As the momentum continues to swing towards stronger action on global warming, the sordid details of cover-ups and obfuscation by governments will continue to come to light.

This week, the Bush Administration was accused of widespread and systematic tampering with the works of government climate scientists.

Details are coming to light in ongoing hearings by US House committee on oversight and government reform - now controlled by the Democrats - following years of complaints from the scientific community.

The interference went so far as removing mere references to global warming. A survey of 1,600 government scientists completed by the Union of Concerned Scientists revealed that 46% had been warned against using terms like global warming both in speech and official reports. The resulting culture through the community was described as one of "anticipatory self-censorship."

Additionally, 43% said that their reports had been revised dramatically enough to change the meaning of their scientific findings, and 38% reported direct knowledge of cases where scientific information on climate was stripped from websites and reports.

No doubt there will be more details to come.

This is trashy, but entertaining. The Liberals have dug up an old fundraising letter from Stephen Harper that reveals him to be an anti-Kyoto zealot in a pitch calling for money to fuel the "Battle of Kyoto".

Some of the more interesting claims made in the letter are that the Kyoto Accord is "based on tentative and contradictory scientific evidence", that it "focuses on carbon dioxide, which is essential to life", and that "Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations."

In response, an unidentified spokesman for the Harper office demonstrated the party's general lack of reading comprehension by saying that the letter was "pointing out that the Liberals had no plan to meet the (Kyoto) targets." Neither the words "plan" nor "targets" appear anywhere in the letter.

Times have changed a bit in the five years since the letter was written. The Tories have now been forced to recognizing global warming to a certain degree, but they still have a long ways to go. In fact, new polling results from McAllister Opinion Research and GlobeScan Inc. indicate that Harper's hostility towards the environment has probably played a key role in galvanizing Canadian support for the issue.

According to pollster Angus McAllister, who conducted the research, the Harper government's inaction or even hostility to environmental issues, at least until recently, has actually accelerated public concern.

"Until their death-bed conversion a few weeks ago, they were actually throwing gasoline on the fire," Mr. McAllister said of the Conservatives.

So Harper has been shooting himself in both feet. Not only is his minority government reeling under opposition attack, but he is also failing a Canadian public that recognizes the need for strong environmental leadership and is demanding solutions to the global warming crisis. In response, Stephen Harper needs to make a full reversal of his anti-global warming stance and leave himself one good foot to stump around Parliament Hill on. At least until the Conservatives are forced from office in the coming months.

The complete letter can be read at canoe.ca.

Okay, I know no one wants to be overweight. But what would you give up to not be overweight?

I'm not sure. I wouldn't give up my house, or my pets. I wouldn't trade a year of my life, or allow a limb to be lopped off. Does that mean I don't want to be the paragon of thinness?

This piece from Discover.com was published last summer, but I was startled as I stumbled across it this week. In "20 Things You Didn't Know About Obesity," it shows how pervasive the vilification of fat people has become.

Just a few of the "facts":

• 50 percent of people would give up a year of their life rather than spend it as a fat person.
  
• Up to 30 percent would rather give up their spouse than be fat.
  
• Up to 30 percent would rather suffer clinical depression than be fat.
  
• Up to 30 percent would rather become an alcoholic than be fat.
  
• 5 percent would rather lose a limb than be fat.
  
• 4 percent would rather be blind than fat.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't want to be overweight--it's why I'm working to not be that way. But really. I would rather be overweight than dead, depressed, alcoholic, maimed or blind. Maybe that's my problem--I'm not willing to give up enough to lose weight!

I'm in Providence, RI for a few days to do an on-site gig with a client. As I sat — alone — at dinner tonight I had a thought:

Being a consultant means being lonely much of the time. What do I mean?

• Working at home. Alone.
• Working on the road. Alone. Leads to:
• Dining. Alone.
• Drinking. Alone.
• Sitting in the hotel. Alone.

I don't know why I never noticed this before. Tonight the loneliness is bugging me. I guess that means I just need to get back to work so I stop thinking about it.

Question period in Canada's Parliament resumed on Monday but quickly descended into an all out Point-a-thon as the parties engaged in a spirited debate over who was the most concerned about the environment.


Environment Minister John Baird made a strong case through sheer intensity, while Stephen Harper preferred to stickwith his bread and butter - pointing heavenward to his personal source of inspiration in all matters spiritual and political.



