Since a government's Exclusive Economic Zone extends to 300 km from from its territory, and shallow seamounts are often geologically young (and therefore potentially geologically active), I don't think that 'hundreds' is a good number. Could you be more specific? For example, the Bowie Seamount and Muirfield Seamount seem candidates, but both are within a country's EEZ. More generally, seamounts are often very biologically diverse with valuable fisheries around them - they're not automatically some kind of deserted, worthless land for anyone's taking.
Hey, I do that too - and teach it to others. I came across it described as an old mountaineer's trick in one of Louis de Bernières' Latin American novels. Still comes in handy when working out whether to run for a bus or not.
the lancet study was quite flawed, and significantly overestimated the number of deaths compared to every other study conducted.
I'm afraid the evidence contradicts you; for example, the Iraqi government's survey estimated 400,000 excess deaths compared to the Lancet's 654,000 from 2003 to 2007, and the recent Opinion Research Business poll estimated 1,220,000 since 2003. The Lancet results thus don't appear exceptional.
I remember looking at the side of my Maldon sea salt packet and reading how the production of sea salt from seawater by drying it using the Sun is a sustainable industry. Well, er, yeah.
That's great advice if you're starting up a new business or service - but what if you're in an existing company? I work for the British Accreditation Council, a small educational sector charity founded in 1984 and based in the UK but working in Europe, the Gulf and India as well. We've got www.the-bac.org, but obviously I'd like us to use www.bac.org. It's currently a link farm, with a postal box address given in the WHOIS, and we'd need to go through the whole UDRP business to have a chance at it. I wouldn't mind if, for example, the Boston Arts College or the Battersea Arts Council had snapped it up; fair enough, it would serve a useful purpose. But a link farm? What possible value does that add to the Internet?
Umm, Cedega? "Commercial re-implementation of the Windows API for Linux with a focus on gaming. Similar to (and a derivative of) WINE." So saith Google, at any rate.
If we're going to go Tom Lehrer, let's think about the sort of national threat-level that existed with an enemy who really could kill millions of Americans and possibly make Planet of the Apes into a documentary. It's hardly surprising he wrote several songs about developing and using nukes:
Wernher Von Braun
"Some have harsh words for this man of renown, But some think our attitude Should be one of gratitude, Like the widows and cripples in old London town, Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.
You too may be a big hero, Once you've learned to count backwards to zero. "In German oder English I know how to count down, Und I'm learning Chinese!" says Wernher von Braun."
and "We Will All Go Together When We Go"
"Oh we will all char together when we char. And let there be no moaning of the bar. Just sing out a Te Deum When you see that I.C.B.M., And the party will be come-as-you-are."
That's only true if the density of housing stays the same - and Australia is one of the most urbanised countries on the planet (see here), so density is likely to drop rapidly outside urban areas. I don't doubt that you do know people who are just outside ADSL range (indeed, my parents' house here in the UK is *right* on the edge), but 91% of the Australian population is already covered by broadband.
"Acts of violence or intimidation, including physical or mental torture, or exposure to inhumane treatment as a means of or aid to interrogation are expressly prohibited." - page 5-26
This is because, as the GP, the linked post, and the continued existence of ObL demonstrate, torture is a bad way of getting information, and a good way of pushing a lot of fence-sitters the wrong way.
You might want to check out Ben Goldacre's Bad Science articles on Brainiac here. As a sampler, here's what actually happens when you add alkali metals to water, rather than rely on stage explosive like the Brainiac crew.
Welcome to the UK! Home of the queue and the roundabout. Crossroads would be nightmares without road-markings and traffic lights, but roundabouts would be fine.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has received $2 million from Exxon since 1998. If you're getting your data from a PR agency such as the CEI, you should examine that data carefully.
As for the Kyoto Protocol, everyone agrees that in its current form it will not be enough. That's because it was intended to establish a framework for agreeing further cuts, not to serve as a panacea. It's now entering the second round, and hopefully the UK government will show some leadership in pushing for significant action.
I see I have been accused of trolling. In the interest of proving I'm not a habitual troll, here's something more temperate. The parent alleges that the SWIFT data transfer was a)legal b)effective c)secret. I contend that a) and b) are dubious, and c) is part of why a) is dubious.
