Steve and the misses are in India now pushing Athabasca bitumen to that country's massive energy market. He's got to sign up customers fast to justify his Northern Gateway pipeline venture.
But why are Canadians picking up the tab for Steve's travels to flog Athabasca's wares? Salesmen usually get their expenses covered plus a hefty commission. And since the Harper government can't come up with a few million bucks to bury destitute Canadian veterans, maybe we can kill two birds with one oily stone.
Here's an idea. Let's get the Oil Patch to sponsor Steve's trips. Plaster the outside of his Airbus with the corporate logos of Suncor, Syncrude, Shell, Nexen, Total, CNRL, Imperial Oil, Sinopec and StatOil. Make it clear when Steve's plane lands in Asia that he's there on behalf of some serious players.
In exchange the Fossil Fuelers can cough up the few million bucks needed every year to send off Canadian veterans who die just too damned poor to cover the tab themselves. To Big Tar it's pocket change and a fraction of what they spend educating Canadians on how environmentally friendly they are.
Monday, November 05, 2012
Sunday, November 04, 2012
So Let's Get this Straight
Steve Harper has $28-million to blow on 200-year old triumphalism for a war between Britain and the United States but he can't come up with $5-million a year to cover the funeral costs of impoverished Canadian soldiers.
Remember when that greaseball was the Canadian soldier's Best Friend Forever, back when he could squeeze buckets of political capital out of their blood and bones? But then Afghanistan didn't go the way Steve had promised and, ultimately, embarrassed Steve and someone has to pay, even if they're dead. So 1812 is definitely in and Afghanistan and those who wound up serving there are just as definitely out.
I wonder how many destitute soldiers we can bury for the cost of just one F-35? Or how many burials could we have funded if we only had back the money that "Toney Tony" Clement splashed around his own riding for the G8/G20 summits?
Of course you could bury the entire Tory caucus for just a few thousand bucks. You can pack an awful lot of sphincters in just one coffin.
Remember when that greaseball was the Canadian soldier's Best Friend Forever, back when he could squeeze buckets of political capital out of their blood and bones? But then Afghanistan didn't go the way Steve had promised and, ultimately, embarrassed Steve and someone has to pay, even if they're dead. So 1812 is definitely in and Afghanistan and those who wound up serving there are just as definitely out.
I wonder how many destitute soldiers we can bury for the cost of just one F-35? Or how many burials could we have funded if we only had back the money that "Toney Tony" Clement splashed around his own riding for the G8/G20 summits?
Of course you could bury the entire Tory caucus for just a few thousand bucks. You can pack an awful lot of sphincters in just one coffin.
Is An Election This Close Too Tempting Not to Rig?
Many American news services claim the vote on Wednesday is just too close to call between Obama and Romney. That elevates a problem that, it seems, no one wants to talk about, rigging the enormously vulnerable electronic voting systems so many States use.
First of all, if someone tinkers with these machines it won't be to skew the election Obama's way. The main companies that make and service these machines are tied to Republican interests.
For inexplicable reasons these machines have never been made tamper proof. The vulnerabilities that have plagued them back into the Bush II days are still there. Worse yet, the inability to detect tampering still exists. There is still no way to independently verify the voting results these machines tabulate. Their results are unassailable even if they come out rigged.
In "How to Rig an Election" in the November issue of Harper's, Victoria Collier chronicles America's vulnerability to electronic vote tampering and how it is a taboo subject even among the Left.
In his 2011 paper "To the American Media: Time to Face the Reality of Election Rigging," Jonathan Simon accuse the press of maintaining a Mafia-style omerta on the subject. "The gruesome truth is that American elections can be rigged, and are being rigged, because the American media treats election rigging as something that - all evidence notwithstanding - could never happen here."
Few people know this better than NYU professor Mark Crispen Miller, whose books 'Fooled Again' and 'Loser Take All' document a wide assortment of G.O.P. vote-stealing tricks in every major election from 2000 to 2006. When the books were published, he told me, "I got no interviews and almost no reviews, despite the wealth of evidence I'd gathered. The corporate media was silent. But the left-wing press was hostile."
Like Canada (so far), Europe has rejected American-style electronic voting.
It is Germany, however, that has now become the standard-bearer for clean elections. In 2009, that nation's constitutional court upheld the basic principle of the public nature of democratic elections. By ruling that the vote count must be something the public can authenticate - and without any specialized expertise - the decision directly challenged the use of computers in elections.
Ireland followed suit in 2012, sending all its electronic voting machines to the scrap heap.
America has a rich history of outrageously rigged elections and 2012 seems primed to continue this sad tradition.
First of all, if someone tinkers with these machines it won't be to skew the election Obama's way. The main companies that make and service these machines are tied to Republican interests.
For inexplicable reasons these machines have never been made tamper proof. The vulnerabilities that have plagued them back into the Bush II days are still there. Worse yet, the inability to detect tampering still exists. There is still no way to independently verify the voting results these machines tabulate. Their results are unassailable even if they come out rigged.
In "How to Rig an Election" in the November issue of Harper's, Victoria Collier chronicles America's vulnerability to electronic vote tampering and how it is a taboo subject even among the Left.
In his 2011 paper "To the American Media: Time to Face the Reality of Election Rigging," Jonathan Simon accuse the press of maintaining a Mafia-style omerta on the subject. "The gruesome truth is that American elections can be rigged, and are being rigged, because the American media treats election rigging as something that - all evidence notwithstanding - could never happen here."
Few people know this better than NYU professor Mark Crispen Miller, whose books 'Fooled Again' and 'Loser Take All' document a wide assortment of G.O.P. vote-stealing tricks in every major election from 2000 to 2006. When the books were published, he told me, "I got no interviews and almost no reviews, despite the wealth of evidence I'd gathered. The corporate media was silent. But the left-wing press was hostile."
Like Canada (so far), Europe has rejected American-style electronic voting.
It is Germany, however, that has now become the standard-bearer for clean elections. In 2009, that nation's constitutional court upheld the basic principle of the public nature of democratic elections. By ruling that the vote count must be something the public can authenticate - and without any specialized expertise - the decision directly challenged the use of computers in elections.
Ireland followed suit in 2012, sending all its electronic voting machines to the scrap heap.
America has a rich history of outrageously rigged elections and 2012 seems primed to continue this sad tradition.
The Joy that is Vancouver Island
It's grey and wet and windy and cold today on Vancouver Island or what we like to call "normal." An ability to tolerate these conditions month in, month out, for much of the year is a prerequisite for living here. There is a good reason the region is called the Wet Coast.
We usually get two, occasionally three, good summer months when it can turn sunny and warm, even at times hot. We call that "tourist season." When the sun goes, the tourists don't linger.
A good many of us just love the place, even during the Rain Festival (runs every October to July, tickets subject to availability). It's the mighty Pacific, the fresh ocean air, the vast emptiness, even the rocks and Christmas trees that blanket the island from one end to the other.
Even quirky Victoria, nestled at the southern tip, is endearing. I like the way Times Colonist scribe, Jack Knox, wrote of his town this morning.
"...Victoria itself is a city of misfits, the last refuge of the disaffected and the disconnected, people from somewhere else looking for something else, stopping at the water's edge down here in the lower left-hand corner of Canada only because any further migration would result in drowning. Vancouver Island is where the snowy part of Canada shovels its flakes."
Sigh.
America's Internally Displaced Refugees
We became familiar with internally displaced populations in the wake of the American conquests of Afghanistan and Iraq and the sectarian violence that ensued.
America suffered a bout of internally displaced people after Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans and many thousands were forced to leave the city to take refuge in FEMA trailer camps.
Now the states of New Jersey and New York are faced with internal displacement challenges in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. It's estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 residents of New York City have lost their residences and need to be relocated. Even as the flood waters recede, a cold snap has set in to torment the homeless and create another nightmare for city and state officials.
"As of Sunday, more than 700,000 remained without power in New York State, including 404,000 on Long Island and 154,000 in New York City."
America suffered a bout of internally displaced people after Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans and many thousands were forced to leave the city to take refuge in FEMA trailer camps.
Now the states of New Jersey and New York are faced with internal displacement challenges in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. It's estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 residents of New York City have lost their residences and need to be relocated. Even as the flood waters recede, a cold snap has set in to torment the homeless and create another nightmare for city and state officials.
"Temperatures throughout the region fell early Sunday into the 30s, and
the National Weather Service issued a freeze watch on Sunday for parts
of New Jersey, including the coast, where many residents remained
without heat. Officials have urged them to head to shelters.
"Mr. Bloomberg called the cold the “most pressing” challenge in the
recovery. The city has opened heating shelters and is passing out
blankets to New Yorkers without electricity.
“'You can die from being cold,” Mr. Bloomberg said Sunday. “You can die
from fires started from candles or stoves. Please go to the local
disaster site. If you don’t know where to go, stop a cop on the side of
the road and ask.”
"Adding to the concerns, forecasters now say that a northeaster could
move in by midweek, hitting the already battered coastal areas with
heavy winds and strong waves. Freezing temperatures are also expected.
"As of Sunday, more than 700,000 remained without power in New York State, including 404,000 on Long Island and 154,000 in New York City."
Harper Stirs the Asian Pot
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| "Don't Let On You Want to Bomb His Country" |
China, really? The same China we're selling our Tar Sands to, and in partnership with whom we're building our Northern Gateway pipeline to transport diluted bitumen across British Columbia to Kitimat where it will be loaded into Chinese state-owned and operated supertankers, that China? The same China that will be refining our bitumen into crude oil products that could be fueling its new, blue water navy, and its equally new stealth fighters, and all of its tanks and other military machinery, that China? Ooooh yeah, baby, that China.
So what would suggest the Harper neo-Cons have China in their crosshairs? There are several telltales.
Our government's utter obsession with the F-35 is one. Why would Canada opt for a pathetically small number of supposedly stealthy, light attack bombers except if we contemplated some use for that sort of warplane, i.e. a first strike against an adversary with modern, sophisticated air defences? Truth be told, there aren't many countries that fit that bill that aren't already on our side. Russia and China, however do fit the bill.
And remember DefMin Peter "Airshow" MacKay's gushing remarks in September after his meeting with his American idol, Leon Panetta? At the time, MacKay called for Canada to establish a "permanent, visible [military] presence" in Asia, adding, "We have to be there in quality and quantity in the coming years." MacKay has been busy seeking forward basing rights in places like Singapore. What could that possibly be about?
Now, Harper has added his piece to this childish puzzle. He's en route to India along with his wife, Darlene. In an exclusive interview with PostMedia, Harper said that Canada needs India as a strong ally for reasons of "geopolitical global security."
