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Pat

@taz @LouisIngenthron

This is the test of little debate I just had with a couple of guys here on qoto about electric cars.

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Pat

Taz @taz
Here's an idea. Instead of virtue signalling, celebrities like Rainn Wilson could, you know, actually reduce their own horrifically huge if they really care about or think there is a

foxnews.com/entertainment/rain

Rainn Wilson changes name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson to raise climate change awareness
"The Office" star Rainn Wilson is changing his name on social media to bring awareness to the melting Arctic. The actor has been a longtime climate activist.

www.foxnews.com
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4h

Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@taz I agree the name change thing is dumb, but I don't think *anyone* changing their own footprint is gonna solve this, so that's also really just virtue signaling as well.

Collective controls are really the only way forward.

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3h

Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

I think the two most important things one can do for the climate are:

1. Drive an electric car (when you absolutely must drive).

2. Practice abstinence.

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Taz @taz
@Pat @LouisIngenthron

Yeah, because it's not like most electricity comes from fossil fuels, right?

🤔

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Pat @Pat
@taz

Maybe. It depends. But even in the extreme, where all of it was produced with gas/oil, an electric car is still much more efficient than a putt-putt car.

Also, going forward, more and more electricity will come from renewable sources.

@LouisIngenthron

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3h

Taz @taz
@Pat @LouisIngenthron

Renewable technology has a long way to go. It will get there but it's going to be a while yet.

When you take into account the ecological impact of creating and later disposing of the batteries in EVs, they don't fare much, if any, better than the current internal combustion engines in cars today. That's without even beginning to take into account the batteries used to store renewable energy for later use.

Besides, you don't really own that electric car. It is permanently tethered to the home planet and they can shut it down or lock you out remotely.

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3h

Pat @Pat
@taz @LouisIngenthron

Did you take this into account?

(image: Marine Photobank, cc-by-sa-2.0, mediawiki Commons)

a bird, maybe a cormorant, covered in oil in the Black Sea.
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2h

Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@Pat @taz Until the power grid is no longer powered by fossil fuels, EVs contribute to that every bit as much as standard vehicles.

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Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

>"Until the power grid is no longer powered by fossil fuels, EVs contribute to that every bit as much as standard vehicles."

Actually, they don't. I get 4-5 mi/kWh. Work it out -- it's just fraction of CO2 footprint of a typical putt-putt car.

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2h

Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@Pat @taz 0.08 gallons of petroleum per kWh. At 4 miles per kWh, you're at about 50 miles to the gallon. Which is directly comparable to pretty much every hybrid available, and not that much worse than the traditional economy vehicles.
Now, if you get solar panels installed on your house to charge your EV, that's *actually* doing something. But the sad part is, it still isn't enough, because the earth is really really big and our individual choices don't make a bit of difference. The change has to come from the top and apply collectively.

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2h

Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

EPA gasoline gallon equivalent is 33.7 kWh / gallon. (epa.gov/fueleconomy/)

At 4.5 mi/kWh, that's 151.65 miles per gallon.

Fuel Economy | US EPA
Information on fuel economy labeling, history and trends of fuel economy, testing and data, and information on how federal agencies work together on the issue of…

www.epa.gov
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2h

Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@Pat @taz

Your link doesn't lead to a page with any statistics.

This one, however, has it at 12.69 kWh/gallon for petroleum liquids.
eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
www.eia.gov
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2h

Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

That eia number is not for cars, it's just energy. Cars mostly turn the energy from gas into heat, not miles. The EPA number is 33.7 kWh/gal, which accounts for the inefficiency of putt-putt cars.

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Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@Pat @taz You seem to have lost the thread.

We're talking about how much petroleum *power plants* use to power your car. They burn the gas just like my car does.

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Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

>"We're talking about how much petroleum *power plants* use to power your car. They burn the gas just like my car does."

First, a lot of the power doesn't even come from oil/gas, it nukes, wind, solar and bunch of other sources, depending on where your electricity comes from.
Second, they "...burn the gas just like my car does." They don't burn gasoline, they burn natural gas usually, and they don't use inefficient pistons, they use turbines to power the generators. It's not the same at all -- it's much more efficient than burning fuel in a putt-putt car.

