Thanks If I'd ever heard of it, I'd since forgotten. It REALLY doesn't look like a Mercedes, does it? It does look a bit like a Lamborghini Countach, or the car from the film Condorman

p.s. Looking at the original 1974 Countach, it seems that Lamborghini copied drew inspiration from the Mercedes prototype.

That brings back some memories Pinball dreams was quite a fun game back in the day, and one I'd almost completely forgotten.

Sweet dreams Schmawy. You will not be forgotten.

Thank you...a few I haven't heard in a coon's age. Yankee Zen.

I had forgotten that he coached in Houston for three years in the 80's.

"I" think they handled this material excellently, however pedantic. Myself, I am in the process of compiling such research for a Vlogcast of my own which resides in a similar vein, to be called "Wicked Lost Technology". I plan to look at inventions that were once cutting edge, yet today are all but forgotten. These item still offer great inspiration for us today from a mechanical perspective and should not be forgotten.

The thoroughness of the Engineeringguy in this video should not be overlooked. He/they get(s) my applaud!

Producer: "Videogames are cool right now. Let's make a movie that's essentially Call of Duty!"

Yes-men: "Genius"

Internets: "OMG TAKE MY MONEY" *foamatmouth*

Me: "Whatever happened to cinema . . ."

(Apologies to those who are foaming at the mouth. I realize tastes differ, but apparently we seem to have forgotten that exciting action relies on a tempo, with crescendos complimenting quiet bits. Some of the best action movies consist of less than 20% of action, and yet somehow they manage to be amazing. Also, if I want to watch a videogame, I'll play it myself.)

This comes up a bit short on some issues.

For instance, the ongoing drought in the Euphrates-Tigris area pushed people in Syria into the cities, adding pressure to already overstretched infrastructure.

Also, what about the West's glorious idea to run illegal wars of aggression in Iraq and Libya, which destabilized the entire region? Nevermind Afghanistan or the bombing campaigns in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. What about the gulag that is Palestine? What about the economic consequences of our obsession with free trade, taking away from developing countries the ability to protect and nurture their own industries? What about our subsidies of farm exports, thereby undercutting local farmers and destroying these peoples' ability to feed themselves?

All of these countries have heaps of issues of their own, but let's not forget that "we" not only didn't help, but actively made things worse in many cases. As cities drain resources from the hinterland, so do our centers of capitalism drain resources from developing nations. They are our hinterland.

Yugoslavia seems to have been forgotten by most people, but the split and following neoliberal treatment left the entire area in a state of instability. Kosovo today is basically run by organised crime.

So, as horrible as Assad's actions are, very few countries are in a position to offer meaningful criticism, having pissed away what little moral authority we had to begin with.

And as far as legal responsibilities towards refugees go, I'd say after torture, wars of aggression, global espionage, a stateless people in Europe (Roma/Sinti), destruction of a society (Greece), an openly xenophobic regime (Hungary), etc, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that "rights" are meaningless unless actively enforced by someone with the required amount of power.

Look at Calais, look at Lesbos, look at Lampedusa, and tell me all about our European morals and values...

Written by the grandson of a man whose family fled from Silesia in '45 with nothing but two bags and walked all the way to Lower Saxony on foot.

Maybe you're right, but to me that didn't sound like jubilation or delight. It sounded like awe and adrenaline mixed into shock. I even took their decision to "go down" at the end as a hint that they may have been going to try to *help* anyone that was caught closer to the blast(s).


I don't mean this to be a "cool story bro" or "internet tough guy" thing, but: About a year ago there was a house fire (pretty roaring fire, but limited to 1 room) across the street from me. Nobody was home, but I didn't know that at the time. When I saw it, verbally my brain went to mush -- I was just saying "oh shit" about like these guys, over and over. But, the adrenaline and thinking that someone might be stuck in the house whipped me into action. I ended up putting out a good chunk of the fire with hose and buckets before the fire department got there about 15 mins later, and the firemen later said that it may well have spread out of control if I hadn't gotten a partial jump on it.

BUT, in my adrenaline fueled shock, I had forgotten to put on shoes, and had cut up my bare feet a bit by running around on glass that the fire had broken out of a window. Plus, I had rather stupidly been pumping in water via hose and bucket, while standing in a puddle, next to a house that still had mains power going into it...

After the event, my wife specifically said that I had sounded "weird" and not like myself, and hadn't really been particularly coherent in verbalizing what I was planning to do. Anyway, due to the shock and surprise, I'm ready to give these dudes the benefit of the doubt with regards to their weird and potentially "inappropriate" sounding voices and statements.

If you did high school bio, think about what you covered that has any sort of influence on medicine... =)

Frog or rat dissection? Covered that in Bio 101 in the first year of my Applied Chemistry degree (and yes, you can give a rat a Columbian necktie... . Photosynthesis? Mating?

Yeah, Bio was pretty much introducing you to broad concepts and it's nothing that doesn't get rehashed in the first 6 months of Uni via intro subjects. I think of it more as a way to dip the toe in the pool and see if the subject matter excites you enough to try and turn it in to a career.

eg. At 40 now (and having forgotten my chem degree and gone in to IT as a sys admin after working as a chef, bouncer etc), I could go back to uni barely remembering anything about chemistry and start from scratch and be none the worse for it. The keystones you talk about are literacy and numeracy, that's about it. And they are learned in primary school.

