Politics

I think it dovetails with Obama's lecture to "brothers" to vote for a woman.
I need to see him, pluck, gut, and prepare that Rooster
I wouldn't put it past Walz to slip a hen in your bird vest as trade for one of your roosters and lie like hell if he got caught.
 
It’s just another example of human arrogance to think we will have any lasting impact on the planet


Even if you unleashed every nuke on the planet, burned every bit of carbon available.

it wouldn’t be a fraction of the impact that the tectonic plate shift had, asteroids, heating and cooling periods , the magnetic pole reversals.

The planet will eventually shrug us off like a case of the sniffles.
On this, I disagree (except the last sentence, anyway).

There's a couple of things to unpick in the 'can humans actually have lasting impact' topic.

Firstly, can ANY biological organism have a lasting impact on the planet? This one is very easy to answer, and it's a resounding yes. To prove it, one can just look at our atmosphere and the geological record.

3.5bn years ago, an insignificant little microbe evolved an insignificant metabolic pathway, and fundamentally changed the course of the planet. That pathway? Photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis, for the first time in 2bn years, placed substantial amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. The impact was, and is, profound. Earth is the ONLY planet in the solar system with much free oxygen. Biological processes are the only known mechanism by which that can occur. Oxygen is highly reactive with basically everything and so without a constant, high level source of production, it rapidly gets removed into oxides. See Mars or Venus as examples.

The impact of this Great Oxidation Event has persisted for billions of years, more than half the time the Earth has existed. It is significant and it is long lasting. It massively changed climate, and geological processes, life, and everything else. It resulted in a drop in atmospheric CO2 from 97%, to levels not that different from today and subsequently caused a global mass extinction of anaerobic bacteria (ie basically all life forms at the time) more wide ranging and comprehensive than the Permian Great Dying, or the Cretaceous asteroid impact.

The sequestration of CO2 by plant life in the Carboniferous is another, although far less impactful, example of this.

Secondly. Are humans able to have a lasting impact? The answer here is also a yes. In 1907, humanity developed synthetic plastics. They've since spread to every corner of the planet, from Everest, to the atmosphere, to the deep ocean, to every living organism. Plastics will be a key marker of humanity in the geological record, measurably changing the composition of sedimentary rocks from this period in a way detectable for at least millions of years. Probably an impact detectable long after the demise of our own species.

Humans have also significantly changed the fossil record, in a way that will be detectable for a very long time. Not only by dumping a load of our own organic matter into it, but also by significantly changing the range of other organisms. The mega faunal extinctions of 50-000-13,000 years ago will be observable in the fossil record of this planet for all time (or at least until the Sun goes full red giant and vaporizes everything). So will some of the impacts of our agriculture in terms of ranges for species, relative prevalence of those species, etc. Maize in Europe, Potatoes in Europe, 2 row Barley in the Americas as examples. So will the elimination of diseases like smallpox, rinderpest and probably more in the years to come. That is a profound and long lasting impact.

CO2 in the atmosphere is also a potential impact here. We know that life can change atmospheric composition (photosynthesis). We know that life has in the past impacted (reduced) CO2 levels (carboniferous, photosynthesis). We know that these changes in the past have lead to major changes in biological diversity and the ragne of other organisms (mass extinctions). We know we are releasing CO2 into the atmosphere that has stayed out of it for hundreds of millions of years. Will that have an impact? Up for debate, but it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility, and it also doesn't seem impossible that this impact may persist for a long time.

Finally, nuclear holocaust. If we as a species go down that road, it will have immense impacts on this planet that will again persist for a very long time in the fossil record, and in geology. We might not be around to care, but the impact to all ecosystems will be profound, and persistent, and measurable, for billions of years, just as every other mass extinction (some of which can also be laid at the feet of living organisms) has been.

Going back to your suggestion that this is arrogance. I'd simply ask: Is it arrogance to think that humans may have a measurable and long lasting impact on the planet when so many other organisms have already done so?

I don't think so, even if personally I think we're rather overstating our current impact versus the wider geological context, mostly due to proximity.

The only point up for debate is if this impact is profound enough to 'matter' and if it is, do we plan to do anything about it. That's a political question, not a scientific one in my mind, and not one we have many good, evidence based, answers for.
 
About that, I agree absolutely. But some of the outrage on the right has simply not been true either.
Absolutely, being a child of the 80’s I’ve never seen either party tell the full truth on any crisis.

Helene didn’t hit an area full of Democrats with a republican in office like Katrina did; so the media isn’t running it 24/7 and just like the Maui fire it seems to be regarded as an inconvenience.

Combined with FEMA resources being used on the border the current administration didn’t foresee a Murphy’s law showing up with two storms.
 
