Damn Cold

THURSDAY EVENING	THURSDAY OVERNIGHT	FRIDAY MORNING	FRIDAY AFTERNOON
-29°C	-26°C	-28°C	-10°C
Mainly clear	Mainly clear	Mainly sunny	Mainly sunny
0%	0%	0%	0%
NE 10 km/h	S 5 km/h	SW 5 km/h	SW 5 km/h
100%	37%	48%	27%
Current Weather

-25°C Partly cloudy	FEELS LIKE -34°C WIND NW 11 km/h GUSTS RELATIVE HUMIDITY 52% DEWPOINT -32°C PRESSURE 95.06 kPa VISIBILITY 11 km CEILING 2300 ft
Updated : Thursday February 16 2006, 13:00 MST - Edmonton Int'l Airport

Annual Average Temprature

Edmonton Mun., AB, Canada

	J	F
Maximum	-8	-4
Minimum	-19	-16
Mean	-13	-10

Well ok we have been spoiled. We have not had winter at all this past four months. Usually winter begins on Halloween, first snowfall even if it doesn't last, then slowly fall turns to brrr snowy winter. Well that didn't happen, we had only one week of real cold till now and that was in December for a few days, again mid way through the week. And again it was above zero centigrade then dropped to 20 below. And still no snow. We are as brown here as Lethbridge is which is semi-arid semi-desert.

This last weekend, was it only five days ago, I was wearing a spring coat and it sure as heck was warmer than -3 in fact it was a record 14 above. And now this....which is more like January norms than February. But this too shall pass and this weekend it will be warm again.

Which bodes ill for farmers and this province, which is part of the Palliser Plain, an area across the Canadian and American prairies that suffered from the great drought that coincided with the Great Depression .

In the years between 1857 and 1860, both the British and Canadian Governments sent expeditions across the Prairies to assess the suitability of the region for agricultural settlement. Capt. John Palliser's report and that of Henry Youle Hind both concluded that a portion of the southern prairie adjacent to the U.S. border, an area which became known as “Palliser's Triangle,” and less widely as “The Great North American Desert,” was too dry for successful agricultural settlement. These conclusions were later used by cattle interests to encourage the national government to sell or lease large tracks of land to them at very favourable prices, and to delay the incursion of farm settlement onto land in southern Alberta.

Already folks up north around Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray are reporting seeing more dirt drifts blowing across the roads which should have been snow drifts. Which means that if we have no ground water from snow, we will have parched drought conditions. Which brings with it the ravages of locusts in the south of the province and a plague of grasshoppers in the north. We have already had disasters grass fire conditions in the south of the province, fires normally found in further south climates like the hills of Orange County in LA.

Crews put out Alta grass fire
CARSELAND, Alta. -- A rare winter grass fire fuelled by gusty winds and tinder dry conditions in southern Alberta briefly forced 400 Carseland residents from their homes Thursday.

These may be good times for us urban dwellers so accustomed to frigid winters we plan our holidays to Hawaii around them, but to farmers, and to the ecology of the prairies this aspect of global warming and climate change is unwelcome and could portend a disaster in the making.

Devastating Dry Spells: Drought on the Prairies

Blowing dust, swarms of grasshoppers, and not enough hay to feed the starving livestock. For Prairie farmers, drought can be disastrous. But it's not just the farmers who suffer — a severe drought in Western Canada can hurt the entire Canadian economy. From the devastating dustbowl years of the Great Depression to some of the more recent Prairie dry spells, CBC Archives explores the history of drought in Western Canada.

Climate Futures: A Buyer’s Guide

No…the title is not about “green tags” or stock picks. It’s about figuring out how the majority of US citizens who simply “don’t buy it”…”it” being the risk posed by climate change to personal health, to all of earth’s living systems, and to our children’s future…will sit up and pay attention to the management of climate risk.

What would it take to explode the opinion leader's heads enough to reveal the invisible to them? The Dustbowl years of the 1930’s provide a fair analogy. Just prior to when that historic drought set in, a very large segment of the US’ population lived on farms: at least 45%. Markets for agricultural products were booming, trees were removed from the most productive farmlands, slash-and-burn style, and prairie soils were ploughed from fence to fence. The most erodable hillsides were laid bare. Along came extended drought and the nation’s food basket crumbled. Farm losses were severe; and, unemployment, and population shifts amplified stock market volatility (a point often overlooked by economists who see the Great Depression solely in economic terms). Rural population loss from the Dust Bowl states continues to this day. An oversimplification, granted, but not a gross mischaracterization.

