Top Diaries

Make sure the student understands the concept of a semi-permeable membrane, i.e. water passes through but dissolved crap doesn't.
The concentration of water on the side with the solute is less than pure water because of the existence of the solute.
Just like diffusion, i.e. you open a perfume bottle across the room and even without major air drafts you smell the perfume in a few minutes due to constant random motion of air molecules mixed with perfume.
SO ... stuff always migrates from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration. Welcome to this universe ... it's how it works.
SO ... osmotic pressure is the pressure that has to be exerted by a column of water to just offset the "push" caused by the flow of water across the membrane.

Does this explanation work for you? It seems sufficient for my students.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:51:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Right, and pressure is energy per unit volume and chemical potential is energy per particle.

In the wikipedia article on freezing point depression it says

The freezing point depression is a colligative property, which means that it is dependent on the presence of dissolved particles and their number, but not their identity. It is an effect of the dilution of the solvent in the presence of a solute. It is a phenomenon that happens for all solutes in all solutions, even in ideal solutions, and does not depend on any specific solute-solvent interactions. The freezing point depression happens both when the solute is an electrolyte, such as various salts, and a nonelectrolyte. In thermodynamic terms, the origin of the freezing point depression is entropic and is most easily explained in terms of the chemical potential of the solvent.

In the page on osmotic pressure it says

A related notion, osmotic potential is the opposite of water potential, is the degree to which a solvent tends to stay in a liquid.

it also links to colligative properties. The concept of water potential is defined as

the potential energy of water relative to pure free water (e.g. deionized water) in reference conditions. It quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to another due to osmosis, gravity, mechanical pressure, or matrix effects including surface tension. Water potential is measured in units of pressure and is commonly represented by the Greek letter Ψ (Psi). This concept has proved especially useful in understanding water movement within plants, animals, and soil.
Typically, pure water with standard temperature and pressure (or other suitable reference condition) is defined as having a water potential of 0. The addition of solutes to water lowers its potential (makes it more negative), just as the increase in pressure increases its potential (makes it more positive). If possible, water will move from an area of higher water potential to an area that has a lower water potential.
One very common example is water that contains a dissolved salt, like sea water or the solution within living cells. These solutions typically have negative water potentials, relative to the pure water reference. If there is no restriction on flow, water molecules will proceed from the locus of pure water to the more negative water potential of the solution.

The article on Colligative properties describes them as are properties of solutions that depend on the number of molecules in a given volume of solvent and not on the properties (e.g. size or mass) of the molecules.[1] Colligative properties include: enumerates

lowering of vapor pressure; elevation of boiling point; depression of freezing point and osmotic pressure.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:00:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Potential energy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OK. Please note in the "freezing point depression" box there is still nothing that I can use to explain the phenomenon. Did I get it right above?

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:08:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Very Simple! (none / 1)

Chemical potential energy is a form of potential energy related to the structural arrangement of atoms or molecules. This arrangement may be the result of chemical bonds within a molecule or otherwise. Chemical energy of a chemical substance can be transformed to other forms of energy by a chemical reaction. As an example, when a fuel is burned the chemical energy is converted to heat, same is the case with digestion of food metabolized in a biological organism. Green plants transform solar energy to chemical energy through the process known as photosynthesis, and electrical energy can be converted to chemical energy through electrochemical reactions.
The similar term chemical potential is used by chemists to indicate the potential of a substance to undergo a chemical reaction.

In the most basic layman terms possible when you discuss chemical potential, you are talking about the energy of the components that make up the system.

The chemical potential of a molecule depends on the bonds it forms, how easily these can be broken, what they react with and how much energy is released/absorbed in a reaction etc.

The chemical potential (energy) of the pure component therefore won't be the same as the chemical potential of the component when diluted by an impurity. The equations show how this works.

Have you done free energy calculations? This is essentially a chemical potential calculation.

and don't feel so bad about not getting it:
The chemical potential

A vague discomfort at the thought of the chemical potential is still characteristic of a physics education. This intellectual gap is is due to the obscurity of the writings of J. Willard Gibbs who discovered and understood the matter 100 years ago.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 02:00:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Um, we don't depend on the writings of J W Gibbs any longer to introduce the concept of chemical potential to students, so the fact that his writings were obscure is neither here nor there.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:40:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It was a light comment, no need to read so much into that.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon Dec 14th, 2009 at 03:53:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

A vague discomfort at the thought of the chemical potential is still characteristic of a physics education.

