The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXVIII

[hobbsyoyo]

Have there been any reports of UAVs being sold to terrorist groups?

In the last Palestine-Israel conflict this year DIYs drones have been used. The parts were probably just bought on a random online store.
I haven't heard anything about large UAVs (predator size) being sold, but this would probably not be made public anyway.

I've been beat to it, but yeah one of the Palestinians used drones during the recent conflict with Israel. I do not recall them being particularly effective as weapons delivery platforms but if they were streaming video then that would have been useful. I imagine though that their primary use was to force the Israelis to use a disproportionate amount of resources to counter a phantom threat, which is quite useful in and of itself.

Depending on how technical you want to be, a drone can be as simple as a remote controlled airplane/helicopter you pick up at radioshack. So if terrorists were so inclined, they could easily obtain one that is useful for eavesdropping or tactical feint (see above). To deliver a useful weapons payload, you'd need something more sophisticated, which someone like the Iranians would probably sell to you depending on which terrorist group you are.

So, what's happening with the plummeting oil price? Good Thing? Bad Thing?

And is the stuff edible? Because if it gets any cheaper, I shall be considering eating it.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Over production is the gist of the problem. The US is pumping out a ton of new crude (recently the US become the top global producer) thanks to the fracking boom. Said boom depended on high oil prices to get started due to the higher start up costs of setting up a fracking site. Now the Saudis and others want to push this new source of oil out of the market to protect their own quasi-monopoly so they ramped up production which drives the price down which theoretically tends to put frackers out of business.

Of course fracking on such a scale as what has been seen of late is so new that no one is sure that sustained low oil prices can actually shut down established fracking businesses, so time will tell on that front.

At the same time, produces such as Venezuela and Russia that depend on oil for a huge chunk of their budgets are obliged to produce and sell more and more to make up for the lost revenues caused by low prices. This in turn forces prices down further in the short term.


And if the Venezuelans, Russians and some others are hurt by the low oil prices, then that makes the Americans and Saudis happy; though it's hard to prove that they are conspiring to push down oil prices to hurt Russia et al on purpose as the economic reasons to do so are more readily apparent.

Oh and low oil prices are great for the economies of most of the first world that don't heavily depend on oil sales to balance their national budgets. It's been a real boon to consumers to not have to spend nearly as much at the petrol station.

 

[Farm Boy]

Hiya Hobbs!

At the same time, produces such as Venezuela and Russia that depend on oil for a huge chunk of their budgets are obliged to produce and sell more and more to make up for the lost revenues caused by low prices. This in turn forces prices down further in the short term.

Such is as it is for all(?) commodity producers that don't have enough pull to increase prices by withdrawing their goods from market. At least such is as it is for farmers. When prices have collapsed, historically, the sensible thing to do would have been to cut production. But you can't cut production when prices are so low and the bank is coming after you for your mortgage. Instead of cutting back and conserving resources like soil fertility and redirecting labor, like you'd want to do when the returns on your product aren't any good, it forces you to plough harder in an effort to outproduce the glut. It's a bad situation.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It's terrible for everyone in the long run because eventually the low prices to consumers will give way to eye-wateringly high prices when lots of producers leave the market (and of course the producers are suddenly put out of business which sucks for them). It also tends to play games with currency valuation and inflation, which are also not good.

But in the short term, it's a windfall for consumers.

 

[Farm Boy]

Also tends to consolidate the producers. Deeper pockets can better absorb the period of low prices, snap up desperate producers leaving the market at fire sale pricing, then have increased control over keeping the pricing of goods high when it rebounds since their stake is larger.

 

[Tee Kay]

Omigosh hobbsyo

asdfas

[squee]

 

[dutchfire]

It's terrible for everyone in the long run because eventually the low prices to consumers will give way to eye-wateringly high prices when lots of producers leave the market (and of course the producers are suddenly put out of business which sucks for them). It also tends to play games with currency valuation and inflation, which are also not good.

But in the short term, it's a windfall for consumers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_cycle

 

[shadowplay]

I bought a jar of Thai red curry. Besides being refrigerated, it says it has to be used within 3 days of being opened. Why so fast? What's the risk?

 

[The_J]

Just checked, there should be raw fish in it, which is probably the reason for the short time period.

 

[Arakhor]

I think that most pâtés need to be eaten within three days of opening.

 

[shadowplay]

Just checked, there should be raw fish in it, which is probably the reason for the short time period.

Makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to look it up.

 

[Takhisis]

I think that most pâtés need to be eaten within three days of opening.

Not if you put enough chemicals in it.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Omigosh hobbsyo

asdfas

[squee]

Hey dude. How goes it?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

What is this keep calm and chive on thing?

 

[Samson]

What is this keep calm and chive on thing?

There was a WW2 poster in the UK that said "Keep calm and carry on". This was taken up by a company and put on t-shirts and stuff, and was pretty successful. It has now developed into a sort of meme, with many variations.

The original:

 

[GinandTonic]

IIrc it was never actually used in WWII. Amid declassified files from the war someone found these concept propaganda posters, and they caught on. Keep Calm and pretend it's on the lesson plan and Now Panic and Freak Out were my favourites.

 

[The_J]

The wording "going out with someone", would you say that this in general implies something romantic?
I wonder, because I'm going to bother (at least try to) a female colleague/friend for this weekend, and I'm afraid she'll not get it until I get pretty clear.

 

[Takhisis]

I think that the answer to your question is very probably 'yes', although I suppose the original was in Dutch.

 

[Phrossack]

In English, "going out with someone" often means something romantic--but not always, and people you're interested in may not always get the message, as I have found. You're probably going to need the magical word "date" to be crystal clear.

 

[Farm Boy]

Yea, "date" is usually unambiguous. Also puts you on the hook for the bill* in the Midwest US, so there's that.

*Which is probably fair, since it's theoretically your idea.

 

[sophie]

The wording "going out with someone", would you say that this in general implies something romantic?
I wonder, because I'm going to bother (at least try to) a female colleague/friend for this weekend, and I'm afraid she'll not get it until I get pretty clear.

In American English "going out with someone" is like high school slang for dating/going steady. If you want to ask someone out on date and you want it to be clear that it's a date then make sure you use the word "date".

"Hey do you want to go [get coffee/dinner/see a movie (don't go see a movie)] with me? Like as a date?"

Could work fine. Or any variation on that.