Private Panic Still Here But Only Just!

@CWO:

@Der:

It’s hard to believe that powder can still be good after 70+ years!

That’s actually part of the problem.�  If I’m not mistaken, certain types of explosives can destabilize over time and become more sensitive to shock.�  I think this is particularly the case with nitrocellulose explosives, whose nitroglycerin component apparently re-liquifies and seeps out of the solid matrix when it gets too old.�  It’s sort of an extreme example of the concept of the “best before” date that is more ordinarily applied to packaged foods and pharmaceutical products.

This is true. The picric acid used in hand grenades still during WWII reacts with the metal casing of the grenade to form picrate salt, which is highly unstable.

WWII era hand grenades are problem also in Finland because of the “Weapons Cache Case”. As the Continuation War against Soviet Union was turning bad, some of the Finnish officers decided to hide large amounts of weapons and explosives all around the country in case the Soviets would occupy Finland. Those supplies were meant to be used in guerilla warfare against the occupation. Since this never happened, some of those caches still remain untouched and are discovered from time to time during house renovations, building excavations etc. The weapons are still functional and often sold on black market, and the hand grenades pose a serious threat to anyone handling them and to those nearby.

edit: some typos

Great news. Will have to watch it twice then. First time I will watch the subtitles, the second I will watch the action!
Or maybe the other way round.

I was referring to the now missing post where you mentioned Gargs name specifically and in my opinion a derogatory way.

Again… No such post existed. How could i mention your opinion when i never once replied to you here let alone anywhere in like 4 months or more? I am more interested in what you think i said about your opinion…sounds crazy yet provoking.

I see somebody posted that this post was an edit, but usually that means a post is attached…go figure.

AS for the other issue, i just adopted something new on the advice of others who are tired of trolling…silence. I don’t even want to say whom.

And since this topic/thread got derailed, I will make a new thread for Bunny so people can help out and find him?

Perhaps this needs to be moved to political discussion after my comments:

Shanghai is quite nice, and, yes, Beijing needs a ton of work.  Although I don’t think when people say that they think that Beijing city authorities should kick out thousands of poor residents on the city outskirts in preparation for the 2008 Olympics.

Overall, though, China has some significant problems that it needs to work out if it’s going to overtake the U.S.  Their environmental policy is god-awful.  90% of their water is undrinkable, and the dust storms that roll off the northern border are large enough to create their own weather systems.  There was also that benzene spill that happened last year, the one that was 50 miles long.  Unfortunately, while that was a notable case, it’s not the only one.

Also, China is definitely benefitting from its cheap labor supply right now.  The problem, however, is that their current birth rate is not high enough to maintain the population (1.73 children/woman versus the 2.3 widely considered necessary to prevent population declien), and in about a decade or 15 years, they will have an elderly population that makes the baby boomers and the problems associated with it look like nothing.  The Chinese need to start shifting to service industries, like India has, in order to keep their economy rolling.  It’s fine for a time to develop manufacturing capacity, but they don’t necessarily have the supply of educated workers that can compete and perform the way the country needs.  Also, some estimates of public debt mark it as 85% of GDP.

This isn’t to say that the U.S. doesn’t have massive problems as well.  But the infrastructure in the U.S. is well-established, and the procedures time tested but still open to change and challenge.  I think that’s a significant advantage over China, and while I know you aren’t saying that China will overtake the U.S., I think these are all points in favor of caution.

@Yanny:

ESPN did a poll a while back. “Which Olympic event do you watch most”. Ice Hockey was #1. I forget which was #2. Figure Skating maybe?

Ah…I see.
I thought this was a global poll.
Now I understand.  :-D

good stuff, im not religious in any aspect, and i think christmas is a made up hoiliday (because, and this goes with most major hoilidays, it is in the middle of the worst part of the year, i think people invented christmas to have something to look forward to in the middle of winter, otherwise people go nuts. i can elaborate on this later, but in my wierd head it makes sence.) even when i feel like this i think if someone wants to throw a hollow plastic baby jesus with a light bulb up his @$$ on thier front lawn, then more power to them.

Actually I thought it was enjoyable. Really it depends on what your preferences are. Personally I’m in to the world of high tech computer hacking.

Unfortunatly, no. But, try next tournement.