green elephant: republicans for environmental protection (rep)

This is an interesting interview: David Jenkins from REP talks about the Texas drought (yet, floods the other day, 'Texas floods force drivers to abandon cars, flee for their lives'), climate change, Al Gore, conservation and environmental protection, Jon Huntsman's withdrawal from the Republican race and more.

podcast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00mwzc6/One_Planet_The_Dry_Lands_of_Texas/

(3:10) 'agricultural sector lost over $5.3 billion in 2011...'
 'in april 2011, governor rick perry called for a statewide weekend of prayer for rain... what texas got was a summer of record-breaking heat, virtually no rain - and wildfires.'
'4 million acres burned, 1600 homes, half billion trees died of thirst'

(9:00) 'i lay a lot of this at the feet of right wing talk radio, the people like rush limbaugh and those folks. Also some of the big industries, the coal industry, who has a vested interest in trying to prevent curbs on greenhouse gas pollution.'

'the party is being lead around the nose by a relatively small group of people'

open letter to tom flanagan

RU A CDN CITIZEN?

I THINK UR JIST A RIEL WANNABE WITH NO GABRIEL


nevermind. ("But once he decided to apply for citizenship, he volunteered to teach a summer class in the subject to force himself into a crash course.")
please disregard.

open letter to joe oliver, minister of natural resources

Hey Joe,

Re: 'Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth.'

where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand, oh
I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Yeah, I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Huh! and that ain't cool
Huh hey hoe, I heard you shot your mamma down
You shot her down now
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your lady down
You shot her down in the ground yeah!
Yeah!
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught her messin' round messin' round town
Huh, yes I did I shot her
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town
And I gave her the gun
And I shot her
Alright
Shoot her one more time again baby!
Yeah!
Oh dig it
Oh alright
Hey Joe,
Where you gonna run to now where you gonna go
Hey Joe, I said
Where you gonna run to now where you gonna go
I'm goin' way down south
Way down to mexico way
Alright
I'm goin' way down South
Way down where I can be free
Ain't no one gonna find me
Ain't no hang-man gonna
He ain't gonna put a rope around me
You better believe it right now
I gotta go now
Hey, Joe
You better run on down
Goodbye everybody
Hey, hey Joe...

open letter to deborah yedlin

Re:Keystone pipeline decision in a word: politics
By Deborah Yedlin, Calgary Herald January 21, 2012

I would have to disagree with Deborah Yedlin's analysis. The Keystone pipeline decision in a word? Macondo

The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was a game changer, with its poor risk assessment, flawed equipment, its teflon responsibilities among the parties, the 11 deaths on the platform, the costs to local industries and common 'little' people, including health, a point which Yedlin missed.

The US regulatory agency was completely revised.* It also brought the 'obscurities' of pipelines and oil extraction to the fore. Additionally, Macondo introduced a disaster in US waters by a foreign multinational, so scrutiny and the environmental impact assessments required are now more intense. The public is watching.

Any company can promise anything, whether it be 'jobs,' 'science facts,' 'human rights,' or whatever may be industry and government public relations messages that day, but the proof is in the slick. Then, after Macondo, there were the Michigan River (Enbridge, July 2010) and Yellowstone River (Exxon Mobil, July 2011) spills.

The main thing: the oil industry rarely finds itself at fault.

*MMS/BOEM. See more: http://www.pyrelog.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bpoilspill

more knut, the dreamer & a winning design

I like this one more than the one with the hollow guts.

Read more.

knut, siku, human zoos & sculptures

Knut, 2007

Siku, 2011

Knut proponents are riled up about Siku at the Scandinavian Wildlife Park, Denmark. Siku is cute, but it's not Knut. ('The new knut' whose mother had not enough milk is not really an orphan.) Knut fans are mustering a memorial tribute with voting until January 8, 2012 on 42 entries: Pick a knut memorial sculpture. Be prepared, some of the submissions are underwhelming.

Footballer turned curator.  Lilian Thuram's 'Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage' --- "traces the history behind circuses, stage shows and 'zoos' in which people were the exhibits, dating it back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus displayed six 'Indians' at the Spanish royal court" (Daily Mail article). The exhibition is at Paris' Quai Branly, France, from Tuesday 29th November to Sunday 3th June 2012.
See more, including a video and the museum's website. Following his retirement in 2008, he established the Lilian Thurman Foundation.

In politics, Thuram made headlines during the 2007 French elections by calling out the institutionalized racism of Nicolas Sarkozy. (Article: France World Cup player Lilian Thuram now fights racism, November 11, 2009.)

