The "And in other news..." thread

[najaB]

Somewhat ironic that environment activists are using cement...

I get where you're coming from, but the tiny amount of cement that they're using isn't really here or there though.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I hope they’re not using the sand from bunkers .

 

[ABB125]

I get where you're coming from, but the tiny amount of cement that they're using isn't really here or there though.

Of course, that's very valid. A bag of cement or two is effectively non-existent emissions-wise.

(One could however draw parallels with spending huge amounts of money moderately reducing UK carbon emissions, whilst China still builds new coal power stations...)

 

[najaB]

One could however draw parallels with spending huge amounts of money moderately reducing UK carbon emissions, whilst China still builds new coal power stations.

But the difference there is that reducing our carbon emissions has the additional outcome of reducing our dependence on energy imports.

 

[ABB125]

But the difference there is that reducing our carbon emissions has the additional outcome of reducing our dependence on energy imports.

Indeed, I don't disagree.
Anyway, back to golf courses. Apparently Warrington golf course uses around 5000 cubic meters of water per year. Romford golf club uses 12000 cubic metres. There are 1000 litres in a cubic metre.
The average usage for 4 people in a house is 160 cubic metres per year. So there's actually less of a difference than I was expecting.

 

[swt_passenger]

I think they mean gutters, which channel the rainwater into your drains!

So they’re not the “gutter press” after all?

 

[brad465]

Somewhat ironic that environment activists are using cement...

Yeah but as Mike Graham pointed out, you can grow concrete

 

[najaB]

Anyway, back to golf courses. Apparently Warrington golf course uses around 5000 cubic meters of water per year. Romford golf club uses 12000 cubic metres. There are 1000 litres in a cubic metre.

That sounds suspiciously low. The sources I've looked at indicate a typical 18-hole course uses closer to a million cubic metres a year.

Golf courses use a great deal of water for irrigation and other purposes. A typical 150-acre golf course uses approximately 200 million gallons of water a year, enough to supply 1,800 residences with 300 GPD of water.

Sustainable Golf Course Water Usage

Sustainable golf course water management is growing, and new equipment for aeration, desalination, and wastewater reuse can make the change easier.

www.fluencecorp.com

 

[Gloster]

Indeed, I don't disagree.
Anyway, back to golf courses. Apparently Warrington golf course uses around 5000 cubic meters of water per year. Romford golf club uses 12000 cubic metres. There are 1000 litres in a cubic metre.
The average usage for 4 people in a house is 160 cubic metres per year. So there's actually less of a difference than I was expecting.

It seems that Warrington is making a big thing about being environmentally responsible and may being held up as a good example in the hope that people will think that is typical. Other golf clubs seem to be using using more than that in a month in summer. (It is difficult to be precise as there is a lot of obfuscation by the use of different measures. And most figures are for the US: 90 million gallons a year for a course in California.)

 

[Baxenden Bank]

It seems that Warrington is making a big thing about being environmentally responsible and may being held up as a good example in the hope that people will think that is typical. Other golf clubs seem to be using using more than that in a month in summer. (It is difficult to be precise as there is a lot of obfuscation by the use of different measures. And most figures are for the US: 90 million gallons a year for a course in California.)

One day, perhaps quite soon, we will need all that land to grow food on instead of hitting a small ball into a slightly larger hole with a bent stick.

 

[Gloster]

I am beginning to wonder if Clive Cussler’s Blue Gold was not somewhat prescient, if I remember the plot properly (it is many years since I read it). SPOILER ALERT. Large companies taking advantage of a worldwide freshwater shortage to ramp up the price and sell to the highest bidder. If the highest bidder is a golf course, then it goes to the golf course and the poor dehydrate.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That sounds suspiciously low. The sources I've looked at indicate a typical 18-hole course uses closer to a million cubic metres a year.

Sustainable Golf Course Water Usage

Sustainable golf course water management is growing, and new equipment for aeration, desalination, and wastewater reuse can make the change easier.

www.fluencecorp.com

I note that the article you link focuses on golf courses in the USA. I would expect the water use on UK courses will be a fair bit lower due to our (usually) wetter and cooler climate.

Is this another case of British "activists" looking at reports from across the pond and assuming the same issues apply here?

 

[najaB]

I note that the article you link focuses on golf courses in the USA. I would expect the water use on UK courses will be a fair bit lower due to our (usually) wetter and cooler climate.

I don't doubt that's the case, but there's quite a delta between 5,000 and 1,000,000 - plus that figure (which was actually 1,800,000) was averaged across all climate regions, not just the warm arid west.

 

[43096]

One day, perhaps quite soon, we will need all that land to grow food on instead of hitting a small ball into a slightly larger hole with a bent stick.

Do let us know what your hobbies are so we can reduce them to a similarly absurd level.