Because physicists look down on chemistry, don't learn it well and teach it even less well. I found that chemists (at least physical chemists) have a much better intuitive and quantitative understanding of thermodynamics. Physicists rarely talk about the chemical potential as chemistry is too messy. In addition, Physicists tend to go straight to statistical mechanics thinking that the manipulation of thermodynamic potentials is a trivial matter once you have a partition function, which is not the case.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:45:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The chemical potential of a molecule depends on the bonds it forms, how easily these can be broken, what they react with and how much energy is released/absorbed in a reaction etc.

The chemical potential (energy) of the pure component therefore won't be the same as the chemical potential of the component when diluted by an impurity. The equations show how this works.

Not really to nitpick since I am not sure I fully understand it myself, but it appears that chemical potential has to do with colligative properties which

depend on the number of molecules in a given volume of solvent and not on the properties (e.g. size or mass) of the molecules.

Therefore it would seem that the details of the chemical bonding reaction energy etc are not directly relevant to chemical potential...?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:50:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Gibbs Free Energy and Pressure, Chemical Potential, Fugacity

In terms of bulk thermodynamics it helps me to visualise how the molecules interact. I couldn't bring myself to go through the equations in detail again since it would take a while to get my head back into it.

There are some articles I came across which made the distinction between chemical potential and the free energy (Gibbs energy) of the system which do get confused and I'm guilty of that.

It is why I asked if the Twank had done free energy calculations because the difference in energy (either absorbed or released) when a reaction takes place is a chemical potential calculation effectively.

In the case of salt in water, in a given volume, the addition of salt which splits into two ions, effectively dilutes the solvent and decreases the chemical potential - the values can be plugged into the right equations to show the effect that has in reducing freezing point etc.

Gibbs free energy per mole of substance ... This quantity is called the chemical potential and it is given the symbol, μ

Chemical potentials

In an aqueous solution of salt or of another solute, the chemical potential of water is lower than the chemical potential of pure water. The chemical potentials of pure ice and pure water vapor however, are independent of the composition of the solution from which it was formed. At equilibrium water will be in the state that has the lowest chemical potential. Therefore an aqueous solution has a lower freezing point and a higher boiling point (lower vapor pressure) than pure water.

But in terms of trying to find an explanation that can help to visualise how that happens I always look at how the molecules interact because it helps me to find some logic to help the concepts stick.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon Dec 14th, 2009 at 04:11:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

In Wales:

There are some articles I came across which made the distinction between chemical potential and the free energy (Gibbs energy) of the system which do get confused and I'm guilty of that.

Physicists like to think at constant temperature and volume, which means their preferred thermodynamic potential is the [Helmholz] Free Energy. Chemists like to think at constant pressure and temperature (if they're working in an open vat so the atmosphere keeps the pressure constant for them) which means their preferred thermodynamic potential is the [Gibbs] Free Energy. In a pressurised vat at constant volume chemists have to switch to Helmholz Free Energy, of course.

The Gibbs Free Energy does not incorporate quantities of matter or chemical potential. Gibbs realised that when the quantity of matter can change, you need an additional energy term proportional to the quantity of matter and you define chemical potential as, (for instance) the Gibbs Free Energy per mole of substance at constant temperature and pressure. Of course, adding matter to a system at constant temperature and pressure requires increasing the volume of the system, but that's okay...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Dec 14th, 2009 at 04:36:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Very Simple! (4.00 / 3)

OK everyone. Got to fly. My engineering student Jaspol has a session with me in about an hour and a half and I'm trying to dodge the rain. Hate walking in the rain. Gutters get loaded with water and are impossible to cross. Have to walk up the street a bit to find a place to "ford". Pain in the ass.

Thank you for the help on the P. Chem.

Later!

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:27:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The wind is now from the east and it feels like siberia. Just cos it's winter doens't mean it just has to do the stereotypical thing y'know.

It's just cos I've still got this fag-end of a cold, so I'm kinda sensitive to this. I'll be feeling nostalgic this time next year when the temperature is in the mid-teens. This is gonna be the last cold winter for some time.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:26:14 AM EST

This is gonna be the last cold winter for some time.

