Oh dear, some of these folks aren’t the brightest CFL’s in the room.
Readers may remember this famous Penn and Teller video from 2006 where they get well meaning (but non thinking) people to sign up to ban “dihydrogen monoxide” (DHMO), which is an “evil” chemical found in our lakes, rivers, oceans, and even our food!
Yeah, they signed up to ban water. Now watch the video from the Cancun climate conference, you’d think some of these folks would have enough science background (from their work in complex climate issues) to realize what they are signing, but sadly, no.
Some people will sign anything that includes phrases like, ”global effort,” “international community,” and “planetary.” Such was the case at COP 16, this year’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico.
This year, CFACT students created two mock-petitions to test U.N. Delegates. The first asked participants to help destabilize the United States economy, the second to ban water.
The first project, entitled “Petition to Set a Global Standard” sought to isolate and punish the United States of America for defying the international community, by refusing to bite, hook, line and sinker on the bait that is the Kyoto Protocol. The petition went so far as to encourage the United Nations to impose tariffs and trade restrictions on the U.S. in a scheme to destabilize the nation’s economy. Specifically, the scheme seeks to lower the U.S. GDP by 6% over a ten year period, unless the U.S. signs a U.N. treaty on global warming.
This would be an extremely radical move by the United Nations. Even so, radical left-wing environmentalists from around the world scrambled eagerly to sign.
The second project was as successful as the first. It was euphemistically entitled “Petition to Ban the Use of Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO)” (translation water). It was designed to show that if official U.N. delegates could be duped by college students into banning water, that they could essentially fall for anything, including pseudo-scientific studies which claim to show that global warming is man-caused.
Despite the apparently not-so-obvious reference to H2O, almost every delegate that collegian students approached signed their petition to ban that all too dangerous substance, which contributes to the greenhouse effect, is the major substance in acid rain, and is fatal if inhaled.
Perhaps together, the footage associated with these two projects will illustrate to mainstream America the radical lengths many current U.N. delegates are willing to go to carry out an agenda no more ethical, plausible or practical than the banning water.
Curiousgeorge says:
December 8, 2010 at 9:34 am
Let’s just get to the bottom line, hey? Ban Homo Sapiens and be done with it. That is the goal, right? Right? Hello! Hello, is anybody there!?
“Ban Homo Sapiens”!!! What kind of bigot are you??? Gay people do not deserve to be banned.
/sarc
Jeremy
December 8, 2010 11:04 am
Jeremy says:
December 8, 2010 at 10:47 am
…The target has just purchased a wonderful expensive piece of electronics or new speakers (where markup is perhaps 20% or less, and where the price has often been discounted with rebates and with a “guaranteed low price”). The next step is for the sales person to convince the target that in order to get the best performance from their purchase they cannot possibly use ordinary copper wires to connect the electronics. The customer is naturally proud of the new purchase and will often throw in a couple of hundred extra dollars at some “special” cables with special properties (no discount). Unwittingly the target has just bought a product with a mark up of several hundred percent and one that will not make one wit of audible or visible difference (compared to adequate spec ordinary cables) – despite all the nonsense marketing technobable and custom packaging.
Whats worse is it’s not just the customers being fooled by this. I’ve talked to ex-employees of such places who will swear to me that Monster HDMI cables will make a huge difference someone’s audio/visual experience. I then very slowly explain how digital signals work. Some of them understand but fail to see how it matters in the discussion, not until later anyway. Don’t look at every employee of such places and think they’re a con artist, many of them actually believe the crap they’re spouting.
Alan Bates
December 8, 2010 11:07 am
Kitefreak
If no one else has come up with it (haven’t waded through over 100 posts) the song is “tequilla” with the word turning up 3 times. More info, try Google or Wiki on Tequilla song. For example:
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51GTkU4M7WY&feature=related ]
Dave Springer says:
December 8, 2010 at 10:03 am
“Dihydrogen monoxide is a widely used industrial solvent which is harmless in pure liquid form”
Especially in its pure liquid form it is dangerous – it’s very hungry for ions, that’s why you shouldn’t drink destillated water or use it as coolant for your car – it’ll corrode the radiator.
bubbagyro
December 8, 2010 11:10 am
PROVO — Richard Killpack buried his face in his hands. His wife, Jennete, stared straight ahead, seemingly in shock.
After a 3 1/2-week trial, it took a Provo jury almost six hours Tuesday to find Jennete Killpack, 29, guilty of killing her 4-year-old daughter in June 2002. Richard Killpack was found not guilty.
