What the above have in common? They are all fantasy. True, the first two are the result of a mathematical model of the universe. But is seems that math constructs beat observations, in the current scheme of things, hands down.
NASA Satellite Captures Black Hole Birth
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) -- The birth of a black hole has been captured for the first time, a NASA scientist said Monday.
NASA's Swift orbiting observatory detected the gamma ray burst of the collision between two dense neutron stars about early Monday and pointed its visible light and X-ray telescopes at the collision about a minute later, said Neil Gehrels, lead scientist for the Swift mission.
"The birth cry of a black hole is one way people like to put it," Gehrels said, adding the huge flash of gamma rays was "seen across the whole universe."
"Birth cry"..., Oh, the sheer poetry of it!
"Across the whole universe"... mc squared be damned!
The satellite recorded the x-rays from the collision, but the visible light was too faint to be detected by the satellite. However, alerts sent to ground-based telescopes enabled them to view the afterglow of the collision, Gehrels said.
Astronomers have theorized the collapse or collision of massive stars is what produces black holes - so dense not even light can escape - and that the resulting gravitational energy sends gamma rays shooting out across time and space.
The collision matched what theorists had predicted would happen when two dying stars collide, Gehrels said, helping solve a "mystery that has been with us for 30 years."
#1. So, which was it, x-rays or gamma rays? If the model predicts gamma rays and you get x-rays burst, the prediction does not pan out.
#2. The stars in question have different red-shifts (I still have to verify this), that would place them so apart that it is not even funny, according our esteemed cosmologists take on the red shift. So, did they colide via some 'spooky mechanism at a distance'? It may be a considerable distance, I may add.
#3. "the visible light was too faint to be detected by the satellite". But "black holes - so dense not even light can escape". OK, it may be just that the writer is too dense.
#8
mhw, thanks for the elucidation. There is a bit of difference, though. Gamma rays cannot be reflected/captured by mirrors. So, another method has to be used to gauge the critters (Compton scattering telescopes).
According to the model, when a star collapses into a black hole, a burst of gamma rays is emited. The x-rays come later (plus some ultravioled and even longer waves) emited at event horizon, when additional matter is falling into the black hole.
So, what do you think? Is our sun a black hole? It emits both gamma and x-rays. Hell, even Jupiter does emit x-rays and radio waves. Something just does not add up.
What the above have in common? They are all fantasy.
You take that back about Darkwing, you bastard!
OK, where to begin:
So, which was it, x-rays or gamma rays?
Both. The coalescence will produce photons at a variety of wavelengths. Visible light, too.
But "black holes - so dense not even light can escape".
That's from the hole itself, once it's established. Emission can escape from the collision.
Well, in the process of writing this, the household gamma ray expert came home, and he said it was a bunch of shit premature to call this the birth of a black hole.
You're still in the doghouse about Darkwing, though.
#11
Whoops, there is no baby black hole. All that happened was a high energy electric arc that jumped between the two busybodies (that is the flash that has been seen initially). That may have resulted in gama rays burst (that part is still unconfirmed) and then as the energy dissipated, the wavelength shifted towards x-rays and ultraviolet spectrum.
#1
Yes. When I want expert advice on a Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty I look to some sort of weapons expert, maybe a treaty negotiator. When the UN needs advice, it turns to a hack overrated performance artist sponging off of the leftover fortune of her murdered rock star husband.
#3
I dunno. I think there's a lot of ignorance in this area and we could all benefit from a debate of the two leading experts in nuclear proliferation:
There a pic at the link. I want one.
AS the world gears up for the latest Star Wars movie, fans of the films can have their own Pod walker. Japan's Sakakibara Machinery Works has unveiled its version of a sit-in walking robot, dubbed Land Walker 2. The 3.4m, one-tonne robot walks at 1.5km/h. It is operated by four pedals in the cockpit. A monitor showing the feet area helps the driver watch their step. Air guns on each side of robot shoot a rubber ball 20-30m. The company sells it for 36 million yen ($43,500). However owners are advised that these land walkers are vulnerable to hostile Ewoks and Wookies.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 02:19 ||
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I must be tired... I did read the headline as:
"Japanese produce robot slut"
Greece should have the exclusive right to call its cheese feta, the legal adviser to the European Union's top court said on Tuesday, recommending it dismiss a joint appeal by Denmark and Germany. The European Commission decided in 2002 that feta cheese could be called feta only if it was made in certain parts of Greece, giving the product the same kind of protection as parma ham and champagne. The move angered Denmark, the best known maker of feta after Greece, and Germany, which asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to annul the Commission's decision, arguing that feta was a generic term for the salty cheese.
But ECJ Advocate-General Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer said feta could not be considered a generic name, but should be regarded as a traditional name for the cheese originating in Greece. "Feta is linked with a large part of Greece historically and at the present time," the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement. "Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo proposes that the Court of Justice dismiss the actions brought by Germany and Denmark." The adviser's opinion is not binding, but the court follows his advice in some 80 percent of cases. The opinion is a victory for Greece, where the soft white cheese is believed to have been produced for around 6,000 years. Athens has campaigned since 1994 for geographical protection for feta, which is made of a blend of sheep and goat's milk.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
05/10/2005 13:15 ||
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#1
Going forward, I guess we'll all be referring to non-Greek feta as "the cheese formerly known as feta".
#11
I haven't been this worried since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/10/2005 14:55 Comments ||
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#12
This has intercultural incident written all over it. Better book time at the ICC / ICJ / QRSTUVWXYZ. And call del Ponte and make sure she's available. Gonna be ugly. Better up the global "fair share" tax from 7% to 8% to cover it.