That a joke? You know something I should?

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:32:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Okay, you're in California which doesn't understand the concept of seasons as we know them (unless fire counts as a season)

Bear in mind I'm not a climate scientist and that there are a lot of mitigating bits of information I don't know. that said my understanding is as follows;-
We've had the elNina for 2 - 3 years which has been keeping us cold coupled with the solar minimum which has been compounding that cooling. They have tended to obscure the general warming trend which means that, although this decade was warmer than last decade, this hasn't fed through in europe.

now that both of those phenomena are ending the gloves are off temperature wise. Next summer is gonna be hot, next winter won't be that cold and the summer after will be hotter etc etc.

this goes on for 6 - 7 years. If the methane in Siberia doesn't go we've got another 7 years after that. However in 12-13 years time we're back in the same place, just at a warmer starting point. Sooner or later the methane will go and we won't get back to Kansas in our lifetime.

And nothing our weaselling corporate sucking politicians decide in copenhagen is gonna be anything like enough.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:58:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Don't look now but (none / 0)

I think I got one of my comments yanked. Does that happen automatically (without human decision making) if a "nasty" word is used or did an editor yank me (ow!)?

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:23:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Don't look now but (none / 0)

Nope, no comments hidden. look at top where it says number of comments. Any that have been yanked will be noted as "hidden". I suspect you bollixed the post instruction somehow

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:11:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hey, just cause I'm in Caleefornee now doesn't mean I don't know seasons. My first 23 years was in upstate NY till I had the opportunity to fly the coop.

Nobody ever mentions the methane hydrate at the bottom of the ocean. Doesn't it matter?

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:17:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The oceans won't warm up as fast as Siberia. When the methane in Siberia goes I'm sure the methane hydrates will follow.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 02:23:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not necessarily.

Why? Because it's not a linear system. The connection between Climate and Weather is like the difference between the sidelines of a football - your football - pitch and the play. You can predict the play will occur within the pitch but the exact course of play and where the ball will be at any point during play is unpredictable.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 02:43:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, but we're already seeing signs that siberia is warming. So it's likely that, with current trends, this will continue.

Oceans simply don't warm up that quickly.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 02:50:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

European Tribune - Climate Science: Got Doom Today? (Part 2)

Nomad would know this better than any of us, but my understanding is that the stability of the methane hydrate clathrates is not merely a function of the temperature but also of the pressure. From what I've gathered, we'll be long since screwed before the deep-ocean methane can even begin to become a factor.

So hey - not to worry!

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:15:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: OK, try try again. (4.00 / 3)

Here's a contribution from Nomad on methane clathrates.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:33:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Thanks (4.00 / 3)

The important bit being:

it shows that with an increasing temperature there is an increasing amount of CH4 in the atmosphere. But in one case the D/H deviation does not change at all, or in the posted graph, it lags behind the CH4 increase and when it does change, the deviation decreases. In a final devastating blow to the clathrate gun, Sowers made a model that simulated what would happen if all the CH4 released in the atmosphere would be from the clathrates with a -189 per mil D/H signature. This gives the black line in the graph and shows that the simulation resulted in an increase (less negative) of the D/H deviation, the precise opposite of what the record is showing.
In one stroke, Sowers delivers damning evidence that the clathrate gun hypothesis in the earth's most recent history is not even smoking. In fact, it provides the question whether it was loaded in the first place. And this is good news, since it indicates that the methane stored in the oceans is a LOT more stable than what many people were speculating. It shows that even with abrupt warming events in our recent history, the clathrates contribute insignificantly to increasing global CH4 concentrations.

I note that I didn't get around to bring back the pictures back on-line. Will be done... This discussion on methane clathrates is like a bad zombie movie.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 05:09:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: OK, try try again. (none / 1)

Exactly.

There's also a relationship between temperature and pressure -- which I don't understand.

