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Blunderov
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #30 on: 2008-11-28 02:43:41 »
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Quote from: Fritz on 2008-11-15 23:50:49   
I have been waiting in great anticipation for the ultimate backlite scene from what I understood your new Eden like setting beside the 'great pond' might offer for the clicking.
Fritz

[Blunderov] There are one or two shots that suggest themselves. Maybe soon I will go and get them...

I think it was the clarinet which someone once remarked was an "ill woodwind that nobody blew good"? And so it is even with economic meltdowns...

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/clifton.php?articleid=13823

Neocon Lobby Group Loses Its Angel


by Eli Clifton
HONG KONG - The right-wing US advocacy group Freedom's Watch is reportedly shutting down as its main funder, Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, becomes one of the high-profile casualties of the global economic downturn.

Freedom's Watch, which according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, has scheduled huge staff layoffs for the end of December, was one of the most prominent advocacy groups aligned with the Republican Party.

Adelson contributed over 30 million dollars to Freedom's Watch in 2007 and 2008, but has had to cut back on his philanthropy as his net worth – estimated at 36 billion dollars in 2007 – shrunk by 13 billion dollars.

His company – the Las Vegas Sands Corporation – faces huge losses as its aggressive expansion in Singapore and Macau coincided with the global financial crisis.

Freedom's Watch was conceived in March 2007 as an offshoot of the Florida Republican Jewish Coalition in which Adelson is a longtime member.

The stated mission of Freedom's Watch has been to "support mainstream conservative public policies" but the focus of the group's lobbying and media campaigns has reflected the staunchly pro-Iraq war and pro-Israeli-Likud Party politics of its chief benefactor.

In November 2007, Adelson placed himself to the far right of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), when he denounced the organization's support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"If someone is going to jump off a bridge, it is incumbent upon their friends to dissuade them," he told the Jewish Telegraph Agency. "I don't continue to support organizations that help friends committing suicide just because they say they want to jump."

Freedom's Watch spent 15 million dollars on an ad blitz in the summer of 2007 supporting the George W. Bush administration's troop surge in Iraq, and the group bought both print ads and television time, in four Senate and over 30 House races in the Nov. 4 election.

But recent reports have suggested that Adelson's grip on the group's purse-strings and his need to authorize and approve every media campaign and expenditure have led Freedom's Watch board members and top Republican party operatives to express frustration with his top-down management style.

The global economic downturn and the rapid expansion of Adelson's casino empire in Asia has coincided with a split between Adelson and Christian evangelicals who had aligned themselves with the neoconservative foreign policy interests promoted by Freedom's Watch.

Tensions between the Christian right and Adelson's business interests boiled over on Sep. 29 when the Christian Coalition of Alabama's president, Dr. Randy Brinson, denounced Adelson as "not sharing our values as Alabamans."

Adelson's casino interests in Macau, a Chinese gambling enclave near Hong Kong, has called attention to his expanding casino empire and his backroom politicking on behalf of the Chinese government who the Christian right are quick to point criticism at for its human rights violations, restrictions on religion and the government's communist identity.

On May 25, 2008 a Las Vegas, Nevada jury awarded Richard Suen – a Hong Kong businessman – 43.8 million dollars in damages against the Sands Corporation. The judgment was the conclusion of Suen's lawsuit which claimed he had served as a "fixer" for Adelson and the Sands Corp. in arranging meetings with high-level Chinese government officials in Beijing.

Suen's version of events is that Adelson and the Sands Corp. had been seeking a casino license to enter the lucrative gambling market in Macau. In meetings, arranged by Suen in 2001, Adelson learned that Beijing was concerned about an effort led by US House Republicans to stop China from winning their 2008 Olympic bid.

Testimony given by Suen revealed that Adelson, eager to curry favor with Beijing, immediately phoned then House Majority Whip Tom Delay and, after getting off the phone with DeLay, reportedly turned to the mayor of Beijing and said, "The bill will never see the light of day, Mr. Mayor. Don't worry about it."

Sands Corp. received the lucrative casino license and has since opened the Cotai Strip development and the Venetian Macau at a cost of 2.4 billion dollars and an estimated 10 to 12 billion dollars in costs by 2010.

The close relationship between Adelson and the Chinese government damaged Adelson's alliances with the Christian Right – a powerful constituency within the Republican Party.