BRUSSELS — Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt pulled out of Russia's World War Two celebrations on Monday as the crisis in Belgium between the francophone and Flemish communities deepened. World leaders, including George W.Bush, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, joined Russian president Vladimir Putin at Moscow's Red Square to mark the 60th anniversary of the victory of the allied forces over the Nazis. Verhofstadt had been scheduled to join them to watch a military parade to mark the anniversary. However, on Sunday, Verhofstadt's spokesman Didier Seeuws announced that the speaker of the Belgian parliament, Herman De Croo, would go in place of the prime minister.
The move came as the deadline expires for Verhofstadt's centre-left coalition to find a solution to the controversial question of the electoral division of Brussels-Hal-Vilvorde. Last Tuesday, parliament agreed to again postpone a decision for another week.
"We agree to do nothing! Let's have lunch."
Flemish parties are determined that BHV — which has more Dutch-speaking Belgians than francophones — should be made a part of Flanders.
"Ve must have a united Flemland!"
Francophone parties are prepared to agree to the change if six communes on the edge of Brussels, containing a large number of French speakers, are made a part of bilingual Brussels.
Partitioning the country along ethnic lines, what a noval idea. That's worked so well in the past.
However, Flemish parties do not seem ready to agree to such a deal. If both communities cannot strike a deal, Verhofstadt might be forced to resign. The issue could even precipitate elections to settle the issue.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 12:57:54 PM ||
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#1
Flemish and spat in the same line. Great header!
#2
BH - Indeed, Steve hit a high note with the headline, lol! I've had phlegm, before, too... and spat, heh. Didn't cost me a junket to Russia, however.
Whaddaya think? A Barbie Playhouse teacup? Toy sewing thimble? Anything larger would be absurd overkill.
Ten of the European Union's leading trade partners have been barred from attending a high-level meeting to discuss the EU's planned overhaul of its chemicals legislation, even though the new rules could have a substantial impact on the 10 countries' exports.
The 10 countries, which include Australia, the US, Japan and South Africa, asked formally at the end of February to take part in the two-day meeting, which starts on Tuesday in Luxembourg and comes ahead of the European Parliament's crucial review of the draft chemicals legislation.
A European Commission spokeswoman said: "The Commission feels that we have to discuss among ourselves this internal business and it is not prudent to invite people from outside."
Underlining the depth and range of concerns sparked by the EU chemicals reform, which is known as Reach, Australia published a study on Monday that suggests Reach would reduce Australian exports of key mineral products to Europe.
The impact would be partly mitigated by the diversion of exports to other fast-growing markets, most notably China, and the study also concluded that Reach could lead to the relocation of metals processing from Europe to Asia.
Australian and US officials expressed disappointment on Monday at the EU's decision to bar them from the meeting.
Peter Grey, Australia's ambassador to the EU, said: "There are very important indirect costs linked to Reach and those cannot be overlooked." The Australian government urged the European Parliament yesterday to amend the draft legislation to exclude minerals, ores and concentrates.
Separately, an EU study obtained by the FT and due to be released on Tuesday found the planned overhaul of rules governing the chemicals industry could impose a particularly significant burden on textile companies. That's the EU textile industry that is bleeding from Chinese competition already ... but of course that's in the poorer EU countries so who cares? What's that? You say the French textile cos. are hurting? Watch those feet as you aim that gun, commissioners.
The study, part of a series of recent surveys examining the draft regulations' impact on business, suggests companies would have to abandon the production and use of several critically important substances because of the higher costs required by the proposal. The study claims textile companies would be unable to pass on these higher costs to their customers.
These findings are likely to add to the controversy surrounding the proposed new chemicals regime. Textile companies are already suffering from the recent abolition of trade-restricting import quotas, which has led to a steep rise in textile imports from countries such as China and India.
Reach, which was proposed by the European Commission, would force businesses to register some 30,000 substances with a new European chemicals agency. Companies would have to show that these substances cannot endanger humans and the environment, a requirement likely to demand expensive and time-consuming testing.
But Reach's supporters say this is necessary because thousands of substances currently in use have never been properly assessed and they suspect some of them to be responsible for environmental damage and ailments such as allergies. Yup, gotta impose trade restrictions on successful capitalist countries when you suspect something.
The chemicals industry and other business organisations have long complained the new rules would impose heavy costs, lead to job losses and force companies to move abroad.
Reach needs to be endorsed by the parliament and EU member states, in a legislative review that could lead to big changes. these sanctimonious idiots are trying to hurt other countries and will end up crippling themselves too, but not before causing lots of damage.
Posted by: too true ||
05/10/2005 7:55:39 AM ||
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#1
These sanctimonious idiots will have to cause lots of damage before their constituents will wake up and realize that centralized bureaucratic sanctimonious idiots got the Soviet Union to where it is today.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 9:23 Comments ||
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#2
The European love of regulation borders on the pathological. I saw it first-hand while doing some work for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) years ago: the Euros-- and especially the French-- have a fascination with regulation for regulation's sake that is simply mind-boggling.
They seem to follow some existential calculus that goes, "I regulate, therefore I am."
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/10/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#3
stifling bureaucracy is how the EU elites keep others in check. Do you think Chirac, et al, will be bound by them? Riiiggghhhtt. Just like they adhere to the national debt limits
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 9:49 Comments ||
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#4
Is anyone in RB predicting / ready to predict / suspecting that the EU will start a full-fledged trade war?
With all the givens, tanking economies, new-found power to extort money from Us Corps (think: Microsoft), EU Member Govt-subsidized businesses undercutting, threatening, and bribing customers to win business from bona-fide commercial businesses (think: Boeing), over-regulated EU industries choked by idiot bureaucrats unable to compete, ad infinitum ad nauseum -- I'm wondering... it's beginning to look like a major collision, a no-shit no punches pulled knock-down drag-out trade war is ahead.
