Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped
Erik said: > Does money grow on trees in your parts, Rob? It doesn't in Washington > (see link below). Where do you think all this money is going to come > from? Given that Bush wants to increase the US military budget to USD500 billion per year, it must be readily available somewhere... Rich GCU Funded By Tax Cuts ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Test
Test. Sent several e-mails the other day -- did not receive one of them. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: U-238 fusion?
U-238 _fusion_? This would be great for _cooling_ things! Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: U-238 fusion?
On Sun, Feb 02, 2003 at 10:41:32PM -0600, Dan Minette wrote: > The explanation for how it works is wrong. The slowing down of > neutrons is a stochastic problem. Thus, varying the steam density > would vary the number of neutrons and the energy distribution of those > neutrons. It would not allow one to fine tune them to just the right > energy. Thanks. I guess the science writer had trouble coverting "stochastic" and "energy distribution" into language that he thought he could print. Or maybe he didn't understand it. > I do not know enough to state that one cannot possibly create a design > that would result in a sustained reaction with U-238. But, the fact > that it cannot be proven, using MCNP makes me think it is problematic, > at best. The way I look at it, without having researched the guy at all, he has convinced some people at the U. of Maryland that he knows something about nuclear energy. Suppose the technology he proposes, if successful could save $70B. (I mostly pulled that number out of the air, but it happens to be one estimate of the cost of the nuclear waste disposal site in Nevada). Suppose his estimate of the cost of determining whether it can make a sustainable reaction is wrong, and it costs $7M rather than $2M. Then if the probability of success is only 0.01%, then it is worth pursuing. Now, my guess of the probability is obviously just a wild-ass guess and could be orders of magnitude off. But the point is, this kind of cheap, high-payoff research seems like an efficient use of funds to me. Now, I don't mean we should fund every crank out there, there are probably tens of thousands with exactly 0 chance of success. So, a review board of scientists and engineers is required to screen out those no-chance projects, of which there could be quite a few. But most scientists and engineers I know can spot the cranks pretty quickly, so I don't think it would take an inordinately long time to filter them out, even if the noise-to-signal ratio is 100. The key is to choose the projects that have a potentially huge payoff and a relatively low cost. On the other hand, maybe it would be better to let the free market handle these things. If it only costs $2M for proof-of-concept as he claims, no government would be needed for funding. If the cost/payoff were as favorable as I guessed above, then why hasn't a venture capitalist or angel investor funded it? If successful, a business could make a fortune building those types of power plants. On the 3rd :-) hand, as I said in another message, I haven't been impressed by the capital allocation skills of most VCs and other investors. So maybe it is worth trying after all. H. -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: U-238 fusion?
Why did you change the subject to "fusion"? -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Test, was Re: Test
Me too. So far one lost and two returned. I'm not *really* _that_ controversial, am I? Sonja ;o) GCU: The eternal electronic huntingrounds loom before the fabric of my e-mails... "G. D. Akin" wrote: > Test. > > Sent several e-mails the other day -- did not receive one of them. > > George A > > ___ > http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Test, was Re: Test
Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote: > GCU: The eternal electronic huntingrounds loom before the fabric of my > e-mails... I should have used a spell checker before I sent that one. Ouch... :o) That should have been 'hunting grounds' of course. Sonja ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Test, was Re: Test
On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 02:33:24PM +0100, Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote: > Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote: > > > GCU: The eternal electronic huntingrounds loom before the fabric of my > > e-mails... > > I should have used a spell checker before I sent that one. Ouch... :o) > That should have been 'hunting grounds' of course. Sometimes I think it would be fun if English could combine words the way German does! -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: U-238 fusion?
- Original Message - From: "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 6:55 AM Subject: Re: U-238 fusion? > Why did you change the subject to "fusion"? Because it was late, and I meant fission. Alberto caught me on it. As far as changing it from the Shuttle, I thought it was now a new topic. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped
On 3 Feb 2003 at 1:08, Damon wrote: > > >Nevertheless, aerospace continues to make strides in propulsion, > >avionics, materials, and the design process itself. > > I would agree with this. One of the industries that pushes the > envelope in terms of aircraft technology is obviously the military. 50 > years ago having the fastest performing fighter in terms of raw speed > was a significant advantage (you can dictate the control of a dogfight > since a faster warbird can pull away out of gun range...or not bother > with a dogfight at all and perform flyby attacks), but with the heavy > use of guided missile technology, having the hottest bird is less > important than having one that is lightweight, maneuverable, > handle-able (not neccessarily the same thing), more combat worthy and > having a larger/more diverse mission payload. > > So I think the technology is still there to make mach 3+ screamers, > but no one wants them because they're not practical. At one time, spinoffs from the space program even benefited the aerospace industry as a whole. Ah well. Andy Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In a message dated 1/30/2003 7:37:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, >[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > Let's be really clear on this. French and German > > policy has consistently been to weaken any and all > > attempts to depose or weaken Saddam. > > Note that they insist that inspectors be given more of a chance to do their >work. But what we know is that Iraq has not cooperated and that they therefore must >be hiding something. What I've always wondered about is that with all the pressure put onto Iraq, what in heavens name makes everybody think that Saddam hasn't already moved his warequipment out of the country. Several containers full with asorted WMD on the run, heading toward foreign but friendly territory and nobody will ever find anything. Mobile, in reach and out of the country. I mean it's what I'd do if somebody were to search my house. I'd stash loot at a friends place or if I couldn't trust anybody I'd put it in a locker. I wouldn't be so stupid to keep 'hot' stuff close at hand when I know there are people going to search for it. So what makes everybody think Saddam does? Sonja ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Colin Powell
TIME IS RUNNING OUT We Will Not Shrink From War Iraq has flouted the will of the world with its deceptions and empty claims. BY COLIN L. POWELL Monday, February 3, 2003 12:01 a.m. EST President Bush warned in his State of the Union address that "the gravest danger facing America and the world is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons." Exhibit A is Saddam Hussein's Iraq. As the president said, we need only look at how Saddam has terrorized, oppressed and murdered his own people to understand his methods. And, perhaps most critically, the president confirmed that Iraq has open channels and ties to terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. Last November, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, giving Iraq one last chance to disarm peacefully or "face serious consequences." However, instead of disarming, Iraq has responded to Resolution 1441 with empty claims, empty declarations and empty gestures. Just a week ago, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council that "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it." Indeed, the Iraqi regime is going to great lengths to conceal its weapons of mass destruction. It has removed material from sites it knew were likely to be inspected. The regime also has an active program of coaching scientists before they talk to inspectors and only permits interviews when minders are present. On top of that, thousands of pages of sensitive weapons-related documents have been found in private homes. Resolution 1441 established two key tests: a full and accurate disclosure of Iraq's weaponry and a requirement to cooperate immediately, unconditionally and actively with the inspectors. Iraq has failed both tests. Iraq's declaration of its weapons holdings is incomplete and inaccurate and provides no substantive information on the disposition