AngusThermopyle

You have a point as far as mass generation of energy is concerned, however as I said earlier it is very feasible on a personal scale. As also mentioned if enough people choose to do it then it can actually make a difference, not only to your bank account but also the environment. The most frequent objections I hear always relate to cost, it doesn't have to cost a fortune though. All it takes is a willingness to do a bit of scrounging and some fab work. For myself I'd love to include Geothermal in my plans but that is where a large financial commitment would be involved, so I'll stick with a combination of wind and solar instead. When you combine both they are most certainly capable of supplying a home. Many people just cant fabricate though, a skill set that I've always found to be very valuable, but then I've always enjoyed using tools and building or repairing things. When it comes to home power generation I believe the skills required are really not beyond the average person. Certainly not as extensive as those required to build a sailboat for instance, which used to be one of my hobbies.

Yes, please do tell more about this Thermal system. Although getting off the grid would be the short term goal, if enough people were to do it then I would think it would help with the overall energy supply/demand problem. One would also think that some very promissing buisness opportunities would present themselves if one could develope a cost effective system to get others off the grid as well. Given the way people are I expect someone will pop up on the forum and tell me what a bad heathen un-Canadian Canadian I am for finding ways to avoid paying taxes on energy. I'm already beating the taxes on produce as it is, how un-Canadian of me.

Actually Bill, for the most part thats pretty much what I'm talking about. With the exception of the compressed air idea. As you said the batteries can be an expense, but as you also said, these can be obtained for no cost. I first started to think about this when I was still out in Alberta and saw a few homes equipped this way. So I started to do a little research and realized it wasn't the scary technological boogeyman many beleive it is. In keeping with the times I can also drastically reduce my household "Carbon Footprint" while I save money. In the same way having the ability to grow fresh produce on a limited basis year round grants similar benefits. The projects dovetail quite nicely actually as my HID lights will no longer draw from the grid either. Of course the HID's I use are only neccesary during the winter. Another benefit is that its huge fun and very satisfying to do this stuff.

Excellent first post Bill. Currently I'm starting my project to get our house off the grid. It actually can be done rather inexpensively if you do some research and build your own panels and turbine. This actually isn't all that difficult and for the most part can be done with relative ease, the problems I believe lie in the fact that many people don't believe they can do it. That it requires some massive amount of technical knowledge, it doesn't. My goal is to become as self sufficient as possible within practical means. So far we've managed to reduce our reliance on commercially produced fresh produce significantly, we can grow year round now. Next is to kick the blood sucking energy providers in the gonads and become energy independant. I have planned this to take far less time than the produce project took me.

I haven't kept up on this subject at all for years now. If my memory serves me well when it was first being discussed there was talk of digital conversion devices being required for analog sets, in other words all older CRT sets. Honestly I can't say if that will still be necessary however I think it would. At the time it was speculated that these conversion units would cost on the order of $400.00 or so. However given the nature of electronics and the trend of greater technology at lower prices I imagine the cost of these devices would be much lower now. By the way, why is this in Federal Politics rather than Technology?

Actually MM I haven't posted in ages but when I logged on it also appeared that I had voted. After deleting my vote I noticed that the tallies had not changed, so I then voted and noticed a change. I think it must just be some minor bug.

That is just too cool. I used to read the FFFB comic books when I was a kid, those with the old Heavy Metal were two of my favourites. Of course HM turned into a washed out rag eventually, the writing just didn't live up to earlier standards.

I find this statement to be presumptious and arrogant at the highest order. As for travel in those parts of the world, the last time I was in Egypt was back in 90, I would never go back again. A few high lights of the trip were a tour bus full of Germans being bombed with multiple fatalities and traders trying to trade a fishing boat and a Camel for one of our blond female crew members. draw your own conclusions.

Absolutely not, the government already interferes far too much in the lives of its citizens. As for enforced fitness programs, well you may wish to live in the Canadian version of Red China but I certainly do not. If anyone presumed to interfere in my personal life in such a manner my answer would be short and sweet and very much to the point. World perception? who really gives a flying f*%k what the world thinks of Canadians waist lines, there are far far more pressing concerns than such a narcisistic triviality.

You do that too! How excellent is that man! I also like to chastise cheeky Squirrels when they need it.

Okay, so what amazing things can you learn exactly? That a bunch of people from different places are present? That some of them dress differently from some others? That may amaze you but it certainly doesn't do it for me, takes a bit more than that to amaze me. So what has walking down the street taught you about "almost every global culture". Your statement sounds like just so much more unfounded isn't multiculturalism just so wonderfull crap. Thats just my opinion though.

You are absolutely correct sir. Keep in mind that I was only returning them a few times a year though, still, as I said, construction guys can go through a lot of beer. As for the whole Beer store thing, well I really do not like it. Alberta's method is far better, privately owned stores and centralized return centers that accept all kinds of containers and give you money back for them. Lets not forget off sales either, a great thing indeed. I got pretty good at packing the truck, I could usually pack the back with about $400.00 + worth of empties. Now I'm back in Ontario I return my empties every few weeks.