Meanwhile, NDP leader Jack Layton took a more understated approach that left many MP's, including Stephane Dion, wondering if he was talking about his party's environmental platform or indicating where the NDP sat in the current polls.








You can read the full run down of Monday's environmental action from Parliament Hill here.

Update: January 31st, 11:27 am - Following publication of this post, the original article cited regarding the firing of Johanne Gélinas was substantially edited by the CBC, and the blockquote below no long longer appears in the source article. There will be an update posted on Ms. Gélinas firing later today.


Canada's environment commissioner Johanne Gélinas has reportedly been fired for her strong position on global warming.

Sources inside and outside Gélinas's office said Auditor General Sheila Fraser fired her following months of friction over Gélinas's mandate, the Canadian Press reports.

In September 2006, Gélinas released a highly critical report attacking the previous Liberal government's efforts to address climate change in the past 10 years, while outlining policies for the Conservative government to implement.

She also openly criticized the Tories' recent clean air plan, saying it did little to address the problem of climate change and greenhouse gases in the short term.

Meanwhile, the Harper government is coming under fire from Sierra Legal for allegedly withholding the results of two environmental investigations that would embarrass the Conservatives and conflict with their claims that they are in fact a legitimate option for green voters.

The investigations were conducted by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, CEC, the environmental agency established under the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

They focused on the destruction of tens of thousands of migratory bird nests in Ontario's forests and the discharge of toxic effluent from Canadian pulp and paper mills.

More Conservative accountability please!

Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I attended another job interview. As I've mentioned before, it's not my favourite pastime. So why, why did I agree to work a whole angst-ridden nervous day before attending the interview and being ripped to shreds? Because I like to put unnecessary pressure on myself and come home emotionally drained. The interview itself was surprisingly acceptable, though I

I've had Michael Pollan's bestseller, The Omnivore's Dilemma, sitting in my "To Read" pile for the past month or so--it was a Christmas present, or, actually, what I bought myself with the Barnes & Noble gift card that was my Christmas present.

After reading this weekend's article by Pollan in the New York Times (registration required, I think), I'll have to move the book higher up in the stack.

In "Unhappy Meals," Pollan says a lot of things strict low-carbers will disagree with--he advocates a mostly plant-based diet, albeit of "real" foods, not processed foods, with meat as a side item rather than the star of the meal.

But the article is fascinating for his insights into the food industry, the food lobbyists in Washington, and how the ridiculous food pyramid has been compromised and sold out in the name of politics over the years.

His thoughts are interesting about how the transition was made from eating a diet based on foods to a diet based on nutrients (counting carbs, fats or proteins). Who knew George McGovern played a role?

His point that we need to get back to the basics of planning our diets around real food is well made -- he points out all the conflicting research coming out of the nutritional arena. It results in what he calls the "cognitive dissonance of the supermarket shopper."

"Last winter came the news that a low-fat diet, long believed to protect against breast cancer, may do no such thing — this from the monumental, federally financed Women’s Health Initiative, which has also found no link between a low-fat diet and rates of coronary disease," Pollan writes. "The year before we learned that dietary fiber might not, as we had been confidently told, help prevent colon cancer. Just last fall two prestigious studies on omega-3 fats published at the same time presented us with strikingly different conclusions. While the Institute of Medicine stated that “it is uncertain how much these omega-3s contribute to improving health” (and they might do the opposite if you get them from mercury-contaminated fish), a Harvard study declared that simply by eating a couple of servings of fish each week (or by downing enough fish oil), you could cut your risk of dying from a heart attack by more than a third — a stunningly hopeful piece of news. It’s no wonder that omega-3 fatty acids are poised to become the oat bran of 2007, as food scientists micro-encapsulate fish oil and algae oil and blast them into such formerly all-terrestrial foods as bread and tortillas, milk and yogurt and cheese, all of which will soon, you can be sure, sprout fishy new health claims."

More later--gotta go to work now. But check the article out if you haven't read it!

As most have now seen or heard, the Conservatives launched a largely baseless and tasteless attack ad campaign in an effort to delay an election and retain control of their minority government.

The first set of ads take aim squarely at Liberal leader Stephane Dion, while a second wave will hit the French language channels shortly. Money is no object for the Tory spin doctors on this one.

