Yes, I know that the vast majority of scientists studying global warming have repeatedly told us that the current global warming we are experiencing is caused by human industry. I know that the evidence is in that this increase in temperature could have serious, if not catastrophic, consequences for human life on this planet.
I also know that there are a number of people calling themselves "climate change skeptics", people who spend a lot of time arguing against human-caused global warming using the same techniques that creationists use. I distrust them mainly on the basis of their dishonesty.
I'm just saying that it doesn't matter.
Do you know what the solution is to stopping humanity's contribution to global warming?
We have to stop burning fossil fuels. There are a few other tricks we can do but the biggest contributor, by far, is the burning of oil-based products.
Let's see if we can find any other reasons to stop using fossil fuels:
1. Burning oil and gasoline pollutes the environment.
2. Purchasing oil supports dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and a number of other places.
3. Purchasing oil supports the Bush administration's financial backers.
4. We've killed enough human beings over oil already.
5. Extracting oil from the tar sands in Alberta is going to be extremely destructive to the environment.
So seriously now, let's think about it.
Do we really need another reason to stop burning oil?
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 08, 2008
I don't care about Bernier's girlfriend
It pains me to say this but here goes: "Stephen Harper is right and everyone else is wrong".
It should be understood that this pertains only to the PM's statement that Maxime Bernier's private life is his private life. I don't care about the Foreign Affairs Minister's ex-girlfriend. Unless it turns out she's a known KGB agent or the daughter of an oil executive who suddenly received no-bid contracts, it's none of our business.
It turns out that, before she dated Bernier, she was married to some biker gang guy. So what? Is Bernier involved in getting the RCMP to avoid arresting Hell's Angels members? No. He's in Foreign Affairs.
Yep. Harper's absolutely right when he says this is busybody gossiping on the part of the opposition.
You want to nail the Conservative government on something? Nail them on this stupid, pointless war we're having in Afghanistan. Nail on the quiet little meetings their having on "North American Energy Security". Nail them on their poor fiscal planning.
But nailing them on somebody's girlfriend.
That's beyond stupid and a waste of our time.
It should be understood that this pertains only to the PM's statement that Maxime Bernier's private life is his private life. I don't care about the Foreign Affairs Minister's ex-girlfriend. Unless it turns out she's a known KGB agent or the daughter of an oil executive who suddenly received no-bid contracts, it's none of our business.
It turns out that, before she dated Bernier, she was married to some biker gang guy. So what? Is Bernier involved in getting the RCMP to avoid arresting Hell's Angels members? No. He's in Foreign Affairs.
Yep. Harper's absolutely right when he says this is busybody gossiping on the part of the opposition.
You want to nail the Conservative government on something? Nail them on this stupid, pointless war we're having in Afghanistan. Nail on the quiet little meetings their having on "North American Energy Security". Nail them on their poor fiscal planning.
But nailing them on somebody's girlfriend.
That's beyond stupid and a waste of our time.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Freedom Sometimes Fizzles Out
There are a lot of ways to lose your freedom.
At the beginning of World War II, the Polish lost theirs in about three days by force of arms. It can go very quickly.
After 9/11, the Americans lost a lot of their freedoms to the pre-concocted "USA PATRIOT" Act, passed through Congress in a matter of days.
In Canada, it's a much slower process.
First, Parliament passed an ill-conceived anti-terrorist bill.
Then we handed over to the Americans an innocent guy named Arar who was sent to Syria and tortured.
Then our military decided that it had the right to send our soldiers in to wars even when the populace and Parliament had decided against it.
For their latest trick, the Conservative government has decided to shut down the display of records regarding invocations of the Access to Information Act.
By itself, is this a big deal? Not precisely. The Access to Information still exists. You can pay your five dollars and request any government document you want. What this (now defunct) database did was announce to everyone, publicly, what documents had been requested. After all, if you don't know that a document exists, how could you request a copy?
It's a test. It's a test of the populace. Do we understand the fundamental essence of democracy? Do we understand that our government can not be permitted to have secrets from us? Do we realize that if we let the wealthy rulers of our country chip this little piece away, they will be encouraged and chip away more?
I don't know that we'll pass this test. We didn't protest nearly hard enough about the way in which our property values are secretly decided. We didn't protest when we found out that our military was sent to Iraq against our wishes - or in to Haiti to topple the democratic government there.
Does anyone care enough to understand what makes a free society?
Democracy: the granite rock in the middle of an endless, miserable chaotic rapids of slavery. Every little chunk that falls away from the rock will drop in to the river and fizzle away.
This is how our freedom will die, one little fizzle at a time.
At the beginning of World War II, the Polish lost theirs in about three days by force of arms. It can go very quickly.
After 9/11, the Americans lost a lot of their freedoms to the pre-concocted "USA PATRIOT" Act, passed through Congress in a matter of days.
In Canada, it's a much slower process.
First, Parliament passed an ill-conceived anti-terrorist bill.
Then we handed over to the Americans an innocent guy named Arar who was sent to Syria and tortured.
Then our military decided that it had the right to send our soldiers in to wars even when the populace and Parliament had decided against it.
For their latest trick, the Conservative government has decided to shut down the display of records regarding invocations of the Access to Information Act.
By itself, is this a big deal? Not precisely. The Access to Information still exists. You can pay your five dollars and request any government document you want. What this (now defunct) database did was announce to everyone, publicly, what documents had been requested. After all, if you don't know that a document exists, how could you request a copy?
It's a test. It's a test of the populace. Do we understand the fundamental essence of democracy? Do we understand that our government can not be permitted to have secrets from us? Do we realize that if we let the wealthy rulers of our country chip this little piece away, they will be encouraged and chip away more?
I don't know that we'll pass this test. We didn't protest nearly hard enough about the way in which our property values are secretly decided. We didn't protest when we found out that our military was sent to Iraq against our wishes - or in to Haiti to topple the democratic government there.
Does anyone care enough to understand what makes a free society?
Democracy: the granite rock in the middle of an endless, miserable chaotic rapids of slavery. Every little chunk that falls away from the rock will drop in to the river and fizzle away.
This is how our freedom will die, one little fizzle at a time.
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