"Where Sheldon Adelson has placed his treasure makes it quite clear where his heart is: in gambling and backing the regime in China that persecutes Christians," said Brinson.

Adelson's shrinking fortune has also meant huge cutbacks in his other high-profile philanthropic venture – Birth Right Israel – which sends young Jews on all-expense paid trips to Israel.

With his wife Miriam, Adelson contributed 70 million dollars over the past two years but his pledged contributions for 2009 and 2010 have been reduced to 20 million and 10 million dollars, respectively.

The combination of the global financial crisis, increased media attention on his business dealings in China, and a split between Christian evangelicals and Freedom's Watch has marked a particularly inauspicious year for a man who in 2006 ruefully commented to the interviewer Charlie Rose, "A billion dollars doesn't buy what it used to."

(Inter Press Service)

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Re:En Passant
« Reply #31 on: 2009-01-07 08:00:47 »
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[Blunderov] The Iraq war was always illegal. Now it is yet illegaller.

"You must know ---" said the Judge: but the Snark exclaimed
"Fudge!" That statute is obsolete quite!
Let me tell you, my friends, the whole question depends
On an ancient manorial right."


http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/116898/the_iraq_war_is_now_illegal/

The Iraq War Is Now Illegal

By Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway, The Daily Beast. Posted January 3, 2009.

Ongoing combat in Iraq is illegal under US law. As of January 1, Congress' authorization of the war expired. The Bush administration's infatuation with presidential power has finally pushed the country over a constitutional precipice. As of New Year's Day, ongoing combat in Iraq is illegal under US law.

In authorizing an invasion in 2002, Congress did not give President Bush a blank check. It explicitly limited the use of force to two purposes: to “defend the national security of the US from the threat posed by Iraq” and “enforce all relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”

Five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the government of Iraq no longer poses a threat. Our continuing intervention has been based on the second clause of Congress' grant of war-making power. Coalition troops have been acting under a series of Security Council resolutions authorizing the continuing occupation of Iraq. But this year, Bush allowed the UN mandate to expire on December 31 without requesting a renewal. At precisely one second after midnight, Congress' authorization of the war expired along with this mandate.

Bush is trying to fill the legal vacuum with the new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) he signed with the Iraqis. But the president's agreement is unconstitutional, since it lacks the approval of Congress. Bush even refused to allow Congress access to the terms of the deal. By contrast, Prime Minister al-Maliki followed his constitution and submitted the agreement for parliamentary approval. While the Iraqi parliament debated its terms, leading members of Congress were obliged to obtain unofficial English translations of texts published by the Arab press.

Bush defends his extraordinary conduct by claiming that it is traditional for commanders in chief to negotiate status of forces agreements without congressional consent. But the Iraqi agreement goes far beyond anything in the traditional SOFAs concluded with close to 100 countries since World War II.

Indeed, it goes far beyond any sensible interpretation of the president's power as commander in chief. For example, the SOFA creates a joint US-Iraq committee and gives it, not the president, broad control over the use of American combat troops. It thereby asserts the authority to restrict President Obama's powers as commander in chief throughout most of his first term in office. But under the Constitution, no president can unilaterally limit his successor's authority over the military.

This defective agreement cannot serve as a valid substitute for the congressional authorization that Bush so casually allowed to expire on December 31. It is up to Congress to authorize continuing military action. Gaining the consent of a foreign power simply isn't enough.

The question is how Obama should respond to the legal catastrophe that Bush has left as his Iraqi legacy. It's easy to eliminate one option. Whatever the original infirmities of Bush's agreement, Obama should not repudiate it. Now that Maliki has won approval from his parliament, the agreement has become the basis for the next phase of Iraqi politics. It also contains withdrawal timetables that are compatible with Obama's goals: all combat troops out of Iraq's cities by July; all troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. As a consequence, Obama may be tempted to accept the agreement that Bush has left behind, and proceed without correcting its obvious constitutional deficiencies.

But this would be a tragic mistake. We are living in an age of small wars—some are blunders, but some will be necessary. The challenge is to sustain their democratic legitimacy by keeping them under congressional control. If Obama goes along with the Bush agreement, he will make this impossible. Future presidents will cite the Iraqi accord as a precedent whenever they choose to convert Congress' authorization of a limited war into an open-ended conflict.