"I think they're a logical partner and ally of western countries... they face many of the same security issues we face. In some ways more imminently."
So, just what security issues do Canada and India have in common, issues that India faces "more imminently"? It's not Russia, that much is for sure. India is still pursuing the strong
decades-old military/industrial partnership with Russia that has served it very well. Hmmm, if Russia's out that leaves - you guessed it - China. And India, which got into a shooting war with China back in Nehru's days over a perpetual border dispute, can be said to have "imminent" issues with the People's Republic.
In other words, you won't strain your eyes reading between the lines to see that Steve and Peter and the whole damned Neo-Conservative government of Canada see very real security issues between our country and the very same one they're bending over backwards to help to our bitumen resources.
It sounds contradictory but, always bear in mind, that it's American foreign policy that we're adopting, not our own. Flogging bitumen to anyone who'll have it is domestic policy. Deciding who is our friend and who is our enemy is something we'll leave up to Washington. There, contradiction resolved.
Saturday, November 03, 2012
Will Israelis Shut the Church of the Holy Sepulcher?
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate says it might have to close Jerusalem's Christian shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, because an Israeli water company is breaking its deal with the church.
The church says it's had a deal going back to 1969 under which water was supplied at no charge. The Israeli water company, it claims, breached that agreement in 2004 and has since seized the church bank accounts claiming a $2.3-million outstanding water bill.
Something not mentioned in the news accounts is where the water comes from that the Israeli utility has provided to the church "going back to 1969." I wouldn't be surprised that it turns out to be water pumped out of an aquifer, Palestinian water, taken by Israelis after the Occupation.
The church says it's had a deal going back to 1969 under which water was supplied at no charge. The Israeli water company, it claims, breached that agreement in 2004 and has since seized the church bank accounts claiming a $2.3-million outstanding water bill.
Something not mentioned in the news accounts is where the water comes from that the Israeli utility has provided to the church "going back to 1969." I wouldn't be surprised that it turns out to be water pumped out of an aquifer, Palestinian water, taken by Israelis after the Occupation.
Reefer Madness
This will come as a surprise to most British Columbians but criminal charges for marijuana possession in this province have soared 88 per cent over the past decade.
But pot prosecutions aren't the only thing that's up. So is public support for decriminalization of possession. An Angus Reid poll found nearly three out of four British Columbians favour regulating and taxing pot. In Vancouver, just 13% of respondents supported criminal prosecution for possession of a joint. Here on the island that was down to just 8%.
It's unclear where the pot crackdown is taking place. It isn't Vancouver. 34 were charged with simple pot possession in 2006 and that fell to just 6 charges in 2010. One pot possession charge every two months, that's it?
Isn't it time society grew up and stopped this nonsense?
But pot prosecutions aren't the only thing that's up. So is public support for decriminalization of possession. An Angus Reid poll found nearly three out of four British Columbians favour regulating and taxing pot. In Vancouver, just 13% of respondents supported criminal prosecution for possession of a joint. Here on the island that was down to just 8%.
It's unclear where the pot crackdown is taking place. It isn't Vancouver. 34 were charged with simple pot possession in 2006 and that fell to just 6 charges in 2010. One pot possession charge every two months, that's it?
Isn't it time society grew up and stopped this nonsense?
Just Because
It's been one of those weeks. Chester, Chester Arthur Burnett, the legendary Howlin' Wolf.
6'3", 300 pounds, nicknamed "Bull Cow" as a kid. The Wolf was known as a devoted husband who, unlike so many of his contemporaries, steered clear of drugs, booze and strange women. It's said Eric Clapton paid for his tombstone.
6'3", 300 pounds, nicknamed "Bull Cow" as a kid. The Wolf was known as a devoted husband who, unlike so many of his contemporaries, steered clear of drugs, booze and strange women. It's said Eric Clapton paid for his tombstone.
Friday, November 02, 2012
Terrorism on the Sky Train?
RCMP are investigating what appear to be four propane tanks lashed together and left on the Sky train commuter rail tracks in Surrey, B.C.
"It certainly does appear
suspicious in nature where we have several propane tanks that have been
purposely strapped together and placed in a bit of a precarious
position," Sgt. Drew Grainger said.
"We've cordoned the area off and we have activated the explosives disposal unit to give it a much more comprehensive assessment."
Alberta Wins Canadian Inequality Title
The top half of Alberta families receive 87% of the province's income. That, of course, means the bottom half share just 13% of the pie. And that is said to be the most unequal distribution in Canada.
A report issued by the Alberta College of Social Workers and the University of Alberta's Parkland Institute found:
- 87 per cent of earnings in the province goes to the top half of families.
- The top 10 per cent of Alberta families get 28 per cent of after-tax income, while the bottom 10 per cent of families get only 1.7 per cent;
- The top one per cent of Alberta earners have an average income of $675,200 compared to an average of $353,100 for the top one per cent nationally.
- The median income in Alberta in 2009 was $68,100, while the median income among Alberta CEOs was just under $2.5 million.
- Albertans consistently work longer hours, with less time off and holidays, than almost anyone else in the developed world.
Australian Climate Commission - Sandy Is the New Normal
The Australian Climate Commission has released a report concluding that man-made global warming made Hurricane Sandy bigger, fiercer and more damaging.
The burning of fossil fuels had made a material contribution to the atmospheric conditions that bred and sustained the storm, the report said, echoing international studies produced over the past few days...
Is Romney's Wall of Secrecy Crumbling?
Mitt Romney may have sailed into stormy seas. A complaint is being filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics under the Ethics in Government Act demanding that Romney be compelled to disclose details of his auto-bailout profiteering.
“The American people have a right to know about Gov. Romney’s potential conflicts of interest, such as the profits his family made from the auto rescue,” said UAW President Bob King. “It’s time for Gov. Romney to disclose or divest.”
In a Nation magazine cover story, investigative reporter Greg Palast reported that the Romney family personally profited at least $15.3 million from the auto loans of 2009 through his investment in the Delphi Corp. auto parts company. Yet Romney’s June 1, 2012, Public Financial Disclosure Report to the Office of Government Ethics did not reveal this windfall because he did not disclose the underlying holdings of his private equity and limited partnership funds.
“While Romney was opposing the rescue of one of the nation’s most important manufacturing sectors, he was building his fortunes with his Delphi investor group, making his fortunes off the misfortunes of others,” King added.
The groups sending the complaint letter, including SEIU, UAW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Public Citizen, Public Campaign, People for the American Way and The Social Equity Group, believe that Romney’s undisclosed stock holdings create serious conflicts of interest. They point to the auto rescue as a key example.
CCCP, Meet CPC3
For years Stephen Joseph Harper has shown certain instincts reminiscent of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin.
The way Comrade Steve "reformed" the Prime Minister's Office was a dead giveaway. His appointment of political commissars to disrupt public access to the civil and armed services was a masterful coup, entirely Stalinist. Henceforth his political minions would decide what communications from the public should be allowed to reach their government, what unwelcome communications would not. These same commissars would filter communications to the public, ensuring they were tailored to conform to the Chairman's policies and interests.
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| Steve Inspects PMO Commissars |
As Joe Stalin reigned over the Soviet Union, the CCCP, S. Joe Harper reigns over Canada, the CPC3. What's that? It is the face of Canada today represented by the Conservative Party of Canada, the Calgary Petroleum Club and the Communist Party of China, the Unholy Trinity that charts the future of Canada for us and for our kids.
Canada today has the most undemocratic, authoritarian, ideological prime minister perhaps in our nation's history. That cannot be overlooked or discounted when considering his dealings, supposedly on our behalf, with other undemocratic, authoritarian and ideological regimes. And that is the light we need to shine on Comrade Steve's Canada-China trade pact. We may regret it if we don't.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
China's Second Stealth Fighter Takes to the Skies
China has flown its second stealth fighter, the J-31, the smaller cousin to its previous model, the J-20. A look at either of them reveals the classic, Lockheed-Martin, F-22 Raptor pedigree.
Unlike the F-35 limited range, modest payload, marginally maneuverable light attack bomber, the Chinese 20's and 31's appear to be actual fighter aircraft. Stealth fighter aircraft, the sort that seem designed to give the F-35 fits. The F-35, of course, is designed to be able to defeat conventional, "4th-generation" fighters, not stealth fighters. Oopsie!
There are plenty of reports that China hacked Lockheed's computers, its partners' computers and the Pentagon's computers, and stole millions of lines of computer code and design data but, who knows, the spitting image similarity could just be a coincidence.
Why Do Our Generals Suck?
Even Americans are beginning to grasp that their generals suck. The soldiers in the field and their unit commanders are first rate. The rot is at the top. And it's not just the Americans beset by this phenomenon.
A new book, The Generals, by Tom Ricks of the Center for a New American Security, attempts to get to the bottom of the problem. Ricks' assessment is that we're back to a world of ticket-punchers in which bad commanders no longer get relieved, "fired."
Ricks points back to a system that the revered General George Marshall put into place during World War II: unsuccessful officers — defined very, very liberally — were rapidly sacked, especially on the front lines of Europe...
Over the course of six decades, Ricks demonstrates at length, the Army abandoned Marshall’s system. It led to a culture of generalship where generals protected the Army from humiliation — including, in an infamous case, Maj. Gen. Samuel Koster covering up the massacre of civilians at My Lai — more than they focused on winning wars. On the eve of Vietnam, “becoming a general was now akin to winning a tenured professorship,” Ricks writes, “liable to be removed not for professional failure but only for embarrassing one’s institution with moral lapses.”
Under Harper we flirted with a near seamless integration of military and political leadership. Our prime minister milked the military and extracted every ounce of political advantage he could from our casualties in Afghanistan while our top brass, notably Hillier, sang his praises. Only when their mutual inadequacies resulted in a hapless Afghan "mission" did Harper quietly take his leave and his military counterparts headed for the hills in retirement. Abysmal, utterly abysmal. Both sides were so busy patting each other's backs and feathering each other's nests that the combat mission was inevitably sidetracked. In a better world both sides, Harper and his generals, would have been sacked.
A new book, The Generals, by Tom Ricks of the Center for a New American Security, attempts to get to the bottom of the problem. Ricks' assessment is that we're back to a world of ticket-punchers in which bad commanders no longer get relieved, "fired."
Ricks points back to a system that the revered General George Marshall put into place during World War II: unsuccessful officers — defined very, very liberally — were rapidly sacked, especially on the front lines of Europe...
