February 2007
Monthly Archive
February 25, 2007
If Eliza Manningham-Buller can be believed, and I think she can, there are between 1,600 and 2,000 British-based, Islamist terrorists preparing to launch a wave of attacks. Ms. Manningham-Buller is the Director-General of Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency.
The Sunday Telegraph reports having seen the document, entitled “Extremist Threat Assessment” which predicts a substantial increase in terrorist attacks in Britain in 2007. The report speaks of 200 known networks involved in at least 30-plots.
The report notes the resurgence of al-Qaeda throughout the Sunni Muslim world and warns Afghanistan is expected to supercede Iraq as a venue for terrorists planning Jihad against the West.
“Two years ago, western intelligence said that al-Qaeda was virtually a spent force, disrupted by counter-terrorist operations around the world.”
February 25, 2007
They’re not actually new, they’re just new to some of their surroundings. They’re bacteria and parasites that are expanding their reach as the planet warms. This is already happening. The World Health Organization estimated that in 2000 about 154,000 deaths around the world could be attributed to disease outbreaks and other conditions sparked by climate change. 154,000 and that’s six years ago.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the earth has already warmed enough to bring trouble to northern regions from Sweden to Alaska. Bacterial blooms in Alaskan inlets have forced producers to change the way they raise and harvest shellfish. Sweden, meanwhile, is trying to cope with the northern migration of encephalitis-bearing ticks. What researchers are finding is that even incremental increases in temperature are expanding the distribution of bacteria, bugs and weeds.
The US Department of Agriculture has been testing how increasing CO2 levels affect weeds. They’re testing ragweed with CO2 levels predicted for 2050. One researcher is quoted as saying, “It’s like feeding a hungry teenager.”
February 25, 2007
A group of powerful Christian conservatives that calls itself the Council for National Policy is disappointed at the current slate of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. Their trained seal has less than two years remaining in office and they can’t find another one with a weak mind and a strong back.
The council is a secretive organization whose members include James C. Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Grover Norquist. They recently had a closed-door meeting at Florida’s Amelia Island. At the meeting they decided that McCain, Guilliani and even Romney weren’t nearly far enough right for their liking. You have to be swinging from the end of the branch for these folks which is why they seem so very fond of our own Harpo. The New York Times reports these extremists are worried, very worried:
“’There is great anxiety,’ said Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation. ‘There is no outstanding conservative, and they are all looking for that.’
“Mr. Weyrich, a longtime member of the council, declined to discuss the group or its meetings. The council’s bylaws forbid members from publicly disclosing its membership or activities, and participants agreed to discuss the Amelia Island meeting only on the condition of anonymity.
“For eight years and four elections, President Bush forged a singular alliance with Christian conservatives — including dispatching administration officials and even cabinet members to address council meetings — that put them at the center of the Republican party.
“But in the aftermath of the stinging defeats in the midterm elections, and with discontent over the Iraq war weighing heavily on the public, some Christian conservatives worry that they may find themselves on the sidelines of the presidential race.”
Gee, I can see their point. This could just lead to separation of state and religious fanaticism. Where would we be then?
Oh yeah, just a reminder. Harpo himself addressed the Council for Religious Extremism when they showed up in Montreal back in 1997. Here are a few things he told his American pals about us and about his movement:
On the Canadian people:
“It may not be true, but it’s legendary that ifyou’re like all Americans, you know almost nothing
except for your own country. Which makes youprobably knowledgeable about one more country
than most Canadians.”
On the NDP:
“The NDP could be described as basically a partyof liberal Democrats, but it’s actually worse thanthat, I have to say. And forgive me jesting again (about theological references), but the NDP is kind of proofthat the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men.”
“Some people point out that there is a small element ofclergy in the NDP. Yes, this is true. But these are clergywho, while very commited to the church, believe that it made a historic error in adopting Christian theology.”
And then on to those Evil Papists:
“For historic reasons I won’t get into, the Liberal party gets the votes of most Catholics in the country,including many practising Catholics. It does have a significant Catholic, social conservative element which occasionally disagrees with these kinds of policy directions. Although I caution you that even this Catholic social conservative element in the Liberal party
is often quite liberal on economic issues.”