of its weapons of mass destruction. Not surprisingly, the U.N. inspectors have found it woefully deficient. In his report to the Security Council, Mr. Blix noted that Iraq has failed to account for its production of the deadly nerve agent VX, some 6,500 chemical bombs, and about 1,000 metric tons of chemical agent. Iraq also previously acquired the materials to make much more anthrax than it declared. In their inspections, Mr. Blix's team discovered a number of chemical warheads not previously acknowledged by Iraq. Iraq also continues to acquire banned equipment, with proscribed imports arriving as recently as last month. The inspectors also reported that Iraqi activity is severely hampering their work. For example, Iraq has refused the inspectors' request to use a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, a critical tool for inspections. Inspectors are accompanied everywhere by Iraqi minders, are slandered by Iraqi officials as spies, and face harassment and disturbing protests that would be unlikely to occur without the encouragement of the authorities. On Wednesday, I will present to the Security Council U.S. intelligence showing further evidence of Iraq's pattern of deception. Our evidence will reinforce what the inspectors told the Security Council last week--that they are not getting the cooperation they need, that their requests are being blocked, and that their questions are going unanswered. While there will be no "smoking gun," we will provide evidence concerning the weapons programs that Iraq is working so hard to hide. We will, in sum, offer a straightforward, sober and compelling demonstration that Saddam is concealing the evidence of his weapons of mass destruction, while preserving the weapons themselves. The world must now recognize that Iraq has not complied with the will of the international community as expressed in Resolution 1441. Iraq has failed the resolution's two tests--to disclose and to cooperate--in a manner that constitutes a further material breach of the resolution. In response, the U.S. will begin a new round of full and open consultation with our allies about next steps. Much has been made of the friction between the U.S. and some of its traditional partners over how to proceed with Iraq. We will work to bridge our differences, building on the bedrock of our shared values and long history of acting together to meet common challenges. The fruits of our partnership are evident all around the globe, from Western Europe to Japan, Korea, Bosnia and Afghanistan. Together we must face the facts brought to us by the U.N. inspectors and reputable intelligence sources. Iraq continues to conceal deadly weapons and their components, and to use denial, deception and subterfuge in order to retain them. Iraq has ties to and has supported terrorist groups. Iraq has had no compunction about using weapons of mass destruction against its own people and against its neighbors. President Bush's message has been clear from the beginning. The President eloquently and persuasively set
Lousy reporting
Watching ABC this morning... their reporter, sitting in a shuttle simulator, called the heat buildup the "re-entry burn," then described how the shuttle would have been doing S-turns to slow down. In fact, the was still well above the altitude where those S-turns would have started. I guess it's too much to hope that network reporters would actually study what they're reporting on. More correctly, perhaps, it's too much to hope that they'd be given the time to do so. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Test, was Re: Test
From: Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Test, was Re: Test Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 14:24:15 +0100 Me too. So far one lost and two returned. I'm not *really* _that_ controversial, am I? Sonja ;o) GCU: The eternal electronic huntingrounds loom before the fabric of my e-mails... "G. D. Akin" wrote: > Test. > > Sent several e-mails the other day -- did not receive one of them. > The brin-l server will 'eat' posts made in html. You'll need to change your posts to plain text before sending. I had the same problem a few months ago, and this was the explanation Nick gave me. :) Jon "Stuck on top of tower. Great view, but constant pelting sleet not good for pointy hat. Am amusing self by spitting gum down on the Orcs." From: The Very Secret Diary of Gandalf the Grey _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Scouted: Hunter Thompson interview
Hunter Thompson was interviewed by Salon.com -- published today. Accessible to all. Jon "Witch-King of Angmar?s suggestion to place pictures of Ruling Ring on milk cartons and wait for calls to come in was ignored." From: The Very Secret Diary of RingWraith No. 5 Intro Excerpt: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/02/03/thompson/index.html The godfather of gonzo says 9/11 caused a "nationwide nervous breakdown" -- and let the Bush crowd loot the country and savage American democracy. - - - - - - - - - - - By John Glassie Feb. 3, 2003 | He calls himself "an elderly dope fiend living out in the wilderness," but Hunter S. Thompson will also be found this week on the New York Times bestseller list with a new memoir, "Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century." Listening to his ragged voice, there is some sense that Thompson, now 65, has reined in his outlaw ways, gotten a little softer, perhaps a little more gracious now that he's reached retirement age. "I've found you can deal with the system a lot easier if you use their rules," he says. "I talk to a lot of lawyers." But do not be deceived. In "Kingdom of Fear" and in a telephone interview with Salon from his compound in Aspen, Colo., Thompson did what he's always done: speak the truth about American society as he sees it, without worrying much about decorum. "Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads?" he writes, referring to the people currently occupying the White House. "They are the racists and hate mongers among us -- they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis." That's his enduring attitude in this new age of darkness: a lot more loathing than fear. The godfather of gonzo believes America has suffered a "nationwide nervous breakdown" since 9/11, and as a result is compromising civil liberties for what he calls "the illusion of security." The compromise, he says, is "a disaster of unthinkable proportions" and "part of the downward spiral of dumbness" he believes is plaguing the country. While the country's spinning out of control, Thompson says his own lifestyle has been a model of consistency. He still does whatever the hell he wants. In fact, his new book was supposed to be a "definitive memoir of his life," a long look back by the man who rode with the Hell's Angels, who experienced the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and who has smoked more cigarettes, driven more fast cars, fired more weapons and done more drugs than most living people, let alone most living authors. But the book is much more than memoir. Thompson has long been an outspoken and vigorous champion of civil liberties, at least since a well-publicized 1990 case in which he was charged with sexual and physical assault and possession of illegal drugs -- charges that were ultimately dropped due to an illegal search and seizure. Of course, the writer has distrusted power all his life, and it may come as no surprise that he now believes the administration is "manufacturing" the Iraqi threat for its own political gain and the economic gain of the "oligarchy" (read: the military-industrial complex). Perhaps Thompson's most disturbing charge is aimed at the American people -- only half of whom exercise their right to vote. "The oligarchy doesn't need an educated public. And maybe the nation does prefer tyranny," he says. "I think that's what worries me." In the end, however, Thompson is not and has never been that easy to pigeonhole. He's friends with Pat Buchanan and has a lifetime membership in the National Rifle Association. In his own mind, if not in others', he is "one of the most patriotic people I've ever encountered in America." _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
[SCOUTED] Spider Robinson on the Shuttle accident
In the Globe and Mail this morning : http://shorterlink.com/?RDUFJG Comet of grief and hope "Saturday's terrible news reminded me and my wife of her near-rendezvous with the Challenger -- and why we believe that space voyaging must go on" By SPIDER ROBINSON Monday, February 3, 2003 Page A15 "When I finally woke, I knew something was terribly wrong the moment I saw my wife's face. "It's not family or friends," Jeanne said quickly. "But it's bad." And she told me, and then we held each other, hard. It has a special meaning for us: She was once supposed to ride one of those suckers." ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > In a message dated 1/30/2003 7:37:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, >[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > > > Let's be really clear on this. French and German > > > policy has consistently been to weaken any and all > > > attempts to depose or weaken Saddam. > > > > Note that they insist that inspectors be given more of a chance to > do their work. But what we know is that Iraq has not cooperated and that > they therefore must be hiding something. > > What I've always wondered about is that with all the pressure put onto > Iraq, what in heavens name makes everybody think that Saddam hasn't > already moved his warequipment out of the country. Several containers full > with asorted WMD on the run, heading toward foreign but friendly territory > and nobody will ever find anything. Mobile, in reach and out of the country. I think I heard something about a theory where Syria had some of their stuff. What *I* want to know is, where are the "Winnebagos of Death"? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: [SCOUTED] Spider Robinson on the Shuttle accident
