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***Arde Galicia (I)/Galicia Burns (Part I)

by Carrie Wed Aug 16th, 2006 at 09:18:21 AM EST


(Hat tip to DoDo)(Gracias a DoDo por la foto)

From the front page ~ whataboutbob


The latest political controversy engulfing Spain revolves around the wave of forest fires currently raging in Galicia, in the Spanish NorthWest. The first fires started a week ago, and after the weekend the situation was serious enough for a "maximum alert" to be declared. For a whole week there have been over 100 active fires, and regional president Touriño has been subject to a lot of criticism because initially he said that the situation was "under control", but it obviously wasn't. Or was it? Apparently there have been over 100 new fires per day, presumably arson. The regional government [a coalition of the socialist PSdG and left nationalist BNG] has been accused of ineffectual fire extinguishing policies, of cronyism (purging experienced fire fighters hired in the previous 14 years of PP government), of demanding knowledge of the Galician language in order to be hired for firefighting... These accusations are denied by others, who defend the regional and national governments on the grounds that this fire wave is unprecedented, and concentrate on the causes of the fires rather than on the effectiveness of the firefighting efforts. It appears that most fires are indeed arson, but that is nothing new in Galicia. The accusation is becoming one of organized crime, and some people insinuate that the PP may be behind it. This parallels accusations that sources close to the PP made years ago against the BNG.España se encuentra envuelta en la polemica a raiz de la ola de incendios que azota Galicia desde hace una semana. Después del fin de semana, se declaro la "alerta máxima" debido a la severidad de la situación.   Touriño, presidente de la Xunta de Galicia, dijo inicialmente que todo estaba "bajo control", pero tras una semana con más de 100 incendios activos arrecian las críticas y claramente no lo estaba. O sí? Según parece stá habiendo más de 100 nuevos incendios diarios, presumiblemente provocados. Al gobierno regional de coalición PSdG/BNG se le ha acusado de inefectivo en la lucha contra el fuego, de nepotismo (por purgar cuadrillas antiincendios contratadas durante los 14 años anteriores de gobiernos del PP), o de requerir conocimientos de gallego para formar parte de las cuadrillas... Otros niegan estas acusaciones, y defienden a los gobiernos autonómico y central prestando atención a las causas de los incendios más que a los esfuerzos de contención. La mayor parte de los incendios son, al parecer, provocados, pero eso no es nuevo en Galicia. Se está llegando a acusaciones de crimen organizado, y hay quien insunúa que el PP puede estar detrás de los fuegos. Las mismas acusaciones las vertía hace años el PP contra el BNG

