Solar flare threatens to disrupt Earth's communications and power

On Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 08:26:40h +0000, Richard Tobin wrote:

This rarely happens in real life.

So Usenet News is not real life? It must be all a dream

People look for the interpretation that makes sense.

Making assumptions is highly dangerous.

but Usenet seems to bring out people's confrontational side.

Some people only use Usenet to be confrontational, but
I hope that is not the case here.

In article , J G Miller wrote:
On Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 08:26:40h +0000, Richard Tobin wrote:

This rarely happens in real life.

So Usenet News is not real life? It must be all a dream

Janet Street-Porter thinks it isn't (see sig) :-)

Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

In article , J G Miller
wrote:
On Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 08:26:40h +0000, Richard Tobin wrote:

This rarely happens in real life.

So Usenet News is not real life? It must be all a dream

Are you sure you don't mean nightmare?.. 8-}

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

On Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 14:40:32h +0100, Jim Lesurf wrote:

Are you sure you don't mean nightmare?.. 8-}

Two excellent replies by Nick and yourself.

And just to show how messed up the Internet is as is Real (tm) Life,
because it is inhabited by the just the same types of messed up people,
have a read/listen to this report.

In order to gain access to a certain web site, one has to supply
two references to prove that one really is a bona fide criminal.

http://www.npr.ORG/blogs/money/2011/06/17/137227559/how-to-buy-a-stolen-credit-card

It is also shows how careful one needs to be with credit cards
and remember the rule when handing one over in restaurants and
stores -- never let it out of your sight in case the assistant
or waiter intends to pass it through a card duplicating machine.

On Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:30:09 +0100, Jim Lesurf
wrote:

In article , Richard Tobin
wrote:
In article , Jim Lesurf
wrote:

Indeed. Without that word being included appropriately *both* the
assertions as "2kW" and as "2kJ/sec" are nonsense.

So do you reject "my consumption of chocolate is 3 bars per week"? How
about "I consume 3 bars of chocolate per week"?

Both of those statements are worded consistently with the units stated in
them.

Whereas your earlier statements using 'kW' and 'kJ/sec' were not.

Never mind, red herrings are apparently still in production. :-)

I've never had a red herring but I have a couple of bloaters in the
fridge, will they do?

On Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:02:21 +0100, Terry Casey
wrote:

In message on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:57:12 +0100
Max Demian wrote:

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
Peter wrote:

My father nwas in a protected occupation, but that bwasn't a guarantee
against being called up - as he found out in 1940

No, they ate into the reserved occupations as circumstances dictated.

Surely if everyone of military age had been called up (a) there would have
been far too many soldiers, and (b) a lot of everyday jobs back home would
have been undone.

Didn't the concept of reserved occupations come about because of experience
during WWI?

The early concept of the Pals Brigade and the clamour to join up that ensued
meant that companies found themselves bereft of virtually their entire work
force overnight, no matter how vital their production was to the war effort.

Of course, once women had been trained to do the skilled work, the men could be
released to fight, just like everybody else.

Well not quite everyone else, my father was considered too ill (heart
condition) to join the army and be killed, but not to drive ambulances
in the Blitz.

Yes I remember when the Falklands kicked off a load of people went
down and tried to enlist. The army didn't actually want them, they
can't be having thick people breaking their expensive kit.

I wonder if people in the Defence Industries did this?

On Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:09:58 GMT, Paul Ratcliffe
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:46:14 +0000 (UTC), d
wrote:

Unfortunately the whole western consumer economy of the last 50 years has been
based on getting people to buy crap that they don't need - more stupid gadgets,
another widescreen TVs, more clothes, more cars, you name it. Aside from the
enviromental consequences its an edifice that inevitably will collapse because
eventually it will get to the point where people simply don't want any more
and/or 1 single gadget will cover the role that half a dozen did previously
- eg the smartphone, internet TVs - with a consequential drop in overall sales.

It would also help if economists dragged themselves away from their obsession
with "economic growth". As if somehow thats a solution to any of the worlds
problems. Its not. Its actually the path to an enviromental catastophe.

Indeed. It is the ultimate pyramid selling scheme. And we all know what
happens to those in the end...

Egypt

On Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:36:35 +0100, Bill Wright
wrote:

Albert Ross wrote:


Taking Africa as an example, they are rich in natural resources, yet
despite all the help given by the west are still not operating
efficiently enough to feed and clothe their people properly. Why this is
I can't imagine, but in any case it's their own fault so there's no
reason we should be levelled down.

The White Man pays them peanuts for their resources, takes them away
and "adds value" in their own countries

That can only be, then, because the white man has got more about him.

Capital.

Otherwise they would set up their own factories and export finished
goods. Like the Chinese for instance.

Fairtrade also.

On Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:01:18 +0000 (UTC), J G Miller
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Jun 2011 12:42:23 +0100, Albert Ross wrote:

The White Man pays them peanuts for their resources, takes them away and
"adds value" in their own countries

This was clearly the case in the 19th and early 20th century.

In the 21st century it is the Chinese who are rapidly becoming the new
colonial masters in Africa, although they are being rather more generous
than paying peanuts.

Yes we live in interesting times, the Chinese have trumped the Yanks
playing capitalism. If they would concentrate more on quality control
than sheer quantity things might become even more interesting.

On Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:13:27 +0100, Java Jive
wrote:

A good example, and let's not forget that the multi-nationals control
the markets, and therefore the prices that they pay the suppliers.
Consequently they can and do squeeze overseas suppliers' profits to
breaking point, just as they do to farmers and growers in this
country.

However, we as consumers should remember that, if we choose, we can
intervene, at least to an extent.

We can choose to shop in places like high-street bakers, butchers, and
delicatessen, if we can still find them, and in farmers' shops,
farmers' markets, or other small concern market stalls, etc. I grant
that this involves extra work on our part.

Yes agreed, and it's easier in places such as here (Suffolk) where
there's a thriving local economy, the shop buys the product from the
farmer with no middle men creaming off the profit.

Tastes better too, and is healthier.

A neighbour was on the box recently, bemoaning the fact that he'd had
to give up his dairy herd which was barely breaking even. I haven't
seen him to ask but it looks like he's gone into grass-fed beef
alongside his neighbour farm.