BC Swelters, Sea Levels Rise: Do-Nothing Conservatives Save Money on Icebreakers

Well it’s hot in BC…dam hot. According to CBC, we are setting record breaking temperatures all over the place.

Seven all-time temperature highs were set across British Columbia on Wednesday, with most of the records falling in the Fraser Valley, the Greater Vancouver area and on Vancouver Island.

I will vouch that people everywhere in Victoria claim they are melting. The main conversation these days is the weather forecast, creative methods for keeping cool, keeping your office cool, etc.

Naturally thoughts of melting brings up images of glaciers disappearing and sea levels rising. This UVic Ring article examining research on the rising sea levels around Haida Gwaii is worth a read.

The team found that sea levels in Haida Gwaii are rising at a rate of 16 cm per century—twice as fast as sea levels around Victoria. During extreme storms, sea levels rise at more than twice this rate.

Walker and his team also learned that the coastline is eroding at a rate of one to three metres per year. “This will bring a variety of hazards,” he says. “For example, the coastal highway will see increased flooding and erosion in the next 10 to 20 years.”

Then I found this article originally published in the Guardian that had me shaking even with the sweltering heat.

The geological record suggests that ice at the poles does not melt in a gradual and linear fashion, but flips suddenly from one state to another. When temperatures increased to 2-3 degrees Celsius above today’s level 3.5 million years ago, sea levels rose not by 59 cm but by 25 meters. The ice responded immediately to changes in temperature.

We now have a pretty good idea of why ice sheets collapse. The buttresses that prevent them from sliding into the sea break up; meltwater trickles down to their base, causing them suddenly to slip; and pools of water form on the surface, making the ice darker so that it absorbs more heat. These processes are already taking place in Greenland and West Antarctica.

Yikes!! It appears Harper has succumbed to the eventuality of it all and is no longer planning to buy icebreakers for our arctic. I guess it makes sense if you are doing your best (e.g sabotage of Kyoto Accord, refusing a carbon tax plan for industry) to ensure that global warming continues unbated.

It’s Time to Show Your Pride Victoria (video)

It’s time to party everyone because Victoria Pride is here. Join the Libs on Sunday and show your pride. Here is a copy of the invite:

We are all meeting up with Hedy & Briony at 11:15am by the Sir John A Macdonald outside A Channel and City Hall (Broad & Pandora). We will be marching liberally from City Hall at noon to Fisherman’s Warf Park where there will be lots of entertainment, food and fun. We will have lots of flags, buttons, stickers, banners and placards for you to wear/carry if you like.

It’s going to be a blast! Bring lots of water, sunscreen for the picnic – pets are welcome too!

And here is a little Queen to get us all warmed up for the occasion.

Impeach Cheney, Heal a Country (video)

I read this article today at the Foster’s Daily Democrat and immediately wondered what else do the Democrats have to do that is more important than bringing down the corrupt war criminals like Dick Cheney?

Appearing before at least 60 voters at the Governor’s Inn on Sunday, presidential candidate Chris Dodd said he “understands the appetite” of people wanting to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, but he doesn’t think the long process would help the country.

I can’t think of anything more important to restoring the United State’s good name in the world. Hopefully Americans will wisely dismiss Democrat politicians advocating for continuing the status quo. Impeaching war criminals like Cheney will be key to American healing/change processes.

Energy Literacy

Dion Growing More Dynamic as Each Month Passes

There is an article in the Globe and Mail today discussing Diebels new book, Against the Current. It also describes the Liberals as confounded by the Conservative advertising attempts to portray Dion as wimpy. Personally, I have yet to see a Conservative attack ad except through CBC news-bites discussing them, but I also don’t watch much television. I prefer the Internet and movie rentals as my primary sources of entertainment and information. As a compulsive multi-tasker, when I do watch television I usually flip to something else when the commercials show up anyways.

