>> ^grinter:

>> ^Friesian:
That has to be some of the worst editing and voiceover work I've seen. Shame though, because the spiders were pretty cool subject matter.

If biologist were paid what BBC producers were, then maybe it would make sense that you are complaining. As it is, I think this video is a pretty good value.
If you want cheesy, polished narration, check out the ABC version:
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3160792.htm


I never said I wanted cheesy, polished narration. Nor do I expect high quality swooping shots of glorious vistas, all edited together in a magical and breathtaking piece of art.

However, I would have liked something which didn't have varying background sound levels (it could easily have been muted or evened out during the closeups with voiceover). I would have also liked less shots of the same thing. "This female is watching carefully", followed by "And this one as well", followed by a third "Another female arrives on the scene", followed by 20 seconds of random shots of the females. There was no context to those shots - they could have been stock footage of unconnected females that was added into the film solely to pad it out. They didn't add anything to the purpose of the film, which was showcasing the mating behaviour, and they didn't really tie into the overall direction of the narration.

The video is indeed pretty good value, but I think it's a shame that there are several small things that could be improved without having to be ABC and without a massive time/money investment. No idea if I'm the only one, but while the content was very interesting I did not watch the whole 6.5 minute clip, which to me is indicative of the mistakes I mentioned.

>> ^Friesian:

That has to be some of the worst editing and voiceover work I've seen. Shame though, because the spiders were pretty cool subject matter.


If biologist were paid what BBC producers were, then maybe it would make sense that you are complaining. As it is, I think this video is a pretty good value.
If you want cheesy, polished narration, check out the ABC version:
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3160792.htm

>> ^raverman:

Is the mercury reacting with the aluminium here?
or
is it just acting as a catalyst preventing aluminium oxide crystalizing, so it's actually oxygen reacting with aluminium creating oxide... but not crystallizing?


If I remember correctly the mercury combines with the aluminum to form an amalgam (which is why it seems to "soak" through the beam). The part of the amalgam exposed to air reacts to form aluminum oxide which flakes off, leaving most of the mercury behind to continue the process.

A small amount of mercury can destroy a large amount of aluminum.

Is the mercury reacting with the aluminium here?
or
is it just acting as a catalyst preventing aluminium oxide crystalizing, so it's actually oxygen reacting with aluminium creating oxide... but not crystallizing?

>> ^quantumushroom:

The majority of the American people aren't buying the leftmedia's BS spin about this lone vermin, whose heinous act was apolitical.

A politician was specifically singled out at a political function. By that very fact, it can't be apolitical.

It wasn't like he went and robbed a 7-11 and ended up accidentally hit a member of Congress when the clerk pulled a gun. That would be apolitical.

The word "non-partisan" is a better fit, but firing a gun at a politician sounds pretty "partisan" to me.

He was clearly not right in the head, but also pretty clearly, he wasn't completely loopy. As much as the media has joked about "government using grammar as mind control", that's exactly what was going on in 1984, which was on his favorite book list.

Also, there's been mention of him burning the flag. Well, in his Youtube videos he explains that the flag isn't in the Constitution, therefore it's meaningless.

As much as the right likes to act like flag burning is something liberals do for fun, what does it mean if it's burned in protest of it being unconstitutional to even have an American flag?

He also talks at length about currency, and there he sounds like an Austrian economist -- the Fed is manipulating currency to control us, and the solution is that we should just individually create and use our own currency instead.

All that said, I'm perfectly happy to say that nothing about the above makes "the right" directly responsible for what happened. I think he had sterner stuff than cable news driving him nuts.

But I will say that the delusional nightmare he fell into is very much like the one the right is always trying to sell these days. The government is evil, all powerful, and coming for you, so get your guns, you "might" need them.

Do I think they should stop pushing that dystopian picture? Yes, and I always have felt that way. Do I think this is a good time to say so again? You betcha.

Do I think the left generates a significant chunk of the noise that adds heat to our debates without adding light? Sure. Does the left have a similar dystopian vision that they're constantly hammering home? Maybe. If so, ours is presented with non-violent calls to action and a kernel of hope that it's not too late to make a difference, not a call to lock and load, build a bunker, and your only hope is that you might survive the inevitable apocalypse.

And QM, if you read this far down, I'm not really directing this at you, you were just the catalyst for a rant that had been building for a while. Thanks for helping bring it out.

Sorry, I've got to go do other things, so I'm going to predict your next comment.

You: Our problems, too, have more to do with our political system than our economic system.

Me: It is our economic system that is the catalyst for corruption, and the catalyst for big business's hostile takeover of our government, capital and national resources.

BREAKING NEWS From Reuters
-Sheila Hogan reporting, Brisbane Aus, Dec. 8 2010

In a shocking move today, China launched full scale war on Australia in what pundits are now calling World War WTF!?!. Chinese Ruler, Sum Yung Gui, has told reporters that leaked documents on Australia's security were the catalyst for this impulsive assault. He was like, all, "OMG, I hate Australia, I hate them so much. I must attack them." Luckily for the residents of Australia, the attack only occurred in one very silly American mind, likely high on schwag and national pride.

>> ^DonanFear:

"I'm not gonna tell you what it is." wtf?


http://www.suncatalytix.com/
They patented the Cobalt, Oxygen and Phosphorus catalyst, started that company and got a DOE research contract ($4 mil).
Publication citations are on that site, too.