There is a better way ahead. President Obama should submit the Bush-Maliki agreement to Congress on January 20 and urge its speedy approval. This request is likely to win broad bipartisan support. Rapid congressional ratification will not only fill the legal vacuum threatening the constitutional integrity of our military operations in Iraq. Together with the closing of Guantanamo, it will show that Obama is serious about reining in the worst presidentialist abuses of the Bush years.

Members of the incoming administration have already taken steps in the right direction. Both Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden took the lead as senators in protesting Bush's unilateralism in the conduct of the Iraqi negotiations. And Obama has made clear that he appreciates the role of checks and balances in our constitutional scheme. Now is the time to reverse the precipitous slide toward the imperial presidency.

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Re:En Passant
« Reply #32 on: 2009-03-17 02:53:33 »
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[Blunderov] Some, I thought, interesting things.

------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Washington Post

Fed Decided Payouts Couldn't Be Stopped

By Brady Dennis and David Cho

Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 17, 2009; Page A01

A tidal wave of public outrage over bonus payments swamped American International Group yesterday. Hired guards stood watch outside the suburban Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products, the division whose exotic derivatives brought the insurance giant to the brink of collapse last year. Inside, death threats and angry letters flooded e-mail inboxes. Irate callers lit up the phone lines. Senior managers submitted their resignations. Some employees didn't show up at all.

"It's a mob effect," one senior executive said. "It's putting people's lives in danger."

Politicians and the public spent yesterday demanding that AIG rescind payouts that they said rewarded recklessness and greed at a company being bailed out with $170 billion in taxpayer funds. But company officials contend that the uproar is scaring away the very employees who understand AIG Financial Products' complex trades and who are trying to dismantle the division before it further endangers the world's economy.

"It's going to blow up," said a senior Financial Products manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the company. "I have a horrible, horrible, horrible feeling that this is going to end badly."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


http://story.iraqsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/c31d0aaa23b24a75/id/478232/cs/1/

British poll shows unhappiness with wars

Iraq Sun
Monday 16th March, 2009 

A poll in Britain has shown that the public wants an inquiry into the invasion of Iraq.

The BBC poll also found almost two thirds of the public are not convinced UK soldiers should be kept in Afghanistan.

72% of those questioned believe there should be an official inquiry into the UK's role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

This figure increases to 81% in the 18-24 age group.

Last year the government defeated Conservative attempts to force a public inquiry, saying it would be an unwelcome diversion for UK troops serving in Iraq.

[Bl.] An illuminating comment to the above...

<snip>
By kawahchan, 03-16-09, 10:19 AM
(R) 2012 DAN QUAYLE Presidency WON'T fight Obama's Afghanistan War.
(R) 2012 DAN QUAYLE Presidency WON’T fight Obama’s Afghanistan War. However US will help the Pro-West Afghan villagers with Relocation and Re-settlement to a Green Zone “Little Afghan Fremont” in order to separate the Taleban regime. The 2013 DAN QUAYLE administration in White House will open door for Gurkha and their family to grant them a American Green Card (P.R.) who serve US military, US will recruit Gurkha soldiers, the special force for specialised “Field Fight” and “Mountain Warfare” to cleansing the Opium farms in Afghanistan. </snip>

[Bl.] Err...come again?

---------------------------


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SentientDevelopments/~3/WCvE9vbndAQ/futurist-thinking-at-pentagon.html

Futurist thinking at the Pentagon

17 March 2009, 00:00:00 | george@sentientdevelopments.com (George)
Wondering how the U.S. military is planning for the future? A list of recent research articles by an internal Pentagon think tank shows where their collective head is at these days:

Chinese and Russian Asymmetrical Strategies for Space Dominance (2010 - 2030)
Changing Images Of Human Nature
The Future Of Undersea Warfare
Contradictions and Continuities: The Changing Moral Education Landscape
The End of Religiously Motivated Warfare: Lessons From The Puritans And Beyond
Information As Advertisement And Advertisement As Information

Role Of High Power Microwave Weapons In Future Intercontinental Conventional War
Europe 2025: Mounting Security Challenges Amidst Declining Competitiveness
Biometaphor For The Body Politic
The Changing Images Of Human Nature

Minorities in Turkish-Iranian Relations
Preserving American Primacy
Fighting A Nuclear-Armed Regional Opponent: Is Victory Possible?
After Next Nuclear Use

The fourth item on the list about the changing moral education landscape is extremely interesting and telling. This is the kind of research that can help the military 1) get in the head of its opponents, 2) craft effective propaganda and disinformation campaigns and 3) engage in social/memetic engineering endeavors.

