Re: Voting
William T Goodall quoted: Yet voting theorists argue that plurality voting is one of the worst of all possible choices. (...) Almost anything looks good compared to it. God bless Saddam! A few months ago, those guys wouldn't dare to say that plurarity voting is the worst of all possible choices and anything looks good compared to it Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dogs and Uplift
Jeroen wrote: The quote is indeed from Gorilla, My Dreams. It is available at www.brin-l.com (Path: David Brin | Essays Articles | Gorilla, My Dreams). He is really a (very evil) (Evil Overlord). Usually we don't see someone writing a book and its own parody. I nicknamed this Gorilla, My Dreams as The Hitchhiker Guide to the Five Galaxies O:-) Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Some things are too good to last
J. van Baardwijk wrote: At 14:42 01-11-2002 -0500, Jon Gabriel wrote: Can convicted felons work for the Dutch Defense Ministry, and why or why not? [snippage] Of course, there will be a few variables at play then, such as what you did wrong and when you did it. A sentence of 40 hours of community service you received 10 years ago for putting some graffiti on a wall is not likely to cause any problems with getting a job. If your criminal record lists gun violence, you will probably not get a job in which you will have access to weapons. Someone convicted for fraud will probably not get a job with DEFAC (Defense Finance Accounting) either. A criminal record will probably also have an effect on your Security Clearance level. Is putting graffiti on a wall a felony there, then? I think that that would probably fall under the category of misdemeanor here. Misdemeanors don't affect your ability to vote, and probably don't affect your ability to hold most jobs. A felony is a more serious crime. Do you have any classification distinction between sorts of crimes like that, or not? Just curious. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Some things are too good to last
At 09:58 04-11-2002 -0600, Julia Thompson wrote: Is putting graffiti on a wall a felony there, then? I think that that would probably fall under the category of misdemeanor here. Misdemeanors don't affect your ability to vote, and probably don't affect your ability to hold most jobs. A felony is a more serious crime. Putting graffiti on a wall is probably only a misdemeanour here as well. You are not sent to prison for it, but will be usually be sentenced to a number of hours of community service -- and it the case of graffiti artists, that usually means *removing* graffiti from walls. GRIN But anyway, I only used that example to point out that relatively small acts of wrongdoing usually do not have any really serious consequences later in life. Do you have any classification distinction between sorts of crimes like that, or not? Just curious. We do; the classification is pretty much similar to the classification in the US, although there might be a few differences wrt whether a specific act is considered a misdemeanour or a crime, or even a form of criminal behaviour at all. Jeroen Justice for all van Baardwijk __ Wonderful-World-of-Brin-L Website: http://www.Brin-L.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Cookies (was RE: UN Security Council Reform Re: Just for the record)
Jean-Louis Couturier wrote: Jim wrote: hehehe, should I ever find myself sudenly diabetic or something, I'll drop you a line. Are you willing to take a trans-Atlantic flight though? :) Hmm, maybe not. But then again, Thanksgiving is a North American holiday so I'm guessing you're from the States. I'm in Montreal, so I could probably drive. Oops! Got caught in the old ass-u-me on that one. I figured a native French speaker had a good chance of being from France. In that case, New Jersey is not all that far from you after all! Jim ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Cookies (was RE: UN Security Council Reform Re: Just for the record)
Jim Sharkey [mailto:templar569;excite.com] wrote: hehehe, should I ever find myself sudenly diabetic or something, I'll drop you a line. and later: In that case, New Jersey is not all that far from you after all! It isn't far, but I'll turn around and hassle my own mother in law rather than hope for a diabetic Jim. Jean-Louis Madame Drapeau, avez-vous une bonne recette de biscuits aux brisures de chocolat? (translates to)Misses Drapeau, do you know a good chocolate chip cookie recipe? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Cattales (Was: early voting/uplifted dogs)
--- Ronn Blankenship wrote: Deborah Harrell wrote: who is extremely grateful that Kia (12 yr-old cat) only *vocally* expressed his displeasure with the necessity of 'hot-packing' his abcess, rather than resorting to armed resistance... Aargh. How did he pick that up? Only thing I can think of is sigh a mouse bite; Saturday last there was, on the stoop, ~ 1/2 mouse and a mouse with its head partially ripped off (normally he brings me *part* of his prey - sharing the wealth, as it were, but not whole critturs). Facial swelling noted Tues, gone Wed, back with a vengeance and drainage Thurs - therapy started. For a cat who loved everybody (his best friend was the neighbor's dog), Andy somehow got into his fair share of fights with other cats, several of which resulted in injuries whose extent remained hidden under his thick coat (though he was of no particular breed, he could pass for a Maine Coon) until they had