In the several decades following the Dust Bowl, huge Federal programs were established to make farming on the Great Plains and Midwest lands sustainable. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) participants helped reestablish “windbreaks” of trees and were responsible for the replanting of large tracts of forests. Just as important, the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service ASCS), and Soil Conservation Service (SCS) were established and funded by Congress. Because of these three government efforts, soil loss from wind erosion was gradually reduced. When the rains returned almost a decade after the start of the drought, modern industrialized farming practices were developed in lock step with conservation practices. The wind rows are still there. This process, come to think of it, is not that different that what is going on right now in China!

What sort of large scale changes could set off a similar reaction in US governance with regard to climate change? Is there really any chance of that happening soon, what with most climate change impact scenarios being on the scale of half to full century? Yes there is.

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Helicopters and Guns

Again imitation is the highest form of flattery. The Tories now plan to shut down the Gun Registry imitating Jean Chretiens cancellation of the multi million dollar helicopter purchase promised by Mulroney. Cause of course like Jean, Stephen promised. And like Jean's mistake it's going to cost us money, more money than leaving it. Yep these guys are the same as the last guys. Who did you vote for?


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Ottawa Conservative Lobbyist Heaven

The Dan Report says that Reynolds Joins Law Firm Known for Lobbying which means he will be joining ex-Harper aide, Geoff Norquay as a lobbyist Ottawa's Revolving Door

But they aren't the only ones as Greg Weston of the Sun reports. They are in good company. In fact a veritable avalanche of lobbyists has appeared in the last month says Weston;

The change of government has also spawned an old game of musical chairs. Ordinarily, the office of the federal lobbyist watchdog might register a few dozen changes in the industry each month. But a review of federal records shows a staggering 824 changes to the lobbyist register in the last 30 days.According to the industry’s newsletter, The Lobby Monitor, more than 300 of those are new registrations.

Just another broken Tory promise.


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A Murder of Crows

Which is the term for a group of crows, not a flock, a murder. Except that in good old Charlottetown PEI they plan to actually murder their crows. Rid whole city of crows, says expert Lets call this for what it is; human chauvinism, speciesism, because the reason they want to get rid of the crows is that;Residents there complain the birds wake them before dawn with their noisy squawking and that the bird droppings are soiling property.

Damn birds how thoughtless of them. It seems this is a popular past-time for city residents not only in Charlottetown but in Chatham, Ontario as well. Seems the need for peace and quiet supercedes our ecological responsibility to our feathered friends. Last year, the city of Chatham, Ontario, hired the company to get rid of 500,000 crows at a cost of $60,000. A small price to pay for a good nights sleep. Murder dem crows, zzzzzzz.

The fact that they are intelligent birds who learn, well that's besides the point right.Tool-Using Crows Give New Meaning to Term 'Bird Brained'

Tool using birds....hmmm I thought the only tool users were higher primates, in fact tool use does indicate a sentience other than just animal instinct and occurs in dolphins as well as crows and ravens. Drat there goes another human chauvinist myth.

General Corvine Information

Crows belong to the family Corvidae. Crows are believed to be the most intelligent of all birds. There is very little wonder why they have been revered and worshipped over the centuries.

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Alberta: Education Cross Roads Conference

Post Secondary Education At the Crossroads

February 23 – 26, 2006

CONFERENCE REMINDER!

Just a reminder that if you have not already done so, to register for our upcoming Post-Secondary Education Conference. If you are unable to attend the whole conference, but would like to take in the keynote speakers in either Calgary or Edmonton, tickets are available at $10 each. The keynote speakers will present in Calgary on February 23 at 7:00 pm, Orpheus Theatre, SAIT Campus and again in Edmonton on February 24 at 7:30 pm in Salon A of the Crowne Plaza.

In the summer of 2005, Public Interest Alberta put its post-secondary education campaign into action. At its core, the campaign has been about stimulating a wide debate on post-secondary education. At the Crossroads is the culmination of the campaign effort to capture Albertans' ideas into the evolution of our post-secondary education system.

At the Crossroads offers a unique opportunity for all post-secondary education stakeholders, advocates, and members of the public to develop concrete initiatives and action plans, which will provide a framework to fashion a post-secondary education system that best serves our society. We hope you can join us to be a part of this important discussion about the future of our post-secondary education system.

*Keynote Speakers:

Peter MacMenamin

Peter MacMenamin is the Deputy General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union Ireland (TUI) and oversees the Higher Education mandate of the Union. He was also the President of the TUI from 1988 to 1990. Prior to joining the higher echelons of the Union, MacMenamin had been an educator at Second Level school for over 15 years. Peter MacMenamin will speak about the transformation of Ireland’s post-secondary education system and the impact that this has had on their society and economy.

