After Marius the giraffe, Copenhagen Zoo puts down 4 lions

March 25, 2014

Zoos fool themselves when they claim to be anything other than places of entertainment for the general public. They pretend at playing the saviour of endangered species but really do little more than force some individuals of an unsuccessful species to live a fairly useless life in totally artificial surroundings. It is my contention that “Conservation” is on the wrong track in trying to freeze species in to a mould that clearly is genetically a failure. If the goal is to help a species to survive then they have to be helped genetically to live alongside humans – and not in some artificially created environment which can never exist outside the zoo.

And there is something wrong when perfectly healthy specimens are bred and then put down because they don’t suit. Copenhagen Zoo is probably not the worst zoo in the world, but it is among those who pretend the most. After Marius the giraffe they have now culled two lion cubs and two adult lions as being surplus to requirements. They are probably the same lions which feasted on Marius!

The Guardian: A Danish zoo that prompted international outrage by putting down a healthy giraffe and dissecting it in public has killed two lions and their two cubs to make way for a new male.

“Because of the pride of lions’ natural structure and behaviour, the zoo has had to euthanise the two old lions and two young lions who were not old enough to fend for themselves,” Copenhagen zoo said.

The 10-month-old lions would have been killed by the new male lion “as soon as he got the chance”, it said. The four lions were put down on Monday after the zoo failed to find a new home for them, a spokesman said. All four were from the same family.

He said there would be no public dissection of the animals since “not all our animals are dissected in front of an audience”.

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Posted in Animals, Behaviour, Conservation, Evolution, Wildlife | 4 Comments »

MH370: All lives presumed lost! The unedifying competition which has hijacked the search efforts

March 24, 2014

I had not intended to write any more about the 239 lives which have certainly been lost.

But I have been following the search efforts (there is no rescue mission left to perform). And the competition between Malaysia, Australia and China in the rush to show-off their capabilities and, by implication, their humanity, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

First we had Tony Abbott rushing to announce that the satellite images had been found – 4 days after they had been photographed. We had the Malaysian Minister of Defense – breaking in to his own press conference – with “Breaking News” that the Chinese had also found a satellite image. Like some cheap Indian TV station which has nothing but Breaking News. He read out a hand-written note where the dimensions of the object sighted were transcribed wrongly and he then had to issue a correction later. Then the French jumped in to show that they also have satellites. The Chinese have rushed search planes to Perth where, instead of landing at the designated military airport outside of Perth which is the centre of the search operations, they first landed by mistake at the civil airport. The ice-breaker Xue Long (which rescued the infamous Chris Turney and his Ship of Fools from the Antarctic) was diverted to the search area. Then this morning the Chinese announced the first real sightings of debris by one of their planes. The Xue Long will arrive in the area tomorrow.

(It has just been announced by the Malaysian Prime Minister that based on new analysis from Inmarsat and the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) the plane was lost in the Indian Ocean and all on board must be presumed lost. I am thankful that unlike some other politicians, David Cameron did not rush to hold his own press conference).

I have no doubt that the search personnel are performing a great job – from whichever country they come. But there is no longer any real hope for the 239 passengers and crew. There is of course an important mystery to be solved since whatever happened to MH370 has fundamental implications for air safety.

With no lives any longer at stake, the announcements and “breaking news” emanating from China and Australia and Malaysia now have a strong smell of political positioning. The announcements have been hijacked by the political establishment. I find the use of the search process for political positioning between China – which wishes to be seen as the regional power – and Australia – which is the de facto proxy for the US –  and Malaysia – which is trying to avoid being seen as chaotic and incompetent – is less than edifying.

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Wilders is now getting up their noses

March 24, 2014

When populism goes over the top.

Wilders hasn’t said exactly how he is intending to reduce the Moroccans in the Netherlands but it is unlikely to be very pleasant for them.

Photograph: Marcel Antonisse/AFP/Getty Images

Geert Wilders Photograph: Marcel Antonisse/AFP/Getty Images

(Reuters) – Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders has lost his top position in opinion polls after making anti-Moroccan comments that unleashed a public backlash and prompted several high-profile resignations from his party. ….. 

Wilders has been hit by a series of resignations after leading a chant against Moroccan immigrants in The Hague on Wednesday. Among those who quit was the head of the PVV in the European Parliament, Laurence Stassen.

The next big test for the party will come at European Parliament elections in May. The PVV slipped five seats from a week ago to 22 and would come in third place behind the Socialist Party and the right-of-center Democrats 66, the poll showed. The PVV won 15 seats in the Dutch parliament in the 2012 election.

Wilders led the chant at a rally after municipal elections. He asked supporters in The Hague: “Do you want more or fewer Moroccans in this city and in the Netherlands?”

“Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!”, the crowd chanted. Wilders responded: “We’ll take care of that.”

The comments drew widespread condemnation in the Netherlands and abroad. Thousands of people filed complaints of discrimination with Dutch prosecutors, while several PVV members have quit from the national assembly and city councils.