Over the course of six decades, Ricks demonstrates at length, the Army abandoned Marshall’s system. It led to a culture of generalship where generals protected the Army from humiliation — including, in an infamous case, Maj. Gen. Samuel Koster covering up the massacre of civilians at My Lai — more than they focused on winning wars. On the eve of Vietnam, “becoming a general was now akin to winning a tenured professorship,” Ricks writes, “liable to be removed not for professional failure but only for embarrassing one’s institution with moral lapses.”
Under Harper we flirted with a near seamless integration of military and political leadership. Our prime minister milked the military and extracted every ounce of political advantage he could from our casualties in Afghanistan while our top brass, notably Hillier, sang his praises. Only when their mutual inadequacies resulted in a hapless Afghan "mission" did Harper quietly take his leave and his military counterparts headed for the hills in retirement. Abysmal, utterly abysmal. Both sides were so busy patting each other's backs and feathering each other's nests that the combat mission was inevitably sidetracked. In a better world both sides, Harper and his generals, would have been sacked.
Chrysler Exec to Trump: "You're Full of SH_T!"
Donald Trump doesn't know how to shut his big, fat, greasy mouth.
Today Trump tweeted, "Obama is a terrible negotiator. He bails out Chrysler and now Chrysler wants to send all Jeep manufacturing to China--and will!”
Chrysler vice-president of design and president of the Dodge division, Ralph Gilles, fired back: "You are full of shit!"
Gilles later apologized for his choice of words but added, "lies are just that, lies."
Today Trump tweeted, "Obama is a terrible negotiator. He bails out Chrysler and now Chrysler wants to send all Jeep manufacturing to China--and will!”
Chrysler vice-president of design and president of the Dodge division, Ralph Gilles, fired back: "You are full of shit!"
Gilles later apologized for his choice of words but added, "lies are just that, lies."
Bloomberg Endorses Obama, Acts on Climate Change
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed Barack Obama for re-election as president of the United States.
Bloomberg chose Obama over Romney as the best candidate to deal with the climate change that fueled the hurricane that smashed into New York City.
Bloomberg chose Obama over Romney as the best candidate to deal with the climate change that fueled the hurricane that smashed into New York City.
“The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much
of the Northeast — in lost lives, lost homes and lost business — brought
the stakes of next Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief,”
Mr. Bloomberg wrote in an editorial for Bloomberg View.
“Our climate is changing,” he wrote. “And while the increase in extreme
weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or
may not be the result of it, the risk that it may be — given the
devastation it is wreaking — should be enough to compel all elected
leaders to take immediate action.”
Meanwhile our own Sulfurous Steve is doing his bit for climate change, furiously promoting the sale of Athabasca bitumen, the filthiest petroleum product on the planet, to China and India.
When top-tier American political leaders start calling for action on climate change, people like Cuomo, Christie and Bloomberg, it could mark a tide change for the United States. The fact is it was inevitable, the only question was when. Not even the biggest economy in the world can long withstand severe storm events of steadily increasing intensity and frequency atop sustained droughts and floods.
And the Right, in the U.S. and Canada, has done a great deal to tie itself down on the wrong side of this issue, the very one Bloomberg argues trumps all others. On both sides of the border, progressives have been waiting a very long time waiting to beat the Right over the head with this and make them pay dearly for their greed-driven perfidy.
When top-tier American political leaders start calling for action on climate change, people like Cuomo, Christie and Bloomberg, it could mark a tide change for the United States. The fact is it was inevitable, the only question was when. Not even the biggest economy in the world can long withstand severe storm events of steadily increasing intensity and frequency atop sustained droughts and floods.
And the Right, in the U.S. and Canada, has done a great deal to tie itself down on the wrong side of this issue, the very one Bloomberg argues trumps all others. On both sides of the border, progressives have been waiting a very long time waiting to beat the Right over the head with this and make them pay dearly for their greed-driven perfidy.
My Eulogy For Bud
Bud is being buried this morning.
I wrote about my uncle Bud a few days ago but I took down the post. It was too personal, too angry, even disrespectful of his privacy and dignity.
What a difference a few days can make. Today they'll be burying a man I never really knew in life and the regret I feel for that is powerful. In death I know, and understand, my uncle as I never did in life. Almost overnight, it all makes sense.
For the first 60+ years of my life I knew that my uncle Bud had been in the Air Force at the start of WWII. He'd flown really horrible, twin engine bombers that were incredibly easy meat for German fighters. He was shot down, captured by the Germans, treated for his wounds in German military hospitals, transferred to a StalagLuft prisoner of war camp in 1944 and then, on a forced march, he ducked into the bushes and wound up walking from central Germany out through France until he reached the Allied lines.
I also knew that Bud had a lifetime battle with the bottle that took a toll on him, his wife and kids, his career - everything. Yet they stood by him when most wouldn't. They stuck with him through to the end.
I always knew that something happened to Bud in his air war in Europe, something horrible. We all knew Bud had some dark secret. We knew Bud lived with a demon. Whatever it was, he didn't speak of it, not even to his family.
On the day Bud died I called the house to speak to my aunt and my cousin, their eldest daughter. She and I have been lifelong pals, still are, always will be.
As we were reminiscing about her troubled but always incredibly "happy" Dad, she told me something remarkable.
Bud, her Dad, had taken her aside in the last two months of his life and told her everything. He let it all out. He told her what happened and how he returned to be the Dad he was.
The shootdown we all knew about wasn't Bud's first. It was his second, certainly, possibly his third.
On one previous occasion they had to ditch their stricken bomber in the English Channel. Fortunately the crew all survived and managed to get into a couple of life rafts. A winter storm was blowing and they spent a couple of days in the cold, blowing rain and sleet before they were spotted and rescued.
In due course they were all returned to their base. Each of them had to be checked out by the base flight surgeon. Bud had developed some sort of respiratory problem, possibly pneumonia, so he was ordered to the infirmary for treatment and recuperation.
A day or two afterward, Bud's crew, with a replacement, were ordered off on another mission over Europe. They were shot down and all were killed.
To fathom what that meant, you need to consider how these early war crews were formed and the awful odds they faced. In a hangar or hall would be assembled newly-minted aircrew. Pilots over here, navigators over there, bomb aimers in another spot, flight engineers, wireless air gunners and extra gunners depending on the aircraft to be operated.
The pilots, as aircraft commanders, would look for what seemed like a suitable navigator and see if they could pair up. They then went on a similar exercise to add a bomb aimer, a flight engineer, a wireless air gunner and extra gunners as needed. And in this entirely haphazard fashion a crew was created.
This crew went into training on the aircraft they were to fly into combat. They became a team. They lived in the same barracks, ate the same food in the same messes, flew in the very same aircraft, partied together in the same pubs and, eventually, flew together into combat. Many of them were just 19 or 20, kids.
Once deemed fit for duty they were sent to an operational aerodrome, usually as a replacement crew for a previous crew that had gone down. The loss rates were so murderous that it didn't take long for newcomers to become veterans, able to notice once familiar faces that no longer were and unfamiliar faces that appeared out of nowhere to take their place.
It's been well researched that what kept these aircrews flying in these horrible conditions was belonging to a crew and knowing that you would all see this through, together, no matter the outcome.
Bud's crew died, all of them, somewhere distant, all but Bud and that broke him, then and for the rest of his days. He already knew what it was to be helpless in one of those obsolete bombers, being raked to shreds by an eager German fighter. He didn't have to imagine how his friends, his crew died.
It wasn't Bud's last mission that broke him. That happened much earlier. Today we talk about post-traumatic stress disorder but, in Bud's day, they had another term for it, "L.M.F." a brutally pejorative term that meant Lack of Moral Fibre, cowardice. Aircrew that were branded LMF were busted in rank and assigned to cleaning latrines and other demeaning work as an object lesson to other aircrew.
After Bud walked out of Germany and made it to Allied lines he was returned home but nothing better awaited him here either.
My Dad was a horribly wounded infantry officer. He was the luckier of the two. His wounds were probably 90% physical and just 10% psychological. (Trust me, I've known a lot of these people and you almost never get away with just one and not at least some of the other) People at home could see his wounds and accorded him at least some measure of respect and accommodation. Bud's wounds were just 10% physical and overwhelmingly emotional - and that didn't count. Two arms, two legs, the war's over, get on with your life and stop moping.
There was really not a lot for Bud when he got back save for one awesome woman. He had a loving, faithful, steadfast and infinitely forgiving wife, my aunt. The family thought she should ditch Bud and find someone without the booze problem but she resisted them and, today, stands at the side of his grave.
I'll break my custom and wear the poppy this year, for Bud.
With what I've learned in the past two days, I see in death an uncle I never knew in life. It all makes sense now. That's going to take a while to work through.
Maybe if Bud's life is to have real meaning, it's to remind us of how easily we discard people like him after they've fought our wars for us. How many guys very much like Bud will we discard after Afghanistan?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
China, the Voracious Economic Giant, Steve the Supplicant
Given how fast Stephen Harper is working behind his veil of secrecy to sell out Canada to China, this timely warning from Der Spiegel:
"I love nature," says Huang Nubo, 56, a businessman with an estimated net worth of at least $1 billion (€772 million). The founder and chairman of the Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group, Huang discovered a market niche: He builds resorts with an emphasis on sustainable design. His company benefits from the new wanderlust and "green" consciousness of the affluent Chinese upper and middle classes.
Huang has trouble understanding why his latest project is so controversial. "I'm hurt by the mistrust with which I and the entire Chinese nation were met." He is talking about Iceland and, more specifically, about an almost virgin piece of land in the northeastern part of the island, complete with waterfalls and snow-covered peaks, called Grimsstadir a Fjöllum. Huang fell in love with this wildly romantic stretch of wilderness during a visit to Iceland. He wanted to acquire 30,639 hectares (about 120 square miles) of land and invest about $200 million in the property. The plans included a 120-room hotel, a golf course and a riding facility, which could all be reached via a new airport built specifically for the site.
...Some of the public in Iceland, a NATO country, saw the potential deal as a sellout and even envisioned looming geopolitical problems. One commentator likened the entrepreneur to Dr. No, the villain of the 1962 James Bond film of the same name. Huang's party connections were brought up, to support the theory that it was merely a cover for sending an agent to Iceland. Many had their suspicions about the "noticeable" proximity of the Grimsstadir site to a deep-water port. Was this man really working for the Communist Party and planning to build a base for Chinese polar ambitions?
...The fears of some Icelanders may sound like paranoia, but they are not unfounded. China and its entrepreneurs are acquiring all kinds of assets all over the world, and in many cases their actions are strategic in nature, including the acquisition of farmland in Mozambique, copper mines in Afghanistan and ports in Greece. China is on a global buying spree, and it sees the current economic crisis in Europe and the United States as an historic opportunity to energetically press ahead with its offensive. The financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that China's so-called red capitalists spent $23.9 billion on shares in foreign companies in the first half of 2012, or three times as much as in the same period last year.
