Tom Faranda's Folly

Australia argues against Great Barrier Reef's recommended endangered status

Now this is pretty interesting. Feel free to leave a note in the comments section about how the Australians don't know what they are talking about - but the UN does based on their 10 day fact finding mission.

The UN cultural agency released a report warning that without "ambitious, rapid and sustained" climate action, the world's largest coral reef is in peril.

Australia's environment minister has said her government will lobby against a recommendation by a UN panel that the Great Barrier Reef should be listed as a world heritage site that is "in danger".

UNESCO has said the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem has been significantly impacted by climate change and the warming of the oceans.

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The report, which recommended shifting the Great Barrier Reef to endangered status, followed a 10-day mission in March to the reef off Australia's northeast coast that was added to the World Heritage list in 1981.

Canberra has lobbied for years to keep the reef - which contributes A$6.4bn (£3.6bn) to the economy - off the endangered list as it could lead to losing the heritage status, taking some shine off its attraction for tourists.

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...the new centre-left Labor party government has already addressed several of the report's concerns, including action on climate change.

"We'll very clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way" with an endangered listing, Ms Plibersek told reporters.

"The reason that UNESCO in the past has singled out a place as at risk is because they wanted to see greater government investment or greater government action and, since the change of government, both of those things have happened," she added.

The new government has legislated to commit Australia to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below the 2005 level by 2030.

The previous government only committed to a reduction of 26% to 28% by the end of the decade.

The independent Great Barrier Reef Foundation said the recommendation to add the reef to the endangered list was premature.

 

 

Friday wordle

Pew survey - religious and non-affiliated in the USA and Europe

This recent large survey by the very reputable Pew Research - quite interesting. Only takes a few minutes to read the whole thing.

"Atheists Are Sometimes More Religious Than Christians Survey shows how poorly we understand the beliefs of people who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular."

First, researchers confirmed the widely known fact that, overall, Americans are much more religious than Western Europeans. They gauged religious commitment using standard questions, including “Do you believe in God with absolute certainty?” and “Do you pray daily?”

Second, the researchers found that American “nones”—those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular—are more religious than European nones. The notion that religiously unaffiliated people can be religious at all may seem contradictory, but if you disaffiliate from organized religion it does not necessarily mean you’ve sworn off belief in God, say, or prayer.

The third finding reported in the study is by far the most striking. As it turns out, “American ‘nones’ are as religious as—or even more religious than—Christians in several European countries, including France, Germany, and the U.K.”

“That was a surprise,” Neha Sahgal, the lead researcher on the study, told me. “That’s the comparison that’s fascinating to me.” She highlighted the fact that whereas only 23 percent of European Christians say they believe in God with absolute certainty, 27 percent of American nones say this.

Hit the link for the whole article.

Thursday wordle

FTX super scammer/fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried explains things

5 minute video below. This guy actually makes super fraudster Elizabeth Holmes of Bad Blood fame (11 year prison sentence) look like a total amateur. The damage so far to individuals and many supposedly sophisticated investment firms is at least $3 billion up in smoke and as well he managed to take out for himself at least $300 million. After George Soros he was the second largest donor in the last political cycle (about $30 million, almost entirely to Democrats). He'd promised to give $1 billion to Democrats over the next political cycle. Sam's 30 years old and MIT graduate. Quite an accomplishment to pull all this off by age 30. He lives in the Bahamas. What are the chances Sam will come back to the US? The ticket price to get into this NY Times forum was $2,500.

The Wednesday wordle

Thai Buddhist temple left with no monks after they all fail drug tests (not parody or satire)

Strange. Maybe not though... Meditating? Finding inner peace? Having a vision?

The small religious site in Phetchabun province was raided by police and health officials on Monday. The departure of the monks has caused consternation in the local community, which relies on them for religious functions. There has also been concern about what will happen to several dogs and cats that also live in the temple.

Tuesday's wordle

Jordan Peterson on climate change

I love this guy. His book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos is great. Worth whatever it costs just for the first chapter.

Here he gives a reality check on our efforts to support our planet. Excellent 6 minutes.