developed into nice abscesses . . . (oh, eeuww!). My reaction, too, at seeing a teaspoonful or more of stuff Pus, laudable pus dear sir! :P get squeezed out after the lancing on more than one occasion (sometimes more than once on the same injury) The Biggest Boil Treatment Ever Attempted Was Lancing Michigan Maru groan So my poor cat not only suffers the ignominy of mouse-inflicted wounds, but punnishment as well? My cats clearly understand what the doorknob is for and how it works. Thank goodness they don't have opposable thumbs . . . Then there was Spot who stood beside the door and very clearly said Ot? I have hung bells on the doorknobs; the cats ring them when they want to go out. (And when they ring the bell and run - which they _have_ done! - we have a game of 'chase' until I can scoop up and deposit the prankster outdoors.) :) No Voodoo Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dogs and Uplift
Joe Hale wrote: I don't know if this is covered in the series, but once you start uplifting species where do you stop? If you uplift dogs, why not cats? Why not squids? (They're smarter than you think). In fact, why not uplift cock roaches? Of course you'd have to make them bigger so their head could hold a bigger brain. But once they achieved intelligence and we could reason with them, maybe humans would get over being disgusted by them. (Or not.) The rule of thumb is that a species has to have potential in order to be chosen for uplift. Earth has a large number of species which would be said to have potential, including most of the ones you mentioned (roaches have a long way to go before having potential, and might impossible to uplift within the standard timeframe of 100,000 years). My take on it is that potential has a personality component as well as intelligence and (somewhat) physical components, which is why dogs apparently have problems with Earthclan's style of uplift. That, and humans are strictly forbidden from uplifting any more species from the richly endowed planet we happen to be living on, and that we have to ensure that further environmental damage is prevented if we are to keep our lease on Earth. At least, this is how a galactic would describe it. - Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Cookies (was: UN Security Council Reform)
This was sent to me yesterday as a true story, but someone I forwarded it to replied that it was an urban legend, and the 'real' Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, which they included, was different. Given the recently expressed list desire for chocolate chip cookies, I thought I'd pass along both. 'With Cookies and Justice For All' Maru NEIMAN MARCUS STORY A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very expensive store; i.e., they sell your typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00. My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the Neiman-Marcus cookie. It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, I'm afraid not, but you can buy the recipe. Well, I asked how much, and she responded, Only two fifty--it's a great deal! I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to my tab... Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge was $285.00! ...As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, Cookie Recipe-$250.00. That was outrageous! I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it was two fifty, which clearly does not mean two hundred and fifty dollars by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money...I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud... I just said, Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus...for free...So here it is! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny off of this recipe! NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved) 2 cups butter 24 oz.chocolate chips 4 cups flour 2 cups brown sugar 2 tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 2 cups sugar 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated) 5 cups blended oatmeal 4 eggs 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. vanilla 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice) Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies. Ride free, citizens! From the Neiman's site: NM Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe An urban myth is a modern folk tale, its origins unknown, its believability enhanced simply by the frequency with which it is repeated. Our signature chocolate chip cookie is the subject of one such myth. If you haven't heard the story, we won't perpetuate it here. If you have, the recipe below should serve to refute it. Copy it, print it out, pass it along to friends and family. It's a terrific recipe. And it's absolutely free. Ingredients 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 egg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-3/4 cups flour 1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, slightly crushed 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips Directions Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract. Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes for a crispier cookie. Makes 12 to 15 large cookies. __ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Chocolate chip cookie recipe