His research is specifically in catalyzing electrolysis. Its a big improvement over the old platinum catalysts (which were good at catalyzing the hydrogen formation, but not the oxygen), and has the added benefit of maintaining the same reaction rate for a long periods of time, using non-pure water sources.

I don't want to put words in blancos mouth (goodness knows what else has been in there), but I believe the major catalyst for blankfist's politics is anger at paying taxes. Government and democracy is the major focus of his ire. Our political feud is a years-long battle that goes far beyond the subject matter of this video.

He believes the free market is a benevolent, intelligent, almost supernatural force that somehow is able to right all wrongs. Oppressive sweatshops are put out of business by angry citizens who stop buying their products or open their own competing businesses. I've never seen any evidence to suggest the market works like this. To me, it seems to reward low prices at any cost, be it human rights, environmental carnage, livable wages, the exploitation of the 3rd world, squandered resources or otherwise.

I believe the concept of 'the free market' was created to justify greed, selfishness, gross inequity and to absolve the wealthy and big business of all personal responsibility for the part they play in this world. Those with wealth earned it with hard work and ingenuity (or more likely inherited it from their parents); those without are lazy bums who are receiving just desserts for their lack of ambition (or more likely inherited it from their parents). If only those lowly wage slaves would pick themselves up by their bootstraps, they could be the next Bill Gates.

We are pretty much together in our disgust for corporations, but what constitutes an oppressive work environment differs greatly between the two of us.

>> ^kceaton1:

This story parallels my life nearly the same. In my case I was raised Mormon.


Same here. Funny how Santa seems to be a common catalyst for a lot of us

Ok so, why is it so hard to imagine that the inevitability of race issues as a major factor fueling an orchestrated societal meltdown in the face of a similarly orchestrated crisis, availability of food for example, as the ignition catalyst?

What nonsense.
Any derived absolute 'purpose' in this world is just purely absurd.
And we know electrons exist.
What we don't accurately know is where they are at any given time.
The argument is similar to the 'intelligent design' one in that just because there are alternative ideas around, it doesn't mean they are all equally valid or should be considered by anyone on any meaningful level to be competing theories.
Science is always open for new ideas, but a teapot on orbit of mars needs some evidence in support of it before anyone takes real interest in it.

I do agree on religion not being the main 'big evil' in the world but it is a powerful catalyst.
Religion is the fuel that is sprayed all around the house and is benign as long as you don't light a candle.

I've been shot right out the sky
Navigating miles high
I'm just a ray of sound
Yeah look what I found
On my brand new journey into sound
I know you'll find piece of mind
On my punk paste race into space
I'm the silver surfer hearin' lucifer
Lay on the ground and nobody dies
Paradise is the place where the devil does his damndest
I'm the catalyst
A psychedelic twist
Like a dynamite reefer
I'll make you sweat and curse
As we travel at magnificent speeds around the universe
Lets travel at magnificent speeds around the universe
I'll keep travelling
Chasing the shadows
This ain't a game
We're coming by stealth
You know I got wealth
Brain carnage self

Speeding neck and neck with my own vision
Real clean incision
We'll be dancing frenzies
Slaughters visions
I'm a hot wet dripping psychedelic incision
Zeroes pure vision
This is stranger than fiction
A greater addiction
We'll never wish to never recover
I'm a skunk of a different stripe
And tonight
I'm gonna take flight
I'll take you on a journey into tomorrow
And together we'll banish all pain and sorrow.


I'm just a ray of sound sound
A ray of sound
Just a ray a ray a ray a ray a ray of sound
I'm just a ray of sound sound
A ray of sound
A sound sound sound sound a ray of sound

>> ^RedSky:
@NordlichReiter
The dollar is only really down to levels it was pre-financial crisis. Taking your reference point at the height of the global financial crisis is unfair because everyone was buying up US treasury bonds and over inflating the currency.
The fact that countries are considering moving away from the US dollar as the reserve currency, the currency they trade in, and which they keep as foreign reserves is a good thing in the long term. This has kept the US dollar overvalued for decades, and has contributed significantly to the unsustainable consumption and housing binge, and was obvious a major catalyst for the global financial crisis. A rebalancing would put the onus further on factors of GDP such as investment as a contributor to economic growth.
To say that the economy is in recovery is not disingenuous. They're simply using leading indicators such as stock price or inventory levels, which are generally good predictors of economic recovery and in this case a pending fall in unemployment. The scale of that is anyone's guess though, as is how much of the economy was spurned by returning business confidence in the private sector rather that purely government stimulus and specific programs such as first home buyer's grants and cash for clunkers.


Cash for clunkers was the biggest waste. The other parts of your arguments I cannot find fault with.

Taking assets that can be modified, recycled reused, and even melted down for metals and destroying them and leaving them in a dump yard is a waste. Why would you destroy something that has re-usable parts and resources?

Differential gears, transmission parts, bearings, four wheel drive parts, pinions, springs, headers, skid plates, hubs, disks, and shoes. Instead they put sodium silicate into the engines. All because the government doesn't want the cars traded in being re-sold back into the market.

I would argue that having a hulking dump of cars, like I see on the side of the Highway is worse than seeing a repaired 78 Volkswagen van that runs on diesel, or electricity.