Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit | nickff's commentslogin

There are many non-standard screw diameters and threads. They are often implemented for particular requirement-driven (you may want deeper threads to increase strength or vibration-resistance) or regulatory reasons (certain tariffs kick-in at specific screw diameters).

Canada's air bases are very far apart, and the Arctic is very remote, so F-35's range advantage makes it particularly well-suited to performing longer patrols (though it's still only a single-engine fighter). Additionally, the F-35's stealth means that an adversary can never be confident of when or how often patrols take place.

Gripens with external tanks outrange F35 with external tanks flying dirty, and since 4th gen, stealth hardly matters. Spaced based ISR is proliferating, in 10 years F35s will be picked up through SAR from space if not already... well depending on adversary. PRC and US, stealth broadly not meaningful. IMO RU hardly relevant.

And to be blunt, RU/PRC is MORE aligned with Canadian position on Northwest Passage sovereignty. Which really only leaves US... i.e. the only actual on paper threat to NWP is US, which makes F35s terminally stupid acquisition for CAN arctic. But broad IMO is Canada simply doesn't need a strong air game because it won't survive vs adversaries operating in the north anyway. Geopolitically, Canada needs F35 to NORDAD dues/ransom more than it needs F35 for tactical/operational needs. Cue CAN buys f35, find them ruinously expensive to operate, and US will end simply "patrolling" Canadian airspace anyways.


The Chinese and Russians would both acquire Canada outright if they could. Any alliance with them is fraught with peril. The US is more culturally compatible with Canada than any other country for real. Although, they are too commie up there, I think a lot of that is imposed from the top without regard for popular opinion. The same happens in Europe.

But they can't hence point moot, and when they could/might, i.e. Russian Alaska, they didn't try. Whereas US tried to annex Canada twice, but was context of British Canada / revolutionary war. CAN not going to ally with RU/PRC for the simple reason it would trigger peril from US.

Americans forget Canada fundamentally an anti/then counter American project, it wasn't until post world war that culture became more compatible. That's still based on US minimally respecting Canadian sovereignty, including NWP, which even before new annexation talk was sore subject. So not particularly imposed from top. Family fights over property gets just as ugly, even commies like their property.


Sorry, is the F35 already arctic capable? I thought it was a work in progress?

Wait, does the US sell any stealth planes? I thought that was special secret stuff only for US usage.

Yeah... the F-35 in pretty large quantities.

They could sell non-stealth ones too.

Canada announced an intent to purchase F-35 in 2010, at which point their F-18 were old and worn-out. The current government has been delaying a purchase for over 10 years now, and just needs to do something. The F-18 are too old to be useful, and there is still no clarity on what the intended mission is. Canada needs to either buy something now, or just abandon the idea of maintaining a tactical air force.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning...


Which countries actually grant reporters immunity from having to reveal information related to criminal investigations (where others would be compelled to, and without criminal penalties)? Such immunity may be desirable (at least in some circumstances), but I am not aware of any jurisdiction that actually grants it.

At least in Finland there's a specific law about journalistic source protection (lähdesuoja) explicitly saying journalists have the right to not reveal sources.

In serious crime cases in some circumstances a court may order a journalist to reveal sources. But it's extremely rare and journalists don't comply even if ordered.

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A4hdesuoja

Edit: the source protection has actually probably never been broken (due to a court order at least): https://yle.fi/a/3-8012415


Thanks for the info & link! After some searching, I found this rather interesting study on source protection in many (international) jurisdictions, and it calls out Finland, though other countries have interesting approaches as well: https://canadianmedialawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/...

This website has some nice explanations and GIFs: https://s2.smu.edu/propulsion/Pages/variations.htm

So the "open rotor" engine is actually a propfan engine?

Essentially yes, different engine companies have used different nomenclature over time. It seems that the "open rotor" terminology is being used to emphasize the improvements which have been made to blade design, noise, and general efficiency.

The inner nerd in me is so satisfied. Thanks for the link.

That website it gold!


Good point. Still a long, long way from data centers.

We have 15,000 satellites in orbit that are almost literally the exact same premise currently being proposed - a computer with solar panels attached. We've being doing exactly this for decades.

I completely agree with your comment, but would also like to add that many cities have restricted or stopped permitting the construction of above-surface parkades, further distorting the market.

The American political system has definite problems, but so does every other system. If you rank democracies by any metric, the USA has done rather well, if not the best. If you disagree with that statement, I invite you to list the countries you consider democratic, in your order of ‘successfulness’.


LOL, the first list also seems to use the US as the cut-off & first country that is a “deficient democracy”. The magic number must be between somewhere between 0.811 and 0.821.

