Sport Today

> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
> Everything right of it is eastern.

> HTH.

> cb

> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

>> James Schrumpf wrote, On 5/16/08 6:52 PM:
>>> By a strange fact of geography, a continent that is essentially
>>> circumpolar cannot have a "western" side.  "East" and "west" are
>>> defined relevant to lines of longitude:  the East Coast of the US is at
>>> approximately 75W and the West Coast at 125W (very roughly).  If one
>>> looks at a map of Antarctica, the lines of longitude meet in the
>>> middle.  In Antarctica, essentially there is only a North coast;
>>> there's no spot on the coast one can call the "west coast."
>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
>> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
>> Everything right of it is eastern.

>> HTH.

>> cb

>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

> Yep.  Do that with Antarctica.  Now tell me which is the west side.

>>> James Schrumpf wrote, On 5/16/08 6:52 PM:
>>>> By a strange fact of geography, a continent that is essentially
>>>> circumpolar cannot have a "western" side.  "East" and "west" are
>>>> defined relevant to lines of longitude:  the East Coast of the US is
>>>> at approximately 75W and the West Coast at 125W (very roughly).  If
>>>> one looks at a map of Antarctica, the lines of longitude meet in the
>>>> middle.  In Antarctica, essentially there is only a North coast;
>>>> there's no spot on the coast one can call the "west coast."
>>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
>>> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
>>> Everything right of it is eastern.

>>> HTH.

>>> cb

>>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

>> Yep.  Do that with Antarctica.  Now tell me which is the west side.

> The side that gets western longitude designations.

>> One can talk about the part of Antarctica that's in the Western
>> Hemisphere, but there is no "west side" of Antarctica.  Hint:  the East
>> Coast of the US is also in the Western Hemisphere.

> The US isn't centered, more or less, on the prime meridian and
> antimeridian.

> Not to be snide, but I honestly can't see where this is hard
> for you.

> cb

> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
> Everything right of it is eastern.

> HTH.

> cb

> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

>>> By a strange fact of geography, a continent that is essentially
>>> circumpolar cannot have a "western" side.  "East" and "west" are
>>> defined relevant to lines of longitude:  the East Coast of the US is
>>> at approximately 75W and the West Coast at 125W (very roughly).  If
>>> one looks at a map of Antarctica, the lines of longitude meet in the
>>> middle.  In Antarctica, essentially there is only a North coast;
>>> there's no spot on the coast one can call the "west coast."

>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces you,
>> with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western. Everything
>> right of it is eastern.

>> HTH.

>> cb

>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

> Time to get the hell out of there.

> --Tedward

>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
>> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
>> Everything right of it is eastern.

>> HTH.

>> cb

>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

> Yep.  Do that with Antarctica.  Now tell me which is the west side.

> One can talk about the part of Antarctica that's in the Western Hemisphere,
> but there is no "west side" of Antarctica.  Hint:  the East Coast of the US
> is also in the Western Hemisphere.

>>>> By a strange fact of geography, a continent that is essentially
>>>> circumpolar cannot have a "western" side.  "East" and "west" are
>>>> defined relevant to lines of longitude:  the East Coast of the US is
>>>> at approximately 75W and the West Coast at 125W (very roughly).  If
>>>> one looks at a map of Antarctica, the lines of longitude meet in the
>>>> middle.  In Antarctica, essentially there is only a North coast;
>>>> there's no spot on the coast one can call the "west coast."

>>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
>>> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
>>> Everything right of it is eastern.

>>> HTH.

>>> cb

>>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

>> Yep.  Do that with Antarctica.  Now tell me which is the west side.

>> One can talk about the part of Antarctica that's in the Western
>> Hemisphere, but there is no "west side" of Antarctica.  Hint:  the East
>> Coast of the US is also in the Western Hemisphere.

> If you take a few steps from the South pole, you'll clearly end up in
> one time zone or another.  If that time zone is the western hemisphere,
> you are now pointed at the west coast of Antarctica.