On Saturday, Wilders said he wasn’t sorry, had not violated anti-discrimination laws and would not apologize to anyone.

While Wilders also lost some support among his electorate, 85 percent of people who voted for him said they still backed him as leader of the Party for Freedom.

The fertility rate in the rapidly aging Netherlands is at crisis levels. From around 4.45 per woman in 1900. and 3.2 in 1960, it is now at about 1.68 per woman in 2013. The post-war baby boomers are now entering the ranks of the retired and will be adding to the proportion of the elderly for the next 25 years. Without bolstering the working population by immigration, the care of the elderly at current levels would not be sustainable.

So if Wilders plans to reduce immigration, he better plan to reduce the number of the aged as well.

Netherlands fertility rate (World Bank data)

Netherlands fertility rate (World Bank data)

Demographics of the Nertherlands: The Dutch population is ageing. Furthermore, life expectancy has increased because of developments in medicine, and in addition to this, the Netherlands has seen increasing immigration. Despite these developments combined with the population boom after the Second World War, the low birth rate has caused extremely low population growth: 2005 saw the lowest absolute population growth since 1900. …

According to Eurostat, in 2010 there were 1.8 million foreign-born residents in the Netherlands, corresponding to 11.1% of the total population. Of these, 1.4 million (8.5%) were born outside the EU and 0.428 million (2.6%) were born in another EU Member State.

As the result of immigration, the Netherlands has a sizeable minority of non-indigenous peoples. There is also considerable emigration. In 2005 some 121,000 people left the country, while 94,000 entered it. Out of a total of 101,150 people immigrating to Netherlands in 2006, 66,658 were from Europe, Oceania, the Americas or Japan, and 34,492 were from other (mostly developing) countries. Out of a total of 132,470 emigrants, 94,834 were going to Europe, Oceania, the Americas or Japan and 37,636 to other countries.

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Secession is in the air as 89% vote for the rebirth of the Venetian Republic

March 23, 2014

Secession is in the air.

The Most Serene Republic of Venice (Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia) lasted for over a thousand years from the late 7th century until 1797. It came into being as a secession of the region from the Byzantine Empire and lasted until Napoleon came along. In its heyday it controlled Crete and Cyprus and was a major – if not the paramount – centre for European trading and banking. 

Secession is in the blood of Venetians.

File:Flag of Most Serene Republic of Venice.svg

Flag of Venice with winged Lion of St. Mark

History of Venice:

The city of Venice originated as a collection of lagoon communities banded together for mutual defence from theLombards, Huns and other invading peoples as the power of the Western Roman Empire dwindled in northern Italy. At some point in the first decades of the 8th century, the people of the Byzantine province of Venice elected their first leaderUrsus (or Orso Ipato), who was confirmed by Constantinople and given the titles of hypatus and dux. He was the first historical Doge of Venice. …..

Between 1414 and 1423, some 10,000 slaves were sold in Venice, almost all of whom were “nubile” young women from the Balkans. In February 1489, the island of Cyprus, previously a crusader state (the Kingdom of Cyprus), was annexed to Venice.

And  now the people of Veneto want to secede again – this time from “the blood-thirsty beast of the Italian state”.

The Veneto Region

EU Observer:

A self-organised “referendum” over the independence of one of Italy’s wealthiest regions has resulted in an overwhelming victory for the separatist camp, but authorities in Rome have largely ignored the result, amid scepticism over the regularity of the informal, non-binding poll. 

Nevertheless, events in Veneto, the north-eastern region around Venice that is home to almost 5 million people, have attracted international attention, particularly from government-sponsored Russian media, keen to draw comparisons with the military-backed vote that sanctioned Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. 

Out of 3.8 million eligible voters, 2.3 million took part in Veneto’s independence “plebiscite,” organisers said Friday, after six days of voting through makeshift polling booths, via phone or the internet. The pro-secession camp was declared the winner with over 89 percent, against just under 11 percent for the unionists. 

“The Venetian Republic is born again,” the leader of the ‘yes’ camp, Gianluca Busato, exclaimed at a victory rally in Treviso, in front of a crowd of a few hundred supporters. …… Secessionists, who are not attached to any mainstream political party, see themselves as the heirs of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, the state that ruled the lagoon city and its surroundings for about 1,000 years, until it was routed by Napoleon in 1797. 

Their main argument for independence is economic. They calculate that Veneto subsidizes Italy’s inefficient central government and its poorer southern regions to the tune of €20 billion a year. They claim that an independent state – modeled on the likes of Catalonia or Scotland – would be far better off. “The right of self-determination that is triumphing in Veneto is the only way to free ourselves from the worst bureaucratic monster of the Western world. The blood-thirsty beast of the Italian state is hated by all of its subjects, everywhere,” Busato said. 

The 44-year-old software entrepreneur was elected as one of 10 “delegates” tasked with setting independence plans into motion. “The first objective is to keep all taxes in Veneto,” he said. “Veneto’s businesses and citizens no longer have to pay immoral and illegitimate taxes to the Italian state.”

