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Post by eloneen on Jul 30, 2019 21:49:33 GMT
Another scientific study. What did Mr Eloneen have for dessert? Yes! When the funding comes in for the next phase of the project, I'll be sure to continue with an appropriate line of inquiry.
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Post by BSJ on Aug 1, 2019 19:34:50 GMT
Me and Dave were wandering around downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, yesterday (around 45 minutes over the Ohio border) and lookie what we found! Sadly, it was not open. Would not have been surprised to see Lorenzo Renegade in there trying to drink and play his broken heart away.
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Post by Helmut83 on Aug 3, 2019 2:55:23 GMT
Maybe it was inspired in him? Who knows?
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Post by vlogdance on Aug 16, 2019 12:44:58 GMT
My colleague Dan shared this with me today. I thought the impression was hilarious (although it made me scratch my head a bit in sympathy!) See what you think.
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Post by BSJ on Aug 17, 2019 17:37:38 GMT
Many, many funny lyrics.
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Post by unomusette on Aug 17, 2019 19:27:18 GMT
This is brilliant, fantastic rhyming of "beard" and "pioneered" for a start
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Post by Helmut83 on Aug 22, 2019 4:35:57 GMT
When Notre-Damme Cathedral burned a few months ago I left a comment which could have been taken as a bit indolent because it said that I thought that the fuss that was being made about it by both the press and the people was a bit out of proportion, particularly having in mind that far more serious burnings with much bigger negative consequences were happening periodically and few people gave a damn about them. Well, here's a good example of what I was talking about: ( WARNING: some of the images are a bit strong. I still recommend watching them to gain conscience of the seriousness of this catastrophe, but if you are squeamish you might want to avoid viewing them.) http://instagr.am/p/B1cujoGBItW This fire is taking place right now at the Amazonas in Brazil, the largest rainforest on Earth and a factor of crucial importance for cooling down our planet, transforming carbon dioxide into oxygen, preserving biodiversity and many other functions that are vital for the survival of our planet. The less trees it has, the faster global warming will grow. The forest's size has been reduced drastically during the last decades even when in most parts the soil is no longer useful after 5 or 6 harvests, and as if this wasn't enough now it's being decimated by this fire. The fire has been going on since 17 days ago (17!!!) and the smoke is visible from space. Had you heard about it? Did you have all news channels informing all day long about it and going on about what a tragedy for mankind this was? How many people did you see crying in the streets about it? People donated US$ 1 billion to the fundraising for the reconstruction of Notre-Damme, how much do you think the Amazonia will raise? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Notre-Damme's burning was not a terrible thing. It was, but in it's own proportion, and I think no matter what the press makes of the different events, we should try to weigh the proportions ourselves and realize that in terms of catastrophes this is on a completely different, much bigger level. Mankind will go on with or without Notre Damme, but it won't go on without the Amazonas.
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Post by BSJ on Aug 22, 2019 18:21:46 GMT
What's sad is that fires happen there every year. Fire is a tool. Forest are burned to make room for crops and livestock.
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Post by unomusette on Aug 22, 2019 21:44:21 GMT
It's appalling and definitely not given enough publicity. From what I have managed to glean it appears Brazil has elected itself a president who actively encourages the deliberate destruction of the forests, it beggars belief that there can be so little thought for the future. It's like that classic cartoon of a man sitting on the end of a tree branch, sawing it off nearest the trunk. Humanity will reap what it sows but it will impact most on the next generation who had no say in it.
Edit: by sheer fluke there is a newspaper review on the TV as I'm typing and they have actually mentioned this big fire, not as headlines but at least discussing it. So I do have to eat my words a bit, although it is pretty late here and I've not seen any daytime news coverage of it.
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Post by Horacewimp on Aug 23, 2019 7:27:33 GMT
The fires are now the main news story on the BBC website, about time.
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Post by BIuebird on Aug 23, 2019 12:41:56 GMT
They finally started covering the fires here this week, it was the first I had heard of it. Why did it take 17 days?! The sad thing is that from what I have heard, this fire was intentionally set to clear land for livestock, like unomusette said. I also just read yesterday that the indigenous people of the area had fought and won for protection of the area, which is their land, and now it's burning! This is not only a climate change fiasco, but allowing the intentional burning of the area is a case of environmental racism as well!
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Post by unomusette on Aug 23, 2019 20:39:47 GMT
Today the fires were headline news, and as BIuebird says it's about time. Although the Brazilian president has a lot to answer for, maybe the rest of the world should be giving financial help to the country in exchange for them leaving the rainforest alone. Because as Helmut83 says they are of global importance and it's in all our interests to keep them as intact as possible. There would have to be heavy supervision though to make sure the money went to the right places and wasn't squirrelled away by those in power. Keeping the people who live in the rainforest safe should also be a priority but sadly I remember reading years ago about the atrocities heaped upon them by logging companies, totally sickening. It's amazing that any of them are left at all. In the meantime it's good to see the growing opposition around the world such as demonstrations outside Brazilian embassies and EU members threatening to veto a big new trade deal unless there's action taken to stop the deliberate burnings. If their bank balances are threatened maybe they'll finally do something.