The commodities sector is a case in point. In Mid-July, the state-owned energy giant Sinopec spent $1.5 billion for almost half of Canadian company Talisman Energy's oil and gas rights in the North Sea. Almost concurrently, CNOOC, another Chinese energy giant, bought the Canadian firm Nexen for more than $15 billion. Planners in Beijing hope that these deep-water drilling specialists will help them achieve the breakthrough in industrial policy that they need to expand in the Pacific. CNOOC is the main Chinese player in oil and gas exploration in disputed waters that are also being claimed by neighbors Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan, with which there is even talk of possible war over the claims.
[Sany president] Xiang [Winbo] is bursting with self-confidence, but also with patriotic zeal. He was behind a nationalist Internet campaign that successfully derailed a plan by the Carlyle Group, a US private equity firm, to acquire a majority stake in his Chinese competitor, the Xugong Group. "We can sell everything, just not our country," Xiang blogged polemically at the time.
Why, then, should Germany "sell itself" to China, and why is the Putzmeister deal any different?
Xiang chuckles to himself, and answers the question in a roundabout way. "I am convinced that German industry has no choice but to join forces with major Chinese companies like Sany," says the Sany president. He explains that while Germany has the superior technologies, China controls an enormous market. German companies, he says, need that market to expand and generate profits.
We, and especially our leaders, need to understand this phenomenon. We're in a very weakened state across the West. We're caught in a debt trap our austerity-blinded leaders can't steer us out of. It's going to take us years to recover. China, quite understandably, sees this as its opportunity to transform China and, at the same time, transform us. The transformation China envisions is permanent and genuinely global. China is intent on becoming the developed world's "head office."
Should we be content with this? Just as the West, particularly the United States, once siphoned assets and wealth from weaker regions of the world, China seems poised to do something quite similar to us only they're planning to scoop up more than just resources.
Despite his pretensions to be a true economist, Steve Harper is an idiot. This guy didn't even see the crash of 2008 coming, not even as it overwhelmed the country. He had to prorogue Parliament because he was caught so wrong-footed. He doesn't see what China's overtures mean either and he will sell us out before we ever get to throw him and his rotten Conservative Party out. It's telling that he's doing it in classic Beijing style - with the stroke of a pen, behind closed doors.
"I love nature," says Huang Nubo, 56, a businessman with an estimated net worth of at least $1 billion (€772 million). The founder and chairman of the Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group, Huang discovered a market niche: He builds resorts with an emphasis on sustainable design. His company benefits from the new wanderlust and "green" consciousness of the affluent Chinese upper and middle classes.
Huang has trouble understanding why his latest project is so controversial. "I'm hurt by the mistrust with which I and the entire Chinese nation were met." He is talking about Iceland and, more specifically, about an almost virgin piece of land in the northeastern part of the island, complete with waterfalls and snow-covered peaks, called Grimsstadir a Fjöllum. Huang fell in love with this wildly romantic stretch of wilderness during a visit to Iceland. He wanted to acquire 30,639 hectares (about 120 square miles) of land and invest about $200 million in the property. The plans included a 120-room hotel, a golf course and a riding facility, which could all be reached via a new airport built specifically for the site.
...Some of the public in Iceland, a NATO country, saw the potential deal as a sellout and even envisioned looming geopolitical problems. One commentator likened the entrepreneur to Dr. No, the villain of the 1962 James Bond film of the same name. Huang's party connections were brought up, to support the theory that it was merely a cover for sending an agent to Iceland. Many had their suspicions about the "noticeable" proximity of the Grimsstadir site to a deep-water port. Was this man really working for the Communist Party and planning to build a base for Chinese polar ambitions?
...The fears of some Icelanders may sound like paranoia, but they are not unfounded. China and its entrepreneurs are acquiring all kinds of assets all over the world, and in many cases their actions are strategic in nature, including the acquisition of farmland in Mozambique, copper mines in Afghanistan and ports in Greece. China is on a global buying spree, and it sees the current economic crisis in Europe and the United States as an historic opportunity to energetically press ahead with its offensive. The financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that China's so-called red capitalists spent $23.9 billion on shares in foreign companies in the first half of 2012, or three times as much as in the same period last year.
The commodities sector is a case in point. In Mid-July, the state-owned energy giant Sinopec spent $1.5 billion for almost half of Canadian company Talisman Energy's oil and gas rights in the North Sea. Almost concurrently, CNOOC, another Chinese energy giant, bought the Canadian firm Nexen for more than $15 billion. Planners in Beijing hope that these deep-water drilling specialists will help them achieve the breakthrough in industrial policy that they need to expand in the Pacific. CNOOC is the main Chinese player in oil and gas exploration in disputed waters that are also being claimed by neighbors Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan, with which there is even talk of possible war over the claims.
[Sany president] Xiang [Winbo] is bursting with self-confidence, but also with patriotic zeal. He was behind a nationalist Internet campaign that successfully derailed a plan by the Carlyle Group, a US private equity firm, to acquire a majority stake in his Chinese competitor, the Xugong Group. "We can sell everything, just not our country," Xiang blogged polemically at the time.
Why, then, should Germany "sell itself" to China, and why is the Putzmeister deal any different?
Xiang chuckles to himself, and answers the question in a roundabout way. "I am convinced that German industry has no choice but to join forces with major Chinese companies like Sany," says the Sany president. He explains that while Germany has the superior technologies, China controls an enormous market. German companies, he says, need that market to expand and generate profits.
We, and especially our leaders, need to understand this phenomenon. We're in a very weakened state across the West. We're caught in a debt trap our austerity-blinded leaders can't steer us out of. It's going to take us years to recover. China, quite understandably, sees this as its opportunity to transform China and, at the same time, transform us. The transformation China envisions is permanent and genuinely global. China is intent on becoming the developed world's "head office."
Should we be content with this? Just as the West, particularly the United States, once siphoned assets and wealth from weaker regions of the world, China seems poised to do something quite similar to us only they're planning to scoop up more than just resources.
Despite his pretensions to be a true economist, Steve Harper is an idiot. This guy didn't even see the crash of 2008 coming, not even as it overwhelmed the country. He had to prorogue Parliament because he was caught so wrong-footed. He doesn't see what China's overtures mean either and he will sell us out before we ever get to throw him and his rotten Conservative Party out. It's telling that he's doing it in classic Beijing style - with the stroke of a pen, behind closed doors.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
New York Governor, Mario Cuomo, Warns There Are More Sandys to Come
New York governor Mario Cuomo spent part of the day inspecting the subway station being restored beneath Ground Zero that was heavily flooded in the recent megastorm.
The clip doesn't seem to have made it to YouTube yet but, in the middle of the interview, Cuomo surveys the damage to the not yet restored subway station and warns that Sandy is just the start and that New York state needs to prepare for more Sandys to come as similar storm events increase in frequency and severity.
Meanwhile as Eastern Canada reels from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Steve Harper is busy in South Asia flogging bitumen sludge to India. What a fearsome asshole we have for a prime minister.
The clip doesn't seem to have made it to YouTube yet but, in the middle of the interview, Cuomo surveys the damage to the not yet restored subway station and warns that Sandy is just the start and that New York state needs to prepare for more Sandys to come as similar storm events increase in frequency and severity.
Meanwhile as Eastern Canada reels from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Steve Harper is busy in South Asia flogging bitumen sludge to India. What a fearsome asshole we have for a prime minister.
Steve Harper's Betrayal of Canada
David Suzuki is credited with pointing out that you cannot have a healthy economy without a healthy biosphere. The first is utterly dependent on the second.
A corollary. If you're damaging the environment in order to inflate profits, you're actually damaging the economy also.
Suzuki's warning came to mind in a piece in today's Guardian:
In recent weeks a slew of stories has hit the news about the soaring price of food, petrol and household energy – and the financial pressure this is putting on cash-strapped households. But as politicians scrabble around for the best short-term fix, a fundamental cause underpinning much of these economic woes is often overlooked. Under the bonnet, there's something big going on: we're damaging the planet and draining its resources, and it's starting to cost us big time.
With growing confidence scientists are linking climate change to the increasingly freakish weather around the globe which is causing food prices to rise. Earlier this month the National Farmers' Union predicted more price rises when it revealed that wet weather had cut UK wheat yields by 15%.
Natural resources are not infinite and with developing economies growing fast, we're beginning to discover that there are not enough to go round...
But faced with all the evidence, no one on the political scene is showing the kind of leadership required. They prefer to squabble about short-term sticking-plaster policies, like the perennial scrap about a few pence on or off fuel duty...
The biggest problem is the chancellor, who doesn't seem to understand that in the long term you simply can't have a healthy economy without a healthy environment. By pitting the two against each other, he ignores not just the CBI – which says green and growth must go together – but cold, hard, economic reality. In claiming, contrary to the evidence, that "gas is cheap", George Osborne has become a modern day King Cnut, attempting to turn back the tide of evidence on the rising price of gas by flat out denying it – and, indeed, pushing to keep the economy hooked on the stuff. This is especially galling from a man who reportedly accuses environmental advocates of acting like the Taliban. If anything it's Osborne, with his reckless dash for gas, who wants to keep us in the dark ages.
The writing has been on the wall for years – indeed some enlightened parts of the business community have even helped write it. It's more than a decade since the Association of British Insurers warned of the impact of more frequent and more severe flooding as a result of climate change.
Bad as Britain's Conservative government is, Canada's Conservative government is an order of magnitude worse still. As eastern Canada gets hit by this megastorm and America lays pummeled, Steve Harper is in India drumming up orders for massive amounts of Athabasca bitumen. Steve couldn't care less about all the floods and the droughts and the storms. His prime directive is to push the sale and consumption of the filthiest fossil fuels on the planet. His cabinet tolerates it, so does his caucus and so does the Canadian public. Never has Canada been more degraded and debased.
Stephen Harper doesn't care about building a healthy Canadian economy. His sole interest is to build a fossil fuel economy for Alberta and bugger the rest of the country and its economy; bugger the world for that matter. Our kids will pay dearly for this fiend's perfidy.
A corollary. If you're damaging the environment in order to inflate profits, you're actually damaging the economy also.
Suzuki's warning came to mind in a piece in today's Guardian:
In recent weeks a slew of stories has hit the news about the soaring price of food, petrol and household energy – and the financial pressure this is putting on cash-strapped households. But as politicians scrabble around for the best short-term fix, a fundamental cause underpinning much of these economic woes is often overlooked. Under the bonnet, there's something big going on: we're damaging the planet and draining its resources, and it's starting to cost us big time.