You guys with all the snazzy financial expertise wanna take a shot at this? Yeah, I know there are gazillions of factors, but it seems that push is, indeed, coming to shove - and there's going to be some very desperate people, on both sides of the Atlantic, with a LOT to lose and a BIG dose of influence with the various Govts. Jobs, baby, that's the true third rail of all politics - so they will be listened to, for better or worse.
This is very Big JuJu, methinks, that has been cooking for quite awhile as the EU strapped on its green eyeshades and patented "See No Evil In Bureacracy" blinders and proceeded to regulate itself out of business - seems to be coming to a boil.
So any takers with a quick shot to offer? We'll keep it civil, too, right? ;-)
#6
Ronald Reagan: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/10/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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#7
We looked away during the bananas bit but that should have been a warning. Yes, com, I think you are right. BTW... with the propaganda lately their people really really hate us so the pill will taste better to the idiot masses.
#9
Not a big deal. If something needs to be done, then it'll get done bothering with any consideration of what the EU bureaucrats think. (or the UN, for that matter)
#10
Yes, .com, I think the Euros are provoking a full-fledged trade war. Their own international regs are crushing them, so they seek to deflect the anger and the competition outward.
Watch Lula and others around the world join them, in an attack at the US.
Posted by: too true ||
05/10/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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#11
It's not that big a deal for the US economy overall. First, the MSM invariably blows these things way out of proportion, partly because of their inability to do any hard economic or quantitative analysis. Also becausethey can't resist the ready-made story angle: Conflict! Trade WAR!! Finally, lefty journalists love the EU trade war angle because it supports their bogus new meme of the EU as a "moral superpower" that can stand up to Chimpy BusHitler and hit him/us where it hurts.
The facts are that these regs will have very little effect outside the chemicals industry, an old industrial dinosaur whose contribution to US economic and jobs growth is minuscule.
#12
There won't be a "trade war". This is nothing more than the usual jousting prior to the trade lawyers coming together to figure out a compromise.
The most ridiculous aspect of the "trade war" meme is the notion that multinationals somehow "belong" to one country or another. Is DaimlerChrysler a German or an American company? What about Ford/Volvo/Jaguar? How about GlaxoSmithKline? Honda derives most of its profit from, and manufactures a very high % of its vehicles in, the US. Is it really accurate to say Honda's Japanese?
#13
Lex is onto something. If the EUniks try this heavy-handed over-regulated approach, the world market will adjust itself and go around the EU. All the EU will become is a fortress of bureacracy, bound by a sandbagged wall of regulations.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/10/2005 11:47 Comments ||
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#14
Honda derives most of its profit from, and manufactures a very high % of its vehicles in, the US.
All the EU will become is a fortress of bureacracy, bound by a sandbagged wall of regulations.
You mean like they are now, AP? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/10/2005 12:12 Comments ||
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#16
lex - Sheesh. I guess we can all go home then.
You dissed my comment out of hand - and implied in both of yours that my comment came from this story or the bag of MSM memes. No - I guess you didn't read me very closely. It doesn't. And I'm no gullible noob or conspiracy nut, either.
There have been little shit-storms being played out over the last few yrs... steel subsidies, genetic engineered crops, MS being looted, etc. The bits look like they're converging to me - into something bigger. I thought it might be clearer to others who live in the financials world.
Now I know what you think, so Thx, so much. HAND.
Aw Fuck it. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
#17
It's a work in progress, Barbara, heh heh. They are now overregulated, but are working on more, and they are pricing themselves out of the market.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/10/2005 13:45 Comments ||
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#18
I see a comming EU version of "Smoot Hawley."
Europe is blind to it's actual internal problems.
Continued moves in this direction will lead to a world wide depression.
I don't think that they will risk a full on trade war, but are fully engaged with us in the economic equivalent of assymetric warfare.
The reason that they are going after chemicals is because they were so damn successful with the lead-free solder thing. Yep. No electronics can ship anywhere in the OECD now with lead-based solder. Of course this has cost the (mostly non-EU) electronics business billions that they could have invested elsewhere, which is exactly the point. Oh, and non-lead based solders are either very expensive or suck.
Someone called this a Gulliver strategy in an editorial a few years back. Think of a self assembling team of Lilliputians (Chirac, Schroeder, Lula, Chavez, and any other corrupt loser with a crappy economy he can't revive). Individually, you can't take on the Gulliver. But if you catch him unawares, then you can try to bind him with thousands of tiny ropes. The ropes have names: ICC, GM food ban, lead free solder, "anti-trust," Reach, etc, ad infinitum. Collectively, they start shaving basis points off US and Asian economic growth.
So Lex its not just one industry. It's dozens and growing. And every one of those basis points of lost growth probably translates to tens of thousands of jobs. And remember, every dollar of wealth paid out equals 1/(savings rate) dollars added to the money supply. One good paying job in the chemical industry may pay for ten or twenty McJobs.
Eventually we'll get tired of this tranzi crap. Damn, the next decade's gonna be interesting. I'm glad I still have 20 good years ahead of me.
#20
aka Lex;
The REACH Directive doesn't just pertain to the chemical industry,it reaches out and touches ANYTHING that has chemicals involved. For a minor example-the plastic model industry. Under REACH,every chemical compound involved in the plastic will have to be tested and then certified as safe-by an EU certification system that doesn't exist yet-just imagine the backlog when it gets started.The solvent that cleans the finished products will have to be certified.Same again for the assorted glues and paints to assemble the model. Even the cardboard box will need to be certified if chemicals are used in any way in making the paper.
