A question about EMP -

I think I understand how a pulse might disrupt an active alternating current - I'm thinking that the frequency is disrupted. I'm not so sure about a DC current.

I can follow that some components might be fried by a power surge.

But if a wire will carry a current today, is exposed to an EMP, what keeps it from carrying a wire tomorrow? How would an EMP cause every chemical battery exposed to completely discharge?

I can see a grid being knocked out, but what keeps it from being brought back up?

Sad story of body image : girls trying to get so thin their thighs don't touch:

About the federal ACA web site - some perspective -

My husband works for a division located in another state, but his insurance has always been through the local plant. Last year we fell into the cracks; we were sent the paperwork for the out of state plan and signed up for that, only to find out that we were covered under the local plan which had already closed its annual sign-up options. It took us over six months to get the entire thing straightened out.

We're supposed to have 100% coverage on immunizations. Our doctor won't bill for immunizations - he keeps getting burned. I paid for the immunizations up front - $75 each. I submitted the claim, and had to call the insurance company a month later to find out that it still hadn't been entered into the system. The insurance company then supposedly paid the doctor $68 since that is what they pay for an immunization. Three months later, he still hasn't gotten his check, so he hasn't sent the refund to me.

We need to stop calling them fast food workers and see them for what they are;

assembly line workers.

Think about it: standard parts (patties, buns, nuggets etc.) are manufactured at one place, hauled to another, then assembled into a final product according to a customer spec.

We also need to start giving them good factory wages!

We all owe our thanks to this Right wing pastor -

the worst part about mean people is that

they tempt you to be mean back. Sometimes I have to tell myself to step away from the keyboard and out of GD!

GORN!

Yarn people - what am I missing here?

I've bought some premium yarns that come in a twisted skein;



I've never figured out how to roll the yarn into a ball easily. I untwist the skein and end up with a large loop, but the thread seems to be entangled with itself. To wind it I end up having to follow a path through the skein.

I'm not sure how to phrase this, so bear with me -

but how do we in modern society make room for outsiders?

Outsiders could be individuals who just don't fit in. For example, not all the homeless are mentally ill, but there are people on the fringes who just don't fit in for what ever reason. i Sometimes they can subsist on odd jobs, but rarely can they be relied on to show up for work every day. I suspect that someday they will all be identified (labeled?) as being somehow non-typical one way or another - autistic or something else. So how do we ensure that they are fed, clothed and sheltered properly with respect, without losing their freedom?

Then there are people who are outsiders because of who they are - I'm thinking here of the various nomadic peoples of the West, Travelers and tinkers and Roma. How can they survive without being forced to assimilate? The same applies to many Native Americans.

As a society, we are terrified of poor people who are unwilling to live in one place and go to work for someone every morning. I think a lot of people secretly hate their own lives and are jealous. It's OK not to work and live as you will provided you have money. Think about it - what's the real difference between the wealthy family moving among six different homes and the poor family living in a camper?

So - can we function as a society with room for people on the edges to have food, clothing, shelter and their freedom, and for their children to have the choice of how they want to live, or must we scare most of us to be worker bees by punishing those who don't follow the expected path?

Backdrops at speeches -

It's distracting to have a group of people staring at the speaker's head ( or almost fainting!)

It's rather crass to have a backdrop that advertises the site or sponsoring organization - I don't know who had the first one, but now they are ubiquitous. I'm referring to the ones that have the name and/or logo of the sponsor(s) arranged like a repeating wall paper pattern.

I'd rather see nothing but a curtain or wall.