With growing confidence scientists are linking climate change to the increasingly freakish weather around the globe which is causing food prices to rise. Earlier this month the National Farmers' Union predicted more price rises when it revealed that wet weather had cut UK wheat yields by 15%.
Natural resources are not infinite and with developing economies growing fast, we're beginning to discover that there are not enough to go round...
But faced with all the evidence, no one on the political scene is showing the kind of leadership required. They prefer to squabble about short-term sticking-plaster policies, like the perennial scrap about a few pence on or off fuel duty...
The biggest problem is the chancellor, who doesn't seem to understand that in the long term you simply can't have a healthy economy without a healthy environment. By pitting the two against each other, he ignores not just the CBI – which says green and growth must go together – but cold, hard, economic reality. In claiming, contrary to the evidence, that "gas is cheap", George Osborne has become a modern day King Cnut, attempting to turn back the tide of evidence on the rising price of gas by flat out denying it – and, indeed, pushing to keep the economy hooked on the stuff. This is especially galling from a man who reportedly accuses environmental advocates of acting like the Taliban. If anything it's Osborne, with his reckless dash for gas, who wants to keep us in the dark ages.
The writing has been on the wall for years – indeed some enlightened parts of the business community have even helped write it. It's more than a decade since the Association of British Insurers warned of the impact of more frequent and more severe flooding as a result of climate change.
Bad as Britain's Conservative government is, Canada's Conservative government is an order of magnitude worse still. As eastern Canada gets hit by this megastorm and America lays pummeled, Steve Harper is in India drumming up orders for massive amounts of Athabasca bitumen. Steve couldn't care less about all the floods and the droughts and the storms. His prime directive is to push the sale and consumption of the filthiest fossil fuels on the planet. His cabinet tolerates it, so does his caucus and so does the Canadian public. Never has Canada been more degraded and debased.
Stephen Harper doesn't care about building a healthy Canadian economy. His sole interest is to build a fossil fuel economy for Alberta and bugger the rest of the country and its economy; bugger the world for that matter. Our kids will pay dearly for this fiend's perfidy.
Drill, Baby, Drill
Severe storm events of increasing frequency and intensity.
That has been one of the core predictions we've been getting, and largely ignoring, from the climate science community for the past several years.
They keep telling us. We keep ignoring them. Must mine bitumen, must mine bitumen.
Now, thanks to fracking, America has discovered a bountiful reserve of conventional oil. The U.S. is poised to blow past Saudi Arabia to become the biggest oil producer on the planet. And, let's not forget about all that natural gas, supposedly enough to meet America's entire energy needs for more than a century. With hydrocarbons like these, who needs alternative, clean energy? Windmills, schwindmills!
The Americans are now even talking about exporting oil. That seems a bit farfetched given that, even with its newfound production, Americans will still be reliant on some petroleum imports presumably including Canadian. But who knows?
And, with that pesky ice rapidly vanishing from the Arctic, there may be vast oil resources there to exploit too. Just imagine.
Imagine, yeah. Imagine what's been going on the past few years. Once in a century floods. Once in a century droughts. Once in a century megastorms. Or at least we like to think they're "once in a century" if only because that carries some assurance we won't be seeing them again in our lifetimes.
But maybe they're not "once in a century" at all. Maybe they're the new normal. Maybe we'll be sent reeling from these catastrophic events once a decade or once every few years or once every other year.
So, how does all this new energy wealth fit in with that? This energy, oil or gas, is nothing more than safely buried hydrocarbons brought to the surface to be burned and introduced to the atmosphere. And if, as the climate types have finally convinced almost all of us, this sort of activity results in the severe storm events we've been experiencing of late, then presumably burning up all that new found carbon energy isn't going to make anything any better for life here on the surface - that means you.
Have you ever thought of what life, your life, is going to be like if we have megadroughts, like the one that's still going on in the mid-west and may linger through into next year's growing season, on a regular basis. Forget about the economic loss, what happens to our foodstocks?
People don't like to hear this but anthropologists like Jared Diamond who have explored the collapse of past civilizations find that it's rarely a gradual process of decline. That's why they describe it as "collapse."
Civilizations are, by their very nature, complex, intricate and, for all their prowess, remarkably vulnerable. In part that results from assumptions that what obtained in the past will prevail into the future. Past experience becomes the reality we project into our planning. But if past experience is displaced by new conditions of sufficiently great impact the assumptions on which the ongoing civilization has been founded and continues to be built can fail us.
Which raises the question of why, since we have seen these impacts, the arrival of these severe storm and weather events of increasing frequency and severity; if we see the results of our already broken global hydrological cycle; why would we possibly think it's a great thing to exploit massive new sources of safely buried hydrocarbons and burn them to fuel the existing threat to our very civilization?
How did we become so childlike, so accepting of the most obvious contradictions and inconsistency, so unwilling to connect the dots? I used to think we were succumbing to Andean fatalism but I was wrong. The Andean mountain people don't delude themselves about the chance of being taken out in massive slides, they just reconcile themselves to their fate. We're entirely different from them. We know that it's not the mountain that's going to kill us, it's ourselves and our ways. And the Andeans are honest about what could likely befall them and their iffy mortality. We can't handle that either. We can't and we don't.
If you want to see the future, you might get a glimpse in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Years ago American insurers stopped writing hurricane coverage, not just in Florida or the Gulf States, but all along the Eastern Seaboard and well inland right up to the Canadian border. In other words, a lot of the damage and losses you'll be watching on your TV screens will be uninsured, uninsurable. That will change a lot of lives. There are people who can bear that hit "once in a century" maybe. But there's only so much anybody can take.
Drill, baby, drill.
That has been one of the core predictions we've been getting, and largely ignoring, from the climate science community for the past several years.
They keep telling us. We keep ignoring them. Must mine bitumen, must mine bitumen.
Now, thanks to fracking, America has discovered a bountiful reserve of conventional oil. The U.S. is poised to blow past Saudi Arabia to become the biggest oil producer on the planet. And, let's not forget about all that natural gas, supposedly enough to meet America's entire energy needs for more than a century. With hydrocarbons like these, who needs alternative, clean energy? Windmills, schwindmills!
The Americans are now even talking about exporting oil. That seems a bit farfetched given that, even with its newfound production, Americans will still be reliant on some petroleum imports presumably including Canadian. But who knows?
And, with that pesky ice rapidly vanishing from the Arctic, there may be vast oil resources there to exploit too. Just imagine.
Imagine, yeah. Imagine what's been going on the past few years. Once in a century floods. Once in a century droughts. Once in a century megastorms. Or at least we like to think they're "once in a century" if only because that carries some assurance we won't be seeing them again in our lifetimes.
But maybe they're not "once in a century" at all. Maybe they're the new normal. Maybe we'll be sent reeling from these catastrophic events once a decade or once every few years or once every other year.
So, how does all this new energy wealth fit in with that? This energy, oil or gas, is nothing more than safely buried hydrocarbons brought to the surface to be burned and introduced to the atmosphere. And if, as the climate types have finally convinced almost all of us, this sort of activity results in the severe storm events we've been experiencing of late, then presumably burning up all that new found carbon energy isn't going to make anything any better for life here on the surface - that means you.
Have you ever thought of what life, your life, is going to be like if we have megadroughts, like the one that's still going on in the mid-west and may linger through into next year's growing season, on a regular basis. Forget about the economic loss, what happens to our foodstocks?
People don't like to hear this but anthropologists like Jared Diamond who have explored the collapse of past civilizations find that it's rarely a gradual process of decline. That's why they describe it as "collapse."
Civilizations are, by their very nature, complex, intricate and, for all their prowess, remarkably vulnerable. In part that results from assumptions that what obtained in the past will prevail into the future. Past experience becomes the reality we project into our planning. But if past experience is displaced by new conditions of sufficiently great impact the assumptions on which the ongoing civilization has been founded and continues to be built can fail us.
Which raises the question of why, since we have seen these impacts, the arrival of these severe storm and weather events of increasing frequency and severity; if we see the results of our already broken global hydrological cycle; why would we possibly think it's a great thing to exploit massive new sources of safely buried hydrocarbons and burn them to fuel the existing threat to our very civilization?
How did we become so childlike, so accepting of the most obvious contradictions and inconsistency, so unwilling to connect the dots? I used to think we were succumbing to Andean fatalism but I was wrong. The Andean mountain people don't delude themselves about the chance of being taken out in massive slides, they just reconcile themselves to their fate. We're entirely different from them. We know that it's not the mountain that's going to kill us, it's ourselves and our ways. And the Andeans are honest about what could likely befall them and their iffy mortality. We can't handle that either. We can't and we don't.
If you want to see the future, you might get a glimpse in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Years ago American insurers stopped writing hurricane coverage, not just in Florida or the Gulf States, but all along the Eastern Seaboard and well inland right up to the Canadian border. In other words, a lot of the damage and losses you'll be watching on your TV screens will be uninsured, uninsurable. That will change a lot of lives. There are people who can bear that hit "once in a century" maybe. But there's only so much anybody can take.
Drill, baby, drill.
Monday, October 29, 2012
The Rape-Happy States of America
I stumbled upon this in the comments section of another blog, did a bit of searching, and found out it is true - in more than half of the American states, a rapist can sue for custody or visitation rights. 31 in fact.
In the wake of Todd Akin's comments about pregnancy rarely resulting from "legitimate rape," lawyer Shauna Prewitt highlights a reality for women in that situation in a column on CNN: In a majority of states, attackers are afforded the same rights as other fathers.
Prewitt, herself a rape survivor who gave birth to a daughter as a result of her attack, explains that 31 states have no laws that bar rapists from seeking custody or visitation rights. For Prewitt that astounding fact is personal. Her rapist attempted to get custody of her daughter, "but thankfully I got lucky and his visitation rights were terminated," she said, according to a profile of her by The Am Law Daily's Brain Baxter. She added: "I'm not sure I would have made the decision I did had I known I might be tethered to my rapist for the rest of my life."
In the wake of Todd Akin's comments about pregnancy rarely resulting from "legitimate rape," lawyer Shauna Prewitt highlights a reality for women in that situation in a column on CNN: In a majority of states, attackers are afforded the same rights as other fathers.
Prewitt, herself a rape survivor who gave birth to a daughter as a result of her attack, explains that 31 states have no laws that bar rapists from seeking custody or visitation rights. For Prewitt that astounding fact is personal. Her rapist attempted to get custody of her daughter, "but thankfully I got lucky and his visitation rights were terminated," she said, according to a profile of her by The Am Law Daily's Brain Baxter. She added: "I'm not sure I would have made the decision I did had I known I might be tethered to my rapist for the rest of my life."
