CaptainPanic

Please note that when something is against our rules, that does not immediately mean that the mods will (1) always enforce or (2) spot it themselves. It's like driving through a red light. It's against the law, but there is a fair chance you get away with it. The mods cannot see everything, and will not enforce everything. Also, even if we do notice something, we might decide that intervention is needed (or not!). Sometimes intervention will only disrupt a thread further, and then it's better not to enforce. There are many shades of grey. But let me explain the black and white first. The good: being wrong, but taking in advice/information from experts and learn from that. The bad: being wrong, and being on this forum only to spread the gospel of your new theory about life, the universe and everything, ignoring all other information and reality itself. Somewhere in between you go from being OK to breaking the rules. Where exactly this happens is for the mods to decide, and might depend on how much coffee we've had. We're dealing with words, which can often be interpreted in multiple ways. Moderating is not an exact science. Actually, this is one of the most difficult things for a moderator.

Hey! You're turning this around! It was you who said: "Where a case of human life rests in the balance.", which obviously excludes non-life threatening injuries.

Why? I find it incredibly hard to compare prophets and scientists. On which criteria do you rank them? It's like comparing apples and oranges. I cannot make such a call.

The only other thing I can think of is that the plastic is affected by some solvent you might be using. Certain solvents can affect certain plastics. There are also metal clips, for the same purpose.

Regarding the question about outsourcing to a company or not, my opinion is simple: it's a public beach, and the risk of drowning is a public risk (i.e. it can happen to everyone), so risk mitigation should be done with public money. Since there is no proof that public services (healthcare, safety issues) are cheaper when outsourced, I just don't see the point of giving away the control to a company. Sure, companies can do certain things better than the government, but there are limits. So, my preferred solution: use tax payers' money to hire lifeguards, and make them government employees, thereby keeping it under direct government control. Actually, in the Netherlands, the lifeguards and the coastguard work together a lot. That means that our entire coastline is guarded, and any lifeguard can quickly call in even helicopter support if needed. To the supporters of privatization, I would like to ask: how far can privatization go? Would you also consider outsourcing the coastguard? Police? Firefighters? Army? Airforce? The government itself? So, what if the victim risks only a broken leg?

Probably the latter: you got bad quality material (or the wrong size??).

My main point is that Hitler did not act individually. There were more nazis: Eichmann, Himmler, Goebbels, to name some of the worst. I object that the whole thing is attributed to only Hitler, because then we overlook the fact that he had followers, and that there were also other leaders. At the same time, it is true that all the things mentioned here are a result of things that happened before. That is how the world works: everything that happened after WWII was influenced in some way or another by WWII.

I disagree. European countries were still at each other's throats, and especially the German people/govt. was rather upset with the humiliating way that WWI had ended. So, in one way or another, WWII would have started anyway. Also, fascism was developed in Italy, not Germany. Hitler did not develop the ideas. What you mean is "How would history have differred if fascism was never developed, and if WWII had not broken out?". Also, the USSR was already communist, and that view clashed heavily with the capitalist ways of the USA. It was no surprise that these powers clashed. WWII made them the only two large superpowers, that's true. But communism and the rest of the world were going to clash anyway. Also the atomic bombs were (at least conceptually) already in development, and were developed without Hitler anyway. I think you accredit far too much to Hitler himself. He became the figurehead of the nazis and took the leadership, but he was by no means unmissable for the entire history of the 20th century.

[edit] Removing my contribution. Forgot that I moderated earlier. It's mod-policy not to participate in threads where you moderate. Please ignore this post.

A lifeguard in Hallandale Beach (Florida) was fired because he rescued someone outside the protected area. The city of Hallandale Beach has outsourced its lifeguards to a company since 2003 to save money. The full story can be found here or here. I think we can all agree that in this case, that the boss of that guy behaves like a complete douche... But where to draw the line between what is good for the company, and what's good for humanity?

My point exactly. The OP asks us to think of the entire world, and all the great people that ever were. That's a big question. I simply overlooked those you mentioned.

It is ok. But there are two obvious flaws in the base model. 1. The base model should already have lasers, so that the only option is to have more lasers. But this has been pointed out a couple of times already. 2. There's a bloody zombie hiding inside your wheel!

w00t!! Scienceforums, you don't look a day younger than 15.