Jeffrey Simpson

Jeffrey Simpson, The Globe and Mail’s national affairs columnist, is the recipient of all three leading Canadian literary prizes – the Governor-General’s Award for non-fiction book writing, the National Magazine Award for political writing, and two time winner of the National Newspaper Award for column writing. Jeffrey Simpson has published five books – Discipline of Power (1980); Spoils of Power (1988); Fault-lines, Struggling for a Canadian Vision (1993); The Anxious Years (1996); and Star-Spangled Canadians (2000) and The Friendly Dictatorship (2001). Jeffrey Simpson will address the issue of why and how the federal and provincial governments must make post-secondary education a priority.

*Either keynote presentation is included in the full conference registration of $125.00.

For more information about the event, click on the graphic above to go to our website.

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Arctic Meltdown

Arctic could be ice-free in summer in 15 years: scientists
Scientists now say that in as little as 15 years, the Arctic could be ice free in the summer. They say the last time that happened was more than a million years ago. Barber says he's most concerned about multi-year ice. He says the loss of this type of ice can affect the habitat of species, such as ring seals. He says the melting is happening too fast for them to adapt.

Hey but there is always a silver lining even to global warming, capitalism knows how to adapt even if seals don't.

But Simon Prinsenberg, who's with the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax, says less ice could be positive for northern economies. "A lot of people think that with less ice we might see more fisheries up there and since there's less ice it's also easier to get up there," he says.

But considering who is in charge of the government now don't expect any real solutions to this crisis. Cause it might hurt our car and gas/oil industries.

International study on Arctic climate change produces startling findings
Louis Fortier, a researcher with Universite Laval in Quebec City who led the project, agreed the focus in Canada and internationally needs to be on coping with the reality of global warming and minimizing the damage. ‘‘If we wanted to really change things to avoid the bulk of the impacts of climate change, we would have to totally change our way of life tomorrow,’’ Fortier said.‘‘We’d have to stop using our cars and reduce (greenhouse gas) emissions by 60 to 80 per cent, which would obviously create major problems.’’

Yep problems that our new Minister of the Environment already is in denial over it. And she is completely objective about Kyoto too.

Canada's new environment minister says no to trading emissions
Ambrose, an Edmonton MP, did policy work for the Alberta government on the Kyoto issue before she ran for office.

And who does she meet with first to discuss the environment, why the Alberta Environment Minister who screwed up when the CN dumped their toxic load into Wabumun last summer. I feel better already. Oh yes and as usual with the Harper regime, it was another secret meeting.

Rona sees greener Alberta
The pair were less clear on whether the province and country are capable of meeting the commitments the Liberals made in signing the Kyoto accord.

Actually with the winter or lack of it we have had it's going to be a browner Alberta not a greener one. Grass fire near Alberta town Grass fires in February in Alberta? Scary.

Rona? Hmm isn't there a hardware company by that name?

See

2005 Record Heat Wave

Told Ya So

More Thaw

Ecology=Equality

Hot Air Over Climate Change--Business as Usual

Tags
environment
Arctic
climate change
global warming
Rona Ambrose
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New Meaning for Nanny State

Asper nanny stole $150K So the Aspers like many rich folks have a nanny. Usually they are indentured servants, slaves by any other name, who are not immigrants but brought here to work in the homes of the rich and wealthy. Nannies are the private version of day care. The difference is wealth. The Wealthy have always availed themselves of servants to take care of their children. So much for the conservative ideal of parents taking care of their children. For the rich its too much bother, they are much to busy.

Nannies face deporation if they take any other job and once their term as an employee of the family is over they are sent back home. In this case as with the vast majority of nannies in Canada they come from the Phillipines.

National Day of Protest: Stop the Unjust Deportation of Filipino Live-in Caregivers!

It is the largest labour market of women in the world, and all countries that import nannies do so as indentured servants. And the Phillipines government benefits from their exploitation abroad, by taxing them on the wages they make.

And when you consider the work that they are expected to do, which is wait hand and foot upon their masters this 'theft' is a small price to pay compared to what nannies are paid. Below minimum wage, since they are not covered by labour standards in Canada, in fact they are singled out for not being covered by minimum wage standards.

She tended to daily needs including taking the children to school and grocery shopping, defence lawyer Mike Cook said yesterday. "She was basically running the household," he said.

According to the affidavit, the nanny admitted to forging and cashing the cheques and said she sent some of the money to the Philippines to pay for her brother's medical expenses.

Considering the horror stories told by nannies about their employers this only makes the news because of the Family involved. The real story is the impovershment and exploitation that nannies face in Canada and around the world.