File:Repubblica di Venezia.png

Republic of Venice territories in red c. 1500 CE

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Posted in Behaviour, Economics, Italy, Politics | Comments Off on Secession is in the air as 89% vote for the rebirth of the Venetian Republic

The shape of ads to come

March 23, 2014

Using augmented reality in advertisements.

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Posted in Behaviour, Media | Comments Off on The shape of ads to come

When pigs do fly

March 23, 2014

After two weeks of being immersed in the tragic story of MH370, I suppose I am looking for the absurd and the trivial as some kind of a reaction. My mind,  it would seem , can only take so much of tragedy.

The Local: Bystanders were left in shock when a truck collapsed in central Sweden, sending more than 200 frozen pigs flying across the road. ..

“Everything went everywhere – it truly was flying pigs.”  

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon near Kumla, a small town south of Örebro in central Sweden. The truck was on a roundabout at the time and the pig carcasses were hanging on hooks from the trailer  ceiling. …….. the weight of the pigs was enough to cause the roof to cave in as the truck took a left turn into the roundabout.  …

While no one was hurt by the flying pigs, traffic was heavily delayed ….

Truck collapse sends 200 frozen pigs flying

200 frozen flying pigs Photo: Kicki Nilsson/TT

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Frisky whiskey

March 22, 2014

To follow on from my previous post, here is “Frisky Whiskey” from c. 1963-65. Forty years of aging completed in 30 days by radiation! 150 proof strength!!

c. 1963 – 1965: “Frisky Whiskey”: 

“Frisky Whiskey” bottle produced by Poynter Products, Inc. of Cincinnati Ohio. The copyright date is 1963. Approximately eleven inches tall.

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2014 World Whiskey Awards – Tasmanian whiskey is best single malt

March 21, 2014

The 2014 World Whiskey Awards were announced yesterday (of course this was in London because a vote in Scotland would stand a good chance of being compromised).

A Tasmanian Whiskey won the award for the best Single Malt!!!! Some are hoping that this may do more for Tasmania than the Tasmanian Devil never could.

It’s probably all Alex Salmond’s fault.

I have yet to try any of the award winners.

SMH: Sullivan’s Cove’s French Oak Cask variety was judged the global winner, as well as Australia’s best, from a high-quality pool of single malt entries. They included Scotland’s Bunnahabain, Aberfeldy, Glenkinchie and Glenlivet distilleries, as well as Japanese powerhouse Yamazaki.

The World Whiskies Award is considered the most prestigious in the world for whisky producers and the manager and part-owner of Sullivan’s Cove, Patrick Maguire, said it would put Australia and Tasmania firmly on the world whisky map.

2014 best whiskeys 1

2014 best whiskeys 1

2014 best whiskeys 2

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MH370’s last flight to nowhere – and a nightmare for some

March 21, 2014

MH370 has engaged all my attention for the last 2 weeks – and this will be my last post on this event.

The pilots were somehow incapacitated and locked in the cockpit and the plane flew for many hours along a route taking it further and further away from any place to land and from anyone within communication range. Some of the crew – even if they had been given instructions by the cockpit not to be disturbed – must have realised that something was not right. And if they had any such suspicions but could not talk to the pilots, could not break into the cockpit and could not communicate with anyone, it would have been a hellish nightmare as the plane flew on and on – on autopilot – and until it ran out of fuel. Six hours of being powerless and unable to communicate. How the auto-pilot would have brought the plane down when the fuel ran out is a little uncertain. Would the life rafts have deployed? Could they have deployed? Perhaps it would have been best if the crew and passengers were all unconscious at the time of ditching. Was that the reason for the plane’s excursion to 45,000 feet? Was it a ghost plane that flew the last six hours to nowhere?

I hope so.

A flight to nowhere

The mysteries are unlikely to be solved for many months – if ever.

I cannot get away from what it was like for those crew and passengers for those last helpless, powerless 6 hours.

I don’t think I want to write about this any more. 

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Posted in Aviation | 5 Comments »

Seventeen equations that changed the world

March 20, 2014

I just came across this summarising Ian Stewart’s book on 17 Equations That Changed The World at Business Insider: 

seventeen equations

seventeen equations

I have used all of these up to Equation 12. I have never used the equations on Relativity or Schrodinger’s equation or those on Chaos or Information theory or the Black-Scholes Equation. But, I wouldn’t disagree with Equations 12 – 17, but considering the amount of time I spent applying it at University and during my working life I would have liked to see Bernoulli’s Equation on the list:

Bernoulli's Equation

where:

v\, is the fluid flow speed at a point on a streamline,
g\, is the acceleration due to gravity,
z\, is the elevation of the point above a reference plane, with the positive z-direction pointing upward – so in the direction opposite to the gravitational acceleration,
p\, is the pressure at the chosen point, and
\rho\, is the density of the fluid at all points in the fluid.

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Posted in Mathematics, Physics | 1 Comment »

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