Current events!

[Dudebro]

BBC News - Putin orders Russian military to boost Arctic presence

Blame Canada. No really.

He was speaking after Canada announced plans to claim the continental shelf under the North Pole.
Russia and Denmark also lay claim to parts of the resource-rich shelf.

The Arctic is estimated to have 30% of the world's undiscovered gas and 15% of the undiscovered oil. Climate change and advances in drilling technology mean these reserves are becoming easier and cheaper to exploit.

Damn Canada and it's appetite for oil. This might start a cold war.

"We're talking about the centre of a large, inhospitable ocean that is in total darkness for three months each year, thousands of miles from any port," he told the Associated Press.

"The water in the North Pole is 12,000 ft [3,650m] deep and will always be covered by sea ice in the winter. It's not a place where anyone is going to be drilling for oil and gas. So it's not about economic stakes, it's about domestic politics."

This is eerily similar to the plot of the Fallout series. Resources are dwindling so the world powers go to war over the arctic reserves. In FO Canada was annexed by the US but the general idea is the same.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkBNKa2KXZE]Fallout Intro Movie - YouTube[/ame]
Skip to :28, but the whole intro is awesome.

[Mikman]

I don't believe that any country should claim any of this space for their own, because it's international territory.

[Dudebro]

But why? I get that it's currently international law but laws change all the time when circumstances change. If it is resource rich it will only be a matter of time before people will exploit it. If no one can lay claims then it will be a chaotic free for all that might cause worse problems.

[Slime Slayer]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

Damn Canada and it's appetite for oil.

[Dudebro]

Are you getting slow in your old age? That one was a softball.

[Slime Slayer]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

Are you getting slow in your old age? That one was a softball.

Yeah, I'm loosing it.

[Mikman]

I didn't mean that no one should use resources. I just don't believe that any country should claim international territory. If it lies within Canada, Canadians should have full access. I don't believe that Canadians should relinquish their sovereignty in anyway, either.

[Dudebro]

The land is not inside any national borders, that's the point. Several countries are looking to claim parts of it as shown by that picture I posted.

[RU Joe]

Look at the attitude of the Oil companies; they do as they please and answer to no one, hiding behind that 'corporate entity' nonsense.
I don't think anything matters to them - I'm betting if they thought Mars had oil, 'we' would have landed there decades ago.

{Rant Alert! Shields Up! WOOT WOOT!}

The dirty lying cheats feed us crappy technology piecemeal for decades whilst sitting on the better, cleaner, more efficient technology, effectively holding us in place technologically and by extension of that, they hold us back in an evolutionary sense as well and I for one am completely sick of it!

Then they present the next tier of tech to us and we marvel at its merits and thank them as we pay top dollar yet again for TOMORROW'S GARBAGE - that's all it is, over and over.

Meanwhile, advanced war machines now circle the earth using nearly - inexhaustable clean, efficient, eco - friendly fuel supplies ... those new leading - edge ion drives and such .. and I shake my head at the inequality and stupidity apparent in the situation when taken as a whole ...

and after all that, they turn around and blame US for all the pollution 'our' cars are causing and such ...

I don't even know what to say anymore really.

[Dudebro]

BBC News - Yellowstone supervolcano 'even more colossal'

A study shows that the magma chamber is about 2.5 times bigger than earlier estimates suggested.
A team found the cavern stretches for more than 90km (55 miles) and contains 200-600 cubic km of molten rock.

The last major eruption, which occurred 640,000 years ago, sent ash across the whole of North America, affecting the planet’s climate.

Scary and fascinating. This super volcano will erupt at some point, the question is when. When it does the world is in for a lot of problems, the US might be a wasteland in most parts. There's nothing we can do to stop it or reduce the damage. Life is fragile, enjoy it.

[bearhawk72]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

BBC News - Yellowstone supervolcano 'even more colossal'





Scary and fascinating. This super volcano will erupt at some point, the question is when. When it does the world is in for a lot of problems, the US might be a wasteland in most parts. There's nothing we can do to stop it or reduce the damage. Life is fragile, enjoy it.

Saw a documentary about it a while ago. If it erupts fully, a lot of the worlds population will die. It could spew so much ash into the air it would block out the sun and kill plant life

[Dudebro]

That's if it's a big eruption. It's totally possible that it could release pressure in a smaller, but still dangerous, eruption and life will go on for another million years.

[kernzy]

why don't the boffins find a way of letting off some steam?
maybe drill a hole somewhere?

[Dudebro]

I don't think it works like that with a magma chamber.

[joz]

I think that would have a pimple popping effect. All that pressure would suddenly have an exit and will blow up all over your mirror. Except instead of puss it's molten rock.

[CrispyChicken]

Well hopefully it won't happen for another 60,000 years...

[RU Joe]

DB:

the cavern stretches for more than 90km (55 miles) and contains 200-600 cubic km of molten rock. ... ..

Joz:

All that pressure would suddenly have an exit and will blow up all over your mirror.

I laughed.

[joz]

Originally Posted by ChrisP

Well hopefully it won't happen for another 60,000 years...

I'd be fine with 60. By then I'd be dead anyways.

( Click to show/hide )

[Mikman]

Perhaps we could harness this energy directly so that we get a steady supply of power while we gradually reduced the potentially damaging effects.

[Dudebro]

It's probably possible but I think harvesting the power of magma won't be a reality for quite some time.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyEwZtJKI3g]Star Wars Lava Planet Mustafar - YouTube[/ame]
It looked cool in Star Wars though.

[Slime Slayer]

Best Star Wars battle i.m.o.:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSwy412nttI]The Final Battle - Darth Vader VS. Obi-Wan - Episode III - YouTube[/ame]

[Mikman]

Duel of the Fates is fairly good, though.

I meant not direct energy from magma, but rather indirect through groundwater. Ultimately, if those hotspots become dangerous, that will force that we do something about, so why don't we now, and profit in the meantime? Unlike fossil fuels, this could actually help us.

[Dudebro]

I'm sure someone is working on it. Science is always moving forward! Right?


Mormon Church Finally Says Dark Skin is Not a Sign of God's Curse | Alternet

The Mormon Church finally renounces its previous racist stance that brown skin is a punishment from God—and other growing pains.

In the “Book of Mormon,” (not the musical but the actual sacred text) dark skin is a sign of God’s curse, while white skin is a sign of his blessing. The book tells of a conflict between two lost tribes of Israel, the Lamanites and Nephites, who journeyed to the New World and made their home in Mesoamerica. The Lamanites sinned against God, and “because of their iniquity. …the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them” (2 Nephi 5:21). Later, when Lamanites became Christians, “their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites” (3 Nephi 2:15).

During the Civil Rights Movement, the LDS Church came under pressure as such teachings became offensive to a growing number of people. Simultaneously, the church expanded its missionary efforts into Brazil where almost everyone has some slave ancestors. How pureblooded did a light-skinned man have to be to receive ordination or enter the temple? In this context, Spencer Kimball, who was now Church president, announced a new revelation in 1978, and black men were granted the priesthood. But in Mormon sacred texts, the old racism remained.

Mormons aren't racist anymore! Took them long enough.

[Mikman]

How can anyone use faith so that they justify racism? The whole point is that we are judged by actions. The text most likely refers to some physical and/or spiritual illness which God gave to them. People in the Middle East don't have white skin anyway, and how exactly are Mesoamericans "black?"

[Dudebro]

The text is pretty clear, it's racist. The darker the skin the deeper the sin.

We almost had a president who grew up with this as a sacred belief. Scary stuff.