1 cup butter 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2-1/4 cup flour 2 cups chocolate chips Blend butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla. Add eggs. Add baking soda and salt. Add flour, 3/4 cup at a time, mixing well each time. Add chocolate chips slowly to prevent breakage. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes. Julia p.s. the same sheet of paper also has recipes for sugar cookies (which I thought at the time came out a little dry, but everyone else liked them just fine) and peanut butter cookies (which no one found fault with). Let me know if either of *those* ought to be posted. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dogs and Uplift
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 11/4/2002 4:20:58 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Why not squids? (They're smarter than you think). In fact, why not uplift cock roaches? Of course you'd have to make them bigger so their head could hold a bigger brain. But once they achieved intelligence and we could reason with them, maybe humans would get over being disgusted by them. (Or not.) You need to start drinking de-Kafka. These puns are really starting to bug me! (H)ive reached my last legs. A'nt nothing left to do but go check in at the Motel. -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chocolate chip cookie recipe
Le Lundi 4 novembre 2002, à 07:31 , Julia Thompson a écrit : ... snip recipe p.s. the same sheet of paper also has recipes for sugar cookies (which I thought at the time came out a little dry, but everyone else liked them just fine) and peanut butter cookies (which no one found fault with). Let me know if either of *those* ought to be posted. Would you mind? Jean-Louis Pretty please with cookies on top. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
US Unilateralism
I know that the US, especially under the current Administration, is often-criticized for having unilateralist tendencies, and disregarding the opinions of the international community. With that being said, has anybody noticed that the United States has now let the United Nations deliberate for nearly two months (and counting) on its dispute with Iraq? Does anyone know if the rest of the world is giving the US credit for sticking with the multilateral approach, and engaging both its allies and the UNSC members in very long and difficult negotiations, and working towards an ultimate resolution in the United Nations that will not contain a lot of the things that the US was originally looking for? JDG ___ John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] People everywhere want to say what they think; choose who will govern them; worship as they please; educate their children -- male and female; own property; and enjoy the benefits of their labor. These values of freedom are right and true for every person, in every society -- and the duty of protecting these values against their enemies is the common calling of freedom-loving people across the globe and across the ages. -US National Security Policy, 2002 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
the people in congress against free speech
http://www.aotc.info/archives/000152.html#000152 The Worst Coders in Washington The best code in the world can be foiled by a single bug. One careless line of code can crash an entire program. Lawrence Lessig calls laws East Coast Code, and it only takes a few buggy laws to strangle freedom and innovation in technology. Laws like the DMCA, the Hollings Bill, and the CDA threaten to put the American technology juggernaut up on blocks. AOTC has researched the sponsors of eight bad Internet laws and compiled a list of their most prolific campaign contributors. These laws were written and a tiny handful of lawmakers, backed by a tiny handful of wealthy financiers. These bad coders and their backers have done more damage to computing, the Internet and freedom than all the virus authors, spammers and crackers combined. The Laws Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), H.R.2281 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) flooded American technology with punishing legal action, jailing scientists and destroying companies. The DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions have trumped the First Amendment and have given copyright holders a whip hand over every use of the material they sell to their customers. Communications Decency Act (CDA), S.314/ H.R.1004 1995's Communications Decency Act turned the Internet into a First-Amendment-Free zone. Speech that would be absolutely protected in the real world was criminalized if transmitted over the Internet. After a protracted court battle, a Philadelphia Federal Court zapped this buggy code, declaring the CDA un-Constitutional. Child Online Protection Act (COPA, CDA II), S. 1482, H.R. 3783 After the defeat of CDA, anti-freedom groups and their lawmakers launched a second salvo, COPA. COPA was a narrower attack than CDA, limiting itself to websites hosted by commercial entities, but no less un-Constitutional. The courts stopped COPA dead in its tracks, but today, the Supreme Court is deliberating over whether to unleash COPA on America. Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA, The Hollings Bill), S.2048 This virulent Trojan Horse, written by Senator Ernest Fritz Hollings and friends appears to be a law that promotes technology, but it carries a deadly payload. Under this proposed law, technologists will have to come to film and movie studios on bent knee and beg for permission to ship new hardware and software. The film and music companies who worked to ban every innovative technology from the player piano to Marconi's radio to the VCR and the Internet itself would be in charge of all future innovation in America. P2P Piracy Prevention Bill (Berman P2P bill), H.R.5211 Representative Howard Berman's (D-Cal.) P2P Bill opens a hole in the security of the American judicial system. Under this proposal, copyright holders are free to take illegal countermeasures against any member of the public whom they believe to be engaged in copyright infringement. A law that lets a group of people break the law sounds like an oxymoron, but it's worse than that: by affording a right of revenge to movie and music companies, Berman's code legalizes vigilanteism, stripping law-enforcement agencies of the ability to police attacks on Internet users. CIPA, H.R. 4577 CIPA is a denial-of-service attack on schools, libraries and children. Under CIPA, schools and libraries that receive certain Federal funds are required by law to censor the Web, using filters provided by snake-oil salesmen that raise the cost of providing Internet access to kids while spuriously blocking informative sites that carry information that appears in our schools' mandatory curriculum. The Lawmakers These lawmakers in Congress and the Senate wrote more anti-technology legal code than any of their co-legislators. Rep. Charles (Chip) Pickering (R-MS 3rd district) 3 bills $230,900 DMCA, COPA, CIPA Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX 21st district) 2 bills $87,112 P2P Piracy Prevention Bill, COPA Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK ) 2 bills $375,339 CBDTPA, CIPA Rep. Bill Paxon (R-NY 27th district) 2 bills $200,938 DMCA, COPA Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-CA 26th district) 2 bills $212,991 DMCA, P2P Piracy Prevention Bill Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-OH 4th district) 2 bills $184,998 COPA, CIPA Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC 6th district) 2 bills $114,747 DMCA, P2P Piracy Prevention Bill Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC ) 2 bills $532,980 CBDTPA, CIPA Rep. Bob Franks (R-NJ 7th district) 2 bills $661,784 COPA, CIPA Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR 3rd district) 1 bill $99,350 COPA Sen. John McCain (R-AZ ) 1 bill $1,050,321 CIPA Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD 6th district) 1 bill $50,500 COPA Rep. Jack Metcalf (R-WA 2nd district) 1 bill $185,377 COPA Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY 1st district) 1 bill $115,980 COPA Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO 6th district) 1 bill $145,162 COPA Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL 6th district) 1 bill $83,500 DMCA Rep. Paul E. Gillmor (R-OH 5th district) 1 bill $107,849 COPA Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL 15th
Re: Question Simpsons, the answer
At 10:15 PM 11/3/2002 -0500, you wrote: B I G S P O I L E R S P A C E I heard: What is this... ___? *Blam* (As he shoots Future Homer #2) and then after he picks up the Time Machine: Now to get me some Cavewomen Hookers *Vanishes in Time Travel Swirl* Jon From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Question about the Simpsons episode this evening Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 21:51:20 EST In a message dated 11/3/2002 6:42:32 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Just in case, I'm going to stick some spoiler space in here. Please include it when replying. If you haven't seen the episode yet, I don't think my question will give away too much. S P O I L E R / S P A C E / S P O I L E R / S P A C E What did Moe say at the very end of the gun story? I missed it because someone who doesn't understand about being quiet was rustling a bunch of paper at just that moment, and we didn't have the closed captioning on. What is this, guest shot city? Or something as meaningless. William Taylor What is this, open mike night? Kevin T. Your welcome Only 28 hours late ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: US Unilateralism
John D. Giorgis wrote: Does anyone know if the rest of the world is giving the US credit for sticking with the multilateral approach, and engaging both its allies and the UNSC members in very long and difficult negotiations, and working towards an ultimate resolution in the United Nations that will not contain a lot of the things that the US was originally looking for? Speaking for our little corner of the world, I would say yes, but we aren't a very representative group in terms of world opinion of the US. What I would say is that the protracted negotiations means the US is NOT getting the bitter spite it would have had it gone ahead. Basically the world at large is not saying good work for not doing something evil, but they're not saying it has done anything evil either... Cheers Russell C. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Dogs and Uplift
At 05:19 PM 11/4/02, Joe Hale wrote: I don't know if this is covered in the series, but once you start uplifting species where do you stop? If you uplift dogs, why not cats? Because they are already smarter than humans? After all, as someone has said: Dogs have masters. Cats have staff. --Ronn! :) Who is currently trying to type while serving as pillow for a 17 +/- 1-lb cat who is waiting for a bug that got inside to come close enough to make grabbing for it worthwhile . . . I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed that I would see the last. --Dr. Jerry Pournelle ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Question Simpsons, the answer
