Numbers -or- Why We Might Have An Election At Any Moment

There are 308 seats in Parliament. Each seat holds one vote. 155 votes make a majority. If a party has 155 or more seats, then they can pass bills pretty much whenever they like [1]. Losing a vote in Parliament is the fast track to an election (Terms in Canada are not of fixed length). This is the current breakdown of seats in Canada.

Liberals: 131
Conservatives: 99
BQ:54
NDP: 19
IND: 3

The problem should be obvious.

( Read more... )

Numbers -or- Why We Might Have An Election At Any Moment

There are 308 seats in Parliament. Each seat holds one vote. 155 votes make a majority. If a party has 155 or more seats, then they can pass bills pretty much whenever they like [1]. Losing a vote in Parliament is the fast track to an election (Terms in Canada are not of fixed length). This is the current breakdown of seats in Canada.

Liberals: 131
Conservatives: 99
BQ:54
NDP: 19
IND: 3

The problem should be obvious.

( Read more... )

Numbers -or- Why We Might Have An Election At Any Moment

There are 308 seats in Parliament. Each seat holds one vote. 155 votes make a majority. If a party has 155 or more seats, then they can pass bills pretty much whenever they like [1]. Losing a vote in Parliament is the fast track to an election (Terms in Canada are not of fixed length). This is the current breakdown of seats in Canada.

Liberals: 131
Conservatives: 99
BQ:54
NDP: 19
IND: 3

The problem should be obvious.

( Read more... )

The Reefs of Space -or- Dueling Obsessions

Short version: I have a number of recurring tropes and I think they may be incompatable.

( Read more... )

The Reefs of Space -or- Dueling Obsessions

Short version: I have a number of recurring tropes and I think they may be incompatable.

( Read more... )

The Reefs of Space -or- Dueling Obsessions

Short version: I have a number of recurring tropes and I think they may be incompatable.

( Read more... )

When is an island an island?

Useful factoid: If recall Wilson correctly, if you assume all other factors stay the same, the number of species a given region per unit area can support is proportional to the square root of the total area. If, for example, you have two islands, one 10 units in area and the other 1000 units, the second one will usually have about 10x as many species per unit area and presumably about 1000x as many species in total. 100 small islands might have as much area as one big one but they will only a tenth as many species.

Does anyone here know what conditions are necessary to disconnect adjacent regions? Obviously water will do it, esp deep water. Roads and wide clear cuts can, since they make migration more difficult.

Obviously, this rule of thumb implies that a few large preserves are probably a more effective tool for species preservation than a lot of little ones.

It also implies large cities should have more species/area in them than small ones. I wonder if that is the case or if other factors (like the relative youth of large cities as common habitats) dominate?

It also means that in the Reefs of Space setting, bigger rocks will tend to be more various places to live (in terms of life) than little rocks. OTOH, delicate lifeforms might find small islands nice places to live, thanks to the lack of various competators and predators.

When is an island an island?

Useful factoid: If recall Wilson correctly, if you assume all other factors stay the same, the number of species a given region per unit area can support is proportional to the square root of the total area. If, for example, you have two islands, one 10 units in area and the other 1000 units, the second one will usually have about 10x as many species per unit area and presumably about 1000x as many species in total. 100 small islands might have as much area as one big one but they will only a tenth as many species.

Does anyone here know what conditions are necessary to disconnect adjacent regions? Obviously water will do it, esp deep water. Roads and wide clear cuts can, since they make migration more difficult.

Obviously, this rule of thumb implies that a few large preserves are probably a more effective tool for species preservation than a lot of little ones.

It also implies large cities should have more species/area in them than small ones. I wonder if that is the case or if other factors (like the relative youth of large cities as common habitats) dominate?

It also means that in the Reefs of Space setting, bigger rocks will tend to be more various places to live (in terms of life) than little rocks. OTOH, delicate lifeforms might find small islands nice places to live, thanks to the lack of various competators and predators.

When is an island an island?

Useful factoid: If recall Wilson correctly, if you assume all other factors stay the same, the number of species a given region per unit area can support is proportional to the square root of the total area. If, for example, you have two islands, one 10 units in area and the other 1000 units, the second one will usually have about 10x as many species per unit area and presumably about 1000x as many species in total. 100 small islands might have as much area as one big one but they will only a tenth as many species.

Does anyone here know what conditions are necessary to disconnect adjacent regions? Obviously water will do it, esp deep water. Roads and wide clear cuts can, since they make migration more difficult.

Obviously, this rule of thumb implies that a few large preserves are probably a more effective tool for species preservation than a lot of little ones.

It also implies large cities should have more species/area in them than small ones. I wonder if that is the case or if other factors (like the relative youth of large cities as common habitats) dominate?

It also means that in the Reefs of Space setting, bigger rocks will tend to be more various places to live (in terms of life) than little rocks. OTOH, delicate lifeforms might find small islands nice places to live, thanks to the lack of various competators and predators.

Strip-mining songs

I'm listening to a recording of Ray Charles singing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. Now, in many ways ATB is superior to THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER (Humans can sing ATB without risking spontaneous resonant cranial liquifaction) but when I pulled up a copy of the lyrics of ATB I noticed something about it that illuminated an aspect TSSB banner that I had sort of been aware of but never overtly noticed:

( Read more... )

Strip-mining songs

I'm listening to a recording of Ray Charles singing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. Now, in many ways ATB is superior to THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER (Humans can sing ATB without risking spontaneous resonant cranial liquifaction) but when I pulled up a copy of the lyrics of ATB I noticed something about it that illuminated an aspect TSSB banner that I had sort of been aware of but never overtly noticed:

( Read more... )

Strip-mining songs

I'm listening to a recording of Ray Charles singing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. Now, in many ways ATB is superior to THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER (Humans can sing ATB without risking spontaneous resonant cranial liquifaction) but when I pulled up a copy of the lyrics of ATB I noticed something about it that illuminated an aspect TSSB banner that I had sort of been aware of but never overtly noticed:

( Read more... )