Categories
Earthly Strip Environment Politics & government Science & technology

[1338] Of Earthly Strip: 0.01 °C? Big deal…

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

Before correction:

Fair use. Deltoid http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2007/08/global_warming_totally_disprov.php

After correction:

Fair use. Deltoid. alt=

Ahem…

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

To find out more, visit RealClimate.

More info? Go to Wired Science.

Categories
Economics Humor

[1317] Of honesty to cause liquidity trap

LOL!

Can money from the sky bump the Japanese out of their liquidity trap? Not if they don’t pick it up!  For some, it is just too creepy. “People thought it was too eerie to touch”, AFP reports. And many of those willing to handle the loot have dutifully returned it to the police. It’s okay, people. Just spend it. [It’s raining yen! Free Exchange. July 31 2007]

Categories
History & heritage Humor Science & technology

[1312] Of the discovery of oxygen

According to Wikipedia, oxygen was officially discovered on August 1 1774. I wonder what humanity was breathing before that day…

Oxygen was first described by MichaÅ‚ SÄ™dziwój, a Polish alchemist and philosopher in the late 16th century. SÄ™dziwój thought of the gas given off by warm niter (saltpeter) as “the elixir of life”.

Oxygen was more quantitatively discovered by the Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele some time before 1773, but the discovery was not published until after the independent discovery by Joseph Priestley on August 1, 1774, who called the gas dephlogisticated air (see phlogiston theory). Priestley published discoveries in 1775 and Scheele in 1777; consequently Priestley is usually given the credit. Both Scheele and Priestley produced oxygen by heating mercuric oxide.

Scheele called the gas ‘fire air’ because it was the only known supporter of combustion. It was later called ‘vital air’ because it was and is vital for the existence of animal life.

The gas was named by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, after Priestley’s publication in 1775, from Greek roots meaning “acid-former”. As noted, the name reflects the then-common incorrect belief that all acids contain oxygen. This is also the origin of the Japanese name of oxygen “sanso” (san=acid, so=element). [Oxygen. Wikipedia. August 1 2007]

Possibly pot.

Categories
Humor

[1308] Of Joe: Ignore ‘goblok’ minister

Today, in The Moon:

ACCALAM: The public should be wise in identifying goblok minister (Indonesian slang for “stupid”), who is willing to be tool of others to destroy civil society, said Disinformation Minister Nenek Gelam Nudeen Mydeen.

“The minister does not have intelligence and leans toward stupidity because he is uneducated.

“Thus, he assumes stupidity is better. The goblok minister only has his own interests at heart and should be ignored,” the minister said after launching the Jalur Gemilang Convoy 2007 at the Bandar Hulu here yesterday.

Earlier in his speech, Mydeen said that the convoy of 50 four-wheel drive vehicles that would travel throughout Malaysia was important to re-instill illusion of Merdeka in the people.

He said the participants would be able to see the poverty of the countryside while traveling in luxurious air-conditioned gas-guzzlers throughout their journey. [Joe: Ignore ‘goblok’ minister. The Moon. July 31 2007]

Categories
Humor Society

[1269] Of the Malaysian government’s war on crime

So, after failed war on drugs, war on tobacco, war on Mat Rempit, war on inflation, etc, now we are on the verge of another war: war on crime.

Here is a few tips on how to reduce our horrible crime rate.

  1. The Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin has a brilliant idea: the press should stop reporting on crime and violence that occur in our society. Indeed that there is a positive correlation between the number of crime committed and news reporting on crime. Surely because of the positive correlation, the reduction of one factor would reduce the other. Never mind that correlation is not causation. Besides, fighting real crime is tough. We need to be smart and fight the easier battle. If the easier path leads to the same result, why not take the easier path? Biggest bang for the buck!
  2. It is all about mind over matter. If nobody is aware of any crime committed anywhere, then there is no crime at all. Seriously, who would hear a falling timber in the middle of a jungle, in the middle of nowhere? And here is the beauty of this rationale: if the press stops reporting on crime, the public would be unaware of any crime and then, voila, no crime! Seriously, there is no fork and there is no crime.
  3. People always forget that the crime rate we all hear or read about everyday in the news is actually reported crime rate. This is an important realization because if the police force records less reports, that would mean lower crime rate! Hence, the police force should just refuse recording reports from the public. The refusal would lead to lower crime rate!
  4. Oh, oh, do not forget this. More compulsory religious classes! Religion is the panacea to all of worldly miseries. Of course, crime committed in the name of religion, like kidnapping, is not crime but rather, justice as demanded god. Kill all infidels!
  5. We all know how nice we all are. We do not commit rate. In fact, the immigrants are the cause of all our woes! Do not trust statistics that says we as locals commit more crime that the immigrants. You know that statistics is untrue. But enough of statistics and here is a solution: send all of those immigrants back to hell! We do not need them (but please let me keep my maid).
  6. Ban content from the West! Western culture is corrupting the purer and better eastern values and moral. We need to censor those no good western values.
  7. Eight, redefine crime! Crime is no more crime and protesting against crime is a crime! It is imperative to arrest those that protest against crime because such protest raises awareness about crime. If awareness increases, it creates crime and that is unacceptable! Refer to number 2.
  8. Recruit criminals as crime fighters. If all criminals are now crime fighters, all criminals are basically the cops now. Hence, no more criminal to commit crime. It might have failed with the Mat Rempit but trust me, it will work now!

If implemented properly, we all would be living in a safe society. Definitely safer than living in Baghdad. Fret not Malaysians, the government will win this war for us!