Post-Holiday Random Musings...

On our 3 day trip through the Rockies (Banff National Park, and the David Thompson area near the Saskatchewan River Crossing), we noticed some interesting things. First off - holy CRAP there was still a lot of snow up there. Mountain after mountain was heavily snow-covered compared to this time last year when we went through, with many peaks looking like they were going to dump it all down into the valleys at once.

But the most interesting thing was visiting two Glaciers and discovering that their receding/melting has DECREASED over the past several years.... WHAT? how could this be? I thought we were being bombarded with the news that glaciers are melting faster than ever before, receding, disappearing, etc etc etc... but no! Actually, the ones around the Columbia Icefield have SLOWED. Crowfoot Glacier at Bow Lake and Crowfoot Mountain was a good example. Even the tourist information signs told us that it may be slowing... Click photo to enlarge and read print on lower left side.

Anyway we had earlier noted that the Athabasca Glacier may appear to be shockingly melted at first, but if you look at each marker they set out, it melted a LOT more between 1890 and 1945 than it did between 1945 and today. What's this? It melted more BEFORE automobiles were in such great abundance? What's this? It melted more BEFORE there were semi-trucks belching fumes around the planet? BEFORE heavy oil and gas production and refineries popped up? Wow... that's pretty interesting, don't you think?

All you have to do is look around... take mental note of things, use your senses, your brain, your thought-powers, and your eyes. Go to a website such as the Dinosaur Provincial Park one in Southern Alberta and look at the history of the prairies. You will see several mentions of melting and freezing going on over the past several hundred thousand or millions of years. A repeated cycle, over and over, WELL BEFORE humans even inhabited this planet, let alone industrialized anything. Think about it, if the earth has done this countless times in the past, why are we suddenly at fault this time? If the climate is changing, and has done countless times over earth's existence, why is it OUR fault this time? I don't get that... They say the melting is speeding up, trying to tell us it is happening faster than any time in the past and THAT'S why it's our fault,,, yet I go up to climb around on some Glaciers and find differing info right there in front of my face. Why is that?

Why are humans being targeted as causing the planet's cooling and/or heating (whichever it is they are going with this week) when it's happened over and over and OVER in the past? Just ask yourself that ONE question and see if man-made Global Warming/Climate Change makes sense... then think about all the commercials, news broadcasts, documentaries, etc you have seen over the past 10-20 years showing melting glaciers and remember that it was happening BEFORE man started driving around in cars.

THEN I want you to watch the short video on this previous post again and ask yourself if these proposals are worth it, when we obviously have no idea how much impact man is having on 'climate change', if any.................. OBAMA'S SKYROCKETING UTILITIES PLAN
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Another random musing, unrelated to GW/CC -- I was watching a program the other day where a woman was talking about when she got sick (US) and ended up with a $50,000 medical bill even after her insurance coverage. I was watching her walk around in her huge house, and then she went outside where I saw a new Denali and another large vehicle that looked like a Ford Expedition. All I could think about the whole time was "Why does this woman think it's okay to spend $40-60,000 on a new vehicle to drive around, but she doesn't think it's okay to spend 50 grand on her own life? Her own health?". That truly baffled me. I realize that many families have high bills and don't drive around a Denali or live in a huge house, BUT many of them do and it just baffles me. How much is your life worth to you? Why think it's okay to spend $1000+ a month on a mortgage that will end up costing you 3 times the home's original price tag, or drop $30 grand on a car, but not want to drop 30 grand on their own health? Unbelieveable....

More Health Care fun times

Okay, so while Pres Obama is trying to talk people in the US into his brand of health care reform, I have a fun little story about the wonderful public system in Alberta. First of all, I will say that I have had very few problems myself, but I have only ever needed emergency care. I believe this province puts a great deal of money into Emergency and while that is good... the same level of care is not reflected in other areas.

In February of this year, my boss' husband suffered a heart attack. Really, he was on the verge of multiple attacks and things were grim. He was rushed to hospital and received surgery involving angioplasties. All done, and home again, then back to work. However, he is still experiencing chest pains and it was found that at least one of the arteries worked on is still 60% blocked. It is my understanding that he needs a bypass or at least another attempt at an angioplasty.... but guess what? One week ago he was told he cannot get the surgery until/unless he has another heart attack!