Near as I can tell, based on my minimal understanding, by the time the deep-ocean methane would be released the affects and effects of conditions required for it to be released would have effectively destroyed the world As We Know It anyway.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:38:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

This morning I saw the first snowflakes of the season, but they melted instantly.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:58:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

28°C here, although a couple of weeks ago we got the beginning of what is supposedly winter here, the equivalent of a lousy summer day in northern Europe - a wet 18°C... And enough to get the Hanoians to show their winter clothes, parkas and all.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:36:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Olde Helen's electoral almanac (4.00 / 5)

Two opinion polls about the reslut of next year's UK parliamentary election.
One in the Times shows the tory lead over Labour reducing to 9%, the other in the Independent increases to 18%.

I don't think this is incoherent so much as showing how different parts of the electorate are going in different directions. I suspect the working classes are trending right and the middle classes are recoiling from the tories.

Quite how this plays out I don't know cos it's a long time till polling day. Although Brown can hang on till May, people are now suggesting that mid-March is possible.

Can I say that I want them both to lose. I have learned to hate NuLab with a passion and cannot vote for them while that faction still dominates. I wanted a Labour government in 1997 and got a bunch of tories who cacked the country up and I have finally tired of voting for them in the hope of anything better. I will not endorse this catastrophic neoconservative government.

Yet much more than NuLab, I despise the conservatives. Part of my anger with NuLab is that they've taken away the obvious protest vote against the tories. Cameron and Osborne will ruin the country by greenspanning us to death. their plan of attack on the deficit will be a bonfire of services to the poor and even medium well off. Wealth capture will be accelerated as the country will be tipped upside down to ferret out the very last bit of worth for the wealthy to clutch.

but who will win ?

I'd love to be able to say I don't care; but I do. It matters. I'm reckoning on a hung parliament. I think Labour will lose loads of seats but not enough for Cameron the terrible to form a government that cannot be voted down. Largely because the Lib Dems will be utterly routed and Labour will pick up those seats preferentially.

But watch Scotland. The political landscape for the next two or three decades will be decided there. If the tories win outright, scotland will vote for greater independence and that means that, under the first past the post electoral system, conservatives will rule england forever.

If it's a hung parliament, Scotland will stay in the UK and nothing will be settled.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:49:07 AM EST

Re: Olde Helen's electoral almanac (none / 1)

Diary?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:12:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Olde Helen's electoral almanac (none / 0)

Okay, and I'll try to correct the spelling/typos.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:28:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Olde Helen's electoral almanac (none / 0)

With links to the polls and why you won't be voting for a third party?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:29:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Olde Helen's electoral almanac (4.00 / 3)

UK Election : Straws in the Wind

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 02:14:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Olde Helen's electoral almanac (none / 1)

Don't lose this one:

Helen:

the reslut

It's depressingly apt.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 06:18:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Things are better... (4.00 / 2)

Happened across this news item and yawned and went back to sleep....

Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.
Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:49:14 AM EST

Just think how liquid governments owuld be if they could tax that shit.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:59:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

So instead of providing a finanal insentive to bankers, we should provide it to drug dealers?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:25:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I thought we already did through the regulatory framework.

It certainly seems to be working...

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:46:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

BBC Sport - Snooker - John Higgins edges Ronnie O'Sullivan to make UK final

Well not enough apparently, according to the music industry theyre having to subsidise drug sales by selling pirate CDs and DVD's

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:55:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Things are better... (none / 1)

I think the music industry is just jealous. ;)

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:27:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Things are better... (none / 1)

Perhaps that is why "we're" in Afghanistan!

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 06:26:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Snooker (none / 0)

Yawn, Eurosport didn't bring the afternoon session of the Higgins-Dink final in Telford.

Yesterday, I saw Ronnie O'Sullivan's absolutely amazing comeback from 2:8 to 8:8 (in a game played until 9 wins), only to end in a 9:8 for Higgins after O'Sullivan gave up just one snoker down (why?). If Higgins survived that onslaught, I wonder if Ding has a chance at all.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:07:56 PM EST

Re: Snooker (none / 0)

According to BBC, it's 3:2 now for Ding.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:10:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Snooker (none / 1)

Snooker....

...is that the game that (seemed to me, anyway) an odd cross between billiards and pin-ball?

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 06:28:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Snooker (none / 0)

A very relieved Higgins told BBC Sport: "There is nothing more frightening than Ronnie coming back at you when he's in full flow.
"I was just sitting there and thinking if I get a chance take it. You can't take liberties with Ronnie.
"At 8-2 in front you might think that against anybody else."

