Bay 12 Games Forum

Jeez, mainiac. Did I really give you any reason to call me a jackass?

Sure, the comparision is a long shot, but not completely unbased:
Inquisition(in popular culture) = otherwise unlawful imprisonement and torture of people labeled as 'heretics'.
Guantanamo = otherwise unlawful imprisonement and torture of people labeled as 'terrorists'.
In both cases the label in question is enough to discard the local laws, so that one can get rid of people deemed dangerous to the ruling powers. In both cases the presumption of innocence is ignored. In both cases the propaganda is in motion to make populace accept the blatant unlawfulness of such actions.

For every 1 at Gitmo, 50 people were imprisoned then forced into a belief by the inquisition

Should it operate as long as the inquisition did, the numbers would be just about right.

Sure, the motives for being labeled heretic and terrorist are different, but the mode of action is similar enough to justify comparisons.

Also, if by thruther you meant a believer in a 9/11 conspiracy, then you're shooting at the wrong target.

I Let's just be glad that it's not to the level of the inquisition.

Is it not?(even when considering the popular belief about inq.)
What about Guantanamo?

And forest growth takes CO2 out of the atmosphere. So as long as the forest you're harvesting has a constant volume of lumber (and all properly managed forests do), the net output of CO2 is zero.

Ah, but what if everyone switched to burning wood? Would you be able to maintain your forests in the face of ever growing demand?
Also, burning firewood is a quick process, so you have to actively maintain the fire. I say, this is an inconvenience that most of our spoiled population will not embrace easily.

Namely, that you have to bury it pretty deep, and wall everything off so that it can't seep or radiate out and contaminate water tables.  Despite what Dwarf Fortress would have us believe, digging big holes in the ground is not cheap.

You can use the uranium mines to deposit waste. Just dilute it first to the radiation levels comparable with original(unmined) uranium, and you've got it solved.

Personally, I say ditch the digging altogether.  Dump it in the Pacific Basin - a couple miles under the ocean, near no tectonic faults, or anything anyone would ever worry about irradiating.

The international law is a problem there.
Article 1 (Definitions), 7., of the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, (the London Dumping Convention) states:

“Sea” means all marine waters other than the internal waters of States, as well as the seabed and the subsoil thereof; it does not include sub-seabed repositories accessed only from land.”

Actually, tectonically active regions are the best place to dispose this waste. Just choose those regions, where the tectonics would carry it towards the Earth's interior.(subduction zones)

I shall remain sceptical on the subject of magnet motors, unless somebody shows me at least a theoretical design(a rough sketch would do).

Some people claim that there's no 'nuclear waste' to worry about, that it can be reused. I don't see how it could be done. When the spent fuel is reprocessed, it means removing the neutron absorbing 'poisons' from it so that the remaining fuel can be put back to work. There's no real recycling there.
Furthermore, while you might extract some of the fission's byproducts(which is costly on it's own), the majority of these radioactive isotopes cannot be used for futher fission, as they do not emit any more neutrons, instead decaying through beta and gamma radiation. Also, I don't see how medicine or scientific research could use up all these mass produced isotopes(and what happens to them anyway, when, say, your hospital doesn't need them anymore?).
Then, there's the irradiation of plant's stucture(concrete, coolant, protective clothing etc.) that has to be disposed of periodicaly with no conceivable way of recycling.
Now, I do think that the nuclear power is the best solution to energy problem, but one cannot go from one extreme(enviromentalist crazies) to another, completely discarding the problems it presents.
Personally, I don't see that much problem with storing the waste underground. Bury it, mark the place and stay away from it, what's so difficult there?

well, I'd say that the law of conservation of energy is a part of common sense, as you can't get energy from nothing. The general idea that you've described seems viable at first sight, but so do those 'perpetuum mobile' drawings.
In your rough design, the kinetic energy gained from magnets' attraction during the 'action' phase, would've been lost when you change the (piston)magnet's allignment to the 'repelling' configuration, as it would strongly resist such a change. If anything, it could be used as a braking system, I suppose.
Also, if my memory serves me well, magnets do not deteriorate as a result of magnetic field propagation. What you've described is a macro-scale structural destruction due to too high a temperature or stress. Meaning, the magnet is not, generally, a 'fuel cell'. Same as gravitation field generator(mass) isn't. e.g. You can't send anything on orbit using Earth's gravity.
That said, it's been a while since I did my physics course, so feel free to prove me wrong.

Uh, I liked Silmarilion. It's great if after reading the Hobbit and LOTR you're hungry for more information about Tolkien's world. It's sort of a compilation of said world's mythology(kind of what 'Poetic Edda' is for Norse world).
If you have to read just one story from it, go for the one about Turin Turumbar(hope I didn't mess up that name). I do agree that most of it is way to dense for it's own good.
Also, in my opinion, one can read either the Hobbit or LOTR first. Neither one requires knowledge of the other.

I need to ask you this, though: being Chinese, what did you read until now that you'd recommend for westerners? I know 'the Three Kingdoms' already, but there must be much more.