coquina

Coral - I started this thread because the one titled, "Setting Limits On Weapons For China" got off on a tangent. One of the paragraphs in the article that was posted gave one of the reasons the weapons embargo should continue is because of the Chinese government's position on the "human rights" of its citizens. My position is that if it is morally right for us to step in and try to force the Chinese to improve the lot of their people, then it is equally right for us to try to stop the genocide in Africa. (not to mention other areas of the world). Mind you, I am not saying that we should - I'm saying that if we believe all men are created equal, then we have the same responsibility to one group of people as we do to another. I am eliminating all other reasons for embargo or war - not to stop military expansion, not to find weapons of mass destruction, simply to insure all people have the same equality. If the majority determines this is the action that should be taken - how is it done without "throwing our weight around". In a perfect world, through the UN, I suppose.

I have been figuring simple interest bank loans for years - this is the way accountants do it - also, I came up with the answer that was given. Annual interest 24% Mo Int. 2% Month#__Int._______Pmt.________ Bal. Bal fwd._______________________40000 1_______800______ -4000_______ 36800 2_______736______ -4000_______ 33536 3_______670.72____-4000________30206.72 4_______604.1344__-4000________26810.8544 5_______536.21701_-4000________23347.07149 The correct answer was given as 23,347, so, unless you want to quibble about $.07???

Do the citizens of the free world have a duty to aid the people under the thumb of dictators and tyrants gain their freedom? If so, does this apply equally to all countries? How does a country manage this without throwing its weight around?

It seems the Western ones have remained contained - not so with those of the former Soviet Union source "Naval Officers' Association of Canada" http://www.naval.ca/article/young/nuclearsubmarineaccidents_bymichaelyoung.html We seem to have gotten off on a tangent here - is anyone interested in continuing the discussion of the safety of nuclear power elsewhere?

Thresher didn't sink because there was a problem with her reactor, she sank because there was a problem with the silver brazing of welds, which allowed seawater to leak into her engine room, which in turn caused the reactor to shut down. Scorpion was lost due to several explosions, but it is thought that a torpedo exploded and caused several others to explode - there are no indications that her reactor failed - there is no excess radiation at the site. http://www.txoilgas.com/589-court.html I didn't mean to say that there has never been a sinking of a nuclear ship - only that there hadn't been a failure of the reactors. PS - Norfolk, VA, homport of the Atlantic Fleet, and Newport News Ship (now Northrupp-Grumman) are both close by. I remember when Scorpion failed to return home. I also remember the bruhaha that was raised at the shipyard after the Thresher sank. (even though NNS&DDCo did not build her) Examination of welds on other ships revealed that workers had thrown all kinds of crap into the space and welded over the top of it. I now build a machine cuts a piece of weld out of the hull for sampling. It's kind of neat - it's portable and operated pnematically. The base of the machine is tack welded to the hull over the weld section - it has a dish shaped saw blade that cuts into the weld on one side - then the saw blade is withdrawn, the machine is spun around 180 degrees (separate from the tack welded base), then the other side of the weld is cut - this removes a wedge-shaped sample for testing. The machine was developed as a result of the loss of Thresher.

Has anyone read it? It is a compilation of McPhee's former books, "Basin and Range", "In Suspect Terrane", "Rising from the Plains", "Assembling California", and "Crossing the Craton". It describes the geology of a cross-section of the US at about the 40th parallel, roughly along I80. It starts at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, just across the river from NYC and goes across to San Francisco. The last book "Crossing the Craton" is more about general theory. He does discuss the geological history of the Yellowstone area. I enjoy McPhee's descriptions and think it's a very good book for anyone who would like to learn more about geology in an entertaining way. Aside from the actual geology he describes, he inserts "set pieces" that will explain what he is about to describe. Unfortunately - there isn't anything specifically about Mt. St. Helens. However, there is a lovely description of Ophiolites beginning on page 476 It's a long book - almost 700 pages.

Ophiolite - You wrote... You have about the same take on it that I do. I think one of the biggest problems with the US and many other governments it that we want to insure that other people have the same "human rights" that we enjoy. However - I think it is more complicated than that. For one thing - if we are so damned concerned about "human rights" why aren't we involved in stopping the mass genocide that goes on in some African countries? It would seem that for a country to evolve into a democracy, the citizens of that country must want, and be willing to die for, their own freedom. As you said, China has one billion people - if they chose freedom, it would take more than a few tanks to stop them.