Speaking of, there was a nazi encounter with swastikas and death threats on Christmas Eve for a biracial couple in Newmarket, Ontario. The man, from Nigeria ('nigger'), and the white woman ('whore'), are considering moving. The couple has already spent $6000 repairing damages. It isn't the first time.

An Occupy sculpture was hauled away from an encampment in Calgary, Alberta.

You can sign the Petition: Keep the “Heart of the Beast” sculpture as a permanent part of Olympic Plaza.

what a jerk. pick1

It was the taunt.

Elizabeth May: Very difficult to get to COP. UN deadline 2 apply passed before Kent told us we were not on del.

Justin Trudeau: This is a tradition that goes back 20 years of bringing multiple voices to a conference. He did not, they did not.

Peter Kent: "he chided NDP critic Megan Leslie for being ill-informed about last week's climate-change conference because she hadn't attended."

"Justin Trudeau calls on Peter Kent to issue his own apology after expletive-tinged Commons clash" source

wowzers: prevent NDP critic Megan Leslie from attending, then blame her for not being there. that's a bit fecal!

republican theory of voter suppression.mov

Paul Weyrich, the "founding father of the conservative movement," addressed a seminal Religious Right gathering held in Dallas in the fall of 1980:

Video: Republican theory of voter suppression.mov

Weyrich: How many of our Christians have what I call the googoo syndrome. Good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down.

Jerry Falwell and Ronald Reagan also addressed the gathering. Weyrich cofounded the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority, Free Congress Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council, and continues to host weekly strategy sessions for right-wing leaders.

bronco goes to dc, little black lies & the castle

Well, Gary Mar came back from the Alberta Embassy in Washington for the provincial Progressive Conservative (PC) leadership race, which he lost, so now he's being shipped to China Hong Kong. Asia. The U.S. vacancy will be filled, as was Mar's position, i.e. without due process, by former Calgary mayor Dave 'Bronco' Bronconnier for about nine months. Hopefully, Ambadassador Gordon Campbell in the UK, Bronco in Washington and Mar in Asia can birth their many bouncing baby pipelines, mines, logging inroads.

Lettuce earnestly hope that no mention will be made by these 3distinguished gentlemens of an Alberta grizzly bear expert, who lives in self-imposed exile (Missoula, Montana). Anyway... a new book by Jeff Gailus is upcoming. 'Little Black Lies: The War on Truth in the Battle for the Tar Sands' will be published by Rocky Mountain Books in Fall 2012.

Of the Castle Special Management Area, he says:

It was ostensibly “protected” as part of the Alberta government’s Special Places Program in 1998, but unlike other candidate parks, it wasn’t protected by legislation; it was simply managed as one under government policy, which has been ineffective to say the least. Logging and energy development continue to this day.

In 'Legislation, not policy, foundation of environmental protection,' Fast Forward Weekly, Nov 3, 2011.

A provincial park is still waiting: Andy Russell - I'tai sah kòp Wildland Park was proposed in 2005 for the Castle and/or Castle-Crown Wilderness. See the media release, notes and letter.

fur trade: p-bears, beavis & chinese khats&dawgs

There is talk (Senator Eaton) of changing Canada's official emblem, national symbol, from a beaver-vagina (see: slang and merkins) to a polar bear.

The beaver has a long history, with the Hudson's Bay Company:

By the year 1600, the need for more beaver fur exploded. European beavers were dying out because of over-hunting, and new fashions, like hats, used lots of beaver felt. Which was why the discovery of the North American beaver was like a miracle to hat-makers! source 

***IDSTURBING***
In China, "When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals' heads, their hairless, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. Some of the animals' hearts are still beating five to 10 minutes after they are skinned. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog on the heap of carcasses who had enough strength to lift his bloodied head and stare into the camera." source: PETA

"CONDITIONS IN CHINA
Millions of dommestic dogs and cats plus rabbits, foxes, coyotes, mink, raccoons and other animals are suffering unconscionable treatment and agonozing death in China where there are no animal welfare laws. Dogs and cats for example are being crushed into barbed wired cages for transport to slaughter and forced to lay on each other for days with no food or water.

"MISLABELED FUR
Stores across the world are selling mislabeled fur from these dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals in China.  China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States. The fur products on store shelves are from these same animals and range from purses to key chain accessories to collar accents to coats and more.  You can help support the abolishment of animal cruelty by not buying or waering any fur products." source