Wednesday Witterings
What Happens If . . .
One of the interesting things about the Human Race is the compulsion to poke, prod, or otherwise investigate things "to see what happens". Even things clearly labelled, in red, "Do not even think about it. I mean this, seriously" Which is why the Big Red Nuclear Buttons are kept carefully guarded. Meanwhile that team of enquiring minds which constitute the scientific workforce at CERN are busily developing a machine which they hope can generate a black hole. On earth. They assure anyone interested, but expressing doubts, that it will be a 'stable' black hole. Hmmmm, sounds like they've redefined 'stable'!
Now I can see this being an interesting, & challenging, project. But where is the life-preserving piece of caution here. I mean, black hole, on earth? Might that not be in danger of becoming rather like pulling out the bathplug when your life is dependent upon there being water in the bath? Only moreso? Because one of the things one learns, provided one pays attention, when one has been around for a few years, is that things happen, & often not in the ways the theoreticians postulated. Because there's always an unknown in any equation. Sometimes it's a big, & fatal, one. Hmmm, wonder whether they may end up collecting a Darwin Award rather than the Nobel Prize for Physics?
Out of interest, the BBC TV programme "Newsnight" has been running an item "Ethical Man". One of the reporters, and his family, have been trying to live as ethically (that's Green ethics, rather than morally, I suspect) as possible: - use the car much less, cycle short distances, use public transport, eat locally produced foodstuffs, get the house properly insulated, use renewable energy, turn the heating thermostat down, install energy saving lightbulbs, grow their own fruit & veg as much as possible, recycle, reuse, repair, etc. They even went on holiday, in France, by train rather than flying there, because they could & it 'generated less carbon'. Then last night "Newsnight" wanted to do an item on Ethical Holidays & "carbon offsetting" & so flew 'Ethical Man' to Jamaica for the weekend to film the item. Which rather, in the opinion of most of the commentors on the article at least, blew his Green credibility. I dunno, we pay our licence fee & what do we get? "Ethical Man' reporting on 'Green holidays" in Jamaica, for the weekend, & dancing hippos for the continuity thingy - I ask you! Ok, ok, I've been watching a lot of ITV3 recently. At least the BBC doesn't have ad breaks every 10 min. You know, Commercial TV is bad for developing bladder control! Not to mention when you're attempting to follow a complicated plot.
Scientists & Nutritionists tell us we should eat fish, preferably oily fish - that's mackeral, herrings, sardines, salmon etc to you & me, at least once a week, preferably twice. Apparently oily fish is full of omega3 oils, which are good for our hearts. So there you are, eating fish could help prevent you cashing in your chips - provided, of course, that it's cooked some way other than deep fried in batter, & not always served with chips.
Then the US is introducing an new Anti-Terrorism Bill. I was intrigued by the comment made about what would be available to 'suspects'
"At the tribunals, defendants will be allowed to see some - but not necessarily all - of the evidence against them. The law also bars non-US citizens from filing habeas corpus petitions challenging their detentions in federal court. "
Why? What's wrong with defendants being able to see all of the evidence against them, or non-US citizens filing habeus corpus petitions? I also heard President Bush saying, "We do not use torture". No, they just ship people off to places which do. That's besides Guantanamo Bay. OK, ok, so it's a cynical view. Sometimes having been around for the best part of half a century gives one a cynical view. After all, if they're going to restrict access by defendants to evidence . . .
See also here. Hmmm, something about Rulers, & armies, & not getting involved in wars without doing a proper risk assessment, & survey of probable outcomes first! I never have thought swanning into Iraq & changing the government there was a Good Idea. Ok, removing Saddam Hussein & his henchmen was, perhaps, but did anyone really think about how the Peace was to be won? Surely the disintegration of the former USSR, not to mention the whole Iron Curtain Bloc, shows what is likely to happen when you remove the oppressive regime from a country?
Which is probably as good a place as any to stop. Gotta go get my blood tested today. See what my blood Thyroxine levels are like. Y'all have a good day now!
One of the interesting things about the Human Race is the compulsion to poke, prod, or otherwise investigate things "to see what happens". Even things clearly labelled, in red, "Do not even think about it. I mean this, seriously" Which is why the Big Red Nuclear Buttons are kept carefully guarded. Meanwhile that team of enquiring minds which constitute the scientific workforce at CERN are busily developing a machine which they hope can generate a black hole. On earth. They assure anyone interested, but expressing doubts, that it will be a 'stable' black hole. Hmmmm, sounds like they've redefined 'stable'!
Now I can see this being an interesting, & challenging, project. But where is the life-preserving piece of caution here. I mean, black hole, on earth? Might that not be in danger of becoming rather like pulling out the bathplug when your life is dependent upon there being water in the bath? Only moreso? Because one of the things one learns, provided one pays attention, when one has been around for a few years, is that things happen, & often not in the ways the theoreticians postulated. Because there's always an unknown in any equation. Sometimes it's a big, & fatal, one. Hmmm, wonder whether they may end up collecting a Darwin Award rather than the Nobel Prize for Physics?
Out of interest, the BBC TV programme "Newsnight" has been running an item "Ethical Man". One of the reporters, and his family, have been trying to live as ethically (that's Green ethics, rather than morally, I suspect) as possible: - use the car much less, cycle short distances, use public transport, eat locally produced foodstuffs, get the house properly insulated, use renewable energy, turn the heating thermostat down, install energy saving lightbulbs, grow their own fruit & veg as much as possible, recycle, reuse, repair, etc. They even went on holiday, in France, by train rather than flying there, because they could & it 'generated less carbon'. Then last night "Newsnight" wanted to do an item on Ethical Holidays & "carbon offsetting" & so flew 'Ethical Man' to Jamaica for the weekend to film the item. Which rather, in the opinion of most of the commentors on the article at least, blew his Green credibility. I dunno, we pay our licence fee & what do we get? "Ethical Man' reporting on 'Green holidays" in Jamaica, for the weekend, & dancing hippos for the continuity thingy - I ask you! Ok, ok, I've been watching a lot of ITV3 recently. At least the BBC doesn't have ad breaks every 10 min. You know, Commercial TV is bad for developing bladder control! Not to mention when you're attempting to follow a complicated plot.
Scientists & Nutritionists tell us we should eat fish, preferably oily fish - that's mackeral, herrings, sardines, salmon etc to you & me, at least once a week, preferably twice. Apparently oily fish is full of omega3 oils, which are good for our hearts. So there you are, eating fish could help prevent you cashing in your chips - provided, of course, that it's cooked some way other than deep fried in batter, & not always served with chips.
Then the US is introducing an new Anti-Terrorism Bill. I was intrigued by the comment made about what would be available to 'suspects'
"At the tribunals, defendants will be allowed to see some - but not necessarily all - of the evidence against them. The law also bars non-US citizens from filing habeas corpus petitions challenging their detentions in federal court. "
Why? What's wrong with defendants being able to see all of the evidence against them, or non-US citizens filing habeus corpus petitions? I also heard President Bush saying, "We do not use torture". No, they just ship people off to places which do. That's besides Guantanamo Bay. OK, ok, so it's a cynical view. Sometimes having been around for the best part of half a century gives one a cynical view. After all, if they're going to restrict access by defendants to evidence . . .
See also here. Hmmm, something about Rulers, & armies, & not getting involved in wars without doing a proper risk assessment, & survey of probable outcomes first! I never have thought swanning into Iraq & changing the government there was a Good Idea. Ok, removing Saddam Hussein & his henchmen was, perhaps, but did anyone really think about how the Peace was to be won? Surely the disintegration of the former USSR, not to mention the whole Iron Curtain Bloc, shows what is likely to happen when you remove the oppressive regime from a country?
Which is probably as good a place as any to stop. Gotta go get my blood tested today. See what my blood Thyroxine levels are like. Y'all have a good day now!