The REACH Directive can be used to regulate virtually every manufactured item. Why else would a Directive on chemicals effect textiles-because the assorted colors are made by chemical dyes. I for one seriously doubt that the EU bureaucrats will refrain from using their power.
As usual w/the EU,the major corporations(in this case German chemical giants)asked for help in getting rid of minor competition and the EU staff took such a request and turned it into an economy-killer.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/10/2005 16:28 Comments ||
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#21
The concept of a 'trade war' is largely an invention of the media. The WTO endeavours to create a level playing field for world trade, but allows exceptions for environmental and health reasons (as well as other reasons), which countries exploit to create non-tarrif barriers to trade. The reality is that trade barriers hurt the buyer more than the seller (in the aggregate) becuase the buyer pays more for a generally inferior product, whereas the seller can always sell to someone else. Lex has a point that the EU is a large market and regulations they impose can become universal because of economies of scale, but otherwise why should we care what the Euros do. If they want to regulate themselves out of the chemicals business for irrational reasons then let them.
#22
What if we and the Asians just said NO! That of course would mean the our products would not ship there, but I am sure that we could, in turn, make it very difficult for their products to ship here. The companies whose identity crosses international boundries (Mercedes, Glaxo, etc.) would look at where the greatest opportunity lay and go there...that would not be in Europe BTW.
If the cost of doing business in/with Europe is too high, then business will not be done there. It should be interesting to see their economy start the death spiral.
#25
In the short run this will create jobs there, an economic advantage for them Nah, creating jobs that do not result in an increase in either volume or quality of product result in economic disadvantage. The only economic advantage is to their competitors who get to sell more product.
#26
Too True,
In the short rumn any number of snall businesses will be driven out of business as they cannot afford the testing fees. An earlier commentary on the EUReferendum blog demonstated how this would devastate the Euro textile industry.
If the EU thought for a minute this Directive would add jobs,they would be falling all over themselves to announce the good news. instead ...silence.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/10/2005 19:32 Comments ||
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#27
In the short run there will not only be new testing jobs, there will also be new jobs in the big EU companies to replace imports. Yes, some small cos will go out of business ... but the EU economy is far less dependent on them than we are.
In the middle run everything you say is true ... IF the market is allowed to function. But Brussels exists to prevent that.
In the long run this is a disaster for them.
Posted by: too true ||
05/10/2005 20:13 Comments ||
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#28
Too True,
The few testing jobs added will be government jobs. Replacing tax producers w/tax consumers is not good,short,long or medium term. Further,the giant companies wanted less competition because they aren't able to export as is,and they wanted to raise the imports prices. Driving out of business the smaller lower-priced firms will not help the bigs export more so there will be no boost in exports. They may be able to sell more in the EU zone,but at the higher average prices there will also be fewer people buying.(If before the bigs sold 5mil of something and the littles 2mil,now the bigs sell 6mil and no little sales,this is bad for consumers and the state as far fewer taxes are pd and fewer people are employed.)
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/10/2005 23:06 Comments ||
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Brief, hastily suppressed vision of Don Knotts at the gym...
Union of 25 nations takes its place among global superpowers
By DON MELVIN
COX NEWS SERVICE
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Take a close look at that Coca-Cola bottle in your refrigerator. Ever wonder why this quintessentially American concoction is sold in containers that say "2 liters" instead of "2 quarts?"
Blame it on the European Union. The EU says quarts are illegal, and bottlers -- even those capping those ounces of liquid Americana -- don't find it cost-effective to make two different sizes, one for Europe, the other for the United States.
From dictating the size of Coke bottles to dissuading Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, the EU has arrived as a force to be reckoned with.
Americans for years have tended to think of the European Union as merely an extension of the Common Market, a cooperative agreement intended to help the economies of European countries.
But evidence is mounting that the EU does not only aspire to be a counterweight to the United States in global affairs; it has already become one.
#3
"From dictating the size of Coke bottles to dissuading Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, the EU has arrived as a force to be reckoned with."
Huh? WTF????? You mean the MMs have actually given up their nukes? When did that happen??? Oh, it hasn't happened yet, but you're sure it will, any day now... OK, never mind.
You should have posted the entire article; it's a rich Mother Lode of vapid, mindless, delusional claptrap like the above, singing the praises of European "soft power" and explaining why Europe will eclipse America in the 21st century:
"Europe, with its emphasis on communalism rather than rugged individualism, is increasingly seen as the model to emulate by nations seeking to integrate traditional culture with the forces of globalization."
That's a bug, not a feature: that "emphasis on communalism" has given us one totalitarian horror after another for the last two hundred years.
Feh. Read the whole thing.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/10/2005 6:52 Comments ||
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#4
I recall the arguments for decimalisation and metrification back in the 60s and 70s. Prominent amoungst them was 'computers won't work unless we decimalize/metricize' - the standard Leftist argument that what ever they want is by definition 'progress' - required for the brave new world (irony intended). Guess who didn't metricize and got to dominate the global computer industry. I'll leave it to the Americans to comment on whether Coke is sold in liter units. I don't drink the stuff and I suspect the whisper of a boycot will get CocaCola to change its packaging something that costs it next to nothing.
#5
What would the EU do if the Coca-Cola Company announced plans to produce enriched uranium?
Posted by: Matt ||
05/10/2005 8:21 Comments ||
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#6
Offer them free Coke plants in every member state in exchange for delaying enrichment for three months.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:28 Comments ||
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#7
Heh. Maybe Rantburg should announce plans to produce enriched uranium to see if we could get Fred a new server and free bandwidth. TGA could sell the deal:
"Trust me, Monsieur Chirac, these are very serious people. 'Mucky' by himself represents a serious theat to world order..."