And if what you say is case, why does it cost so much less money to power an electric car? If the power plants have to pay for the fuel, why is it so much less to use electricity? Ans: Because they are not wasting all that fuel like a putt-putt car does.

Plus now solar is much less than other sources, so the market will switch over quick enough.

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1h

Taz @taz
@Pat @LouisIngenthron

BTW, if you live in CA where the cost of electricity is second highest in the country. Your $3 only buys you a little over 11 miles of range making it almost exactly on par with $7 per gallon gasoline.

EVs are the future, maybe. But they aren't the nirvana you wish them to be.

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1h

Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@taz @Pat And yet California wants to completely phase out combustion engines to get more EVs on their overloaded and overpriced grid 🤦‍♂️
They really are living in a different world over there.
(Not that my home state of Florida is much different in that respect)

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1h

Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

@LouisIngenthron @taz

>"EVs are the future, maybe. But they aren't the nirvana you wish them to be."

>"Eventually, EVs will be significantly better.

But we're nowhere close to that yet."

I'm there already, for years now. I've been driving my electric for years now and it's just great:

- it's pennies/kWh instead of $4.00/gal
- Virtually no maintenance
- Very quiet
- Better performance (high torque)
- I don't have to stop at a gas station to fill it, I just plug it in at night like a cell phone
- I don't get smelly gas all over my hands and clothes
- I don't have to breathe in those smelly fumes at the gas station
- I don't start it up or warm it up, it just goes
- Don't breathe in that smelly exhaust

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Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@Pat @taz It doesn't matter "where you are" when our energy grid is still powered by fossil fuels.

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Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

It matters.

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Louis Ingenthron
@LouisIngenthron
Follow
@Pat @taz To some folks' egos, sure. It does not, however, matter to the environment. Not yet.

November 12, 2022, 5:54 PM · · 1 · 0 · 0 · Open in web
1h

Pat @Pat
@LouisIngenthron @taz

Facts are facts. Electric cars use less energy.

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Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron
@Pat @taz Only when you ignore manufacturing and disposal costs.

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Taz @taz
@LouisIngenthron @Pat

Just wait until they get taxed per mile because they aren't paying gasoline taxes.

I have my popcorn ready.

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Pat @Pat
@taz @LouisIngenthron

New rules, huh?

Here's a new rule... all you dead-enders who think putt-putt cars are so great, everyone who thinks electric cars are no good, you guys have to drive your putt-putt cars from now on and can never drive electric cars, while everyone else joins the 21st century.

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39m

Pat @Pat
@taz @LouisIngenthron

Speaking of taxes, how about we send a tax bill to the oil industry for this:

photo showing burning vehicles, destruction from the Iraq war.
(public domain image from mediawiki commons)
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Taz @taz
@Pat @LouisIngenthron

Who should get this bill?

insideevs.com/news/550960/tesl

Charging Tesla Destroyed By Fire Which Spread To Owner’s House
The fire reportedly started in the rear of the vehicle, which was burned beyond repair, but luckily the property damage is minimal and nobody was hurt.

insideevs.com
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Pat @Pat
@taz @LouisIngenthron

>"Who should get this bill?"

The oil industry should pay the bill for all of the oil wars. Those wars were fought on behalf of the oil industry, so they should pay the bill.

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Taz @taz
@Pat @LouisIngenthron

Rules? Huh?

You seem pretty thirsty for someone who claims to be comfortable in her choice of transportation.

BTW, I don't believe your $3 "fill up" claim. The math just doesn't add up unless you recharge your car far more often than you should. In which case you are severely reducing the useful life of the battery pack in your car.

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Pat @Pat
@taz @LouisIngenthron

qoto.org/@Pat/1088469359424735

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Taz @taz
@Pat @LouisIngenthron

Yeah, you've gone off the deep end.

I'm out. I'm muting this thread.

