The Superman 1978 film was an enigma, for being a superhero film that didn't absolutely suck.
Then there were the Burton Batman films, which had something special to them that made us feel comic films weren't horribly cheesy.
Then there was a break for a decade of suck, before the first X-men film found that missing link between fantasy and humanity that audiences could relate with on a realistic level. It was bolstered by the first Spiderman, and then the Iron Man film really cemented the legitimacy of comic-based films from there.
That's not even mentioning the Dark Knight films.
But has anyone noticed that gradual slide into mediocrity/laughability in the last few years/sequels? Everything since then has lost that human element that could make us relate to the protagonists and suspend our disbelief, and for me it's felt that everything in this genre has slid backwards to that immature and unrealistic setting.
Meh.

Professionals at work:

http://usvsth3m.com/post/74285062011/you-wont-believe-why-the-victoria-line-is-currently

Independent

I tip my hat to the bloke who had the wits and awareness to pour sugar on it.

MONEY!

Seriously though, a cement or brick house isn't going to make any difference if it takes a direct hit from a tornado. It will handle the debris flying around at 200+ mph much better, but cannot sustain a direct hit. There are a few structures (like steel frame houses) which might fare a little better, but the cost is prohibitive.

I think it is also important to consider the size of the region we are talking about here. According to Wikipedia, "Tornado Alley can also be defined as an area reaching from central Texas to the Canadian prairies and from eastern Colorado to western Pennsylvania." That's an area of approximately 1.5 million square miles. Where exactly do you draw the line on enforcing extremely expensive building codes? How do you justify the increased building costs in one town but not the town 2 miles down the road?

The building codes in the core of Tornado Alley (north Texas to Nebraska) are more restrictive than you imagine. They focus on strengthened roofs and secure foundations that can take a fair amount of straightline wind. But really, the odds of any given house in Tornado Alley sustaining a direct hit are extremely low (about 1 in 10 million in any given year) so it is much more cost effective and reasonable to require storm cellars which protect life instead of worrying about property. Notice how not a single person was injured in this house despite the destruction.

This is a video of a WIN not a FAIL.

Shewww... The TV survived... But seriously... Anyone knows why most of the houses in the tornado belt are made of paper? Wouldn't a cement house work better?

I'm waiting for the electricity to happen, but it never came. I thought this was literally shocking?

I do think this is literally set up, however. If not, I hope these fucktards get buried in cement

The Cyprus Cement was able to resume it's voyage? I'm assuming after posting a significant bond.

@ChaosEngine - I am only expressing suspicion for benefit of the doubt. All we know of this situation is what the video summary says it is, and what we see in it, which is carries very little information in itself. *For all I know* this could be a complete mock-up just to get people who are already against this demographic in an uproar, and cement their existing prejudice.

That is very unlikely, but none of us know what really went on in this video, and saying "fuck those people" is the textbook definition of prejudice.

Assuming this is exactly what it says it is, even in the best case scenario, you're basically taking a room-full of burn-victims and setting the place on fire to get a reaction from them.

Reminds me of another documentary I saw on the sift, of I think "Cement Island" or something. Very dark, and at the same time somewhat exhilarating.

Edit: Found it!
http://videosift.com/video/Abandoned-Japanese-Island

Please take McDonalds off the cooking channel....They don't cook at McDonalds-They kill while cementing diabetus and obesity into the genetic code

☝☝☝
Rational eh?

Criminals polluting the world's food production and distribution with a cadre of lawmakers and lawyers poised to give the beast a free-pass for the foreseeable future?

In March of this year, complicit cunt Obama signed H.R. 933, ‘Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013’-Missouri Senator Joe Blunt (R) worked with Monsanto to craft the language of a 78-page section of the bill which effectively protects biotech companies from judicial scrutiny should any notable public health risks arise as the result of GMOs. -IB Times’ Connor Sheets adds, “choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of these products may come to light in the future.”

Their army of lawyers-as formidable as any of Walmart's punk-ass legal teams, work constantly to keep information out of the public scrutiny while cementing the future experimentation on humans with their tweaks to the staple food sources of the planet's food. Over-reacting??

How does one "rationally oppose" the calculated acts of criminals who not only make the laws, but stack the odds in their favor by buying those who mold the legal system in their favor?

Go educate yourself. Perhaps start with a short list of GMO crops used in just about everything??
http://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/gm-foods.php

Then check out the cases Monsanto has brought to trial against a never-ending list of farmers who have tried to take on the beast when their livelihoods were destroyed by opening their mouths....

Anyone with common-sense and a worthless high-school diploma who hasn't been drinking the Kool-Aid their entire lives should be able to see that the fucking emperor is clothed in a human flesh tuxedo....

