trying to actually compete with Tesla, and that is ultimately good for ordinary people who may want to purchase some of these improved vehicles too.

If that is true, why did California lose representation in Congress with the last decennial census?

If it was on the New Jersey governor's website, I might be impressed. Neither Barack Obama nor anybody in his administration except for those who have New Jersey citizenship (aka registered voters in New Jersey) are capable of doing a thing about this issue, and those who are registered voters can only act as ordinary citizens in New Jersey and not in any official federal capacity.

Really, this is a stupid petition that will do nothing other than get somebody in the Obama administration try to explain the 10th Amendment with a straight face. It isn't a federal issue at all.

The one hang-up with these "cars" is that you need a motorcycle endorsement with your driver's license in order to operate one of these vehicles. That isn't really too difficult and can be obtained by simply visiting a local motorcycle dealership when they are offering classes (often several times per year) or finding a motorcycle club of some sort to help out, but it does take some extra effort and money.

I do like Elio Motors as a company, and it is something to check out if you want a cheap commuter vehicle. Elio Motors is also following behind Tesla in terms of using the "gallery" style stores and direct sales to consumers over the web. That could be a good thing for Tesla as well since it shows they aren't the only company trying this business model.

Fine, if they stop traffic for mere mortals like myself on special occasions, I'm fine with it too. Just don't go passing special laws just for these folks.

I had a friend of mine who was a local campaign manager for a presidential candidate (not even the President himself, just a major candidate for one of the two big parties). They met with the Secret Service and got to ignore every single traffic sign and signal even though the candidate wasn't even in the car. There wasn't any real emergency, no need to get to a hospital or anything. They just simply ignored local laws of any kind and showed no consideration for stuff like speed limits and such.

I simply disagree that this is something that should happen at all. It shows complete disregard to others who do have important things to do in their lives too, and the imperial king formerly known as The President does not have any special distinction either.

The governor of my state stops at all traffic lights and obeys the speed limit when driving in his limo. I certainly don't see why The President deserves any more special consideration. The local football teams get better treatment, and that is only because the police want to both protect the players from the public and the public from the football players. Besides, the motorcade for the football teams is made up of not just players but also the parents and a couple miles worth of traffic from fans following the procession.

Based on what you're saying, it seems very possible to me that there are ranges at which the transponder signal can be receive but the skin paint has not.

Signals in both directions will attenuate according to the normal square-of-distance law. Suppose that the aircraft is at a distance from the radar such that the signal is attenuated to just below the detection threshold. That is the radar can not get a skin paint -- but barely. However, the strength of the radar signal that strikes the aircraft at that range is 4X (in an ideal world; in reality its probably even higher) the strength of the signal that arrives back at the radar receiver. This is because doubling the distance (which assumes perfect reflection; in reality it's not quite that good) will quarter the power.

Therefore, the transponder can very likely detect the incoming radar signal -- and respond to it -- at ranges beyond which the radar can get a skin paint, since it receives 4X as much power.

The question, then, is whether the transponder replies with greater energy than the reflection at those long ranges. If so, then there is a zone in which the transponder signal can be detected but the skin paint cannot. Turning off the transponder in that zone would make the plane instantly and completely disappear from radar.

Aluminun is actually used in the vaccines specifically because it illicits a response from the immune system. This is done so that the vaccine can contain less virii (whatever the plural of virus cells is). The idea is to get the immune system into gear so it'll bother fighting the relatively tiny amount of virus that is injected and create antibodies so you have long term immunity.

So Aluminum is harmful and too much of it can be bad for you. Vaccines are usually tested by themselves, which makes sense because they are looking for problems with that specific vaccine. However that is not how vaccines are ordinarily given in practice. Doctors and hospitals usually bundle the vaccines in an atempt to make sure that kids get all of them because they can't be sure when a kid will show up next if at all. I don't believe that even with 3 or 4 vaccines at once you are likely to cause real harm to a kid but by doing so many vaccinations at once the amount of aluminum being injected is far higher than it needs to be for the desired affect and if for whatever reason a child is more sensitive to the aluminum they are more likely to suffer ill affects from having such a large dose all at once.

So I'm very glad that we were able to find a pediatrician who is willing to see my kids more frequently and split the vaccines up between visits. This way our children are still vaccinated in time for school and day care but we've spread whatever risk there might be. As a side benefit my youngest seems to almost expect a shot each doctors visit and doesn't even tear up anymore when he gets one. The only vaccine we've waived is Chicken Pox, because, seriously it's the fucking chicken pox. The vaccine is hardly worthy of the name, it produces a very weak immunity, is manadatory so that insurance companies have to cover it, and requires contant boosters to have any affect at all. Meaning we are nearing the point that a whole generation will mature to adulthood without a real immunity to chickenpox, won't that be fun.

So far as aluminum in food goes I'm not sure how well it is absorbed by the digestive track. So it may be that you could consume aluminum without risk. Injecting it into the blood stream though is a completely different matter.

There is a group that has been working to improve impoverished high crime areas through urban farming in Kansas City. http://theurbanfarmingguys.com...

So the transponder doesn't use aircraft power to increase the strength of the response?

That is something I think is just plain wrong. In spite of being "The President", POTUS should still be bound to local laws of safety and order, like ordinary traffic laws. Yes, I understand the "national security implications" of having the presidential motorcade sitting at a stop light at a random intersection where I suppose a would-be assassin would take a random pot shot at the guy, but that speaks more to how that motorcade shouldn't be so obvious when it is passing through either.

This imperial bullshit really should end. The President isn't a king, and certainly shouldn't be treated like one.

Wireless transmission of electricity works just fine. That is how radios work if you weren't aware of that feature, and how crystal radio sets get their power. Some rather innovative people living near high voltage power lines (the big stuff that carries electrical power from one major metro area to another) have even set up coils and "receivers" to tap into that power.... much to the bane of power companies who hunt those guys down and try to shut them down too (as they do draw power from the towers).

The largest problem with wireless power distribution on a large scale is that it plays havoc with communications frequencies. You also get no free lunch with the idea as power still is required in order to transmit the electricity in the first place, often with a substantial loss in power. On the whole, physical distribution lines are much more effective and efficient, which is why I guess Tesla "failed".

Did you look at the link? The last update was in January, and described the current status as depending only on one other piece to be ready for launch.

I can see you've never used it.