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Post by Helmut83 on Aug 24, 2019 7:49:55 GMT
Well, it's good to know that the fire has finally made the news in European countries and the US, let's see if something can be done to help solve the problem and to prevent it from happening again in the future. unomusette: I like your idea and the point you raised. If the Amazonas is benefitial to the whole planet, why should Brazil alone -a poor country, and very populated, on top of everything- face the costs of keeping it alive on its own? Europe itself has less than half the forests it once had and even though they were able to reverse the trend time ago, it would still be hypocritical of them to just stand, watch and point the finger at Brazil. As for the news about Bolsonaro, I'd advice you to take everything with a grain of salt. In the world of politics and press (particularly in the dirty politics of South American countries) everyone wants to take advantage of any catastrophe to use it against their rivals. Bolsonaro is being accused since before he assumed of the typical childish accusations of who deems us stupid: he hates everyone, he steps on newly born chickens and he eats children alive. So, now that they have a catastrophe and the world is finally watching, imagine if they are going to miss this golden chance! But the fire started in Bolivia (who has part of the Amazonas), not in Brazil, so why does the media conveniently omit that when blaming Bolsonaro? Oh, surely because Bolivia is ruled since 13 years ago by the socialist dictator Evo Morales, one of the favorite pets of the press, so it doesn't fit the narrative; while on the other side of the frontier there's Bolsonaro, the villain who is here to destroy the world, so they will blame him even if the fire started in Bolivia. Besides, what's the accusation exactly? If one person or a small group of people decide to start a fire, is he supposed to read their minds and travel thousands of kilometers at the speed of sound to anticipate to the criminal act? Starting a fire is terribly easy and you haven't got a policeman every 100 metres in the forest. Unfortunately it's very hard these days these days to get news which aren't stained by political conveniency, particularly in Latin America. Personally, I want to see what Bolsonaro does in his position of president of Brazil, how he addresses the problem, and I'd like to see what resources he commits to preventing future fires, so I'm not going to haste and call him innocent yet. I'm open to seeing proof both in his favour and against him, and I hope to see some (but serious, please) in order to draw my conclusions. But I know how things work down this way so I'm not going to call him guilty yet either, not based on all the childish bullshit that I'm used to hearing, that I know where comes from and that I cannot take seriously. For the time being, I hope they find the actual and direct culprits, this is the people who actually started the fire. Then we'll see if there's any political connection, but those guys deserve punishment regardless of that.
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Post by Helmut83 on Aug 24, 2019 8:21:49 GMT
This is not only a climate change fiasco, but allowing the intentional burning of the area is a case of environmental racism as well! BIuebird: I'm all in for calling out racism... when there's actually racism. Unfortunately it has become too common lately to try and build the most twisted and baseless paths in order to get to what has become the ultimate accusation, ala The Crucible (have you read the book?), without even caring if the person actually committed an act of racism or not. At times it seems that someone is not evil enough if he cannot be accused of racism. But if you manage to twist things over and over and you somehow in your mind are able to build a path to the magical word, no matter how crooked, then as soon as the word is mentioned everyone else will stop thinking, need no proof at all and join the hysteria, pointing out fingers and wanting to burn the accused person at the stake. I think that has to stop, and I think racism accusations (like all accusations) have to be made on solid grounds. Racism witch-hunting is as bad as racism itself. And honestly I'm tired of people forcing racism into so many discussions where it has nothing to do, in an attempt to nullify reason and to make others automatical "baddies". The people who lit the rainforest on fire are the worst shit. They are criminals against the forest, the environment, other people and who knows how many other things. I'll gladly join you in insulting them. They are bad enough as they are, so adding racism to the combo when there's zero base to say that, just for the sake of the magical accusation, is not needed. Again, I'll gladly join you in insulting the culprits about the things they did, but as for very far-fetched racism accusations, I won't follow you there. As for allowing the intentional burning of the area, once a forest fire has caught some size, it is impossible to stop. Only rain can do it. You can protect certain strategic points with firewalls, hydrant planes and lorries, but to extinguish it you can only cross your fingers and hope it rains. So if a dick or group of dicks sets fire a forest, it doesn't mean that the rest of mankind is gladly watching and being accomplice, but that unfortunately there's very little people can do about it.
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Post by BIuebird on Aug 24, 2019 13:47:12 GMT
I am not saying that the individual people who set the fires are racially motivated, I think you might be misunderstanding me, sorry! I am saying that the policy of the government, which is siding more with the loggers and farmers than with the indigenous people who actually live there, THAT is environmental racism. I can only go by the news that is filtered to us though, so like you say, it may have a slant on it. A number of articles I have read suggested that Bolsonaro encouraged the clearing in the economic interests of farmers. This quote from The Guardian is more what I mean "Since Bolsonaro took power the environment agency has issued fewer penalties, and ministers have made clear that their sympathies are with loggers rather than the indigenous groups who live in the forest." We have seen something similar happen in the US with the Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil pipeline that runs from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline was originally proposed to run north of Bismarck, North Dakota, but that route was rejected because the people there were concerned about possible spills contaminating their water supply. So, the reroute was proposed through Native American tribal lands, leaving them with the same water concerns as the people of Bismarck. "“This pipeline was rerouted towards our tribal nations when other citizens of North Dakota rightfully rejected it in the interests of protecting their communities and water. We seek the same consideration as those citizens," Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, said in a statement." Yet the pipeline went ahead in the tribal location, despite months of protest from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and many others from all over the country. That is what I mean by environmental racism, favoring the interests of one group over those of the indigenous people, who have already been pushed to the brink throughout history.
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