Filipino nannies in Canada: prisoners of legislated poverty

This is the model of child care that the Tories support and will support with their baby bonus benefit. It will be just enough to pay for the nannies of the wealthy, saving them the expense and the economic hardship.

Trust gut about nanny: expert
"Nannies are a great alternative to day care and they really do benefit the family. The bond with the children is phenomenal."



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Leaks

US slams 'prisoner abuse' leak And all the Americans can worry about is who leaked the story. Sort of like who leaked the story about Ambassador Wilson's wife being a CIA agent which has been swept under the rug. Which is what they would have liked happen to the Abu Ghraib story. Cheney Mishap Takes Focus Off CIA Leak


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Red Menace In Canada

So where do our Blogging Tories and Conservative activists on the right go to rest, recuperate and get their fix of political strategizing? Why to the U.S. of course, because as we all know the Right Wing brain is in the U.S.

Check out these right wing Canadian bloggers who went to the CPAC . No not the TV channel, the Conservative Political Action Conference.

No they did not go to a Libertarian conference, though they probably should have, then they would have had a rude awakening,.

Actually CPAC is the Republican PAC. They got autographs from Karl Rove and Ann Coulter...bestill my beating heart...lucky for them Dick Cheney didn't invite them quail hunting.

Now the RightWhingnuts in Canada like to dis the Left in this country for being Anti-American but the one thing the Left here does not do is go south of the Border to go to Political Action conferences held by the Democrats. The Democrats are far too rightwing for us.

And very few of the left work on Democratic campaigns as compared to our pals on the right who flock south like snow birds seeking out Republican campaigns to cut their teeth on.

So if their rhetoric sounds imported it is. And they accuse us and all Canadians of being Anti-American, they say it not because they are defending our friends south of the border, poor babies can't defend themselves from Canadian sarcasm and ridicule, but because they are defending their imported Republican politics.
Scratch away at their contentialist veneer and you will find not Tory Blue but Republican Red. It gives new meaning to the Red Meance.

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Ottawa, Alberta

Welcome to the world of Alberta politics on the national stage. As I wrote here this is the era of Cone of Silence politics when it comes to our paranoid secretive PM. Once a backroom boy always a backroom boy.

Wed, February 15, 2006

PM mum on meeting

Details of visit with Quebec premier under wraps

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's staff are treating his first meeting with a provincial premier like a state secret -- even keeping the location under tight wraps.

Harper will meet today with Quebec Premier Jean Charest at noon and his aides have advised that no pictures of the meeting will be allowed.

The traditional public comments usually made by heads of government after they meet in Ottawa have also been cancelled.

An official in the PMO told Sun Media that in an effort to bring a tone of seriousness to his discussions, Harper will not make himself available to the media unless he has something to announce.

An official in the PMO told Sun Media that in an effort to bring a tone of seriousness to his discussions, Harper will not make himself available to the media unless he has something to announce.

The official pointed out that there's no need for a picture of the duo since there will be no announcements made after Charest and Harper's tete-a-tete.

"This prime minister will take the mic and say something when he has something to say, something to announce, something concrete," said the official.

"Not everything is a photo-op."

Opps then I wonder how that official can explain this......

The two leaders met behind closed doors Wednesday (CP photo)

And then it gets better..... our new PM has nothing to say because.......

"He's a person who listens a lot," Charest told a news conference.

And he can hold private meetings without public knowledge of what was said 'cause well this guy did........

William Stairs, Harper's director of communications, defended the meeting. He argued that other PMs, notably Chretien, have held private meetings with premiers.

Oh dear now the PMO is using the Liberals, those morally bankrupt Liberals, who had no right to govern, especially the "Friendly Dictator" as an excuse to do the same.......Its not power that corrupts in Ottawa it's the PMO....

Why has Stephen Harper stayed out of sight?

Setting up shop 'a formidable task,' aide says of PM's lack of public action

GLORIA GALLOWAY

OTTAWA -- Stephen Harper will re-enter the public realm this afternoon to offer a few patriotic words about Flag Day before returning to the prime ministerial bunker and his preferred task of shaping government.

In more than a week since his controversial cabinet took the oath of office, Mr. Harper has made few forays into the world of cameras and digital recorders.

Harper gives new meaning to being a back-door man.

Mr. Harper, who attended a Flag Day ceremony on Parliament Hill yesterday, ducked out a back door to avoid questions from the media. Before his exit, a television reporter asked him about Mr. Martin's comments on Mr. Emerson. "You know my answer," Mr. Harper said. "Mr. Emerson will make a great contribution."

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