Can we not contribute to the confusion between climate and weather, please? I mean, we're mostly technically literate people here and can appreciate the need to stick to agreed-upon definitions of words, right?

Words have meaning.

This probably the most accurate summary of the clusterfuck that I've seen. Bravo!

The Spokane area is all aflutter with some "megaload" controversy about shipping some water treatment equipment to a mine in Canada over some "scenic" roads.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/aug/14/megaload-fight-headed-federal-court/

Driving this stuff over mountain roads is apparently the only method of getting equipment of this size to the location where it's needed. I realize this is bigger than the airship is capable of lifting but I'd bet there are plenty of other situations where this would be a good option.

I saw some forum poster (probably at Fark) summarize it thusly:

The guys that made it out of WWI after the air bursting artillery, watching wave after wave of fellow humans get mowed down by machine guns, soggy trenches, bayoneting a few people, the screams of people dying on the wire in no-man's land, trench foot, disease, gangrene... the guys that made it through all that drew the line and said chemical weapons were too barbaric.

If you gas 400 children and many more other innocent adults, people should be lining up around the block to smack you in the mouth. Other nations should be ashamed of themselves for looking the other way.

Does it suck to get involved? Absolutely. Do we have a clear side we can support? Nope. Will it be messy? Absolutely.

I guess I feel an obligation and a duty to make sure no backwater leader feels weapons of mass destruction are an OK response to a regional conflict.

It's always somebody else's problem until it's not.

But it's better than Obama saying he's going to double the enforcement of marijuana laws, right? Or do you want the laws enforced? I get confused. It's so hard to understand people when they're more interested in tearing the man down than any discussion.

The President just said he's not going to enforce federal pot laws in states that want to legalize it. I think that's kind of a big fucking deal. If you're pro-legalization, this should be a big fucking deal. The President himself just legitimized your position that has been marginalized for DECADES.

Do you know how I know you didn't watch the video?

Little robots lurching and stumbling around at random does not impress me as a future smart-car building block.

It's the EPA's fault that some random people decided to do whatever they wanted without considering the rules and regulations that might be applicable?

What's next, getting outraged that restaurants are being fined for health violations?

The 10 cent deposit in Michigan factored into college party etiquette. If you were going to a party and brought your own beer, it was considered polite to leave your empties with the host. If the hosts were able to wake from their hangover the next day, they'd return the empties and have enough for breakfast.

At least that what a friend tells me.

Oh for God's sake. The NSA has compromised everything. Google is no exception. Google is actually doing more than any other company to fight the gag orders and expose the extent of the monitoring. If you're concerned about privacy , do you stick with any number of companies that are compromised or do you stick with one company that is compromised but shows an extreme dislike of it? And not only that, Google is a company that has clout and resources.

I'm not trying to advocate for Google here, I just don't see too many other companies so publicly pissed off at what they're being forced to do.

I heard someone once say in response to space colonies: Try building a self-sustaining colony in Antarctica. And when you realize how freaking hard that is, remind yourself that at least you can breathe the air and you won't pop if there's a hole in the wall. Antarctica is a bazillion times more hospitable that any space colony would be.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=social+mobility

If you're born poor in the US, your chances of making it to the middle class are lower than those of a poor person in quite a few other industrialized countries. It's shameful is what it is.

Taco Machines?

I'm not sure why you think a link to taco machines is relevant to the discussion.

Is there a problem that guns can't solve?

I think someone needs to step up to let the voters know what they can do if they disagree with this stuff. The ACLU and EFF might be good candidates.

How can we organize our votes to make this shit stop?