Arizona has prop 140 on the ballot. A ranked choice voting system.

Vote no on prop 140
c3971a5d6c3e838f.jpg
 
On this, I disagree (except the last sentence, anyway).

There's a couple of things to unpick in the 'can humans actually have lasting impact' topic.

Firstly, can ANY biological organism have a lasting impact on the planet? This one is very easy to answer, and it's a resounding yes. To prove it, one can just look at our atmosphere and the geological record.

3.5bn years ago, an insignificant little microbe evolved an insignificant metabolic pathway, and fundamentally changed the course of the planet. That pathway? Photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis, for the first time in 2bn years, placed substantial amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. The impact was, and is, profound. Earth is the ONLY planet in the solar system with much free oxygen. Biological processes are the only known mechanism by which that can occur. Oxygen is highly reactive with basically everything and so without a constant, high level source of production, it rapidly gets removed into oxides. See Mars or Venus as examples.

The impact of this Great Oxidation Event has persisted for billions of years, more than half the time the Earth has existed. It is significant and it is long lasting. It massively changed climate, and geological processes, life, and everything else. It resulted in a drop in atmospheric CO2 from 97%, to levels not that different from today and subsequently caused a global mass extinction of anaerobic bacteria (ie basically all life forms at the time) more wide ranging and comprehensive than the Permian Great Dying, or the Cretaceous asteroid impact.

The sequestration of CO2 by plant life in the Carboniferous is another, although far less impactful, example of this.

Secondly. Are humans able to have a lasting impact? The answer here is also a yes. In 1907, humanity developed synthetic plastics. They've since spread to every corner of the planet, from Everest, to the atmosphere, to the deep ocean, to every living organism. Plastics will be a key marker of humanity in the geological record, measurably changing the composition of sedimentary rocks from this period in a way detectable for at least millions of years. Probably an impact detectable long after the demise of our own species.

Humans have also significantly changed the fossil record, in a way that will be detectable for a very long time. Not only by dumping a load of our own organic matter into it, but also by significantly changing the range of other organisms. The mega faunal extinctions of 50-000-13,000 years ago will be observable in the fossil record of this planet for all time (or at least until the Sun goes full red giant and vaporizes everything). So will some of the impacts of our agriculture in terms of ranges for species, relative prevalence of those species, etc. Maize in Europe, Potatoes in Europe, 2 row Barley in the Americas as examples. So will the elimination of diseases like smallpox, rinderpest and probably more in the years to come. That is a profound and long lasting impact.

CO2 in the atmosphere is also a potential impact here. We know that life can change atmospheric composition (photosynthesis). We know that life has in the past impacted (reduced) CO2 levels (carboniferous, photosynthesis). We know that these changes in the past have lead to major changes in biological diversity and the ragne of other organisms (mass extinctions). We know we are releasing CO2 into the atmosphere that has stayed out of it for hundreds of millions of years. Will that have an impact? Up for debate, but it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility, and it also doesn't seem impossible that this impact may persist for a long time.

Finally, nuclear holocaust. If we as a species go down that road, it will have immense impacts on this planet that will again persist for a very long time in the fossil record, and in geology. We might not be around to care, but the impact to all ecosystems will be profound, and persistent, and measurable, for billions of years, just as every other mass extinction (some of which can also be laid at the feet of living organisms) has been.

Going back to your suggestion that this is arrogance. I'd simply ask: Is it arrogance to think that humans may have a measurable and long lasting impact on the planet when so many other organisms have already done so?

I don't think so, even if personally I think we're rather overstating our current impact versus the wider geological context, mostly due to proximity.

The only point up for debate is if this impact is profound enough to 'matter' and if it is, do we plan to do anything about it. That's a political question, not a scientific one in my mind, and not one we have many good, evidence based, answers for.
Huh? Your example of CO2, cause and effect, on atmospheric/climate conditions, may be
backwards. Just like Big Al’s famous “hockey stick” graph of cause and effect was backwards. Are you certain that the extremely small increase of CO2 is causing warming? No. it’s not a trick question. What about warming causing increase of animal (bacteria) biomass which in turn increases CO2? … :)

What has happened is that politicians and bureaucrats (the ruling class) have successfully convinced a large percentage of the population that CO2 is a pollutant. It’s even been codified as such! Convince the population that they are the problem, then justify larger government under control of an educated and enlightened ruling class. Ah hah!

The idea that warming causes increase in CO2 doesn’t fit the man-caused increase of CO2 causing warming does it. Not to mention that water vapor is the number one greenhouse gas which has magnitudes greater affect on warming than CO2. What? So now those so inclined are going to blame industrialized humans for causing the increase in global atmospheric water vapor? :).