I don't know, and it's a good question. I can assure you it's either a practical (technical software) problem, or it just hasn't occurred to us. It's not a conspiracy, and I think it's worth considering. In a previous version of the rep-system, you could see who gave rep, and it was even possible to comment on why you gave the rep, visible only to the receiver. But that's a previous version of our forum software. I am really not sure this is possible now. [edit] Please don't think it's a conspiracy by them evil mods. I can assure you that we have better things to do than spy on people. We only do that when a situation calls for it - usually after something got reported. And even then, the rep is hardly worth our attention.

My list is a little random. What you ask for is so all-encompassing that it is easy to leave something out. I'm sure I did. 1. Socrates 2. Ghengis Khan 3. Carnot 4. Stalin (defeated Hitler) 5. Hitler 6. Julius Caesar 7. Augustus Caesar 8. James Watt 9. Ogedai Khan (for dying at just the right moment) 10. Cornelis Corneliszoon (who?) p.s. I know I left out the religious stuff. That's deliberate. I agree that it has had a large influence on the world, but I disagree with accrediting that all to a single person/phophet.

Nope. I have to agree with Jaden... I have also no clue what you're talking about. In fact, you already had a thread on this (here). I'm closing this one. ! Moderator Note Thread closed. Reason: duplicate

! Moderator Note Ophiolite, In your last post, I see that you did not mean to call pmb immature, but you do call pmb's writing style immature. And after reviewing this thread, it is my opinion that it is totally uncalled for. The mature thing would be to apologise.

eric555 has been banned for failing to successfully engage in a two-way communication with a fellow human, and generally just not making any sense. The ban was discussed among the moderators, and was approved with 6 in favor, and 0 against (a minimum of 4 is required).

! Moderator Note John Cuthber, I think you're well-aware that any discussions about the rules, and what the mods are supposed to do, belong in the "Suggestions, Comments and Support" section. So, please, if you feel you must reply to a moderator note, do it there, or use the report button. Thanks.

LOL! I agree with all of you that it needs more of pretty much everything. More lasers, more 4x4, more swords, more decap options, more snowplough with something sharp at neck height, and certainly more lasers. Did I mention it needs more lasers? But it seems most of you overlook the most important thing. It primarily needs LESS Hyundai. We'll be able to fix the rest easily once we've tackled this primary problem.

FYI, Mods will only close a thread when the rules are broken, and a continuation of the thread would likely result in more violations of the rules. Other people also participated in this thread, and they might still want to continue the discussion. As far as I can see, there was only 1 intervention in this thread, which is insufficient to close it. Since you are one of the more active people in this thread, it is not unlikely that the discussion will stop soon after you stop visiting the thread. ! Moderator Note On second thought (and reading the last post here), this discussion might have gotten so far off topic, and frankly out of hand, that closing the thread might not be the worst idea. Thread closed pending review by other mods (specifically: mods who are not involved in the discussion).

I'll just write a biased advertisement for the Netherlands: The Dutch have to offer: - Many nice towns/cities with historical centers from the 1600-1800s. Many have lovely little canals, and all towns will have hotels and restaurants. Many towns are not overly touristic. - Waterworks everywhere. Water works offer the possibility to combine some engineering geekiness with a day at the beach. - Speaking of which, the entire coastline is a beach. With good weather (that's an if), the beach is the place to be. - Tulips & other flowers, from approx. mid-April into mid-May only. Those are grown on an industrial scale. - Great public transportation. It's easy to get around. - Main airport (Amsterdam) is a hub for Europe, so it's easy to stay for just a few days. - Most of the population speaks English. - Biking infrastructure. You can cross the whole country by bicycle on special cycling roads. Also in the cities/towns, a bike is a good (and safe) way to get around. - Safe. What the Dutch don't have: - Nature. Seriously, the entire country is artificial. If a tree was not planted by a man, then at least it's tolerated by someone, and it has a permit to grow there. - Mountains. The Netherlands does not just lack mountains. It is common that a bridge is the highest point in a whole area. The country is seriously flat.

Wikipedia (source) tells us what "Stiffness" is. I think that I agree with InigoMontoya that "reduced stiffness" only means that the value of the stiffness is lower than some other reference value.

What is the purpose of this thread? Are you trying to convince people (convert)? Maybe something else? Also, do you think there might be a deeper moral to these religions, even though the superficial stories seem to be impossible to science? And if so, do you think that such a moral has a benefit to society compared to the situation without?

I speak as a member, not a moderator, when I say that in my opinion, this thread has descended into petty bickering. You have all made your points. I think it is time that we all agree to disagree, and leave it at that before people get angry and write something they'll regret later.