@Sagemind: The validity of his Roberts' talk comes from the fact that the cumulative effects of human activities have a self-perpetuating momentum based on things like the methane contained in permafrost. The simple argument that we simply cannot afford to be wrong far outweighs the idea that his entire thesis must be thrown out because of a handful of appeals to popularity or "hearsay" evidence. This is not a court, or even a peer-reviewed research paper.

Ice cores reveal he annual accumulation of snow in the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica contains isotopic markers of the temperature, so there are indeed scientific methods of measuring prehistoric temperatures.

Well and of course we know #1 actually can be continued as for some reason there seemed to already be people there.

So in fact they probably found it first a LONG time ago up by Alaska's volcanic chain via the Russia/Alaska land-bridge that would have existed there for a time; plus someone would have to fill me in but I'm not entirely sure where the Polynesians "may" fit into all of this--as I know they were also known to be GREAT seamen and went very far on extremely small vessels (the ones I'm thinking of you actually have your legs in the water and it carries about six people and is designed sort of like an odd Catamaran)--Hawaii for example was settled into by 300-500 CE. Then the Vikings in Greenland, Canada, and North America (I think just Maine and a few points in Newfoundland--they also didn't stick around for long in these areas as they left these "western" camps to go back to Greenland for the winter). Finally, Columbus made it who sailed around The Caribbean a bit (basically Cuba then Haiti I think; if I remembered right--after coming from the Canary Islands).

There may even be more history to it as unfortunately we know how history is written AND if you don't have that much of a language and worse no paper or way to reference or keep track of old material, telling your story becomes VERY hard as it was never recorded in the first place. All we have left is archeology to help guide us to these newer, more exact figures and finders.

BUT, Columbus did find the first real trade route for 15th century Europe to a "New World", one that had its own spices and plenty of bounty, and THAT is what meant everything. THIS is what people should remember, not that he found it first or the round Earth garbage--that is just bad teachers and even worse (as I READ THEM) terrible history books!

>> ^MarineGunrock:

This whole "they hate us because of our freedom!" thing is fucking retarded. If they attacked us because of that, why hasn't Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, Iceland, Greenland et. al. been attacked like we have? Oh, it's because they're not sticking their collective noses in other nation's business? ...... okay.


*ehem* well, I guess because every single country you named grants their citizens equal or more freedom than the US of A.
That aside, I agree with you, if this stupid soundbite was true than at least North Korea would be the one constantly attacking the US.

This whole "they hate us because of our freedom!" thing is fucking retarded. If they attacked us because of that, why hasn't Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, Iceland, Greenland et. al. been attacked like we have? Oh, it's because they're not sticking their collective noses in other nation's business? ...... okay.

I like the fact that the news anchor won't even admit that the world is getting warmer. Like it is some sort of trap. Does he not hear about the glaciers melting in Greenland or paths in the northern ice cap being accessible for one of the first times ever in recorded history? You can stomp your feet all you want about how climate models are wrong/complicated or that it is man made or due to solar regulations. However, I don't think you can deny the world is getting warmer, it's called a thermometer and a pencil and paper for note taking.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Inuit, Greenland, Copenhagen, English' to 'Inuit, Greenland, Copenhagen, English, Angu Motzfeldt' - edited by JesseoftheNorth

You gotta be pretty goddamn hammered off your noggin to think this is fun. I would imagine they had absolutely nothing to do during wintertime in Greenland. So it was either this or jerking each other off in a circle to pass time, and I guess they chose the underwater ice skating. But it still sounds just as gay as the circle jerk session ironically enough.

@robdot & @shuac

In Canada and Greenland[1][14][17][20] the term Eskimo is widely held to be pejorative[20][11] and has fallen out of favour, largely supplanted by the term Inuit. However, while Inuit describes all of the Eskimo peoples in Canada and Greenland, that is not true in Alaska and Siberia. In Alaska the term Eskimo is commonly used, because it includes both Yupik and Inupiat, while Inuit is not accepted as a collective term or even specifically used for Inupiat (who technically are Inuit). No universal replacement term for Eskimo, inclusive of all Inuit and Yupik people, is accepted across the geographical area inhabited by the Inuit and Yupik peoples.[1]

Since the 1970s in Canada and Greenland Eskimo has widely been considered offensive, as mentioned above. In 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted Inuit as a designation for all circumpolar native peoples, regardless of their local view on an appropriate term. As a result the Canadian government usage has replaced the (locally) defunct term Eskimo with Inuit (Inuk in singular). The preferred term in Canada's Central Arctic is Inuinnaq,[21] and in the eastern Canadian Arctic Inuit. The language is often called Inuktitut, though other local designations are also used.

While I agree that certain terms (Indian, Midget, etc) are stupid to take offense to, but when they actually have a conference and agree upon something they prefer to be called, I can respect that, and respect their wishes.