The (Relative) Calm Before the Storm

La (relativa) calma antes de la tempestad

Just on August 1 things were looking up for the prevention and control of forest fires in Galicia...Apenas el dia 1 de agosto, las cosas pintaban bien para la prevención y control de incendios en Galicia...
Vigo Metropolitano: Galicia experienced an increase in [forest] fires during the month of July with respect to 2005 (1st August 2006)Vigo Metropolitano: Galicia experimentó un repunte de los fuegos en el mes de julio con respecto a 2005 (1ro de agosto de 2006)
The annual balance is positive, with 43% fewer fires than in the first seven months of 2005El balance anual es positivo, con un 43 por ciento de incendios menos que en los siete primeros meses de 2005
The Galician [Autonomous] Community recorded an increse in the number of [forest] fires in July with respect to the same month last year, with 291 additional fires. In total, 1820 fires broke out, in which 5,780 hectares were burnt.La comunidad gallega registró un repunte en el número de incendios en julio con respecto al mismo mes del año pasado, con 291 fuegos más. En total, se declararon 1.820 incendios el mes pasado en los que resultaron calcinadas 5.780 hectáreas.
However, the 2006 data reflact an improvement on those recorded two years ago, as while last July 1,529 fires were counted, in 2004 the forest fires were 1,977, affecting an area of 9,869 hectaresSin embargo, las cifras reflejan que los datos de 2006 mejoran los registrados hace dos años, ya que si el pasado julio se contabilizaron 1.529 fuegos, en 2004 fueron 1.977 los incendios forestales, que afectaron a una superficie de 9.869 hectáreas.
The balance is also positive for the year so far, as the 4,021 forest fires during the first seven months of the year mean a 43% reduction with respect of those that occurred in the same period of 2005—3,035— and a 50.7% fewer than in 2004—4,139.También es positivo el balance de lo que llevamos de año, ya que los 4.021 incendios forestales durante estos siete primeros meses suponen una reducción del 43 por ciento con respecto a los producidos en el mismo periodo de 2005 -3.035- y de un 50,7 por ciento menos que en 2004 -4.139.
......
In this respect, [Alberto] Blanco [general director for Mountains and Forestry] indicated that for the moment it will not be possible to ascertain the causes of most July fires in the province of A Coruña. What Blanco does celebrate and claims as evidence of the effective work of the brigades of forestry officers dedicated to investigating the causes of fires, is the noteworthy number of arrests for alleged links to the authorship of many arsons.A este respecto, [Alberto] Blanco [director xeral de Montes e Industrias Forestais] señaló que no se podrán conocer de momento las causas que concentraron la mayor parte de los fuegos del mes de julio en la provincia de A Coruña. Lo que sí celebra Blanco y reivindica como muestra del eficiente trabajo de las brigadas de agentes forestales dedicadas a la investigación de las causas de los incendios es el notable número de detenidos por su presunta vinculación con la autoría de muchos incendios provocados.
This is not to say that this past month of July was uneventful, fire-wise...Esto no quiere decir que el mes de julio pasado estuviera exento de incendios graves...
El Mundo: At least 11 people die fighting the [large forest] fire in Guadalajara (18 July 2005)Mueren al menos 11 personas durante las labores de extinción del incendio de Guadalajara (18 de julio de 2005)
A badly put-out barbecue in Cueva de los Casares [is the] cause of the fire — 8,000 hectares laid waste — One person will be interrogated as the presumed culprit — [deputy PM] Fernández de la Vega [was] received among complaints for the lateness and scarcity of [firefighting material] means.Una barbacoa mal apagada en Cueva de los Casares, origen del fuego - 8.000 hectáreas arrasadas - Una persona prestará hoy declaración como presunto responsable - Fernández de la Vega, recibida entre quejas por la tardanza y la escasez de medios
......
In the last few hours, over 7,000 hectares of land have been laid waste as a result of the propagation of at least 15 forest fires in Spain. The second Largest is the one recorded in Zamora, with more than 1.650 hectares burnt.En las últimas horas, más de 7.000 hectáreas de terreno han sido arrasadas a causa de la propagación de al menos 15 incendios forestales en España. El segundo en magnitud, después del de Guadalajara, es el registrado en Zamora, con más de 1.650 hectáreas quemadas.