For a) I note that the Belgian Data Privacy Commissioner felt that transferring this data without alerting national governments or ensuring compliance with the higher data privacy standards of the EU was a violation of data privacy legislation. PDF link. The Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner agrees.
For b), terrorist attacks can be done cheaply. For example, London's July 2005 bombings were estimated to have cost several hundred pounds. Oversight of such small transfers would be costly, and terrorists could use informal hawala networks of money dealers who do not report transactions to the authorities.
For c), I agree that it was secret. It was even secret from EU governments! I hope you'll agree that if the UK were to ask for financial details of US citizes, the US government would make sure that US privacy laws and US oversight were applied.
I'm not up for bashing America, or Americans. I have American friends, enjoy American films/books/food/television. I just think that going after a wasp's nest with a baseball bat is unwise. There are better methods for preventing terrorism than gathering enormous amounts of data and then trying to deal with all the false positives.
And about the Muhammad cartoons - I agree that the whole thing was ludicrous. The newspaper had a right to publish them, bad taste though they were. Muslims had a right to protest peacefully, but burning churches in response to an allegation that your faith is violent....
SWIFT was not legal in EU *and* US jurisdictions. Over here, we take our privacy rights more seriously, and this is why, for example, for example the Belgian Data Privacy Commission and the Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner have denounced the scheme. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/17/swiss_swif t_transfers_illegal/
Oh, and by the way, the July 2005 bombings were carried out with only £3000. And Muslim terrorists use the hawala system to move money around without alerting banks, so its effectiveness is moot. Please tell me of a case where this data helped to catch a terrorist. Oh no! Wait, you can't tell me, because it's not just the detainees and the charges but the evidence that's secret.
The scheme certainly was secret, though, even from those government departments whose remit is cross-border data transfer.
Tom
Like you, when I see a scientist quoted, I often wonder "whose special interest money is paying for this guy?", but I look on http://www.prwatch.org/ and http://www.sourcewatch.org/ to find out if that is actually the case. It is unreasonable to assume that everybody is getting paid off to hide the truth.
One problem is that the press report science very badly: have a look at http://www.badscience.net/ for some entertaining views. Most reporters seem to have little science background and want to sell papers, so misunderstanding and sensationalism rule.
Slashdot Mirror
Since a government's Exclusive Economic Zone extends to 300 km from from its territory, and shallow seamounts are often geologically young (and therefore potentially geologically active), I don't think that 'hundreds' is a good number. Could you be more specific? For example, the Bowie Seamount and Muirfield Seamount seem candidates, but both are within a country's EEZ. More generally, seamounts are often very biologically diverse with valuable fisheries around them - they're not automatically some kind of deserted, worthless land for anyone's taking.
Hey, I do that too - and teach it to others. I came across it described as an old mountaineer's trick in one of Louis de Bernières' Latin American novels. Still comes in handy when working out whether to run for a bus or not.
I'm afraid the evidence contradicts you; for example, the Iraqi government's survey estimated 400,000 excess deaths compared to the Lancet's 654,000 from 2003 to 2007, and the recent Opinion Research Business poll estimated 1,220,000 since 2003. The Lancet results thus don't appear exceptional.
I remember looking at the side of my Maldon sea salt packet and reading how the production of sea salt from seawater by drying it using the Sun is a sustainable industry. Well, er, yeah.
That's great advice if you're starting up a new business or service - but what if you're in an existing company? I work for the British Accreditation Council, a small educational sector charity founded in 1984 and based in the UK but working in Europe, the Gulf and India as well. We've got www.the-bac.org, but obviously I'd like us to use www.bac.org. It's currently a link farm, with a postal box address given in the WHOIS, and we'd need to go through the whole UDRP business to have a chance at it. I wouldn't mind if, for example, the Boston Arts College or the Battersea Arts Council had snapped it up; fair enough, it would serve a useful purpose. But a link farm? What possible value does that add to the Internet?
Umm, Cedega? "Commercial re-implementation of the Windows API for Linux with a focus on gaming. Similar to (and a derivative of) WINE." So saith Google, at any rate.
