Looks like Canada will get some Green Party MPs soon.
The Liberals have decided not to run any candidates in ridings where Green Party members are running and vice versa.
Jack Layton is predictably pissy about the whole deal.
*Update*
Looks like this is only for one riding, namely Elizabeth May's (the leader of the Green Party) riding.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Does Russia Want to See Iran Get Bombed?
I read in an editorial by Andrei Piontkovsky in the Globe & Mail the other day that the reason Russia is selling nuclear equipment to Iran and helped them build their reactor in Bushehr is not because they at all want Iran to have nuclear weapons or a nuclear program, but rather because they want Iran to take it as far as they can, inevitably provoking Israel to strike at their nuclear facilities. That way, heat from the Islamic world could be taken off of Moscow, and Iran would retaliate by attacking Saudi oil facilities, forcing people to buy a lot more oil from Russia.
Russia, however, has been aiding Iran and its nuclear program since 1995. Yelstin was in charge back then, did he have the same designs? This would have happened right in the middle of the first Chechen War, so I guess it's possible.
Another thing bugs me about this suspicion, though. According to Russia, Iran hasn't enriched nearly as much uranium as they say they have. If Russia's goal is to get Israel and the States paranoid and trigger happy, wouldn't they be saying the opposite?
Russia, however, has been aiding Iran and its nuclear program since 1995. Yelstin was in charge back then, did he have the same designs? This would have happened right in the middle of the first Chechen War, so I guess it's possible.
Another thing bugs me about this suspicion, though. According to Russia, Iran hasn't enriched nearly as much uranium as they say they have. If Russia's goal is to get Israel and the States paranoid and trigger happy, wouldn't they be saying the opposite?
Can Anybody from This Administration Do Anything Ethically?
I've trained myself never to stop being surprised by the new allegations I hear about members or former members of the Bush administration. They seem to be embroiled in some new scandal practically every week or two. Now it turns out that Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank and Rumsfeld's former deputy, is in trouble for helping his girlfriend, also an employee of the World Bank, get a raise and a transfer.
According to the MSM, Wolfowitz sent a memo to the World Bank VP telling him to give her basically whatever job she liked, then said that "bank ethics officials had been kept informed about the new post for his companion." Turns out there was a lot he didn't tell them.
Why do these guys keep exposing themselves like this? They should know by now that if they so much as pick their noses someone will be there to put it on the cover of the New York Times. Why do they still think they can get away with shit like this?
According to the MSM, Wolfowitz sent a memo to the World Bank VP telling him to give her basically whatever job she liked, then said that "bank ethics officials had been kept informed about the new post for his companion." Turns out there was a lot he didn't tell them.
Why do these guys keep exposing themselves like this? They should know by now that if they so much as pick their noses someone will be there to put it on the cover of the New York Times. Why do they still think they can get away with shit like this?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Imus Is a Douche and I Support That
I don't really care that Don Imus was fired, he has plenty of other options. I'm sure he'll find another venue.
Personally I think don Imus is a douchebag, and I wouldn't listen to him myself, but the world needs to let douchebags express themselves. If the douchebags are silenced, then they go underground, and it becomes all too easy for the rest of us to pretend they don't exist. And we'll all be worse off if the douchebags lurk among us unidentified.
Personally I think don Imus is a douchebag, and I wouldn't listen to him myself, but the world needs to let douchebags express themselves. If the douchebags are silenced, then they go underground, and it becomes all too easy for the rest of us to pretend they don't exist. And we'll all be worse off if the douchebags lurk among us unidentified.
Oh and Another Thing
Leave Elizabeth Edwards the fuck alone. She has maybe five years to live, let her do whatever the fuck she wants.
American Idol Blows
There are too many bloggers wasting to much time and energy watching and blogging about this show. I don't care how good a singer you are if all the songs you sing are shit. Pop music and R&B is arsenic to my ears no matter how well it is sung.
This show has been a scourge to modern music for too long and it's time we brought it down.
This show has been a scourge to modern music for too long and it's time we brought it down.
Common Arguments Against Global Warming pt.1
#1 "Of course the climate is changing. The climate has changed several times over the course of the existence of the world. This time is no different."
Yes, this time is different. Of all of the temperature changes we know about this is unique in scale and speed.
#2 "Global warming is caused by increases in solar radiation."
Solar radiation contributes, but the increases are not large enough to account for the amount of climate change that has occurred.
#3 "More CO2 is emitted from Volcanoes and other natural sources than by humans."
CO2 samples taken from ice cores show that the carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are greater than they have ever been. There have always been volcanoes and other natural sources of CO2, yet there has never been as much CO2 as there is now.
#4 "Global warming is caused by water vapor."
Yes, and there is more water vapor in the atmosphere due to increased temperatures. Water vapor is a green house gas that accelerates global warming, but since water vapor didn't increase in the atmosphere until the temperature increased in the first place, it is not the ultimate cause.
#5 "A few decades ago, all the scientists were saying that the Earth was heading toward a new ice age. They were wrong then, why should we believe them now?"
Scientists were actually right. Global temperatures were declining. What global warming critics don't mention is that scientists knew that man-made sulfate aerosols were what caused the decrease in temperatures and that eliminating the aerosols would ameliorate the effects on the climate. They were right. Sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere have deacreased significantly over the past thirty years and so have their effects. I expect that if we ever do reduce green house gases and stop global warming, the critics will refuse to acknowledge it as a result of those reductions. Instead, they'll continue to deny that there was ever a problem in the first place like they have regarding the effects of sulfate.
Even former critics of global warming are starting to realize their position was bullshit. Ronald Bailey, author of Global Warming and other Eco Myths now says, "Details like sea level rise will continue to be debated by researchers, but if the debate over whether or not humanity is contributing to global warming wasn't over before, it is now.... as the new IPCC Summary makes clear, climate change Pollyannaism is no longer looking very tenable." (Quote lifted from Wikipedia)
Yes, this time is different. Of all of the temperature changes we know about this is unique in scale and speed.
#2 "Global warming is caused by increases in solar radiation."
Solar radiation contributes, but the increases are not large enough to account for the amount of climate change that has occurred.
#3 "More CO2 is emitted from Volcanoes and other natural sources than by humans."
CO2 samples taken from ice cores show that the carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are greater than they have ever been. There have always been volcanoes and other natural sources of CO2, yet there has never been as much CO2 as there is now.
#4 "Global warming is caused by water vapor."
Yes, and there is more water vapor in the atmosphere due to increased temperatures. Water vapor is a green house gas that accelerates global warming, but since water vapor didn't increase in the atmosphere until the temperature increased in the first place, it is not the ultimate cause.
#5 "A few decades ago, all the scientists were saying that the Earth was heading toward a new ice age. They were wrong then, why should we believe them now?"
Scientists were actually right. Global temperatures were declining. What global warming critics don't mention is that scientists knew that man-made sulfate aerosols were what caused the decrease in temperatures and that eliminating the aerosols would ameliorate the effects on the climate. They were right. Sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere have deacreased significantly over the past thirty years and so have their effects. I expect that if we ever do reduce green house gases and stop global warming, the critics will refuse to acknowledge it as a result of those reductions. Instead, they'll continue to deny that there was ever a problem in the first place like they have regarding the effects of sulfate.
Even former critics of global warming are starting to realize their position was bullshit. Ronald Bailey, author of Global Warming and other Eco Myths now says, "Details like sea level rise will continue to be debated by researchers, but if the debate over whether or not humanity is contributing to global warming wasn't over before, it is now.... as the new IPCC Summary makes clear, climate change Pollyannaism is no longer looking very tenable." (Quote lifted from Wikipedia)
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