And a real big swipe at those pinko, Progressive Conservatives:
“…before the Reform Party really became a force in thelate ’80s, early ’90s, the leadership of the Conservative party was running the largest deficits in Canadian history. They were in favour of gay rights officially, officially for abortion on demand. Officially – what else can I say about
them? Officially for the entrenchment of our universal, collectivized, health-care system and multicultural policiesin the constitution of the country.”
And on his natural home, the Reform Party:
“The Reform party is very much a modern manifestationof the Republican movement in Western Canada, the U.S.Republicans started in the western United States.”
February 25, 2007
It’s about time. Our Furious Leader has been called out into the street to defend his beloved tar sands and the notion that he’s become an instant convert to environmentalism. David Suzuki yesterday told a gym full of Calgary elementary school kids and their parents that, when it comes to the environment, Harper is, well, a fraud.
The only thing he cares about is getting re-elected with a majority government,” Suzuki said, adding any of the PM’s pledges to preserve the environment are cynical ploys to that end.
“I don’t believe there is a green bone in Harper’s body – he has never, ever indicated he cares about the environment.”
“Albertans have always had the highest standard of living in the country. Why do you need all this out-of-control expansion of the oilsands. It’s insanity … it’s crazy.”
The Athabasca Tar Sands (no, they’re not “oil” sands) have been the 800 pound gorilla of Canadian politics. When it comes to pols, Libs included, there’s a genuine reluctance to anger Alberta (and Washington) by pointing out the obvious.
I suspect Harpo will lay low on this one and wait for it to go away or hope that it grows into a Suzuki-Stelmach fight that he can duck until he sees his numbers in the next election. Either way, Harper has been tagged as a fraud and ducking this one is a clear admission of that.
February 24, 2007
I suppose from someone of the stature of Dick Cheney, it’s all you could expect.
The Vice-President gave an interview today to ABC News, during which he expounded on his views of global warming:
“I think there’s an emerging consensus that we do have global warming. You can look at the data on that, and I think clearly we’re in a period of warming. Where there does not appear to be a consensus, where it begins to break down, is the extent to which that’s part of a normal cycle versus the extent to which it’s caused by man, greenhouse gases, et cetera.
“But I think we’re going to see a big debate on it going forward. But it’s not enough just to sort of run out and try to slap together some policy that’s going to “solve” the problem.”
Hey Dick. “Consensus” means general agreement and even someone as intellectually dishonest as you has to accept that there is indeed a consensus on the man-made, greenhouse gas questions. Even among your government’s own scientists there is a clear consensus.
Can this guy ever tell the truth?
February 23, 2007
As far as we’re concerned, we wish it would just go away. Hamid Karzai’s goverment is awash in war criminals. They’re warlords who butchered tens of thousands of Afghan civilians in the course of that country’s civil wars and who now sit in government voting for their own pardons.
Does anybody find it curious that we don’t hear a peep about this from Bush or Cheney much less our Furious Leader, Harpo? Nope, nothing to see here, now move along. We might occasionally criticize the corrupt cops but all we have for Karzai and his parliament of cutthroats is praise.
Human Rights Watch has some eye-opening insights into the murderous thugs who’ve now morphed into Afghanistan’s government:
While you’re there, check out their video on cluster bombs. It too is an eye-opener:
It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for Hamid Karzai. The US put him in power and then forgot about him. There was no one around to give him the muscle needed to keep the warlords at bay so that Afghanistan could have a decent parliament, one that could claim some legitimacy. We didn’t so now it’s much easier to pretend there is no problem, that Afghanistan has a government that will bring the country real democracy.
February 23, 2007
The campaign to ban cluster bombs is long overdue. These weapons were developed to take out large enemy formations massed on battlefields. That sort of conventional war seems to have become a rarity, replaced by low-intensity wars, guerrilla war and insurgencies.
Cluster bombs have no place being used against small groups or dispersed targets in the midst of civilian areas. Aerial bombardment generally against civilian areas needs to be banned.
