Lollypop

The Founders
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    901

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Lollypop

  2. Posted

    What's in a billion!

     

     

    A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:

     

    A billion SECONDS ago it was 1959.

    A billion MINUTES ago Jesus was alive.

    A billion HOURS ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

     

    But...

     

    A billion DOLLARS ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes ago

    ...............at the rate Washington spends it

    Very good Luvin1stdegree. I like the last bit. :(

  3. Posted

    When I was back in England there was news item concerning a secret government project. It showed them digging down inside a mountain, somewhere or other  :(

    Was there a date attached to that story, March 5 to be precise. If so that has been shown to be a hoax or covered up to appear to be a hoax.

    I can't remember the date, but it was on the TV news about 17 years ago. It really did show them excavating with huge machinery. And of course the government did deny everything.

  7. Posted

    Worst Case Scenario - We can't do anything and most of life on Earth is wiped out.

     

    Here's an idea.  While trying to figure out how to "deflect" meteors and asteroids, why don't we also have a contingency plan for going underground in the event of a global-scale disaster, provided the rock isn't big enough to blow up Earth or turn the crust into molten lava and so forth.

    The powers that be, already have deep bunkers for disasters. But the normal Joe Soap won't be invited. :(

  8. Posted

    The only problem is, we haven't got anything to get there. :(

     

    The Russians have the only ships left capable, of doing anything. They have looked after their old ships, and they still in pretty good condition. Not rusting in a desert somewhere. :(

  13. Posted

    I Just love these :rolleyes:

     

     

    Since 1313, MPs are not allowed to don armor in Parliament.

     

    Chester

     

    You can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight.

     

    Hereford

     

    You may not shoot a Welsh person on Sunday with a longbow in the Cathedral Close.

     

    York

     

    Excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow.

  14. Posted

    England Laws

     

     

     

    Under the reign of Elizabeth I, any person found guilty of "harboring a Catholic priest" would be tortured or even hanged. Any priest of the Catholic faith that was caught would be hanged, drawn, and quartered.

    With the exception of carrots, most goods may not be sold on Sunday.

    All English males over the age 14 are to carry out 2 or so hours of longbow practice a week supervised by the local clergy.

     

    London Hackney Carriages (taxis/cabs) must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats. (Repealed 1976)

     

    The severest Penaltys will be suffered by any commoner who doth permit his animal to have carnal knowledge of a pet of the Royal House (enacted by George I)

    It is illegal to be drunk on Licensed Premises (in a pub or bar).

    It is illegal for two adult men to have sex in the same house as a third person.

     

    Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks (enacted by Edward VI).

    It is illegal to stand within one hundred yards of the reigning monarch when not wearing socks (enacted by Edward VI)

    Chelsea Pensioners may not be impersonated.

     

    A bed may not be hung out of a window.

    It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance.

    During his reign, Oliver Cromwell banned the eating of mince pies on Christmas day, as they were insufficiently Puritan.

     

    Any boy under the age of 10 may not see a naked manequin.

    It is illegal to leave baggage unattended.

     

    Picking up abandoned baggage is an act of terrorism.

     

    Those wishing to use a television must buy a license.

     

    It is illegal for a Member of Parliament to enter the House of Commons wearing a full suit of armour.

     

    Destroying or defacing money is illegal.

    If a steam locomotive is driven on roads, a man must walk in front of the vehicle with a red flag during the day and a red lantern at night to warn passersby.

    All steam locomotives are limited to 4mph on roads.

    Anal sex is prohibited.

    You may not make out in public.

    It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle.

     

    Committing suicide is classified as a capital crime.

    Interfering with the mail or sleeping with the consort of the Queen is classed as treason, and as such, carries a maximum penalty of death.

    Placing a postage stamp that bears the Queen (or King) upside down is considered treason.

    One may not "blemish the peace".

    A license is required to keep a lunatic.

     

    Jesuits, Seminary Priests and other suchlike disobedient Persons must be banished.

     

    Since 1313, MPs are not allowed to don armor in Parliament.

     

     

     

    Chester

     

    You can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight.

     

    Hereford

     

    You may not shoot a Welsh person on Sunday with a longbow in the Cathedral Close.

     

    Liverpool

     

    It is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.

     

    London

     

    Companies may vote in local elections.

    No cows may be driven down the roadway between 10 AM and 7 PM unless there is prior approval from the Commissioner of Police.

     

    York

     

    Excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow.

     

    Isle of Man

     

    Crossbows are banned

     

    Isle of Sark

     

    All land must be left to the eldest son.

     

    Divorces are outlawed.

