Calls for Cthulhu

After yesterdays post on a soul eating cat, I had to go back and find this.

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Evil Soul Eating Cat Stalks Dying Old People!

Ok, so that’s not quite what BBC reported but If I knew a cat that always managed to curl up with sick seniors just before they died, I’d be a little concerned I was trapped in some bad B movie.

Apparently Oscar has accurately identified 25 residents of a Rhode Island nursing home shortly before their demise, pretty creepy.
If I lived in that home I'd be screaming, "keep that bloody cat away from me!!!!!!"Recommend this Post

When Pat Buchanan is the voice of reason? shudder!

While this article I found from Pat Buchanan sounds a tad paranoid the truth is he sounds more believable than the neo-cons. Buchanan is questioning the Bush Government, their motives and actions towards Iran all while Congress enables Bush's short run around the Constitution. Meanwhile the press and most of the public are totally buying it.

Is this a sign of the Apocalypse? Pat Buchanan is making more sense than the Government and a good part of the media.Recommend this Post

God to Humanity “WTF!”

“What the fuck?”

“I go away for one long millennium with all these Nuns I’m supposedly married to and look what you did with the fucking planet”

“I’ve had enough of you and your irresponsible partying, fighting, breeding and your gluttony. And another thing, I asked you to look after the garden not cut the damned thing down.”

“You made this mess and you’re going to clean it up without any help from me! No more miracles for you, ya lazy bastards!”
Sigh…..

“Now, me and the boy are going up to the cottage for a couple of decades to do some fishing and if this planet is not in order when I get back you’d better start looking for your own place.”



A few months ago I spend several excruciating Sunday mornings sitting through baptism class for my son. Why I was required to attend when I wasn’t the one being dipped I don’t know? However for the sake of my wife and familial peace I sat through it with minimal comment (though I did voice my belief we should just educate kids and let them pick which if any religion they want once they became adults).

I did hear something interesting during one conversation when the Anglican (priest, pope, llama, or what ever they liked to be called) was taking about social responsibility and equated polluting to being a sin. “What”? I thought to myself. “This fellow is crossing the line between religion and reality and is discussing the environment, do bloggers know this?”, “Is this allowed?”

Several weeks later I again attended, (he said gritting his teeth) for the actual Baptism. At some point during the show, the Priestess made a comment about the churches new environmental group and that a meeting would be held at her home at some date or another. Once again, I think to myself, "What!" Then I thought, "If these people have already seen the need to act and have equated environmentalism with being good believers why would we not cultivate that belief and get their support”

The reality is, religion is already being catered to by setting a social issue platform that suits various groups of conservative voters, I’m not proposing more of the same but if organized religion is beginning to see the light and are steering their flocks towards environmental consciousness, what is wrong in reaching out and taping that zeal.

We expect the religious to act secular when it comes to election time but for many of them it’s not that simple, case in point the various conservative/radical/nutters who vote for Harper only because of a few specific social issues rather than the entire agenda. Not all religious people however are comfortable with or fall into that category so why not reach out to them rather than marginalize them and make them feel only the Cons respect their religiosity. I acknowledge the difficulty and danger of miss-targeting the message but the potential to gain support could be considerable.

Religious groups have often been stalwarts of social change like their support of the labour movements, anti slavery movements, civil rights and peace movements. Even if we cannot get our heads around targeting their support directly I at least welcome their interest and hope they will bring the same zeal and power to the environment as they have brought to other issues they have fought for!

Now get to work cleaning up before God comes back and evicts us!

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Greens Speak on the SPP

Dr. Janet Eaton from the Green Party of Canada recently spoke at the GPUS(Green Party of the United States)annual convention in Reading Pennsylvania(july 12-15)about Canadian Green concerns about contenental integration


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JimBobby's SPP Poll

JimBobby has asked us to question those around us about the SPP and post our results.

First of all, I have to say I don't get out much so my numbers were rather low. Most of the people I harassed were from the Go train and in my workplace. I purposely ignored those who I travel with on a regular basis as they become saturated with the trivia and minutia that leaks from my mouth on a regular basis. These people would not represent the public at large(assuming they actually listen to me).

I also did not ask my fellow Greens at a meeting on Thursday night for the same reason. Had I added these people I probably would have been closer to 30% but I do not believe they would have been a fair representation of the common mind set.

I questioned 27 people and I have these responses

24/27 or 88% never heard of it.

1/27 or 3.7% had heard of Deep integration but
had no clue what it was

1/27 or 3.7% claimed to know what it was but
could not explain it adequately

1/27 or 3.7% New what SPP stood for and had a
basic idea of what it was claiming to accomplish, this person knew some of the implications but not all of them

the total was a disappointing and I hope not representative

26 out of 27 or 96% uninformed on one of the top 3 issues of our times in my opinion.