If we're going to go Tom Lehrer, let's think about the sort of national threat-level that existed with an enemy who really could kill millions of Americans and possibly make Planet of the Apes into a documentary. It's hardly surprising he wrote several songs about developing and using nukes:
Wernher Von Braun
"Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.
You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese!" says Wernher von Braun."
and "We Will All Go Together When We Go"
"Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that I.C.B.M.,
And the party will be come-as-you-are."
That's only true if the density of housing stays the same - and Australia is one of the most urbanised countries on the planet (see here), so density is likely to drop rapidly outside urban areas. I don't doubt that you do know people who are just outside ADSL range (indeed, my parents' house here in the UK is *right* on the edge), but 91% of the Australian population is already covered by broadband.
Interestingly, the US Army expressly prohibits the use of torture in interrogations. From the US Army Manual for Human Intelligence Collectors:
"Acts of violence or intimidation, including physical or mental torture, or exposure to inhumane treatment as a means of or aid to interrogation are expressly prohibited." - page 5-26
This is because, as the GP, the linked post, and the continued existence of ObL demonstrate, torture is a bad way of getting information, and a good way of pushing a lot of fence-sitters the wrong way.
You might want to check out Ben Goldacre's Bad Science articles on Brainiac here. As a sampler, here's what actually happens when you add alkali metals to water, rather than rely on stage explosive like the Brainiac crew.
fotherington
Welcome to the UK! Home of the queue and the roundabout. Crossroads would be nightmares without road-markings and traffic lights, but roundabouts would be fine.
fotherington
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has received $2 million from Exxon since 1998. If you're getting your data from a PR agency such as the CEI, you should examine that data carefully.
As for the Kyoto Protocol, everyone agrees that in its current form it will not be enough. That's because it was intended to establish a framework for agreeing further cuts, not to serve as a panacea. It's now entering the second round, and hopefully the UK government will show some leadership in pushing for significant action.
fotherington
For a) I note that the Belgian Data Privacy Commissioner felt that transferring this data without alerting national governments or ensuring compliance with the higher data privacy standards of the EU was a violation of data privacy legislation. PDF link. The Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner agrees.
For b), terrorist attacks can be done cheaply. For example, London's July 2005 bombings were estimated to have cost several hundred pounds. Oversight of such small transfers would be costly, and terrorists could use informal hawala networks of money dealers who do not report transactions to the authorities.
For c), I agree that it was secret. It was even secret from EU governments! I hope you'll agree that if the UK were to ask for financial details of US citizes, the US government would make sure that US privacy laws and US oversight were applied.
I'm not up for bashing America, or Americans. I have American friends, enjoy American films/books/food/television. I just think that going after a wasp's nest with a baseball bat is unwise. There are better methods for preventing terrorism than gathering enormous amounts of data and then trying to deal with all the false positives.
And about the Muhammad cartoons - I agree that the whole thing was ludicrous. The newspaper had a right to publish them, bad taste though they were. Muslims had a right to protest peacefully, but burning churches in response to an allegation that your faith is violent....
Tom
SWIFT was not legal in EU *and* US jurisdictions. Over here, we take our privacy rights more seriously, and this is why, for example, for example the Belgian Data Privacy Commission and the Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner have denounced the scheme. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/17/swiss_swif t_transfers_illegal/
Oh, and by the way, the July 2005 bombings were carried out with only £3000. And Muslim terrorists use the hawala system to move money around without alerting banks, so its effectiveness is moot. Please tell me of a case where this data helped to catch a terrorist. Oh no! Wait, you can't tell me, because it's not just the detainees and the charges but the evidence that's secret.
The scheme certainly was secret, though, even from those government departments whose remit is cross-border data transfer.
Tom
Like you, when I see a scientist quoted, I often wonder "whose special interest money is paying for this guy?", but I look on http://www.prwatch.org/ and http://www.sourcewatch.org/ to find out if that is actually the case. It is unreasonable to assume that everybody is getting paid off to hide the truth. One problem is that the press report science very badly: have a look at http://www.badscience.net/ for some entertaining views. Most reporters seem to have little science background and want to sell papers, so misunderstanding and sensationalism rule.