Unthreaded
Here is an interesting article that shows the true value of peer-review: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/do-penises-cause-climate-change-discuss/#
Radical Rodent
Dear Mike and Neil (copied to Simon Torok and Emma Tompkins for feedback)
In a meeting within the last few months Mike mentioned the idea of looking at the implications of climate change for what he termed "global icons", ie areas, regions and features that had a high profile in the public consciousness globally. One of these suggested icons was the Great Barrier Reef.I've just come back from Queensland, where I made two trips out to the reef, visiting 3 sites for snorkelling. All three sites were in a pretty poor condition, with some 80 percent of the coral being dead. On each trip I spoke to the people running the boat about this, and on one occasion was told that it was due to cyclone damage, and on the other was informed that the destruction was caused by crown of thorns starfish. Speaking to other tourists it became apparent that this sort of destruction is widespread - everyone who had dived or snorkelled before said they were either shocked or disappointed by the state of the reef. It also became apparent that there was always a local "reason" for the destruction - cyclones, starfish, fertilizers from the sugar cane plantations (even 40 - 70 km offshore).
The person running the lodge where we stayed (who I believe used to be an environmental journalist) had a different explanation, putting the destruction down to bleaching resulting from anomalously hot summers. Of course damage from tourism could also be an explanation.
While my visit and various conversations represent only a very superficial survey, they suggest a couple of testable hypotheses that could be turned into a research project:
clipe
stewgreen
That list of EV charger FoIAs
A skim shows that far too many councils aren't keen to volunteer much :-)
Some even have the sheer bluidy neck to refuse to answer as they deem the question "not in the spirit of the legislation".
No usage stats that I could find - although a number volunteer "information not collated"
I've asked my local council ....
tomo
stewgreen , Pcar
that voting thing.... I had several Tweets from the "left" in the run up to the election - including one from the Dear Leader Corbyn's official / personal account.
*None* came from accounts I follow and I didn't bother to screen shot them. Twitter must be able to infer quite a bit about me by various means likely age, location, political interests and rough income bracket. I also received several Tweets that were "promoted" as in paid for from the Labour Party.
One in four UK Facebook users had viewed a Momentum video in the final week of the campaign (according to The Guardian) - a number that I personally find astonishing.... I can't imagine they actually sought the video out - so it must have been foisted on them - and not in a random way either.
The temptation to mold social media (and search Hello Google) to the traditional MSM model and deploy as a "tailored broadcast" model is obviously irresistible .... and perhaps more to the point - deniability is built in, as almost any wrongdoing if planned properly can be vanished by a computer script at a preordained moment.
I hope The Electoral Commission doesn't need prodding to look into double dipping at polling stations - somebody with appropriate administrative credentials (and mebbe some SQL skill) on the database should be able to scope out the quantity of cheating in a couple of minutes..... I will not hold my breath for a result - since a single request for a criminal record for a visa application took 5 weeks.... which would mean that it'd take ca. 4 million years to check all voters (according to Sir Humphrey Appleby)
tomo
Monday Humour
Pcar
Pcar
@Tomo list of EV FOIAs
stewgreen
Agree with @Pcar
If you have proper evidence then make a proper complaint on the Electoral Commission website first.
Otherwise it's just hearsay.
stewgreen
@stewgreen, Jun 12, 2017 at 12:08 AM
"We don't have a problem with children and denial."
...Em that's cos you and your corrupt teacher mates have rigged the curriculum to brainwash the kids ...doh !
Left wing indoctrination in primary school:
Primary School polling station, posters in the windows featuring hammers and sickles
Pcar
@Clipe what a disgraceful slur
That 2003 email comes from Brookes at UEA
An establishment with an unblemished record , as their own inquiries tell.
2003 : "All three sites were in a pretty poor condition, with some 80 percent of the coral being dead. ...told that it was due to cyclone damage, and on the other was informed that the destruction was caused by crown of thorns starfish"
How many times is this reef been pronounced dead ?