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Like the Australians waging war on the emus, Albertan waged war on the rats, only the Albertans were actually successful.
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Mar 13, 2021 20:02
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Golbez posted:My favorite part about this is, it's not joking or merely 'estimating' with Alberta. They have really strict, well-observed rules about exterminating any rat infestation in the province. It's the one place in the world where you can absolutely guarantee that there are no infestations of rats in those borders. I actually remember learning about this in issue 46 of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 
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Mar 13, 2021 20:25
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Jehde posted:Like the Australians waging war on the emus, Albertan waged war on the rats, only the Albertans were actually successful. Either it's becasue emus are extremely powerful or rats are extremely weak.
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Mar 13, 2021 20:36
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Xelkelvos posted:Either it's becasue emus are extremely powerful or rats are extremely weak. Rats are powerful. Could it be that Alberta just sucks so rats don't want to live there?
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Mar 13, 2021 20:49
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A Buttery Pastry posted:Similar deals in what way? The examples seem pretty different to me. In that the modern states are the result of a bunch of juggling around between larger powers. Finland was the part of Sweden that Russia annexed in one of their wars that eventually broke free when Russian rule became less appealing. The old Poland was annexed into oblivion back in the 19th century and was only ever reconstituted as part of grand European power rebalancing conferences (much like Belgium). Ukraine is a weird border region that never really was a power unto itself, and just was under the influence of a bunch of other powers until one of those powers fragmented, leaving it free. Switzerland was a decentralized alliance local alliance in a rough region within a heavily decentralized state that popped loose at some point and I'm not sure anybody actually tried reconquering them. Sorta defined more by other powers than by themselves. A Buttery Pastry posted:no one bothered to ensure it was ethnically homogeneous when it finally became independent. I don't think anybody ever does this.
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Mar 13, 2021 21:07
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Continuity NIP posted:Rats are powerful. Could it be that Alberta just sucks so rats don't want to live there? According to that Squirrel Girl comic I posted, what the Albertans did was make sure there were no rats in their homes or food supplies. Since the rats couldn't survive in the wilds of Alberta, this meant that they effectively got rid of the rat population in that province.
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Mar 13, 2021 21:25
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The_Other posted:According to that Squirrel Girl comic I posted, what the Albertans did was make sure there were no rats in their homes or food supplies. Since the rats couldn't survive in the wilds of Alberta, this meant that they effectively got rid of the rat population in that province. Here's a history: https://www.alberta.ca/history-of-rat-control-in-alberta.aspx They put quite a lot of effort into it starting in the 50s. It was initially over concerns about plague. At first they didn't really know what they were doing so they threw an arsenic-based powder loving everywhere which poisoned a bunch of livestock but also kept the rats at bay while they developed an actually good plan. Since the 60s basically properties in counties that border Saskatchewan are legally required to deal with rats and can be fined if they don't. The government heavily subsidizes pest control measures. This was neat, I'd never heard of this before.
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Mar 13, 2021 22:07
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a musical based on the events of the Alberta rat wars are the basis of a touching episode of joe pera talks with you
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Mar 13, 2021 22:18
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Space Kablooey posted:Reversal of fortune I can't find the trailer in English but for those who don't speak French the film is about a destitute French family trying to sneak into a united and prosperous Africa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyD0V0wb_to
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Mar 13, 2021 22:35
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Iceland has rats. I know a dude whose summerjob as a teenager was driving around and dropping poison down manholes.
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Mar 13, 2021 22:39
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SlothfulCobra posted:I don't think anybody ever does this. It did actually sort of happened with Poland (and this touches on Ukraine, too). After the Russian Revolution, Ukraine was independent for a little bit, until the Soviets invaded and annexed it. Meanwhile, Poland also invaded Ukraine to try to get some of what was traditionally their territory back. This, as well, as the Soviet desire to make Poland communist, led to war between the Soviets and Poland. After Poland won the war, there was a peace treaty signed, the Peace of Riga. The Soviets offered a bunch of land, but the party controlling Poland at the time didn't want a lot of non-Poles they'd have to deal with, so they took less land than the Soviets offered.