 

[ABB125]

I don't doubt that's the case, but there's quite a delta between 5,000 and 1,000,000 - plus that figure (which was actually 1,800,000) was averaged across all climate regions, not just the warm arid west.

I can't remember exactly where I found the 5000 cubic meter figure, but it was on some sort of Rail Delivery Group-esque golf industry water reduction campaign website, so probably slightly biased and unlikely to mention poor-performing courses.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I can't remember exactly where I found the 5000 cubic meter figure...

Could imagine that, in extreme climates, being a daily (rather than annual) figure for an 18 hole golf course.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I am beginning to wonder if Clive Cussler’s Blue Gold was not somewhat prescient, if I remember the plot properly (it is many years since I read it). SPOILER ALERT. Large companies taking advantage of a worldwide freshwater shortage to ramp up the price and sell to the highest bidder. If the highest bidder is a golf course, then it goes to the golf course and the poor dehydrate.

That's the 'free market' approach though. He who can afford to pay gets, he who can't doesn't. That applies to everything - in your example water, but also the land which could be used for other purposes.

It has been suggested that there will in future be wars over water. There is tension already between Ethiopia and Sudan / Egypt about the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. There are examples of countries downstream of agricultural irrigation projects being deprived of water as a result of too much being drawn off upstream.

Given the Ukraine situation it also apples to food, or at least its production and its distribution. Similarly gas supplies are being used as a weapon. Would a country go to war to secure access to food production (Germany prior to WWII) or to secure access to water or energy? England invades an independent Scotland for their oil (1970's) or their hydro-electric resources (2070's)?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Could imagine that, in extreme climates, being a daily (rather than annual) figure for an 18 hole golf course.

Some "back of a fag packet" calculations...

Typical 50 hectares full size golf course = 50 x 100m x 100m = 500,000 sq. metres.

Just 1 cm (= 0.01m) depth of watering per day across the entirety of such a course would easily mean that 5,000 cubic metres of water might be required daily.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Cats to be freed from special lockdown in German town

Cats to be freed from special lockdown in German town

By Jenny Hill
BBC Berlin correspondent

Cat owners in one German town will be allowed to let their pets out for the first time in three months when the authorities lift a special lockdown.

People in Walldorf, in the south-west, were ordered in May to keep their cats indoors to protect an endangered bird.

Cats were only allowed to venture outside if they were kept on a leash no more than two metres (6ft) in length.

But the animals will again be allowed to roam free from 00:01 local time on Monday.

If a cat escaped while the lockdown was in force, owners were told to call a special hotline, then find and detain the offending feline.

Any breach would result in a fine. An owner whose animal injured or killed one of the protected birds had to pay up to €50,000 (£42,000).

Authorities had been attempting to protect the local population of the crested lark, saying the species was endangered in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and wider Germany.

They said there were just three breeding pairs left in Walldorf itself.

Activists criticised the restrictions, saying they would harm the cats' welfare, while also stressing they supported efforts to protect the larks.

Many millions of birds die naturally each year, but there is no evidence that attacks from cats in gardens is causing populations to decline, according to Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

It is not clear whether the Walldorf lockdown has benefitted the larks, but the authorities announced they would lift the restriction two weeks earlier than expected.

Birds which hatched in the spring are now considered to be sufficiently developed and less vulnerable to attack.

The mayor of Walldorf said this was good news, but he and the local cat community may find their celebrations short-lived: the lockdown is expected to return next spring, and in subsequent years during the birds' breeding season.

Regarding:

Many millions of birds die naturally each year, but there is no evidence that attacks from cats in gardens is causing populations to decline, according to Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

I have evidence, a little £$$^&^ was caught red pawed, sneaking down the side of my garden, evidence in mouth. Absolute full volume pandemonium in the tree, now all the nice little song birds have gone, leaving just some 'elephant birds' - that is, crash bang wallop pigeons.

 

[brad465]

The Finnish PM has been caught partying and is facing demands to take a drug test:

Sanna Marin: Finland PM partying video causes backlash

Other politicians suggest Sanna Marin takes a drug test - she insists she only drank alcohol.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, is facing a backlash after being seen partying in a leaked video.
In the footage, thought to be taken from social media, she and friends including Finnish celebrities are seen dancing and singing.
She has faced criticism from opposition parties, with one leader demanding she take a drug test.
Ms Marin, 36, denied taking drugs, saying she only drank alcohol and just partied "in a boisterous way".

