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Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

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Human Rights in Ireland
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Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link News Round-Up Sun Dec 29, 2024 00:40 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Bridget Phillipson Tried to Pull the Plug on New Free Speech Law Days After Election Sat Dec 28, 2024 19:00 | Toby Young
Court documents obtained by the Telegraph show that Bridget Phillipson tried to pull the plug on the Freedom of Speech Act as one of her first acts as Education Secretary.
The post Bridget Phillipson Tried to Pull the Plug on New Free Speech Law Days After Election appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Britons Believe 2025 Will Be Worse Than 2024 in Blow for Starmer Sat Dec 28, 2024 17:00 | Richard Eldred
With over two-thirds of the public believing Labour will fail to tackle key issues like the small boats crisis and NHS waiting lists, Britons are bracing for 2025 to be even worse than 2024.
The post Britons Believe 2025 Will Be Worse Than 2024 in Blow for Starmer appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Councils Set to Slap Britons With On-the-Spot Fines for Climbing Trees in Parks Sat Dec 28, 2024 15:00 | Richard Eldred
Fears of a surge in revenue-driven fixed penalty notices loom, as Angela Rayner's new devolution plan could enable cash-strapped councils to impose fines on activities like tree-climbing.
The post Councils Set to Slap Britons With On-the-Spot Fines for Climbing Trees in Parks appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Civil Servants to Strike Over ?Victorian? Demand to Spend Three Days in the Office Sat Dec 28, 2024 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Thousands of Land Registry civil servants are planning to walk out over what they describe as a "Victorian" order to work in the office just three days a week.
The post Civil Servants to Strike Over ?Victorian? Demand to Spend Three Days in the Office appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en

offsite link Pentagon could create a second Kurdish state Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:31 | en

offsite link How Washington and Ankara Changed the Regime in Damascus , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Dec 17, 2024 06:58 | en

offsite link Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to his Depar... Mon Dec 16, 2024 13:26 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?112 Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:34 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Immorality, Journalism and Mayan Meltdown

category international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis author Thursday June 11, 2009 09:47author by Paddy Hackettauthor email rasherrs at eircom dot net Report this post to the editors

Journalism and Credibility

In his article in the The Sunday Business Post David McWilliams dishonestly fails to reference a main source for his article called Moral of the Mayan Meltdown

"The Mayans simply ran out of resources. They cut down all the trees to
transport rocks from the quarries to make their ornate temples.

Competing nobility, with each chief trying to show he was the biggest, got
involved in what could only be described as an ''arms race'' to build the
most splendid palace. This involved huge amounts of labour, which were taken
from the farms and massively reduced the amount of farmers available to keep
their agriculture going.

They also cut down huge amounts of wood, causing massive soil erosion and
flooding. The mad dash to build the most ornate palace used up enormous
quantities of materials. To support this madness, the cities needed to
produce enormous amounts of food and water, and they needed to pay for it.

This was the ancient equivalent of people consuming far more than they could
afford and getting into a monumental ''keeping up with the Joneses'' battle,
which would ultimately bankrupt them. Interestingly, the Mayan currency was
devalued during all this." (Moral of the Mayan meltdown; June 7th 2009;
Sunday Business Post page 23).

A reading of Collapse by Jared Diamond will show that the above "ideas" have been borrowed from "Collapse". In my view David McWilliams should have had the honesty to reference in his The Sunday Business Post article Jared Diamond. His failure to do so, in my view, raises questions concerning the credibility of his journalism in general.

Related Link: http://patrickhackett.blogspot.com
author by Conorpublication date Sat Jun 13, 2009 15:04author address author phone Report this post to the editors

I agree.

 
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