Censorship and Climate Change

The New York Times reported that Dr. James Hansen, a prominent NASA scientist, was being silenced through NASA channels by the Bush administration because he was being outspoken about the need to combat climate change more aggressively than is being implemented currently in the US or elsewhere.

While such tactics are not new in recent years to federally-funded scientists, the public has done nothing even while scientists are screaming bloody-murder. In fact, it's funny (or not) how NASA spokesperson can only speak about the Hansen case only after a rep from NASA headquarters assured the Times that there'd be no retribution for going on the record. Yeah, the Administration believes in science...oh sure...

...And just as a reminder to myself...and to David Forsayeth, Comm '08, that Dr. James Hansen knows enough about future climate trends to be outspoken about how little we are doing towards combatting climate change.

And on a related note, it's funny how arctic sovereignty has become such a big issue now that the polar ice caps are melting. But no, the discussion's never about the environmental repercussions or how this wouldn't be an issue if we did a goddamn thing about climate change. Instead, it's about all the oil resource in the area that's opening up or the trading routes (again, not discussing how that'll affect the fragile ecosystem up there and all the other spin-off consequences) or putting military personnel on non-military coast guard icebreakers...

By the way, no, I don't think we can stop the ice caps from melting now...slowing it down, maybe...but not when we're doing NOTHING about climate change.

Comments here and there

Canadian police chiefs continue to support gun registry (via Canoe News)
Canadian police chiefs wants to open a dialogue with the Conservatives about the value of gun control and legislation and a gun registry, not THE gun registry that had its cost overblown and that the Conservatives want to dismantle. Seems reasonable enough. The head of the Association of the Chiefs of Police state that police officers use the registry on a daily basis. However, Conservative MP Breitskreuz, a critic of the registry, disputes this notion. Now, I don't know about you, but who do you think I believe knows more about how the registry is being used by front-line officers?

A Newsweek report on how attorneys within the US government tried to rein in Bush's new powers given through the war on terror and how most who opposed the White House are now either in academia or in private legal firms.
What worries me more about this piece is that everyone who tried to defend US civil liberties against the White House are now practically out of the machinery. So who's left to make sure they're not continuing to abuse their powers?

Frank McKenna, ex-Canadian Ambassador to the US, will NOT be running for the Liberal leadership (via CTV News)
With McKenna and Manley out of the running, no real star candidates seem to be emerging. Looks like it's going to be a pit fight between Stronach, Brison, Ignatieff, Cauchon and possibly Brian Tobin. I don't know any of them personally, but to me, I can't see any of them leading the Liberal Party, let alone be a Prime Minister. At least not yet. Does that mean we're looking at a few more years of Conservative rule until one of these 5 have matured into a leader, a la Harper's last few years?

New-ish Beginnings

my Powerbook crashed on me so this will be the digest version of my original musings on post-Election thoughts.

I predicted on a bet on Sunday (without looking at any final polls) the following results for yesterday's election:

132- Conservatives
90- Liberals
58- Bloc Quebecois
27- NDP
1- Independent

The actual results are as follows:

124- Conservatives
103- Liberals
51- Bloc Quebecois
29- NDP
1- Independent

I'm surprised that the Bloc were unable to grab more seats than they did. The Federalist in me is pleased. It's good to see both the Liberals and Conservatives with some sort of representation in Quebec.

Regionally, nothing's changed, with the West still more or less Conservative (particularly, Alberta's Blue Sweep) while all of Southern Ontario went Blue except for the GTA (which has become a Liberal/NDP bastion). The fact that few urban areas were willing to consider the Conservatives as an alternative distresses me as to whether or not there will be a new divide among Canada between the urban and rural populations vis a vis the 'East-West' clash (which actually baffles me a little, in that we've been unable to solve the problem before). While the pundits hope that a western Canada PM will change that (i.e. voice Western Canada issues), the problem remains that the attitude of Us vs. Them is still with us, that we're not trying to reconcile ourselves into one nation but that the other kids have the power now.

However, that is not to say that I don't believe Harper will just focus on Western Canada issues. His party's put out a very articulate vision of what they want Canada to be (even if you disagree with it) and have gained support throughout Canada. For that, they deserve credit and kudos. I dislike the knee-jerk pessimism of him being in office that is prevalent with my peers. Martin's disappointing run at the office shows that even with people we thought had the vision of Canada that we thought was good, they don't necessary turn out to achieve anything. For that, PM Harper should be given at minimum, the benefit of the doubt, if not a fair chance for him to show what he can do for all of Canada.

I don't believe that Harper has a hidden agenda, and with the configuration of our future Parliament, it seems like there will be much consensus building that he'll have to preside over. How he'll reconcile the social conservative wing of his party with the rest of Canada will be interesting. Another question will be whether the consensus needed will result in actual compromise in the bills that are passed (since it'll require 3 of 4 parties to vote in favour) or whether they'll be diluted to mean nothing. How his cabinet will fair will also play a factor, since none of them will have any experience handling a Federal Portfolio (even if they do have provincial experience). It's been said before. It's easy to criticize and be the opposition. It's much more difficult once you're in power, how to actually run the machine that is the federal government.

With that, I wish PM Harper luck and fortitude. Maybe we can finally leave the doldrums and restart the national conversation about what it means to be Canadian and how we should treat each other.

Away from my desk

It's been a good 2 or more weeks since I've posted. I didn't realize how busy it would be with one class for this term. Yes, you heard me right. It's strange how a lot of the classes that aren't for credit (auditing, TAing, etc.) are taking up so much of my time, and all of them are front-ended up to Reading Week. It's bizarre and inconvenient, to be sure.

The term's shaping up to be what I expected, which is hardly a surprise. Restarting my thesis was like turning the crank on the old car engines of yore. It takes a few tries, and sputters out once in a while. As for everything else, everything shifts, but nothing really changes. relations change but stay the same. Everything is in flux, like everything else, so I'm really not contributing anything new here.

There are lots of stories to tell out there, and I'm sure there are gems buried in my Bloglines (which must be piling up links of its own), it's allowing myself the time to go through it that's the problem. The world changes, but I'm not keeping up with what's going on, and that bothers me.

But I have a giant Toblerone and the complete Calvin and Hobbes Collection by my computer. I guess that'll do for comfort...Til next time...which will actually be soon.

This is how we start the new year...

Via Metafilter, Bourque, AP, etc.

Woman Marries Dolphin.

There's really nothing else to say except that the whole thing's just weird.