They did not just say "No, you can't say that anymore, that's our word" or "I find this term offensive" they made a name for their race as a whole.

trivia: the church/palace in Azgard looks inspired by Reykjavik's cathedral.

That's an extremely morbid use of the catsanddogs tag -- I like it!

In reply to this comment by Throbbin:
*canada *nature *eco *catsanddogs

Yeah, try making a sled from the ribcage of a cat. Dogs 1, Cats 0.

Also, most Inuit did not see the British as Gods. Instead, white folks were (and still are) referred to as 'kablunaaks' - Kabluqs = eyebrows (because they found the white folks had big, bushy eyebrows), and Naak = Stomach (because they had big stomachs). Inuit on Baffin island were amazed at the technology the Europeans brought with them, but Inuit on eastern Baffin island had also heard stories from Greenland Inuit who had clashed with and run-out-of-town the Vikings sometime before, and were well aware of the existence and mortality of Europeans.

*canada *nature *eco *catsanddogs

Yeah, try making a sled from the ribcage of a cat. Dogs 1, Cats 0.

Also, most Inuit did not see the British as Gods. Instead, white folks were (and still are) referred to as 'kablunaaks' - Kabluqs = eyebrows (because they found the white folks had big, bushy eyebrows), and Naak = Stomach (because they had big stomachs). Inuit on Baffin island were amazed at the technology the Europeans brought with them, but Inuit on eastern Baffin island had also heard stories from Greenland Inuit who had clashed with and run-out-of-town the Vikings sometime before, and were well aware of the existence and mortality of Europeans.

See also the alleged "Worlds Most Dangerous Playground Equipment": http://trueslant.com/joshuakucera/2009/06/25/the-worlds-most-dangerous-piece-of-playground-equipment-found-in-greenland/

It's funny that the author finished the article with "Whatever the case, I have to admit it looks pretty fun"
_____________________________________________________________________

See also, ALSO: THE TRAGIC DEATH OF THE COOLEST PLAYGROUND EVER: http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2006/sfoplayground/

>> ^heathen:
Gapminder's data for 2007 also shows Bermuda ahead of the USA for percentage of population online, (not just broadband users), although Greenland was the number 1 that year.


Ah, whoops, I tried to be clever and include a link with labels on the relevant countries, but it seems Sifty didn't like it being so long.

Hopefully the full link will display below, if not just go to www.gapminder.org/world and select "Open Graph Menu" and then "Who has the most Internet users?"


http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=100;stl=t;st=f;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=6;ti=2007$zpv;v=0$inc_x
;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1jiMAkmq1iMg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0xiDjWaypQTg;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ
;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=269;dataMax=119849$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=0;dataMax=91$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;
bd=0$inds=i24_r,,,,,,;i239_n,,akak;i86_n,,akak;modified=58

>> ^Croccydile:

I don't think they are very fair with the Internet rankings though. Certainly the US is not #1 in the world but... Bermuda? That would be like putting 10mbit broadband on Guam and then calling it the largest broadband penetration in the world. Most certainly I take my connection at home with blessings as compared to say, "broadband" in Mexico. (Hint: Honest to goodness telco monopoly)


Gapminder's data for 2007 also shows Bermuda ahead of the USA for percentage of population online, (not just broadband users), although Greenland was the number 1 that year.

^Deathcow: No, the natives had already been displaced prior to the building of your home. Kinda like me saying it's ok to wear clothing made through child labour because I didn't put them in the factories.

'as far as I can tell' - I'm sure you've been trying real hard.

'Did their tiny population...' - Collectively, yes they did. Either them or the Klinkit. I know it's easier to pretend that that land didn't belong to an indigenous people prior to European contact, but that would be naive.

Look at how ^Dag is much more respectful and tactful in getting his point across.

^Dag: Very well said. The same issues exist for Inuit (Inupiat are Inuit) across Canada and Greenland today. I have a pretty good idea of what you would have experienced and witnessed up there (many of my teachers in high school were fresh out of University and were shocked at much of what they saw).

I believe a culture is responsible for it's own survival (mine included) if it's given enough time to adapt to the world it finds itself in. I grew up hunting with snowmobiles and with rifles, nothing wrong with that. It is folly to think that a culture must remain static or become assimilated. Adaptation is the key to cultural survival and success.

I agree on the status quo too - I relentlessly rail against the status quo back home, and of the dangers of complacency. I understand perfectly well what you (and deathcow) are trying to say about the feasibility of small populations trying to acquire a 'modern' lifestyle in the Arctic, while preserving aspects of their culture. Believe it or not, IRL I'm not the flippant, immature person I can come across as on VS, and I spend a large portion of my time thinking about ways to address these kinds of issues.

Drop me a PM sometime - I'd be interested in having a mature discussion about your experiences in Barrow.