Wow. So his prize for surviving another heart attack will be surgery (if he survives - I pray that he will). What happened to preventative care?? Only a few months ago he was in hospital with doctors, nurses and surgeons all over him helping him out. But now they can only stand by and wait for another attack? While knowing it's only a matter of time? Why not do the surgery NOW? If cost is the province's concern, wouldn't it actually cost LESS to do it now instead of involving all levels of emergency care too? Or are they waiting to see if he will die instead and then it will be FREE for them? I honestly have no idea what the hell they are doing. This man has paid his premiums and taxes for 33 years of working for the city, and now he is sitting there with a ticking time bomb in his chest. His specialist knows he needs the surgery and wants him to have it, but basically said his hands are tied and this is 'just the way it is'. Wow. I have been speechless about this for a week and have only been able to stomach writing it out today.

Why does this happen, do you think? And if it's an issue of cost (which it must be because I can guarantee you that the operating room is not booked 24 hours a day, every day!!), imagine what those missing health care premiums could have done by now. Last time I checked, it does not cost a million dollars to do heart surgery - so please explain to me why premiums were cut? One month alone would have brought the province over 44 million dollars. ONE month. It's been 6 months of no premiums now. You do the math, and then explain to all these patients around Alberta who are waiting for major surgery why they can't have it. It makes absolutely no sense at all. I never used to listen to what I thought of as 'Conspiracy Theories' but this is one I can't help but believe now ---- They take away the premiums because if it's free, you can't complain.

Could that not be true here? Sure my boss' husband has been paying all these years, but he hasn't for the last 6 months. He can't say 'I PAY MY health care! I want this surgery!'... because he does NOT pay now. None of us do. You can stand up and yell and scream that you need this surgery before you die, but you don't pay for it. It's free, so you are totally completely at the mercy of the system now. That is revolting and disgusting. I have been trying to hard to warn some of my US friends that Canada's system is not all it's cracked up to be - but they refuse to listen. It concerns me. We have 10% of the US population and can't make this work right for everyone.

I saw an I-Report on CNN recently where an american woman talked of her time living in France and how she wasn't working but got very sick and got excellent care and it was totally free. Yes. That is awesome, of course it is -- but CNN failed to add in that doctors in France make a small fraction of what they make in the US (the report I saw said an average of $55,000US/year). It failed to announce that France has been in a deficit for it's health care program since 1984 (another report I read online). It failed to announce that 'patient satisfaction' polls have been slowly starting to droop over the last few years. It did not report the income tax differences between France and the US to pay for the program. Etc Etc. There is good and bad about every system, but this is being peddled in the US as the answer to all problems and it just plain isn't. It is not wonderful for everyone. It is not perfect. And there IS rationing. It should not be a triage system from one end to the other - if you need a surgery you should be able to get it. If your heart is ready to explode and you could die, you should be able to get it fixed BEFORE having a heart attack. What the hell is the point of going for tests and checkups if you might find out about a problem, but not be able to get it worked on for a year?

I have friends that work at the hospital and I hear often about how there are entire days many times a month where no one is in the OR at all. No one. No surgeries, unless an emergency comes in. So why are people waiting 1-2 years? What the hell is up with that? Oh yeah - it's because the province can only approve a certain number of surgeries every month/year because of funding. If my boss' husband had the choice - he could pay the hospital directly and get in there, get it done, and be out.... Who does it hurt if the OR is empty anyway? It would also shorten waiting lists if some people could choose to pay directly for their care. It is not about the rich getting treatment before the poor - it would shorten the waiting list for EVERYONE. If my boss' husband paid for his surgery and got out of there, and 5 other people did the same, would everyone else on the list not get bumped up?? Of course they would - maybe they would wait 3 months instead of 6, or 6 months instead of a year. But we do not have that option in Canada. Why not? I do not understand. And I do not believe a system is working if a man needs a heart bypass and cannot get it until his ticker collapses on him one more time... if he dies I think his wife should sue because they KNOW he needs this and have told him, but the province will not approve the operation.

Propaganda For Kids!

