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Guns, Germs, and Steel is a favorite of mine. It basically offers a plausible explanation of everything -- why the world is the way it is, with people of European extraction "on top." Diamond's therories are entirely non-racist, but he still takes some heat for simply making the politically...

I am playing with some shuttle launches from Vandenberg into polar orbit, but this seems beyond the capabilities of the SSU autopilot. Has anyone made this work, or do I need to launch to polar orbit manually?

Admiral, Thank you for your nice note regarding MER2003! I envy your experience of seeing the real thing launched. I am still following MER, though not quite so closely as a year ago. It is amazing that both rovers are still alive. Usonian

First snow reminds me of a young woman from Georgia (USA) who started working at our office in the mountains of western North Carolina some years ago. We got a wet, sticky November snow and she was so excited we went out in the parking lot to build snowmen. She strated pulling snow together...

As an architect, I feel obliged to point out that Tom Cruise (AIA) ultimately won that case, and Jack Nickolson (PE) was dragged off to jail :P Jusitice Triumphs! Having gotten that off my chest, your post is hilarious!

What I want to know is, why does Britain have all the best, most articulate athiests? I'm envious. (Or is that a deadly sin?)

As I have said before, I am not an economist; and as Greg has so helpfully pointed out, I only know what I have been taught (?!?). Last night, 60 Minutes taught me that only about 6% of all mortgages are in default - it is the unregulated markets in derivitives ("side bets") that are the root of...

I think I understand you. I do not want to give offence by not responding to your posts, but your translation software produces English that I can barely understand. If you are writing this yourself, then I apologize - your English is far better than my French. In fact, I really know only one...

Now there is a reasoned argument (sh*thammer-free). The article about the 1873 crash was very interesting and I get the point about the marginal connections between 1929 and the current crisis. (Although, the author doesn't address the plus or minus of corrective government intervention.)...

I was adressing two quite separate points advanced by Spacenut: 1. America should leave markets alone. 2. Poor people taking out loans they couldn't afford is the root cause of the current crisis. I separated those two points graphically --- and I don't believe I mixed them together at...

This was precisely the situation up until 1929, and it was Hoover's first instinct in responding to the Crash. The cycles of economic euphoria and subsequent crashes grew progressively bigger through the 19th and early 20th centuries as the overall economy grew. By 1929 the growing repercussions...

I am willing to admit that some of those real fiscal conservatives were more principled than me. My concern this last week has been for my retirement account. I am much more interested in saving my tiny nest-egg, and slim chances of someday retiring in a measure of comfort, than I am in seeing...

Touche! Political hypocracy is ambidextrous - equally comfortable on Left and Right. (And did you see the video of Obama bowling?:rofl:) I think you may be right about the impossiblity of ever again having an intellectual President. Obama strikes me as clever, literate and cool-headed -...

I was being ironic, as I am sure you recognize. In fact, I am fantastic, with a deep and wonderful humility being my greatest asset. ----- It occurs to me that I never addressed the subject of this thread: Would Palin's reviews have been different (worse) if she was a man. I doubt it...

... after mowing the lawn on a hot day. Anticipating a vacation (the vacation itself my be more than a little pleasure).

That's the real difference between European Christians and conservative American Christians. For some folks here, especially in the South, "Are you saved?" is actually thought to be a polite inquiry upon first meeting someone! Our rich and influential folks love capitalist free enterprise on...

The general impression here is that religion plays a small, almost vanishing, role in European social order and government (you are all a bunch of Godless Communitists,etc). But in fact, you are telling us that religion in Germany is a full participant in the welfare state! Meanwhile, here in...

What "kind of women" is it that you imagine scaring the East Coast Elite? Strong, smart, strident, successful, ruthless women... like Hillary Clinton? Hillary garnered tens of millions of votes, coming close to earning a nomination, and terrifying Fox News. I think the things that irritate...

This is the second time you asked, so I will give you an answer. I haven't yet read the rest of the thread, so I apologize if this turns out to be redundant. When Biden lectured Palin (and all of America) on the constitutional duties of the Vice-President, he cited Article I, which actually...

When I hit the Submit button I figured I was stretching the limits of instant Internet intimacy. I could have made my point with a hypothetical example, but it was your story that generated the thought, and it seemed more honest to address it directly. I certainly assumed that your daughter's...