Yesterday, after returning from physio and then teaching, I decided that I had had enough for the day . . . so no Open Thread. But I am back today and rested. I'm doing laundry today but otherwise relaxing a bit.
Short Takes
CBC — More than 50 million years ago, Canada's Arctic was a warm, wet place, home to alligators, giant tortoises and — as it now turns out — giant, flightless birds.
A new study by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and the University of Colorado Boulder has confirmed that a single fossilized toe bone discovered in the early 1970s on Ellesmere Island in what is now Nunavut belonged to a species called Gastornis.
The map shows how far north Ellesmere Island is to the rest of Canada. That is Greenland to the right.
These discoveries help shed light on what the Arctic was like during the Eocene epoch, when Ellesmere Island was most likely a hot, swampy environment, home to giant turtles, alligators, primates and hippo-like beasts.
That, in turn, gives us some idea of what to expect as climate change dramatically alters the northern landscape, Eberle said. In order to develop accurate climate models to predict the future, scientists need solid, measurable data from the past — especially from previous periods of warmth in the Arctic.
That is one big "chicken"! Wikipedia had this to say about the area:
Schei and later Nathorst described the Paleocene–Eocene (ca. 55 Ma) fossil forest in the Stenkul Fiord sediments. The Stenkul Fiord site represents a series of deltaic swamp and floodplain forests. The trees stood for at least 400 years. Individual stumps and stems of >1 m (>3 ft) diameter were abundant, and are identified as Metasequoia and possibly Glyptostrobus. Well preserved Pliocene peats containing abundant vertebrate and plant macrofossils characteristic of a boreal forest have been reported from Strathcona Fiord.
In 2006, University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin and Academy of Natural Sciences paleontologist Ted Daeschler reported the discovery of the fossil of aPaleozoic (ca. 375 Ma) fish, named Tiktaalik roseae, in the former stream beds of Ellesmere Island. The fossil exhibits many characteristics of fish, but also indicates a transitional creature that may be a predecessor of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans.
This is not to say that climate change is not anthropogenic. It is! But by looking at the past, we might be able to learn what happened millions of years ago and prevent a catastrophic change in our time.
Foreign Policy — When the refugee crisis began last summer, about 1,500 people were coming to Sweden every week seeking asylum. By August, the number had doubled. In September, it doubled again. In October, it hit 10,000 a week, and stayed there even as the weather grew colder. A nation of 9.5 million, Sweden expected to take as many as 190,000 refugees, or 2 percent of the population — double the per capita figure projected by Germany, which has taken the lead in absorbing the vast tide of people fleeing the wars in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere. …
The vast migration of desperate souls from Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere has posed a moral test the likes of which Europe has not faced since the Nazis forced millions from their homes in search of refuge. Europe has failed that test. Germany, acutely aware that it was the author of that last great refugee crisis, has taken in the overwhelming fraction of the 1 million asylum-seekers who have reached Europe over the past 18 months.
This a long but interesting article that challenges our moral compass. Sweden is caught between its moral code and the realities of the magnitude of the refugee issue. Certainly, one wonders why countries like Saudi Arabia have not welcomed refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. I suspect that the Saudis do not want the instability that can come from a large refugee influx, especially in a tightly controlled society. That more has to be done is unquestionable . . . but what?
CBC — Air balls, comedic bits and the odd quality play — the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game had a little bit of everything Friday night at the Ricoh Coliseum.
Serving as the on-court kickoff to a weekend of festivities building up to Sunday's all-star game, fans were treated to an entertaining mix of characters who delivered a brand of basketball that was high on energy and short on flow.
Congrats to the Canadian NBA All Star Celebrity team for dunking the US team 74 – 64!
Alternet — … Dr. King was also a tough-minded critic of our capitalist economic structure, much like Bernie Sanders is today.
The reality is that King himself supported democratic socialism – and that civil rights activists and socialists have walked arm-in-arm for more than a century. …
1966: In remarks to staffers at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), King said:
“You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry. . . . It really means that we are saying something is wrong with capitalism. There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”
Would Martin Luther King Jr be supporting Bernie? I believe he would.
My Universe —
Come here idiot! I want to tell you something!
9 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 13/02/2016”
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More news on Scalia: President Obama says he will "fukfill his constitutional duty" by nominating a replacement. the Court. (He said this AFTER offering condolences to Scalia's family and extending gratitude for his public service, calling him "an extraordinary judicial thinker.") But anyone who wants to join the chorus to hold him to that may sign a petition at http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/progressivejustice/
I would probably also Scalia an "extraordinary judicial thinker" too, seeing that extra means "completely outside of" and "ordinary" connotes normalcy and sanity.