Additionally, the concept of dynamic equilibrium hasn’t even been touched on yet.

And, the Earth’s Carboniferous period is unique in large scale known oxidation events?? I think not. The results of one such event is visible to the naked eye some 140 million mile away. If I’m wrong, explain why Mars is red… :):)

… and so on
 
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Zero shots. Zero Pheasant's.

Staged Photo op.

More cameras than guns. They stop and pose for pictures halfway through, you can hear the camera shutter operating. And look at all the people bundled together in the background.

Pure publicity stunt. No hunting involved.
 
Huh? Your example of CO2, cause and effect, on atmospheric/climate conditions, may be
backwards. Just like Big Al’s famous “hockey stick” graph of cause and effect was backwards. Are you certain that the extremely small increase of CO2 is causing warming? No. it’s not a trick question. What about warming causing increase of animal (bacteria) biomass which in turn increases CO2? … :)

What has happened is that politicians and bureaucrats (the ruling class) have successfully convinced a large percentage of the population that CO2 is a pollutant. It’s even been codified as such! Convince the population that they are the problem, then justify larger government under control of an educated and enlightened ruling class. Ah hah!

The idea that warming causes increase in CO2 doesn’t fit the man-caused increase of CO2 causing warming does it. Not to mention that water vapor is the number one greenhouse gas which has magnitudes greater affect on warming than CO2. What? So now those so inclined are going to blame industrialized humans for causing the increase in global atmospheric water vapor? :).

Additionally, the concept of dynamic equilibrium hasn’t even been touched on yet.

And, the Earth’s Carboniferous period is unique in large scale known oxidation events?? I think not. The results of one such event is visible to the naked eye some 140 million mile away. If I’m wrong, explain why Mars is red… :):)

… and so on
I didn't make any claims on CO2 causing or not causing changing climate. I didn't make any claims as to if CO2 is a pollutant. I made not commentary what so ever on climate change, let alone whatever the drivers of it may be. It's not the topic of the post and I'm not sure why you jumped to that conclusion.

What I am talking about, is if humans, or any other organism, can measurably change the long term conditions on Earth. On that topic, I am claiming that it is undeniable that plant or animal activity on Earth CAN measurably change the level of atmospheric gases, both CO2 and oxygen. That is simple fact. It has happened many times, most notably with the advent of photosynthesis.

The carboniferous was not an oxidation event. It was a CO2 sequestration event. Which is what I said.

The 'Great Oxidation Event' (so named in literature - link: https://asm.org/articles/2022/february/the-great-oxidation-event-how-cyanobacteria-change) relates to the oxidation of the atmosphere due to the advent of photosynthetic bacteria, roughly 3bn years BEFORE the Carboniferous.

It is the exact OPPOSITE of what happens on Mars, or anywhere else in the solar system, which involves the REMOVAL of O2 from the atmosphere into oxides, in Mars' case primarily ferrous oxides, which is why Mars is red, and has basically no atmospheric oxygen to speak of (approx 1/10,000 of the level on Earth). I agree it's a confusing term because we typically think of 'oxidation' in terms of oxidizing metals or minerals, which is not what the event describes.

Overall, I think we're speaking across each other here, or you've misinterpreted what I've written. Hopefully this clarifies my position!
 
Not sure if this was posted, but I just caught the headline. For the first time in something like 32 years, the number of Americans identifying as Republicans (42%) outnumbered Democrats (40%).
2020 it was a 6 point lead for Dems, 7 points in 2016, and 2012 was 9 points.

If true, this is more proof of the alienation that I and many others feel from the Democratic Party as of late.
 
Walz is my Governor in the State of Minnesota. Please do not vote for this man. If you value your free speech and gun rights they will be in danger, grave danger. He let Minneapolis burn for 3 days before calling in the National Guard to end the riot. 1300 businesses were destroyed, 300 of those were burned to the ground.
 

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Grz63 wrote on x84958's profile.
Good Morning x84958
I have read your post about Jamy Traut and your hunt in Caprivi. I am planning such a hunt for 2026, Oct with Jamy.
Just a question , because I will combine Caprivi and Panorama for PG, is the daily rate the same the week long, I mean the one for Caprivi or when in Panorama it will be a PG rate ?
thank you and congrats for your story.
Best regards
Philippe from France
dlmac wrote on Buckums's profile.
ok, will do.
Grz63 wrote on Doug Hamilton's profile.
Hello Doug,
I am Philippe from France and plan to go hunting Caprivi in 2026, Oct.
I have read on AH you had some time in Vic Falls after hunting. May I ask you with whom you have planned / organized the Chobe NP tour and the different visits. (with my GF we will have 4 days and 3 nights there)
Thank in advance, I will appreciate your response.
Merci
Philippe
 
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