In a message dated 11/4/2002 8:35:00 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: What is this, guest shot city? Or something as meaningless. William Taylor What is this, open mike night? Same meaning; wrong form. Thus proving the need for a VCR as oposed to only having DVD in a home. William Taylor -- What do you call Quo Vadus on the VCR? Playing mylar while Rome burns. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Question Simpsons, the answer
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 11/4/2002 8:35:00 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: What is this, guest shot city? Or something as meaningless. William Taylor What is this, open mike night? Same meaning; wrong form. Thus proving the need for a VCR as oposed to only having DVD in a home. And we use the VCR. Just, not right at that moment. :P Oh, if you haven't had kids yet, when the time comes that you *do* have them, if you want to watch TV, closed captioning is *great*. We just didn't happen to have *that* on at the moment, either. (And it was really bad election night last year -- screaming kid and the TV station we were trying to watch was giving election return stuff at the same time as the network show they were carrying, and it *totally* messed up the CC. I e-mailed them about it last week, and they tell me they're using new technology and have tested the closed captioning with the stuff they're going to use for election return reporting during the show, so I guess it'll be OK this time. (Finally!!)) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Bin Laden's son may be in U.S. custody
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021103-041112-7523r At least 20 suspected members of al Qaida, possibly including one of the sons of accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, were deported by Iran to Pakistan two months ago and handed over to the Americans, according to Pakistani intelligence officials. The two officials -- reached by telephone in Islamabad -- confirmed media reports of the deportation Sunday, and added that the suspects had been given to U.S. authorities. But whether bin Laden's son was among the group remained unclear. A U.S. official, said he could not discuss who the Pakistanis had turned over to us and how. We are very pleased with the level of cooperation we have with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and we will continue working with them, the official, who works at the U.S. State Department, told United Press International. Later, he added his guess was that if the Iranians had bin Laden's son, they would not have given him to the Pakistanis. They would hand him over to the Saudis because he is a Saudi national, said the official, adding, It's just a thought. Iranian policy on returning those who have crossed its borders without proper documentation -- as they say the group of al Qaida suspects did -- is unclear. Officials have made contradictory statements about the destination of the group they deported. The Saudis have, so far, not commented on the report. Neither Pakistani official was willing to confirm that bin Laden's son was among the prisoners. And contradictory statements from Iranian officials have done nothing to resolve the question. If bin Laden's son was among them, the Americans would have said so but we never heard anything about him from the Americans or the Iranians, said one Pakistani official. Sunday, a government spokesman in Tehran confirmed a report published in the Financial Times, that bin Laden's son was among the 20 al Qaida suspects deported to what he described as a neighboring country two months ago. Since they were not holding ID cards, we repatriated them to the country they were coming from, said Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, the Iranian government spokesman, referring to a group of 20 people detained in a border security operation in eastern Iran. He said Iranian authorities later learned that bin Laden's son was among them, but did not say how. But Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told the FT a much larger group of people -- 250 in all -- suspected of having links with al Qaida had been deported to their home countries. Monday, Ramzanzadeh added to the confusion by contradicting his previous statements, saying he was unsure if one of bin Laden's sons was in the group. Later we heard gossip that bin Laden's son was among them, he told the student news agency ISNA. But none of the people who entered the country had identification papers with them... So from our point of view, recognizing their identities was impossible. Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said Monday he had no knowledge of Iran returning one of bin Laden's sons to the country. Bin Laden has 23 sons but only two of them are believed to be active in al Qaida. Iranian officials did not identify the one they said they had deported to Pakistan. One of the bin Laden's sons, Saad bin Laden, who is in his 20s, would be of particular interest to U.S. authorities, who believe he is a potential successor to his father as leader of the al Qaida organization. xponent Believeable? Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
It's true, men really are from Mars