Posted by: Matt ||
05/10/2005 8:44 Comments ||
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#8
the Seattle "dumb as a post" intelligencer strikes again
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 8:44 Comments ||
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#9
"Trust me, Monsieur Chirac, these are very serious people. 'Mucky' by himself represents a serious theat to world order..."
And if that doesn't get him, we'll escalate to Jos. Mendiola.
Posted by: too true ||
05/10/2005 8:58 Comments ||
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#10
If you go to Tehran (Iran), if you go to Ankara (Turkey), if you go to the Balkans, if you go to many Middle Eastern countries and North African countries, it is the European Union that is delivering change
Huh? What change has been delivered to Iran or Turkey? What stability came to the Balkans without US troops? About the only change I've seen in North Africa is Libya giving up nukes, which was a direct result of US policy in Afganistan and Iraq. The only power the EU has is that it's a common market, period. As for sustainability, let's revisit in 20 years and see if we're not talking about the Eurabian Union.
#11
phil_b, I don't drink Coke, either. I know what's in it. That said,If the greatest thing the EU has done is force Coca Cola to sell their product in litres instead of quarts I'm not too worried. Now if beer starts to be sold in metric instead of English I will start to worry.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/10/2005 9:06 Comments ||
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#12
I heard that everyone in the EU has a pony too!
#15
I figured it came from the SPI or SF Chron, neither one is smart enough to see the train wreck ahead for the EU. The EU collective has yet to celbrate a single victory in Europe let alone project political will outward. If Iran stops processing nuclear material it will be fear of U.S. bombs and not EU paperwork. Also the 2 Liter size bottles are a hold over from a ill-fated attempt to convert the U.S. over to metric, not some European strong arm policy. Where did this reporter get his info? Pravda, or some leftwing euro rag?
#16
From dictating the size of Coke bottles to ***snip OH PLEASE! ***, the EU has arrived as a force to be reckoned with.
Yup, when it comes to enforcing sh*t that Americans don't care about, the EU is da bomb. Personally, I don't care if they bottle Coke in units of 50 megabloobies. But if it gives the EU a stiffy to think they've had some major effect on a global product, just pat their head and say "oh, what a big girl you are!".
#17
Oh, this guy is really grasping at straws to find an example of this "power" by using a 2-liter bottle. I'm sure Coke could just as easily make a 2-quart bottle and sell it over there as the "1.9-liter" bottle. How pathetic.
Or does the EU mandate everything must be sold in whole-number, metric quantities?
"Sorry, sir! You can't buy only 18.4 liters of petrol! You must buy either 18 or 19!"
"But the tank's full!"
"Then pump another 0.6 liters onto the ground! You're not leaving until you do!"
Posted by: Dar ||
05/10/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#18
phil_b: Prominent amoungst them was 'computers won't work unless we decimalize/metricize'
Which shows how stupid or mendacious they were. If you look at the liquid measures:
Notice how they are all powers of 2? I'm not smart enough to force a fixed-pitch font in the comments, but you could lay out a binary word to exactly fit the liquid measurement system. The standard measurements couldn't fit modern binary computers better if you designed them to. Whereas if you use litres, everything is decimal, so you either have to do conversions in and out, or store it in BCD.
Besides, as Frank J. said: "If Americans have to learn the metric system, the terrorists have won."
#22
Relatively young I guess... but old enough so that when I was a kid the EU was tiny and completely inconsequential... yet somehow according to this writer they "forced" coca cola to use liters...
Just actually read this article... besides the blatant lies in the article (like the EU having a lower crime rate than the US, the higher foreign aid of europeans vs americans, that turkey's political climate isn't governed by the turkish military not it's politicians, longer European lifespans... which they measure completely differently, etc...) the writer cites a bunch of jokers who laughingly believe Europe is ascendant!!! Are they freaking blind?!?
#23
RC Cola and a little bag of salted peanuts. Drink a few ozs and dump the peanuts in. Childhood's Gatorade after mowing the lawn under the Texas sun.
#26
from coke bottle to nukes - WTF??? This guy is really stretching it. I vote to send Mucky lose on this asshat!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
05/10/2005 13:00 Comments ||
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#27
Saw a post on another blog that stated England was going to start taxing horse manure. They were going to base it on metric units, so I guess you could say that the metric measurement system is sh!t.......
#30
Metric system has little to do with EU. Has been adopted by continetal Europe at the time of Bismarck, or around. When a teenager, my primary concern were girls, not physics. But thanks to the internal consistency of the metric system, I could derive a lot of stuff myself and pass exams.
To see how US imperial units system is really easy, here is an example:
#35
Mrs. Davis, the point is very obvious...
When I was a teenager, my primary concern being girls, I would have never figured out the the conversions between US Imp. units. You have to admit that I have a big beef here. ;-)
Rods and stones? Never heard of it.
I grew up with metric system. So, it is hardwired. When I see "nn Fl.Oz", I just look puzzled and mutter under my breath something like: "whatever...".
#36
Sobiesky, I had imperial hardwired into me. So despite 30+ years of living metric, when someone asks me how tall are you or how much do you weigh? I just shrug cos I have no idea in centimeters and kilos.
