Author Topic: Interesting news items  (Read 3620 times)

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Offline SirJohn

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Interesting news items
« on: August 24, 2018, 11:32:10 am »
An all purpose topic for whatever you come upon that seems interesting or noteworthy - or weird.

Like the fact that in a map of the world, showing the distribution of rats, there's a big blank spot the size of Alberta where there are no rats.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-stirring-story-of-how-alberta-became-the-first-place-in-the-world-to-banish-the-rat
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

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Offline Goddess

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2018, 04:27:51 pm »
An all purpose topic for whatever you come upon that seems interesting or noteworthy - or weird.

Like the fact that in a map of the world, showing the distribution of rats, there's a big blank spot the size of Alberta where there are no rats.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-stirring-story-of-how-alberta-became-the-first-place-in-the-world-to-banish-the-rat

I've lived in Alberta now for just over 10 years.  I always wondered about this claim Albertans make.......

Cool share, thanks!
"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."

Offline SirJohn

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2018, 11:02:36 am »
Are conservatives anti-science or are they anti-liberal scientist?

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/its-not-science-i-dont-trust-its-the-scientists/
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

Offline kimmy

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2018, 11:52:07 am »
Complains about scientists, spends his whole column talking about sociologists.

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Offline SirJohn

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2018, 02:20:07 pm »
Complains about scientists, spends his whole column talking about sociologists.

 -k

Agreed! On the other hand, they do call themselves 'social scientists' and there arguments are often used as if they're 'settled science'. The numbers of liberals and lefties in many of the other fields, and he did mention ecology, are overwhelming, as well, and we've seen plenty of evidence of politicizing environmental science.
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum
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Offline cybercoma

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2018, 05:18:39 pm »
Social science includes sociology, psychology, anthropology, political science and economics. It sometimes includes archaeology and history but it depends on the methods and scope of their projects.

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2018, 07:06:36 am »
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/08/29/after-decimation-of-the-crustaceans-lobster-tombstone-sought/

Lobster Memorial:

Quote
an animal rights group seeking state permission to erect a 5-foot-tall granite tombstone at the site of a lobster truck crash in Brunswick that resulted in about 7,000 pounds of live lobster being destroyed last week. Police didn’t know how many lobsters were in the truck, but assuming an average size of 1.5 pounds apiece would mean more than 4,500 lobsters died as a result of the crash.


An illustration submitted by PETA to state highway officials shows the proposed granite monument. Courtesy of Maine Department of Transportation

A memorial to the mass expiration of all those crustaceans would “remind everyone that the best way to prevent such tragedies is to go vegan,” says a letter from Danielle Katz, director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Online wilber

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #7 on: August 30, 2018, 01:21:49 pm »
The state said no but PITA got some free publicity which is probably what they were really after.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Omni

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2018, 01:41:04 pm »
Hey here's the good news, global warming has warmed ocean waters which has extended the breeding grounds for lobsters around our coasts. I am not vegan but I have moved away from eating a lot of meat, especially the red kind. But I say build that monument while I head off to the grocery store, seafood section, and I promise to be kind to those boys until I chuck them into the boiling pot. 

Offline SirJohn

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2018, 11:31:02 am »
From Sweden, the land of peace, calm, milk and honey. There is huge spending on public services and a budget surplus, almost no unemployment, and yet the Swedes are angry and getting ready to vote for a group that is variously described as fascist, racist and xenophobic. Why? Immigration and the violent crime it has spawned.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/09/swedens-political-panic-attack/
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2018, 11:54:29 am »
Funny how on another thread we were talking about tourists giving birth in Canada even though it's only a few hundred people.

How can immigration be seen as the source of strife and disunity when we admit that it's overemphasized?

What's the real reason?

Offline SirJohn

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #11 on: September 02, 2018, 12:36:39 pm »
Funny how on another thread we were talking about tourists giving birth in Canada even though it's only a few hundred people.

Well, first it's not a few hundred people, it's likely thousands each year.

Quote
How can immigration be seen as the source of strife and disunity when we admit that it's overemphasized?

What's the real reason?

People are instinctively designed to be territorial and tribal. When you bring in large groups of people from other tribes it gets people's backs up. When that influx is seen as threatening local culture and when the elites in charge blithely ignore and dismiss, if not ridicule legitimate concerns it causes frustration which leads to anger.

"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

Offline cybercoma

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #12 on: September 02, 2018, 12:39:07 pm »
Well, first it's not a few hundred people, it's likely thousands each year.
The few hundred number was cited to STATCAN, your opinion about "likely thousands" is not.

Offline SirJohn

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2018, 03:02:44 pm »
The few hundred number was cited to STATCAN, your opinion about "likely thousands" is not.

GIGO. Statcan can only base its numbers on what hospitals report, and hospitals, for the most part, are not reporting. Nor is there anywhere on the form to report citizenship. But if a Liberal MP says over 300 foreign births took place in one Richmond hospital in one year I don't think it's out of line to presume there are many more of them across Canada.

"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

Offline Omni

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Re: Interesting news items
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2018, 03:40:23 pm »
GIGO. Statcan can only base its numbers on what hospitals report, and hospitals, for the most part, are not reporting. Nor is there anywhere on the form to report citizenship. But if a Liberal MP says over 300 foreign births took place in one Richmond hospital in one year I don't think it's out of line to presume there are many more of them across Canada.

And so if hospitals don't report, how then does this MP happen to just "know" the stats? Or is anecdotal evidence that suits your argument good enough for you yet again?