The Globe and Mail writes,

Trudeau was fundamentally an actor who learned how to be an academic. Dion, he argued, is an academic who must now learn to be an actor.

I think Conservatives implying Dion is a wimp is quite ironic considering their years of being led by the very nerdy, Preston Manning. When I was supporting Rae for Liberal leader, my main concern about Dion was his ability to use the English language to touch/move Western voters.

I have seen Dion in person now and he has come a long way since the Liberal leadership convention. His English has improved dramatically in just a short time. Give it a few more months and he will be a powerful force when the next election is called. My partner, an avid fisherman was not aware of Dion’s keen interest in sports fishing and he says he would go fishing with Dion anytime. I think the Cons will soon regret not forcing an early election in the Spring of 2007 because Dion is getting better and better as each month passes.

A New, Even Lower Level of Conservative Hypocrisy

Just when I thought the Con level of hypocrisy and deception couldn’t possibly go any lower, CTV news confirms today I am totally wrong about this. A whole new level has definitely arrived.

While the Conservatives lead an investigation into polling commissioned by previous governments, the prime minister’s own department failed to publicly disclose public-opinion research it conducted within ethnic communities last year. Depositing reports of all public-opinion research with Library and Archives Canada is one of the mandatory provisions in the government’s Federal Accountability Act.

So while the Cons have been leading a bogus, in-proper witch hunt into past Liberal polling practises they are engaging in this very act themselves. The CBC’s Rex Murphy says it best when the Con investigation into past Lib polling was announced last month.

So an appointed senator appoints an ex-P.Q. cabinet minister to do a solo investigation into mainly how the federalist Liberals have conducted polls, many of the said polls having been conducted during one of the great referendum showdowns between those same federal Liberals and the separatist Parti Québécois.

Mr. Fortier has worked on Mr. Harper’s leadership campaign, worked as co-chair of the Tories’ two national campaigns in 2004 and 2006. His current status as a senator and as a cabinet member is probably as good an example of reward politics, patronage and cronyism as anything that the Chrétien years has to offer. Daniel Payette, the investigator being called on board to search out the dark ways of the previous government polling, is an interesting choice too. He is a former separatist cabinet minister from Quebec.

Doesn’t this seem a little off beam to anybody?

Just when you think they can’t go any lower…….the Cons surprise us all once again.

Dion and May: Progressive Steps Towards A Centre-Left Coalition?

I think it’s fantastic that Dion and May are talking about working together for the next election. CanWest reports,

“I will not deny what is already in the news … that there are talks between us,” Dion said. “When it will happen, if it’s happening, it will be open and transparent.”

Moreover, the media has been making some positive comments on Dion’s speeches. It seems Dion’s speaking is improving and that is great news! Dion also says Canadian Liberals will be ready to fight and win an election campaign. I think the National Post may have a more realistic perspective on that statment with their catchy headline today, “So Not Ready”

There has been some important work taking place in the House of Commons. When the Cons are grotesquely wrong, (e.g. climate change, Kelowna Accord) the opposition pats the Cons on the head, executes a re-direction technique and rewrites their dubious legislation. The CBC quotes McGuinty,

“the bill now includes much of the clean air plan proposed by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion”

“The opposition parties have actually come up with a new strong agreement on a series of issues. The government MPs on the committee don’t know how to respond,” McGuinty said.

It took an opposition team effort to get this job done, but the media is reporting that Harper and the Cons may be getting ready to oppose or delay it, which could trigger an election.

I don’t think it makes a lot of sense for the Cons to be posturing for an election when several of their key people are involved in emerging criminal investigations. For those who haven’t had a chance to visit Accidental Deliberations today, there is an interesting post that identifies the conflict of interest between Day and the RCMP.

“That said, there’s at least as much need for public clarification as there was during the income trust debacle in 2005. And if the RCMP is scared into silence until Day passes judgment on the pension issue, that may be the most dubious end result of all.”