I would like to know the details of the Biometaphor and Changing Images Of Human Nature articles and what the U.S. military is thinking here.

As for the nuclear-themed articles, as repugnant as those topics are I suppose it's necessary to think about these scenarios and plan accordingly.

Via WIRED's Danger Room.

---------------------------------

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/5-scary-technologies5.htm

Top 5 Scary Technologies of 2008
by Chris Pollette

1: The Large Hadron Collider

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
The Compact Muon Solenoid in the LHC will help detect subparticles released during collisions.­The Large Hadron Collider is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator ever built. It's designed to smash tiny particles into tinier ones to find out the stuff from which the universe is made. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the organization that built the collider, are optimistic that their experiments will help them find the elusive Higgs boson particle or evidence that string theory exists. You can learn more by reading How the Large Hadron Collider Works.

Critics, on the other hand, have filed suit to have the LHC deactivated. They fear that the LHC could create a black hole at the surface of the Earth, or create a weird -- and for now, hypothetical -- material called strangelets that cosmologists theorize could have a highly destructive gravitational field. CERN scientists reject both theories. Even if the collider could produce black holes or strangelets, they would decay too quickly to cause any harm.*


*[Bl.] I wondered about this. "How", mused my inner child, "can something that eats everything that comes anywhere near it ever possibly decay?" Apparently the answer is Hawking radiation. I strongly suspect that this is one of those occasions where I will not understand the answer so I will simply have to be content with the question. At least I am not alone....

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=226567

<snip>Originally Posted by michael879
 
However, taking Hawking radiation into account makes the black hole decay and evaporate in some finite amount of time. My question is what happens in the observers reference frame when the black hole evaporates? Does the object just dissapear (as would be the case if the above explanation were true)? Or does the object remain intact?

Although a black hole will loose mass by Hawking radiation it will most likely gain mass at a higher rate by absorbing radiation from the cosmic microwave background radiation and thus not decay at all. This may not apply for micro black holes mut I'm not exactly sure. Its been a very long time since I've worked with those equations.

Pete </snip>

[Bl.] Best regards to all.

PS Kylee


« Last Edit: 2009-03-17 02:58:05 by Blunderov » Report to moderator   Logged
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #33 on: 2009-03-19 10:43:22 »
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http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Cape%20Argus&fArticleId=4896254

Dylan's toilet blows ill wind

March 19, 2009 Edition 1


Bob Dylan has sung about wind many times - wind of change, the Idiot Wind and the winds that hit heavy on the borderline.

But on Tuesday some of his California neighbours were singing a new tune about what is blowin' in the wind from his Malibu toilet.

A family living near the 67-year-old folk and rock icon's house in the posh California beachside community of Malibu have complained to city officials about an outdoor portable toilet, which is apparently used by guards on Dylan's compound.

Cindy and David Emminger say the toilet wafts fumes from waste treatment chemicals, and that the smell carried by breezes makes them feel ill.

"It's a scandal - 'Mr Civil Rights' is killing our civil rights,'' David Emminger said. - Reuters



http://www.lyricsdomain.com/6/frank_zappa/flakes.html

Frank Zappa » Flakes Lyrics

<snip>

[Take it away, Bob. . .]*

I asked as nice as I could
If my job would
Somehow be finished by Friday
Well, the whole damn weekend
Came 'n' went, Frankie
[FZ] Wanna buy some mandies, Bob?]
'N'they didn't do nothin'
But they charged me double for Sunday
You know, no matter what you do
They gonna cheat 'n' rob you
Then they'll send you a bill
That'll get your senses reelin'
And if you do not pay
They got computer collectors
That'll get you so crazy
Til your head'll go through th' ceilin'
Yes it will!

....

