murraysovereign

Maybe you should try appointing them, instead of electing them. That way they don't feel they have to show they've "earned" their position, and they quickly go to sleep. Works like a charm up here. And I think the Public Works Department pipes CO2 into the Red chamber. Not enough to knock them out or kill them: just enough to ensure a nice dozy stupor.

Your senators work? How do you accomplish that? Is it really a good idea? I've always kind of suspected that, if our senators started to work, they could be dangerous.

So, according to that chart, not only does the sea ice coverage increase during the winter months, it also decreases during the summer months. And the data has shown that it has done this every year since they started tracking it. This is truly stunning news. It seems to imply a cycle linked to seasonal changes in the weather - the colder weather and darker days of winter causes the ice coverage to increase, while the warmer, sunnier days of summer seem to have exactly the opposite effect. The mind boggles at the implications. I wonder if anyone has thought to study other factors to see if similar links can be found? Perhaps someone could see if there's an association between seasonal weather patterns and, say, the way deciduous trees seem to grow lots of leaves in the spring every year, only to have them all die and fall to the ground every autumn. I can't be certain because I don't have access to decades worth of satellite photos, but if memory serves that pattern seems to repeat every year, too. And sunburns - I'll bet this could explain why sunburns happen more often in July and August than they do in, say, October and November. Again, we'd need access to the satellite data, but I'm willing to bet we can find a direct link between sunburns and intensity of sunlight. This could revolutionise the way stupid people state the blindingly obvious.

Mountain Hardware's policy is fine - it's Marmot's policy I find questionable. pindude explained the set-up pretty well. Basically, Mountain Hardware diesn't have your money, so they can't return it to you. Marmot has your money, so only they can return it to you, and in this scenario they're getting off scot-free. You get only half your money back, Mountain Hardware refunds their share, and Marmot keeps everything. We have a 30-day policy for "returns" - ie someone buys something, takes it home, looks at it again a few days later and decides they don't want it, or it doesn't fit properly, or the colour doesn't quite match their living room drapes, or whatever. But that limit doesn't apply to warranties. In the case of warranty returns, the only time limit is the term of the warranty. In the case of Mountain Hardware, that's lifetime, so Marmot should take the product back and then return it to Mountain Hardware on your behalf. Marmot then gets a credit for the full amount they paid, or a replacement, and the customer gets a credit for the amount they paid, or a replacement. That credit could be in the form of store credit, or cash if need be. We certainly try to "keep the sale" by issuing credits rather than full refunds, but if that simply won't work for the customer, we give them their money back. I'd rather lose a sale than lose a customer. Personally I wouldn't shop at a store that doesn't provide after-sales service with things like repairs and warranties, and I wouldn't expect my customers to, either. So, as I said at the start, your problem here is with Marmot, not Mountain Hardware.

Yep, it's twenty-oh-eight. If a precedent is needed, think of the Norman Conquest in 1066. How many of you read that date as "one thousand sixty six" instead of "ten sixty six"? And later this century will see the one thousandth anniversary of 1066, which will be in 2066. Again, how many would read that date as "two thousand sixty six" instead of "twenty sixty six"? "edited to add: And Happy New Year, everyone, however you care to pronounce it"

I think it's just a deliberate attempt to confuse the suicide bombers. Benazir handed the reins to her husband, who doesn't want to get blown up. Their son is only 19, so he's not legally allowed to run for office. So make him chairman of the party because it's purely symbolic, and let the father run the party even though he's officially handed control to his son. So, as a suicide bomber, do you blow up the "chairman" who, legally, can't actually do anything, or do you blow up his father who, officially, isn't actually in charge of anything? See? It's not so easy, is it? Besides, in a society still largely directed by tribal loyalties, there's nothing wrong with trying to maintain a family dynasty, or at least the appearance of one. If you want people to vote for the PPP it's going to be helpful to have a Bhutto on the campaign poster, regardless of who the actual party leaders are.