Heres good luck to the barrel
good luck to the Barley Mow
Jolly good luck to the barrel
good luck to the barley mow
Here's the barrel
the half barrel
the gallon
half gallon
quart pot
pint pot
half a pint
gill pot
half a gill
nipperkin and the brown bowl
Here's good luck, good luck to the Barley Mow!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/10/2005 17:57 Comments ||
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#39
Coke sells bottles in liters and US cars have KilometerPerHour markings because in the late 70s there was a short-lived drive to convert the US to metric system. Just another successful Carter initiative. A liter is close enough to 2quarts that it was a wash. But you will notice that Coke is still sold in 12 OUNCE cans and smaller bottles in 10 and 16 ounce sizes.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/10/2005 20:22 Comments ||
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#40
Europeans celebrate collective strength
They ain't got jack. And whoever wrote this piece is higher than a kite.
Dutch police arrested six activists on Sunday who said they wanted to enter President Bush's Netherlands hotel and look for the suitcase which allows him to activate nuclear weapons. "We heard Bush carries a nuclear suitcase and can push the red button at any time to set off atomic weapons. We find this extremely shocking," said Leo de Groot, a spokesman for the activist group. The activists, carrying binoculars and wearing signs that identified them as "citizen's inspectors," mimicking the International Atomic Energy Agency's weapons inspectors, were caught by Dutch soldiers as they approached Bush's hotel... If they got through I doubt that Bush would even apologize for his Secret Service agents when they killed every one of the idiots six times over.
#4
I think these people would look funny with bodies riddled with 45 acp holes. But I have a sick sense of humor. Actually a lack of one when it comes to this.
#5
"We heard Bush carries a nuclear suitcase and can push the red button at any time to set off atomic weapons. We find this extremely shocking,"
"because we've been brain dead for the last sixty years. Seriously, we've been smoking so much hash we're barely able to stand up. Did you know someone nuked Nagasaki?"
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/10/2005 7:44 Comments ||
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#6
"We found a big red button, but it says 'Easy' on it...?"
Posted by: Dar ||
05/10/2005 8:51 Comments ||
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#7
Relax guys -- they'd have never found it. They think a football is spherical.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:55 Comments ||
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#8
"Hundreds of Dutch protesters rallied on Saturday in Amsterdam and Maastricht to protest against Bush who visited... to pay tribute to the Americans who died in World War II."
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:59 Comments ||
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#9
These people need to read a Tom Clancy book to find out about launch codes, etc.
#11
I have it on pretty good authority that the "football" is booby-trapped: if some loser of a noose-refill or an Islamo-nutball manages to steal it, it will disappear in a bright flash, along with the thief/power-freaks who tried to make off with it.
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Records from a 2001 energy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney can remain secret, a U.S. appeals court ruled. DU meltdown in 5..4..3..
Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club, two advocacy groups, sued to find out how much influence industry lobbyists may have had on the task force, created by President George W. Bush after he took office in 2001. The panel recommended tax breaks for oil and natural-gas producers and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington ruled today that the task force isn't legally bound to reveal the material. The court said business executives who advised the panel weren't official members and thus the panel isn't required to reveal its consultations with them. ``There is nothing to indicate that non-federal employees had a right to vote on committee matters, or exercise a veto over committee proposals,'' the eight-judge panel said.
Federal law says deliberations of executive branch advisory committees can be kept private only if they are made up entirely of full-time federal officials. The Sierra Club and Judicial Watch argued that the non-government officials were effectively members of the panel, which would have required making its deliberations public. Cheney, 64, former chairman of Halliburton Co., the world's biggest oilfield services company, met with former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay as the task force sought industry input on energy policy. The panel also got recommendations from companies such as Chevron Corp. and General Motors Corp. The appeals court previously ruled that Cheney's bid to block all disclosure of the records was premature. The U.S. Supreme Court last June allowed him to avoid turning over the records, citing a need to protect presidential confidentiality.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 3:31:45 PM ||
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#1
Call me naive, but are you supposed to get from people that, oh ... say, are the most KNOWLEDGABLE about the subject? (i.e. the people who do this for a living instead of some green/liberal who has a major in Poetry)
#2
"Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club, two advocacy groups, sued to find out how much influence industry lobbyists..."
These two groups ARE influence industry lobbyists!
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 21:09 Comments ||
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#3
I've had a 3 yr argument witha lefty engineer over this. It was strictly a smear attempt by the green left that escalated. Cheney should get any info he wants from anyone he wants in developing executive policy. Congress can vote or not based on the merits of the policy, not who developed it
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 21:18 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 11:43 ||
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#1
Well I guess this should answer the question once and for all about the direction of the Democrat Party.
Their national chairman endorses a socialist member of the far-left for the Senate. Living in Mass. I can look north and see that there are lots of Demonrats in VT but, apparently howlin' Howie couldn't find a single one to replace JJ.
Wonder what Hillbilly or Joey L will have to say that will bulwark their "moderate, centrist" credentials on this one.
#3
It will be interesting in a couple of years to look at voting records and see how many Democrats are to the left of a Socialist. I'm going to pick 15 for the pool.
I agree that Sanders will not be a big change from the status quo, especially considering that VT elected him in the first place. After all, much of VT is the old Hippie home of the East.
No, the interesting bit is that BS (appropriate, what?) is an avowed Socialist NOT a Democrat, AND he is being endorsed by the NATIONAL party chairman. There are probably dozens of good, left-wing liberal Demons in VT that Howie could have backed, or, not backed anyone and given one of those "I'm above the primary process" speeches.
But, no, he backed a NON-DEMOCRAT from the extreme left.
So, either he's really stupid (always a possibility) or he truly believes that this is the future (or should be) of the Demonrats.
#5
Isnât this just the natural progression of the Dhimocrat party? All they talk about is socialization, so itâs logical that they would endorse a Socialists candidate. FYI a Republican might have a snowballs chance in hell of beating a Socialists endorsed by the Dhimocrats. But that all depends on how the Republican frames the debate.