The split verdict surprised Utah County prosecutors, who told the eight-member jury that Richard Killpack, 37, was equally culpable of child abuse homicide because he helped his wife force water down their adopted daughter’s throat on June 9, 2002. Cassandra Killpack died later that night of what medical personnel classified as forced water intoxication, which caused her brain to swell and the sodium in her body to drop to fatal levels.
So its not so funny, is it? A murder weapon, as the courts have ruled. It can also be used as a weapon in water cannons, which are banned from civilian possession. Should we regulate and license water users, lest they kill others? How many more must die? Perhaps we should ban liter-size and above, similar to the assault weapons bans.
RACookPE1978
Editor
December 8, 2010 11:11 am
We are cross-posted to http://www.freerepublic.com with this report. And, yes, there are – even in the United States – companies that actually “make” money exploiting people’s unthinking desire for DHMO.
Unfortunately, several users at that site have also reported that their wells are cominated regularly with DiHydrogen MonOxide.
Please, please: Check your well! Don’t allow this continued contamination to proceed unmonitored! Protect your family, yourself against harm!
Robbins Mitchell
December 8, 2010 11:11 am
Well,for one thing water should properly be called ‘hydrogen hydroxide’..not ‘dihydrogen monoxide’..since it contains 1 negatively charged hydrogen ion and 1 positively charged OH hydroxiide ion…which yields neutral water..there really is no compound containing 2 hydrogen atoms or ions that is referred to as ‘dihydrogen’
Kitefreak
December 8, 2010 11:16 am
David says:
Tequilla, by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Thanks for that. He’s quite a trumpet player.
Leaving aside the cheesy vid on this link I think the music/trumpet is real good:
That’s some real funky stuff goin’ on there. What’s the word on the street Huggy?
Surely there is a lot of scope for satire with the Cancun thing. Think Good Bad and Ugly, Developed World, Developing World, we don’t need no stinking badges…
Got it now – my dad was into Tijuana Brass. That’s where I remember the tune from (that old gramaphone record thing) when I was a kid.
What about this one (Spanish Flea):
It’s a knockout, or am I going senile?
Stephen Lewis
December 8, 2010 11:20 am
Not quite harmless – very high doses are in fact toxic to humans. It is also, as pointed out above, harmful if inhaled in large quantities
presumably you would drown in it
Steve
DonK31
December 8, 2010 11:32 am
We must not be satisfied until all DHMO is sequestered in solid form, even if it takes 70% of the Earth’s surface to do it. That’s the only way to maintain our way of life.
Hu Duck Xing
December 8, 2010 11:32 am
“Tequilla?”
Oh! No! I feel “The Big Shoe Dance” coming on! Oh! No!
John W.
December 8, 2010 11:34 am
But Di hydrogen Monoxide is an even greater contributer to AGW than Caron Dioxide. The signers were being perfectly consistent.
I use the Dihydrogen Monoxide bit every semester, including the Penn and Teller video and a couple of very official-looking “news reports,” in an ongoing but ultimately futile attempt to make my students pay attention to what they’re buying into.
Back in 2004 the city of Aliso Viejo in California almost banned Styrofoam cups at city-sponsored events after learning that the dangerous chemical was used in their making. It was put on the city agenda by a paralegal who, according to City Manager David J. Norman, “did bad research.” (Local officials nearly fall for H2O hoax – MSNBC).
Of course, not all is lost. Norman said they may still ban the cups because, “If you get Styrofoam into the water and it breaks apart, it’s virtually impossible to clean up.”
Or to put it another way — the foam can pollute the dihydrogen monoxide.
Curiousgeorge
December 8, 2010 11:39 am
@ur momisugly bubbagyro says:
December 8, 2010 at 11:10 am So its not so funny, is it? A murder weapon, as the courts have ruled. It can also be used as a weapon in water cannons, which are banned from civilian possession. Should we regulate and license water users, lest they kill others? How many more must die? Perhaps we should ban liter-size and above, similar to the assault weapons bans.
It can also be used as part of a silencer for small caliber rifles. Simply fill a quart plastic bottle about 1/4 full and duck tape it to the muzzle, being sure to keep the muzzle lowered until you shoot. 🙂
The Hobbs End Martian
December 8, 2010 11:47 am
It’s crystalline form has even been to used construct synthetic humans apparently.
Engchamp
December 8, 2010 11:48 am
That was a good chuckle. Politicians and scientists will never mix happily.
Just goes to show that language, and the way we communicate is all important.
Take medical Doctors of yesteryear – all speaking latin nouns, because they do not want to make the patient aware of their ignorance concerning the diagnosis.