> Unless you're drunk and can't walk a straight line, of course.

> --Tedward

>> I was one of those people who insisted that the 21st century didn't start
>> until 2001.

> Douglas Adams would like a word with you.

>> I was one of those people who insisted that the 21st century didn't start
>> until 2001.

> So was I! We should hang out.

> cb

>>>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>>>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
>>>> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
>>>> Everything right of it is eastern.

>>>> HTH.

>>>> cb

>>>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south pole?

>>> Yep.  Do that with Antarctica.  Now tell me which is the west side.

>>> One can talk about the part of Antarctica that's in the Western
>>> Hemisphere, but there is no "west side" of Antarctica.  Hint:  the East
>>> Coast of the US is also in the Western Hemisphere.

>> If you take a few steps from the South pole, you'll clearly end up in
>> one time zone or another.  If that time zone is the western hemisphere,
>> you are now pointed at the west coast of Antarctica.

>> Unless you're drunk and can't walk a straight line, of course.

>> --Tedward

> We've all had a good laugh at this, because obviously what scientists call
> "Western Antarctica" is the part that lies in the Western Hemisphere.
> However, this does not define a "west coast" of Antarctica.

> By all means, start at the South Pole and take a few steps North.  Of
> course, _every_ direction from the South Pole is North, so choose at
> random:  walk north along Longitude 100 W for a few meters.

> Now stop.  You're standing on 100W facing North; turn left (west) and start
> walking.  Keep walking west along the line of Latitude S 90 - [a few
> meters].  After [a few meters] * 3.14, you will return to your starting
> point.  Did you ever reach the West Coast of Antarctica?

>>>>>> By a strange fact of geography, a continent that is essentially
>>>>>> circumpolar cannot have a "western" side.  "East" and "west" are
>>>>>> defined relevant to lines of longitude:  the East Coast of the US
>>>>>> is at approximately 75W and the West Coast at 125W (very roughly).
>>>>>> If one looks at a map of Antarctica, the lines of longitude meet in
>>>>>> the middle.  In Antarctica, essentially there is only a North
>>>>>> coast; there's no spot on the coast one can call the "west coast."

>>>>> Draw a line around the globe on the prime meridian and its polar
>>>>> opposite at 180*. Rotate the globe such that the south pole faces
>>>>> you, with Africa at top. Everything left of the line is western.
>>>>> Everything right of it is eastern.

>>>>> HTH.

>>>>> cb

>>>>> P.S. You missed the real question. What time is it on the south
>>>>> pole?

>>>> Yep.  Do that with Antarctica.  Now tell me which is the west side.

>>>> One can talk about the part of Antarctica that's in the Western
>>>> Hemisphere, but there is no "west side" of Antarctica.  Hint:  the
>>>> East Coast of the US is also in the Western Hemisphere.

>>> If you take a few steps from the South pole, you'll clearly end up in
>>> one time zone or another.  If that time zone is the western
>>> hemisphere, you are now pointed at the west coast of Antarctica.

>>> Unless you're drunk and can't walk a straight line, of course.

>>> --Tedward

>> We've all had a good laugh at this, because obviously what scientists
>> call "Western Antarctica" is the part that lies in the Western
>> Hemisphere. However, this does not define a "west coast" of Antarctica.

>> By all means, start at the South Pole and take a few steps North.  Of
>> course, _every_ direction from the South Pole is North, so choose at
>> random:  walk north along Longitude 100 W for a few meters.

>> Now stop.  You're standing on 100W facing North; turn left (west) and
>> start walking.  Keep walking west along the line of Latitude S 90 - [a
>> few meters].  After [a few meters] * 3.14, you will return to your
>> starting point.  Did you ever reach the West Coast of Antarctica?

> Yes, because I don't feel the need to play geometry games with a sphere.
> I turned left, west, and kept walking in a straight line, reaching the
> west coast of Antarctica.  Depending on Antarctica's shape, I just
> crossed about a quarter of the world's time zones.

> --Tedward