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3 big stories that we seem to have forgotten about.....Follow

#1 Dec 08 2009 at 1:40 PM Rating: Decent
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3 Things that have been big news over the last 10 years that have drifted into obscurity.....

I'll start. Feel free to add yours.....


1. SARS.
It was going to be the virus that would equal the 1918 epidemic that killed upwards of 50 million people worldwide. Even tho it eventually killed only 750 people worldwide, it was the event that got people to fear the common cold and anyone who sneezed within a hundred feet. It also made an absolute fortune for anyone in the business of disposable surgical masks. It also made travel even more of a pain in the *****

2. Anthrax attacks in the USA.

The anthrax powder sent thru the mail to people in the media and to a couple of US senators was eventually blamed on Bruce Ivins, a scientist who worked at the government's biodefense labs. He conveniently killed himself with a paracetamol overdose (poor choice for someone in the know) just as he was informed of the impending prosecution. He was conveniently declared the sole culprit.

At the time of the attacks the Whitehouse exerted huge pressure on Robert Mueller of the FBI to blame someone in the Middle East, particularly Al Qaeda and OBL, and by October Iraq had been implicated by many public figures including Bush, Cheney and McCain.

3. Climate change.

Even tho we've all been bombarded constantly by predictions of impending doom, i have yet to witness the sea level rise, an ice cap melt away, a pacific island sink or a mass extinction.

What I have witnessed is a huge rise in the number of air-miles travelled by scientists and concerned politicians attending meetings where nothing is achieved, but massive amounts of funding is allotted. I have also witnessed huge amounts of concern being vocalised by the public as they continue living, travelling, eating, consuming and breeding in what are obviously completely unsustainable ways.

And a bonus no 4.

Bush's 2004 plan to spend US$12 billion over the next 5 years to get Americans back on the moon by 2020.
"We do not know where this journey will end, yet we know this -- human beings are headed into the cosmos, mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives and lifts our national spirit." He said.

The world laughed. The project doesn't seem to have made it very far as yet.




Edited, Dec 9th 2009 2:16am by paulsol
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#2 Dec 08 2009 at 1:49 PM Rating: Excellent
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(1) I don't think the SARS scare ever really hit home here in the US. The pictures of commuters all wearing masks was more of an Asian thing. Around here (here meaning around by me, not the entire US), I don't think I heard anyone talking about it except to cough or sneeze and jokingly say "I bet I have the SARS!"

(2) It did sort of fizzle out. I think it got knocked off the front page by the DC Sniper thing and never really regained the public interest. I'm not particularly interested in conspiracy theories regarding Ivins' suicide.

(3) New thread every week, sometimes two.

(4) Did anyone take this seriously?

Edited, Dec 8th 2009 1:53pm by Jophiel
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#3 Dec 08 2009 at 1:50 PM Rating: Good
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Rather than a critique, I was aiming for some more suggestions.....
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"If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders". Carlin.

#4 Dec 08 2009 at 1:53 PM Rating: Excellent
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Ya write yer posts then ya read yer responses...
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#5 Dec 08 2009 at 1:53 PM Rating: Good
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Elian Gonzalez. Wonder what that kid's up to these days.
#6 Dec 08 2009 at 1:54 PM Rating: Good
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Bardalicious wrote:
Elian Gonzalez. Wonder what that kid's up to these days.
He's probably involved in a giant scandal, because he wants to go back to Florida.
#7 Dec 08 2009 at 1:57 PM Rating: Excellent
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AshOnMyTomatoes wrote:
Bardalicious wrote:
Elian Gonzalez. Wonder what that kid's up to these days.
He's probably involved in a giant scandal, because he wants to go back to Florida.


They found out he wasn't in the baloon.
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#8 Dec 08 2009 at 1:58 PM Rating: Excellent
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Wikipedia wrote:
González joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008 shortly after graduating junior high school. Elian now 16 is in military school in Cuba
#9 Dec 08 2009 at 1:58 PM Rating: Excellent
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How 'bout that there Y2K thing? Huh? Huh?
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#10 Dec 08 2009 at 2:21 PM Rating: Good
Edited by bsphil
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paulsol wrote:
i have yet to witness an ice cap melt away
Seriously? That has been pretty decently documented. You can't sit out on a boat and watch it happen, much like how never having witnessed one species give birth to a totally difference species doesn't mean that evolution is disproven...
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Almalieque wrote:
If no one debated with me, then I wouldn't post here anymore.
Take the hint guys, please take the hint.
gbaji wrote:
I'm not getting my news from anywhere Joph.
#11 Dec 08 2009 at 2:43 PM Rating: Excellent
Have some polar ice caps melting.

http://geology.com/nasa/antarctic-ice-sheet-melting.shtml

With some drowning polar bears on top.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece
#12 Dec 08 2009 at 3:00 PM Rating: Decent
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paulsol wrote:
3. Climate change.

Even tho we've all been bombarded constantly by predictions of impending doom, i have yet to witness the sea level rise, an ice cap melt away, a pacific island sink or a mass extinction.

What I have witnessed is a huge rise in the number of air-miles travelled by scientists and concerned politicians attending meetings where nothing is achieved, but massive amounts of funding is allotted. I have also witnessed huge amounts of concern being vocalised by the public as they continue living, travelling, eating, consuming and breeding in what are obviously completely unsustainable ways.