Once again, our (western ) lack of good education brings out the gullibility in the majority of people.
coaldust
December 8, 2010 11:51 am
Also, DHMO is created when hydrocarbons are burned. We must ban combustion of hydrocarbons.
Colin from Mission B.C.
December 8, 2010 11:57 am
“Fatal if inhaled”
Oh my goodness, glad I didn’t have a mouthful of coffee when I read that…..burst out laughing! 🙂
Ken Harvey
December 8, 2010 12:05 pm
Get rid of the Di-hydrogen monoxide. That’s the sea level rise problem solved then.
I see a couple of people claiming that inhalation of oxane is not toxic. This is true and false. The same can be said for HCN gas. You can live forever in an atmosphere of 3 ppm HCN. It isn’t the chemical that kills, it is the dose. Oxygen too is toxic, if breathed in a pressurized environment. That is why deep sea diving “air” is up to 98% helium.
Hu McCulloch
December 8, 2010 12:08 pm
R Taylor says:
December 8, 2010 at 10:41 am
Not that it would matter to the signers, but the claim that DHMO is fatal if inhaled is false. Anyone breathing the natural atmosphere inhales it with every breath, and most of us die of other causes.
The gaseous form is pretty harmless to breathe (if at room temperature), but the liquid form can kill you if inhaled in sufficient quantities, as noted by Stephen Lewis at 11:20.
Benvenuto Cellini
December 8, 2010 12:10 pm
I believe the Bush administration used DHMO during the waterboarding process to torture people. It must be banned
Kitefreak
December 8, 2010 12:17 pm
Hu Duck Xing says:
December 8, 2010 at 11:32 am
“Tequilla?”
Oh! No! I feel “The Big Shoe Dance” coming on! Oh! No!
——————-
Found it:
“Ban Homo Sapiens”!!! What kind of bigot are you??? Gay people do not deserve to be banned.
/sarc
Whats worse is it’s not just the customers being fooled by this. I’ve talked to ex-employees of such places who will swear to me that Monster HDMI cables will make a huge difference someone’s audio/visual experience. I then very slowly explain how digital signals work. Some of them understand but fail to see how it matters in the discussion, not until later anyway. Don’t look at every employee of such places and think they’re a con artist, many of them actually believe the crap they’re spouting.
Kitefreak
If no one else has come up with it (haven’t waded through over 100 posts) the song is “tequilla” with the word turning up 3 times. More info, try Google or Wiki on Tequilla song. For example:
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51GTkU4M7WY&feature=related ]
Well what d’ya know! … I’m a follower too!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_scfe5YzN958/RmzKrzOdBsI/AAAAAAAAAKI/OkoAkjvHWKk/s1600-h/Larson+-+Sheep+Chatup.gif
Dave Springer says:
December 8, 2010 at 10:03 am
“Dihydrogen monoxide is a widely used industrial solvent which is harmless in pure liquid form”
Especially in its pure liquid form it is dangerous – it’s very hungry for ions, that’s why you shouldn’t drink destillated water or use it as coolant for your car – it’ll corrode the radiator.
PROVO — Richard Killpack buried his face in his hands. His wife, Jennete, stared straight ahead, seemingly in shock.
After a 3 1/2-week trial, it took a Provo jury almost six hours Tuesday to find Jennete Killpack, 29, guilty of killing her 4-year-old daughter in June 2002. Richard Killpack was found not guilty.
The split verdict surprised Utah County prosecutors, who told the eight-member jury that Richard Killpack, 37, was equally culpable of child abuse homicide because he helped his wife force water down their adopted daughter’s throat on June 9, 2002. Cassandra Killpack died later that night of what medical personnel classified as forced water intoxication, which caused her brain to swell and the sodium in her body to drop to fatal levels.
So its not so funny, is it? A murder weapon, as the courts have ruled. It can also be used as a weapon in water cannons, which are banned from civilian possession. Should we regulate and license water users, lest they kill others? How many more must die? Perhaps we should ban liter-size and above, similar to the assault weapons bans.
We are cross-posted to http://www.freerepublic.com with this report. And, yes, there are – even in the United States – companies that actually “make” money exploiting people’s unthinking desire for DHMO.
Unfortunately, several users at that site have also reported that their wells are cominated regularly with DiHydrogen MonOxide.
Please, please: Check your well! Don’t allow this continued contamination to proceed unmonitored! Protect your family, yourself against harm!