A Nation Chock Full of Crazy People
Looking at the United States today or at least the Tea Party half of it is like sneaking into an old-time carnival Freak Show. There is a big chunk of the American population seriously detached from reality and some of those actually ran for the Republican presidential nomination - you know who I'm talking about Michelle, you too Newt. There are plenty more, crazy people like Inhofe, Akins and Mourdock looking for seats in Congress and a good many of them will win. In today's America, being crazy is no bar to success, none whatsoever.
The crazy bowl may be full to the brim but there's always room for just one more. This time he's anti-gay Christian leader John McTernan. Pastor John knows why America is getting hammered by Hurricane Sandy. God is punishing the country for its tolerance of homosexuality.
“God is systematically destroying America” as punishment for the “homosexual agenda.”
“Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda. America is under political judgment and the church does not know it,” McTernan wrote on his website.
McTernan also uses religion in his attempt to rationalize why the storm is hitting now, explaining that it’s been 21 years since the “perfect storm” hit New England in 1991.
“21 years breaks down to 7 x 3, which is a significant number with God. Three is perfection as the Godhead is three in one while seven is perfection.”
Crazy? Hell yeah, batshit crazy and, in America, you can take that shit straight to the bank.
Chris Hedges Votes Green - For the Same Reasons You Should Too
Chris Hedges has declared his choice for the upcoming American elections. He's voting Green. You should too. Here's why.
"The November election is not a battle between Republicans and Democrats. It is not a battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. It is a battle between the corporate state and us. And if we do not immediately engage in this battle we are finished, as climate scientists have made clear. I will defy corporate power in small and large ways. I will invest my energy now solely in acts of resistance, in civil disobedience and in defiance. Those who rebel are our only hope."
You just can't put it any plainer than that. Hedges is right. Certainly in his homeland but also in Canada it's time to take the tough decision whether to back corporatist politics or stand for your country and people.
"The November election is not a battle between Republicans and Democrats. It is not a battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. It is a battle between the corporate state and us. And if we do not immediately engage in this battle we are finished, as climate scientists have made clear. I will defy corporate power in small and large ways. I will invest my energy now solely in acts of resistance, in civil disobedience and in defiance. Those who rebel are our only hope."
You just can't put it any plainer than that. Hedges is right. Certainly in his homeland but also in Canada it's time to take the tough decision whether to back corporatist politics or stand for your country and people.
Sandy May Cut the Big Apple a Huge Break
It looks as though Hurricane Sandy may arrive in New York City well before high tide. That would be a huge break for the Big Apple. High tides magnify storm surge flooding driven by powerful onshore winds. In a city with vast underground infrastructure and so many low-lying, even beneath sea level, areas, a high tide storm surge would be nightmarish.
There Are Whistleblowers, Then There's This Guy
Kostas Vaxevanis has blown the whistle on the rich and powerful in his country and he's been arrested and hauled into court for it in what could turn into an astonishing showdown in a country that is a powderkeg of pent up resentment just looking for a spark.
Vaxevanis is the editor of a Greek weekly, Hot Doc, that just published the names of what it claims are the 2,000 biggest tax evaders in the country. He was giving a radio interview when the cops tracked him down and hauled him away.
His defenders say the government is trying to hide the truth that it had the list for two years and did nothing because the names include prominent members of the country's business and political elites.
"If anyone is accountable before the law then it is those ministers who hid the list, lost it and said it didn't exist. I only did my job. I am a journalist and I did my job," Vaxevanis said in the video sent to Reuters news agency.
The case has triggered a parliamentary inquiry and could provide the basis for prosecutions at a time of rising radicalism on both left and right and a sense of injustice over the widespread destitution and despair created by Greece's economic crisis set against the relative impunity of the country's rich, who have a long history of tax evasion.
George Papaconstantinou, a former finance minister, said the Greek tax authorities had failed to act on the list because they were afraid of confronting the country's elite tax evaders. He also claimed that the affair brought to light only a small part of a massive tax evasion problem that was part of what he described as a "broken and corrupt system".
Vaxevanis is the editor of a Greek weekly, Hot Doc, that just published the names of what it claims are the 2,000 biggest tax evaders in the country. He was giving a radio interview when the cops tracked him down and hauled him away.
His defenders say the government is trying to hide the truth that it had the list for two years and did nothing because the names include prominent members of the country's business and political elites.
"If anyone is accountable before the law then it is those ministers who hid the list, lost it and said it didn't exist. I only did my job. I am a journalist and I did my job," Vaxevanis said in the video sent to Reuters news agency.
The case has triggered a parliamentary inquiry and could provide the basis for prosecutions at a time of rising radicalism on both left and right and a sense of injustice over the widespread destitution and despair created by Greece's economic crisis set against the relative impunity of the country's rich, who have a long history of tax evasion.
George Papaconstantinou, a former finance minister, said the Greek tax authorities had failed to act on the list because they were afraid of confronting the country's elite tax evaders. He also claimed that the affair brought to light only a small part of a massive tax evasion problem that was part of what he described as a "broken and corrupt system".
One Alberta Government Too Many
One thing that grates on plenty of British Columbians is that Canada has two Alberta governments, one too many. We have a provincial Alberta government that sits in Edmonton and a federal Alberta government that sits in Ottawa.
The Alberta government in Ottawa does things the provincial Alberta government can't do. It signs treaties with China for example. Only the federal Alberta government could put a loaded pistol in Beijing's hand and invite them to hold it to the heads of the people and province of British Columbia should they dare stand against the environmental rape of their land and coastline by Alberta bitumen.
Once you see both Alberta governments, provincial and federal, what Ottawa is doing for Edmonton becomes logical, ordered and even sensible in a fiendish sort of way. Nobody needs to see this state of affairs more clearly than the people of British Columbia, especially those who elected so many Conservative MPs in the last election. Once we see that these B.C. Tories are actually serving the federal Alberta government I expect we'll be a hell of a lot less inclined to re-elected the bastards.
It's easy out here to see Harper's China tar deal as "economic treason" (as Andrew Nikiforuk terms it) yet it must look like anything but treason to either of our Alberta governments. And there's the rub.
We can't win this politically. When the provincial Alberta government and the federal Alberta government pile on, we don't stand a chance. When they add mighty China to their pile for extra heft we probably won't be able to even breathe.
It's sad to know that the rest of Canada doesn't have the sand to stand up to these Alberta governments but they're conveniently lined up with their alms bowls for their share of the action. Ontario, for example, is in line to receive many times more bounty out of the Northern Gateway than British Columbia is to receive. Having federal and a provincial Alberta governments can make that sort of stuff happen.
The stage is set for a pretty interesting confrontation between the province and people of British Columbia in one corner and the massed power of both Alberta governments, China and their spineless minion premiers from the rest of Canada. Anyone who can't see that as a recipe for west coast separatism?
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Robert Reich Warns Progressives - We Can't Give Up
There are plenty of us who get frustrated and discouraged and even wonder why bother? Robert Reich says that's the certain path to a truly regressive future. He's speaking to American voters but the message applies to us all.
This is for those of you who consider yourself to be progressive but have given up on politics because it seems rotten to the core. You may prefer Obama to Romney but don’t think there’s a huge difference between the two, so you may not even vote.
Your cynicism is understandable. But cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you succumb to it, the regressives who want to take this nation back to the 19th century win it all.
The Koch brothers, Karl Rove, the rabid Republican right, CEOs and Wall Street titans who want to entrench their privileges and tax advantages – all of them would like nothing better than for every progressive in America to throw in the towel.
Then America is entirely theirs.
The alternative to cynicism is to become more involved in politics. Help create a progressive force in this nation that grows into a movement that can’t be stopped.
He's right. Canadians too need to create a progressive force that can't be stopped. There are so many places we can begin. One of them must be the reformation of the Liberal Party away from the conservative-lite posture they adopted under Ignatieff. If they can't move back well to the left, perhaps the time has come to simply end the farce.
Maybe we need to toss in all the chips and start over. Scrap the Liberal/NDP party distinctions that have divided us to only Harper's real benefit. Perhaps we need to build a new party, from the ground up. The NDP could argue why should they when they're now the Official Opposition. Yet any honest dipper would admit that the party itself changed, itself went to the right, became a new liberal party, to get there. In the process today's NDP jettisoned the NDP of the past to become a centrist party more acceptable to the Canadian public. Clinging to an already rejected image of the past only raises unnecessary hurdles.
Let's unite the Libs and the NDP under a centre/centre-left, progressive tent. That would also offer the true left to the formation of a new, leftwing party.
We can't give up. There's too much at stake. Harper must be stopped. He has already changed Canada. We need to act before the Harper stamp becomes permanent.
This is for those of you who consider yourself to be progressive but have given up on politics because it seems rotten to the core. You may prefer Obama to Romney but don’t think there’s a huge difference between the two, so you may not even vote.
Your cynicism is understandable. But cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you succumb to it, the regressives who want to take this nation back to the 19th century win it all.
The Koch brothers, Karl Rove, the rabid Republican right, CEOs and Wall Street titans who want to entrench their privileges and tax advantages – all of them would like nothing better than for every progressive in America to throw in the towel.
Then America is entirely theirs.
The alternative to cynicism is to become more involved in politics. Help create a progressive force in this nation that grows into a movement that can’t be stopped.
He's right. Canadians too need to create a progressive force that can't be stopped. There are so many places we can begin. One of them must be the reformation of the Liberal Party away from the conservative-lite posture they adopted under Ignatieff. If they can't move back well to the left, perhaps the time has come to simply end the farce.
Maybe we need to toss in all the chips and start over. Scrap the Liberal/NDP party distinctions that have divided us to only Harper's real benefit. Perhaps we need to build a new party, from the ground up. The NDP could argue why should they when they're now the Official Opposition. Yet any honest dipper would admit that the party itself changed, itself went to the right, became a new liberal party, to get there. In the process today's NDP jettisoned the NDP of the past to become a centrist party more acceptable to the Canadian public. Clinging to an already rejected image of the past only raises unnecessary hurdles.
Let's unite the Libs and the NDP under a centre/centre-left, progressive tent. That would also offer the true left to the formation of a new, leftwing party.
We can't give up. There's too much at stake. Harper must be stopped. He has already changed Canada. We need to act before the Harper stamp becomes permanent.
What If We'd Had Nothing Better Than Harper and Hillier in 1812?