Having spent a good chunk of my life in Canada and the US, a list that has Canada as more democratic doesn’t make any sense to me. In the end, it’s just a random mix of different measurements, weighted to tell whatever story you want to tell.


See also this metric, showing how fast the US is falling away from a democracy:

https://www.ft.com/content/b474855e-66b0-4e6e-9b73-7e252bd88...


[flagged]


The US literally elected Trump.

Not that they had a wide field of choice and not that they can actually fire him.

Both reasons the US political system isn't all that great - it nosedived into a two party Hotelling's Law quagmire despite the founders being against party politics. It's hardly suprising a system centuries old and creaking failed to scale.

Washminster systems are a literal reaction to the cracks in the Westminster and Washington systems.

Maybe check those American Exceptionalism / Manifest Destiny blinkers and look about a little, it's hard to see out of a rut.


Washington captured many issues of the party system in his farewell address. This can relate to many times in history for both parties.

"They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force—to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party; often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/W...


Nice quote, cheers for that.

Ben Franklin on why the US Constitution is "Probably the best we can do for now" but will likely "fall to a Despot" is worth a revist in these Trumpian times.


The Germans have a new constitution and have kept the Nazis out of power with the new one.

So far. Between a quarter and a fifth of the country, however, currently votes for the Nazi party.

> The Germans literally elected the Nazis... you think they’re better at democracy

FYI - Germany changed their government after this regime fell, to ensure that it would become more democratic and harder to concentrate power in the executive. So they became more democratic as a learning process.

The US had an actual civil war (over slavery no less) and didn't change anything fundamental about their constitution nor government structure as a result. It was less deadly than the holocaust, but enduring a civil war is not a sign of a functioning democracy.


Yes, and in part because of that. The way they teach history and make their citizens resistant to authoritarianism through schooling is different from the really basic ways history is taught in America.

looks like objective data to me. Look at our democracy number, it's lower than a ton of other countries!

And to demonstrate their devotion to the cause, the EFF will take a day off from advocating against these behaviours? This makes no sense to me; why should a watchdog participate in a strike like this?

They're trying to call attention to it. This thread is one example of how taking that action is helping to accomplish that task.

That may be the intention, but to me it looks like the EFF is just giving its employees a paid day off. Also, you're not really striking if your employer approves of it, and pays you for it.

There actions are to raise awareness. People reaching out to them on Friday or going to the website will see a shutdown notice. Meanwhile, employees are available to strike, document the day, or do whatever they wish.

yeah it may not be helpful, but at least it's starting a conversation. most people aren't even aware yet, and there's no way to raise awareness without a vacation. for example none of our web designers knows how to put a message on the website without shutting it down. and none of our managers knows how to shut down a website without taking a vacation.

This is right-wing authoritarian virtue signaling IMO.

it's crypto-fascist misogynoir!

Solidarity.

All I can come up with is virtue signaling. Seems like their backlog work is low and they are making a strategic choice to try and get a funding boost by attending the protests (their message says nothing about this. It doesn't say much of anything, actually).

But the EFF doesn't provide services to the government; this action will actually benefit the 'offending' government officials by relieving them of the pressure the EFF is intended to effect.

You don’t seem to understand what a general strike is

If everybody doesn't participate equally in the general strike, then it's basically burning down your own neighborhood to protest something that happened on the other side of town.

If everybody does participate, then it amounts to burning down the whole city.

It's such a dumb idea that it's almost indistinguishable from an attempt at subversion by the actual parties/powers being protested. Announcing such an effort 3 days ahead of time while making no specific demands is just icing on the proverbial cake.


I just don't think a general strike should necessarily involve government watch-dogs; people like them and the media should work harder to amplify their messages.

Why should anyone care what you think about this? You clearly don’t understand collective action, so why don’t you just go about your business as usual?

living up to the name dingus88

And yet many people here are just hearing about this due to the EFF announcement.

sounds like it's a religious ceremony to you. the purpose of the strike is to increase pressure on the government, you're demanding actions that decrease that pressure, apparently for piety reasons.

Exactly. The Monday backlog will be twice as big as usual and somehow this is also the measurement for a successful strike??

Sure, if you needed a haircut the day of the strike and you didn't cut your own hair, you're still gonna have to go to the hairdresser the day after. Maybe as part of the general strike you cut your own hair or you just skipped a completely optional purchase though so there is no backlog the next day.

Many strikes don’t directly affect government services, so I don’t understand your point.

In this case, the EFF striking would help "ICE's reign of terror", by removing a watchdog.

It calls for no work, school or shopping, not for them to stay home and close their eyes.

I thought that the EFF’s ‘work’ was to ‘open people’s eyes’ by highlighting important concerns.

Put another way: should television and newspaper reporters not work, and avoid covering any of the protests?


Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: