Hezbollah night-vision gear manufactured in Britain

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'm not a hippie... I prefer the term "bohemian".

That confirms my "beatnik wannabe" theory, I'd say.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by headsplice

MaggieL: how large is a metric assload?

It's an industry term.

Originally Posted by My Cousin Vinny

Vinny Gambini: [Vinny hears a drip in the background] Did you use the faucet?
Lisa: Yeah.
Vinny Gambini: Why didn't you turn it off?
Lisa: I DID turn it off!
Vinny Gambini: Well if you turned it off, why am I listening to it?
Lisa: Did it ever occur to you it could be turned off AND drip at the same time?
Vinny Gambini: No! Because if you'd turn it off, it wouldn't drip!
Lisa: Maybe it's broken.
Vinny Gambini: Is that what you say? It's broken?
Lisa: Yeah. That's it, it's broken.
Vinny Gambini: You sure?
Lisa: I'm positive.
Vinny Gambini: Maybe you didn't twist it hard enough.
Lisa: I twisted it just right.
Vinny Gambini: How could you be so sure?
Lisa: [sighs] You will look in the manual, you will see that this particular model faucet requires a range of 10 to 16 foot-pounds of torque. I routinely twisted the maximum allowable torquage.
Vinny Gambini: How could you be sure you used 16 foot-pounds of torque?
Lisa: Because I used a Crafstman model 1019 Laboratory Edition Signature Series torque wrench. The kind used by Caltech high energy physicists. And NASA engineers.
Vinny Gambini: Well, in that case, how can you be sure THAT's accurate?
Lisa: Because a split second before the torque wrench was applied to the faucet handle, it had been calibrated by top members of the state AND federal Department of Weights and Measures... to be dead on balls accurate! Here's the certificate of validation.
Vinny Gambini: Dead on balls accurate?
Lisa: It's an industry term.
Vinny Gambini: [tosses paper away] I guess the fucking thing is broken.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by headsplice

The point is that neither side is in the right. Both sides commit acts that are unacceptable.

"Moral equivalance".

[Happy Monkey]

I guess the only way to avoid the trap of "moral equivalence" is to go with "Israel can do no wrong."

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

I guess the only way to avoid the trap of "moral equivalence" is to go with "Israel can do no wrong."

Are you able to compare scalars? Or is your world completely boolean?

[Happy Monkey]

I'd ask the same of you, given your reaction to "neither side is in the right. Both sides commit acts that are unacceptable."

[MaggieL]

The result of scalar comparisons is ternary. Boolean comparison only returns true/false.

[Hippikos]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

By the way, the steel tariff lasted about a year and is dead now. It was entirely a political play by the administration, to get votes in certain swing states that fancy themselves to be steel producers. The EU said WTF and the admin dropped the tariff, having gotten the bump they wanted.

Besides, trade barriers do limit the urge to be competitive, resulting in ineffective, uncompetitive industries. Clearly visible with the US steel factories which are one of the oldest and most ineffective in the world.

US and EU trade barriers are the main source of poverty in the 3rd World.

What thread drift?

[Undertoad]

This is one area that tw has watched, and one in which he and you and I are all in agreement

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

The result of scalar comparisons is ternary. Boolean comparison only returns true/false.

And once you've done your scalar math, you calculate point values, and the winner is 100% innocent, and the loser is 100% guilty. You might as well be using boolean in the first place.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

We do our part; our household drinks Glen Morangie and Bailey's in decided preference to US whiskies. We just don't drink that much of either.

As for steel, we prefer Gerber, Kimber, Kel-Tec and Kershaw. Tough.

See, we are sistas. Although I'm not so big on the Bailey's as I like to actually taste my liquor ... I'd rather have some Jack in the Black. I did just buy a brand new ticket to the Valley of Tranquility during my last visit to the State Store.

My steel list would invovle a European import, though.

[DanaC]

Interesting juxtaposition there--reflecting the congitive dissonance I think a lot of Britons feel about the EU. You refer to "our continent" and a few sentences later refer to "contenental Europe" as distinct from the UK.

My sense is that many UK folks are of two minds as to whether this whole EU thing is really A Good Idea. That there's still a separate UK currency is one sign. Blair's resistance to subsidizing "continental" agriculture is likely another.

I used the term Continental Europe to differentiate between two different localities and cultures. Britain is both separate from and part of Europe. It comes from being an Island. We are cultural brethren in many ways and are of the same stock. We are also different in many ways because of the geographical break and the branching off of cultural development.

I don't personally have any problem with being both separate and part of at the same time. I don't see them as conflicting. I recognise and love the difference, I also feel very much of Europe. I am wholly supportive of Britain playing its full and natural role within the greater whole. I would be very happy if we took on the Euro currency and a European constitution.

But yes, a lot of Brits don't see themselves as 'European' in the political sense. I think most still see Britain as a European nation but not part of a European body politic in the federal sense.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I used the term Continental Europe to differentiate between two different localities and cultures. Britain is both separate from and part of Europe. It comes from being an Island. We are cultural brethren in many ways and are of the same stock. We are also different in many ways because of the geographical break and the branching off of cultural development.

Yes, I understood how you meant each usage...and of course geography has been a powerful force in shaping that. The differences and commonalities are fascinating...and the same is true in contrasting the UK and US as well.

"Two nations divided by a common language" is one humorous take on that situation. But I've never felt like I had trouble understanding the various flavors of British speech. Certainly there's 'Murican dialects that I find more troublesome, but usually intellegible. My boss (Australian citizen, but raised in the midwest US) tell me I do have a Philadelphian (pardon me; we call it "Fluffian" :-) ) accent, but of course *I* can't hear it.

As time goes on I think geography will be less important and languge/culture more so. Certainly many of us here (not everyone, of course) love television from the UK. What gets here is usually quite good. I hope you're getting some of our best, because our worst is utter rubbish.

[JayMcGee]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Certainly many of us here (not everyone, of course) love television from the UK. What gets here is usually quite good. I hope you're getting some of our best, because our worst is utter rubbish.

Unfortunately, we get the Bush sound-bites too....

[DanaC]

hehehhe yes we do get those soundbites:P

Most of the tv that gets here from over the pond is of a fairly high standard. We get the odd really bad show but that's usually on cable rather than mainstream tv. In particular I think you guys do comedy and sci-fi very well. Though some of your 'drama' is pretty good too. Six Feet Under was stunning.