From: Jean-Louis Couturier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [SCOUTED] Spider Robinson on the Shuttle accident Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 10:57:20 -0500 In the Globe and Mail this morning : http://shorterlink.com/?RDUFJG Comet of grief and hope "Saturday's terrible news reminded me and my wife of her near-rendezvous with the Challenger -- and why we believe that space voyaging must go on" By SPIDER ROBINSON Monday, February 3, 2003 ? Page A15 "When I finally woke, I knew something was terribly wrong the moment I saw my wife's face. "It's not family or friends," Jeanne said quickly. "But it's bad." And she told me, and then we held each other, hard. It has a special meaning for us: She was once supposed to ride one of those suckers." Thank you for posting this. :) Jon GSV Well Said _ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
On Fri, Jan 31, 2003 at 11:25:32PM -0500, Jean-Louis Couturier wrote: > What if you compare the number with a country's GDP? Still #1 you > think? People need food calories, not percentages of GDP. Ask a hungry person which is more important, what percentage of the GDP the food they were NOT given represents of the GDP of some country, or the food they DID get to eat from the US. Hungry people care about percentage of GDP you think? -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Colin Powell
Not a bad statement of the situation, I thought. My only quibble: On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 10:29:31AM -0500, John D. Giorgis wrote: > challenges. The fruits of our partnership are evident all around the globe, > from Western Europe to Japan, Korea, Bosnia and Afghanistan. ^ I might have left Korea out, since in my mind the success of S. Korea is almost overshadowed by recent problems with the North. -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Lousy reporting
> -Original Message- > From: Nick Arnett [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 07:39 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Lousy reporting > > > Watching ABC this morning... their reporter, sitting in a > shuttle simulator, called the heat buildup the "re-entry > burn," then described how the shuttle would have been doing > S-turns to slow down. In fact, the was still well above the > altitude where those S-turns would have started. I guess > it's too much to hope that network reporters would actually > study what they're reporting on. More correctly, perhaps, > it's too much to hope that they'd be given the time to do so. That last sentance is pretty accurate. I heard about the news later in the afternoon saturday, and flipped to CNN approx 2:30pm PST. The next hour was the same... damn... news... over... and... over... I've been spoiled by the quality and timely reporting the web has brought me that I've forgotten how cruddy the 24hr news cycle shows are. No wonder Fox News is so ugly. -j- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Lousy reporting
On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 10:04:56AM -0800, Miller, Jeffrey wrote: > I've been spoiled by the quality and timely reporting the web has > brought me that I've forgotten how cruddy the 24hr news cycle shows > are. No wonder Fox News is so ugly. Hmmm, I hadn't noticed because I almost never watch TV news. I get 90% from web news articles and the rest from newspapers and magazines. Thanks for the warning about TV news, now I know that I should continue to avoid it... -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Lousy reporting
> -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of Erik Reuter > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 10:03 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Lousy reporting > > > On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 10:04:56AM -0800, Miller, Jeffrey wrote: > > > I've been spoiled by the quality and timely reporting the web has > > brought me that I've forgotten how cruddy the 24hr news cycle shows > > are. No wonder Fox News is so ugly. > > Hmmm, I hadn't noticed because I almost never watch TV news. I > get 90% from web news articles and the rest from newspapers and > magazines. Thanks for the warning about TV news, now I know that I > should continue to avoid it... I watch it in the morning. Well, to be more accurate, listen to it while I'm on the computer. Saturday night, I spent a very long time on the phone with a market research survey guy asking about local tv news. I usually don't do those things, but in this case, I was curious what they care about. It seemed to come down to a series of descriptions of the anchors, with which I was invited to agree or disagree from a scale of 1 to 5. The statements were something like these: "confident," "comfortable to watch," "knows the Bay Area well," "reliable," "committed and involved in the community." To the last, my answer was, "How the heck would I know? All I seem him/her do is read from a teleprompter..." There were also a bunch of questions about "investigative" reporting, which I couldn't answer at all, since I haven't seen anything on local news that even comes close to real investigative reporting. It was depressing hearing what they care about, although there really were no surprises. But I did have the opportunity to tell the researcher numerous times that for news and weather, I rely far more on the Internet than TV. (More than newspapers, too, but they didn't ask.) Nick (15 years as a reporter) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Best Dr. Who Actors
On Friday, January 31, 2003, at 03:31 PM, The Fool wrote: From: John Garcia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Since we're mentioning Dr. Who Which of the actors was your favorite? I like Jon Pertwee if for nothing else the looks he threw to the Brigadier when the doctor thought the Brigadier was being particularly obtuse. Tom baker, holding a jelly baby to a lackeys throat, and telling him to stick em up... Colin Baker would have been great, if he hadn't gotten the shaft. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l What happened to Baker? john ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: eBay \ Columbia shuttle feeding frenzy begins....
> From: Gary L. Nunn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > But this one is my favorite. > > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3205287911&; category=1 3904 Not there anymore, apparently. What was it? Or shouldn't I ask... - jmh ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: eBay \ Columbia shuttle feeding frenzy begins....
> -Original Message- > From: Horn, John [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 10:40 AM > To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' > Subject: RE: eBay \ Columbia shuttle feeding frenzy begins > > > > From: Gary L. Nunn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > > > But this one is my favorite. > > > > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3205287911&; > category=1 > 3904 > > Not there anymore, apparently. What was it? > > Or shouldn't I ask... eBay is aggressively patrolling for shuttle auctions. -j- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Best Dr. Who Actors
> From: John Garcia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > On Friday, January 31, 2003, at 03:31 PM, The Fool wrote: > > >> From: John Garcia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >> Since we're mentioning Dr. Who > >> > >> Which of the actors was your favorite? I like Jon Pertwee if for > >> nothing else the looks he threw to the Brigadier when the doctor > >> thought the Brigadier was being particularly obtuse. > > > > Tom baker, holding a jelly baby to a lackeys throat, and telling him to > > stick em up... > > > > Colin Baker would have been great, if he hadn't gotten the shaft. > > > What happened to Baker? They sabatoged him. They suspended Dr Who for 18 months. They did everything they could to get rid of him. They dumped him after the season after the 18 month hiatus. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Thanks for suggestions
At 08:34 2003-02-02 -0800, Nick wrote: Thanks, everyone, for all the book suggestions. Many were somewhat obvious (like the whole genre of cyberpunk) but the neurons weren't clicking. Nick I'd like to add one more suggestion. Jim Munroe's _Everyone in Silico_ is a great read, and is more contemporarily hip than classic Cyberpunk. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=51K8TZVL9C&isbn=1568582404&itm=7 or http://makeashorterlink.com/?B45C61353 Jean-Louis ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: eBay \ Columbia shuttle feeding frenzy begins....