He's got paddle-shifters on the steering column. Not a big deal - my little smart car has them, too. And as for 218 mph - that's for kids. Check out the Bugatti Veyron at 407 km/h, or 253 mph.

Every year TIME has to patiently explain, again - 'cause people forget every year - that the "Man of the Year" designation is mostly to do with newsmaking. It's not meant to be a "Mister Congeniality" award. It's not "Someone We Should All Admire and Emulate". It's someone who was in the news a lot, generated a lot of news, significantly effected the news... stuff like that. In TIME's own words: "a man, woman, or idea that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year." " That's why Hitler made it, and Stalin. Not because TIME thought they were great guys who deserved a bit of a pat on the back, but because they helped TIME sell more magazines. So on that basis, Putin is a valid choice. Ahmedinijad would have been a good choice also (Khomeini got it in '79).

I don't see what the problem is. He's got more than three wraps around his hand, so it should be bomber, right?

A friend of mine made a bundle selling his Bre-X shares a few months before everything fell apart. I never asked him what prompted his decision - scared of heights, maybe? - but he must thank his lucky stars every day that he didn't hang on longer. And the other day I was watching a re-broadcast of a public forum featuring Conrad Black and Spider Robinson and a couple of others. As much as I dislike the man personally, listening to him speak was really enjoyable. Say what you will about his personality and his attitude toward business ethics, the man certainly has a way with words.

I thought that was the administration's policy. So now they're pissed because Iran is copying them?

Wow makes you wonder what you have to do nowadays to receive a 1st-degree conviction.

For the moment they're still selling Gore-Tex and such. If they had been selling some sort of Lexan rainwear, they would have pulled it, but I've never heard of anyone making Lexan clothing. However, the PTFE that most waterproof/breathables (like Gore-Tex) are based on is itself coming under increased scrutiny, particularly because of its bio-accumulative properties. So, yes, Gore-Tex could be next, along with all kinds of other technical fabrics. After that it will be things like flourinated ski waxes, and who-knows-what-all-else.

I didn't know theyb made PTFE waterbottles. I imagine that they'd be expensive and heavy. Are they? They should be quite inert, I should think. I think Don meant HDPE - those are the softer, nearly opaque white bottles that Nalgene makes, and as far as anyone knows so far, they're perfectly safe. PTFE is commonly known as teflon, as used in non-stick frying pans and waterproof-breathable laminates, and, apparently, as a protective coating for certain politicians.

We've also pulled all our lexan products until Health Canada or some such entity can give a clear answer as to the dangers or lack thereof. Fortunately, we've got 200 stainless steel water bottles arriving in about a week's time, so we'll at least have an option for people. They're actually lighter than the equivalent size of Nalgene bottles, albeit a touch more epensive. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with several cases of Nalgene and other lexan products (plates, bowls, mugs, cutlery) if we decide not to put them back on the shelf. I figure the coloured bottles are easy - I can drill holes in the bottoms and wire them up as coloured Christmas lights for the store, or patio lanterns for the deck at home. The other stuff I haven't given much thought to yet.

I was doing fine - hanging in around 46 - when I realized it said "10 GRAINS of rice" for every correct word, not "10 pounds". If you figure out the calories your brain is burning doing this vocabulary test, you're probably consuming more rice than the stupid game is worth. Just take a guess how many words you think you'd be able to identify correctly, multiply by ten, and send that much rice to the local "Save the Children" office.

Yeah, that seems to be the problem. It's like every woman I've ever met has been really keen on setting me up with "someone else". Anyone else. It doesn't matter who else, as long as it's not her. So she introduces someone to me, who then starts trying to set me up with someone else, who in turn tries to set me up with someone else. And so on, and so on... Not one of them has ever been willing even just to go to a movie with me: they've always been more interested in trying to set me up with "someone else"

That's all the mpg Smart Cars get?!?! Shit, my daughter's Toyota Tercel gets 43hwy, and the new Corollas are rated 42! Not sure about those numbers. My diesel gets 65 mpg (US gallon) or better on the highway. I know the US gasoline version of the Smart has about 50% more horsepower, and somewhat lower fuel economy as a result, but I'm surprised that the rating is that much lower.