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Pat

A positively charged atom or group of atoms is a cation. (cat-i-on)

(image courtesy: Sean McGrath, cc-by-sa-2.0, Mediawiki Commons)

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Pat

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Mission to Mars (2000)

This film got great reviews in Europe but lousy reviews in the US. I suspect the lousy reviews were due to something other than the quality of the film because this is a well-made film. The sets and props are about the best I’ve seen, and the CG (computer graphics) are also well done.

The writing is a little weak, especially the dialogue, but these seasoned actors were able to bring those words to life. The plot is nothing special and the narrative is just a straight, linear story throughout – no flashbacks or flash-forwards. It’s a very easy film to watch and doesn’t demand much from the audience, but it’s still entertaining and realistic for the most part. There are a lot of lines of exposition in this film, but I think the filmmakers wanted to make sure anyone could watch this one and easily follow the plot.

Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump) gets the most screen time of the main characters, while Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) got the least, and Cheadle was also given the majority of the clumsy exposition lines. (I wonder why?) The women were also slighted in this film, but sadly that’s typical for 20th century Hollywood.

Visually the film was fantastic with realistic scenes on Mars and in space which was somewhat reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. They didn’t get the science right all the time, and some of the situations and problems they faced were kind of unrealistic, but that’s par for Hollywood.

This is a great film for a family, or a group of people that may include those who might struggle with a more complex plot line or who prefer a temporally linear presentation but it’s entertaining for science geeks, too.

(image from film, fair use)

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Pat

Guide to Content Warnings

On qoto, the only toots that require a content warning (CW) are:

- Spoilers
- NSFW (Not Safe For Work) – this is up for interpretation, but I assume refers to tits and dicks
- Using a derogatory epithet or racially charged language in a toot that itself is not racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise hateful speech (such as quoting a passage from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for critical purposes)*

Other reasons someone may want to use CW’s here on qoto:

- Strobe effects (to avoid triggering an epileptic seizure in people who are susceptible)
- Violence, accidents, rape, suicide, self-harm, death, etc., including to non-human animals (PTSD, etc.)
- Food (pics of food can prompt people with metabolic syndrome, eating disorders, which are relatively common)
- Pics of drugs (may trigger use by people who are addicted)
- Very long posts (so uninterested readers don’t have to scroll through them)

It’s better if the CW description is more specific (without itself containing CW-eligible content). Instead of just “Spoiler”, say “Spoiler – The Wizard of Oz”. Also, it’s generally a good idea to repeat the CW description within the toot itself at the top of the toot for those who may have the auto-open feature enabled.

What doesn’t need a CW:

- swear words
- content that might hurt someone’s feelings
- unpopular opinions
- political content
- pictures of animals (that are alive and well)
- content from those with autism or who are otherwise neuro-atypical
- using the CW as a title or heading for your toot or trying to place actually content into the CW description is irritating for others

Overuse of the CW feature ultimately undermines it’s usefulness because it forces people to have to click on each toot or just enable the auto-open feature. However, someone with a condition like epilepsy or PTSD, the auto-open feature is not really an option so CW overuse effectively forces people with disabilities to click each toot while everyone else can just enable the auto-open feature, which doesn’t seem fair.

Other Mastodon instances have varying rules and views on CW use.

Note: I’m not an admin or moderator here, this is just my opinion. I don’t always adhere to these guidelines and you can do what you want.

- - - -

* This epithet restriction isn’t listed in the rules, but it was adopted as a compromise in response to some specific events. Of course hate-based speech such as sexist, racist, homophobic or anti-trans speech will not be tolerated. (Note: I personally block anyone who uses epithets in any context because the intent is often ambiguous and you can communicate the same info without explicitly using the epithet.)

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Pat

I think using a CW in a post merely because it contains civics information (politics) is one of most anti-democratic things I've seen on fedi.

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Pat

A Hedy Lamarr bot.

Fedi is fantastic! :blobcatadorable:

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Pat

spoiler... 

"...muzzle to muzzle, now anything goes..."

Show thread
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Pat

youtube.com/watch?v=N2BuP-NcJ5

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Pat

WARNING: Innocuous Toot 

Good Morning Fedi!

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Pat

TruthBeTold spoiler – Patsplaining 

This one is partially true...