I would really like to understand more about China. Is it a threat to us, or not? I think by and large, the Chinese citizens do not want to rule the world. I'm not so sure about its government (but then, I'm not so sure about ours, either). Ophie - I saw you write something that appeared to be Chinese as it would be written in English, so I suspect you may have more first hand knowledge than I do. I'd be very interesting in reading your thoughts on the matter.

As Draba said, the birds are Peregrine Falcons - they were once endangered. Their favored habitat are cliffs, and their favored prey is birds - thus their newly acquired niche - high rises with pigeons for prey. This has been encouraged by placing nesting boxes for them atop high rise buildings. Many of them have "falcon cams" where you can watch them lay their eggs and rear their young. I guess one could say they have formed a "mutualistic symbiotic relationship" with humans. That is to say, both species benefit from the association. As to the coyotes - they are far more widespread than you realize. Urban coyotes are a big, big problem in many cities. http://www.westcov.org/council/coyote.html Some animals are very adaptable to different habitats, and coyotes are one of them - they are like canine garbage cans and will eat just about anything. We invaded their habitat, with sheep and cattle farming, and they will kill lambs and calves, because that is their nature. Before people came, they dined on prairie dogs and jack rabbits. I guess "turnabout's fair play" we invaded their turf, now they're invading ours. The sheep farmers poisoned the coyotes, and they were smart enough to move on - now we're working on the prairie dogs. For $350, you can go shoot them all day long. http://www.rockin7ranch.com/prairie_dog_hunting.html This is an example of how human competition changes an ecosystem. What was once controled by nature is no longer. We humans have had a nasty habit of eliminating whatever we thought was in our way. Many times, the results of our actions have come back to bite us on the butt. I think that is why the preserved untainted areas are important to keep and study. Although we have learned more about how niches intermingle to form a viable ecosystem, there is still much more to learn.

Worked that time - thanks.

Not New York, but you might keep an eye on the Yellowstone Caldera: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Yellowstone/description_yellowstone.html http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/yellowstone.html http://www.focusproductions.com/HTML/mtncntrypages/mtncntry3.htm

You wrote: Certainly untainted echosystems are to be treasured, but they are few and far between. That is true especially here in Tidewater Virginia, which was one of the main ports of entry in Colonial times. It would seem to me that one of their most valuable aspects would be as a model for the restoration of other places that have been damaged. Katz might argue that restored areas are less valuable than untouched ones, but they are more valuable than contaminated rivers and earth, and if we study the untouched ones, it will give us a better idea about how to rehabilitate damaged areas properly.

"The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" could have been written about my mom - when I got my car' date=' she went to the local dealer and ordered herself a 1967 Dodge Coronet convertable - midnight blue, baby blue interior. It says 440 on the chrome, but there's a 318 under the hood. I still have it, it's been garage kept from the git-go - original top, original upholstery, original engine. The odometer crapped out at 100k, probably about half of what it's got on it now. Back to the topic of the media and oil prices - I paid $1.79 a gallon last week when I filled up. I drive a chevy van, (because of the business) - it cost me $40 to fill it. (It was on fumes) I get 22 to 25 mpg on it. The fuel prices have been fluctuating wildly. This winter has been the coldest in many years, for this area anyway - dunno if that holds true for the whole nation. In any event - in addition to the demand for home heating oil, there's a higher demand for electricity too - thanks to all those heat pumps and baseboard heaters. Oh - yeah, and it's spring break for the college kids. Has anyone else noted that immediately before any holiday that's associated with road trips the cost of gas skyrockets? Ophiolite wrote: I thought that a significant part of the reason for the decline was the oil fields that were discovered in the southern Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea. I remember reading that improvements to offshore drilling techniques plentiful supply in the previously untapped fields made the US oil less economic to extract. ...Not that I take all I read for Gospel, you understand, and I don't even remember the source.... Ophie - how much impact did the oil discoveries in these areas impact world market price?

Thanks - I for one, understand the process more clearly.

It wouldn't load for me, either - try this one - direct USGS site: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/current_updates.html

Can't I trade 'em in for a Margarita?