On a bright note, one person I did ask was a union steward(CEP) who has promised to take my handouts to their executive. I hope this will lead to the union making a statement and/or disseminating the source materials to their members. This might also lead to another union contingent going to the Aug SPP protest.Recommend this Post

Attack Badgers, the UK Super Weapon

Some people will believe anything! Case in point BBC reports from the Iraqi city of Basra, where local rumours have accused British forces of introducing ferocious badgers into the city to terrorize the locals. The badgers have apparently be responsible for a number of attacks and several have been killed by Iraqi's

The Honey Badger while indigenous to the region does not usually go urban, it's believed that recent reflooding of marshland may be forcing the badgers to new homes.


I don't know about attack badgers but if the Canadian forces want them they can trap 4 squirrels, numerous cats, raccoons , and at least one skunk in my backyard any time they want.

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China, unsafe at any speed!

Just when you thought you'd heard it all the Globe & Mail writes another story on fake and substandard building materials and forgeries.

The newest story tells of fake fly ash being used in concrete destined for their new high speed rail link. Imagine a 350 kph train barreling along on a concrete rail bed or across a bridge where the concrete is not up to standards, this is an accident waiting to happen.

What else have they missed, fake switch relays, traffic barriers that don't lower, rails with bubbles in the steel?(quite believable as I've torn the head of of a Chinese wrench because of a bubble in the casting)

Also thrown in was a tale of fake cell phone batteries labeled Motorola, a welder who was likely in a very hot working situation was killed when the batteries exploded breaking ribs and sending shrapnel into his heart. Many batteries are sensitive to heat but should not explode at a temperature a human can endure. Pace makers are the perfect example, if they are not removed before cremation they can do severe damage to a crematorium oven, but that of course is an open flame not just a hot working environment.

Finally China has closed 180 factories caught using formaldehyde, industrial dyes and paraffin wax all in food products, mmmm yummy!!!

What started off with me being pissed off at lead tainted toys is turning into a full time hobby. Every day it seems there are more stories and more reasons to avoid their products and now it looks like it's not even safe to go there since they have no qualms about poisoning/killing/cheating their own or making unsafe transportation systems.

China is simply not fit to trade with or visit and considering our Government claims that Chinese students come to Canada for an education with the express instructions to engage in industrial espionage while doing research work, they are not a country fit to accept students from.

I expect I'll have more horror stories for you within a week.Recommend this Post

Study says renewables pay off big time

I ran across this press release today about a new study showing it will pay off handsomely to convert to renewable energy. Be warned, should you decide to read the entire report, it is 48 pages long so get a beer or make a coffee and snack before you follow the link.

GREENPEACE AND EREC JOINT PRESS RELEASE

In the first global analysis of its kind, “Future Investment - A sustainable Investment Plan for the power sector to save the Climate’, demonstrates
a powerful economic argument for a shift in global investments towards renewable energy (including solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and bio energy), within
the next 23 years, and away from dangerous coal and nuclear power. The report gives the financial rationale for Greenpeace’s "Energy [R]evolution,"
a blueprint for how to cut global CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050, while maintaining global economic growth (2).

"As Live Earth mobilises billions of people to take urgent action against the climate threat, our report shows not only that the world’s electricity
needs can be met by renewable energy, but that by doing so, we will literally save trillions of dollars; a massive US $180 billion a year, forever”
said Sven Teske, Greenpeace International, Energy Expert .

“In sharp contrast, a ‘business as usual’ approach casts a dark cloud over our future. Its 10,000 new fossil fuel power plants,
would increase global CO2 emissions by over 50%, and more than double fuel costs; there is no way of putting a price on the disastrous results
this will have for environment and humanity.”

The Energy [R]evolution needs an extra global annual investment of $22 billion in clean and renewable power plants on top of current expenditure.
The fuel cost savings in the scenario, of up to $202 billion per year, means this will pay for itself ten times over. Meanwhile,
converting the massive subsidies of $250 billion a year that coal and gas receive to clean, safe renewable energy will
cover the costs of the energy [r]evolution and much more.

According to EREC the global market for wind turbines was worth some €18 billion in 2006, and the total renewable industry $50 billion.
Under an energy [r]evolution scenario, the renewable energy would be worth a massive $ 288 billion by 2030.

“The renewable industry is willing and able to deliver the power plants the world needs, we simply need the right climate and energy policy.
Decisions made in the next few years, will continue to have an impact in 2050. Only if a renewable energy path is taken, can
we avoid the worst excesses of climate change!” said Oliver Schäfer, EREC policy director.

The report stresses the urgent need for decisive action now. In the next decade, many existing power plants will need replacing,
and emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil are rapidly building new energy infrastructure.