And so are women, thanks to an invasion by Red Planet microbes http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,822088,00.html A hundred years ago it was widely believed that there was life on Mars. The American astronomer Percival Lowell even produced detailed maps of canals he claimed had been constructed by water-deprived Martians. Then in the 1960s space probes sent to Mars failed to reveal any sign of life, let alone intelligent canal-building life. But the coup de grace came in 1977 when the US space agency Nasa landed two Viking spacecraft on the Martian surface with the specific aim of searching for signs of biological activity. Not so much as a bacterium was found. The surface of Mars appeared to be a freeze-dried desert, utterly hostile to any form of life. Today this pessimistic assessment seems too hasty. I believe not only that Mars has harboured life, but it may actually be the cradle of life. This conclusion arises because of the recent discovery that our biosphere extends deep into the bowels of the Earth. Microbes have been found thriving at depths of several kilometres, inhabiting the pore spaces of apparently solid rock. Genetic studies suggest these deep-living organisms are among the most ancient on the planet. They are, in effect, living fossils. Because temperature sharply rises with depth, the subterranean microbes tend to be extremely heat-tolerant. There is, however, a limit. Estimates suggest that 150C is probably an upper bound for life as we know it. After Earth formed about 4.5bn years ago it remained very hot, both from enhanced radioactivity and the violence of the planet's birth. Temperatures below ground would have been lethal, even for heat-loving microbes. On the other hand the surface was pretty uncongenial too. Astronomers think that for about 700m years a barrage of giant asteroids pounded the planet. The big impacts would have swathed the globe with incandescent rock vapour, boiling the oceans and sterilising the rock beneath. By contrast, Mars cooled quicker because it is smaller. The comfort zone for deep-living, heat-tolerant microbes would have been deeper sooner. All in all, the Red Planet offered a more favourable habitat for life during the early history of the solar system. We don't know where life began, but a kilometre or two below the surface of Mars seems a good place. How, then, did life get from Mars to Earth? The answer is straightforward. The same asteroid impacts that made early life so hazardous also served to splatter vast quantities of Martian rock around the solar system. A fraction of this hits Earth; indeed, it does so today. So far, a couple of dozen meteorites have been found that can be traced back to Mars. If there was life on Mars, then it is possible that some Martian microbes will have hitched a ride inside the ejected rocks and made their way to Earth. When I suggested this idea about 10 years ago, few scientists took it seriously. They found it incredible that any form of life could survive being blasted off a planet and subjected to the inhospitable environment of outer space. Yet evidence is steadily growing that microbes could withstand the violence of ejection, the savage radiation of interplanetary space, as well as the heat of atmospheric re-entry. Studies of the Martian meteorites show they were not highly shock-heated when propelled into space. As for the microbes, cocooned inside rocks a metre or more across, they would be shielded from the worst effects of radiation. Initially Mars was the more bio-friendly planet; Earth was a scalding hell. Once life got going on the Red Planet, it quickly spread through the subsurface zone - a good refuge from impacts. However, those microbes living near ground zero of a major impact would have been flung into orbit round the sun. The lucky ones, buried deep inside large boulders, could have survived in space for millions of years. A few of those boulders would, over such durations, hit the Earth. Although many microbes would perish in space, and more would die on high-speed entry to Earth's atmosphere, it would take just one viable organism to seed our planet with life. One of the puzzles about life's appearance on Earth is that it happened so quickly after the bombardment abated about 3.8bn years ago. There are distinct traces of life in Australia dating from 3.5bn years ago, and hints of life in rocks from even earlier times. This is readily explained if life came from Mars. We can imagine a continuing rain of microbe-laden Martian debris falling on Earth during the bombardment. As soon as conditions finally settled down, these colonists would have flourished. Martian life probably established itself here many times, only to be destroyed by the next big impact. If I am right, then you and I are the direct descendants of the first Martians able to burrow hot and deep, and ride out the remaining fury of the cosmic bombardment. · Paul Davies is a member of the Australian Centre for
Purdue Scientists Spiriting Towards Possible Ghost Contact
http://www.ncbuy.com/news/wireless_news.html?qdate=2002-11-01nav=VIEWid=4B 17BF7P603021101 Scientists at Purdue University are currently pursuing an experiment that, if successful, could prove the existence of other dimensions -- and possibly ghosts. The researchers are repeatedly placing two nickel plates in a vacuum, bringing them slowly together and measuring the amount of energy that builds as they get closer. Physicist Dr. Ephraim Fischbach says when the metal plates slam together, the area around them will be charged with all sorts of electromagnetic particles that can't get through the metal. Both plates are basically identical but one has six additional neutrons. That means any measurable difference in force between the two slabs is proof of an unknown force, possibly from another dimension. Fischbach won't speculate whether his device is a ghost machine but says if his experiment turns out according to plan, it may provide the basis for contacting interdimensional beings -- maybe within 50 years. Dr. Fischbach's findings appear in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters. xponent Vac Fluc Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Question Simpsons, the answer