Monday's wordle

Consistent Ethic of Life - from their recent email

Brigid an I are major supporters. This is not pie in the sky. It is life or death.

Nuclear Weapons Are Illegal 
 
        The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons went into effect on January 22, 2021. Though the nations that actually possess them didn’t ratify the treaty, the international community has made it clear they should stop.
        This is having an impact on finance: a November 2021 report shows $63 billion in investments were moved away from the companies that produce nuclear weapons in the previous two years.

Roe v. Wade Is Overturned
 
        While it doesn’t mean that people have seen the light on what’s wrong with abortion, it does remove a major obstacle toward making progress on protecting unborn children plus all of their families and communities that suffer from the violence used against them.
 
        Last year, we commemorated the tragedy of Roe and the hopefulness of the U.N. Treaty. We still observe on January 22 the anniversary of a court decision that will take us years to recuperate from even when it’s now overturned. But because after all this time it’s finally no longer in effect, and we’ll have our first protest of abortion in general rather than of the court decision in particular, we have more hope for the future. Thus, our Day of Horror and Hope has added more hope.

The Death Penalty Keeps Losing Support
 
        Despite a rise in violent crime in the U.S., two polls show that support for the death penalty is at a 50-year low.
 

^^^^^^^

 
 
Euthanasia for Depression is Ruled Unjust
 
        The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the euthanasia of a depressed woman in Belgium violated Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The woman was given a lethal injection at the age of 64 for “incurable depression,” a surprise to her psychiatrist and a deep anguish to her son. We can hope that people like this woman can get greater care than can ever be available when being killed is pushed.
 

The Sunday wordle

In his will Sports Broadcaster Vince Scully gifted Fordham U. and Fordham Prep $1 million each

This is a very nice article from the Fordham University magazine. Vince Scully was a broadcasting legend.

Sometimes referred to as the Velvet Voice, Scully was beloved for his eloquence and iconic style as an announcer, and provided inspiration for generations of sports broadcasters. Scully served the Dodgers for 67 years, retiring in 2016. He was 94 at the time of his passing on August 2.

The son of Irish immigrants, Vincent Edward Scully graduated from Fordham Prep in 1944 and went on to call baseball, basketball, and football games for WFUV—which was founded during his student years at Fordham College at Rose Hill.

“WFUV turns 75 this fall, and in the beginning, there was Vin Scully,” Singleton said. “Vin set the tone in 1947, and his influence echoes today in the quality work of WFUV’s talented young sports journalists.”

Scully kept up with Fordham over the years, taking interviews from FUV student journalists, hosting some workshops for them, and returning to campus as commencement speaker in 2000 and receiving an honorary doctorate from the University. His presence is also felt in Fordham athletics, since he played for the baseball team as a student.

In remarks after the meeting, Kull said Scully was “more than just a voice; he was an institution and a true master of his craft.”

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“As a lifelong Catholic, he had a deep appreciation for the faith foundation provided at this exceptional Jesuit institution,” said White, senior partner with Edward White & Co., LLP, in Woodland Hills, California. He noted that Scully sponsored him during his own conversion to Catholicism. “He loved the foundation that he received, spiritually and academically. Every time he spoke of Fordham, it was glowing.”

 

Saturday wordle

Some Black Friday humor - check the last one ...

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Baby Hippo Raised By Rhinos Meets A Hippo...

Pretty cool. This youtube channel has 12 and a half million subscribers.

 

Friday's wordle

Brooklyn mother cooks & serves Thanksgiving meal to New Yorkers on L train

My friend Nancy sent me this cool story - hit the link and see the two minute video.

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/brooklyn-mother-cooks-and-later-serves-thanksgiving-meal-to-new-yorkers-on-l-train/

 

"Fired Twitter Employee Applies For First Real Job"

Ok, funny. Three million views in one week. I think they used the young lady for a number of their videos.

 

The Thanksgiving wordle

I had a feeling the Thanksgiving wordle would have something to do with Thanksgiving. Sure enough ...