The CBC reports,

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Thursday he wants a report on RCMP pension and insurance plan allegations that will be compiled by an independent investigator to be ready within 12 weeks.

There does appear to be a conflict of interest here, no matter how “hands off” Day is pretending he will be. Day should step aside and let someone else head up the Public Safety Ministry until the RCMP finish their investigation.

Blair Suffers from Credibility Gap

According to the Western Standard, the Harper Government is highly supportive of coalition forces in Iraq,

The British personnel were engaged in legitimate and routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters in support of the Government of Iraq. Canadian naval ships have conducted the same type of operations in this area under the same mandate.

When did Canada start conducting operations in support of the Iraqi government? This is news to me. Peter Mackay says,

“We are deeply concerned that Iran has detained 15 British military personnel for more than five days now, despite clear evidence that their vessels were operating in Iraqi territorial waters.

I wonder what this evidence is because to be honest, I don’t trust Tony Blair to tell the truth. Does he really expect us to just believe him without question when he says the British navy was not trespassing in Iranian waters? Is there going to be a new powerpoint showing like the last one Colin Powell presented? You know….those slides that showed the weapons of mass destruction being moved around in Iraqi trucks just before the US/Britain invaded the country.

Considering the whole Bush military build up in that area, I think the possibility exists that a mistake could have been made. Posturing is becoming increasingly offensive and dangerous. Couldn’t Blair just mutter a statement saying there “could have been an error” and put an end to the matter? Unless….. there is really solid proof and if there is, get on with it and provide it to the masses so we can trust you again. Bush is cruising for anything to get him out of the mess he’s in at home. If he drags the rest of the world into his nightmare, that will be “mission accomplished.”

If Bush is truly planning for another round of “let’s make war”….. on Iran, then Harper will go to an election pretty quick. I believe Harper will support Bush/Blair and they could not commit us to a war on Iran without a majority.

March 29 Update: Check out this article by Pacific Free Press on the Iraq/Iran border issue. Great stuff!

I Took the Feminist Type Test: Result-Liberal

Hat tip to marginal notes for posting the directions to this fun test. I went to OK cupid and took the test and here are my results,

Liberal
You scored 16% Gender-Abolitionist, 100% Sexually Liberal, and 40 % Socialist You are the Liberal Feminist. This means that you tend to think the women’s movement would best succeed through legislative changes to the system as opposed to radically restructuring our governments or ideas on gender. You tend to be mainly concerned with sexual liberation, and think that much of the oppression of women is leveled against them as a result of oppressive sexual morality. Men who sleep around are pimps and women are whores. You would claim that the negativity associated with a female’s sexual freedom is only a blatant attempt to repress femininity into a submissive role. Also, you probably believe women should have access to reproductive controls such as abortion and contraception. You most likely embody the ideals of the typical American Democrat: you are pro-choice, sexually liberated, and politically active (though your political views aren’t very extreme). The other feminist types:

The Housewife

The Marxist

The Liberal

The Liberal Extremist

The Gender Abolitionist

The Radical

The Gender-Liberal

The Revisionist

Cons Reachin Now

Considering recent pay-off and bribery allegations and the partisan, divisive federal budget that has managed to tick off a large portion of the Canadian population; I will be surprised if Harper throws down for an election.

I think we have an indication that things are not going well when the polls shift once again and the Cons start whining (yes the whiner-haters are now whining) about the evidence that might sink Day. Today we learned that the OPP has begun an investigation into a bribery allegations against a close Harper associate, Larry O’Brien. I found this article on CNews with NDP candidate, Terry Kilrea calling for,

an audit of all government appointments made since the Federal Accountability Act was passed in December in light of a police investigation into claims of a potentially criminal patronage offer.

I personally think it’s a hard sell to get anyone to believe that boxes of evidence were stolen from the Cons when everyone knows that government switches office locations like people change their socks. I don’t think this new spin (with video even) is going to help them one bit.