Clarkkent
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Posts posted by Clarkkent
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[quote user="andyh4"]CK: I understand the comments that are being made about the seeds themselves not being a source of contamination, but what stops faecal matter being on the ouotside of the seeds? I mean, it is not as if T&M could wash them before packetting them.[/quote]
I think that the microscopic amounts of faecal matter that could adhere to seeds would be insufficient to maintain a colony of E.coli for very long. The organisms would die before the seeds were planted.
How do you know that T&M would not wash the seeds or (just as likely) irradiate them to kill unwanted biological contamination? My money is on contamination during the growing or harvesting processes.
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[quote user="5-element"]
And yet, the officials said it again several times in front of TV cameras, with vigour and aplomb, is it obviously to mislead gullible and ignorant people like me?
It's hard enough to spot the truth in what politicians say, but we also have to take pseudo-scientists' statements with huge pinches of salt??? (Yes, I do remember Tchernobyl)... What is the point in having "news" altogether? When you watch or hear French news, and then you zap and watch or hear UK news, it's like plugging in to two different planets...[:'(]
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I suppose it is all a question of where you take your information from. With MMR people believed the Daily Express and Dail Mail rather than their GP! You don't think that the officials were saying it in order to deflect responsibility from actions in La Belle France to a company in Perfidious Albion?
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[quote user="idun"][quote user="Clarkkent"]
As everyone knows, the Great Flood created the Grand Canyon and drowned all the dinosaurs.
[/quote]
Is that a Sarah Palin'ism [:-))], how that woman frightens me.
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What frightens me is that in the (currently) most powerful nation on earth any politician who is not able to make some public admission of religious faith is unlikely to be elected. The USA sometimes appears to be as much of a theocracy as Iran. God is everywhere - even on the banknotes!
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Idun: Yes, indeed you had said that. But what sort of thinking is going on in a French official's brain? Blaming the source of the seed for the outbreak is extremely mischievous, to say the least. It should not be necessary to have to demonstrate a lack of connection between seed and a bacterium.
As to 5-Element's question, I don't know. I would guess it is a product of the random mutations that are always occuring. Simple Darwinian evolutionary processes.
Which brings me to Pachapapa's interesting barb. I was using "101" in the context of any first level academic course. He has found a fundagelical site advertising a home study kit which explains all biological diversity in terms of the world being created on the evening of 23 October 4004 BCE (which was a Sunday) - and which of course dismisses any idea that Darwin's explanation has any credibility. As everyone knows, the Great Flood created the Grand Canyon and drowned all the dinosaurs.
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[quote user="idun"]
This company has been on tv and have said that they do not believe it is their products as they sell their seeds all over europe and the UK and the outbreaks have only been in specific areas.
So to be seen, I'm sure that they can soon germinate some seeds in uncontaminated water and test them.
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Oh dear. Is our basic science education so poor? This is not directed at you, Idun, but is a comment on the general direction this thread seems to be going.
Biology 101
The contamination is not due to the seeds but to the conditions in which the plants are grown and handled. E. coli is a bacterium which exists in the environment, it is not part of the genetic make up of the seeds and it matters not an iota which company has distributed them.
The most likely cause of this (and any) outbreak of E. coli is the animal faeces in the organic manure used as fertiliser to grow the beansprouts. (Or workers not washing their hands after visiting the toilet before handling food.) One of the great modern myths is that "organic" food is safer than conventionally produced food. A study carried out in the USA a few years ago suggested that E. coli infection is 19 times more likely in organic production than conventional where the manure is less than a year old.
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What's got over 200 legs and no pubic hair?
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The first three rows at a Take That concert.
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I too have asked myself this question.
Is it because the Bank of England base rate is being held at 0.5% and this makes sterling investments unattractive?
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This has been covered countless times on this site. Do a search.
In general, any appliance bought in the UK will work in France. Most domestic appliances have double pole switches and are double insulated. Most TVs do not require an earth and it does not matter which pins in the plug any wire goes to. French domestic installations have double pole switches at the distribution board - it does not matter which wire goes to which pin. So just buy replacement plugs, cut the ends off the cable and attach the new plug.
If the mains lead can be detached from the appliance, just buy a new lead with the appropriate termination from any hypermarket.
And that's it.
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And how about mayhem?
I heard it just this morning: volcanic eruption in Chile causing mayhem at airports in Australia.
Has anyone actually heard about Australians being disabled by having limbs chopped off?
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[quote user="Alan Zoff"]It's not the old photos that bother me[/quote]
... but the portrait in the attic! [6]
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The Road Fund Licence was abolished in Britain in 1935. Why should Sarkozy be interested in ti?
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[quote user="woolybanana"]The problem with calling the dog Digger is that it actually reminds the audience of the original word. If it is to be changed, and maybe it has to be, then it should be changed completely.[/quote]
I agree entirely. A quick look at "The Dam Busters" (original film) discussion boards at IMDB shows that there have been about as many posts about the dog's name as all other posts for the film.
I suppose the next point of contention for this remake will be whether the musical score will contain anything as stirring or appropriate as Eric Coates' march.
My connection with the Dam Busters: when I left school I worked in the building which had been the control room for the Dam Busters raid. It was a victorian house in Grantham called St Vincents, built originally as the home of Richard Hornsby. A large concrete bunker had been added to the house by, I think, "Bomber" Harris. When I was there it was the regional HQ of the Air Ministry Works Directorate and was responsible for building work and maintenance of a large number of RAF stations in Lincolnshire and the east Midlands.