> Not there anymore, apparently. What was it? > Or shouldn't I ask... > - jmh Someone had created a fake auction and was using it to blast all of the "vultures" that were trying to profit from the accident. Also, there were a handful of people going in an bidding on Columbia items to outrageous amounts just to cause trouble for that auction. Some of the bids were like $ 66 million for a mission patch. Most of those auctions seem to be gone now. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
According to Fernand Braudel, 308 years ago today, on 3 February 1695, the Palatine wrote: `At the king's table the wine and water froze in the glasses.' in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France. This was the combined result of the little ice age and poorly designed fireplaces. [from Capitalism and Material Life 1400 - 1800 Fernand Braudel, 1967 Translated from the French by Miriam Kochan, 1973 Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row page 216 ] -- Robert J. Chassell Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8 http://www.teak.cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
At 12:42 2003-02-03 -0500, Erik wrote: On Fri, Jan 31, 2003 at 11:25:32PM -0500, Jean-Louis Couturier wrote: > What if you compare the number with a country's GDP? Still #1 you > think? People need food calories, not percentages of GDP. Ask a hungry person which is more important, what percentage of the GDP the food they were NOT given represents of the GDP of some country, or the food they DID get to eat from the US. Hungry people care about percentage of GDP you think? I was replying to the statement implying that since the US offers 60% of aid in the world then the rest of the world doesn't care/do a thing. Countries like Canada offer a lot of aid, but since we are not as rich as the US, it doesn't count for as much. However, a greater percentage of my tax dollars go to foreign aid than it would were I an American. Jean-Louis ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
"Robert J. Chassell" wrote: > > According to Fernand Braudel, 308 years ago today, on 3 February 1695, Which calendar were they using? When did France switch calendars? > the Palatine wrote: > > `At the king's table the wine and water froze in the glasses.' > > in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France. > > This was the combined result of the little ice age and poorly designed > fireplaces. Yowch. Were these poorly-designed fireplaces the norm, or did someone goof in building the palace (maybe worrying more about looks than function)? I know Franklin was frustrated by the state of fireplace technology, inspiring him to design his stove, but was it possible to make a better *fireplace* than they had at Versailles? > [from > Capitalism and Material Life 1400 - 1800 > Fernand Braudel, 1967 > Translated from the French by Miriam Kochan, 1973 > Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row > page 216 > ] Thanks for the cite. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
At 02:35 PM 2/3/2003 -0500 Jean-Louis Couturier wrote: >At 12:42 2003-02-03 -0500, Erik wrote: >>On Fri, Jan 31, 2003 at 11:25:32PM -0500, Jean-Louis Couturier wrote: >> >> > What if you compare the number with a country's GDP? Still #1 you >> > think? > >I was replying to the statement implying that since the US offers 60% of >aid in the world then the rest of the world doesn't care/do a thing. Countries >like Canada offer a lot of aid, but since we are not as rich as the US, it >doesn't count for as much. However, a greater percentage of my tax dollars >go to foreign aid than it would were I an American. Well, the US only accounts for something like 25-30% of the world's GDP (I'm too lazy to look it up right now), not 60%. Additionally, the American people are possibly the most generous people in the world, and in the US we have a strong tradition of private donations to charities, rather than government-confiscated donations to charity. Thus, it is important when comparing the charitable efforts of Americans with those of other nationalities to use *total* national donation, as private donations are much more significant in the US than most every other place in the world.If you look at that total number, I think that you will see that the American people are quite generous when it comes to charitably supporting the rest of the world. JDG ___ John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Colin Powell
On 3 Feb 2003 at 10:29, John D. Giorgis wrote: > TIME IS RUNNING OUT > > We Will Not Shrink From War > Iraq has flouted the will of the world with its deceptions and empty > claims. UK has said much the same. Andy Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Scouted: Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us
I am pleasantly surprised that the Vatican has such an open mind about this. Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us VATICAN CITY (Reuters) --Harry Potter fans, relax. The Vatican says the kid is all right. The question of whether J.K. Rowling's books and the films on the boy wizard have a positive influence came up at a news conference Monday where the Vatican presented a document on "New Age" spirituality, which contain elements of the occult. "I don't think that any of us grew up without the imaginary world of fairies, magicians, angels and witches," said Father Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican official who worked on the document. "They are not bad or a banner for anti-Christian ideology. They help children understand the difference between good and evil," he said in response to a reporter's question. The fifth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," became an instant best-seller less than 24 hours after the June publication date was announced by the publishers. http://makeashorterlink.com/?L5B226453 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Colin Powell
> -Original Message- > From: Andrew Crystall [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 12:34 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Colin Powell > > > On 3 Feb 2003 at 10:29, John D. Giorgis wrote: > > > TIME IS RUNNING OUT > > > > We Will Not Shrink From War > > Iraq has flouted the will of the world with its deceptions and empty > > claims. > > UK has said much the same. _Tony Blair_ has said much the same. Wheres the approval rating of the coming war and Mr Blair right now? -j- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us
"Gary L. Nunn" wrote: > > I am pleasantly surprised that the Vatican has such an open mind about > this. > > Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us I'm not that surprised. Now, if the Southern Baptists make such a statement, *that* would be more surprising. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Interest article on shuttle tile damage from 1980
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/8004.easterbrook-fulltext.html "The external fuel tank, for instance, is full of oxygen and hydrogen cooled to -400 F. to make the gases flow as liquids. Ice will form on the tank. When Columbia's tiles started popping off in a stiff breeze, it occurred to engineers that ice chunks from the tank would crash into the tiles during the sonic chaos of launch" -j- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: [SCOUTED] Spider Robinson on the Shuttle accident
On 3 Feb 2003 at 10:57, Jean-Louis Couturier wrote: > In the Globe and Mail this morning : > http://shorterlink.com/?RDUFJG > > Comet of grief and hope > "Saturday's terrible news reminded me and my wife of her > near-rendezvous with the Challenger -- and why we believe > that space voyaging must go on" > By SPIDER ROBINSON > > Monday, February 3, 2003 Page A15 > > "When I finally woke, I knew something was terribly wrong the > moment I saw my wife's face. "It's not family or friends," Jeanne said > quickly. "But it's bad." And she told me, and then we held each other, > hard. It has a special meaning for us: She was once supposed to ride > one of those suckers." For any of you who read Baen's Bar, lots of the authors have reacted. The Robinsons and John Ringo's in particular are worth reading. *sighs* BIG tribute poster up in our computer rooms today and a lot of people were still stunned. (I study computer game design for people who don't know that). Andy Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