Well, it may not happen, so there's absolutely no reason to do anything about it.
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we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
#13 Dec 08 2009 at 3:04 PM Rating: Excellent
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bsphil wrote:
paulsol wrote:
i have yet to witness an ice cap melt away
Seriously? That has been pretty decently documented. You can't sit out on a boat and watch it happen, much like how never having witnessed one species give birth to a totally difference species doesn't mean that evolution is disproven...


You can watch a liger being born.

Or use time lapse filming to see an icecap melt. Or just have a lot of time on your hands.

Edited, Dec 8th 2009 4:08pm by Timelordwho
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#14 Dec 08 2009 at 3:09 PM Rating: Good
Another story we forgot about: Acorngate!

Turns out, they didn't actually do anything illegal.

http://acorn.org/index.php?id=12439&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=22632&tx_ttnews[backPid]=12387&cHash=22450ecc36

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/acorn_report_finds_no_illegal_conduct.php

Oh, and the videos were heavily edited and dubbed over:

TPM wrote:
The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O'Keefe's and Ms. Giles's comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.


ACORN is suing for libel, and also for illegally videotaping without permission.
#15 Dec 08 2009 at 5:31 PM Rating: Decent
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catwho wrote:
Have some polar ice caps melting.

http://geology.com/nasa/antarctic-ice-sheet-melting.shtml

With some drowning polar bears on top.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece

From your link.
Quote:
The team found that the net loss of ice mass from Antarctica increased from 112 (plus or minus 91) gigatonnes a year in 1996 to 196 (plus or minus 92) gigatonnes a year in 2006.

Quote:

enough ice to raise global sea level by 0.3 millimeters (.01 inches) a year in 1996, to 0.5 millimeters (.02 inches) a year in 2006.


Thats it! I'm moving to higher ground!



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#16 Dec 08 2009 at 6:58 PM Rating: Good
catwho wrote:
Have some polar ice caps melting.

http://geology.com/nasa/antarctic-ice-sheet-melting.shtml

With some drowning polar bears on top.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece
/facepalm

Is it too much to ask that you not imply that there are polar bears in the Antarctic?
#17 Dec 08 2009 at 7:03 PM Rating: Good
I was wondering if someone would comment on that!

I don't think the penguins are in as dire straights as the polar bears just yet. They have SOME ice left.
#18 Dec 08 2009 at 7:45 PM Rating: Decent
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MDenham wrote:
catwho wrote:
Have some polar ice caps melting.

http://geology.com/nasa/antarctic-ice-sheet-melting.shtml

With some drowning polar bears on top.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece
/facepalm

Is it too much to ask that you not imply that there are polar bears in the Antarctic?

On top. As in, on top of the world. When oriented with North on top, like most globes and maps (other than Australian).
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publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
#19 Dec 08 2009 at 7:54 PM Rating: Good
Debalic wrote:
MDenham wrote:
catwho wrote:
Have some polar ice caps melting.

http://geology.com/nasa/antarctic-ice-sheet-melting.shtml

With some drowning polar bears on top.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece
/facepalm

Is it too much to ask that you not imply that there are polar bears in the Antarctic?

On top. As in, on top of the world.
Last time I checked, the sentences "Have some polar ice caps melting. With some drowning polar bears on top." implied that the polar bears were on top of the melting ice caps.

Since the melting ice caps that were mentioned are, as the link states, in the Antarctic, the implication is that the polar bears are as well.

tl;dr: /whoosh
#20 Dec 08 2009 at 8:01 PM Rating: Good
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I read it as tho the ice caps were the metaphorical cake, and the polar bears were the metaphorical icing on top of the cake.

Perhaps i'm assuming the jibes are deeper than they really are?
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#21 Dec 08 2009 at 8:10 PM Rating: Good
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Polar bears don't drown because ice caps are melting. They drown because they're too fucking stupid to swim back to shore when the icebergs set afloat.
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#22 Dec 08 2009 at 8:32 PM Rating: Good
Uglysasquatch, Mercenary Major wrote:
Polar bears don't drown because ice caps are melting. They drown because they're too fucking stupid to swim back to shore when the icebergs set afloat.


Maybe they can't bear the shackles of ursury placed upon them by mainstream bear society and they're floating on in search of a tax haven rich in fish? I submit to you that these bears are not stupid but rather idealists.
#23 Dec 08 2009 at 8:38 PM Rating: Decent
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Oh. I tl;dr myself and didn't bother looking at that first link.


I MADE A MISTAKE OKAY?! *sob* GET OFF MY BACK! *sniff*
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publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
#24 Dec 09 2009 at 10:43 AM Rating: Good
Quote:
I read it as tho the ice caps were the metaphorical cake, and the polar bears were the metaphorical icing on top of the cake.

Perhaps i'm assuming the jibes are deeper than they really are?


Paulsol wins the reading comprehension game!

Score: Paulsol 1, MDenham 0, Gbaji in the other thread -400

Edited, Dec 9th 2009 11:47am by catwho
#25 Dec 09 2009 at 11:14 AM Rating: Excellent
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Uglysasquatch, Mercenary Major wrote:
Polar bears don't drown because ice caps are melting. They drown because they're too fucking stupid to swim back to shore when the icebergs set afloat.

So you're saying we need to funnel more money towards polar bear education?
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#26 Dec 09 2009 at 11:26 AM Rating: Good
Jophiel wrote:
So you're saying we need to funnel more money towards polar bear abstinence education?


Totally.
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