A copy of “Future Investment - A sustainable Investment Plan for the power sector to save the Climate’ is available
at http://www.greenpeace.org/energy-revolution-financing




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China is still trying to poison us

Well they are at it again:

Canadian officials have found 3 more brands of illegal Chinese toothpaste in retail outlets. Not only were these products never tested or approved by health Canada which is illegal but they also contain diethylene glycol the active and quite toxic ingredient in antifreeze as reported in the Toronto Star.

When the Hell are our dumb Government nitwits going to get off their fat fucking asses and actually move to protect Canada?

Why are they not arresting importers?

Why are they not banning the importation of food, health and beauty items?

Why are we not making loud and very clear statements to the Chinese government about the products their country sells?

But more importantly why are Canadians so dim that they continue to ignore the reality of what shopping for the lowest price means?

It means cheap, shoddy, potentially dangerous goods, produced by virtual slave labour with no concern for rights, the environment or the continued employment of their neighbours, friend and family.

Canada is a land of riches with the ability to produce all the things we need, (not necessarily all that we want) yet we continue to send jobs and our money to countries that do not respect or show concern for our well being. Each product we import is one more dependency we create when in reality we should be looking to self sufficiency. The era of peak oil and global warming means we must be responsible for what we consume, where it’s made, how it’s made, the waste and impact of its creation and disposal. We need to know that in the future when the shipping of consumer goods half way around the world becomes too expensive that we have the industrial base to make the necessities of life in Canada.

I did a little research and found that there are dozens of organizations calling for China Boycotts on issues ranging from the dog and cat fur trade, the occupation of Tibet, China's support of rouge North Korea, human rights abuse and the use of prisoners for organ tissue.

There are too many good reasons for not shopping “Made in China”, yet the only reason to buy their shit, "PRICE" always seems to win!

BOYCOTT CHINESE GOODS!Recommend this Post

Peak oil = Peak food = Peak Population

Welsh economist Dr Patricia Dodd Racher has released a book called Empty plates Tomorrow which states that climate change, fuel shortages and corporate power will end the age of cheap food. A review of the book can be read here.

Important facts that Racher looks at are the impacts of peak oil, the diversion of crop land from food to energy, the inability of growing sufficient energy with available land and feed ourselves, the impacts of climate change as seen by recent Australian and U.S. droughts, the need to return people to the land as farmers and finally cost increases, eventual shortages, and possible starvation.

This book supports Kunstler's argument in The Long Emergency that the end of Hydro Carbon inputs to agriculture will destroy modern agriculture as we know it and create shortages and starvation.

Looks like it's worth a read, take your Prozac first and hide the sharp knives.Recommend this Post

Death by Gadgets

It seems that for each step forward in our war against over consumption and GHGs we take a step backwards, and our lust for new shinier energy guzzling gadgets is certainly one example.

A report by Paula Owen called The Ampere Strikes Back tells not only of the increased saturation level of household electronic devices in the UK but also the move to less efficient products and the increase in overall energy demand by gadgets

Labour savings devices have grown in popularity in the UK from 1970-2004 many of these not only use a great deal of power in use but also consume power in various ready states(instant on features).
dishwasher 1%-26%
Microwaves <1%-84%
Clothes Dryers <1%-55%

I don't know about you, but the people I know use the micro wave 2-4 minutes a day while but it still draws power for instant-on and clocks 7/24.

Add to this the increased market penetration of Satellite receivers, Digital decoders, game consoles, computers, printers and consumption jumps again.

It's not just new things that are increasing energy demand but also how the technologies change. Owen's report shows that old analogue radios use 2 watts when in use vs 8 watts for newer digital versions and if you use Digital TV to listen to the radio it takes 100 watts.

New Flat Panel televisions not only tend to be larger but for all but the smallest sizes are less efficient than the older Cathode ray models they replaced. This inefficiency married to new larger sets can lead to a three fold increase in power usage. The number of TVs, radios, computers etc per household is also growing.

Another issue is the chronic charger, those who charge up phones and other mobile devices every night regardless of need,or those who leave the charger plugged in at all times even when not attached to a device.

The percentage of single person dwellings also grows as does the per captia consumption caused this failure to share heating, lighting, cooking, entertaining with other people.

The article predicts that "By 2020, the gadgets will account for about 45% of electricity used in UK households,"

While this is UK data I don't see any great disparity in the articles descriptions of lifestyles, level of consumerism or device saturation, and I know for a fact that the EU has standards for stand by power usage where we do not.

A few light bulbs changed here and there to CFLs is not going to make a difference if our trend of gadget proliferation continues.

The Government cannot legislate away energy gluttony or stupidity but a sizable Carbon tax which punishes these behaviours can and will awaken people to the value of conservation and reward those who make the effort.Recommend this Post