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Mar 13, 2021 23:14
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SlothfulCobra posted:Switzerland was a decentralized alliance local alliance in a rough region within a heavily decentralized state that popped loose at some point and I'm not sure anybody actually tried reconquering them. SlothfulCobra posted:I don't think anybody ever does this.
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Mar 13, 2021 23:18
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A Buttery Pastry posted:By the same token, France is just a thing the Americans allowed to happen.  but also vice versa
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Mar 13, 2021 23:29
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The Roman Empire if Caesar hadn't accidentally burned the Library of Alexandria:
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Mar 13, 2021 23:50
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A Buttery Pastry posted:Belgium is explicitly NOT a nation state though. It is, though. Why else do you think the Belgian Revolution happened (and succeeded)? Mind that they already tried it in 1799. Modern nationalism likes to claim language = culture (an idea which has also taken root in Belgium!), but that's absolutely not true if you consider how many Americans still proudly claim they are X-American despite not speaking X language. Or, for instance, the reverse: how Serbo-Croatian or Romanian-Moldovan are essentially the same but got split because of political ideas. SlothfulCobra posted:But weirdly getting really indignant apropos of nothing and insisting how distinct and valid Belgium is as a nation gives me more of an impression that Belgium is a sham. All nations are social, intellectual and political constructs. But the insistence that Belgium is somehow a phony country is ridiculous since most of its inhabitans don't feel that way (e.g. Flemish seperatism rarely polls over 30% and Walloon seperatism even less so), and no outsider view is going to change that. Also "apropos of nothing", sure buddy, I invite you to read post after post on the Internet claiming your country doesn't really exist, in addition to neighbours thinking you're some sort of Down's syndrome version of their own country.
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Mar 14, 2021 01:52
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The UN needs to hold a grand conference to determine which countries are fake and which are real. Here's an EU with proper internal components and natural borders sorted out.
Edgar Allen Ho fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Mar 14, 2021 |
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Mar 14, 2021 01:55
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Belgium is just one big field for the Germans and French to fight their wars in.
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Mar 14, 2021 02:14
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FreudianSlippers posted:Iceland has rats. But enough about your gigolo friend.
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Mar 14, 2021 02:15
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Count Roland posted:Here's a history: It’s interesting how candid that page is about the imperfections in the programme. 
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Mar 14, 2021 02:30
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:The UN needs to hold a grand conference to determine which countries are fake and which are real. Here's an EU with proper internal components and natural borders sorted out. la belgique c'est la france
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Mar 14, 2021 02:52
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I believe in something called Tubsonian Self-Determinationism which holds that all ethnic groups should have their own nation-states and any disputes between these polities must be resolved by holding eating contests that involve a champion from each state eating piles of the most beloved food of their rivals.
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Mar 14, 2021 03:13
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The only problem with TSD is that the people who eat the grossest food have a disproportionate advantage when it comes to their international relations.
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Mar 14, 2021 03:33
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if asterix didn't come to your country and help you beat up the romans, then as far as i'm concerned your nationstate is just a cartographer's joke carried on too far.
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Mar 14, 2021 03:41
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Pope Hilarius II posted:It is, though. Why else do you think the Belgian Revolution happened (and succeeded)? Mind that they already tried it in 1799. Modern nationalism likes to claim language = culture (an idea which has also taken root in Belgium!), but that's absolutely not true if you consider how many Americans still proudly claim they are X-American despite not speaking X language. Or, for instance, the reverse: how Serbo-Croatian or Romanian-Moldovan are essentially the same but got split because of political ideas. It might have started off as a single community back in the day, but that doesn't mean it must remain so forever. The Belgian state used to be a unitary state, but changing sentiment within the population has forced it into a federal structure precisely because there is no single shared community. And yes, the same logic also means the UK is not a nation state, same with Spain.