On Mon, 4 Nov 2002, Kevin Tarr wrote: At 10:15 PM 11/3/2002 -0500, you wrote: B I G S P O I L E R S P A C E I heard: What is this... ___? *Blam* (As he shoots Future Homer #2) and then after he picks up the Time Machine: Now to get me some Cavewomen Hookers *Vanishes in Time Travel Swirl* Jon From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Question about the Simpsons episode this evening Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 21:51:20 EST In a message dated 11/3/2002 6:42:32 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Just in case, I'm going to stick some spoiler space in here. Please include it when replying. If you haven't seen the episode yet, I don't think my question will give away too much. S P O I L E R / S P A C E / S P O I L E R / S P A C E What did Moe say at the very end of the gun story? I missed it because someone who doesn't understand about being quiet was rustling a bunch of paper at just that moment, and we didn't have the closed captioning on. What is this, guest shot city? Or something as meaningless. William Taylor What is this, open mike night? Kevin T. Your welcome Only 28 hours late Actually, it was the bit *after* he grabbed the time machine thing that we missed, and Jon filled us in on that now. Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: the people in congress against free speech
The Fool wrote: The Lawmakers These lawmakers in Congress and the Senate wrote more anti-technology legal code than any of their co-legislators. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX 21st district) 2 bills $87,112 P2P Piracy Prevention Bill, COPA Yeah, well, he was our representative (still is, I guess, until the next session begins, at which point, unless something *extremely* unforseen happens tomorrow, our rep will be a guy by the name of John Carter), and he was one of the ones who got a copy of the letter explaining why all our money earmarked for political contribution was going to the EFF and *not* to any Republican supposedly representing us in Washington. (And I intend to write him lots of letters; any heads-up in advance on issues such as these would be greatly appreciated.) I'm hoping that Carter will be more amenable to reason; his main base now is southern Williamson County, which contains among other businesses the headquarters of Dell, and a lot of his constituents work in high tech. Smith is based in San Antonio. (Not that I mean any slur against San Antonio, I just think he's out of touch with the concerns of Sillicon Hills as someone dubbed the high-tech area around Austin.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: US Unilateralism
John D. Giorgis wrote: With that being said, has anybody noticed that the United States has now let the United Nations deliberate for nearly two months (and counting) on its dispute with Iraq? g ..the US has *let* the UN deliberate...? Interesting terminology there, JDG. :) Does anyone know if the rest of the world is giving the US credit for sticking with the multilateral approach, and engaging both its allies and the UNSC members in very long and difficult negotiations, and working towards an ultimate resolution in the United Nations that will not contain a lot of the things that the US was originally looking for? No more credit than the world gave other countries for not provoking an unnecessary war in an unprecedentedly irrational manner, no. Is the US *looking* for more credit than that? Ritu Ritu ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Fiery ice from the sea
http://www.cosmiverse.com/news/tech/1102/tech11040201.html A new world energy source? If you know anything about methane gas and the Office of Naval Research thinks you should it probably has something to do with swamp gas, and a faintly unpleasant sulfurous smell that rises from country marshes on sultry, summer evenings, or perhaps for more romantic types stories of Will-o'-the-Wisp, the flickering lights seen at night above that very same swamp (mundanely, methane igniting spontaneously with traces of odorous hydrogen sulfide found in the bog's rotting organic matter). Forget it. Start thinking about methane hydrates - a crystalline form of methane gas and pure water that exists when pressures are sufficiently high, or temperatures sufficiently low. If you manage to keep that pressure high or that temperature low, it looks like a lump of ice. There are mega-tons of the stuff at the bottom of the ocean all over the world and in the Arctic permafrost (about 300,000 trillion cubic feet of it) and it is the cleanest and most abundant source of energy in the world. There is at least twice as much of it around as fossil fuels (some say 10 times as much). And, when burned as a fuel, it releases less carbon dioxide pollution than anything else around. So why aren't we using it? Plain and simple, methane hydrates are hard to get at, and