Since it is a domestic violence call, the judge would have to look at precedent cases. There are countless state level cases that uphold a warrant-less entry in the case of possible violence to someone in the home, visible or not. Brigham City v. Stuart is one that went to SCOTUS and further cemented the situation.

Based on the that sadly broad ruling, if a 911 call is made claiming even possible domestic violence, police can force entry into a residence to see if everyone is ok. I don't like it or agree with it, but they will walk on any charges from the entry.

I do think they could call the immediate use of a taser into question, however.

Ya, parenting hacks that get you jail time...

United States Code
** TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE *** PART I - CRIMES **** CHAPTER 17 - COINS AND CURRENCY

U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04

Section 333. Mutilation of national bank obligations

Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or
unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank
bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national
banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal
Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note,
or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

Cement Truck is to Passenger Vehicle = Bank is to Consumer

"You Lose!"

"cement the new songs into the cultural subconscious."....Good luck with that!

@GeeSussFreeK

I tried to stay way from issues specific to the use of nuclear technology for a reason. There's very little in your reply that I can respond to, simply for a lack of expertise. So bear with me if I once again attempt to generalize and abstract some points. And I'll try to keep it shorter this time.

You mentioned how construction times and costs are pushed up by the constant evolution of compliance codes. A problem not exclusive to the construction of power plants, but maybe more pronounced in these cases. No matter.

What buggers me, however, is what you can currently observe in real time at the EPR construction sites in Olkiluoto and Flamanville.
For instance, the former is reported to have more than 4000 workers from over 60 nations, involving more than 1500 sub-contractors. It's basically the Tower of Babylon, and the quality of work might be similar as well. Workers say, they were ordered to just pour concrete over inadequate weld seams to get things done in time, just to name an example. They are three years over plan as of now, and it'll be at least 2-3 more before completion.
And Flamanville... here's some of what the French Nuclear Safety Authority had to say about the construction site: "concrete supports look like Swiss cheese", "walls with gaping holes", "brittle spots without a trace of cement".

Again, this is not exclusive to the construction of NPPs. Almost every large scale construction site in Europe these days looks like this, except for whatever the Swiss are doing: kudos to them, wonderful work indeed. But if they mess up the construction of a train station, they don't run a risk of ruining the ground water and irradiating what little living space we have in Europe as it is.

Then you explain the advantages of small scale, modular reactors. Again, no argument from my side on the feasability of this, I have to take your word on it. But looking at how the Russians dispose of their old nuclear reactors (bottom of the Barents Sea) and how Germany disposes of its nuclear waste (dropped down a hole), I don't fancy the idea of having even more reactors around.

As for prices, I have to raise my hands in surrender once again. Not my area of expertise, my knowledge is limited to whatever analysis hits the mainstream press every now and then. Here's my take on it, regarding just the German market: the development, construction, tax exemption, insurance exemption, fuel transport and waste disposal of the nuclear industry was paid for primarly by taxes. Conservative government estimates were in the neighbourhood of €300B since the sixties, in addition to the costs of waste disposal and plant deconstruction that the companies can't pay for. And that's if nothing happens to any of the plants, no flood, no fire, nothing.

That's not cheap. E.ON and RWE dropped out of the bid on construction permits for new NPPs in GB, simply because it's not profitable. RWE CEO Terium mentioned ~100€/MWh as the minimum base price to make new NPPs profitable, 75.80€/MWh for gas-powered plants. Right now, the base (peak) price is at 46€/MWh (54€/MWh) in Germany. France generates ~75% of its power through NPPs, while Germany is getting plastered with highly subsidized wind turbines and solar panels, yet the market price for energy is lower in Germany.

Yes, the conditions are vastly different in the US, and yes, the next generation of NPPs might be significantly cheaper and safer to construct and run. I'm all for research in these areas. But on the field of commercial energy generation, nuclear energy just doesn't seem to cut it right now.

So let's hop over to safety/dangers. Again, priorities might differ significantly and I can only argue from a central European perspective. As cold-hearted as it may sound, the number of direct casualties is not the issue. Toxicity and radiation is, as far as I'm concerned. All our NPPs are built on rivers and the entire country is rather densely populated. A crashing plane might kill 500 people, but there will be no long term damage, particularly not to the water table. The picture of an experimental waste storage site is disturbing enough as it is, and it wasn't even "by accident" that some of these chambers are now flooded by ground water.

Apologies if I ripped anything out of context. I tried to avoid the technicalities as best as I could in a desperate attempt not to make a fool of myself. Again.

And sorry for not linking any sources in many cases. Most of it was taken from German/Swiss/Austrian/French articles.