The world's youngest prime minister makes no secret of partying and has often been photographed at music festivals.
Last year she apologised for going clubbing after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 case.
Just last week, Ms Marin was dubbed the "coolest prime minister in the world" by German news outlet Bild.
Commenting on the video on Thursday, she said she knew she was being filmed but was upset that the video had become public.
"I danced, sang, and partied - perfectly legal things. And I've never been in a situation where I've seen or known of others [using drugs]," she added.
Opposition party leader, Riikka Purra, called for Ms Marin to take a voluntary drug test, saying there was a "shadow of doubt" hanging over the prime minister.
Other opposition party politicians have criticised both the prime minister and the media for talking about partying instead of more important domestic problems.
Defending herself, she told journalists: "I have a family life, I have a work life and I have free time to spend with my friends. Pretty much the same as many people my age."
The politician, said she felt no need to change her behaviour. "I am going to be exactly the same person as I have been until now and I hope that it will be accepted," she said.
Ms Marin has been in power since December 2019 and retains the support of her party.
"The reaction is very typical on all things Marin: polarised," Finnish political journalist and media commentator Robert Sundman told the BBC.
"There are people saying that it is normal for a woman her age to have fun with her friends and people who are shocked.
"But at least until now one thing is sure: the previous party pictures have not - at least significantly - affected popularity of her or her party.
Mr Sundman said there has been lots of attention over her friendship with Finnish celebrities, which he says is a significant departure from previous prime ministers.

 

[RichJF]

So the country elects a 36 year old then gets outraged when that person does a 30 something thing?

If there's high level drugs involved then that's another story, but seems like nobody is allowed to enjoy themselves any more.

 

[najaB]

So the country elects a 36 year old then gets outraged when that person does a 30 something thing?

If there's high level drugs involved then that's another story, but seems like nobody is allowed to enjoy themselves any more.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Commenting on the video on Thursday, she said she knew she was being filmed but was upset that the video had become public.
"I danced, sang, and partied - perfectly legal things.

How so very dare she!

At what point did it become so essential for people to film people (presumably on a phone, not a TV crew) doing ordinary things, going about their lives, and then upload that footage for everyone to not look at? A bit like the obsession with selfies.

 

[brad465]

A seal breaks into the house of a marine biologist in New Zealand, goes for an explore, while joking "The big joke is that this is probably the one family emergency where it would be useful to have a marine biologist, and I wasn't there.":

New Zealand: Seal breaks into marine biologist's home

The curious seal, nicknamed Oscar, is thought to have squeezed through the cat flaps on its adventure.

www.bbc.co.uk

When Jenn Ross returned to her New Zealand home to find a few buckets out of place in the garage, she thought the family cat, Coco, might have brought in a bird.
Instead she found a seal in the hall.
The young animal had got through two cat flaps to enter the house in Mt Maunganui, about 150m from the sea - probably in pursuit of Coco the cat.
Ms Ross' marine biologist husband Phil was unfortunately the only member of the family not at home at the time.
He told the BBC he regretted missing his chance to shine, saying: "The big joke is that this is probably the one family emergency where it would be useful to have a marine biologist, and I wasn't there."
After posing for some photos, the seal - nicknamed Oscar - was collected by the Department of Conservation and returned to the sea.
Mr Ross said it was likely to be around 10 months old, and likened it to a "teenager".

Seals at this age may make poor decisions, he said, like going out swimming in bad weather and then retreating inland to rest.
While it is common to find New Zealand fur seals on beaches and perhaps venturing up to paths and roads in this area, it is unusual to hear of them entering homes, Mr Ross added.
The seal was discovered around 07:00 local time on Wednesday (19:00GMT on Tuesday), as Ms Ross returned home from a fitness class.

 

[Gloster]

That was in New Sealand wasn’t it?

 

[PG]

Sounds like the cat was leading him up the garden path!

 

[High Dyke]

I wasn't sure whether to post this here, or in the International Transport forum.

Stolen car found stuck in metro station in Madrid​

Stolen car found stuck in metro station in Madrid

A stolen car stuck in a metro station in Madrid has been removed by firefighters. Police say they are investigating after the vehicle was found next to a staircase in Plaza Eliptica station.

Stolen car found stuck in metro station in Madrid

A man is arrested after a vehicle is pulled up a staircase by firefighters in Plaza Eliptica station.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Lost property]

Apparently, dire warnings are being issued about long delays / traffic jams / travel chaos starting on Friday, ending Monday (but with Sunday off as the population will still be legless from Saturday night anyway) .....who would ever have thought this could happen on a Bank Holiday week-end and that this is the first time ever this will occur !

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I wasn't sure whether to post this here, or in the International Transport forum.

Stolen car found stuck in metro station in Madrid

A man is arrested after a vehicle is pulled up a staircase by firefighters in Plaza Eliptica station.

www.bbc.co.uk

More shoddy journalism from the BBC there. That car is "next to" the staircase in the same way that I'm "next to" my chair.

Even the word "found" is misleading, unless the car had been stolen some time ago and nobody knew where it was for a while. "Stolen car ends up in Metro station" would be a better way of phrasing it.

 

[najaB]

More shoddy journalism from the BBC there. That car is "next to" the staircase in the same way that I'm "next to" my chair.

At the start of the video the car *was* next to the staircase, and since there were already ropes/chains attached it's likely that wasn't its original position.