Mr. Kenney (Secretary of State for Multiculturalism) refused to discuss the Tory budget for this negative-advertising campaign, saying only that his party will spend “as much as it takes to drive our message home.”

A more realistic assessment of the situation came from deputy Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, “They're running scared”.

Scared and rudderless. The irony is that the Tories would have nothing to fear if they would just show some political skill. The environment is the number one issue with voters, and every other party in Parliament has recognized this and taken a strong stand on the issue. All Harper needs to do is get on board with the issue and he can pick and choose who to work with almost indefinitely.

He can leave the Liberals in the cold while forging ahead with the help of the Bloc or the NDP, or he could silence the Liberal critics completely be tabling an environmental platform that they would be hypocrites to reject. But Harper isn't getting it, and in the process he's making his party more politically irrelevant by the day. In failing to provide leadership on global warming, he is resembling a 15th century pope instead of a 21st century leader - screaming in the face of science that the sun DOES revolve around Earth, because its god's will.

In Harpers view, the will of God is for every drop of Albertan oil to be extracted, sold and burned - with no consequences for anyone except to become filthy rich in the process. It's a view point that is fundamentally out of touch with other parties, Canadian voters and most importantly - reality.

It is time for the Conservatives to step up or risk being ridiculed alongside history's other great nay sayers.

So I'm pretty sure Coach had another marriage before he eventually got married to Christine. That would have made this woman Kelly's mom, I'm fairly certain. I think it was one of those things where she probably only showed up in a couple episodes a season and did nothing but make sarcastic one-liners, most of which were subtle double-entendres about Coach's masculinity, sexual prowess, or parenting skills. Also probably she made jokes about some time that Coach totally screwed up in football. I seem to remember that she was also usually drinking some kind of sassy chick drink in a martini glass; like maybe a Cosmopolitan or something but I don't know if Cosmopolitans had even been invented yet.

Episodes that she was in were probably some of the more formulaic. I think like, Coach would be sitting in his office with Luther and Dauber and someone would bring up that Coach's ex-wife (I don't remember her name) was in town and then Coach made some joke where he compared his ex-wife to a witch or something. Then maybe Kelly came in to the office and talked about whatever it was they were going to do while she was visiting. Then I think Coach would make some other joke that was maybe a little less overt and then Kelly would be all: "Daddy, I know you and Mom don't blah blah blah but can you please try to blah blah blah blah. For me? Please?" And Coach would grudgingly say that he'll try. Shortly after this conversation Coach's ex-wife would come in and they'd greet each other by their first names or maybe even Coach would use that opportunity to make another joke at his ex-wife's expense. She would then counter with something like: "I see you still [some kind of negative spin on Coach's current life.]" Then Coach would maybe start to say something that clearly would have been an awesome comeback but Kelly would say, "Daddy..." and then look at him all smug.

I think she had sort of dark reddish hair.

If you'd like to get up close and personal with an Amazonian Manatee, why not explore vacation opportunities in the region. Sani Lodge in north-eastern Ecuador looks like a wonderful place to experience the wildlife of the rainforest.

Deep within the Ecuadorian Amazon you will find a mysterious lake called Challuacocha, where floating water hyacinths and grasses obscure the shores. And if you venture out on this lagoon in a dug out canoe early in the morning when it is quiet and the light is still low, you just might see, somewhere out there, lying hidden in the vegetation a rare and wild Manatee or Anaconda. Float here for a while, scanning the horizon and you would probably notice the yellow, banded chest of an Aracari or hear the hoarse whisper of the Hoatzin. Eventually, the day would pass and you could peer out across the shimmering, black water towards the setting sun, and almost certainly see the gleaming orange eyes of the Black Caiman. Come to Challuacocha and feel the mystery. Come to Challuacocha and experience the world of Sani Lodge.

To the north of Challua lies the massive Cuyobeno Reserve and along the southern border stretches the vast Yasuni National Park. In the corridor between, located on 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of untouched rainforest lies Sani Lodge, a unique Ecuador eco-lodge. Here, the biodiversity will amaze you! On your adventure, you will walk through a pristine rainforest gallery that is home to 1,500 species of trees, hundreds of climbing vines, and exotic flowers, as well as 550 species of tropical birds, 13 species of monkeys and 1,000 beautiful butterflies.

Sounds marvellous, and the all-inclusive rates are pretty good.

Better news from the troubled DR Congo with this article at the Dispatch Online.

