Because what's in the bible matters to science

[Steve O'Shea]

Or the "Squid War"......

After a series of warnings, an Argentine warship began to fire at a Taiwanese squid trawler, leaving the vessel in flames. The casualties: one Taiwanese killed, one missing and five injured.

The clash was the latest round in Argentina's improbable Squid War, in which the Buenos Aires government, claiming control over its coastal waters to a distance of 200 miles, has been trying to clear the region of as many as 300 foreign trawlers. Over the past month, the Argentines have chased or captured fishing boats from Spain, Japan, Poland and Taiwan. The Taiwanese vessel may have been trying to escape the warship by heading toward the 150-mile-deep British exclusion zone around the Falkland Islands. Taiwan was furious. Britain, which fought Argentina to retain the Falklands in 1982, denounced the latest action as "excessive and unjustified."

 

[sorseress]

.... and do not forget the "Octopus War"

"Later, during the same year, the Peace Keepers (ECOMOG) arrived and began rescue missions. My sister and I were rescued from the bloody hands of the rebels. This unfortunately did not last long and in 1992 another deadly war broke out which was even worse than the previous. It was called the Octopus War as it spread throughout most of Liberia. Countless of thousands of children lost their parents to senseless killings and everybody started to fend for them selves no matter on what side you were previously on. As the saying goes in Liberia; everyone for himself or herself, only God is for everyone."

Thanks for posting that. There are probably a lot more that could be posted, and lots more we'll probably never know about. I agree with the writer's last remark. By the way, Charles Taylor was captured today (in Sierra Leone I think).

 

[sorseress]

Next thing you know it will be the Squid Vs. Octopus. Why can't we all just get along

 

[sorseress]

Nice list. I still don't see religion as being a major cause of war, but I agree that it can often make them worse. It strengthens the perception of the "otherness" of opponents, allowing them to be dehumanized and treated more brutally. It also suppresses critical thinking and removes accountability. Wars are almost always fought over land and resources. Saying that you're fighting in the name of some god typically allows you to fight harder and dirtier, and is pretty useful when you want to persuade lower-class people to do the fighting but not reap their fair share of the material gains.

Typically leaders of countries that choose to go to war will exaggerate, obfuscate and prevaricate in order to convince the majority of citizens that the war is necessary for defense of the nation or it's values. Once the people have been convinced of the necessity of war it isn't very difficult to get them to accept brutality and the loss of civil liberties. Throw in uber patriotism and religion and self righteous fervor, and any hope for critical thinking and accountability is doomed.
(Sorry, I don't have any Umlauts.)

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Sorry, I don't have any Umlauts.

Here ü go, dear šöŕšëŗëšš

 

[sorseress]

Oh great! Now if I could just transfer them from your post to my fonts!

 

[Tintenfisch]

On most PCs, ü = Alt+129, ö = Alt +148, and ä = Alt+132.

 

[sorseress]

Really? I never knew that. Thanks, I'll try it out.

 

[cletusthebold]

I think perhaps Monty is right. I may have waxed too opinionated. I apologise unreservedly.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

....that we may have unintended impact on the intellectual ecology, and it would be a shame to bring invasive species into the TONMO ecosystem...

This is such an interesting analogy(!!), but I just want to point out one thing. We tend to think of invasives as 'biosecurity risks' (in an ecological sense), but I have some reservations. This year I have three 3rd-year students looking at the role of invasive species in marine food chains, particularly those in extensively impacted environments (i.e. any area with urban development - harbours). I have a sneaking suspicion that we will find that these invasives play a very important role in maintaining biodiversity (marine that is). It boils down (and back) to the distinction between eological and economic sustainability (an invasive can seriously impact an aquaculture venture, but at the same time, given the environment is so modified, with food chains reduced to a few strong links [rather than many weak links] they may be eaten by many other species, including those fish that recreational fisherfolk target).

We'll have an update or two as the year progresses, and I'll try and get these lot to post articles online.

 

[DHyslop]

I know some people have looked at this in the fossil record. This reference comes to mind.

Rode, A.L., Lieberman, B.S., 2004, Using GIS to unlock the interactions between biogeography, environment, and evolution in Middle and Late Devonian brachiopods and bivalves. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 211 pp. 345-359

The Late Devonian was a time of profound evolutionary and environmental change associated with the Frasnian-Famennian biodiversity crisis. One way to unravel the faunal dynamics of this complex crisis is to document the spatial and temporal patterns associated with biodiversity decline. This analysis investigates the relationship between biogeography, relative sea level, and environmental changes in Laurentian brachiopod and bivalve species during the Givetian through Famennian Stages (upper Middle to terminal Devonian). Representatives from all major brachiopod and bivalve clades and paleocommunities were examined to provide a cross-faunal comparison. Species' ranges were reconstructed both spatially and temporally (at the level of conodont zones) using GIS to understand the timing and extent of species invasions and the importance of geographic range during the crisis interval. Species' geographic ranges were linked closely with both relative sea-level change and depositional environment and expanded as relative sea-level rose. In addition, times of interbasinal species invasions corresponded closely with sea-level rises that breached tectonic barriers. Species with larger geographic ranges were more resistant to extinction during the Late Devonian. This relationship is reflected partly in a general trend towards increased extinction resistance in taxa that are found farther offshore in environments that potentially included more area. For example, there is an increased survival advantage for species that inhabited the middle and outer platform environments, though not for species inhabiting the open shelf. Additionally, species whose Givetian to Frasnian history includes at least one interbasinal invasion event were more likely to survive the Late Devonian biodiversity crisis than noninvasive species; this may have relevance for our understanding of the current biodiversity crisis, given the role that invasive species are playing in mediating modern extinctions.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

.....this may have relevance for our understanding of the current biodiversity crisis, given the role that invasive species are playing in mediating modern extinctions.

You ripper!!! I love this interdisciplinary stuff! We're always reinventing the wheel!

 

[DHyslop]

At least I can be of service to somebody else's supervisor, LOL!

 

[bigGdelta]

I seem to recall some information as to some australian snakes evolving to be able to tolerate the toxins in the cane toad. I used to live in florida and there are invasives everywhere -- cuban tree frog, med house gekko, peacock bass, lion fish , brown basilisk, burmese pythons ...the list goes on and on. i'd love to jump 10,000 years into the future to see the new equilibrium.

 

[cthulhu77]

The great leap forward won't be for another 20 or 30 thousand years...and then, into certain species of insects.

Ah well, I must go...meteors eat at the mind gate.