My 6 year old daughter came home with a book from Enviro Kids, "Working Together for a Better Future". I've seen these booklets before, the kids come home with them pretty much every year. Fun colouring, activities, etc. This year the cover features a polar bear standing on a barely-there chunk of ice and large lettering above it says "Climate Change Explained"... so as you can imagine it caught my eye and my bf and I decided to read it.... to see what our very young lower elementary school aged children are being taught. I hoped to find lots of info on recycling, tidying up, keeping our parks and streets clear of rubbish - but I found so much more and am VERY angry about it.

Here are some samples: (bold words are my doing)

page 7 - The Greenhouse Effect: Scientists are sure about the greenhouse effect. They know that greenhouses gases make the Earth warmer by trapping energy in the atmosphere. [me: funny, no mention of how many scientists DO NOT KNOW, and in fact refute these claims]

page 17 - Scientists are not fortune-tellers. They don't know exactly what will happen in the future. But they can use special computer programs to find out how the climate may change in the years ahead. And the computer programs tell us that the Earth may continue to get warmer..... as long as we continue increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
[me: what? I thought you said on page seven that they are SURE about it and THEY KNOW it... I'm confused].

But my most shocking and surprising find started on page 63: 'Eat Your Vegetables'. The article begins with the line "Eating less meat and more fruits, grains and vegetables can help the enviroment more than you may realize." Excuse f-ing me??? You are really going to send a book out to 6 year old children and tell them to eat less MEAT?

The article goes on to say other things such as: "Eating meat, eggs and dairy products contributes heavily to global warming, because raising animals for food produces many more greenhouse gas emissions than growing plants."

"A 2006 report by the University of Chicago found that adopting a vegan diet does more to reduce global warming than switching to a hybrid car." UNFRICKEN REAL. I cannot believe I found this stuff in my 6 yr old's backpack.

"Making a salad doesn't take any more time than cooking a hamburger and it's better for you - and the environment." So what, are all our kids supposed to go around eating only salad? Even a vegan will tell you that is not enough. There is no protein in a regular salad, you have to find other things to add (perhaps tofu cubes, etc). But this book, peddled to children, is actually telling them that it is better for them to be a Vegan, not eat DAIRY EGGS OR MEAT (Milk doesn't do a body good???), in order to save the planet.

It then goes on to say that "Raising animals for food also uses enormous amounts of land, water, grain and fuel." Oh really? Well how about ETHANOL production using corn, wheat, and other food crops that environmentalists are pushing for? How many grain crops will go to that instead of to animal feed? Hmmm? Anyone have a guess for me or are you strangely silent. Could THAT be the ulterior motive of this publication? Free up more land and grain for this wonderful fuel replacement for the end days of gasoline? Just something to think about in your spare time...
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That's as far as I have made it through this 144 page EnviroKids.ca booklet. If I can stomach reading the rest, I will be back to update this with my finds.

Update: some more honorable mentions are of course the energy efficient light bulbs, which came at excellent timing since last night another of our bulbs burnt out in less than 16 months. I think there are only 4 left in the whole house and we only just put them in Feb/Mar 2008.

And then at the end of the book is a curious thing -- a science experiment for kids to try that uses baking soda, water, vinegar, and cooking oil. The bubbles will appear when mixing with vinegar but it tells the children it's okay because the bubbles are only carbon dioxide, which is perfectly safe, we breathe it every day, and it's a normal part of the air. This after several pages talking of how we should not be putting CO2 into the skies. Also curious was that several of the advertisers in the booklet, who make it's production possible, are oil and lumber companies lol.

What upset me most was the backhanded way our children are being told to give up foods that the health unit just put out booklets for a month or so ago - like milk! There are always campaigns and milk programs going on at schools to get children to drink more milk, and yet this booklet appears telling children not to drink it because it is contributing to the destruction of our environment! Wow. That totally astonished me and I am not impressed.

