The author picks-off Face Book in particular, for criticism unfairly I believe.
What I observe inside my own relationship with FB, is its proponents among friends and families are not comprehensive.
But for those of the above who are proponents, it is invaluable as a communication tool.
The article glosses over the power we have by its design, to enable a streamlining of the tool.

To be fair though, I could imagine excessive use of social media, as a fault. And could not disagree. However, as a comparison to other mass human obsessions, it is low down the list of culprits in the negative scale.

We tend to judge our environment by external observations of our surroundings. Since that is so, easy it is to observe people around us with their heads staring into an electronic device, as a fault in them, when it is not necessarily so, irrespective of the arguments against in this article.

Engineering and aerodynamics Hasbeen?

Should tell us, you have (or had) a logical rational mind? So maybe you can explain the phenomena of the trend, since the mid seventies, of record following record ambient temperatures. And occurring during a solar waning period, that seems to have kicked in, also in the mid seventies? (NASA)

Traditionally, a cooling sun, waning period, would have ushered in an ice age! Not year on year trending ever upward, record high temperatures.

Simply put, a cooler solar furnace does not make for a warmer planet!

That's like saying a naturally aspirated, four cylinder torana, is going to put in a hotter lap around Mount Panorama, than the V8 powered one!

You want to eyeball the visual evidence? Replete with accurate charts!

Then get on the weather channel. And take a butchers, the come back and repeat that risible rubbish if you can, that it's all a money making conspiracy that involves hundreds and hundreds of secretly cooperating scientists, the world over. Some of who don't get a cracker of grant money!

One could understand the reluctance of accepting change, if it could harm our economy! But a timely (ASAP) transition to thorium, rolled out, once again, publicly owned power generation, as walk away safe, molten salt, thorium reactors would do the very opposite!

From which, we'd gain the world's cheapest, safest cleanest energy!

And would come with the added bonus of being carbon free!

And allow our future exports to avoid inevitable carbon tariffs!

Couple that "new energy", to recent innovation that desalinates water (deionizing dialysis) for quarter of the traditional cost and results in 95% Potable water, that among a host of tangible benefits, could easily create, a drought proofed Australia!

The Irish have an expression, which goes, life wasn't meant to be taken too seriously, after all, none of us will ever get out of it alive! Sorry, sorry, sorry if you don't find my humor funny, funny, funny? Try putting a finger in one ear, instead of both? Works for me!

Merry Christmas old mate and a happier New Year!
Alan B.

Happy Silly Season to you all. Have a safe one. No worries, Drumphf, once in the White House will up the ante on the nuclear industry. Australia's looming recession will be no longer, as a result of U2 sales going gangbusters. Some time before the economic forecasts are due in we'll see a conflagration ( No Alan B it won't be Thorium based) and global warming will be cured with a decade or so of nuclear winters as a result of MAD. Russia will be the new world superpower ( if they're happy with a radioactive pile of dust formerly known as 'Earth'). Happy New Year !

Don't be silly Albie, it's Hillary who was in the pocket of the military industrial complex. They want a bit of increase in business, & Hillary would have given it to them.

Trump is in businesses that suffer in wartime, so has much less reason to want any conflict.

Hasbeen...the only thing I remember from my flying days (actually parachuting with the military) was this very true adage: "the probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival."

As I've aged the other saying applies more as each day passes, which says:

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways , cigar in one hand, whiskey in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!" (Original Author Unknown)

A more refined version was published by Sir Walter Scott.

“One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum, in which men steal through existence, like sluggish waters through a marsh, without either honour or observation.”

May you all have a wonderful and enjoyable 2017 ! May your existences not be stolen, but given their best shot with what you have available. Thank you all for the repartee and wisecracks along the way. Best wishes from the other side of Australia.

This is a great concept. We spend too much time on social media!