Well, the toilet went crazy
Yesterday afternoon
The plumber he says
"Never flush a lampoon!"
This great information
Cost me half a week's pay
And the toilet blew up
Later on the next day ay-eee-ay
Blew up the next day WOO-OOO

<snip>

[Bl.] Sung in that idiosyncratic nasal style that prompted one critic to write that "after Bob Dylan nobody in rock would ever worry again about whether they could sing or not."
« Last Edit: 2009-03-19 10:47:29 by Blunderov » Report to moderator   Logged
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #34 on: 2009-04-06 11:26:52 »
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[Blunderov] Things often seem rather different when one is oneself actually staring down the barrel of a firmly held, if somewhat abstract, principle; often "firmly held" mutates into "formerly held" with surprising rapidity. The Pope is only human...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/panicked_sweat_covered_pope?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

Panicked, Sweat-Covered Pope Reverses Longstanding Ban On Abortion

April 6, 2009 | Issue 45•15

02.21.06
<snip>
VATICAN CITY—Overturning 2,000 years of religious doctrine, an out-of-breath and visibly flustered Pope Benedict XVI announced Sunday that the termination of unwanted pregnancies was now "completely and perfectly acceptable in the eyes of God."</snip>

[Bl.] The Onion at their excellent best. 
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #35 on: 2009-05-22 02:46:44 »
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Quote:
I have been waiting in great anticipation for the ultimate backlite scene...


[letheomaniac] I may not be able to assist in the quest for the ultimate backlit scene, but I have found a website that could very well be the home of the ultimate "modern ruins" shot. I am completely fascinated by abandoned, decaying buildings and this site has some fantastic shots of derelict mental hospitals and other creepy stuff:
http://www.hoursofdarkness.com


Cantine Mill



Eagle River Power Plant



Kings Park Psychiatric Centre
« Last Edit: 2009-05-24 03:03:53 by letheomaniac » Report to moderator   Logged

"You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." - Dorothy Parker
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #36 on: 2009-05-22 14:25:02 »
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Quote:
[letheomaniac] I may not be able to assist in the quest for the ultimate backlit scene,....

[Fritz]Neat pics .... I got a bunch of new ones to post, just need a real internet connection to share ..... Cheers to all .... not dead yet , just in rotory dialup hell.

Hugs

Fritz

PS: Miss everyone !
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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« Reply #37 on: 2009-05-24 03:19:20 »
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[letheomaniac] Hey Fritz! I thought you fell in a crevasse or something (I hear they have those where you live) ... Good to hear from you!
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"You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." - Dorothy Parker
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #38 on: 2009-05-31 16:14:02 »
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[Blunderov ] My grateful thanks to Lucifer, Hermit and Letheomaniac for retrieving me from CoV limbo. Purgatory, it turns out, does exist. I promise not to lose my password again.

Chylde Blunderov to the dark tower went; Lagos, Nigeria. Burned out vehicle hulks abandoned alongside the highway.  Mango trees, razor wire and electrical cabling strewn across a cityscape composed of one half dereliction and one half new construction. Roosters crowing in the downtown dawn but no other birds to be seen. Or dogs. Or cats. Plenty of rats though. And the heat. Never forget the heat. It can kill a white man in the mere attempt to cross the street. Open drains which emanate a staggering variety of stenches stinks and rancid odors. Without doubt the filthiest city in the world. The people though are almost defiantly cheerful, vibrant, friendly - and grasping. Catch as catch can. 3% are wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. 2% are middle class. Then there's the rest...




[Bl.] My Blackberry was sadly incapable of a resolution sufficient to render the lettering above this doorway properly legible. it states "This house is not for sale. Beware of 419." I saw several houses with this message painted on them.



[Bl.] Religion is big. 50% Muslim, 50% Christian in Lagos.



[Bl] Went to a very pleasant beach; Takwa Bay Island. I wish I could say that it was unspoiled but that would not be true. Several times the boat had to stop in order to clear the propellers which had been befouled by plastic bags and sundry flotsam.
The river and the city are VERY polluted. Still, a good time was had by all. Palm wine, suya (a local meat delicacy), sunshine and reggae.



[Bl.] Finally, I took this picture especially for the Hermit whom I know to be interested in matters military. (He may even have been here for all I know.) A popular place for the public to go on a Saturday night for cheap beer, food, songs and dancing. One item on the menu; rice and boiled cow hocks in a spicy sauce which is eaten on communal plates. Good times.



[Bl.] Now, onward to recovery from what I am fervently hoping is a mere viral dysentery and not Lassa fever. Travel, they say, broadens the mind. The sphincter too, if I'm any judge.