Oh sure, it helps if you can do some higher math, but English lit? Physics? Drama? Almost nothing you do at high school has any real defining affect on most of what you do as an adult. It's more like a sampler platter, and of course a way of grading students (on a curve of course, we can't have people's scores based on their own merit) to distinguish what tertiary studies they should be eligible for.

School should be about igniting curiousity as much as practical skills for life. I did "Home Economics" (ie. cooking/sewing/budgets etc) and typing (on real mechanical typewriters no less) as opposed to wood/metal shop ( I was awful at shop). My home ec teacher was always interested in making different food, so we tried some pretty out there things in grade 8 (~13 years old), and I've always been interested in cooking since. Similarly, learning to touch type has made my life radically simpler, particularly in IT (try writing a 40 page instruction manual hunting and pecking).

Most of the high school grads we see as cadets or trainees are essentially useless and have to be taught from scratch anyway. Most of the codified BS we have these days doesn't prepare kids for life, doesn't encourage critical thinking or creativity, it a self justification to keep schools open.

70 years old for retirement!?! You can suck it, buddy! I bet he hasn't ever actually worked hard in his life, certainly not since he had to clear brush at Niggerhead Ranch as a teen (his family ranch, in case you've forgotten).
Interesting he's proposing a retroactive tax on the elderly with his plan by not paying out on the benefits they already paid for. I would think that wouldn't go over well with his constituents...but they mostly can't follow logic, only talking points, so they mostly won't even notice I bet.

Well, the guy was lucky to have the scene captured on video. But I don't see his problem with the supposed confederate flag.

Playing a bit of the devil's advocate here... but I'm sure most people here understands it anyway.

Why do they hate the confederate (battle) flag so much? It makes no sense. Do they just hate because they want to hate? I hear these excuses saying that it's a symbol of hate or racism. Yet I don't. I don't see it as a symbol for those two. I see it for what it is, the flag that people associated with as the confederate. I see historical value in it.

The people who are angry over a mere flag needs to wake the F up. The people who are hating it needs a reality check. That flag and its symbol has been a part of history for many years. It has represented a part of American history that should not be forgotten. These flags should not be taken down just because people are angry or hating over it. As long as the confederate flag is flown below the American flag, I am fine with letting it be displayed.

Your video, Steve Silberman: The forgotten history of autism, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

I agree, but i have something else that it smells like too. Like when i was a kid and i'd be out with friends, unsupervised, not yet responsible, and let's say someone swings off a tree and the branch snaps off. He goes oh that shows how strong i am, so before long another kid starts trying to rip a branch off, people are mocking each other, challenging each other's strength. Before you know it, you're in a group with a load of kids like wild animals trying to destroy a tree on someone's lawn, branches and leaves everywhere, dirt and mud and the tree uprooting. I made that example up, but many people have been in that kind of situation as a kid. Mine was absentmindedly throwing mud at a wall because it made an interesting splat. I zoned in half an hour later from my daydream and realised i'd ruined someone's wall and covered their driveway in mud. I did clear it up.

What this smells of to me, is that they were after someone, getting excited and feeling the thrill, suddenly one turns to his mate and goes "dude! do you think we can use those new explosives...?", another one chips in "even better, we've got that APC!", and they all hoot and howl with excitement, grab all of their exciting new toys and go in like the charge of the light brigade. Take out those fences so we can surround them! We need that wall down! Maybe that one! By this time they've forgotten that they're trying to protect people's property and safety, but they're having the time of their lives.

That's what it smells of to me - out of control immaturity and gang/yob mentality. And they're armed with army equipment now. When things like this start to happen, you really have to start questioning how things are being run. How else could it have happened that they gut out a house like that?

Does american police training consist of 3 months of reading judge dredd comics? It's been a while since i've seen police academy, so i've forgotten what their training is really like.

You need to stop people in your custody from trying to hurt you or others, but you have a duty of care to the person you have restrained whether you like that person or not. This isn't judge dredd, and the first person to apprehend someone doesn't get to decide who deserves what punishment.

As long as my 15 friends with rifles, shotguns, and pistols pointed at your head come with me, and the instant you start to point the rifle at a person they get to fire, then fine, name the date and place, I'll be there with bells on to get to taser you and 'detain' you afterwards. This guy only pointed his weapon at himself, and only fired a single shot directly up....like a warning shot...a thing cops have apparently forgotten exists.
If you need 100% guarantee of safety in your duty, you should NEVER be a cop, or even be in public.
It's funny you always take that position that cops should be able to kill with impunity instead of taking the slightest risk to their own safety, for instance you often say they should never even try tasers even with massive backup because tasers MIGHT not stop the person, so they should just shoot to kill instead if there's ANY risk to themselves (or if they think they can make up a risk...'he grabbed my taser' comes to mind), and you also take the position that cops have this incredibly dangerous job and are all 'brave little soldiers' we should look up to...which is it?