The Ahruman Birthday Wishes Thread (was: never mind...)

[Commander McLane]

Unfortunately a_c had locked this thread before I could reply to the pointless posting in an appropriate way. So I was forced to open yet another pointless thread.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused!

This thread is more pointy than a porcupine convention...

Or an Anaconda Convention, for that matter...

May I point out, however, that none of these pointless short posts may technically qualify as a rambling. So, actually all of you are missing the point here.

It's not to the point of this thread to make a short point about pointy porcupines, but rather to present your points in a lengthy and confused poppycock manner, perhaps pointing to poignant points from your past, or pinpointing a perplexing point in Poincaré's perilious to-the-point equations. Or, raise your laser pointer (figuratively speaking) to a Powerpoint presentation of whatever points you may lay before us.

But, whatever you do, make it your point to justify the very point of this thread by not limiting yourselves to one line (or rather: point) only! Point it all out! Point your finger! Point at the pressing points! Give us your point of view! Appoint your favourites! Make an appointment with your personal counsellor!

In the end Dr. Siegmund Schmiegmunds Mental Fixative will fix it for you. Exactly to the point!


BWUAHAHAHAHAHA!

[CheeseRedux]

Poppycock!

[Commander McLane]

Poppycock!

Thanks, that was the word I was missing!

[goran]

Poppycock!

Thanks, that was the word I was missing!

I can't fit candy nowhere in this posts.

[Diziet Sma]

Unfortunately a_c had locked this thread before I could reply to the pointless posting in an appropriate way.

Wheeee! I got a thread killed! My life is complete!

[Cody]

Zadies Tim (anag.) strikes again.

[Cmdr Wyvern]

Just to keep this thread from becoming needlessly pointless...

I love my family, but at times they can be a real pain in the ass! In this case, I got the point of a needle driven home when I parked my tail end in my command seat. The point I'm trying to make is, before plopping your keester down, check for the presence of sharply pointed objects, lest you too get a painful point made.

[Diziet Sma]

Good point!







(am I pushing my luck?)

[Commander McLane]

(am I pushing my luck?)

Shhhhht! Don't point at it!

[goran]

And now to the short musical break.

[Commander McLane]

And now to the short musical break.

Hmmm. I would think the short musical break should be one of these.

[DaddyHoggy]

A serious moment/question (on this thread! <shock> <horror>)

Given China's continued clamping down on Rare Earth Element exports (to keep them for itself, because it can, because it wants to drive the price up, because it wants to wind the US up, etc. ???) - once the rest of us have dug up the rest of the world looking for alternative sources (Africa?) at what point does it become viable to start mining the asteroid fields instead?

I ask because many, many years ago I wrote a short story (the premise for a novel) where this is basically what happened - that the need and expense of elements on Earth made it worthwhile to mine the Asteroid belt - horribly expensive to start with (was my thoughts) as more and more nations clubbed together to do it it got cheaper, more technologically advanced, quicker and eventually lead to deep space observatories, labs and exploration because we had a base/production facility to do it from.

Thoughts/musings of your own?

[Lestradae]

I want to point out that I find DaddyHoggy's considerations very considerate and to the point: He argues his point well.

Just wanted to share this with all of you. Rare earths rule.

[Cody]

The need for rare minerals is what will drive space exploration… probably by private enterprise with (or without) government support. The asteroid belt is an incredibly vast source of minerals and surely it can only be a matter of time before the need drives ‘us’ out there. Then the squabbles will start… as they probably will in Antarctica and on the Moon. Forget about international treaties, they mean nothing in the long run. As DH says, the other things like observatories and labs will have to follow (or precede maybe). ‘Interesting’ times will no doubt follow. This is why China and India are so keen to have their own space programs and China especially will not worry about any lives lost in the process. The next century will belong to China, I’m afraid. I’ll make a prediction… China will have the first manned base on Mars.

Britain, of course, will be way behind the curve and Europe will fragment at some stage. The USA is already handing many space functions over to private enterprise. The multi-nationals will be at the forefront.

[JensAyton]

Regardless of what China does, we’re looking at enough reserves for a few decades at current rates of consumption, and the issue isn’t well publicised. By the time it becomes an issue people are willing to invest heavily in, we may not be able to [afford to] extract enough to build effective mining robots.

In short, we’re doomed. (There’s a cheery thought to celebrate the rest of my birthday with…)