The fence is supposed to...

[Simon]

I found this picture while I was stumbling around the Internet:

Pretty fun! ;)

[Karl]

As much as this is intended as a satire, it is (unfortunately) a pretty accurate reflection of historical approaches to the designation of wildlife reserves and other "protected" areas ...

[brettbh]

As much as this is intended as a satire, it is (unfortunately) a pretty accurate reflection of historical approaches to the designation of wildlife reserves and other "protected" areas ...

I found Crichton's commentary on Yellowstone to be both interesting and thought provoking ...

http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speech-complexity.html

Let it be, let it be ...

[Simon]

As much as this is intended as a satire, it is (unfortunately) a pretty accurate reflection of historical approaches to the designation of wildlife reserves and other "protected" areas ...

Well of course. Altough that "wildlife preserve" fence seems way too big.

I found Crichton's commentary on Yellowstone to be both interesting and thought provoking ...

http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speech-complexity.html

Let it be, let it be ...

I dont know really... The text really starts out great:

What I discovered stunned me. Chernobyl was a tragic event, but nothing remotely close to the global catastrophe I imagined. About 50 people had died in Chernobyl, roughly the number of Americans that die every day in traffic accidents. I don’t mean to be gruesome, but it was a setback for me. You can’t write a novel about a global disaster in which only 50 people die.

What the!? Such an ignorant statement.

We have had higher rates of cancer here, even way up in northern Sweden, ever since the accident. And...

A new Greenpeace report has revealed that the full consequences of the Chernobyl disaster could top a quarter of a million cancer cases and nearly 100,000 fatal cancers. The report involved 52 respected scientists and includes information never before published in English. It challenges the UN International Atomic Energy Agency Chernobyl Forum report, which predicted 4,000 additional deaths attributable to the accident as a gross simplification of the real breadth of human suffering.

The new data, based on Belarus national cancer statistics, predicts approximately 270,000 cancers and 93,000 fatal cancer cases caused by Chernobyl. The report also concludes that on the basis of demographic data, during the last 15 years, 60,000 people have additionally died in Russia because of the Chernobyl accident, and estimates of the total death toll for the Ukraine and Belarus could reach another 140,000.

The report also looks into the ongoing health impacts of Chernobyl and concludes that radiation from the disaster has had a devastating effect on survivors; damaging immune and endocrine systems, leading to accelerated ageing, cardiovascular and blood illnesses, psychological illnesses, chromosomal aberrations and an increase in foetal deformations.

[brettbh]

What the!? Such an ignorant statement.

I wouldn't say it was an ignorant statement; while his comments may have been incorrect, they were nonethless based on information from a credible source (UN International Atomic Energy Agency Chernobyl Forum report).

[Simon]

I wouldn't say it was an ignorant statement; while his comments may have been incorrect, they were nonethless based on information from a credible source (UN International Atomic Energy Agency Chernobyl Forum report).

I dont really know if you can call an organization which purpose is to promote the use of nuclear energy as a "credible source" when it comes to the Chernobyl disaster. :cute:

[brettbh]

I dont really know if you can call an organization which purpose is to promote the use of nuclear energy as a "credible source" when it comes to the Chernobyl disaster. :cute:

True!

[mountainhiker]

True!

What, are you saying they might have fuzzy vision here? The entire UN has been losing credibility for years....

[Simon]

What, are you saying they might have fuzzy vision here? The entire UN has been losing credibility for years....

Well, I wouldn't say the whole UN has a "fuzzy vision". And remember, UN is made out of its members. And if UN is losing "credibility" that is mainly because of it's members, i.e, USA, Russia, etc. So the ones really losing "credibility" are the different countries in the world that no longer care about UN's core values and ideas. The UN is just as strong and just as weak as it's members are.

[mountainhiker]

core values and ideas.

It appears that part of the issue is that the core values are a moving target..