While this happened in Castilla, the situation in Galicia was relatively peaceful. This news item from the following day illustrates the normal intensity of the Summer forest fire season in Spain, and in particular in Galicia.Mientras esto pasaba en Castilla, la situacion en Galicia era relativamente pacifica. Esta noticia ilustra la intensidad normal de la temporada de incendios forestales en España, y en particular en Galicia.
El Mundo: Six provinces find themselves affected by [forest] fires (19/07/2006)EL Mundo: Seis provincias se ven afectadas por el fuego. (19/07/2006)
There are eight active fires in the province of La Coruña and two in PontevedraEn la provincia de La Coruña hay ocho incendios activos y en Pontevedra dos
......
Galicia stays on alertEn Galicia sigue la alerta
Galicia is one of the [Autonomous] Communities most affected by the fires. The most worrysome are in Carnota, in the province of La Coruña, and Caldas de Reis, in Pontevedra.Galicia es una de las comunidades más afectada por los incendios. Los más preocupantes han sido los de Carnota, en la provincia de La Coruña, y el de Caldas de Reis, en Pontevedra.
The first one, brought under control early this morning but not totally smothered, attained level 1 alert, although it did not necessitate the evacuation of the area residents thanks to a firebreak at Lira.El primero, controlado a lo largo de la pasada madrugada pero no apagado en su totalidad, llegó al nivel 1 de alerta, aunque no supuso la evacuación de los habitantes de la zona gracias a un cortafuegos en Lira.
Over 320 hectres have been laid waste by fire. Some places close to the fire include Mallou, Sofán, Pazo, Carballal y Maceiras.Más de 320 hectáreas han sido arrasadas por el fuego. Algunos de los lugares próximos al incendio son los de Mallou, Sofán, Pazo, Carballal y Maceiras.
According to the Consellería de Medio Rural [the reginal government's Counsel for the Rural Environment], the fire started at three places up a mountain side, whch made the initial control of the fire difficult as this is a very steep area. In this respect, the Lieutenant Mayor of Carnota, Manuel Noceda, attributed the fire to a "dark hand, or hands", as he also stressed the fact that the fire, which is the first one to reach level 1 this season in Galicia — started at three palces kilometres apart.Según la Consellería de Medio Rural, el incendio se inició en tres focos ladera arriba, lo que dificultó el control en su fase inicial debido a que se trata de una zona muy escarpada. Al respecto, el teniente alcalde de Carnota, Manuel Noceda, atribuyó este fuego a una "mano, o manos negras", ya que también incidió en el hecho de que el fuego -que ha supuesto el primer nivel 1 declarado en esta campaña en Galicia- se inició en tres focos diferentes distanciados por kilómetros.
At Caldas de Reis (Pontevedra), the forest fire active since Monday afternoon an which forced the closure of the AP-9 hoghway for over three hours, is not under control.En Caldas de Reis (Pontevedra), el incendio forestal que desde la tarde del lunes se encontraba activo y que obligó a cortar la Autopista AP-9 durante algo más de tres horas, se encuentra ya controlado.
The fire damaged the highway's blacktop in both directions, hence the need to divert traffic along alternative roads.El fuego dañó el asfalto de la autopista en ambos sentidos, de ahí que la circulación tuviera que ser desviada por carreteras alternativas.
The same source from Medio Rural will not report on the extent of the fires until they are finally extinguished, although it considers that the figures published by the media&mdahs;around an area of 300 to 600 hectares- "exceeds our calculations". Both will be measured using GPS.La misma fuente de Medio Rural no informará de la extensión de estos incendios hasta que se apaguen definitivamente, aunque considera que las cifras que aparecen publicadas en medios informativos -en torno a una extensión de 300 a 600 hectáreas- "excede nuestros cálculos". Ambos serán medidos a través de GPS.
Likewise, at this time there are 10 active fires in the Galician [Autonomous] Community, most of them (eight in total) in the province of La Coruña. Specifically, in the parish of Freixeiro in Santa Comba; in Cee; Boiro; Rois; Lousame; Carballo; and two in Ponteceso.Asimismo, a estas horas están activos 10 incendios en la comunidad gallega, la mayoría de ellos (un total de ocho) en la provincia de La Coruña. Concretamente, en la parroquia de Freixeiro en Santa Comba; en Cee; Boiro; Rois; Lousame; Carballo; y dos en Ponteceso.
The other two active [fires] are located in the province of Pontevedra, one in the parish of Abalo in Catoira and the other in the place of O Lérez in Pontevedra.Los otros dos activos se localizan en la provincia de Pontevedra, uno en la parroquia de Abalo en Catoira y otro en el lugar de O Lérez en Pontevedra.

