The Off Topic Topic

[Tamas]

I think BMW is mostly the pretend-rich jerk's car.

[The Larch]

Mercedes the "old fashioned rich jerk" car.

What does that make of Audi? 

[Josquius]

An old joke from  my childhood-
Whats the difference between a hedgehog and a BMW?
A hedgehog has pricks on the outside.

[celedhring]

Mercedes the "old fashioned rich jerk" car.

What does that make of Audi? 

Now that's the pretend-rich car. Plenty of cheap A-series Audis in office drone zones in Barcelona.

[The Larch]

Mercedes the "old fashioned rich jerk" car.

What does that make of Audi? 

Now that's the pretend-rich car. Plenty of cheap A-series Audis in office drone zones in Barcelona.

Audi's case is weird, you could barely see one 10-15 years ago, and nowadays they're pretty common in big cities. They must have had a rather agressive policy, plus the cheap credit of the boom early-mid 00s, to become so widespread.

[Barrister]

Mercedes the "old fashioned rich jerk" car.

What does that make of Audi? 

Now that's the pretend-rich car. Plenty of cheap A-series Audis in office drone zones in Barcelona.

Audi's case is weird, you could barely see one 10-15 years ago, and nowadays they're pretty common in big cities. They must have had a rather agressive policy, plus the cheap credit of the boom early-mid 00s, to become so widespread.

Back in the mid 80s there were reports that Audis could suffer from "sudden unintended acceleration", which killed their marketshare.  It took a long time, a couple decades even, for them to fully recover.

[Zanza]

Let's just face it: buying Mercedes, let alone Porsche, even for emergency services, is either corruption or at the very least negligence with public funds.

This is the hometown of Porsche and they made sure that their cars had the most competitive price in the EU-wide procurement event. It's a PR measure by Porsche, not really corruption.

[LaCroix]

the north dakota house just narrowly voted to repeal its main blue law -- basically all stores are closed from midnight to noon on sunday

North Dakota may have the strictest remaining blue law of the United States. Many goods and items are restricted from being sold between midnight and noon on Sunday, rendering virtually all retailers closed in those hours, including malls and some large retail chains; however, some businesses that open 24 hours, like grocery stores, are allowed to be open on Sunday. However, the big retail chain Walmart is closed.

in opposition, some politicians said

Maybe you don't go to church. I've got some suggestions...Make him [husband] breakfast and bring it to him in bed.

My wife has no problem spending everything I earn in six and a half days.

[Jacob]

After paying a bit more attention walking around today, I think I undersold Buick's cachet slightly. It's still a status car in China, more so than a Japanese or Korean car. Perhaps on par with a Beamer.

[Josquius]

the north dakota house just narrowly voted to repeal its main blue law -- basically all stores are closed from midnight to noon on sunday

North Dakota may have the strictest remaining blue law of the United States. Many goods and items are restricted from being sold between midnight and noon on Sunday, rendering virtually all retailers closed in those hours, including malls and some large retail chains; however, some businesses that open 24 hours, like grocery stores, are allowed to be open on Sunday. However, the big retail chain Walmart is closed.

in opposition, some politicians said

Maybe you don't go to church. I've got some suggestions...Make him [husband] breakfast and bring it to him in bed.

My wife has no problem spending everything I earn in six and a half days.

Still beats Switzerland.
All day Sunday here.  Only exceptions are shops at major train stations

[Maladict]

Stunning photo captures massive wave off the coast of Scotland

A wave so large it looks like a massive storm cloud

It looks like an unfinished painting, with blue brush strokes intended to form cotton-candy clouds.

But a closer look reveals it's a photograph — and that supposed fluffy mass of water vapor looming over the seaside cottage? That's actually a giant wave.

Photographer Ryan Sandison captured the image off the coast of Scotland's Shetland Islands in late December. The 46-foot-tall wave was a byproduct of Storm Conor, which also brought rain, sleet, hail, and winds that gusting up to 94 mph to the island. According to the New York Post, the brutal weather follows the U.K.'s second warmest Christmas on record.

[Zanza]

THE boom in nuclear energy began in the 1950s, when America, Russia, Britain and France rushed to develop reactor technologies for electricity generation. By the late 1970s around 230 reactors were under construction. However, following the accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, fears about safety led governments in Europe and America to halt construction and wind down research on new civilian nuclear technology. Interest in nuclear energy did not rebound until the turn of the millennium, when concerns over securing energy supplies, reducing carbon emissions and meeting the growing demand for electricity in developing economies kick-started another wave of investment.

Building reactors is not an easy business proposition. Two recent additions to the world's nuclear fleet, in Argentina and the United States, took 33 and 44 years to erect. Moreover, neither of the two technologies that were supposed to revolutionise the supply of nuclear energy—the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) and the AP1000 from America's Westinghouse—has yet been installed, despite being conceived early this century. According to the Global Nuclear Power database, almost two-thirds of the 55 plants currently under construction are behind schedule. In Finland, France and China, all of the EPRs in progress are years behind planners′ expectations. Delays in construction of the AP1000s in America are likely to cost Toshiba, their owner, billions of dollars. On January 27th Toshiba said it was scaling back its nuclear ambitions.

Nonetheless, relative upstarts in South Korea and China show that large reactor projects are still viable. South Korea's Korea Electric Power (KEPCO) is building four plants in the United Arab Emirates. The first reactor at the Barakah plant in Abu Dhabi is set to go online within months, on time and possibly on budget. If it succeeds, the reason is likely to be consistency. KEPCO always works with the same suppliers and construction firms hailing from Korea Inc. By contrast, both the EPR and AP1000, first-of-a-kind technologies with teething problems, have suffered from being contracted out to global engineering firms. South Korean capital costs have remained fairly stable in the past 20 years; such costs have almost tripled in France and America. Even if construction never reaches the dizzy heights of the 1970s, long-suffering backers of nuclear power do have something to pin their hopes on.

[The Brain]

What's the comparative figures?

[CountDeMoney]

By the late 1970s around 230 reactors were under construction. However, following the accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, fears about safety led governments in Europe and America to halt construction and wind down research on new civilian nuclear technology.

What really impacted American public opinion--as if Three Mile Island wasn't enough--was the release of the movies The China Syndrome in 1979, Silkwood in 1983, and the activities of the Abalone Alliance in California in between.   

Interest in nuclear energy did not rebound until the turn of the millennium, when concerns over securing energy supplies, reducing carbon emissions and meeting the growing demand for electricity in developing economies kick-started another wave of investment.

Building reactors is not an easy business proposition. Two recent additions to the world's nuclear fleet, in Argentina and the United States, took 33 and 44 years to erect. Moreover, neither of the two technologies that were supposed to revolutionise the supply of nuclear energy—the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) and the AP1000 from America's Westinghouse—has yet been installed, despite being conceived early this century. According to the Global Nuclear Power database, almost two-thirds of the 55 plants currently under construction are behind schedule. In Finland, France and China, all of the EPRs in progress are years behind planners′ expectations. Delays in construction of the AP1000s in America are likely to cost Toshiba, their owner, billions of dollars. On January 27th Toshiba said it was scaling back its nuclear ambitions.

It can be done.  Companies just don't want to spend the money upfront, regardless of how much free money they get when they're finally up and running.. 

[HVC]

Cops are using my office to run surveillance on the mechanic shop across the street.