"Robert J. Chassell" wrote: > According to Fernand Braudel, 308 years ago today, on 3 February 1695, > > `At the king's table the wine and water froze in the glasses.' Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asks Which calendar were they using? When did France switch calendars? Being Catholic, the French were using the Gregorian calender. (England did not make the switch until 2 September 1752.) Pope Gregory XIII issued his bull establishing the new calendar on 24 February 1582. According to http://serendipity.magnet.ch/hermetic/cal_stud/cal_art.htm The Gregorian Calendar was adopted immediately upon the promulgation of Pope Gregory's decree in the Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland, and shortly thereafter in France and Luxembourg. Most books I have seen say that the switch took place in October 1582; The day following (Thursday) October 4, 1582 (which is October 5, 1582, in the old calendar) would thenceforth be known as (Friday) October 15, 1582. but perhaps only Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland made the switch on the day following 4 October 1582. Incidentally, that Web site says that Sweden adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1753, Japan in 1873, Egypt in 1875, Eastern Europe during 1912 to 1919 and Turkey in 1927. Moreover, CE is also an abbreviation of "Common Era". The Common Era Calendar is the same as the Gregorian Calendar except that instead of numbering years BC/AD the astronomical system of year numbering is used Astronomers designate years prior to 1 A.D. by means of zero and negative numbers, according to the sequence of numbers ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, Between the year 1 and the year -1 there occurs the year 0. Thus astronomers adopt the following convention: 1 A.D. = 1 C.E. = year 1 1 B.C. = 1 B.C.E. = year 0 2 B.C. = 2 B.C.E. = year -1 and so on As for fireplaces, > This was the combined result of the little ice age and poorly designed > fireplaces. Were these poorly-designed fireplaces the norm, or did someone goof in building the palace (maybe worrying more about looks than function)? Poorly-designed fireplaces were the norm. Braudel says that over the next 25 years, the design was improved; on the page after the previous quotation, he says: The hearth of the chimney was made narrower and deepened, the mantel lowered, the chimney shaft curved, as the straight chimney had has a persistent tendency to smoke. With a better draught it was possible to heat reasonably-sized rooms -- not the apartments in Mansard's palaces, but certainly those in the town houses built by Gabriel. Chimneys with several hearths (at least two, said to be in the style of Popelinière) even made it possible to heat the servants' quarters. A revolution in heating thus belatedly took place. As far as I know, the king sat at one end of the table with his back to the fire, and was quite warm in all circumstances. The person at the other end of the table was also warm. In the middle of the long banquet table, people froze. I don't know whether the fireplaces in the Hall of Mirrors ever were improved. In any event, over the decades, the climate improved, so the people around the Regent and the next king enjoyed warmer temperatures. The Franklin stove, which I think Franklin invented round about 1740, was even more efficient than the new fireplace design, with less heat going up the chimney. -- Robert J. Chassell Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8 http://www.teak.cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Shuttle Update
I'm posting this to the list because it includes some info I hadn't heard before. It might have been reported in television, but I've been avoiding most of that coverage. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/03/sprj.colu.shuttle/index.html or http://makeashorterlink.com/?A29521453 NASA officials Monday concentrated on whether a piece of foam insulation that was dislodged during the launch of the space shuttle Columbia may have struck a seam on a landing gear door, a retired NASA engineer told CNN. [snip] And buried about 8 paragraphs in: In its final minutes, the shuttle experienced an unusually high temperature increase on its left side, lost a series of sensors on the left wing and then rolled unexpectedly to the left, according to a NASA data analysis. Reggie Bautista _ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
At 14:46 2003-02-03 -0500, John wrote: If you look at that total number, I think that you will see that the American people are quite generous when it comes to charitably supporting the rest of the world. JDG I'm not saying you're not generous. I'm saying you're not alone. I'm hearing more and more Americans thinking that they're all alone in trying to make the world a better place. There's a lot of criticism going around, a lot of it from outside the US. 1. It's not all anti-american. I don't agree with a lot that's going on, but I still like y'all. 2. You're not alone. If I take my own country as an example, then sure, we're not any help militarily. We're still doing a lot, even if the US won't come on board. Even France has done some good : Doctors Without Borders is a French NGO. Jean-Louis ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
--- Jean-Louis Couturier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm not saying you're not generous. I'm saying > you're not alone. As I recall, you said something along the lines of generosity from the US was very rare since the end of the Cold War. One reason that we thought you were saying that is that I think you kind of did. If I misremember your post, I apologize, but I don't think that I do. > I'm hearing more and more Americans thinking that > they're all > alone in trying to make the world a better place. > There's a lot > of criticism going around, a lot of it from outside > the US. > > 1. It's not all anti-american. I don't agree with > a lot that's going > on, but I still like y'all. > > 2. You're not alone. If I take my own country as > an example, > then sure, we're not any help militarily. We're > still doing a lot, > even if the US won't come on board. Even France has > done > some good : Doctors Without Borders is a French NGO. > > Jean-Louis Our objection is not that we are alone. I think we effectively are much too often, but that's not necessarily the point. The chief irritation for people like me is that those who don't make nearly the same type or level of effort seem to go to great efforts to _hinder_ us. Many of our critics seem to confuse weakness and inaction with virtue. One more point - critics of American "generosity" forget one rather enormous fact. Michael Ignatieff (a Canadian, although I'm guessing you've heard of him) once commented to me that "the United States military is the world's premier human rights organization." He meant that quite literally. Who guarantees the security of Europe, allowing it to conduct a foreign policy consisting solely of talk, since it need never worry about protecting itself? We do. Who guarantees Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, preventing an Asian arms race and allowing the economic boom that has done so much good for that part of the world? We do. Who guarantees Canada's security, freeing up the resources and manpower that allows Canadian peacekeepers to go all across the world? Who maintains the sea lanes, allowing global trade to take place freely? None of those things are cheap. The US spends $400 billion on defense, and a very, very large portion of that is spending on public goods - things that the whole world benefits from, often much more than the US itself does. Do you count that into your generosity figures? Kipling saw this sort of behavior a century ago, when British intellectuals turned against the military that made their comfortable world possible. Its applicability to present-day Europe (and, sadly, parts of Canada) is fairly obvious. "Makin' mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep / is cheaper than them uniforms and they're starvation cheap." It does not seem unreasonable for Americans to say that if you're not willing to pay for those uniforms, you shouldn't mock them and hinder them and expect us then to think of those who do it out of sheer self interest, arrogance, willful irresponsibility, and a sad inability to reconcile themselves to the fact that they are no longer world powers as friends and allies. Having said all of that, I still think it's far better than 50/50 that France will sign up in Iraq before it's all over. If it opposes us to the end that won't stop us from doing anything - and who then will ever care what France thinks ever again? Gautam __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 02:47:03PM -0800, Gautam Mukunda wrote: > As I recall, you said something along the lines of generosity from the > US was very rare since the end of the Cold War. One reason that we > thought you were saying that is that I think you kind of did. If I > misremember your post, I apologize, but I don't think that I do. You remember correctly. He wrote: "Since then, pure generosity from the States has been scarce." -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Practice safe shuttle with a rubber.