For years I've been something of student of the history of the War of 1812. On the wall behind me are buttons from the great battles of that war including Queenston Heights, Lundy's Lane and Crysler's Farm. Buttons from the 8th (Kings), the 41st Foot, Brock's own 49th Regiment of Foot, the Canadian Militia and other units. On a bookcase is a Brown Bess bayonet recovered from the battlefield and other militaria. Various Royal Engineers earthworks plans and sketches adorn my walls.
Unlike Stephen Harper, however, I have no interest in 200-year old triumphalism. While the War of 1812 ensured I wasn't drafted for service in Viet Nam and while some brave Canadian regiments like the Voltigeurs fought valiantly, it was mainly a scrap between the Americans on one side and the Brits and their native allies on the other. And it was war which is always a murderous business and never should be made a festive event as Harper has made this one.
When I watch Harper and his rank exploitation of this war from two centuries ago, I wonder if he's not drawn to it because of the way he and his commanders botched their own war, the one in Afghanistan. Then I tried to imagine what might have been if we'd had a governor like Harper and a general like Rick Hillier back when Washington set out to conquer Canada? A political leader as bombastic yet feckless and capricious as Harper tied to a military leader so full of hubris as Hillier almost certainly would have been easy meat for the American invaders.
And I might well have been drafted to fight in Viet Nam.
Harper's Pipes May Be Backing Up
There are signs that the fight for the coast may have new impetus.
As reported recently in the Associated Press, the United States could soon come into a bounty of oil. Part of it comes from newly discovered reserves, part from the Gulf of Mexico and a huge new source from oil released by fracking.
There could be so much oil to be tapped in the United States that some, such as the conservative Manhattan Institute forecast new found national wealth from oil exports.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico are awash in hydrocarbon resources: oil, natural gas, and coal. The total North American hydrocarbon resource base is more than four times greater than all the resources extant in the Middle East. And the United States alone is now the fastest-growing producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
The recent growth in hydrocarbons production has already generated hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in local tax receipts by unlocking billions of barrels of oil and natural gas in the hydrocarbon-dense shales of North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and several other states, as well as the vast resources of Canada’s oil sands.
It is time to appreciate the staggering potential economic and geopolitical benefits that facilitating the development of these resources can bring to the United States. It is no overstatement to say that jobs related to extraction, transport, and trade of hydrocarbons can awaken the United States from its economic doldrums and produce revenue such that key national needs can be met—including renewal of infrastructure and investment in scientific research.
Harper and Redford will be in for some sleepless nights as the Americans talk about whether they even need the Keystone XL bitumen pipeline.
The Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL is the most visible and highly charged part of that pipeline system restructuring, even though critics are now questioning the logic of building an import pipeline when the industry is increasingly focused on exports.
The industry's growing interest in exporting U.S. oil stems from a dramatic and unexpected surge in domestic light, sweet crude production that has boosted this country's oil production to more than 6.6 million barrels per day, its highest level since 1995, according to federal data.
The flood of crude has caused a wholesale reversal of thinking within the industry, triggering predictions across the political spectrum that the United States could become not only energy self-sufficient but also a major oil exporter whose output could rival Saudi Arabia's.
The bad news for British Columbia is that any weakening of the American market for Athabasca sludge will only heighten the desperation of Harper, Redford, Enbridge and Big Oil to drive through the Northern Gateway pipeline. That would mean a far tougher, potentially much uglier fight to stop it.
As reported recently in the Associated Press, the United States could soon come into a bounty of oil. Part of it comes from newly discovered reserves, part from the Gulf of Mexico and a huge new source from oil released by fracking.
There could be so much oil to be tapped in the United States that some, such as the conservative Manhattan Institute forecast new found national wealth from oil exports.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico are awash in hydrocarbon resources: oil, natural gas, and coal. The total North American hydrocarbon resource base is more than four times greater than all the resources extant in the Middle East. And the United States alone is now the fastest-growing producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
The recent growth in hydrocarbons production has already generated hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in local tax receipts by unlocking billions of barrels of oil and natural gas in the hydrocarbon-dense shales of North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and several other states, as well as the vast resources of Canada’s oil sands.
It is time to appreciate the staggering potential economic and geopolitical benefits that facilitating the development of these resources can bring to the United States. It is no overstatement to say that jobs related to extraction, transport, and trade of hydrocarbons can awaken the United States from its economic doldrums and produce revenue such that key national needs can be met—including renewal of infrastructure and investment in scientific research.
Harper and Redford will be in for some sleepless nights as the Americans talk about whether they even need the Keystone XL bitumen pipeline.
The Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL is the most visible and highly charged part of that pipeline system restructuring, even though critics are now questioning the logic of building an import pipeline when the industry is increasingly focused on exports.
The industry's growing interest in exporting U.S. oil stems from a dramatic and unexpected surge in domestic light, sweet crude production that has boosted this country's oil production to more than 6.6 million barrels per day, its highest level since 1995, according to federal data.
The flood of crude has caused a wholesale reversal of thinking within the industry, triggering predictions across the political spectrum that the United States could become not only energy self-sufficient but also a major oil exporter whose output could rival Saudi Arabia's.
The bad news for British Columbia is that any weakening of the American market for Athabasca sludge will only heighten the desperation of Harper, Redford, Enbridge and Big Oil to drive through the Northern Gateway pipeline. That would mean a far tougher, potentially much uglier fight to stop it.
Mass Evacuation Ordered for NYC
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered as many as 375,000 New Yorkers to head for the hills before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.
At a press conference Sunday, Michael Bloomberg said some 375,000 people in a number of coastal areas including Coney Island, lower Manhattan and parts of the Queens neighbourhood would need to leave their homes. He said those affected would have to stay with family and friends outside of the evacuation area or at one of the 72 shelters the city has set up.
Officials in New York have also ordered the closure of its public transportation system, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, causing problems for those trying to leave the affected area on buses and subways.
"There really is a timeline when if you don’t get there before they stop, you’re going to have to find other ways to get out," Bloomberg said. He added that those who stay behind are putting their own lives at risk as well as those of any emergency personnel if they need to enter the affected areas.
At a press conference Sunday, Michael Bloomberg said some 375,000 people in a number of coastal areas including Coney Island, lower Manhattan and parts of the Queens neighbourhood would need to leave their homes. He said those affected would have to stay with family and friends outside of the evacuation area or at one of the 72 shelters the city has set up.
Officials in New York have also ordered the closure of its public transportation system, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, causing problems for those trying to leave the affected area on buses and subways.
"There really is a timeline when if you don’t get there before they stop, you’re going to have to find other ways to get out," Bloomberg said. He added that those who stay behind are putting their own lives at risk as well as those of any emergency personnel if they need to enter the affected areas.
Greek Madness
Austerity-bludgeoned Greece has a society teetering on collapse. It is a country headed by a government gone mad.
Even as, "doctors in Athens hospitals are handling only emergencies, bus drivers are on strike, schools are still short of textbooks and thousands of state employees are demonstrating against their dismissal," Greek leaders talk openly about inking more than ten billion Euros in contracts for warplanes, ships, and other weaponry if the next 80-billion Euros in bailout monies arrives.
The new austerity programme that Greece's government has announced leaves hardly a Greek unscathed. Unless, that is, he works for the military or for the armaments industry.
In 2010 Greece’s budget for the military was almost seven billion euros. That is about three percent of its economic output, a figure surpassed among NATO countries only by the United States. The Ministry of Defence did, however, cut its arms procurement in 2011 by €500 million. But all this will mean, believes an arms trade expert, is that future needs will be all the higher.
Even as, "doctors in Athens hospitals are handling only emergencies, bus drivers are on strike, schools are still short of textbooks and thousands of state employees are demonstrating against their dismissal," Greek leaders talk openly about inking more than ten billion Euros in contracts for warplanes, ships, and other weaponry if the next 80-billion Euros in bailout monies arrives.
The new austerity programme that Greece's government has announced leaves hardly a Greek unscathed. Unless, that is, he works for the military or for the armaments industry.
In 2010 Greece’s budget for the military was almost seven billion euros. That is about three percent of its economic output, a figure surpassed among NATO countries only by the United States. The Ministry of Defence did, however, cut its arms procurement in 2011 by €500 million. But all this will mean, believes an arms trade expert, is that future needs will be all the higher.
Channeling the Spirit of Posterity, Long Dead
For the five or six years this blog has existed I have strongly lamented the demise of posterity in our societies, our economies and our politics. In an era in which any perceived fetter on maximized production and maximized consumption was denounced as heretical, posterity was irrelevant, valueless or worse.
Rejecting posterity has come at an enormous price, not to us but to generations that will follow. We have taken advantage of everything we could exploit and kicked the consequences down the road wherever possible. Apparently the Europeans have been little different.
"Interestingly, the sheltered existence [today's economic, intellectual and political elite] led, enjoying prosperity and security, wasn’t of their own making. Merkel and Cameron, like former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and ex-British PM Tony Blair before them, inherited it from their predecessors – and turned out to have been but an efficient “consumer cooperative”, as Zygmunt Bauman puts it, consuming the fruits of somebody else’s work and basking in the glow of successes that weren’t theirs.
Europe was created and built by a generation for which a tragic past – embodied by Auschwitz – had been a living experience. The European Union’s founding fathers – Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schumann or Alcide De Gasperi – understood that only by working together could they build something lasting and good. European solidarity proved a blessing.
Disdain for posterity is readily seen. It can be seen in the increasing gap between rich and poor, in inequality of wealth, income and opportunity. It can be seen in the weakening of the middle class, the essential engine that generates opportunity for future generations. It can be seen in the carefully sculpted austerity measures the Right favours and, where it can, imposes. It can be seen in our utter indifference to environmental degradation of all descriptions. It can be seen in the obscene debts we amass even as the richest of the rich amass obscene wealth.
We are laying the foundations for unrest that can lead to upheaval, revolt. If the young are the "New Dangerous Class" they are of our own making.
Rejecting posterity has come at an enormous price, not to us but to generations that will follow. We have taken advantage of everything we could exploit and kicked the consequences down the road wherever possible. Apparently the Europeans have been little different.
"Interestingly, the sheltered existence [today's economic, intellectual and political elite] led, enjoying prosperity and security, wasn’t of their own making. Merkel and Cameron, like former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and ex-British PM Tony Blair before them, inherited it from their predecessors – and turned out to have been but an efficient “consumer cooperative”, as Zygmunt Bauman puts it, consuming the fruits of somebody else’s work and basking in the glow of successes that weren’t theirs.
Europe was created and built by a generation for which a tragic past – embodied by Auschwitz – had been a living experience. The European Union’s founding fathers – Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schumann or Alcide De Gasperi – understood that only by working together could they build something lasting and good. European solidarity proved a blessing.
