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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (14787)	3/17/2003 12:39:04 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

My apologies..no slings...arrows...political..or personal... no Midas touch stuff...either................ Piece be unto you..<g> I think...therfore I am.. who I think I am.... Tim@namaste.com A Lesson in Thermodynamics. The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year, that "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze. The student received the only "A" given.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (14787)	3/17/2003 12:43:24 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

we lost our open window ....... we will not attack Iraq You may be right. I hope you are. I fear the worst - that we've lost our open window, but attack anyway. Why? Fanatics are in charge. JMO lurqer

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (14787)	3/17/2003 1:16:08 PM
From: abuelita	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

they let the USA pick up the tab .... i think not. 31 May, 1996 As of this last day of May, 71 out of 185 countries have paid their regular dues to the UN. Japan has finally paid, leaving only Germany and the United States unpaid of the major regular budget payers (Japan and Germany have pleaded "technical reasons" for paying late this year). Including arrears from previous years, the UN is owed $963 million on the regular budget (of which the US owes $683 million or 71%), $1.685 billion for peacekeeping (of which the US owes $889 million or 53%) and $2.660 billion overall (of which the US owes $1.576 billion or 59%). [For further information on US payments.] globalpolicy.org globalpolicy.org another interesting little tidbit: the US itself has a veto on the security council, and because of that there are no UN SC resolutions against it -- but more powerfully, there are 11 (annual) full UN general assembly resolutions calling on the US to abandon its illegal sanctions against cuba alone. so much for calling the kettle black, eh?