Display:
Can you show us the html you used to make the columns?  Pretend like you are teaching aliens.

¿Puede usted demostrarnos el HTML que usted hacía las columnas? Finja como usted están enseñando a extranjeros.  

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:20:15 PM EST
I think he used that old trick:

< table >
< tr >
< td > < / td > < td > < / td >
< / tr >
< / table >

where "tr" means tablerow, "td" means table data cell (I think), and it's inside the "td" bit that you place your stuff. and of course you'd have to get rid of the spaces I added, to make it all work.

--

Pienso que ha utilizado el viejo trickamiento de la mesa, y mi crayon es mas largo que el de Brian. Adonde esta Brian? Brian esta en la cocina.

by Alex in Toulouse on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:38:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
this is just a silly test to see if I'm doing it rightthis is just a silly test to see if I'm doing it right


Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
by p------- on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:43:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hmmmmm, it looked right in the preview...

ack.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:44:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Se dice "truco" y "lápiz".

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:45:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ach I should have known "lapiz"!
Now I'm wondering if "lapis lazuli" is linked to this somehow. Wikipedia here I come.

Yes! From the Latin lapis (stone). I should have learned Latin. Ego nunca narro Latinum, criminum est.

by Alex in Toulouse on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:58:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
<table>
<tr>
<td>
This is a simple table with one row and two columns. An HTML table starts with <table> and ends with </table>. The table is built row-wise, each row being delimited by <tr> and </tr>. Within each row, the content of each cell from left to right is delimited by <td> and </td>. It is tiring to spell out all these tags, to make the brackets I need to use &lt; and &gt;, otherwise the software will interpret them as actual tags and mess everything up. Oh, and & is written &amp;.
</td>
<td>
Esto es una simple tabla con una fila y dos columnas. En HTML las tablas comienzan por <table> y terminan por </table>. Las tablas se construyen por filas, y cada fila se delimita por <tr> y </tr>. Dentro de cada fila, el contenido de cada celda de izquierda a derecha se delimita por <td> y </td>. Es cansado escribir todas estas etiquetas, para hacer los parantesis angulares tengo que usar &lt; y &gt;, si no el programa los interpreta como etiquetas de verdad y se estropea el invento. Ah, y & se escribe &amp;.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
-------------------
This is a simple table with one row and two columns. An HTML table starts with <table> and ends with </table>. The table is built row-wise, each row being delimited by <tr> and </tr>. Within each row, the content of each cell from left to right is delimited by <td> and </td>. It is tiring to spell out all these tags, to make the brackets I need to use &lt; and &gt;, otherwise the software will interpret them as actual tags and mess everything up. Oh, and & is written &amp;.Esto es una simple tabla con una fila y dos columnas. En HTML las tablas comienzan por <table> y terminan por </table>. Las tablas se construyen por filas, y cada fila se delimita por <tr> y </tr>. Dentro de cada fila, el contenido de cada celda de izquierda a derecha se delimita por <td> y </td>. Es cansado escribir todas estas etiquetas, para hacer los parantesis angulares tengo que usar &lt; y &gt;, si no el programa los interpreta como etiquetas de verdad y se estropea el invento. Ah, y & se escribe &amp;.


Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:44:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Awesome picture.

(Funky having the two languages up--very useful for those learning one or t'other)

It appears that most fires are indeed arson, but that is nothing new in Galicia.

Are the forests separated in some way, or are these very quick-growing trees?

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:25:34 PM EST
The content is the same but the translation is very loose.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:28:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What's the point of these fires? What do people gain by setting them?
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:45:17 PM EST
There are more theories than people.

This is just an initial approach to the diary. It will grow. I have 31 websites bookmarked waiting to be summarised (most, but not all, obtained via escolar.net).

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:46:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That's entirely surreal.

Not that you have 31 sites bookmarked, but that people are setting these fires and no one really knows why.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 08:49:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
No hay crimen peor que lo de atacarse a la natura. Dijo esto solo para parecer inteligente y demostrar mi capacidad a charlar en la lengua del Sur, pero de verdad sabeis que ya lo hemos hecho tras los siglos.

--

Translation: Brian, it's going to rain. Where is my umbrella? My umbrella is in the kitchen. Is my umbrella bigger than my pencil?

... quoting Gad Elmaleh on English lessons. Like he says nobody ever found out what happened to the Brian of our primary school days ...

by Alex in Toulouse on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:47:30 PM EST
Alex, j'ai perdu ma plume dans le jardin de ma tante!

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:49:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
?Quizas la tia de Brian sabe donde puedas buscarlo?

(ok, let's just pretend that first question mark was upside down)

by Alex in Toulouse on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:51:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ah, but millions of students around the world now have no excuse for not being able to find a library in Spain...

Donde está la biblioteca?

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 06:52:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
La biblioteca ... la quemaron. Quemaron los arboles, barbaros!
by Alex in Toulouse on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 07:00:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I like the bilingualism; its always surprised me that, for a website about Europe, almost everything here is in English.

(Of course, if it wasn't, I wouldn't be able to read it - but I still think its a bit wierd)

by IdiotSavant on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 08:33:29 PM EST
We've have heated debates about a multilingual ET.

This diary is a shameless attempt at drawing in a large crowd from Ignacio Escolar's blog. As a result of the post I link to, we had a spike of Spanish users on Tuesday when over 50% of the page views were by Spanish users. The spike is dying off exponentially, but still Friday we had more users from Spain than from the UK.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 08:37:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've been thinking of writing about the Transicion and the lack of reconciliation in Spain as opposed to South Africa or even in East Germany.  And now I know how to do side by side.  This is ingenious, and is a way to incorporate bilingualism while retaining the base English.

......

He pensado en escrbiendo en la Tranciscion y  la falta de reconciliacion en Espana en contra de Africa del Sur o Alemania de Este.  Y ahora yo se como hacer lado por lado.  Es ingenio, y un medio por incorporar bilinguismo mientras conservando el base de Ingles.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 09:01:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Do you suggest we build the base out of ingles?

