# Do we have a thread for SlackerInc yet? Maybe we should **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461 "2018-12-02T20:21:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/321 "2019-09-16T10:06:50Z")
That’s what Superman said about Lex Luthor, but Lex would have made a killing on all that real estate he bought in Nevada if Ms. Tessenbacher(sp?) hadn’t taken the Kryptonite necklace off. Moral of the story: there’s still time to get land up here pretty cheap and make a killing on it in 20 years. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/322 "2019-09-16T10:28:52Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Moral of the story: there’s still time to get land up here pretty cheap and make a killing on it in 20 years. 😉 [Heh.](http://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/climate-change-minnesota/) > [@](#): > > […] For better or worse (probably worse), we’re starting to see how it will play out. The pine forests will swoon. Some of our iconic animals—moose, lynx, loons—will move up north . . . to Canada. Our basements will flood. And we won’t want to sleep with the windows open in August. […] > > Goodbye moose, goodbye loon. Hello… feral pig? […] > > In the future, your backyard will likely get muddier and weedier. And the basement will smell like a gym sock. > > The coming disruptions to Minnesota’s ecosystems won’t just happen out there in nature. They will occur in your backyard, in the park down the street, and in neighborhoods all across the metro. Are you ready for a proliferation of insect pests, damaging weeds, regular floods, and sweaty nights? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/323 "2019-09-16T10:46:41Z")
I’ll see your MSPMag and raise you the New York Times: > **[Want to Escape Global Warming? These Cities Promise Cool Relief (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/climate/climate-migration-duluth.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share)** > > While climate change affects everywhere, some areas in America will be less affected than others. And some of those fortunate places, it happens, might be looking for people. > [@](#): > > DULUTH, Minn. — As the West burns, the South swelters and the East floods, some Americans are starting to reconsider where they choose to live. > For advice, a few of them are turning to Jesse Keenan, a lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. At least once a day, Dr. Keenan, who studies urban development and climate adaptation, gets an email from someone asking where to move to be safe from climate change. The messages come from people who are thinking about moving not because they have already been hit by catastrophe, but because they see the writing on the wall. > So, what does Dr. Keenan suggest to these advance planners? Maybe climate-proof Duluth. > That’s a slogan that he created as part of an economic development and marketing package commissioned by the University of Minnesota Duluth. Some community leaders think they can spur growth by bringing in more people, and they sense an opportunity in climate change. That’s on the other side of the state from where I live now, but it’s where I graduated from high school and where I hope to move back to within a few years. They have very strong unions and impressively high teacher pay even for Minnesota, and—at least for now—relatively cheap housing costs. (BTW, I did specify “northern Minnesota”. Minneapolis-St. Paul is in the southern half of the state.) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/324 "2019-09-16T11:00:56Z")
Kimstu, some bits from your cite you didn’t happen to quote: > [@](#): > > Since 1970, average winter temperatures have risen by about 6 °F. > [@](#): > > 13: The multiple by which Minnesota’s winter warming has exceeded its summer warming. For most people up here, this is just not going to sound like a bad tradeoff. Our relatively mild summers will get a little warmer, and our bitterly cold winters will get significantly milder? Okay, I can work with that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/325 "2019-09-16T11:22:41Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > some bits from your cite you didn’t happen to quote You’d already said the bit about warmer winters; I was just pointing out some of the features that _you_ didn’t happen to mention. In any case, I hope all northern Minnesotans and everybody else will find the impacts of climate change less inconvenient than currently feared. But at present, AFAICT, rebranding shrunken Rust Belt cities as “climate refuge” locations is more of a Chamber of Commerce marketing ploy than a serious or well-thought-out plan for coping with the expected population dislocations. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/326 "2019-09-16T11:28:44Z")
So you think a Harvard lecturer is just some hack spouting whatever nonsense the city’s Chamber of Commerce pays him to say? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/327 "2019-09-16T11:34:30Z")
Who to believe - the professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Soil, Water, and Climate AND the Director The University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology, and Institute on the Environment , or some politicians trying to up-sell their own city (and one guy who does have very good cred - hell, I’ve _read_ Keenan - but admits “climate-proof Duluth” was “tongue-in-cheek”). Especially when you read the NYT article and realise even there, they’re not really talking about things being _better_, just _not as bad_ as elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/328 "2019-09-16T11:53:49Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So you think a Harvard lecturer is just some hack Strawman. I’m not claiming that Keenan is a “hack”, just that “an economic development and marketing package” is a sales pitch, not a scientific analysis. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/329 "2019-09-16T11:57:34Z")
But it still sounds like both of you are saying he is using his good credentials to sell out to the highest bidder. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/330 "2019-09-16T12:03:50Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But it still sounds like both of you are saying he is using his good credentials to sell out to the highest bidder. 😕 If that’s what my remarks “sound like” to you, you need to adjust your set. There is nothing wrong with a researcher being commissioned to help with an economic development and marketing package, but it’s silly to expect that the resulting package won’t be focused on selling the product. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/331 "2019-09-16T12:08:35Z")
