-Caveat Lector- WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 1 Oct 99 Washington, DC 1. MISTAKE ONE: NASA FLUNKS METRIC CONVERSION. Converting from one system of units to another has been the downfall of countless students of science. Now we learn that confusion over units also spelled doom for the Mars Climate Orbiter. NASA is scurrying to figure out how the error could have gone undetected, but the most shocking revelation is that the agency that has come to symbolize high-technology has not fully converted to metric. A spokesman at NIST seemed unconcerned by the glacial progress of the metric conversion initiative. Metrification, he explained, will come gradually with usage as the younger generation is exposed to it. 2. MISTAKE TWO: JAPANESE WORKERS ADD TOO MUCH URANIUM. This is reported to be the world's 60th criticality accident since 1945. The problem occurred at a uranium processing plant when too much uranium was added to a mixing tank. The off-site risk appears to be small, but the incident reawakens public concern just as there were signs that the moribund nuclear power industry in the US might still have a pulse. It may be significant that in all the news stories about the accident, the amount of uranium involved was given in pounds rather than kilograms. 3. MISTAKE THREE: DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO LAUNCH BIG PUSH ON CTBT. Yesterday, Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) called their bluff, scheduling an Oct. 8 vote on the test ban treaty, without benefit of hearings and after only ten hours of debate. It was seen as a test of party loyalty, and influential Sen. John Warner (R-VA), who was believed to be leaning toward the treaty, announced that he now planned to vote against it. Under those circumstances it would be unlikely that the treaty would get the needed 67 votes. That set off a flurry of negotiating. The latest word is that there is an agreement to put off the vote until Oct. 18. 4. MISTAKE FOUR: WHAT'S NEW GOOFS IN FREE ELECTRICITY STORY. We apologize to the Wall Street Journal. WN reported that the WSJ had carried a full-page ad on Sep 17 for a demonstration of free- electricity (WN 24 Sept 99). Wrong! The ad was actually carried by USA Today, although the WSJ carried such an ad two years ago (WN 18 Jul 97). Dennis Lee, CEO of Better World Technologies, has now launched his 45 city tour. At a meeting in Columbus, Ohio Lee urged people to sign up to get a free electricity machine installed in their homes and get disconnected from the grid before the Y2K crisis. He explained that the government's plan is to deliberately create a crisis so "they can declare martial law and take your guns away." He said their ad had gotten the attention of "just about every attorney general in the country." He wouldn't actually demonstrate the free electricity technology. "If you show a free electricity machine," he explained, "they will shut you down." He said he did that in 1988 and they put him jail. "I'm doing this for one reason only--God said 'do it.'" THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY (Note: Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the APS, but they should be.) DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