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Well, Dog, you have motivated me to find out what I can about this film. I found an article about the refusal of the BBFC to grant it a certificate - and I actually find myself in sympathy with the BBFC!
However, in doing so, they have given the film far more publicity than it merits and may have created a demand the film does not deserve.
As for Australians being able to watch the film? Perhaps Sir Les Patterson himself intervened on its behalf ...
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Fair enough. We shall just provoke unintended mirth on occasion.
My pension won't stretch to paying you!
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Opposite my house in France is a rather old house.
Occasionally, members of the extended family gather for parties, reunions and such. I have observed, on these occasions, a steady flow of men who leave the house, relieve themselves against a wall or a tree, and then go back inside.
Presumably there is only a single wc in the house and this is reserved for women. A form of Gallic chivalry, perhaps?
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You are absolutely correct. Context.
It does depend on the context - the context here being that this is forum whose membership is mainly British and whose discussions are mainly about France. I imagine that all of Archant's forums are also British and European in focus. I don't believe for one second that there is any malicious intent in forcing software that contains culturally inappropriate screens onto users, nor would I consider that the purchasing decision was anything but rational, but I do think appropriate criteria were not considered.
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[quote user="Russethouse"]
CK : Archant run many forums and much of the word screening is common to them all.
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That is as it may be, it does not change the fact that the screening is culturally inappropriate and can transform sensible discussion into farce.
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[quote user="idun"]
I have recently found that it was quite difficult to discuss certain aspects of what happened on the DSK thread. Felt like I had to watch every word I wrote, as some posters could have found some of it offensive, perhaps. I don't nkow. So I was wondering if there should not be a more 'adult' section on this board. Where one clicks if one is over18 and realises that there might be offensive language etc.
I'm in no way suggesting anything obscene, but somewhere where adults can have discussions.
I was wondering what other posters thought about this idea.
And mods, if the answer is no, then I will understand.
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I think that the filter which appears to be built in to this forum needs to be looked at. I assume that the software was bought "off the peg" from America and contains a filter which censors words which are inoffensive to all but Bible-belt, born again, sub-teens.
Test:
How can Christians write about Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on an ass? How can I describe the birds in my garden? I have a nesting box containing redstart chicks, I have often seen the hen but never the cock. I can visit Oradour but can't describe the Nazi atrocity.
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This discussion reminds me of a "debate" among English pedants about a dialogue in "The King's Speech":
Bertie: But I don't have a voice.
Lionel: Yes you do!
The pedants maintain that Lionel should have said: Yes you have.
[quote user="crazyfrog"]
I'm not berating the teacher, after all, she's got a diploma in teaching English so she must be right and he accepts the fact that he has to put down what they want to get the marks (no matter how much he thinks he's right)
However, can anyone tell me (pedants especially) what the difference is? I must admit, my English language theory is a bit wibbly wobbly and I couldn't explain to him as to why one answer is right and one is wrong.
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I assume the teacher is French. She will have learned her own language in the assurance that it has a perfect form whose purity is assured by the Academie Francaise. She may not realise that English has escaped the straightjacket of conformity and is living, flexible and changing. She is also lacking in perception if she does not realise that a native English speaker will always have a greater intuitive understanding of the language than she has.
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I used to have them. They were a pain in the neck.
To close them, the French windows had to be wide open resulting in a total heat loss from the room. I had to have new windows so I replaced them with uPVC roll-down shutters.
Since my house is - relatively - modern there was no question of "maintaining character".
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[quote user="Jo"]My car has a digital speedometer which I can't change to Kms from Mph, so I use my Satnav as a speedometer as I can't remember all the conversions[:$]
[/quote]If your car is a Renault, you should be able to switch between mph and kph by depressing the switch on the end of stalk (it switches between various instrument display options) while inserting the key and turning it to the second position. You should keep the switch depressed for about 5 seconds.
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Oh dear. Scaremongering. There is little that is problematic about cousin marriage, as the following extract from Wikipedia (original appropriately referenced) shows.
"In April 2002, the Journal of Genetic Counseling released a report which estimated the average risk of birth defects in a child born of first cousins at 1.7–2.8% over an average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40. In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%, While another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%. Put differently, first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30."
Queen Victoria married her first cousin, and Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein married their cousins.
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I've seen it being played. It seems to be about banging the table with the fist and shouting.
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After the digital switchover, PAL and SECAM will no longer be an issue. If it is a new tv you intend to bring all you will have to do is change the plug.
HD viewing
in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone
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[quote user="cherrypie"]I only have freeview so does this mean I cannot watch HD programs???[/quote]
Do I infer, then, from original post, that you are contemplating getting a Sky+ box?
Be careful. Be very careful.
If I remember correctly, at least for the first year the box needs to be connected to a UK telephone, your subscription needs to be paid from a UK source, and any telephone call you may make may be monitored to ascertain its source. Should you fail to satisfy Sky that you are anything but a bona fide UK customer they will close down your box.
Sky's agreement with programme suppliers only permits it to show copyright material to UK viewers. Sky - to protect itself - will not willingly allow people outside its own franchise area to view its programmes.
However, by attempting to watch Sky programmes outside Sky's franchise area you are not committing any offence - plenty of people do it - but you have broken your agreement with Sky, hence it will terminate its service to you. If you want to watch HD programmes in France, buy a freesat HD box from Argos (most people rate Humax).