Interesting Links for 21-08-2023

[andrewducker]

1. West Virginia can't require incarcerated atheist to participate in religious programming

(tags:atheism religion USA law prison viaSwampers )

2. English Chess Federation will not exclude trans women

(tags:LGBT chess UK viaPatrickHadfield )

3. The ecological impact of wolf reintroduction to Britain.

(tags:wolves ecology viaDanielDWilliam )

4. Why does global warming lead to both droughts and flooding?

(tags:globalwarming disaster flooding drought )

5. Artists have forgotten how to draw

(tags:art education drawing )

6. Saying Hello To Your Neighbors Linked to Higher Wellbeing, but With Limits

(tags:happiness health community psychology )

7. Two Drums and a Cymbal Fall off a Cliff

(tags:funny video jokes )

8. I am really delighted by how well Rick Astley has done recently. (Here pulled into an impromptu collaboration with the Foo Fighters)

(tags:music rickroll video viaDanielDWilliam )

Comments

[gingicat]

That last was delightful.

[channelpenguin]

7, great, 8 awesome
1. should bloody well hope so
5. Hmm, not sure it shozuld be mandatory but should def be an option!
3. does not mention sheep. which I understand wolves learn can be easier and tastier than deer? And of which Scotland has a LOT

[danieldwilliam]

I suspect that some of the real problems, practical and political, about wolf re-introduction in Scotland are to do with the proximity of wolfy areas with sheep farming and with people.

Scotland is not actually a very big country and although the Highlands are sparsely populated you are not ever more than a few hours walk from a small village. Scotland population density 70 per square kilometre vs Norway at 14 per square kilometre.

So I think if we in Scotland are going to regenerate forests we're going to have to do it with big deer fences.

[bens_dad]

Deer-stalking is often said to be economically important in the Highlands. Will the human hunters be prepared to compete with the wolves ? Will they go away or will the reduced numbers push the prices up enough to cover the reduced number of available deer ? Or if there are far too many deer https://forestryandland.gov.scot/what-we-do/who-we-are/corporate-information/deer-management-strategy maybe there are enough for both man and wolf ?

Highland cattle are being reintroduced to the Highlands to improve the quality https://forestryandland.gov.scot/what-we-do/biodiversity-and-conservation/habitat-conservation/open-habitats/conservation-grazing (and IIRC the quantity) of forests. If cattle are like boar and bison, maybe the wolves wont bother them ?

[nancylebov]

5. Probably important, but I should resist the temptation to get a subscription so I can argue with the commenters.

8. Excellent.

[channelpenguin]

Yes, a lot of the comments there are Very Off Topic and toxic.

[adrian_turtle]

#6 is a weird study. I wonder why they didn't cross reference it with a study of who regularly walked through their neighborhoods? People in good health are far more likely to do so. People with halfway-reasonable work schedules are more likely to do so. People with dogs are far more likely to do so. I'm sure people will read the abstract and conclude that greeting your neighbors is responsible for physical, financial, and emotional well-being. (Pets are often recommended as therapeutic for other people even though they are exactly wrong for my own personal mental health.)

Then at the end, in the wild speculation section of the study, the authors mention that urbanicity may play a role, with younger people living in cities more than older ones do. Bizarrely, they seem to believe that living in a city means one has fewer chances to greet neighbors. My mother lives in suburbia and did not speak to ANY neighbor in 30 years. Before the pandemic, she only spoke to people with whom she did business in one way or another, though she was cordial enough there. (A stranger came by in 2020 to check if she was ok.) When I lived in that neighborhood, hardly anyone walked on the sidewalks or used the front yards. Here in the city, I walk to bus stops, stores, around the block to look at birds...and I can greet people because there are so many people around.

[danieldwilliam]

There is some debate about whether deer stalking and grouse shooting are the most economically valuable industries that the Highlands could do or whether they represent the misallocation of resources to benefit the leisure preferences of a colonial overclass.

They use a lot of space that might be better used for forestry or other industries.

[conuly]

Screw the religious aspect, AA and other twelve step programs are not evidence-based medicine. They're just cheaper than actual treatment, and appeal to the tough love ideas so appreciated in the USA.

[channelpenguin]

I always loathed the concept, not just because of the religion, but as you say, not evidence-based. The programme seems to me to keep people helpless, and also not responsible for their own behaviour. There's the other thing too ... I always think AA is a bit like a bunch of people getting together regularly to reminisce and complain about the same abusive ex -instead of just moving on and getting on with life and not ever thinking about them or having any desire to get back with them!

I gave up alcohol after decades of heavy (and probably problematic) drinking on my own, no group, no doctors, no therapists. I made the decision, I decided to quit - and did. Overnight. No "rock bottom" no special disaster. I just decided - and I have never given it a second thought since. Nearly 20 years now. I never stopped going to bars, I don't fuss or care if there's wine in a sauce or alcohol in a medicine I need to take - I even brew cider for my friends! I don't often mention it. When offered booze, I just say 'I don't drink'. Maybe if there's a further question I'll expand that *for me personally*, I enjoy life more when I don't drink, or joke "I already had several lifetime's worth".