Women in many Muslim countries continue to be marginalized and discriminated against, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement yesterday.
Picked right up on that, didn't he? There isn't much that gets by him...
Abdullah, who is current chairman of both NAM and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said some people used religion to oppose the empowerment of women for their own narrow purposes. "Despite the fact that women in many parts of the world have become more emancipated, women in many Muslim countries continue to be marginalized and discriminated against," he said. "I find it most lamentable, that although women are certainly no minority in terms of numbers, they cannot be said to have gained the status that they are entitled to, in terms of rights, equality and justice," he added.
I'm sure it's our fault, somehow...
Abdullah was speaking at the opening of a NAM ministerial meeting on "Empowering Women in Facing the Challenges of Globalization". While globalization had brought benefits, it had led to the further impoverishment of millions of already poor people, in particular women, he said. Greater internationalization had provided women with employment opportunities but the majority of them suffered from increased poverty because they lacked education and skills.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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..but the majority of them suffered from increased poverty because they lacked education and skills.
#2
Oh he's a bright one that Abdullah. Give him credit for saying it even though he didn't put it bluntly enough and failed to put it all together. Now for the bigger picture Abdullah, why is it so? Go on and say it my man, you'll feel much better afterward! People in your country are using religion (ISLAM) to justify the denial of education and opportunity to women (and other portions of society) in a world where globalization (the dual edged sword of modern economics fostered by the progress of western (judeo-christian shaped) culture) has offered them heretofor unheard of possibilities. Do you prefer the 14th or 21st century?
(SAN ANTONIO) -- A claim on the children's cable TV outlet Nickelodeon that the 1836 Battle of the Alamo was fought so 'white farmers could keep their slaves' has sparked controversy and outrage in this city, where the Texans who died in the historic battle are held up as examples for people to emulate, 1200 WOAI news reported Tuesday.
The fifty second long piece on Nickelodeon, which is part of an ongoing series of features about the U.S. called 'My Back Yard," shows a San Antonio teenager telling the largely pre-teen audience that 'in the early 1800's, most of the people living in San Antonio were white farmers who brought their slaves with them.' It goes on to claim that conflict over slavery between slaveholding settlers and a Mexican government which had abolished slavery 'led up' to the Battle of the Alamo.
"I'll take what are things that make me glad I don't answer phones at Time Warner Cable for $500, Alex."
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
05/10/2005 16:24 ||
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#1
And thus, the revisionism of history continues. Never mind all the Tejanos who made up the majority of the people rebelling against Mexico. It is the eeeeevil whitie and the joooooo.
Plus, isn't Nickelodeon a canadian company? What the hell do they know about Mexican-American history anyway? Liberal asswipes....
#4
Mexico has oil, Texas has oil, and don't forget the plans for the pipeline to Oklahoma (oklahoma is Ok!). Sam Houston lied and people died! how clear does it have to be before you see the truth!
#5
Shipman, if you think there's even a grain of truth, then please explain to me WHY de-facto slavery, in the form of peonage, remained in Mexico until the second revolution, in the 1900's.
For that matter, I'd also like to hear an explanation of that from Nickolodeon.
The rest of what I have to say on the subject is unprintable. I'm ***king disgusted.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/10/2005 18:42 Comments ||
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#6
You can see a list of the names of the defenders at the Alamo here.
There are a fair number of Hispanic names there.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/10/2005 18:51 Comments ||
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#7
The fifty second long piece on Nickelodeon,..
Trying to teach things to kids in one-minute sound bites isn't going to work.
#8
Trying to teach things to kids in one-minute sound bites isn't going to work.
Given enough repetition it actually works pretty well. How many 70's Saturday morning cartoon watchers can still sing the Preamble to the Constitution?
SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 - The incident seemed alarming enough: a breach of a Cisco Systems network in which an intruder seized programming instructions for many of the computers that control the flow of the Internet.
Now federal officials and computer security investigators have acknowledged that the Cisco break-in last year was only part of a more extensive operation - involving a single intruder or a small band, apparently based in Europe - in which thousands of computer systems were similarly penetrated.
Investigators in the United States and Europe say they have spent almost a year pursuing the case involving attacks on computer systems serving the American military, NASA and research laboratories.
The break-ins exploited security holes on those systems that the authorities say have now been plugged, and beyond the Cisco theft, it is not clear how much data was taken or destroyed. Still, the case illustrates the ease with which Internet-connected computers - even those of sophisticated corporate and government networks - can be penetrated, and also the difficulty in tracing those responsible.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 11:35 Comments ||
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#2
The "attacks" are on public websites, nothing classified or even important. Its main effect was a denial of service by trashing the functions of the router. The "theft" was probably someone downloading the binary image of operating system file, IOS.
#4
In the Cisco case, the passwords to Cisco computers were sent from a compromised computer by a legitimate user unaware of the Trojan horse. The intruder captured the passwords and then used them to enter Cisco's computers
In my experience, getting a hold of a login is a case in 99% of successful intrusion, all the cracker has to do is then escalate privileges. Brute force attacks are usually spotted and defanged pretty fast.
Snicker Judging from today's horrific debut of the humongously pre-hyped celebrity blog the Huffington Post, the Madonna of the mediapolitic world has gone one reinvention too many. She has now made an online ass of herself. What Arianna Huffington's bizarre guru-cult association, 180-degree conservative-to-liberal conversion, and failed run in the California gubernatorial-recall race couldn't accomplish, her blog has now done: She is finally played out publicly. This Web-site venture is the sort of failure that is simply unsurvivable, because of all the advance publicity touting its success as inevitable. Her blog is such a bomb that it's the box-office equivalent of Gigli, Ishtar and Heaven's Gate rolled into one. In magazine terms, it's the disastrous clone of Tina Brown's Talk, JFK Jr.'s George or Maer Roshan's Radar. No matter what happens to Huffington, it's clear Hollywood will suffer the consequences.