If the tiles are fragile on the way up, but not needed until the way down, why not keep them covered until needed. A front page newspaper story states that NASA is getting a lot of "Armageddon" type solutions. This is probably just one more William Taylor ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Lousy reporting
--- Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I guess it's too > much to hope that network reporters would actually > study what they're > reporting on. More correctly, perhaps, it's too > much to hope that they'd be given the time to do so. Re: that last - shortened time in which to do a given job/operation is a complaint across the board. I've heard the same grivance (basically, "they're only giving me enough time to turn out a piece of s***!") from friends in the fashion, computer, architecture, education and medicine arenas. I really started to notice it in my field about 8 years ago. You Get What You Pay For - Or Not Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
--- "Robert J. Chassell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > According to Fernand Braudel, 308 years ago today, > on 3 February 1695, the Palatine wrote: > > `At the king's table the wine and water froze in > the glasses.' > > in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France. > > This was the combined result of the little ice age > and poorly designed fireplaces. This has nothing to do with the historical reference, but the topic line seemed very appropriate: Two weeks or so ago (it was cold but not snowy), I heard a loud thu-du-du-thoomp! in my fireplace; I went over to look, and a little whiskered face peered out from behind the glass. Apparently the screen over the chimney is faulty, allowing a squirrel to fall/squirm in (I say the latter b/c that squirrel shoved through the doors even after I'd put a box of papers in front to brace them!). After a wild chase into the tub, up the shower curtain, back to the dining nook and over more boxes of papers and books, I was finally able to shoo it out the front door. Then I called Animal Control to cancel the removal call... Late last night after I got home (safely through the snow-on-top-of-ice), I heard noises in the garage...sure enough, it was another squirrel. Chased it out the door with a dressage whip - guess it wanted to get away from the unfamiliar cold wet stuff. :) I Have Cats For The Mice, Maybe I Need A Dog For The Other Furry Varmints Maru And Hoorah For The Snow! Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us
--- Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > "Gary L. Nunn" wrote: > > > > I am pleasantly surprised that the Vatican has > such an open mind about this. > > > > Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us > > I'm not that surprised. > > Now, if the Southern Baptists make such a statement, > *that* would be more surprising. There's a fairly strong fundamentalist bastion nearby (Colorado Springs), and they've coerced many schools to stop calling the holiday "Halloween," and instead say it's a 'Harvest Festival.' Of course, the pagan roots of harvest celebrations are legion, but I'm not sure they've figured that into their equations of "good & evil." All Hallow's Eve Maru (from the 'if they've got a good idea, adopt and adapt it!' school of Christianity) __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 03:57:57PM -0800, Deborah Harrell wrote: > Apparently the screen over the chimney is faulty, allowing a squirrel > to fall/squirm in (I say the latter b/c that squirrel shoved through > the doors even after I'd put a box of papers in front to brace them!). Bastards! I hate them with their long tails and their stupid twitchy noses. [bang bang eep eep thud thud] -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://erikreuter.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Photos show odd images near shuttle
David Hobby wrote: How does one produce negatives to match a picture created in Photoshop, anyway? : ) Take a photo of the monitor! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Slightly unusual book suggestion request
In a message dated 2/2/2003 11:24:30 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Interesting. I recall that Tesla intrigued me, but I can't quite remember > the context. Something to do with creativity and > innovation. Maybe Norbert > Wiener. Well he was really the mad scientist come to life complete with huge electric bolts ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Slightly unusual book suggestion request
In a message dated 2/2/2003 11:24:30 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Interesting. I recall that Tesla intrigued me, but I can't quite remember > the context. Something to do with creativity and > innovation. Maybe Norbert > Wiener. Well he was really the mad scientist come to life complete with huge electric bolts ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Marriage Anneversaries(sic)
In a message dated 2/2/2003 10:24:06 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Julia displays good spelling. Are you predicting the worst > for her > marriage? To every rule there is an exception. We have always known that Julia is exceptional ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Happy happy
Robert Seeberger wrote: >Feb 15 Congrats! Only two more weeks. Nervous yet? Jim ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list
Some or all of the subscribers to Brin-l may receive two reminder messages about their list subscription. The extra one, if it arrives, is from the new server that I'm configuring and testing. By coincidence, today is the day they're set up to send out reminders. Pay no mind. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list
- Original Message - From: "Nick Arnett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 9:08 PM Subject: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list > Some or all of the subscribers to Brin-l may receive two reminder messages > about their list subscription. The extra one, if it arrives, is from the > new server that I'm configuring and testing. By coincidence, today is the > day they're set up to send out reminders. > > Pay no mind. Oh, that's a relief. The second message I got stated. LEGAL NOTICE By subscribing to brin-l, you accept the obligation to help Nick with his research. You will be expected to find 100 randomly selected people, in person, nation wide, and get them to complete the attached survey. Failure to do this will result in the automatic transfer of all assents and no debts to Mr. Arnett. <100 Mbyte attachment> Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
- Original Message - From: "Gautam Mukunda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 4:47 PM Subject: Re: The Axis of Weasel > Having said all of that, I still think it's far better > than 50/50 that France will sign up in Iraq before > it's all over. If it opposes us to the end that won't > stop us from doing anything - and who then will ever > care what France thinks ever again? I'm not as sanguine about this as you appear to be. My guess, as I've stated, is that winning the war with Iraq will be relatively easy compared with winning the peace afterwards. I don't think we will have enough time to use the Japanese model for transforming Iraq. Unlike Japan, there are a number of different ethnic groups in Iraq. There is a chance for carpetbaggers to make a lot of money. I cannot imagine the US not making serious mistakes. I'm not really insulting the government here, I just don't think it is possible to walk through the minefield without touching off a few mines. Further, I fear that Bush's distaste for nation building will not stand him in good stead during the following time period. As I mentioned before, we have seemed to have forgotten Afghanistan. While I agree with the goals of the Bush administration, I do not think we have made adequate preparations for achieving those goals. During all of this time, I expect France and Germany to be sniping at us. Every mistake made by the US will be paraded before the world. I wouldn't be shocked if they actively try to undercut our efforts. Since public opinion outside of the US shows very significant opposition to any action outside of a UN mandate, I would expect them to play heavily towards that opinion. They will portray the US as an out of control cowboy, that needs to be roped in. I expect this to play fairly well through much of the world. The only real answer to this would be an Iraq that emerges with at least a quasi-representative government with civil liberties that are significantly superior to any other Arab country and rapidly improving economic conditions for its people. Resurgent ethnic fighting, a dictatorship that's not as bad a Hussein, etc. will all be considered proof that the US is not the least bit interested in the people of Iraq. I hope I'm wrong. If France and Germany sign on at the last minute, it will help change the perception of the rebuilding from a US project that many hope will fail to a truly multinational project with buy-in from most of the developed world. But, since France finally appears to believe that it doesn't need US troops to protect it from Germany, I think the urge to thumb their nose at the US will prove irresistible. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Axis of Weasel