And one to the Sente to vote on the nomination when he makes it.
http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/SCOTUS_nomination/
Also noting that today should have been a day to let his family grieve, but it was Republicans who brought it up.
Obama has such a great way with words, calling Scalia "an extraordinary judicial thinker." Do you think Andy B. will let Obama write a column or two when he leaves the White House? He's got his sarcasm honed for the job.
I was thinking along Lona's line, "extraordinary" can be taken several ways, as in extraordinarilly fucked up! for instance.
CBC1 – Of course I won't be around, but I wouldn't be surprised. (Funny – Isaac Asimov wrote a time-travel story about a paleologist who brought a few dinosaurs from the past, and bred them, and by accident discovered how they tasted, and became the wealthiest restaurateur in the world selling "dino-chicken." creative minds. This was long before science was all over dinosaurs evolving direct from birds.)
Foreign Policy – LOTS of people are asking why the Saudis seem deaf, dumb, and blind. Not that if I were a refugee that would be my eirst choice of where to go.
AlterNet – And many black activists and intellectuals are endirsing Bernie. A new one just came to my inbox tinight – from Erica Garner –
https://www.facebook.com/moveon/posts/10153255479215493
Universe – That's one scary litterbox.
CBC: Interesting article! Sad that the permanent ice is going away. Anyone who thinks that climate change to the environment doesn't exist, has their head in the sand. Or toe.
CBC2: Good game, congratulations to Canada for the win!!
AlterNet: I believe Mr. King would support Bernie too. MLK wanted reform, and democratic socialism. His speech of '67 reverberates what people are asking today. ''‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’ And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth.''
My Universe: A dreaded task changing the litter in the box, but hugs from the kitty to the dog is priceless!
Relax, you've earned it!! Happy Valentine's Day to all commenters, and enjoy your Day! Thanks, Lynn.
Thank you, Joanne for the links.
Signed both!
Laundry? Poor Squatch!!
I don't care how big it is. I'm a cat. It's a bird. It's linch!
The Saudis harbor Wahhabism. They are part of the problem, not the solutrion.\
BOO!!
Dr. King woulf have felt the BERN!
Bye Granny!
Bite the ear!
Sounds like you're having a good weekend, Lynn, except for the laundry part.
CBC: That's a nice view of what we can expect to see if Global Warming continues, except we humans probably won't be around to see it and neither will all these lovely gigantic beasts, as "our" Global Warming does in a few hundred years what earlier warm (or cold) periods took thousands if not hundred of thousands of years to accomplish, leaving the flora and fauna to adapt to the changes. I'm afraid we don't give Mother Earth enough time on this occasion to keep up with rising sea levels, increasing oceanic acidity, massive floods and droughts, and resulting water and food shortage.
Foreign Policy: Sadly the Swedes are not the only ones whose moral compass is tested, the whole of Northern Europe has the same problem. In reality the whole of Europe faces this problem, but many Balkan countries have closed their borders immediately and have simply refused to take their share. And because Northern Countries like Germany and the Scandinavian countries have perhaps been overly-generous at the start of the crisis, the Balkan countries can get away with it because the refugees aren't even considering staying there, but all want to go North. Now the influx is becoming a problem to handle, the right wing rears its ugly head, much like in the 30-40s and makes matters worse. Russia has seized the opportunity and by indiscriminate bombing in Syria is again increasing the numbers of refugees significantly. It'll only stop when all opposition to the Syrian regime has left the country, leaving Asad to enjoy his "kingdom" with fewer, but loyal citizens. But Da'esh is still there and so are the Kurds, about to be driven from Turkey into Iraq so… It's an incredible bloody mess, and unless all parties there agree on a solution, this will slowly accumulate.
Alternet: Has Bernie taken some of MLK's ideas on democratic socialism on board? I believe he has.
My Universe: At least that cat had the decency to give granny a burial. Now give it back the use of its litter box. That dog should know by now that cats just can't stand to be ignored. Not a mistake it'll make again.
CBC- Neil Shubin is the author of "Your Inner Fish," a facinating book. Of course, this gives an entirely new meaning to the name "Big Brd." Similar, huge , birds have been found in the paleontological record in south America. The Metaseqouia trees refered to are Redwoods, and the Dawn Redwood is Metasequoia Gliptostrobodies.
Alternet: I believe that MLK would be in favor af a Saunders presidency. Democratic socialism is exactly what we need, and it is the antithesis of all that Antonin Scalia stood for.
FP: Once more, so much for the religion of love! The Saudis do not want to take care of anyone but their ruling elite, period!!!
Sorry, prof., and college , basketball do nothing for me. I'd rather be out playing the game.