Theoretically, let’s say, bozo the clown is sitting in a gondola floating through Venice, and someone on the rooftop above has a large steel net and at each corner is a very heavy weight.

How heavy would those weights need to be when the net is thrown over the canal, to drag the gondola and occupant to the bottom of the canal?

The fuckers still have to reload at some point…

That’s cool, but forget the thrusters, how is the battery pack on that thing still keeping it powered!?

Right, they’ve perfected the rocket, now we just need to load Elon onto the next flight.

Belt CVTs - I’m right there with you, but take a look into the more modern geared CVTs such as Toyota e-CVT in their hybrids - I think Honda have a similar tech. It’s a planetary gear system that provides infinite gears without the rubber band feel that plagued belt CVTs and hella-reliable.

https://youtu.be/vHc-_E8xWnM

I’m a petrolhead at heart and would love more options for manuals but in lieu of that, a geared CVT is by far the next best transmission and 100x better than a traditional auto.

Even better, jump in one and take it for a drive - because there are gears, it feels more connected to the motor - almost manual-like response and no sluggish delay like a traditional auto.

You literally pick your revs by pushing the throttle more or less, they’re magic for hills or when the car is packed since you’re never waiting for revs to climb up into the power nor holding a speed because any faster and you have to change again which takes you out of the power again. If you want more power, you simply modulate that with the throttle and the revs rise instantly to accommodate.

Yes!! This and Fatal Racing was my entire early teens!

A real team effort if the air traffic controllers join the effort too

Exactly! That pos has the attention span of a potato. Just tell him “yes sir, all done” and he’ll forget all about it

Next time AF1 goes for a jaunt to pedo-island, the air traffic controllers that trump is insulting have an opportunity to become really American heroes…

Well, if that’s how it works, every country now needs to renames the US to something else on their maps. Whoever has the best name wins something - like, the Olympics or free membership to the UN.

Suggestions now open, I’ll start: “Little Girls Blouse”

Marley and Me

Yes! DH but almost anything played straight as a change would be brilliant!

Missed a massive opportunity: the grin reaper!

Well, I’ll be damned! The republicans were right!

All it takes is a good-guy with a gun!

<click> what? <click>WHAT!? <click> STOP POKING ME!**

Good on you! I’ve found the best thing to do with upset babies is try to engage with the kid - ask the parents first(!) but babies are fascinated by new people in a way that parents can’t fulfill.

Story time: I had a crying 6mth old next to me earlier this year so I pulled out the safety sheet (asked the mum if I can show him this), channeled my inner Wiggles and kick-started it with a big, excited interruption to his crying: “wow, look at the plane!” The unexpected, strange interaction short circuits their focus on being upset and he just stopped and started at me like “wtf is this dude on?”. Once I had his attention I started pointing and describing all the pictures, then gave him the page. This turned into a 10min game of point at the picture, say the word or a story then hand it back. My names and descriptions for the people on the page got more crazy each time - after all, his were nonsensical too! I even got a few giggles as I kept it animated with hand gestures and big smiles. That turned into pointing out the windows or different things in the cabin.

The kid eventually got bored of the games after about 15-20 mins but had already forgotten he was upset and then peacefully interacted with his mum again for the rest of the flight. I got back to my book while he had the sky mag to read along like me and would still point out different pictures to me or check my book, puzzled why they were no pictures!

I even scored a tiny-dude high five as they were leaving which everyone knows are the best high fives.

Best flight I’ve had all year!

Being bad or evil is literally bad for your health.

The better you act, the better your health - great teeth, good muscle, low fat, high fitness, good looks, and longevity (to a point), no addiction or mental health issues, selfless with no crazy ego. Ie Mother Teresa looks like a supermodel!

Health can fluctuate based on behavior but it always drops 3x faster than it improves. So if you fuck around on your wife, your teeth go bad, or you start balding etc. cheat on your taxes, or lie maliciously (excl. good lies like Santa) you start to get fat n ugly.

If you’re a miserable prick who fires staff, scams people, bribes, hires children for sweatshops or harms people just to increase profit or boost share price you get cancer. But if you help those people then you may be cured provided you handle it really well and undo all the damage.

You attack someone, pedal harmful drugs or hoard unnecessary wealth, you go blind/deaf until you earn it back, more than once and it becomes permanent, each time after that you lose a limb for good.

You intentionally harm or kill someone via murder, drink driving, rape etc then it’s game over via a slow, long, painful debilitating disease that’s contagious to anyone you like or care about, ensuring you die alone.

To help identify the good/bad, your gut instincts are 10,000x more powerful and obvious to warn you of the dangers or benefits of each choice.

Serious Sam - almost any version!

He’s not been knighted - yet…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Johnson_(racing_driver)

Little red hatchback: Elmo Blue SUV with a big, ugly nose: Gonzo