     

    I hope they have changed some of these laws :rolleyes:

  17. Posted

    Scary Stuff :rolleyes:

     

    Click for Spoiler:

    Imagine: NASA scientists announce they have detected a 10-mile-wide asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. They calculate it will hit Southeast Asia in two weeks. There is no chance of Bruce Willis being sent on a beefed-up Space Shuttle to blow up the asteroid. Earthlings will have to ride out the impact.

    The Tunguska event in 1908 flattened 800 square miles of Siberian forest -- and the object didn't even reach the ground.

    The world economy grinds to a halt as people take to the hills. Anarchy sets in, civilisation breaks down. Accusations fly over the lack of warning -- where was Spaceguard, the proposed international search effort for large asteroids?

     

    People in Brazil feel less vulnerable than most of the world's population. They are on the opposite side of the Earth from the predicted impact point. But one hour after the impact Brazilians notice some brilliant meteors. Then more meteors. Soon the sky gets brighter and hotter from the overwhelming number of meteors. Within a few minutes trees ignite from the fierce radiant heat. Millions of fragments of rock, ejected into space by the blast, are making a fiery return all over the planet.

     

    Only people hiding underground survive the deadly fireworks display. Within three hours, however, massive shock waves from the impact travel through the Earth's crust and converge on Brazil at the same time. The ground shakes so violently that the ground fractures and molten rock spews from deep underground. Maybe Brazil wasn't the best place to be after all.

     

    The survivors of the firestorms, tsunami and massive earthquakes emerge to a devastated landscape. Within a few days the Sun vanishes behind a dark thick cloud -- a combination of soot from the firestorms, dust thrown up by the impact and a toxic smog from chemical reactions. Photosynthesis in plants and algae ceases and temperatures plummet. A long, sunless Arctic winter seems mild compared to the new conditions on most of the planet.

     

    After a year or so the dust settles and sunlight begins to filter through the clouds. The Earth's surface starts warming up. But the elevated carbon dioxide levels created by the fires (and, by chance, vaporisation of huge quantities of limestone at the impact site) results in a runway greenhouse effect. Those creatures that managed to survive the deep freeze now have to cope with being cooked.

     

    Many species of plants and animals vanish. The few hundred thousand human survivors find themselves reverting to a Stone Age extinction.

     

    Evidence of past impacts has only been recognised in recent decades and is pointing to the conclusion that big impacts have caused major disruptions to the development of life on Earth.

     

    The end of the dinosaurs

    In 1980 Scientists Luis and Walter Alvarez claimed they had found evidence of a huge impact event 65 million years ago. This age corresponded with the demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The evidence included a worldwide layer of clay with high levels of the rare element iridium, usually the signature of an impact.

     

    The search was on for a giant crater associated with this impact. Hopes weren't high because in 65 millions years the Earth's surface has changed dramatically - nearly all of the present ocean floor is younger than 50 million years.

     

    Some great scientific detective work pointed to an impact somewhere in Central or North America. Finally, in 1990, the buried remains of a 150-mile-diameter crater were discovered near the town of Chicxulub on theYucatan Peninsula in Mexico. A crater this size would have been blasted out by a 10-mile-wide comet or asteroid colliding with the Earth at some 50,000 mph. The "smoking gun" had been found.

     

    Impact, volcanoes or both?

    The debate continues on whether the Chicxulub impact caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period or whether it was one of a sequence of disasters. The Deccan Traps of India are the remnants of a massive upwelling of molten rock from deep within the Earth 65 million years ago. The toxic fumes and dust from the eruption have been put forward as a possible alternative cause of climate change that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs

     

    There are relatively few places on Earth where any geological features can be expected to survive beyond tens of millions of years. Impact craters have been found on most of the rare ancient landforms. In several cases the estimated age of a large crater appears to match that of a mass extinction event, as told in the fossil record. Although the picture is still fuzzy -- due to the time scales involved -- massive impacts by comets and asteroids deserve serious consideration as an explanation for some of these extinction events.

  20. Posted

    Q&A ON ASTEROIDS AND THE THREAT TO EARTH

     

    Duncan Steel,

    Vice president of Spaceguard

     

     

    Q: Is the threat of an asteroid hitting Earth exaggerated?

     

    A: No, it's not exaggerated. Compared to other hazards we face, it turns out to be a very real risk. Based on recent evidence, we estimate the chances of an asteroid doing catastrophic damage in the next century are approximately one in 5,000.

     

    Q: If we find an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, is there an international plan?

     

    A: No, there is no international plan. This is an area of which governments are sadly ignorant. What we really need to do is to carry out a surveillance programme first of all, and this is simply not being done. In essence, the only country doing anything in this area is the United States. There is no southern hemisphere asteroid search programme.