Feb 1st
Pythons blamed for decline in wildlife
Rabbits, raccoons, bobcats and foxes being devoured by invasive reptile
Burmese pythons have invaded Florida's ecosystem and decreased the population of Florida's wildlife. Larger efforts have been made by Florida's conservationists to capture and relocate these superior predators.
This article is a direct link to one of my all-time favourite shows, Python Hunters. It's about a group of conservationists in Florida running all around the state capturing invasive species and rehabilitating them into a controlled environment. The most prominent species they come across in their travels is the Burmese python, hence the title of the show. With invasive species on the rise and significant drops in wildlife population, environmentalism and conservationism have become very promising careers in Florida. Anyone with a good knowledge of reptiles and ecology would see this drastic controversy as a golden opportunity. British Columbia is also home to several species of invasive plants and have been known to 'choke' out our provinces native plant life.
Invasive species can be a large nuisance to wild life and costs communities lots of money to get rid of them. However, people interested in an ecology-based career could very much profit from such phenomenons.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
News Worth Knowing
Intellectual piracy legislation puts Net at crossroads
Wikipedia has shaped the way the common person accesses and uses information. In protest to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Wikipedia took its English version offline.
I find Wikipedia to be a rather convenient website for information regarding pretty much anything. Their articles provide a good amount of both primary and secondary sources. The only criticism I have is how they allow anyone with an account to freely edit any of their pages. In grade 8, I was researching the study of ions and looked up Wikipedia's article on ions. According to Wikipedia, ions have a neutral charge and are made of several kinds of gas particles. Some of the things you find on their articles can either be well sourced, paraphrased information or just crap posted by yet another internet troll.
Despite Wikipedia's major flaw of allowing its users to edit just about anything on their articles, it has proven itself to be the internet's most significant source of general information. It would be a great loss to students and scholars if Wikipedia were to be shut down by SOPA.
Wikipedia has shaped the way the common person accesses and uses information. In protest to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Wikipedia took its English version offline.
I find Wikipedia to be a rather convenient website for information regarding pretty much anything. Their articles provide a good amount of both primary and secondary sources. The only criticism I have is how they allow anyone with an account to freely edit any of their pages. In grade 8, I was researching the study of ions and looked up Wikipedia's article on ions. According to Wikipedia, ions have a neutral charge and are made of several kinds of gas particles. Some of the things you find on their articles can either be well sourced, paraphrased information or just crap posted by yet another internet troll.
Despite Wikipedia's major flaw of allowing its users to edit just about anything on their articles, it has proven itself to be the internet's most significant source of general information. It would be a great loss to students and scholars if Wikipedia were to be shut down by SOPA.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
News Worth Knowing
Jan 19
Captain placed under house arrest as ship rescue effort suspended
Judge says skipper, called 'most hated man in Italy," might try to conceal evidence if released
He's is known across the globe as "Captain Coward". Personally, I like this new title bestowed upon him; it's catchy and it suits him perfectly. It's one thing to crash your own ship while trying to show off -- whether you're a professional or not, we all make stupid mistakes every now and then. But it's an entirely different matter to abandon your duties as captain, to abandon your crew and everyone else that would need your help in a time of such crisis. And to top it off, instead of taking full responsibility he comes up with the worst excuses to defend his accountability. Although the scenario of 'falling into a lifeboat' while the ship is tilted into the water sounds reasonable enough, staying in the life boat and escaping safely all the way to shore isn't excusable.
'A captain goes down with his ship'. We've all heard the saying before but as the evidence shows, this isn't always the case. It's the same thing with police officers and their slogan 'to serve and protect'. It's important to note that not all officials or authority figures can be trustworthy, no matter how good they look in uniform.
Captain placed under house arrest as ship rescue effort suspended
Judge says skipper, called 'most hated man in Italy," might try to conceal evidence if released
He's is known across the globe as "Captain Coward". Personally, I like this new title bestowed upon him; it's catchy and it suits him perfectly. It's one thing to crash your own ship while trying to show off -- whether you're a professional or not, we all make stupid mistakes every now and then. But it's an entirely different matter to abandon your duties as captain, to abandon your crew and everyone else that would need your help in a time of such crisis. And to top it off, instead of taking full responsibility he comes up with the worst excuses to defend his accountability. Although the scenario of 'falling into a lifeboat' while the ship is tilted into the water sounds reasonable enough, staying in the life boat and escaping safely all the way to shore isn't excusable.
'A captain goes down with his ship'. We've all heard the saying before but as the evidence shows, this isn't always the case. It's the same thing with police officers and their slogan 'to serve and protect'. It's important to note that not all officials or authority figures can be trustworthy, no matter how good they look in uniform.
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