July 2005
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July 29th, 2005
Hungry in the Middle of Nowhere
Panem et Circenses. I've been watching the tv news again. They're telling stories about one missing
blonde, the arrest of potential bombers in London, and the problems faced by the US space program.  
There is a more important story out there. Somewhere in the world, right now, millions are in grave danger.

 Do you know where Niger is? Here is a little geography lesson. Niger is in Africa, in the middle of the
Sahara desert. It is bordered by Algeria and Libya to the North, Mali and Burkina Faso to the West, Chad 
to the East and Nigeria and Benin to the South. Its capital is called Niamey. Niger has about eleven 
million people. Perhaps four million of them could starve to death if they don't get help, right now.    

 Why is this not the first story on newscasts? This potential famine is a real problem, with a real 
solution, if relief agencies can get support from the public at large. Do we not talk about this because
its depressing? Is it so far away that we just can't be bothered? I have to wonder if the response to this 
story would be different if the people affected were not just poor Africans. 

 The region suffering this hardship has recently experienced profound drought and even plagues of locusts to
decimate crop yields. However, I still must wonder how famine can still occur in this millennium. In North
America, one in two people are overweight and one in four are obese. There is plenty of food to go around.
International trade agreements ensure the flow of billions of dollars worth of goods across national 
borders every day. Why can we in the West buy all kinds of crap that we don't need, while in Africa, 
millions go without even the most basic of necessities? There is something very wrong with the way our 
world operates. The rich can indulge in every imaginable hedonistic pleasure. The poor starve to death, or 
die of exposure on city streets. The government of Niger has failed its people. By not adequately funding 
the UN and its programs designed to help in such crises, the international community has failed the people
of Niger. The Nigeriens only hope is with NGO's, and with the people who fund them. After the Boxing Day 
Tsunami of 2004, we did what we could to help our brothers and sisters. It is time for us to answer 
the call again. This is a problem that can be solved, but only through urgent action. 
Help The People of Niger

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July 24th, 2005
Its Getting Hot in Here
Have you noticed the heat this year? Of course you have. Its the last week of July and its already looking like
2005 will be the hottest year on record. Of course new records are always being set, especially in the last decade 
or so. The hottest year ever recorded was 1998, followed closely by 2002 and 2003, which are in a dead heat in the 
race for second spot, pun intended. In fact, ALL of the five hottest years ever recorded have taken place since 1997. 
ALL of the ten hottest years ever recorded have taken place since 1990. Do you notice a trend?
 
 I've become aware of two "feedback loops" that I think I ought to describe to you. 

 Feedback Loop One - The colour white reflects more heat than the other colours; blue, grey, brown or green for 
example. The fact that ice once covered the Arctic helped to keep things cold. Heat from sunlight would be reflected 
away from the land, back into the atmosphere. Things are changing though. With the global rise in temperatures, more 
ice is melting. Melted ice leaves coloured earth behind, be it blue water, grey stone, brown dirt, or green lichen. 
This exposed earth reflects much less sunlight and therefore holds much more heat than ice would. As a result, the 
surface temperature rises and melts more ice, which exposes more earth and holds even more heat. 
Rinse and repeat.  

 Feedback Loop Two - Much of the vast tundra of Canada and Siberia is perma-frost. This means that the ground stays 
frozen throughout the year, no matter what the season. Locked within the ice of the perma-frost are vast stores of 
gasses, carbon dioxide and methane in particular. As the global temperature rises, more perma-frost melts, releasing
these gasses back into the atmosphere. These gasses rise to the ozone layer where they help to increase the 
"greenhouse effect," causing the temperature to rise even further. These higher temperatures cause even more of the
perma-frost to melt, releasing even more greenhouse gasses, causing the temperature to rise even further. 
Rinse and repeat.  

 Is anyone still insisting that global warming is not occurring? Let me rephrase that. Is anyone who is not getting paid 
by big oil still insisting that global warming is not occurring? Can we not see it and feel it first-hand? Considering 
the feedback loops I have just described, we've started a process that we can't stop. What do we have to look forward
to? Once the Arctic and Antarctic ice melts, the ocean levels have nowhere to go but up. Once the fresh water from
this ice decreases the relative salt content of the oceans, prevailing currents are bound to change. This is bound
to have an effect on weather patterns, making them much more unpredictable, and potentially much more violent. Ask
anyone who lives in Florida about the 2004 hurricane season.   