I think many researchers with good reputations would not get involved with selling a product unless they actually believed in it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/332 "2019-09-16T12:22:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m not a conservative, dumbass. Sure, ok. That’s even sadder then. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/333 "2019-09-16T12:29:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But it still sounds like both of you are saying he is using his good credentials to sell out to the highest bidder. Nobody’s said that. He’s pretty respected in the resilience field AFAIK, I have no reason tho think he’s a shill. But the message he’s pushing in that article (“North Minnesota will be one of the last refuges of climate change”) and your apparent takeaway (“Climate change will be _positive_ for N Minnesota”) are two different things. The article is completely correct that some places will find the negatives of climate change easier to manage. Only an utter fool would look at that with anticipation verging on joy. But I guess if anyone was going to be that fool… ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/334 "2019-09-16T12:34:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I think many researchers with good reputations would not get involved with selling a product unless they actually believed in it. Sure, but AFAICT Keenan’s version of “selling” does not involve blithe promises that people will “make a killing in 20 years” on newly purchased land. Then again, you’re not a researcher with a good reputation, so there’s no guarantee either of your bona fides or your competence as a forecaster. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/335 "2019-09-16T12:38:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Only an utter fool would look at that with anticipation verging on joy. But I guess if anyone was going to be that fool… This is the guy who likes other people having shitty or insurance because it makes him feel proud of himself for having good insurance . . . and who thinks that reaction is normal. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/336 "2019-09-16T13:14:34Z")
I often take **Slacker** ’s side in these disputes. But I was startled to see his comments, in an Elections thread, on the bank bailouts of 2009. I can sympathize with questions of Warren’s electability, or whether her progressive programs would go too far. But **Slacker** offered comments on the bank bail-out that seemed to be a confused hybrid of right-wing prattle and general ignorance. However, I note that even the best Dopers sometimes go too far, or stray from their areas of expertise. We’re here to fight ignorance and I just hope **Slacker** will have a less confused interpretation of TARP in the future. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/337 "2019-09-16T14:03:25Z")
Thanks for the posts guys, besides showing that the Slacker say so that “nobody is interested” was horseshit… > [@MrDibble](#): > > Nobody’s said that. He’s pretty respected in the resilience field AFAIK, I have no reason tho think he’s a shill. But the message he’s pushing in that article (“North Minnesota will be one of the last refuges of climate change”) and your apparent takeaway (“Climate change will be _positive_ for N Minnesota”) are two different things. The article is completely correct that some places will find the negatives of climate change easier to manage. > > Only an utter fool would look at that with anticipation verging on joy. But I guess if anyone was going to be that fool… Interesting that that fool jumped when I pointed out that Republicans today do fall for lukewarmer messages like that, looks more like the Slacker also feels bad to be confronted with information that makes \*\*Republicans \*\*look as insane as what they are nowadays. Peculiar from someone that still posts canned replies about how Democrat he is or how knowledgeable he pretends to be about global warming or other issues. > [@Kimstu](#): > > Sure, but AFAICT Keenan’s version of “selling” does not involve blithe promises that people will “make a killing in 20 years” on newly purchased land. Then again, you’re not a researcher with a good reputation, so there’s no guarantee either of your bona fides or your competence as a forecaster. Yep, as I think you pointed before, he is an unreliable narrator besides being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/338 "2019-09-16T16:23:48Z")
Oh, GIGO: I giftwrapped an invitation for your friends to white-knight you on this topic, but they still could not summon the interest to talk about your favorite Scandinavian. Take what you can get, but your exultation is cringe-inducing. :rolleyes: > [@septimus](#): > > **Slacker** offered comments on the bank bail-out that seemed to be a confused hybrid of right-wing prattle and general ignorance. I promise you I am less ignorant about TARP and the actions taken in the fall of 2008 than the vast majority of people, who clearly don’t even understand that these were _loans_ which were repaid with interest. And it’s certainly not right wingers who take the side of Timothy Geithner et al on this. They love to go on and on about “bailouts” and “banksters” themselves. It’s a rare instance of unity from the right and left. I am very much a centrist on this one. And the center is small on this topic, but more sober and knowledgeable for sure. > [@MandaJo](#): > > other people having shitty or insurance Well, which is it? Shitty? Or insurance? 😃 (Looks like I’m not the only one who posts using voice to text. Proofreading is key!) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/339 "2019-09-16T16:29:26Z")
N/m ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/340 "2019-09-16T16:42:41Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Oh, GIGO: I giftwrapped an invitation for your friends to white-knight you on this topic, but they still could not summon the interest to talk about your favorite Scandinavian. Take what you can get, but your exultation is cringe-inducing. :rolleyes: It is always a pleasure to notice that the Slacker, to get a stupid point across, has to ignore that the Scandinavian was not the only hook in his trolled mouth that is painfully showing. Since it was just part of how he swallows Republican or lukewarmer bait on the climate change issue, it is clear that yes, there was an interest from others regarding how he is trolled around by right wingers on this and other subjects, and he is still horseshitting around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461.md?page=18)