It all depends on your situation I suppose. Being in the construction industry and single I had the guys over at my place quite a bit of the time, four or five construction guys can go through a lot of beer, no one ever takes their empties home so you end up with quite a collection. My last major return paid for my plane ticket to Ontario from Alberta and also left enough over to buy my extreme N router and desktop card. So it isn't always about a few dimes. For me it was worth an hour and a half or so of effort to walk out with over five hundred dollars in cash. Actually I like it, even in less extreme circumstances, return your empties and leave with a two four, not a bad deal really.

Sorry, he is quite profane isn't he.

So I guess Shawn himself misquoted himself in this video, specifically at the 8:10 second point where he says he's ready to fight when talking about a "Millitary Convoy". The truly funny part of all this is that the "Millitary Convoy" was actually a student drivers course. I guess he missed all the big student driver signs on the vehicles, or he simply couldn't read them. Shawns Own Words

Pretty poor example when you consider that Brant is nothing but a common criminal using Native issues as a convenient excuse. In fact Brant himself has admitted to criminal activity and also advocated violence as a solution. As I said, a pretty poor example. Shawn Brant It would appear that Brants opinion of himself doesn't match your perception of him. Or is he just lying?

How very kind of them to do their job. By the way, how can returning empty beer bottles be considered a moral or ethical issue?

How true and theres just that pesky little non issue of spent fuel rods to deal with when you go Nuke. Back to electric cars, here's a nice one. Tesla Roadster

Yep, the Piaggio certainly does look like a particularly craptacular POS indeed. Piaggio POS

Actually I agree Bill, we just don't seem to be doing much of anything noteworthy anymore. Anything we do engage in is actually pretty small potatoes compared to other nations. Sure we have a few research projects on the go at some of our universities, but once again, pretty small potatoes compared to others out there. We did have some people who developed Bio Steel, sometimes known as Spider Steel, but they couldn't get any funding from our government so they took it to the States. The US of course was more than happy to fund these guys as this new form of steel is expected to revolutionize just about everything that utilizes steel. Actually quite a number of things that currently don't use steel are also expected to utilize this product. So we had another chance to become world leaders in an important area and as usual we just blew it away. It looks as though the problem is actually short sighted brain dead politicians, not a lack of talent or will.

Actually the reason we sold the Bonnie is rather a mystery. The key question being why did they scrap her right after she'd finished her mid life refit? What we do know for sure is that she was decommissioned in 1970 and scrapped in Tiawan in 1971. Her steam catapult was sold to Australia and fitted into the HMAS Melbourne, the rest of her, chopped up and sold. She gave Canada a round the clock SUSTOPs capability back in 1958. At the time only the US and Canadian navies had this capability.

You are correct, you haven't. However what you do is things like this. This is what you posted in answer to WB's post. I guess you didn't like it so you decided to class WB with those named, whom you have upon numerous occasions declared to be White Supremecists and Neo Nazis. By doing so you imply that WB is in fact a WS or NN, not very subtle but clear of meaning anyway. Would it not be better if we were to avoid these types of rebutals and instead replied in a well thought out manner? It does nothing to further or help your message and in fact just about garantees it won't be heard.

And this is justification for accusing fellow members of being Nazi's? This applies to just about any race on earth equally, the only ones I can think of who would be difficult to characterize in this way would be the Kalahari Bushmen. Indeed Caledonia has seen its share of such characters from the Native side as well. Or is it that no such people exist among Natives? What of Shawn Brant? I've seen video's of him openly advocating armed insurrection and violence, advocating Genocidal policies, or were they all just "doctored", evidence unavaillable of course. As you can see, a few nutbars, no matter what race, do not justify labeling entire groups of people. Or are you of the opinion now that such a practise is both good and healthy. A rather strange position to take for one accustomed to accusing others of just such a habit, if indeed that is what you believe.

Whats with all the Nazi references in this thread? Are those who throw this title around so unaware of history and the true meaning of Nazi'ism that they honestly believe this to be a valid description? Lets face it, even those who today proclaim themselves to be Nazi's have no idea of what the word actually represents. Instead they have a selective view tailored to fit their own personal desires. I believe this debate would be far better served without the childish and highly innacurate application of this word to any who offend others or hold differing viewpoints. Actually, glibly applying this label to any whom one disagree's with should be reason for a suspension of posting privileges as it is a far more vile label than any mere profanity.

Having not finished reading the entire thread I'm not sure if this erroneous statement has been addressed already, sorry if it has. Crick did not believe that aliens seeded the earth with life, he believed that life evolved and his work pioneered many of the facts that are used as a basis for current research. He did not trust or believe in religion and actually surmised a field that has actually become a legitimate area of study regarding religion and its physical effects on the brain. He was no crackpot and not given to outlandish and unprovable theories. Good info on Crick If you take the time to read this article (a rather good one) you will see that he was a man with his feet firmly grounded in science and fact, not as claimed, in wild flights of fancy. What you are refering to when you talk about directed panspermia is what Crick himself labeled speculation, not a theory. If you read the following you will see the fallacy in your statement. He speculated that this could happen given the correct circumstances, such as intelligent life. He never stated that he believed this had actually happened. Speculation does not indicate belief. I could speculate that people were a creation of the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster, however that does not mean I believe it to be so. There is a huge gap between speculation and belief. To claim that he believed this to be so based upon speculation with a fellow scientist is to make a huge assumption and an even greater leap. It is very important to make the distinction between speculation and actual belief, if you fail to do so any further arguments you put forth will be false as the starting premise for your argument is based upon a false assumption.