2022年1月9日 星期日

Canaries in the coal mine. metrics, evacuation, bean counter, exclusion zone, danger zone





Blast at Plant Causes Radiation Leak After Huge Earthquake
By MATTHEW L. WALD 3 minutes ago
The government widened an evacuation zone around two damaged reactor complexes. The extent of the damage remained unclear.


針對大型災害,美國的決策體系非常明確。總統宣布進入緊急狀態,然後全權委託給聯邦緊急事務管理局(FEMA)局長處理。有時甚至會動用軍隊。高速公路一律單向通行,對當地居民發布「撤離命令(evacuation)」也就是避難命令,軍隊也將負責貫徹避難命令。美國建立了FEMA局長全權負責,統一實施從事態認定到採取避難措施等一系列行動的機制。



HSBC: Canary in Asian Coal Mine?
When HSBC reports 2008 results Monday, it could provide a window into the pace and scope of the economic downturn in Asia.



Robbie noted in his March 10 article that W. Edwards Deming, the father of total quality management, had "advised us in the 1970s – 80s that individual metrics don't teach us how to do our jobs better. They teach us how to keep up with a bean count."
Performance Metrics: The Canary in the Coal Mine




noun
  1. an area in which there is a high risk of harm, especially where this risk has been officially identified.
    "this is a danger zone where any one of us can step on a landmine"
    • a situation that is hazardous or controversial.
      "he's moving and he's conscious—at least for now he's out of the danger zone"

The Canary in the Coal Mine 煤礦內的金絲雀。

Definition

Life for an actual canary in a coal mine could be described in three words - short but meaningful. Early coal mines did not feature ventilation systems, so miners would routinely bring a caged canary into new coal seams. Canaries are especially sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide, which made them ideal for detecting any dangerous gas build-ups. As long as the canary in a coal mine kept singing, the miners knew their air supply was safe. A dead canary in a coal mine signalled an immediate evacuation.

每日一詞:Canaries in the coal mine |捎來不祥之兆的金絲雀
上週匹茲堡“生命之樹”猶太教堂槍案奪去11條人命,也讓一些猶太人對美國的信心產生動搖,不祥的陰影已經籠罩了這片“應許之地”。一名在案發教區長大的猶太人Howard Fineman在時報撰文稱,在今天的美國,對“他者”的仇恨正在毒害公共生活,政治機器似乎開始失控,人們生活在突擊步槍、管式炸彈和骨鋸之中。他在文中寫道:
“現在我必須思考:如果匹茲堡對於猶太人來說不安全,如果松鼠山不安全,如果生命之樹不安全,那還有什麼地方是安全的呢?不是貶低其他人的苦難與死亡,但猶太人的境遇往往成為社會和政治崩潰的早期信號,這是一個可悲的事實。”
“Now I must wonder: If Pittsburgh isn't safe for Jews, if Squirrel Hill isn't safe, if the Tree of Life isn't safe, what place is? Without diminishing anyone else's suffering and death, it's a sad fact that the Jews often are the canaries in the coal mine of social and political collapse.”
根據韋氏詞典的定義,canaries in the coal mine(礦井中的金絲雀)這個短語指的是即將發生危險的早期指標,即“不祥的徵兆”。從前礦工進入礦井工作時,會帶上金絲雀來確保空氣是否安全無虞。當礦井中存在一氧化碳或其他無味的有毒氣體時,金絲雀會在該氣體達到對人體有害的水平之前就先死亡,那麼礦工就會知道應該撤退了。
這起流血事件是崩潰的不祥之兆嗎?美國失控的政治鐘擺能否找回平衡?




metrics
Parameters or measures of quantitative assessment used for measurement, comparison or to track performance or production.




bean counter noun [C] US INFORMAL DISAPPROVING
an accountant (= person who works in finance), especially one who works for a large company and does not like to allow employees to spend money:

It looked like the project was going to be approved, but the bean counters said it wasn't cost-effective.



exclusion
[名][U][C]
1 (…からの)除外, 排除, 排斥;追放, 放逐((from, of ...))
an exclusion zone
立ち入り禁止区域.
2 (出入国管理当局による)入国拒否.
to the exclusion of ...
…を除外して[除外するように];…そっちのけで;…を除いて.

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