NSW removes protection for marine parks 11 Nov 201311 Nov 2013 I received this from NYU CUNY philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith: The NSW government recently decided to temporarily lift the ban on line fishing in NSW marine sanctuaries. They may well decide to make the new regime permanent, effectively abolishing all real marine sanctuaries in the state. This is such a bad step backwards. I’ve heard that the Abbott govt is closely watching what happens here, and may move in this direction at a Federal level too. Some basics from the government: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/460367/Factsheet-beaches-and-headlands.pdf It’s a bit hard to tell exactly what’s covered and what’s not, I realize. Peter has a post on this at his site GiantCuttlefish.com. Australian stuff Ecology and Biodiversity Politics NSW drops protection for marine parks
Censorship The road to hell 29 Dec 200818 Sep 2017 In the final chapter of Terry Pratchett’s Eric, the wizard Rincewind and the boy Eric are climbing out of hell on steep steps. He looked down at the broad steps they were climbing. They were something of a novelty; each one was built out of large stone letters. The one… Read More
Politics Commander in Chief 1 Jul 2008 This is me commenting on American politics again. Sorry. I am somewhat amazed at the furore over Wesley Clark’s comment that being a prisoner of war doesn’t automatically make one qualified as Commander in Chief of the armed services, a position that the President fulfills. Not only is that true,… Read More
Biology Counterintuition: Bdelloid Rotifers 1 Oct 2009 A while back, it was noticed that there was an “ancient asexual scandal” (Judson 1996): Bdelloid Rotifers. These are cool little animals that live in ponds and streams, but which go against the received wisdom that sex is a hedge against environmental challenges that asexual organisms cannot have without some… Read More