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 10:05:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
English is the backbone of this place.  It's the language that everyone is most likely to understand.  In that way this place is much like the world.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 11:07:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I just learnt a load of Spanish, and not only of the verb before consonant variety.  No.  Ho emparados che (que!)  Khe ke che ingles are for roovers.  No!

Estan paroles sobra son in ingles.  Ingles mate with nooks.

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 11:29:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
As I said in the Breakfast, mfm, PLEASE do write this!!

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Tue Aug 15th, 2006 at 07:14:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You should not say that in the comments... escolar people can thing they have been done :) je ejje

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 11:00:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I did say 'shameless'.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 07:38:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I like reading both the Spanish and English, or both the French and English.  One enhances my understanding of the other.  Adelante!

Lots of wildfires in the US West this year, too.  It doesn't take much of a temperature increase to cause the change in rainfall.

by Plan9 on Sun Sep 10th, 2006 at 12:46:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Most excellent article.  Y la foto es precioso.

We all bleed the same color.
by budr on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 09:45:33 PM EST


We all bleed the same color.
by budr on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 09:46:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I just heard on Deutsche Welle that Spanish authorities have arrested twenty people suspected of setting fires in northwestern Galicia.  They did not give many details.

We all bleed the same color.
by budr on Fri Aug 11th, 2006 at 10:19:26 PM EST
Is this going to be a series???? Huge

Wowowo...

What a picture...worth a thousand words!!!

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 11:03:04 AM EST
Well, it got to be 2 am and I had to go to sleep. It takes twice as long to write, and twice as much space on the screen...

Second instalment tonight.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 12:24:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Clearly freedom is on the march.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 01:43:38 PM EST
Mig, I had hoped to put this on the front page today, but the server crashed, and by 3:30 had places to go. So Sunday. Excellent bilingual article...really appreciate the effort  you put into doing this...thanks!

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 06:22:18 PM EST
Why don't you hold off while it tops the recommended diary list?

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Aug 12th, 2006 at 07:40:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
oops...missed this...still, it is an excellent and relevant article with a great photo...hard to pass up...

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:27:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Great work, Mig. Just had time to read it yesterday, and when I wanted to come back, Brian ya no estaba en la cocina y el servidor se quemaba. (Manuel de Barcelona es uno cocinero mejor que Brian...)

The columns are a great idea for presenting bilingual diaries, they do away with the need to start in one language and translate further down. Kind of more diplomatic...

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 03:53:08 AM EST
One thing I have discovered is that the columns work best if instead of using paragraph breaks one puts each paragraph in a separate row of the table. That way the fact that English is more compact than Spanish (it's not lazy translation: the English does take fewer characters/words/lines to express the same idea) doesn't lead to one column appearing much longer than the other. At least on my browser, the columns are given equal widths, and the alternative to putting each paragraph on a separate row would be to manually tweak the relative column widths, and that would only work for a particular font...

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 04:33:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, I noticed you'd done that when I looked at the page source. Though I didn't realize quite why. You're right, English generally does take up less space than European languages I can think of, certainly the Romance languages and, I think, German.

BTW, I see you've seen the inexorable Nick-bot dump in the wiki...

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:13:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Colman, can we have Nick IP-banned from the wiki?

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:19:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
MfM has a bilingual comment in the Breakfast, and you can see what happens when you don't put each paragraph in its own row.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:45:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The picture is incredibly dramatic...seeing the macro and contemplating the micro (its effects on individuals below). Thanks for the picture.

I'm just a little curious why the winds are sucking the smoke out to sea. I would think that the winds would move inland from the sea. Ok, this is just an annoying observation.

by gradinski chai on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 04:17:02 AM EST
We've been getting a cool airflow from the North over Western Europe (at least) since the beginning of August. I expect that explains it.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:18:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What is astounding is the sense of scope...these fires range over a huge area! This is very sad and upsetting...

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:31:24 AM EST
You ain't seen nuffin' yet. Check out this nteractive map. Once the map is up you can change the date range. The fire wave started on August 4.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Aug 13th, 2006 at 05:39:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Note that the ET auto-format parser interprets line breaks as paragraph breaks, while HTML ignores whitespace. The code above works if you use the "HTML formatted" option (see the pull-down menu between the Preview and Post buttons. Alternatively, you can just type all the tags without any spaces or new lines between them.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Sep 8th, 2006 at 09:49:50 AM EST
"the code above" means the code in this example.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Sep 8th, 2006 at 09:51:01 AM EST
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