Avril Lavigne is not in the U.S. presidential line of succession and she was born in Canada. But the reason why she is not in the presidential line of succession is because she is a singer and song writer, and is not a U.S. government official at all.

This TruthBeTold is deceiving because it shows a picture of Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, but actually talks about the similarly named Avril Lavigne. (Avril, French for April, is an uncommon name in the US.)

When this toot went out, the DNI was not in the presidential line of succession because it was not a cabinet level position. (Cabinet members are in the line of succession in the order of when the office was established.) However, since I posted this toot, President Biden has elevated the DNI to a cabinet level position. So Congress will likely update the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 to include the DNI.

The tags, explained...

- names of songs written and performed by Avril Lavigne.
- Haines studied theoretical physics at University of Chicago where she received her BS, and for a time pursued a doctorate at Johns Hopkins.

Show thread
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Pat

In lieu of retooting my for the new folks, here's a link to my first toots here on qoto (which includes my intro toot):

qoto.org/@Pat?min_id=0

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Pat

@realDAN_VAN favourited your toot

Damn, you're a fast reader.

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Pat

Alright, here’s my election toot…

When you vote this Tuesday please remember that the pandemic response in on the ballot.

The response to the pandemic in the US is the worst public policy failure in our country’s history. Our elected officials, the CDC and others are responsible for this catastrophe.

- More than one million people have died needlessly (nearly all of those deaths were preventable)
- More people died from COVID-19 in the US than in any other country
- Tens of millions of people are too sick to work (causing a worker shortage)
- Misinformation about respirators (N95 masks)
- Hoarding hundreds of millions of N95 masks in the Strategic National Stockpile throughout the pandemic
- Widespread use of respirators would have stopped the epidemic in the US
- Misinforming people about the effectiveness of the vaccines (no, they don’t prevent infection or prevent spread of the virus)
- Unnecessary lockdowns
- Forced vaccinations
- Confusing mask on / mask off recommendations
- Officials’ response to the pandemic caused a ruined economy and skyrocketing inflation

When you vote, please hold incumbent politicians accountable for what they have done to our country.

In particular, the following Senators are on the committee that is responsible for oversight of the CDC and other agencies that caused all of this suffering:

Jerry Moran (KS)
Tim Scott (SC)
Lisa Murkowski (AL)
Rand Paul (KY)
Maggie Hassan (NH)
Patty Murry (WA)

If you live in those states, when you vote this Tuesday please hold these Senators accountable for what they have done to our country. If you live in another state, please vote for the challenger on the ballot and not the incumbent.

I can’t think of anything more consequential and concerning than the needless deaths of more than a million Americans.

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Pat

Index - Retro Scifi’s of the Week (long) 

Index for Retro Scifi’s of the Week

Dec 2021

Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)
qoto.org/@Pat/1075273931619741

Jan 2022

Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)
qoto.org/@Pat/1076242260652910

Forbidden Planet (1956)
qoto.org/@Pat/1076561505464321

Silent Running (1972)
qoto.org/@Pat/1076958946235230

Feb 2022

Andromeda Strain (1971)
qoto.org/@Pat/1077378629921935

Soylent Green (1973)
qoto.org/@Pat/1077779583942588

A Trip to the Moon (1902)
qoto.org/@Pat/1078181258197280

A Taste of Armageddon (1967)
qoto.org/@Pat/1078557503736798

Mar 2022

The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
qoto.org/@Pat/1078948353353098

The Bicentennial Man (1999)
qoto.org/@Pat/1079397907845509

War of the Satellites (1958)
qoto.org/@Pat/1079740021449656

I, Robot (2004)
qoto.org/@Pat/1080137836364019

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe: Doom of the Dictator (1940)
qoto.org/@Pat/1080507294987768