We’ve come to be a bit deluded about the notion of “precision guided munitions” and their vaunted surgical strikes. The only thing precise about a 2,000 lb. bomb with a laser guidance system is the guidance system. When that bomb hits, it is neither precise nor discriminate. Its blast wave will kill anyone within hundreds of feet, completely indifferent to age, gender or culpability. It also tends to transform the survivors into our avowed enemies.
Those who resort to using cluster bombs should be held accountable for going back in and clearing all the duds, the unexploded bomblets, when the fighting ends. Kids are still being blown to bits in Laos from cluster bomblets the Americans left behind after losing Vietnam. How can we call a country that will deliberately leave that mayhem in its wake to claim innocent lives for decades afterwards our ally, our friend? It is nothing short of monstrous.
February 23, 2007
9-zip. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, unanimously, against the government’s claimed right to be able to detain terrorism suspects indefinitely without trial. Sorry Harpo, but Canada isn’t going to be reverting to medieval feudalism like your idols in the US.
The SCC suspended its judgment for a year in order to allow parliament to restructure the offending laws.
Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin said the security certificate regime offends the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a pronouncement that is sure to send hundreds of Canadian rednecks frothing at the mouth in inidignation. She upheld the quaint notion that, if the government wants to detain somebody for a lengthy period, it has to accord them a fair judicial process. Talk about a half-baked, pinko idea, eh?
February 23, 2007
Steve Bell, The Guardian
February 23, 2007
Today’s Guardian has a feature story, “Paving America”, on the flood of Americans to Arizona. It protends an environmental calamity to come:
The state has the fastest growing population in the country, recently overtaking Nevada, which held the title for 19 years. In 1950 there were 750,000 Arizonans; in 2000 there were almost 5 million and in 2020 there are projected to be 7.4 million.
Phoenix, the state capital that lies about 50 miles east of the White Tank mountains, is the fastest growing city in America. It covered 17 square miles in 1950; now it sprawls over almost 500, an area larger than Los Angeles.
“Thousands descend every year on Arizona, led by baby-boomers reaching retirement. They come mainly from other parts of the US – from California where land is increasingly expensive, and the midwest, where the winters are severe. And each new arrival is looking to build a castle in the desert, the epitome of the detached, individualistic and car-dependent American dream.
“For residents …the attractions are palpable: more space for their bucks, eternal summers and fulfilment of what remains of the west’s original frontier spirit.
“But the costs are high too. Arizona’s water table is being depleted as a result of homes being built on pristine desert rather than on agricultural land already used to grow thirsty crops such as cotton and alfalfa. Air quality is suffering from dust thrown up from developments and car exhausts, and highways are clogged with commuters travelling to and from the desert communities. In Phoenix, widening one of the main intersections to 24 lanes, 12 in each direction, has been mooted.
“‘At what point do we just stand up and start screaming?’ said Wellington Reiter, dean of Arizona State University’s design college, who has been involved in creating a light rail system – a first step towards public transport.
“But he fears the pace of growth in the opposite direction, comparing the carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by each person every year) of Phoenicians: 1,400kg, with that of the people of Hong Kong: 50kg.
“Environmentalists tried unsuccessfully to introduce tougher restrictions on development in Arizona in 2000. Sandy Bahr of the state’s Sierra Club said the unlikely alliance between developers and farmers hoping to make a fortune by selling their land for housing complexes proved too powerful.
“‘The policy-makers are burying their heads in the sand. Our whole economy is based not just on growth, but on rapid growth,’ she said.
“With the American population passing 300 million, and projected to reach 400 million by mid-century, Arizona is the most extreme example of stresses being played out across the States. America is being paved over. Some estimates suggest that more than half of the built environment that will exist in the US in 2025 will have been constructed since 2000.”
With peak summer temperatures that already reach 46C and are expected to climb higher yet simply surviving in this region is astonishingly energy intensive. Most of the year you don’t need much in the way of heating but you do consume terrific amounts of energy for air conditioning, irrigation and transportation, all to live in a place which has no sustainable water supply.
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