Yeah, but Ice Ages kill dinosaurs, causing diesel. So those glaciers had it coming.

Roger Penske is importing them, and he has an agreement to distribute them through Chrysler dealerships, so they will handle sales and service. As for the safety aspect, these little cars are very well designed and built. Obviously in a head-on with a semi you'd be toast, but so would your SUV driver. And in a collision with an SUV, I'd rather be in my Smart than in another SUV. The black part of the car that you see in the photo is a tubular steel crash cage, similar to the cockpit of a Formula 1 car. And the passenger restraint system is designed to minimize the shock load to the occupants. It's kinda like being inside the airbag. But the system relies on the other vehicle's crumple zone to absorb and dissipate the force of the collision. So, paradoxically, the thing I fear most is a head-on collision with another Smart, because it would just be crash cage against crash cage and both cars would instantly stop, subjecting the occupants to huge g-forces. Or going straight into a concrete wall at, say, 70 mph. Like this: CJHpUO-S0i8

I've had mine for about a year and a half - even the same colour as the one shown. I love it - fun, economical, and surprisingly good on the highway. Drove from Lake Louise to Penticton this summer for just under $18.00 Chicks seem to dig it, too. They just don't think much of me but I don't think that's the car's fault. Too bad you Yanks have to settle for a gasoline version - mine's a 3-cylinder turbo diesel, but they're not allowed in your country.

What were they supposed to do? Gee, I dunno. Maybe try to find out what the problem was, instead of hitting the guy with 50,000 volts less than a minute after arriving? Maybe try to find someone to translate for him, instead of hitting the guy with 50,000 volts less than a minute after arriving? Maybe offer him a chair to sit down, try to de-stress him a bit, instead of hitting the guy with 50,000 volts less than a minute after arriving? They made no effort at all to try to find out what was bothering him, they just hit him with 50,000 volts less than a minute after arriving. That seems a bit hasty. It's not like he was being aggressive toward the police - he was standing, facing them, with his hands at his sides, when they hit him with 50,000 volts. He was obviously upset and confused and scared, so the first thing the cops try is... 50,000 volts? WTF? I'm sorry, but those cops weren't in any danger, he wasn't threatening them, he was just standing there. They could have taken a bit of time to try to cool him down and figure out his situation - maybe that's what they were supposed to do, huh? Nah, fuck it - that's too much like "old-school" police work. Let's just tase him, instead. But don't worry, the whole incident is being investigated... by the police.

Those weren't border guards - they were RCMP. Ironically, the big argument against arming the border guards was that they were insufficiently trained. But this guy managed to be processed through immigration without a single border guard killing him - intentionally or otherwise. It wasn't until he fell into the hands of the supposedly highly trained Mounties that things went completely off the rails.

Oops. Looks like I was wrong. The US didn't come in 37th, it was actually 41st . And you were actually tied with Belarus, and one place ahead of "someplace in the Balkans" - Serbia and Montenegro, to be exact. So I got those things mixed up and backwards, too. So I guess I was just completely wrong about the whole thing, really. Interestingly, Ireland came in first, with a maternal mortality rate 1/10 that of the US. Canada's mortality rate was less than half that of the US. Any idea why there should be such a huge difference between three first-world countries all with advanced medical systems, similar diets and lifestyles, similar economies, similar just about everything? Sorry the link doesn't go to the actual report. Next time I'm by the library I'll stop in and see if the article provides a title or names the publishing agency(s).

How about something related, but a little less ambiguous, then? There was an item in the Globe and Mail recently summarising an international study that found the US rate of maternal mortality put it in something like 37th place, just behind Belarus, and tied with some place in the Balkans.