Today’s ruling elites lived in entirely different conditions, enjoying security, peace, and systematic improvement in living standards. This was the effect of building a reasonable welfare state. How is it that after such a spectacular success Europe is experiencing today what is perhaps an equally spectacular fiasco? It’s because of the present elites’ belief that they simply inherited the EU from their predecessors, rather than having it on loan for their children. The mentality and spirit of the people leading Europe today can be summed up thus: “Let’s enjoy life as much as we can because soon the EU will be just a memory”.
What is Europe’s greatest, most burning issue today? We see it in the streets and squares of our cities. “We have the right to vote, but we have no work!” cry the young unemployed. We have a democracy, but no bread or homes. A precariat is emerging in front of our very eyes. What sort of people does it consist of? An apt and curt answer is given by Guy Standing, author of The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class: virtually everyone. At its core are young people.Disdain for posterity is readily seen. It can be seen in the increasing gap between rich and poor, in inequality of wealth, income and opportunity. It can be seen in the weakening of the middle class, the essential engine that generates opportunity for future generations. It can be seen in the carefully sculpted austerity measures the Right favours and, where it can, imposes. It can be seen in our utter indifference to environmental degradation of all descriptions. It can be seen in the obscene debts we amass even as the richest of the rich amass obscene wealth.
We are laying the foundations for unrest that can lead to upheaval, revolt. If the young are the "New Dangerous Class" they are of our own making.
The Grey Hair & Blue Rinse Crowd Take to the Field
We're here, maybe not queer, but you are going to have to live with it.
I attended the local "Defend Our Coast" rally this week outside our local MLA's office. It wasn't a protest directed at the MLA but a demonstration of our views and determination to stop bitumen trafficking on the British Columbia coast.
Even for my little town we got out better than 200-people, a damned fine showing given it was in the middle of the work week. I mingled with the crowd and was struck by their commitment to seeing this stopped - entirely and for good. This anger was coming from the Grey Hair & Blue Rinse crowd, not normally known for activism. Yet there was this palpable sense that this was different, this time there was a line in the sand that was not going to be crossed.
Imagine the optics of busloads of Geezers'n Grannies being hauled off to jails by Harper's minions. Masses of lifetime law-abiding citizens standing up and silently saying "enough, no more, this ends here."
It was encouraging to read an item from Le Monde about the role being played by Spanish grannies and grandads where the "abuelos" are said to have 'emerged as a pillar of strength in a faltering society.'
And we may just have a surprise in store for Stephen Harper, one he probably dreads. We may be able to seize the narrative this time. Harper and Redford and Big Oil can howl that we're obstructing progress, impairing the national interest. Yawn. We can counter that this is really about defending our coast against the demonstrated and extensive perfidy of the Tar Sanders and their minions. Harper's record of gutting our environmental protections, firing our defenders and monitors, 'fixing' the environmental review mechanisms let us take the narrative from him.
That's why we'll show up and keep showing up - not to obstruct something but to defend something, something that is ours alone. That's the sort of thing the Grey Hair & Blue Rinse crowd can get behind.
I attended the local "Defend Our Coast" rally this week outside our local MLA's office. It wasn't a protest directed at the MLA but a demonstration of our views and determination to stop bitumen trafficking on the British Columbia coast.
Even for my little town we got out better than 200-people, a damned fine showing given it was in the middle of the work week. I mingled with the crowd and was struck by their commitment to seeing this stopped - entirely and for good. This anger was coming from the Grey Hair & Blue Rinse crowd, not normally known for activism. Yet there was this palpable sense that this was different, this time there was a line in the sand that was not going to be crossed.
Imagine the optics of busloads of Geezers'n Grannies being hauled off to jails by Harper's minions. Masses of lifetime law-abiding citizens standing up and silently saying "enough, no more, this ends here."
It was encouraging to read an item from Le Monde about the role being played by Spanish grannies and grandads where the "abuelos" are said to have 'emerged as a pillar of strength in a faltering society.'
And we may just have a surprise in store for Stephen Harper, one he probably dreads. We may be able to seize the narrative this time. Harper and Redford and Big Oil can howl that we're obstructing progress, impairing the national interest. Yawn. We can counter that this is really about defending our coast against the demonstrated and extensive perfidy of the Tar Sanders and their minions. Harper's record of gutting our environmental protections, firing our defenders and monitors, 'fixing' the environmental review mechanisms let us take the narrative from him.
That's why we'll show up and keep showing up - not to obstruct something but to defend something, something that is ours alone. That's the sort of thing the Grey Hair & Blue Rinse crowd can get behind.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Every Rapist First Subdues His Victim
Stephen Harper has gone to great lengths to subdue the province and people of British Columbia in preparation for having his way with us against our will.
It's been methodical and relentless and every aspect of it has been marked by three telltales - they've all been without consultation, without our consent and against our will. It's political rape of an entire province by a brutal despot wielding what he perceives to be unstoppable, superior power.
Harper got the West Coast emergency oil spill centre out of the way. He moved that to Quebec. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
Harper gutted fisheries protection regulations that might have interfered with supertanker traffic. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
Harper shut down entire departments of Fisheries and Oceans scientists and monitors who served to safeguard our waters, our fisheries and our marine ecology. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
Harper shut down all but two of our key Coast Guard stations, slashing the safety and security of our coastal waters. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
Harper is now moving to strip navigation protections. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
Harper has stripped ("streamlined") environmental assessment procedures to eliminate almost certain hurdles to the Northern Gateway pipeline and Kitimat supertanker port. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
Harper has gagged federal researchers and scientists, preventing them from speaking out on the perils he is crafting for British Columbia. Without consultation, without our consent, against our will.
All this, and so much more, Harper has done or has in the works and all of it without consultation, without our consent and against our will. It's a calculated process to subdue and overwhelm British Columbia and the majority of the public that stand in his way. It's the precursor to the rape to follow.
Everyone is entitled to fight off a rapist. No one is obliged to submit to violation. The rest of Canada needs to understand that what Harper has in mind for British Columbia is nothing short of rape. The rest of Canada, especially everybody in Alberta, needs to understand why we have to defend ourselves and our province.
America's Looming Strategic Insolvency.
"A moment has arrived when a great power with global responsibilities is having a crisis of confidence. Its economy has grown sluggish and it is being overtaken by a number of rising competitors. Financial pressures loom, notably the ability to keep a balance between government revenues and expenses. It is losing long-standing superiorities psychological as well as technological and numerical in key categories of military power; this great power, whose diplomats and military leaders manage active or potential conflicts from Afghanistan to Europe with treaty alliances as far flung as Japan and Australia, confronts the need for constraints on its global ambitions and posture. This urgent reckoning has been prompted in part by a painful and largely unnecessary counterinsurgency war far from home that cost many times more than initially thought and exhausted the country's overstretched land forces."
Sound like any nation you know? It should but, in fact, it's Michael J. Mazarr, professor of national security strategy at the U.S. National War College, writing about Britain at the turn of the 20th century. In his paper, "The Risks of Ignoring Strategic Insolvency," Mazarr warns that America today is walking down the same path and inviting many similar consequences.
"Despite this awareness, that insolvency was destined to hit home
during a number of key moments from the Boer War to post-war colonial crises to Suez, Britain suffered this fate in part because successive governments in London, although scaling back military and diplomatic commitments in a fashion that many commentators have found to be a masterful example of stepping back from global primacy, still could not bring themselves to make a clean break with a deeply-ingrained strategic posture and fashion a more sustainable global role. Great Britain remained continually overextended, and suffered the drawn-out consequences."
"...Yet the post-war U.S. approach to strategy is rapidly becoming insolvent and unsustainable not only because Washington can no longer afford it but also, crucially, because it presumes an American relationship with friends, allies, and rivals that is the hallmark of a bygone era. If Washington continues to cling to its existing role on the premise that the international order depends upon it, the result will be increasing resistance, economic ruin, and strategic failure."
"...twenty years of warnings will finally come true over the next five to ten years, unless we adjust much more fundamentally than administrations of either party have been willing to do so far. The forces undercutting the U.S. strategic posture are reaching critical mass."
Mazarr's paper deserves a close read. He presents a troubling reality, depicting a nation that is not only economically but also militarily pretending to defy gravity even if only for just a handful of years longer.
Andrew Bacevich writes powerfully of this "new American militarism" and the evolution of the Permanent Warfare State. He chronicles, in detail, the toxic union of radical rightwing ideology, radical Christian fundamentalism, the ascendancy of robotic and precision weaponry, a hypercharged military-industrial complex and the evolution of a massive, commercial "for profit" warfighting complex dominated by contractors with names like KBR, Haliburton, Blackwater and many, many others.
In this election cycle, American politicians talk at length about the "fiscal cliff" endangering their economy but glibly overlook the even more worrisome "strategic cliff" they're running toward full-bore.
Whatever the Americans do, Canada needs to recognize and respond to this crippling strategic madness that besets the United States. Fundamental to that is keeping a healthy distance from what's going on in the Pentagon and ensuring Canada's military does not become inescapably bound to it. And where does that begin? By walking, no running away from the F-35 light nuclear strike bomber just as fast as we can. Buying that airplane, saddling our military with it, is signing on to America's aerial Foreign Legion and nothing less. It is signing on to America's strategic insolvency. When are we going to wake up?
Sununu Can't Walk this One Back.
Romney campaign co-chair, John Sununu, is scrambling to get out from under his imprudent but pretty obviously heartfelt racist comments.
When former Bush state secretary and former US chairman of the joint chiefs Colin Powell endorsed Obama for a second term as president, he gave clear and convincing reasons for his choice. Among them, he described Romney's vacillating foreign policy as a "moving target." That speaks volumes for Powell's distrust of the Republican contender.
With that, former New Hampshire governor Sununu, threw out the race card.
''Frankly, when you take a look at Colin Powell you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama,'' Mr Sununu told CNN.
When former Bush state secretary and former US chairman of the joint chiefs Colin Powell endorsed Obama for a second term as president, he gave clear and convincing reasons for his choice. Among them, he described Romney's vacillating foreign policy as a "moving target." That speaks volumes for Powell's distrust of the Republican contender.
With that, former New Hampshire governor Sununu, threw out the race card.
''Frankly, when you take a look at Colin Powell you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama,'' Mr Sununu told CNN.
The Chilling Face of Greek Fascism
Greek police officers are warning that the brutal, fascist Golden Dawn movement has infiltrated their ranks. The Guardian has prepared this disturbing look into Greece's spreading fascism.
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