Yes indeed...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:23:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Snooker (none / 0)

Did you see the controversy in the higgins O'Sullivan game, when they realised there may be a hole in the rules? (Which unsettled both players, but O'Sullivan recovered faster) which allowed his almost comeback?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:27:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Snooker (none / 0)

Yes and no... I was doing dishwashing while the telly was on in frame 13, so I saw the first miss and then only heard the roar of the audience.

Meanwhile, I see Ding-Higgins ended the afternoon session 4:4 -- it could be a long night.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:37:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Snooker (none / 0)

8:7 for Ding now. There was never a lead greater than one frame...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 06:06:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Snooker (none / 0)

Ding is the UK champion, 10:8, and what a final frame!

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 07:18:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Informant! (none / 0)

Anyone seen that movie?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:24:39 PM EST

Berlusconi hit in the face (4.00 / 5)

During a rally in Piazza Duomo in Milan Berlusconi was hit by a object in the face as he was leaving. Tension in Italy has been rising daily with Berlusconi's continuous demagogic attacks against the State, its institutions and the Constitution. The rally was called to kick off a membership drive for his personal political entity, il Popolo della Libertà.

The incident has been unanimously condemned although De Pietro also called attention to the obvious: Berlusconi is exasperating the situation at all costs. In the end this act of violence is exactly what Berlusconi wants. He will exploit it to the hilt.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:34:20 PM EST

Scrolling through the FS site for news on the new high-speed lines today, I quickly went past some PR photos with B... apparently he connected the line openings to his party-political campaign.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:39:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Here's a link to Berlusconi's demagogic hate speech just before the agression.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:42:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I've already seen it via your previous link; but I only understand the aggression in his gestures and tone. Any new low he sank to?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:51:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (none / 1)

Same old werrisome drivel from his EPP Congress in Bonn rant.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:28:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There's the third video, too, in which some youth is seen shouting. What is he shouting? And what does "buffone" mean?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:53:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"buffone" = buffoon.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 02:01:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (4.00 / 4)

"Buffone" has become a battle word since Berlusconi denounced a person for insulting an institutional figure (himself) using that term. A rehashed version of lese maesta. The judge threw the case out of the court. Free speech triumphed. Besides, it is not an insult but a colorful description of what Berlusconi actually is.

Since then, wherever the little Silvio goes this word is sure to go.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:25:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

LOL, an officially approved insult for B. I thought there is a backstory...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:51:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I only see when his face is bloodied, not when and from where the object flies in. Does the Italian media report anything on the perpetrator?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 01:49:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (4.00 / 4)

The perpetrator is a 42 year old man with no criminal record, nor is he affiliated with any party or movement. He is under psychiatric cure for the past ten years in the public medical structures. The nature of his mental disturbance is not yet known. He is currently being interviewed by medical personnel.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:20:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (4.00 / 3)

So will this play as "Yo'ld have to be mad to hit Berlusconi" or "Even a madman can see how much of a disaster he is" ?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:32:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (none / 1)

So how will he blame this on the Left and the Red Robes?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:52:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (4.00 / 4)

They blame it on the "climate of hate created by the Left." As the TV ga-ga girl turned minister, Mara Carfagna, put it, the left is the nurturing crib of aspiring terrorists just as the communist party fathered the red brigades. The poor thing has a fucked up idea of historical fact.

Actually, Berlusconi visited Lukachenko recently- hailed him as a great democrat, loved by his people- and received four dossiers on Italy and the Eastern bloc. Three dossiers deal with WWII. The last dossier smells surprisingly similar to the farragoes produced by the Mitrokhin commission alleging that the Italian Communist Party colluded with the communist satellite states to foster terrorism in Italy. I suppose he asked Luk if he could slip in a fourth dossier...

We are being browbeaten by the media about our supposed crimes for months now.

Berlusconi will pull out these dossiers under elections just as he did in 2006. Same tired script.

PS. The robes are red for all the blood judges have sacrificed in the name of the law.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 05:41:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Standard feature of Italian elections since 1948.

Any hope this tactic is not so effective with younger voters?