Thanksgiving walk through Brinton Brook Santuary

The Brinton Brook Sanctuary is about 7 minutes from our house. I went for a walk while Brigid was doing the heavy lifting for our Thanksgiving meal. There's a number of trails - I took a leisurely walk of 2.2 miles, chatting to a few people and taking some pictures. Took 55 minutes.

Couple of pictures of the pond which is about 160 yards long and maybe 80 yards wide.

From the south end

From the west side

In a couple of places there are wooden raised platform pathways. They are only a couple of years old - presumably to make the path more passable when there's lots of mud.

A nice modest walk in the woods, in very good weather.

 

 

Turkeys unite with interesting PR strategy

Wednesday wordle

WSJ: "Anti-Woke Bank GloriFi to Shut Down" - not satire or parody

Texas startup has laid off most employees after failing to secure more funding

GloriFi has laid off most of its employees and told them that it is closing up shop, according to people familiar with the matter and emails to employees reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. 

The company’s fate became clear on Friday, when funding that it hoped would carry it through the first quarter fell through, Cathy Landtroop, the company’s chief marketing and communications officer, said in an email to employees.

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GloriFi’s app made its debut in September. The company said customers could open checking and savings accounts and apply for credit cards. The app was aimed at people who saw Wall Street as too liberal and wanted a bank that shared their values.

An October article in the Journal detailed GloriFi’s turbulent start. The company missed launch dates, blaming faulty technology and failures by vendors, and laid off dozens of employees. Some employees said that founder Toby Neugebauer had a volatile temper and drank on the job, and that the company’s unusual workspace—Mr. Neugebauer’s home—added distractions.

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“This is a devastating day,” Mr. Neugebauer wrote in an email to employees.

 

Tuesday wordle - an ace!

Yay! These are always a bit of skill and lots of luck. This took about 30 seconds. Luck...

Soccer World Cup stunner: Saudi Arabia beats Argentina!?!?!? Amazing - and the coach behind the win

Wow. I don't know much soccer, but Argentina is one of the favorites to win the World Cup while Saudi Arabia ranked #51 in the world.

Here are the highlights - Argentina had three goals disallowed in the first half. Two were definitely for offsides, not sure of the other.  Below the highlights a link to an interesting article in the WSJ on the Saudi French coach.

 

 

The French Mastermind Behind Saudi’s Historic Upset of Argentina Hervé Renard has made it his specialty to turn around national teams in Africa and Asia

Weeks before sending the Saudi Arabia national team off to the World Cup, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman summoned the players and staff for a meeting. He wanted to look them in the eye before they became his soccer envoys to Qatar.

His message was clear: Just do your best.

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“He didn’t put any pressure on us,” Saudi manager Hervé Renard said here. “This is the way you have to work in football. When you put too much pressure, it isn’t always working all the time.”

Except this time, it worked. In one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, Saudi Arabia—ranked No. 51 in the world—took down two-time champion Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday. The result immediately joined the list of all-time stunners, alongside Senegal upsetting defending champion France in 2002, North Korea beating Italy in 1966, the U.S. taking down England in 1950 and Cameroon shocking Argentina in 1990. 

According to data analysts Nielsen Gracenote, it ranks as the World Cup’s most unlikely result of all time, with just an 8.7% chance before kickoff.

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Saudi hardly expected that kind of impact from its national soccer team. In six appearances at the World Cup, it has only survived the group stage once, in 1994, when it lost in the round of 16. A similar result this time, in a group featuring Argentina, Mexico, and Poland seemed about as realistic as a snowman in the desert. Not one member of the Saudi squad plays his club soccer outside the country and the team won just four of its 11 games this year before the World Cup.

By November, however, Renard had transformed the Falcons, as the team is known, into a well-drilled side that seized its limited opportunities, rode its luck, and bent without breaking for the last half-hour of the game. Saudi Arabia’s solidity came as no surprise to his longtime friend and French countryman, the former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“They were physically superior, well organized, and mentally prepared,” Wenger said in a text message.

After the game, Renard was the first to remind his squad that once their 20-minute celebration was over, they still had everything to achieve at this tournament. The Saudis weren’t out of the group stage yet, nor should they get carried away. “Relax,” Renard said he told the team. “You are from Saudi. Do you know the first quality of the Saudi player? When they are winning, they are flying.” 

