Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

michaels

I was thinking this earlier - cheering on an extra-judicial killing?! After all the only 'evidence' we have seen has been supplied by the prosecution.

I also thought the US liked to have a 'bogeyman' out there to frighten citizens in to giving up their freedom and justify actions that on face value are aggressive.

It is easy to say those who dismiss Realpolitik are dreamers and that the world is not really a nice point and thus the ends justify the means but surely without having a moral compass as a starting point judgements of good and evil rapidly become arbitrary.

misskool wrote: »

I don't agree with what he did, I don't like what he represents but what I really hate right now is the fact that people are celebrating that someone has been killed

PasturesNew

michaels wrote: »

Bin Laden has a sister?

He probably has lots; he's one of 52 kids (work out the benefits on that lot!).

However, nobody'd know if she had a great butt as she'd be in a burka probably.

DexterA

Really2 wrote: »

Rolling in gear does not use any fuel.

It depends on the specific car. The following is Courtesy of the AA:

Coasting - does it help save fuel?

Coasting - rolling downhill or approaching a junction with the car out of gear - is inadvisable because the driver doesn't have full control of the vehicle, though it used to be quite a common practice to save fuel.

• You lose the ability to suddenly accelerate out of tricky situations.
• You lose engine braking which takes some of the load off the brakes on down hill stretches and helps to avoid brake fade - overheated brakes require harder pedal pressures to stop the vehicle.

These days, coasting is still inadvisable and changes in vehicle fuel systems mean it won't save you fuel either.
Old car with carburettor - take your foot off the accelerator pedal with the car in gear and fuel is still drawn through into the engine. Fuel savings could be made by coasting out of gear.
Modern car with electronic engine management - fuel and ignition systems are effectively combined and controlled by one Electronic Control Unit (ECU). Take your foot off the accelerator and the ECU cuts the fuel supply to the injectors anyway so there's nothing to be gained by coasting.
Modern diesel engines - these also have the ability to shut off the fuel when you take your foot off the accelerator.

On the Way

• Leave promptly – Don't start the engine until you're ready to go. This avoids fuel wastage due to unnecessary idling and ensures that the engine warms up as quickly as possible. (In winter months, scrape ice rather than leave the car idling for a long period to warm up).
• Easy does it – Drive smoothly, accelerate gently and read the road ahead to avoid unnecessary braking.
• Decelerate smoothly – When you have to slow down or to stop, decelerate smoothly by releasing the accelerator in time, leaving the car in gear.
• Rolling – If you can keep the car moving all the time, so much the better. Stopping then starting again uses more fuel than keeping rolling.
• Change up earlier – Change gear as soon as possible without laboring the engine – try changing up at an engine speed of around 2000 rpm in a diesel car or around 2500 rpm in a petrol car. This can make such a difference to fuel consumption that all cars in the future are likely to be fitted with Gear Shift indicators that light a lamp on the dashboard to indicate the most efficient gear change points.
• Cut down on the air-con – Air conditioning increases fuel consumption at low speeds, but at higher speeds the effects are less noticeable. So if it's a hot day it's more economical to open the windows around town and save the air conditioning for high speed driving. Don't leave aircon on all the time – you should run it at least once a week throughout the year though to maintain the system in good condition.
• Turn it off – Any electrical load increases fuel consumption, so turn off your heated rear windscreen, demister blowers and headlights, when you don't need them.
• Stick to the limits – Drive at or within the speed limit – the faster you go the greater the fuel consumption and the greater the pollution too. According to the Department for Transport driving at 70mph uses up to 9% more fuel than at 60mph and up to 15% more than at 50mph. Cruising at 80mph can use up to 25% more fuel than at 70mph.
• Don't be idle – If you do get caught in a queue avoid wasting fuel by turning the engine off if it looks like you could be waiting for more than three minutes.

There's also nuggets such as "lose weight" and "don't get lost".

Brilliant.

LydiaJ

Really2 wrote: »

C) Use a higher gear down the gentle hill so you don't have to use the gas again

Going down a hill and your engine causing breaking to stop would indicate you are in too low a gear which is causing engine breaking.

The difference in your situation would be very small though.

It wasn't really a hill, more a gentle incline, and I was doing less than 10mph, in 2nd gear, when I came round the corner and saw the cars in front of me stopping for the queue. So I should change up to 3rd at that point?? Wouldn't it stall?

PasturesNew

I tend to freewheel at 50-70mph, I'm sure I can maintain the speed for longer and go faster freewheeling in neutral. Having the car in gear, even 5th, would slow it down.

neverdespairgirl

lemonjelly wrote: »

Read Bad Science a year or so ago - really good book! I also liked Why People Believe Wierd things by Ben Schermer.

I'm leaning towards Paradoxymoron by Patrick Hughes. Or Possibly a Jack the Ripper book...

Jack the Ripper - rather you than me!

Do you read fiction too?

tomterm8

michaels wrote: »

I was thinking this earlier - cheering on an extra-judicial killing?! After all the only 'evidence' we have seen has been supplied by the prosecution.

I also thought the US liked to have a 'bogeyman' out there to frighten citizens in to giving up their freedom and justify actions that on face value are aggressive.

It is easy to say those who dismiss Realpolitik are dreamers and that the world is not really a nice point and thus the ends justify the means but surely without having a moral compass as a starting point judgements of good and evil rapidly become arbitrary.

Did he ever deny ordering the death of these 3,000 people?

In any case, the risks America took were extraordinary. Sending military attack helicopters into the airspace of a nuclear power, in a region of the world which is on the edge of a regional conflict between nuclear powers, without permission, without warning them, without even informing them of what they were doing at the time the helicopters were attacking their citizen...

Well, it is beyond belief that any nation state would do this.

A clear act of war, illegal under international laws.

Davesnave

tomterm8 wrote: »

Well, it is beyond belief that any nation state would do this.

A clear act of war, illegal under international laws.

Most Americans won't see a problem. They know Bruce Wlllis would've done it without batting an eyelid......What else is there to know?

Besides, they're the good guys, and he was a Very Bad Man.

tomterm8

Davesnave wrote: »

Most Americans won't see a problem. They know Bruce Wlllis would've done it without batting an eyelid......What else is there to know?

And if Pakistan had decided it was the long awaited Indian invasion? It would have meant tens of millions of people dying.

neverdespairgirl

LydiaJ wrote: »

Lots of my Facebook friends are quoting Martin Luther King on this one:
The ultimate weakness of violence: it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy...I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to (the) night ..Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.

Apparently not a quote from MLK at all:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13265368