Cap and Trade - Updated

Link - "Climate Bill a Pain in the Gas"

Even if you click this link and think "oh gawd, that's on politico.com, I am not going to read that garbage", just think of it for yourself. When gas prices go up for an extended period of time, do you notice that the prices of some goods go up as well? Such as a 4 liters of milk going up to over $5 in some places last year (it did in my city)? Then once the prices settled back down, milk was magically back to $4 or so? Okay then think about cap and trade. Start at the bottom - the oil companies get hit with higher costs, so who do they pass that onto? Fuel companies get hit with higher costs on top of that and put the excess onto whom? Trucking companies who bring goods to stores charge more because their fuels are costing more, and that goes onto whom? Stores pay more for their goods to be delivered so the cost increases to protect their profits. Who is going to pay for that? YOU are. It's pretty simple and easy to think through once you open your mind and think about everything that is going to increase in price for the consumer. Is every company going to absorb their own increases and take lower profits and/or pay their workers less? Highly doubtful, don't you think? Who would want to do that? So YOU are going to pay for it and if you can't figure that out yourself, take a look at the article and see if that helps you. But I don't think you need someone else to tell you what is going to be happening over the next few years and beyond....

UPDATE: From the president's mouth. I have seen this clip before and another version also goes on to show him saying that the coal industry could go bankrupt. He told you about these plans himself, so why don't you believe it when others talk about it???????? Seriously...... I don't get that. This vid has been going around for about 6 months, so many of you have seen it. And that's okay - I just think a little reminder is in order from time to time. So many seem to have short memories.


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And In Other News....
British Columbia Mayors pass 'Buy Canadian' resolution... let more fun games begin.

Hilarity of the Day - leftie blogger calls me a Wank lmao!

I feel so proud! I was searching my user name for something entirely different when I came across a Lib blog naming MEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I was so excited to get an honourable mention ;)

ENJOY lol

To be called a wank has been the highlight of my day :) Gotta love it.


Sure it makes sense to compare my blog post about a comedian's public words to Kate's blog post calling for the deaths of Sri Lankans. Anyone can see the connection there. Very clever and rational comparison, indeed! Not to mention the fact I do not read Kate's blog and don't think I ever have, but that's okay, apparently I am supposed to read every single blog on the net and until I do, I am not permitted to speak of anything else.

Nah - I won't follow that apparent rule, I prefer to speak for myself and display my own thoughts and ideas, thanks!

:)

*Oops, sorry, It's not a 'lib' blog, it's a ""Left-leaning, progressive snark from the general vicinity of Waterloo, Ontario. "". Correction duly noted and completed. Next?

Climate Depot

This site is highly recommended by Mike Church from Sirius Patriot Radio and since I am listening to one of the guys who works for the site on Mike's radio show right this second, I wanted to share the link with you:

http://www.climatedepot.com/

Naturally there is a lot of 'bad press' about Marc Morano (Mike's guest speaker) flying around the web, but isn't that the usual tactic when someone stands up to strongly question the science behind man-made Global Warming/Climate Change? But when he was part of a team who won a science award from the National Science Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, that must have ticked a fair number of people off, eh?

And it is also worth noting that a greater number of scientists are also expressing their skepticism of such ideas as carbon dioxide being a pollutant every day. Including ones that had originally signed on to the Global Warming bandwagon. Morano is not alone. Not by a long shot. But he continues to be ripped apart - just google his name and see for yourself.

Iggy

I really enjoyed this post by Rob so CHECK IT OUT

(re: Michael Ignatieff's multiple personality disorder)

And THIS ONE by Andrew Keyes

(re: libs boohooing over 'Con attack ads' that they give themselves excuses to use when it suits them)



Yes I am being a lazy blogger lately. My brain can only take so much information at once these days. I am starting back to work Monday after spending some cherished time at home with my littlest one and have had to de-zone myself for awhile. I'm also feeling very at odds with what is happening in my city and province lately and I can't decide if I should thumb my nose at them all and go move to an acreage and live off the land as much as possible so they can't get as much of my hard earned money, or what. At least some house prices are finally coming down, the one down the street has dropped 30 grand since February. But that's the only plus I've seen around here in ages.

THINGS LIKE THIS make me go totally brain dead, malfunction alarms sound, and then I just want to stand in the corner and scream. Maybe my next home will need to have a sound-proof room with velcro walls so I can throw myself at them while wearing my straight-jacket. That sounds like a plan!