tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post978379920118432748..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Draft Gambling Legislation Passed by CabinetMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-22515712453622160962013-05-06T22:42:33.400+08:002013-05-06T22:42:33.400+08:00Further thoughts...
If the study is meant as a sm...Further thoughts...<br /><br />If the study is meant as a smokescreen to deter poachers from looking for the leopards (i.e. the cats are not yet extinct, but the authors claim that they are in order to conceal and thereby protect them), then this also raises some interesting points.<br /><br />To begin with, is it likely to work? I would think that, to a poacher scanning wildlife news networks and so forth for information, this type of ruse would be a little too transparent. The article is effectively putting up a big sign over Taiwan saying "NO RARE, ENDANGERED, VALUABLE CLOUDED LEOPARDS HERE!!!" which, if I were a poacher, would immediately pique my interest. Surely an absence of information would be better?<br /><br />Second, it's the noble lie tactic. Frankly, this is simply at odds with all academic (and journalistic) virtues and can have no place in an institution supposedly devoted to discovery. If the researchers would lie about this due to "higher" ethical concerns, then we must ask what ourselves what else will they lie about.<br /><br />Third, the pragmatic justification for this tactic, assuming it does in fact work, is that there are no other ways to protect the leopards from poachers, or if there are, they will not be successfully implemented for one reason or another.<br /><br />Since the poachers are motivated by financial reward rather than any personal reason, then so long as they have some alternative, deterrence is simply a question of raising their costs until they stop. One way to approach this would be to try to reduce market demand for leopard skins in a way comparable to the current effort to eliminate market demand for shark-fin soup by shaming people (this tactic effectively raises the poachers' costs relative to potential income). Another way might be to raise the costs of poaching (e.g. by surveillance and punishment). Granted, currently legal punishment procedures may be ineffective, but that just means that other "techniques" would have to be explored. <br /><br /><br />@Okami: I wasn't asking the question to which your comment is the answer. Having done postgraduate work myself a decade ago, I'm quite familiar with how a university functions, thanks.Mike Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08745281285031316740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-65596075109167325372013-05-05T22:30:38.228+08:002013-05-05T22:30:38.228+08:00@Mike Fagan
Most of the work was done by undergra...@Mike Fagan<br /><br />Most of the work was done by undergrads and professors from National Universities who can basically throw money and students at problems without many limitations. Cats are also sexy, something that grabs the heart. I generally detest universities and the people who work at or attend them. Unless you're the govt or a huge famous corporation, their attitude is you can screw off. <br /><br />I think the biggest problem is they were an apex predator with high social status as a hunted animal. It's probably the thing holding up reintroduction until the govt can get buy in from the aboriginal hunter community. Because if you're a dirt poor aboriginal and you see one of those cats, then it's payday for you. They already have problems with them poaching trees. Okaminoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-75191043558027234152013-05-05T21:24:43.938+08:002013-05-05T21:24:43.938+08:00On the leopard study...
A better article is here,...On the leopard study...<br /><br />A better article is <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2013/05/03/clouded-leopards-confirmed-extinct-taiwan/" rel="nofollow">here</a>, from which I quote the first sentence because with it the author unwittingly raises several interesting points:<br /><br /><i>"Thirteen years, 1,500 infrared cameras, hundreds of catnip-baited hair traps and an almost incalculable number of hours in the field have confirmed what scientists have long feared: the Formosan clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa brachyura) is in all likelihood extinct. "</i><br /><br />If the question was ever asked as to why such a very substantial and prolonged effort was made to confirm what was already considered extremely likely, then the only answer I can think of is pure romanticism. But that doesn't strike me as a particularly sensible basis on which to conduct biodiversity research. Thirteen years and god knows how much money and effort on only one species for which there were already very strong reasons to believe was extinct? <br /><br />Not reasonable.<br /><br />A second point is that, since the exploratory work of zoologists around the world is obviously limited (no doubt in part by being concentrated on romantic projects like this), it follows that current knowledge on speciation and extinction rates is bound to be somewhat conjectural due to insufficient data. That would seem to undermine with some doubt the claim that extinction rates far outstrip speciation rates due to human development. <br /><br />A third point, which is actually a question would be what ecological difference has the extinction of the clouded leopard had over and above the effects of other things like road building? The question is necessary in order to support the claim that extinction of apex predators can cause havoc through ecosystems. Surely the thirteen years could have been better spent on historical research concerning the ecology of the leopard's habitat before, during and after the exinction event? I would think it might be quite difficult but very worthwhile to distinguish the effects of the leopard's extinction, from the effects of other things like road building in the mountains.Mike Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08745281285031316740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-26653043779269706332013-05-04T22:32:52.797+08:002013-05-04T22:32:52.797+08:00I'd have to say that this probably has more to...I'd have to say that this probably has more to do with the construction industrial complex getting paid off than anything to do with gambling. There's already plenty enough gambling as it is on Taiwan from Taipei to Kending. All that infrastructure has to be built with all that concrete laid which would all come out of the Kaoshiung port with all that money splashing around. When's construction start and when's the next presidential election?<br /><br />I was shocked by your kind words on National Review. I never thought I'd see that. The British guy(Nordlinger?) who got fired for that one piece, with a Chinese wife was a big Taiwan supporter there, but he was how do you say, too politically incorrectly honest? <br /><br />I expect next you'll start wondering if there are any Kermit Gosnell abortion doctors in Taiwan. Now that would be illuminating. Okaminoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-14514753673053746382013-05-04T05:56:24.788+08:002013-05-04T05:56:24.788+08:00I agree. Matsu requires too much development. I th...I agree. Matsu requires too much development. I think this is about getting gambling somewhere else.Michael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-28423893340623552692013-05-04T00:49:07.546+08:002013-05-04T00:49:07.546+08:00It will be interesting how this will turn out. In ...It will be interesting how this will turn out. In nearby regions, you have Macau, Singapore, Seoul, Philippines, Vietnam, all providing the grand resort type casinos, but with much better infrastructure and 'outside casino' entertainment. Matsu will have to start from zero. They will have to build bridges, airport, ferry and roads They will need additional water, electricity. Eeks. Im pretty sure they have other plans in place i.e getting the gambling law passed and building on the main island, which makes much more sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com