It almost seems like some sick hoax. Perhaps Huffington is no longer a card-carrying progressive but now a conservative mole. Because she served up liberal celebs like red meat on a silver platter for the salivating and Hollywood-hating right wing to chew up and spit out.
Of course, only the fawning mainstream media didn't see this coming; instead, The New York Times, the New York Observer, the Los Angeles Times et al. were too busy breathlessly reporting Arianna's big plans and bons mots to bother to do any reporting. (The L.A. Times' praising of her preening is understandable, since the parent company's Tribune Media Services stupidly signed on to syndicate the blog's star blather.)
In fact, there's a juicy behind-the-scenes story: The L.A. Weekly has learned that the blog's start-up was god-awfully conceived from the get-go. That Hollywood biggies gave her concept the cold shoulder. That Huffington tried to use smoke and mirrors to fund her venture. That she never told her house celebs that she was putting in charge of her Hollywood blog the one bloggist best known nationally for hating everything and everyone Hollywood: former Drudge Report aide-de-camp Andrew Breitbart, author of the salacious anti-show-biz book Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon — The Case Against Celebrity. One of her Hollywood friends told me that "Arianna said merely she had somebody from this world of blogging to help her. She felt very secure someone they brought in knew what they were doing. People would have gone crazy here if they'd known it was the guy who wrote that awful book."
#3
It's an ugly, boring mess with bad and largely dated pics of the usual suspects. I did get a kick out of seeing sadsack Gary Hart's attempt at relevancy there though.
Condemned prisoner in the Bangabandhu Murder Case Lt Col (dismissed) Syed Farukur Rahman has been acquitted of charges in a case filed for possessing foreign currencies.
"There ain't nuttin' foreign about Kruggerrands, yer honor!"
The Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court yesterday pronounced the verdict in presence of Faruk, also sentenced to life in the Jail Killing Case. Judge Mohammad Monzurul Haq Bachhid of the court said the charges brought against him were not proved. Police produced Faruk before the court adjacent to Dhaka Central Jail at 11:30am under a tight security. Earlier, the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments and the court recorded statements of six prosecution witnesses. According to the prosecution, the then officer-in-charge (OC) of Cantonment Police Station said that he along with a team of law enforcement agencies raided Faruk's house at the DOHS in the capital at about 3:45am on August 13, 1996 and seized a revolver, a shotgun, an airgun, a stengun, 616 bullets, eight international passports, 2,830 Pakistani rupees and 62.75 Libyan dinars. They arrested him at the same time.
And this is what happens when you don't have a cross-fire, some bleeding heart liberal Bengalideshi judge lets him clean off the hook. Hmmmmph.
Later, two cases were filed with Cantonment Police Station -- one under the Arms Act and the other under the Special Powers Act. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) pressed charges against Faruk in the foreign currency case on January 29, 1997.
That was... ummm... eight years ago.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/10/2005 12:24:50 AM ||
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Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi of the Lahore High Court on Monday validated the marriage of a 12-and-a-half years old girl who had secretly married a man without the consent of her parents. Zeenat had married Babar Javed of her free will and her parents lodged a Hudood case against the couple. A report placed in the court said that the girl was pregnant. The couple moved the court to quash the first information report. Justice Rizvi observed that a girl can marry a man of her choice after reaching puberty which, he said, starts with menstruation. He did not accept the prosecutor's argument that under the law, a girl 16 years old at least, would be regarded as "mature". He said that under Sharia law, puberty starts with menstruation and Zeenat's marriage was valid because she had married after menstruation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Shariah, mass psychosis written in blood.
At 12 she bled rosy red.
A Sharia Court true blue
decided she was truly wed.
Her parents cried, "Who knew?"
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Greece should have the exclusive right to call its cheese feta, the legal adviser to the European Union's top court said on Tuesday, recommending it dismiss a joint appeal by Denmark and Germany. The European Commission decided in 2002 that feta cheese could be called feta only if it was made in certain parts of Greece, giving the product the same kind of protection as parma ham and champagne. The move angered Denmark, the best known maker of feta after Greece, and Germany, which asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to annul the Commission's decision, arguing that feta was a generic term for the salty cheese.
Dutch police arrested six activists on Sunday who said they wanted to enter President Bush's Netherlands hotel and look for the suitcase which allows him to activate nuclear weapons. "We heard Bush carries a nuclear suitcase and can push the red button at any time to set off atomic weapons. We find this extremely shocking," said Leo de Groot, a spokesman for the activist group. The activists, carrying binoculars and wearing signs that identified them as "citizen's inspectors," mimicking the 
Women in many Muslim countries continue to be marginalized and discriminated against, Malaysian Prime Minister 
Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi of the Lahore High Court on Monday validated the marriage of a 12-and-a-half years old girl who had secretly married a man without the consent of her parents. Zeenat had married Babar Javed of her free will and her parents lodged a Hudood case against the couple. A report placed in the court said that the girl was pregnant. The couple moved the court to quash the first information report. Justice Rizvi observed that a girl can marry a man of her choice after reaching puberty which, he said, starts with menstruation. He did not accept the prosecutor's argument that under the law, a girl 16 years old at least, would be regarded as "mature". He said that under Sharia law, puberty starts with menstruation and Zeenat's marriage was valid because she had married after menstruation.