- Original Message - From: "Jean-Louis Couturier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 10:25 PM Subject: Re: The Axis of Weasel > It seems to me that the many countries have been > trying to set up rules that define what is unacceptable > behavior for leaders. They have done so by creating > a world court. Now not only is the US refusing to > participate in its operations, it's actually trying to > sabotage the whole deal. I don't call that encouraging > others to participate. But, lets look at what the world community is doing. It is relying on the US to do all the heavy lifting, as Gautam has pointed out. It has also refused to back its own committements, outside of heavy US pressure. The worst example of this was the UN peacekeepers stepping out of the way and letting the Serbs slaughter people the UN promised to protect. It is also showing a total disregard for human rights by electing a strong opponent of human rights to chair the UN commission on human rights. Do you think its unreasonable for the US to fear that US soldiers will be subjected to political trials in a court that is appointed with the same wisdom and care for human rights as the election of the chair of the human rights commission? That the US will be required to make some very difficult decisions with regards to bombing campaigns to stop atrocities, and then the pilots will be brought before this court for crimes if a bomb accidently went astray? The US was looking for specific protections for this type of case. It is interesting that this gets portrayed as undercutting the world court. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list
-Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On > Behalf Of Dan Minette > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 10:28 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list> > > > - Original Message - > From: "Nick Arnett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 9:08 PM > Subject: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list > > > > Some or all of the subscribers to Brin-l may receive two reminder > messages > > about their list subscription. The extra one, if it arrives, is from > the > > new server that I'm configuring and testing. By coincidence, today is > the > > day they're set up to send out reminders. > > > > Pay no mind. > > Oh, that's a relief. > > The second message I got stated. > > LEGAL NOTICE > By subscribing to brin-l, you accept the obligation to help Nick with his > research. You will be expected to find 100 randomly selected people, in > person, nation wide, and get them to complete the attached survey. > Failure to do this will result in the automatic transfer of all assents > and > no debts to Mr. Arnett. > > <100 Mbyte attachment> Automatic transfer of all 'assents'. Does this mean Nick expects us to send him 'yes-men'? *smile* Jon GSV Smartass At Work ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Death to Sysbath-Finorc!
Jennifer is not playing fair. Rational thought is not a part of the NationStates. The police cameras and gun control issues were the last straw. The answers to the issues seem to be written so that you have to be a fool to not answer the way someone wants you to answer. Death to Big Sister. Take my country, please! William Taylor - I am not a number. I am a freek, man. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list
> Subject: Re: Pay no mind to "reminders" from test list If you don't mind, this is a non-miner post-minor's minor remedial reminder to remind you that I am paying no mind to the aforementioned reminder. Which, I believe, exists just on the left hand side of China. See what I mean? William Taylor OK? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped
- Original Message - From: "Robert Seeberger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 11:45 PM Subject: Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped > > IIRC the crystal experiments are a medical program and are partially funded > by drug companies. Well, the drug researchers that I know have laughted when talking about the application of space technology to drug research. IIRC, the reaction was "Its a publicity stunt and a waste of money." > But are not QED experiments pretty equipment intensive and therefore even > more expensive? No, definately not. A lot of work on the intersection of material science and mesoscopic physics and QED is done with only a moderate amount of equipement. No where near the half billion price tag of a launch. >Can the delicate equipment survive liftoff in the shuttle in > workable order. I'd like to see this too, but have a hard time imagining > that there is not a lobby for that type of physics. They get a small fraction of the money of manned space travel. Its not romantic. > > Actually its a question of investment and the willingness to wait for long > term returns. We were ready to do this in the 70s and would have if not for > Nixon. But, its a matter of sound vs. unsound investments. For example, the Concord was a bad investment. It lead nowhere. The 747 was a good investment, it helped to change the nature of air travel. > > I disagree strongly Dan. By your analogy we should have never bothered with > biplanes, instead waiting for someone to design a 747. The biplane could be made cheaply and provided value at the time. The shuttle costs half a billion a flight and provides little commercial, engineering, or scientific value. > All the modeling in the world will not reveal all the things one learns from > practical experience. That includes making mistakes. One learns as much or > more from mistakes than from doing the right thing. What do you learn from using 20 year old technology? NASA is nowhere near cutting edge. Manned space travel is the furthest from cutting edge. > > Your computer analogy is flawed too. I regularly retrofit equipment as new > tech comes down the pike. It is much better to build upon your past and add > to your repetoire that to wait till perfection has at last arrived or some > potential breakthrough makes everything easy. Permanant, self-sustaining human presence in space requires at least a hundred-fold improvement in ecconomics. Over the last 20 years, what has the improvment for manned space ecconomics been. Surely not a factor of 2. > I know you remember the words of Kennedy on this subject. They are pretty and romantic. But, back then, progress was being made. Now, manned space travel is a technological backwater. They push 10 year old technology through with the greatest difficulty. > > > > > Aerospace has hit a technological wall, as far as I can see. 30 year old > > designs are still competitive in the commercial market head to head > against > > modern designs. Contrast that with computers. > > That I can agree with. While computers have made design easier and quicker > and more reliable, we have hit a wall. But that wall concerns atmospheric > vehicles for the most part. And not having extra-atmospheric vehicles and a > constant presence is one of the major problems with NASA. What good does it do? Its not science, its not engineering. There is little value in what is done in the manned space program beyond sending folks into space to chill for a few months There is some benefit in that becuase we can determine the effect of months in space. But, I am always suspicious about gantt charts that have the easy stuff shifted to the front and the hard stuff ignored. Indeed, if my main goal was to get a sustainable off planet population as soon as possible, manned space flight would be fairly low on my funding list until harder problems were solved first. > > > > But, developing basic understanding goes much farther than working on > > engineering the last possible bit out of techniques that are close to the > > wall. We spent an enormous fraction of our GDP on NASA in the '60s to > have > > a way of proxy fighting the cold war without actually shooting missiles at > > each other. It was money well spent; we are still here. At that time, it > > was cutting edge research. Now, NASA is a technological backwater. > > Back to my comments about the cutting of funding in the 70s. It wasn't cut in absolute dollars that much, as I've shown. For example, spending on technology in the oil patch has been cut more than NASA spending, and we still are making progress much faster than space. Why? > > Its indicative of a movement across our society. We are afraid to take risks > we once took. Everything involves risk assessments that are stifling. > We have the technical knowhow to go to Mars today, but do not possess the > will to do it. But, that will was the Cold War
Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped
> Huh? No hard feelings, but that is no more accurate than stating that > "natural farming with horses is better for the ecology than modern > farming." Very little cutting edge science is done in space. The only > exception to this that I konw of is Hubble. Don't forget planetary science--especially mission to planet Earth. > No, that's not it. There is no use throwing money at technology that has > no long term value. Develop the right technology; then go into space. > Indeed, spending money on QED and material sciences has a much better > chance of having a positive impact on long term self sufficient space > colonies than spending the same money on manned space travel. Even the new > ideas for manned space vehicles do not represent significant advances in > understanding. No, no, no. Spend the money on *social science*, well some of it...a billion, half a billion. Do you know how much basic economics and sociology you can do with 250 million dollars? Just think of how much less we would need to spend on police and how much healthier our neighborhoods would be! Yep, behavioral science, the research bargain. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped
- Original Message - From: "Trent Shipley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 11:29 PM Subject: Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped > > > Huh? No hard feelings, but that is no more accurate than stating that > > "natural farming with horses is better for the ecology than modern > > farming." Very little cutting edge science is done in space. The only > > exception to this that I konw of is Hubble. > > Don't forget planetary science--especially mission to planet Earth. That's real science, but it isn't cutting edge. It can easily be accomplished with much cheaper unmanned probes. > > > No, that's not it. There is no use throwing money at technology that has > > no long term value. Develop the right technology; then go into space. > > Indeed, spending money on QED and material sciences has a much better > > chance of having a positive impact on long term self sufficient space > > colonies than spending the same money on manned space travel. Even the new > > ideas for manned space vehicles do not represent significant advances in > > understanding. > > No, no, no. Spend the money on *social science*, well some of it...a billion, > half a billion. Do you know how much basic economics and sociology you can > do with 250 million dollars? But, they are not sciences. They are areas of study, sure, but they have more paradigms in a month than physics had in 3000. >Just think of how much less we would need to > spend on police and how much healthier our neighborhoods would be! Yep, > behavioral science, the research bargain. My father-in-law is a well known rural sociologist at Wisconsin , and my wife has degrees in social work and sociology. So I understand sociology and appreciate that it has worth. But your scenario reminds me of the optimistic studies that "proved" that urban renewal projects would end poverty. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Practice safe shuttle with a rubber.
At 06:10 PM 2/3/03 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If the tiles are fragile on the way up, but not needed until the way down, why not keep them covered until needed. A front page newspaper story states that NASA is getting a lot of "Armageddon" type solutions. This is probably just one more Has he calculated how much a Shuttle-sized condom would weigh? -- Ronn! :) Almighty Ruler of the all, Whose Power extends to great and small, Who guides the stars with steadfast law, Whose least creation fills with awe, O grant thy mercy and thy grace, To those who venture into space. (Robert A. Heinlein's added verse to the Navy Hymn) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Lousy reporting
At 03:37 PM 2/3/03 -0800, Deborah Harrell wrote: --- Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I guess it's too > much to hope that network reporters would actually > study what they're > reporting on. More correctly, perhaps, it's too > much to hope that they'd be given the time to do so. Re: that last - shortened time in which to do a given job/operation is a complaint across the board. I've heard the same grivance (basically, "they're only giving me enough time to turn out a piece of s***!") from friends in the fashion, computer, architecture, education and medicine arenas. I really started to notice it in my field about 8 years ago. You Get What You Pay For - Or Not Maru The saying used to be: "There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over" . . . -- Ronn! :) Almighty Ruler of the all, Whose Power extends to great and small, Who guides the stars with steadfast law, Whose least creation fills with awe, O grant thy mercy and thy grace, To those who venture into space. (Robert A. Heinlein's added verse to the Navy Hymn) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
At 03:57 PM 2/3/03 -0800, Deborah Harrell wrote: --- "Robert J. Chassell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > According to Fernand Braudel, 308 years ago today, > on 3 February 1695, the Palatine wrote: > > `At the king's table the wine and water froze in > the glasses.' > > in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France. > > This was the combined result of the little ice age > and poorly designed fireplaces. This has nothing to do with the historical reference, but the topic line seemed very appropriate: Two weeks or so ago (it was cold but not snowy), I heard a loud thu-du-du-thoomp! in my fireplace; I went over to look, and a little whiskered face peered out from behind the glass. Apparently the screen over the chimney is faulty, allowing a squirrel to fall/squirm in (I say the latter b/c that squirrel shoved through the doors even after I'd put a box of papers in front to brace them!). After a wild chase into the tub, up the shower curtain, back to the dining nook and over more boxes of papers and books, I was finally able to shoo it out the front door. Then I called Animal Control to cancel the removal call... Late last night after I got home (safely through the snow-on-top-of-ice), I heard noises in the garage...sure enough, it was another squirrel. Chased it out the door with a dressage whip - guess it wanted to get away from the unfamiliar cold wet stuff. :) I Have Cats For The Mice, Maybe I Need A Dog For The Other Furry Varmints Maru I've had cats which would chase squirrels, and were large enough that they could have done some damage had they ever caught one, though they never did. What this meant was that whenever the cat was outside in the yard for any reason, the squirrels would perch on a limb 15 or 20 feet off the ground and chatter loudly, even though the cat paid them no mind unless he saw a squirrel on the ground . . . I Won't Even Make Any Observations About What The Squirrels Were Looking For In _Your_ House Maru -- Ronn! :) Almighty Ruler of the all, Whose Power extends to great and small, Who guides the stars with steadfast law, Whose least creation fills with awe, O grant thy mercy and thy grace, To those who venture into space. (Robert A. Heinlein's added verse to the Navy Hymn) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped
At 10:29 PM 2/3/03 -0700, Trent Shipley wrote: No, no, no. Spend the money on *social science*, well some of it...a billion, half a billion. Do you know how much basic economics and sociology you can do with 250 million dollars? Just think of how much less we would need to spend on police and how much healthier our neighborhoods would be if we spent that $250,000,000 buying and distributing low-cost paperback Bibles, for example. -- Ronn! :) Almighty Ruler of the all, Whose Power extends to great and small, Who guides the stars with steadfast law, Whose least creation fills with awe, O grant thy mercy and thy grace, To those who venture into space. (Robert A. Heinlein's added verse to the Navy Hymn) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cold weather and Poor fireplaces
At 02:27 PM 2/3/03 -0500, Robert J. Chassell wrote: According to Fernand Braudel, 308 years ago today, on 3 February 1695, the Palatine wrote: `At the king's table the wine and water froze in the glasses.' in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France. This was the combined result of the little ice age and poorly designed fireplaces. Gotta love that global warming . . . -- Ronn! :) Almighty Ruler of the all, Whose Power extends to great and small, Who guides the stars with steadfast law, Whose least creation fills with awe, O grant thy mercy and thy grace, To those who venture into space. (Robert A. Heinlein's added verse to the Navy Hymn) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