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 05:47:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Berlusconi hit in the face (4.00 / 3)

Polls- real polls- last week showed a surprisingly high level of insufferance and disapproval towards B among the young. The other age groups balance it out to par.
This followed his tirade at Bonn against the Left, the constitutional court and the president of the republic.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 06:01:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

BBC News - Italy's PM Silvio Berlusconi is bloodied by attack

Says the BBC:

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy is recovering in hospital after an assault left his face covered in blood following a rally in Milan.
He suffered two broken teeth, a minor nose fracture and cuts to his lip after being struck by a man wielding a souvenir model of the city's cathedral.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 06:23:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

This reminds me of when the Mayor of Seattle, Paul Schell was attacked at a rally and hit in the face by a guy with a megaphone. Schell had been Mayor during the 1999 WTO protests and was running for re-election. It was at a rally to calm nerves in a black neighborhood after a police shooting.

Schell was the incumbent yet lost in the first round of the election. I always saw a connection between the two. When the citizenry are attacking you in public it's hard to be seen as a legitimate leader.

by paving on Mon Dec 14th, 2009 at 02:40:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

News from Absurdistan (4.00 / 2)

As a legacy of its past attempt to absorb the entire political spectrum right of centre, Hungary's main right-wing party Fidesz is loaded with far-right figures, and a policy to not delimit themselves.

Now, there was a major who is also MP who first making headlines with an evidence-free claim that local Roma women beat their unborn children with hammers to make them imbeciles eligible for social supports; then envisioned Jewish capital that wants to take over Hungary. This was a bit too much for the party leadership, who deselected him as candidate in nexrt years' elections. Against the unanimous endorsement of the local Fidesz branch...

So how to please the idiots? They aparently chose to parachute a Lebanon-born Palestinian as candidate for the region. I leave it to you to figure out the message behind the choice...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:05:55 PM EST

Heh (none / 1)

I'm afraid that for me, the phrase "parachuting" a politician inevitably evokes in my mind one individual above all else.

Still, I guess it's one way to make an impact...

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 03:25:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Mercury nudging down to a perky -10 C here. I may have to think about long johns.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 05:05:28 PM EST

Brrrrrrrrr!

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 05:36:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sven is of hardy pioneering stock. That old stiff upper lip that forged the British Empire.

I'm confident in his ability to ~~run anti-freeze through his arteries and veins~~ cope.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 05:50:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

that stiff upper lip was only ever any good when invading somewhere warm.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 07:36:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"Have you got a flag?"

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Dec 14th, 2009 at 02:23:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

hey ETers, here on my last evening at the funky monkey bar in malpais, playa santa teresa, nicoya peninsula, costa rica, some mellow rock on the stereo, a warm breeze carrying the muted roar of the ocean, 50m away.

tomorrow an 8 hour trucktrek to san jose, overnight near the airport, then tuesday afternoon i enter into the space-compression tube, aka airplane for the 12 hour squeeze to madrid, where i will be extruded onto euro soil again.

then 2 hrs later the last leg to rome, then a 3 hr bus ride to perugia, then my friends pick me up and take me home again...

very mixed feelings assail me this last evening, meditating on the manifold blessings and challenges this trip has afforded, and the spirit i hope to maintain alive once returned to the lands of my forefathers, the olde worlde of my roots, to puzzle more on the different takes on the human condition due to geography and adaptation.

most of all i'll miss the spontaneous kindness of the 'ticos', (affectionate term for costa ricans), and the wondrous energy of the ocean, as it slams and caresses the pacific coast.

bodysurfing was appropriately amazing on the last swimming day, tide was high and the foam boiling like a giant jacuzzi.

when the waves came at me they looked like 10,000 white horses galloping, some glorious rides right into 2 inches of water, bout sanded my forehead off one time...

there's a big bonfire on the beach tonight, better go check it out.

europe seems like a distant, senile circus from here and now, i wonder what it's going to welcome me back with!

winter, with its long bloggy nights, hearing the winds howl over the hilltop, chopping wood, saunas and hot springs, mucho music, new tunes to commit to disc, banging on the pianner again.

not too bad...

a toast to the fine tico hospitality, and all the interesting characters i swapped stories with these last two months!

lotsa pix too, but i have to do a lot of flickr-ing first.

pura vida

m

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Dec 13th, 2009 at 09:13:31 PM EST