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Mar 14, 2021 08:02
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:I believe in something called Tubsonian Self-Determinationism which holds that all ethnic groups should have their own nation-states and any disputes between these polities must be resolved by holding eating contests that involve a champion from each state eating piles of the most beloved food of their rivals. Ah, so this is how the world ended up so neatly divided between the Japanese Gastro-Imperium and the Kentucky Digestive Union
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Mar 14, 2021 08:09
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Fojar38 posted:Ah, so this is how the world ended up so neatly divided between the Japanese Gastro-Imperium and the Kentucky Digestive Union Gastro-Hungery was So. Close.
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Mar 14, 2021 09:55
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Mar 14, 2021 10:16
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:The only problem with TSD is that the people who eat the grossest food have a disproportionate advantage when it comes to their international relations. I was about to say, we don't need an even more cruel rehashing of the British EMpire.
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Mar 14, 2021 11:04
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:The only problem with TSD is that the people who eat the grossest food have a disproportionate advantage when it comes to their international relations. I'm looking forward to the Finno-Dutch Salmiak Empire.
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Mar 14, 2021 11:49
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Portugal really should have waited a bit before agreeing to this
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Mar 14, 2021 12:28
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Seemed like a good idea at the time
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Mar 14, 2021 15:23
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mar da india nao é etc etc
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Mar 14, 2021 15:29
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Xelkelvos posted:Seemed like a good idea at the time "How big can this "New World" be?"
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Mar 14, 2021 15:57
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SlothfulCobra posted:Switzerland was a decentralized alliance local alliance in a rough region within a heavily decentralized state that popped loose at some point and I'm not sure anybody actually tried reconquering them. That's really not how Switzerland came about. It didn't "pop loose" in any sense of the word, I mean hell the Habsburgs are from Switzerland and their ancestral home is just outside of Zurich, and Switzerland's borders are more or less the same today as they were in 1550:  If you look at a map of Europe in 1500, you'll notice that the majority of the continent is fairly small regional powers. I mean look at any map of Italy or Germany from 1800. And when Switzerland started getting going in the early 1300s, basically all of Europe looked like that. The other difference with Switzerland is that other consolidating powers kept getting bigger, whereas Switzerland stopped a little after 1500.
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Mar 14, 2021 17:37
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 hmmmm pistachios
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Mar 14, 2021 22:28
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DarkCrawler posted:Portugal really should have waited a bit before agreeing to this Portugal actually gets the bulk of the world's most important trade passages in this
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Mar 14, 2021 22:30
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Saladman posted:That's really not how Switzerland came about. It didn't "pop loose" in any sense of the word, I mean hell the Habsburgs are from Switzerland and their ancestral home is just outside of Zurich, and Switzerland's borders are more or less the same today as they were in 1550: My concept of Swiss existence has basically been "tiny statelets getting really protective of being gobbled up by larger and growing neighboring powers, and banding together to keep the bullies at bay with the help of their best friend: the Alps."
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Mar 14, 2021 22:42
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Fojar38 posted:Portugal actually gets the bulk of the world's most important trade passages in this And exclusive access to India, which was their goal. Edit: And Indonesia too, as a bonus. Frionnel fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Mar 15, 2021 |
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Mar 15, 2021 01:22
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Platystemon posted:It’s interesting how candid that page is about the imperfections in the programme. *screams skavenishly*
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Mar 15, 2021 07:45
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Grape posted:My concept of Swiss existence has basically been "tiny statelets getting really protective of being gobbled up by larger and growing neighboring powers, and banding together to keep the bullies at bay with the help of their best friend: the Alps." I feel that's kind of the story switzerland wants you to believe but there was definitely a period in the early renaissance where they were an expansionist power, but they kind of get away with it in histories because the unusual internal politics for the period means their armies are always treated as mercenaries instead of acting in the interests of the Swiss states. The high water mark was when the Swiss occupied Milan during the War of the League of Cambrai, but after that their army was decisively defeated by the French and then the reformation meant they were focused on internal conflicts rather than further expansionism.
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Mar 15, 2021 08:47
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