His. HIS! Leah - maybe you need to double-check my profile. 
Edit: Shoot - no M/F listed in my profile. In any case, I’m F!
I formally apologize. I was to lazy to even look who started the thing with the truck. I remember a big red fancy truck and could not remember who posted it. So please accept my humble apology.
We have little to no mass-transit in my area. Orlando keeps trying to have a train for the outlying areas but it keeps getting voted down. So everyone who works in Orlando but lives outside of it has to drive. Everyone keeps saying that the train will be cheaper than more roads but no one is listening. They have however been building more apartments in the downtown area so you can live where you work.
Actually, it’s not really feasible on a large scale as a fuel (or fertilizer, which it’s also very useful for). The process of obtaining it disturbs the bats, which either flee the area or die, both of which prevent further “deposits”.
Ooh, good idea. So what kind of costume would the “Wounder of Souls” wear?
Bad Horse doesn’t sing. Neither did any of the other League members that we saw, other Dr. Horrible. All you really need is a heinous crime or a show of force. A murder would be nice, of course. 
I would have no problem with that.
You ever heard of a German rock band called the “Guano Apes”?
Scariest batarangs ever.
As Stephen Wright said: “Anywhere is walking distance, if you’ve got the time.” 
In terms of fuels, I’m not up on the current research, but I know ethanol has been a bit problematic for the US, at least. I know in Brazil Lula is really proud of having made the country energy-efficient (and they did something to most engines so they run on multiple fuels I think), though I’m not sure how sustainable that particular situation is.
Making ethanol from sugarcane (which is what Brazil uses) is fairly straightforward, so it’s much more efficient than using corn, starch from which has to be converted to sugars first before conversion to ethanol. It takes energy to do that, generally more energy than the ethanol itself provides, basically creating a net loss. The various processes between corn and ethanol also equal a higher carbon footprint than the petroleum products that they’re supposed to be replace, thereby negating any environmental benefit. Sugarcane, on the other hand, is ideal for ethanol production – except, of course, that the US produces very little, while we have lots of corn.
Is there a reason that gender isn’t an option on the profile? Not that we’d necessarily have to reveal it (like the way that birthday/age is handled), but would it be possible to include the option?
Not that Solai or Pike will ever see this, since they ignore my multi-quoted posts. 
Not true…they aren’t ignored as much as they are impenetrable. I stick to my guns on this: I am impressed at the time you invest in putting these together, and when I can get through one your responses are consistently insightful and/or hysterical.
well i do like the Libertarian ideals the fact the Bob Barr is the candidate makes the entire thing a joke
just one man’s opinion here i like the party, but the leader they choose is a deal breaker to me.
Paul Krugman has an op-ed in Today’s Times about politics, the environment, and particularly offshore drilling that I thought was quite interesting, which you can read here.
I find the multipost a bit dizzying but not bad to follow.
I still say that we need more than one form of energy to supply the needs of the world. We also need to use less. I still can not get over the fact that China is using less cars because of the Olympics not because the polution is bad for the people that live there.
I was joking, obviously. Didn’t you see my winky?
um.
Hopefully GR won’t catch that one.
they aren’t ignored as much as they are impenetrable. I stick to my guns on this:
What’s with all the penetration and sticking of guns? For shame! There are ladies present.
I am impressed at the time you invest in putting these together,
It really doesn’t take as much time as you’d think. Probably less than it would if I made equivalent posts separately.
and when I can get through one your responses are consistently insightful and/or hysterical.
Thanks. That’s very kind. For the rare occasions that you can get through them. :rolleyes:
Dizzying? You might want to have that checked…
It will be interesting to see if the restrictions in place stay in place after the Olympics… the air quality is still terrible, the restrictions can’t make a difference (from my experience with other cities with air pollution problems) over such a short period of time.
I was watching the “man on the street” type of interview in China. One guy said something like it would be nice if we would have kept the city clean for our families not just the Olympics.
When you make me smile do you have to put in for Paid Time Off?
Definitely. A global solution will require a network of different things, I think.
Wow, that is true and sad. And yet, I wonder how worth it they will find such restrictions to be? They are hard trade-offs to make.
In the city I’m familiar with, there are a lot of people who get really mad when there are restrictions (there are always restrictions, but on days when pollution is projected to be worse than usual, there are additional restrictions) and don’t follow them and then are fined for not following the restrictions. This in a city that has a flawed but serviceable public transportation system (though everyone complains about it constantly). The thing you see on the news all the time is the wood burning stoves in houses (I find it odd, but whatever) and the smoke coming out the chimneys on days when there’s restrictions, and then people are outraged when they get called on it.
They should think of the kids who are having asthma attacks in the part of the city where the smog hangs lowest. But that requires a sense of the common good, and perhaps I’m becoming cynical about humanity, but most people don’t really seem to value it.
China went from bicycles to cars so fast I am not sure how the average citizen feels. They also have rather good mass transit compared to most of the U.S.
When I lived an hour drive outside Chicago my father drove a few minutes to a train station then once in Chicago walked a few blocks to work. I know people who live in New York who have never learned to drive. The problem is so much of our country does not have anything but cars or busses. That kind of infrastructure should have been built long time ago.
We have had years with major forrest fires and lack of water. We also have lawns. So we have water police. The sprinklers for our lawn come from reclaimed water. That is untreated rain water. Even with the little impact we can only water twice a week at specific times of day. We put in a rain sensor that turns our watering system off when it has rained to help even more. Most Floridians have little problem with it in my area. I know some one is watching because our timer for the sprinkler system got nocked off because of a power outage. We did not notice that we were watering on the wrong day. We got a rather nasty note and would be find if it happened again in a specific time period.
The water in our aquifers are much improved but the rules have not changed. I think once people get use to some of these kinds of changes most people do not fight them.