Apr 2022

Tron (1982)
qoto.org/@Pat/1080902592485591

Starship Troopers (1997)
qoto.org/@Pat/1081323696798403

Godzilla (1954)
qoto.org/@Pat/1081680581571365

12 to the Moon (1960)
qoto.org/@Pat/1082123885158828

May 2022

The Time Machine (1960)
qoto.org/@Pat/1082536793837480

Contact (1997)
qoto.org/@Pat/1082908923812273

The Atomic Submarine (1954)
qoto.org/@Pat/1083298600702670

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
qoto.org/@Pat/1083710815444792

June 2022

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
qoto.org/@Pat/1084091612304515

Metropolis (1927)
qoto.org/@Pat/1084494550472156

Supercar (1965)
qoto.org/@Pat/1084870840959889

Cloud Atlas (2012)
qoto.org/@Pat/1085234470913944

AI: Artificial Intelligence (2000)
qoto.org/@Pat/1085685651320926

July 2022

Virtuosity (1995)
qoto.org/@Pat/1086078964539658

Battlefield Earth (2000)
qoto.org/@Pat/1086573600491480

Brainstorm (1983)
qoto.org/@Pat/1086799861138926

Timebomb (1991)
qoto.org/@Pat/1087387448408608

August 2022

Radar Men from the Moon (1952)
qoto.org/@Pat/1088072885017000

Electric Dreams (1984)
qoto.org/@Pat/1088406278302125

September 2022

American Warships (2012)
qoto.org/@Pat/1089365161868916

Epoch (2001)
qoto.org/@Pat/1089770563796808

Splash (1984)
qoto.org/@Pat/1090199350798861

Loss of Sensation (1935)
qoto.org/@Pat/1090555110560373

Waterworld (1995)
qoto.org/@Pat/1090832014155361

October 2022

The Island (2005)
qoto.org/@Pat/1091405372020411

In Time (2011)
qoto.org/@Pat/1091803393076948

Justin Time (2010)
qoto.org/@Pat/1092445002243936

November 2022

WarGames (1983)
qoto.org/@Pat/1092820087237854

- - - - -

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Pat

Any experts on Vespula out there?

I recently had an encounter with Vespula maculifrons and received several stings and bites but surprisingly, they were relatively painless. However, the sources I’ve read about the species indicate that the stings are painful.

They became very aggressive after I accidentally disturbed their subterranean nest, but the stings were merely noticeable, not painful. They felt like a bite from a large mosquito or a mandible pinch from a small insect like a non-venomous ant or slightly more painful than a ladybug pinch. Less painful than a black fly, and much less painful than a honey bee.

So, are my sources incorrect or do I just have some weird blood-chem that makes the venom less painful for me?

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Pat

Blocking @josemanuel for using a homophobic epithet.

0
Pat

#8080 #6502

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

WarGames (1983)

The authenticity of this film has held up pretty well over time. They apparently had very good technical consultation with only a few incredulous “Hollywood moments” thrown in here and there. The film also provides an excellent snapshot of the early hacker culture and the 80’s cold war posture. At the time the film was produced, only a small portion of the population even knew how to use a computer, let alone owned one.

Production wise, it was pretty well made and is still entertaining even though it’s now been 40 years since it was produced. The filmmakers made liberal use of stock character actors in the film who played it a bit over the top at points, and there was quite a bit of awkward exposition, which is not uncommon for a film that is trying to introduce new concepts to an audience, which at the time, was digitally illiterate.

The film has acquired substantial cultural significance over the years and was likely influential in forming public opinion about technology, nuclear weapons and the cold war.

Recommended for anyone who needs to understand the early days of the computer revolution and the American cultural environment during the years leading up to the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Pat

Yeah, that should be "cute furry", not "cute fury". Although in this particular case, either works. 😆

Show thread
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Pat

Here’s a cool chart I found on Wikipedia that shows the age/sex demographics of the US population over time. In a sense, it’s a 3D chart – 2-spacial, 1-temporal dimension.

There’s a common trope about not having enough working-age population to support the retirement of the Baby Boom generation, because there was a huge bulge in births followed by a decline in births. But, as this chart shows, immigration has filled in those “low spots” over time, so thanks to our high immigration rate there are enough people to take care of all those old Boomers as they retire. (Even the ones who protest against immigrants.)

(chart from Mediawiki Commons, creative common license)

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