Text 6536, 104 rader
Skriven 2006-10-14 17:07:31 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: DIFFERENTLYABLED 39861013
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 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 ML> My point was actually that they would probably be reasonable
 ML> enough at this point to plot out attacks that would maximize
 ML> damage, though not substantially more reasonable than that.

There is a difference between ability to reason, and being reasonable
in attitude towards humanity in general.
 
 ML> In case of explosion, what good is a parachute likely to be?
 ML> To expand, the probability of the parachute and the passenger
 ML> both persisting in a usable condition to, what is it, 10000 feet
 ML> would likely be smaller than the seatback cushion serving as an
 ML> effective "approved flotation device."

"In the event of the aeroplane disintegrating in flight, fasten your
parachute by placing your arms and legs through the straps provided,
wait until well clear of the bits and pieces of the plane, and pull
firmly on the D-shaped handle to deploy the parachute.  On entering
the water, discard the parachute and don the life jacket which you
forgot was under the seat, but which with luck may land in the sea
somewhere near you."
 
 ML> That may change. Boston and New York are the first US cities to
 ML> institute "random" luggage checks in the subways.
 GJ> Have you been "randomly" targetted yet, or seen others done?  If I was
 GJ> a dedicated backpack bomber occasional random checks would not deter

 ML> Not yet. It's likely to happen pretty soon. Which makes one think
 ML> about the tradeoff between personal freedoms and asphyxiating in
 ML> in a cloud of Sarin gas or a tunnel collapse. Ugh ... and I have
 ML> to ride the subway both today and tomorrow.

It pays to think about statistics of the relative frequencies of the
various forms which premature death may take, and then apportion your
worries accordingly.  (This is the point I was trying to make
regarding vehicle-caused deaths.)  In the last, say, 10 years, how
many people have died from Sarin gas in subways, as compared with the
number of people world-wide who have passed through subways in that
time?   As one of (I think) your wise statesmen once said, "There is
nothing to fear but fear itself."  (More or less..)
 
 GJ> Agreed, but my point was that it doesn't take much to bring down a
 GJ> complex, delicate machine like an aeroplane.  A wing hit on one side
 GJ> damaging a flap would unbalance it to a disastrous degree.
 ML> But not so much that a pilot wouldn't be able to steer it off away
 ML> from skyscraping buildings and the like.

A sudden 30% decrease of lift on one wing would be enough to result in
irrecoverable loss of control.  (Check with your fly-boy friends.)
 
 GJ> Are there airports in your country where planes take off over populous
 GJ> areas?  In any case, planes landing still carry enough reserve fuel to
 ML> Most takeoffs veer pretty immediately away from your populous
 ML> areas - this is a long-standing policy and derives, I believe,
 ML> as much from noise abatement procedures as security issues.

Oh, of course, human comfort takes precedence!  Fortuitously, in this
case it coincides with human safety requirements.  This does not apply
in some places like Manila, where failing planes occasionally fall
onto some of the poorer suburbs.
 
 GJ> 1 SAM, 1000000 dinars, 10 % chance of success
 GJ> 10000 RPGs, same price, betcha a good chance of success.  (Of course
 GJ> this would require 10000 trigger pullers, which could be a problem.)

 ML> I've thought about the problem and have pretty much discounted
 ML> the possibility that a particular terrorist group could organize
 ML> what would amount to at least a squad (about 9) of dedicated
 ML> guys on the ground. And where would they practice?

Practice?  No problem since video games were invented.  After all,
that is how a lot of the training of modern US military forces is
being done, and it shouldn't be difficult to get hold of some of their
appropriate software.

Tonight, after baby-sitting grandson Ryan for the last day of the
school term holidays, I was taken out to dinner by his parents to the
Chopstix restaurant in Rundle Street.  Being Friday night the indoor
and outdoor tables of the rows of restaurants were really crowded, to
at least 70% capacity.  They had their usual range of dishes listed,
including the stir-fried crocodile, but one of the daily specials was
tea-smoked, roasted half duck, which I ordered.   Although cooked more
than you would like (I didn't specify how I wanted it, but let the
chef make that decision), it was attractively sliced transversely into
easily handled pieces.  The skin was semi-crisp, and carried a
definite, but not overpowering tea flavour.  It went well when
annointed with the plum sauce provided.

I was told that that restaurant no longer provided house wine in
carafes, so I had to order it in a bottle.  The $20 wine listed had
disappeared, but the waitress asked if I would accept another bottle
at the same price.  It was something I had never heard of, a Cab Sav
Shiraz blend from the Barossa.  Two Hands Winery.  and "Imported by
.... of Pittsburgh, PA".  Obviously another bottle labelled for
export, but deviated into the local market.  It was reasonable.  A
fine bouquet, but quite a lot softer flavour than I expected - more
like a merlot.  Acceptable at the price, particularly as I wasn't
paying.   I checked that winery in the phone directory, and it
appeared to exist as an office in North Adelaide.
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