I live in Trinidad, CO, just north of the New Mexico state line. Several years ago there was a major brush fire up near Colorado Springs, about 124 miles away. The wind was from the north and strong enough that the smoke from that fire came past us and kept going south over Raton Pass into New Mexico. The particulates from the smoke were bad enough that it was impossible to take a deep, full breath without coughing. You don't need to be near a fire to be affected by it, just down wind, and how far away depends on how strong that wind is.

I've seen claims that using seawater on inland fires would salt the Earth and kill the plants. Well, if the plant is on fire then it is already dead, or will be soon if the fire isn't extinguished quickly.

That's not the main way that salt water kills the plants. When you use salt water to put out a fire, part of that water soaks into the ground and makes it more salty than it was. Then, when the fire's out and seeds in the ground start to sprout, they may find that the soil's too salty for them and die and the only way to get ground cover back is to plant a different species that's more salt tolerant, changing the ecology of the burnt area permanently. Most people consider this a Bad Thing, which is why it's not done even in coastal areas where it would be easy. Please note that in California, those tanker aircraft that drop tons of water at a time on a fire fill up from lakes and reservoirs, even where it would be quicker to use the ocean.

Speaking as a layman, I think you're a bit confused by the differences in copyright and trademark and how they apply. Steamboat Willie is now in the Public Domain, meaning that you can show it, or even sell copies of it and Disney can't do anything to stop you. However, the characters are still trademarked by Disney meaning that you can't use them to make new cartoons without Disney's permission. The question here seems to be can you use parts of Steamboat Willie in an advertisement for your law firm, or do you still have to ask Disney's permission to use the characters.

Anyone remember dBase?

Quite well, TYVM. And, I know why its name was so short; do you? Hint: CP/M.

And if the person I asked had answered that he'd helped create wealth for the nation, I would have thanked him for a job well done. Military service isn't the only way to do something for your country, it's just the most obvious one.

Well, there's that too, but I prefer to think of it of deciding for myself which branch to serve in.

No, there are many ways to do things for your country other than military service. I was just showing how I served to avoid a "put up or shut up" situation.

You certainly have a right to your opinion, and I respect your right to follow your beliefs. However, I'd like to ask you what, if anything, you've ever done for your country or have you just held out your hand hoping your government would drop money into it?

And before you try turning the table on me and asking me the same question, let me tell you that I'm a Nam vet (Not, mind you, a "Viet Nam era veteran") who served in Uncle Sam's Navy and can proudly claim to be a member of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht club, having watched 6" shells hitting the water about 30 yards off my ship's fantail.

Any attempts to stop this by legislation will have to be at the Federal level and enforcement will need to go through the FTC, and possibly the FCC. This is clearly an Interstate Commerce issue, and trying to deal with it one state at a time is simply a waste of time and money.

Just do what I do: I tell them I'm deaf and am having trouble understanding them even with my hearing aids. Of course, in my case it's true. I've only had a very few people refuse to speak more clearly and/or a little slower when I tell them that.

No, the character after Z is Yuzz. And there are nineteen more letters after that.

It is analogous to what the NAZI's think. Ping me if you think I am wrong about this.

And I call Godwin! All that happened over 80 years ago and it's still not long enough that it's acceptable to use that as a generalized insult. Next time, try showing a little imagination and come up with something a bit more original and appropriate.

If you go over to BritBox, you not only get rid of all the commercials, you have a wide variety of shows available, many of them adapted from popular book series. As an example, there have been several versions of Father Brown, most of them mediocre at best. Pick the one starring Mark Williams,as it's the best of the lot. You can also enjoy the spinoff, featuring Sister Boniface as a nun who doubles as the forensic scientist for the local constabulary.

I lug my laptop to work 3 days a week, and use 2 of its ports (dock, portable display).

I don't know what type of laptop you use, or how heavy it is, but I have a piece of advice for you that fits no matter what your laptop is like: if your laptop came with a case, don't ever use it. That's because the type of case you get when you buy one looks exactly like what it is, and they're all thief magnets. Get something that looks like a brief case, or even better, a backpack. Nobody's going to consider a backpack worth stealing, even if it's hanging from your hand and if you live or work in an area with lots of thieves, this simple trick can save you lots of time and money replacing things you need to do your job.

There is no difference between gravity and acceleration.

I'm not a physicist, and I don't know if a physicist would agree with you completely. I do know, however, that any effect that you can create with acceleration you can also create with gravity, and vice versa.