From: Terje Mathisen <terje.mathisen@hda.hydro.com>
Newsgroups: comp.arch.arithmetic,comp.arch,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Where is balance? -- Re: Academic priorities
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 11:49:46 +0200
Message-ID: <d5a5rr$tms$1@osl016lin.hda.hydro.com>

Casper H.S. Dik wrote:

> Jan Vorbrüggen <jvorbrueggen-not@mediasec.de> writes:
>
>>>A butter knife can take an eye out.
>
>>So can my fingers. How do I leave those at the reception desk?
>
> And spoons and forks can too.
>
> It's that I don't have much of an inclination to mess
> with airport security, but whenever I fly KLM I get
> a metal knife/fork/spoon.  I wonder what would happen if
> I take one out of the plane and then try to take it back
> on the return trip.

Stainless steel cutlery on all international flights to/from the US is
of course nice, however it really doesn't matter at all when you
consider that all airlines gladly sell you firebomb-making gear while
onboard:

High-proof Jamaica Rum, plus a regular (linen or cotton) napkin plus a
match == Molotov cocktail, right?

Besides, who needs a sharp knife when a broken whiskey bottle is handy?

Terje

PS. Here in Norway they've also made it illegal to carry knifes around
downtown, unless they are part of some form of uniform.

I.e. when wearing my traditional Telemark costume, the richly decorated
knife is OK, and all my scouts can wear their knives as long as they
also wear at least the scout's scarf. :-)

The strange part here is that traditionally, Norway has been so
dependent upon hunting & fishing (only 2.6% of the country is even
potentially arable, according to the CIA Fact book), that we never even
considered stuff like this to be weapons:

Shotguns were unregistered and available to anyone over 16, while all
Home Guard members, plus all reserve officers in all service branches
would keep their full basic kit, including their AG3 (Heckler & Koch ?)
full auto rifle at home. It made Norway to most heavily armed country in
the world, alongside Switzerland.

About 10-15 years ago several military storage bunkers were broken into
and rifles, machine guns and hand grenades etc stolen from them. The
knee-jerk reaction was to force almost all Home Guard/Reserve Officer
personell to hand over their rifles & ammo, even though theft of
military weapons from private residences had never been a problem. :-(

--
- <Terje.Mathisen@hda.hydro.com>
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

From: Terje Mathisen <terje.mathisen@hda.hydro.com>
Newsgroups: comp.arch.arithmetic,comp.arch,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Where is balance? -- Re: Academic priorities
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 22:32:59 +0200
Message-ID: <d5bbhs$leu$1@osl016lin.hda.hydro.com>

K Williams wrote:

> In article <d5a5rr$tms$1@osl016lin.hda.hydro.com>,
> terje.mathisen@hda.hydro.com says...
>>PS. Here in Norway they've also made it illegal to carry knifes around
>>downtown, unless they are part of some form of uniform.
>>
>>I.e. when wearing my traditional Telemark costume, the richly decorated
>>knife is OK, and all my scouts can wear their knives as long as they
>>also wear at least the scout's scarf. :-)
>
> Amazing.

You think so?

Well, the alternative would have been no knife ban at all, because
_everyone_ agreed that you couldn't ban them from the 'Bunads' we all
like to wear for 17th Mai (constitution day). :-)

>>About 10-15 years ago several military storage bunkers were broken into
>>and rifles, machine guns and hand grenades etc stolen from them. The
>>knee-jerk reaction was to force almost all Home Guard/Reserve Officer
>>personell to hand over their rifles & ammo, even though theft of
>>military weapons from private residences had never been a problem. :-(
>
>
> So you hand them over to the authorities so they can lock them up in
> the military storage bunkers that were broken into?  Some plan that!

Yes indeed.

I think you have to suffer from several kinds of mental blindness to not
see the illogic in that. :-(

Terje
--
- <Terje.Mathisen@hda.hydro.com>
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

From: Terje Mathisen <terje.mathisen@hda.hydro.com>
Newsgroups: comp.arch.arithmetic,comp.arch,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Where is balance? -- Re: Academic priorities
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 22:37:20 +0200
Message-ID: <d5bbq1$lj5$1@osl016lin.hda.hydro.com>

Patrick Scheible wrote:

> Terje Mathisen <terje.mathisen@hda.hydro.com> writes:
>>High-proof Jamaica Rum, plus a regular (linen or cotton) napkin plus a
>>match == Molotov cocktail, right?
>
> What proof alcohol do you need?  We had so much trouble getting the 80 proof
> brandy to flame for plum pudding at christmas that we had to switch to
> stronger, and preheat it.  And that's just to burn, not to explode.

About 60% (120 proof) should do, this is why I specified Rum which is
available in higher proofs than most other forms of alcohol.

>>Besides, who needs a sharp knife when a broken whiskey bottle is handy?
>
> Those itty-bitty bottles they give you on planes?  Wouldn't do much.

I'm not talking about those, even though they are much more dangerous
than the 8-12 mm 'blade' at the end of a nail cutter.

All international flights I've been on recently would try to sell me
Tax-free bottles while on board, and you could of course bring at least
two liters of stuff you bought before boarding.

Terje
--
- <Terje.Mathisen@hda.hydro.com>
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"