Best Regards.


     
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #39 on: 2009-07-27 03:33:50 »
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[Blunderov] A personal note; I have been fortunate* enough to land what is (to me) a dream job - video post production for an on-line chess site. (A complete change of direction from broadcast TV but very much at the nexus of my interests and aspirations.) Consequently I will be joining the serried ranks of the 9-to-5 workers of the world. The only downside is that I will have less on-line time available to me and I will probably not be able to attend to CoV activities as much as I have in the past but I will not be gone; just preoccupied.


*"A high-priced call girl brings a customer to her fancy apartment. He admires the fancy furnishings and the art and asks how she was able to amass such splendor.  She replies that those really were her Father's, that he was a politician for forty years.

He said, "How come you didn't follow in his footsteps instead of choosing this way of life ?"

She sighed and said, "Oh, just lucky I guess.  Besides, I had my moral standards to uphold."



 

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Re:En Passant
« Reply #40 on: 2009-07-27 15:46:35 »
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[Blunderov] A personal note; I have been fortunate* enough to land what is (to me) a dream job - video post production for an on-line chess site. (A complete change of direction from broadcast TV but very much at the nexus of my interests and aspirations.) Consequently I will be joining the serried ranks of the 9-to-5 workers of the world. The only downside is that I will have less on-line time available to me and I will probably not be able to attend to CoV activities as much as I have in the past but I will not be gone; just preoccupied.

[Hermit] Delighted for you. Less delighted for me. Remember to have fun :-)
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #41 on: 2009-08-29 13:51:18 »
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Quote from: Hermit on 2009-07-27 15:46:35   

...Remember to have fun :-)

[Blunderov] I am thank you.

My new exposure to varied computer platforms has led to an epiphany; Linux.

Mmm.
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« Reply #42 on: 2009-08-29 19:27:30 »
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We have used Linux for over 5 years now, and loath having to go back to Windows for any reason.
Running the very stable yet cutting edge Fedora 11 now.

Love
Hermit&Co
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Re:En Passant
« Reply #43 on: 2010-01-10 16:42:37 »
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[Blunderov] What with the blizzard prevailing in Europe, the UK and North America at the moment, I'm wondering about the prediction that climate change would cause a breakdown of the Gulf Stream Current and that because of this Siberian conditions would become established in the UK. Could this be happening already?
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« Reply #44 on: 2010-01-11 23:14:56 »
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Quote:
[Blunderov] What with the blizzard prevailing in Europe, the UK and North America at the moment, I'm wondering about the prediction that climate change would cause a breakdown of the Gulf Stream Current and that because of this Siberian conditions would become established in the UK. Could this be happening already?


You may be on to something but according to the model your part of the world will save them Live Saver for the Gulf Stream? Climate Changes Supplies More Saline Waters from Indian Ocean?

Cheers

Fritz

PS: Blunderov, thank you very much for the photos and glimpses into another world. Best Wishes for your new adventures


Source: ScienceDaily
Author: Adapted from materials provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Date: 2009.03.16

The Agulhas Current, In The Southern Hemisphere, May Influence Climate In Europe
— The PhD project presented by Gema Martínez-Méndez from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona focuses on the Agulhas Current and the ensuing warm water transports from the tropical Indian Ocean to the southern tip of Africa.
The data generated provide for the first time evidence in support of the hypothesis that the Agulhas water "leakage" into the Atlantic can affect the climate in Europe.
Her PhD thesis "Surface and Deep Circulation off South Africa: Agulhas Leakage Influence on the Meridional Overturning Circulation During the Last 345 kyr" presented data on a major ocean current in the southern hemisphere, the Agulhas Current, which transports warm waters from the tropical Indian Ocean to the southern tip of Africa. These new data profiles are not yet fully exploited and need to be implemented in global ocean models.
But they do provide for the first time robust evidence in support of the hypothesis that the Agulhas water "leakage" into the Atlantic contributes to the strength of the Atlantic Ocean circulation at large, and the Gulf Stream in particular and therefore can stabilise or destabilise climate in Europe. This knowledge will improve predictive capabilities which aim to project future climate developments in the North Atlantic region under global climate warming scenarios, such as those employed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Agulhas Current influences rainfall patterns and weather systems in southern Africa. A part of the warm waters are transported around South Africa into the South Atlantic and influence the ocean circulation of the entire Atlantic Ocean. Climate models predict that the amount of this water "leakage" from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic may in fact strengthen or weaken the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic with consequences for climate in Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula. Measurements in the ocean so far have not permitted to test if a connection between the Agulhas Current around South Africa and the climate in Europe indeed exists.
For her project, Martínez-Méndez used stable isotope gas mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to analyse isotopic and chemical components in the sediments underneath the Agulhas Current which document variations of this current in the past. The data profiles document that systematic changes occurred in the Agulhas Current which were directly connected with global climate changes.
A combination of temperature sensitive isotopes and trace elements which are preserved in the shells of marine micro-plankton indicate that under cold climatic conditions such as the ice ages, when the rest of the world dramatically cooled, the influence of the Agulhas Current strengthened and the oceans around South Africa warmed. Ocean warming is documented also by the high abundance of tropical plankton which was preserved in the seafloor sediments. When global climate began to warm at the end of cold periods, the Agulhas Current initially became stronger and then abruptly weakened to assume a strength similar to that of today.
The implications from this research are that the flow of water coming from the tropical Indian Ocean can occasionally form a warm water pool at the southern tip of Africa. Under appropriate conditions, this water is abruptly released into the Atlantic Ocean. Because these waters also have high concentrations of salt they ultimately stimulate a density anomaly in the South Atlantic which triggers internal waves in the deep water and ultimately influence the Gulf Stream in the north.
This past December, Gema Martínez-Méndez presented the results of her PhD project at the General Assembly Fall Meeting of the AGU in San Francisco. The conference was attended by more than 12,000 researchers from the Earth Sciences worldwide representing a diverse range of expertise such as geophysics, meteorology, geochemistry, glaciology, oceanography and climatology. Out of over 16,000 research presentations, ICTA researcher Gema Martínez-Méndez's paper was chosen as one of the best student presentations and she was awarded with the 2008 AGU Fall Meeting Outstanding Student Presentation Award.
Gema Martínez-Méndez holds a degree in Marine Sciences from the University of Vigo, a European Masters from Kiel University in Germany and she received her PhD in Environmental Sciences in September 2008 from ICTA at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Her PhD project was embedded in the marine climatology projects "Transecto climático interhemisférico: comprensión de los cambios oceanográficos y climáticos rápidos en Iberia durante los dos últimos ciclos glaciales-interglaciales (TRANSCLIM)" and "Clima Ibérico y Circulación Meridional Atlántica (CIMERA)". Both are funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation and directed by Dr Rainer Zahn, ICREA research professor at the UAB Department of Geology.



<snip>
large climate changes in Europe/Near East during the last 15,000 calendar years (note that these dates are in 'real' years not radiocarbon years).

14,500 y.a. - rapid warming and moistening of climates. Rapid deglaciation begins.

13,500 y.a. - climates about as warm and moist as today's

13,000 y.a. 'Older Dryas' cold phase (lasting about 200 years) before a partial return to warmer conditions.

12,800 y.a. (+/- 200 years)- rapid stepwise onset of the intensely cold Younger Dryas. Much drier than present over much of Europe and the Middle East, though wetter-than-present conditions at first prevailed in NW Europe.

11,500 y.a. (+/- 200 years) - Younger Dryas ends suddenly over a few decades, back to relative warmth and moist climates (Holocene, or Isotope Stage 1).

11,500 - 10,500 y.a. - climates possibly still slightly cooler than present-day.

9,000 y.a. - 8,200 y.a. - climates warmer and often moister than today's

about 8,200 y.a. - sudden cool phase lasting about 200 years, about half-way as severe as the Younger Dryas. Wetter-than-present conditions in NW Europe, but drier than present in eastern Turkey.

8,000-4,500 y.a. - climates generally slightly warmer and moister than today's.

(but; at 5,900 y.a. - a possible sudden and short-lived cold phase corresponding to the 'elm decline').

Since about 4,500 y.a. - climates fairly similar to the present

2,600 y.a. - relatively wet/cold event (of unknown duration) in many areas

(but; 1,400 y.a. {536-538 A.D.} wet cold event of reduced tree growth and famine across western Europe and possibly elsewhere).

(Followed by 'Little Ice Age' about 700-200 ya)<snip>
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