“You think you are one of the best teams in the world?” he added. “Keep your [feet] on the ground.”

But once Renard left the locker room, he could begin to appreciate what he had just pulled off. His team from a soccer backwater in the desert had gone a long way to eliminating Messi, one of the greatest players of all time, from the final World Cup of his career. The Kingdom even declared Wednesday a national holiday. 

Trump back on twitter; Taliban quits in protest

The legitimate government's final tweet read, "So long, and thanks for all the American weapons!"

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Individuals and organizations are quitting Twitter in droves to protest Elon Musk's "recklessly violent" decision to reinstate Donald Trump's Twitter account, chief among them the Taliban.

The legitimate government's final tweet read, "So long, and thanks for all the American weapons!"

"Long has Twitter served as a safe haven of free speech for North Korea, Iran, Al Qaeda, and ourselves," said Taliban Spokesman Badrash Onmyrhir, still tired from a long day of lashing young women for daring to remove their head scarves. "But with Trump's return to the platform, we no longer feel safe from his violent and hurtful tweets."

North Korean Press Secretary, Hae Yu Suk applauded the Taliban's decision, saying: "We, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea have followed The Taliban's courageous gesture and have quit Twitter for fears that allowing a violent lunatic access to the free speech platform may lead to the deaths of millions."

Al Qaeda is reportedly up in the air about quitting Twitter, stating legitimate fears that Trump's mean tweets could reign terror upon the world, while at the same time recognizing Twitter as a powerful tool for recruiting suicide bombers.

At publishing time, the Taliban had already resumed using Twitter, stating in a tweet, "After pausing for much of the weekend to assess our concerns, The Taliban is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation."

Epic rugby: England vs. New Zealand, played in London

YIKES! A result you don't see very often.

 

Monday's wordle

Wall Street Journal rates the twenty largest and thirty mid-size USA airports.

An interesting and long set of articles. I was sure they were going to rate JFK as the worst of the 20 but I was wrong. JFK came in 19 out of twenty. The worst? Newark!

The best? San Francisco. 2nd and 3rd place went to Atlanta and Minneapolis.

Among mid-sized airports, where did La Guardia rank? 30th out of 30.

WSJ has a paywall, but sometimes you can get through it.

This year’s airport report card ranks the 50 largest U.S. airports on 19 factors from on-time performance and security waits to J.D. Power customer-satisfaction score and ticket prices. Reliability matters most to passengers and carries the most weight in our rankings. The airports are divided in two categories: the 20 biggest, by number of passengers, and the next 30, categorized as midsize.

Sacramento International Airport, just 100 miles northeast of SFO and a competitor for some Northern California fliers, nabbed the top spot among midsize airports and the highest score overall. Airport director Cindy Nichol, who used to work at San Francisco International, attributes Sacramento’s high score to good weather, plenty of runway space and customer service. The airport’s landscapers even pitch in to direct travelers, she says, earning passenger compliments.

The San Diego and San Jose airports were Nos. 2 and 3 among midsize airports, creating a California trifecta.

The worst performers in the large and midsize classes, respectively, were Newark and LaGuardia Airport. Both are plagued by flight delays and other issues but have big plans for fixes. LaGuardia’s physical makeover is already well under way and you won’t recognize the place if it’s been a while. And Newark’s new Terminal A makes its debut in early December.

 

Sunday wordle

Fraudster embezzler: " "Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Sentenced to Over 11 Years in Prison"

A short video. And below are links to two other videos I have posted in the past. The first an interview seven years ago as she defends herself after the Wall Street Journal writer exposed her. Virtually everything she says in the interview is a lie. The second is an interview with John Carreyrou, the writer who broke the story and wrote Bad Blood the book about the whole scheme. An amazing book.

The interview defending herself seven years ago - what a master manipulator!

Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes: Firing Back At Doubters

And the interview with the journalist who first exposed her -

Bad Blood Author Carreyrou On Elizabeth Holmes And Theranos

 

Saturday wordle