once gotten at, hard to transport. Its crystalline form will change to gas when pressures are lowered, or temperatures rise (like when it's brought to the sea surface) and in doing so it will expand 164 times, representing definite storage and transport issues. There are geo-political considerations, too who owns it? What about global warming (because extra methane, when released, is another addition to the greenhouse gases)? And, naturally occurring submarine landslides, which in turn create tsunamis and cause costly damage to pipelines and undersea cables, may be caused by hydrate dissociation and sediment failure; that is, landslides may occur if the substrate becomes lubricated when the crystalline form reverts to gas and water. If we exploit the resource, are we exacerbating the problem? All these issues are being addressed in a series of international conferences entitled 'Fiery Ice from the Sea.' Many technological problems need to be resolved, says Nick Langhorne, science officer in ONR's London office, And these need a coordinated international effort. There will always be nuclear energy, of course, but nuclear power comes with a lot of emotional baggage and, while it's good for generating electricity, chances are you'll never run your car on it. It's time to put the necessary resources toward methane hydrates RD. The world consumes 3 billion gallons of oil a day. The Navy alone uses over 4 million gallons of it a day, and that's in peacetime. Production and supply of all the traditional hydrocarbon fuels coal, gas and oil are well established but will peak by the year 2010. And there's another bonus in all this, says Rick Coffin, of the Naval Research Lab. When methane, which is a gas, combines with seawater to make methane hydrate, it rejects the salt in the water. Therefore, fresh water is produced when the concentrated hydrates are melted. It's a desalination process where the methane can be recycled to continue the process. For areas thirsty for water, this could be a real windfall. Perhaps I should have said 'waterfall.' xponent Multiple Solutions Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Question Simpsons, the answer
In a message dated 11/4/2002 10:03:29 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Oh, if you haven't had kids yet, I'm 48 and out of shape. I'll borrow the neighbor's as long as they're dry. William Taylor But finding a Mrs Wilson might be nice. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: It's true, men really are from Mars
In a message dated 11/4/2002 10:28:04 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: One of the puzzles about life's appearance on Earth is that it happened so quickly after the bombardment abated about 3.8bn years ago. There are distinct traces of life in Australia dating from 3.5bn years ago, and hints of life in rocks from even earlier times. This is readily explained if life came from Mars. I would like to believe that H. Beam Piper once sat in on a seance and asked Where did life begin? and designed his SF from the one word answer he received. William Taylor - Omnipunya' all ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: US Unilateralism
- Original Message - From: Ritu Ko [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 11:51 PM Subject: RE: US Unilateralism John D. Giorgis wrote: With that being said, has anybody noticed that the United States has now let the United Nations deliberate for nearly two months (and counting) on its dispute with Iraq? g ..the US has *let* the UN deliberate...? Interesting terminology there, JDG. :) I think John meant let the UN debate endlessly without the US taking any further action unilaterally or otherwise. I know its fairly fashionable for Non-Americans to view the US government in as cynical a light as possible, but it is a bit less than nice to take the same approach with individual Americans. The point I'm trying to make is that your response has the effect of being more polarizing than Johns original statement. I dont think that was your intent, I know you better than that, you are most certainly one of the Good people I know, and one of the more consistantly reasonable ones. I think all of us could take a moment to wear someone elses shoes and see how our words would sound to their ears. (Sheesh, what a sentence) Does anyone know if the rest of the world is giving the US credit for sticking with the multilateral approach, and engaging both its allies and the UNSC members in very long and difficult negotiations, and working towards an ultimate resolution in the United Nations that will not contain a lot of the things that the US was originally looking for? No more credit than the world gave other countries for not provoking an unnecessary war in an unprecedentedly irrational manner, no. Is the US *looking* for more credit than that? Maybe what John is looking for is credit for showing some restraint. There is quite a bit of impetus for attacking Iraq. There are some good reasons to do so. I think it is fairly certain that the US will attack Iraq at some point, with or without the UNs blessing. Yet the US has so far complied and let the UN exercise its legalistic sophistry in eternal debates that exist as not much more than political wankery. One would have to have ignored Iraq for the last couple of decades to believe they are not currently engaged in making WOMD. Its a silly argument. xponent Off To Bed Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