 So what do we do? Denying the problem will not help us. We must accept the reality that the world is changing.
We must do what advanced species always do. Its time to adapt to the new reality. Things are getting much worse, and
although there is nothing we can do to stop the process, we can take steps to lessen the impact. Embracing the Kyoto
Protocol is a great first step. Kyoto was never meant to solve the problem, but to somewhat lessen it. It is also 
recognized that Kyoto is only a first step towards long term efforts to reducing our polluting ways and building a
cleaner, more sustainable system of energy use. I urge those of you in nations that have not signed on to the Kyoto 
Protocol (cough) to contact your elected officials to suggest that it would be a good idea. Some ancient wisdom from
my part of the world says "We don't own this planet, we borrow it from our grandchildren." They are going to be
pretty pissed off at us if we don't change course, and right now. Its going to be bad enough as things are, do we really 
have to make it worse? I hope it won't take an oil crash to get us to do the right thing.

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July 20th, 2005
O Canada!
 I am Canadian. (This is not a beer commercial.) I am usually not one to be patriotic. I consider nationalism to
be far more dangerous than positive, especially when you consider all the problems that it can lead to. I would never
be one to think that the people of the strip of land that I happened to be born on could somehow be morally superior 
to the people of any other any other place around the world. Having said that, I must admit that I am feeling very 
proud about being Canadian these days. While other nations turn back the clock and embrace values that gave us
all so much hardship in the last century, Canada is marching forward in this new millennium with a bold program of 
progressive policy. We are liberals and we are proud of that. Canada refused to join the questionably legal invasion
of Iraq. I think that had Canadian troops helped with the "liberation," we might be seeing bombings in Ottawa and 
Calgary in addition to those that have taken place in London and Madrid. Later, Canada refused to join up with the 
US in its ballistic missile defence system, commonly known as "Star Wars." Twice in two years we had stood up to the 
empire. Still, I wondered if these acts of common sense were really part of greater trend toward modern liberal 
values, (also known as doing the right thing.) Today I was very happy to see Madame Clarkson give royal assent to 
Bill C-38, now a law, which makes it legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in Canada. Canada has joined Belgium,
Spain and The Netherlands to stand up for the rights of the minority. By this act, Canadians have been given more 
freedom, in an era where many nations seek to strip freedoms away from its people. The only reasons to deny gays the
right of marriage are religious ones. Canada is not a theocracy. The Taliban has lost. To those who will criticize 
the Canadian government for passing this legislation I am tempted to repeat a "talking point" from the other side. 
Will you hate us for our freedom? 

 PS - I am a heterosexual who has enjoyed first hand the "sanctity of marriage" and all the fun that goes along with
it. I have a few words for my gay and lesbian friends out there. Fifty percent of "us" can't get this marriage thing
right and we've been at it for thousands of years. You might have been more careful what you wished for because you
just got it. "For better or for worse?" "For richer or for poorer?" "As long as you both shall live?" It all sounds
nice on paper doesn't it? I wish you all good luck!

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July 17th, 2005
War IS Terror
I'm watching John Mclaughlin's show on PBS. Their Resident Neo-Conservative is trying to argue that the recent subway
bombings in London were unrelated to the Iraq war. I suppose he is just towing the party line. I'm having a hard time
understanding their logic when it comes to the dramtic increase in terrorism around the world. Officials within the US
adminsitration continue to suggest that the attacks by extreme right-wing Muslims are simply part of an "ideology of
hate." Its the same old story, "they hate us for our freedom for our very way of life." This can't be the case. Bin Laden 
himself in his November 2004 communique to the American people asked why there had been no attacks on Sweden 
(still a very free nation, last time I checked) Has anyone in the mainstream media yet offered the most simple and likely
most accurate assessment of why terrorism is thriving these days? Its revenge, plain and simple. You hit me, I'll hit you 
back. You hit my brothers, I'll hit yours. Simple isn't it? Doesn't this seem to be a more plausible reason for the 
increase in terrorism worldwide since the US military led a questionably legal invasion of a certain foreign nation in
the spring of 2003. I've heard it said that "we fight them there so we't have to fight them here." Does anybody believe
this is true? In fighting them there, countless ordinary people have been killed as collateral damage. These people have
left behind sons and daughters who are going to grow up with retribution on their minds. You would too if you watched 
your family being torn to shreds by a seemingly indifferent empire. Terrorism is often defined as the use of violence 
to achieve a political goal. That would make the invasion of Iraq one of the largest terrorist campaigns in history. 
Terrorists fighting terrorists, eye for eye. Right-wing extremists on both sides of the so-called "War on Terror" have
screwed us all. Ultimately we the people are going to pay the price.

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