Well,for one thing water should properly be called ‘hydrogen hydroxide’..not ‘dihydrogen monoxide’..since it contains 1 negatively charged hydrogen ion and 1 positively charged OH hydroxiide ion…which yields neutral water..there really is no compound containing 2 hydrogen atoms or ions that is referred to as ‘dihydrogen’
David says:
Tequilla, by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Thanks for that. He’s quite a trumpet player.
Leaving aside the cheesy vid on this link I think the music/trumpet is real good:
That’s some real funky stuff goin’ on there. What’s the word on the street Huggy?
Surely there is a lot of scope for satire with the Cancun thing. Think Good Bad and Ugly, Developed World, Developing World, we don’t need no stinking badges…
Got it now – my dad was into Tijuana Brass. That’s where I remember the tune from (that old gramaphone record thing) when I was a kid.
What about this one (Spanish Flea):
It’s a knockout, or am I going senile?
Not quite harmless – very high doses are in fact toxic to humans. It is also, as pointed out above, harmful if inhaled in large quantities
presumably you would drown in it
Steve
We must not be satisfied until all DHMO is sequestered in solid form, even if it takes 70% of the Earth’s surface to do it. That’s the only way to maintain our way of life.
“Tequilla?”
Oh! No! I feel “The Big Shoe Dance” coming on! Oh! No!
But Di hydrogen Monoxide is an even greater contributer to AGW than Caron Dioxide. The signers were being perfectly consistent.
I use the Dihydrogen Monoxide bit every semester, including the Penn and Teller video and a couple of very official-looking “news reports,” in an ongoing but ultimately futile attempt to make my students pay attention to what they’re buying into.
Back in 2004 the city of Aliso Viejo in California almost banned Styrofoam cups at city-sponsored events after learning that the dangerous chemical was used in their making. It was put on the city agenda by a paralegal who, according to City Manager David J. Norman, “did bad research.” (Local officials nearly fall for H2O hoax – MSNBC).
Of course, not all is lost. Norman said they may still ban the cups because, “If you get Styrofoam into the water and it breaks apart, it’s virtually impossible to clean up.”
Or to put it another way — the foam can pollute the dihydrogen monoxide.
@ur momisugly bubbagyro says:
December 8, 2010 at 11:10 am
So its not so funny, is it? A murder weapon, as the courts have ruled. It can also be used as a weapon in water cannons, which are banned from civilian possession. Should we regulate and license water users, lest they kill others? How many more must die? Perhaps we should ban liter-size and above, similar to the assault weapons bans.
It can also be used as part of a silencer for small caliber rifles. Simply fill a quart plastic bottle about 1/4 full and duck tape it to the muzzle, being sure to keep the muzzle lowered until you shoot. 🙂
It’s crystalline form has even been to used construct synthetic humans apparently.
That was a good chuckle. Politicians and scientists will never mix happily.
Just goes to show that language, and the way we communicate is all important.
Take medical Doctors of yesteryear – all speaking latin nouns, because they do not want to make the patient aware of their ignorance concerning the diagnosis.
Once again, our (western ) lack of good education brings out the gullibility in the majority of people.
Also, DHMO is created when hydrocarbons are burned. We must ban combustion of hydrocarbons.
“Fatal if inhaled”
Oh my goodness, glad I didn’t have a mouthful of coffee when I read that…..burst out laughing! 🙂
Get rid of the Di-hydrogen monoxide. That’s the sea level rise problem solved then.
I see a couple of people claiming that inhalation of oxane is not toxic. This is true and false. The same can be said for HCN gas. You can live forever in an atmosphere of 3 ppm HCN. It isn’t the chemical that kills, it is the dose. Oxygen too is toxic, if breathed in a pressurized environment. That is why deep sea diving “air” is up to 98% helium.
The gaseous form is pretty harmless to breathe (if at room temperature), but the liquid form can kill you if inhaled in sufficient quantities, as noted by Stephen Lewis at 11:20.
I believe the Bush administration used DHMO during the waterboarding process to torture people. It must be banned
Hu Duck Xing says:
December 8, 2010 at 11:32 am
“Tequilla?”
Oh! No! I feel “The Big Shoe Dance” coming on! Oh! No!
——————-
Found it:
Pretty funny dude!
Robbins Mitchell says: December 8, 2010 at 11:11 am
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax
“Under the 2005 revisions of IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, there is no single correct name for every compound.”
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPAC_nomenclature_of_inorganic_chemistry#Naming_hydrates
“For example, H2O (water) can be called dihydrogen monoxide.”
So DHMO is just fine and it’s more scary sounding than hydrogen hydroxide.