Rebels in eastern Congo have agreed to stop killing mountain gorillas and allow government rangers to restart patrols, conservationists said Wednesday. Earlier this month, rebels allegedly killed and ate two silverback mountain gorillas, according to field reports collected by London-based Africa Conservation Fund.

Only about 700 mountain gorillas are left in the world, 380 of them spread across a volcanic mountain range in Central Africa that crosses the borders of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Silverbacks are the older adult males of the species.

...and all I got was this lousy photograph:Oh, and some fairly severe sunburn. People like me have to learn the hard way that the sun really is stronger down under.

Audio

Bobby Beausoleil - Lucifer – Arcanum
M Ward – Post-war – 4AD
Mountaineer – Eliza (a day for every hour) – Type
Richard Javerling – Ice princess – Yesternow
Marissa Nadler – Mr. John Lee (Velveteen Rose) – Eclipse
Judy Roderick – Born in the Country – Vanguard
Susanna and the Magical Orchestra – Don’t think twice it’s alright – Rune Grammafon
Joanna Newsom – Cosmia – Drag Cityd
Loren Connors – I’ve had trouble, I’ve had joy – Family Vineyard
Dorit Chrysler – Satellite – Monika
Yo La Tengo – Black flowers – Matador
Chris Herbert – Cassino – Kranky
Bana Ry-Co - Cara Cara - Retro Afric
Les Mangalepa - Embakasi - Retro Afric
Diagram Brothers - My bad chest feel much better - New Hormones
Adrian Sherwood - The House of Games - real world
Sun city Girls - Elvis and machinery / Bacchanalia - sun city Girls
Hovis Presley - aS if by magic the shopkeeper appeared
The butterflies of love - famous problems - fortuna pop
slipstream - AEIOU - Enraptured records
Gecko Turner - En La Calle, ON the street - love monk
King melody - - Crying time - AcLCD
Naturalites and the Realistics - picture on the Wall - CSA Records
Devon Russell - Things THin - AcLCD

Apparently, most Americans are, to some degree. This Salon.com article talks with Barry Glassner about his new book, The Gospel of Food. I want to get the book--it looks ready-made to be something that will just really set me off big-time!

In the meantime, he has interesting comments to make in the Salon article about how we are such total snobs about whatever type of diet we support. Low-fat snobs, of which there are such an abundance, not only disagree with low-carb proponents but are absolutely disdainful of the idea. Unfortunately, most low-carb proponents are just as snobbily disdainful of the low-fatters. Basically, we all think we're right, and that's that.

Calianna, over at Calianna's Low-Carb Cottage, touches on a similar topic today, aimed primarily at the low-fatters but basically saying: What works for some people doesn't work for other people.

A problem for low carbers, of course, is that we've had to defend this way of eating for so long--and we're so frustrated that the high-carb-low-fat mantra continues to predominate in the face of mounting research evidence that simple carbs are slow poison--that it's hard for us not to push back in the game of Bully Nutrition.

Only time will tell.

A fine low-carb food, that aardvark. According to my new Oxford Companion to Food, aardvarks have a good reputation as human foods and tastes like pork. Since it "has the reputation" as being good, I assume the author of the Oxford Companion never ate any. I've had Ostrich and Buffalo, but never have I seen aardvark on the menu! Aardvarks are "one of a kind"--they have no relation to any other animal group, but their name, which comes from the South African Dutch, means "earth pig" because they root and tunnel into the ground, where they eat termites and such until they can grow as large as 6' long and 220 lbs. That would make some fine aardvark steaks.

Now, why don't I find this surprising? In an article from the London Daily Mail comes the news that the average woman spends 31 years of her life on a diet.

According to a new report, British women spend an average of six months a year counting calories, and more than 20% are on a "permanent diet" throughout their lifetimes. Men spend 28 years dieting.

When you set that up against the fact of spiraling obesity, don't you just figure something is not working? Like high carb, low fat austerity? The article goes on to say that half of the dieters who quit their programs say it is because they "don't have enough willpower." A quarter say it's because their diet leaves them depressed.

I don't know how much of my life has been spent on a diet but it has been significant, and yet I still have a real weight problem. Which is why I'm trying to change my way of eating and thinking about food instead of "dieting" now.

The first diet I remember going on was in 8th or 9th grade, when my mom would ply me with hamburger patties and cottage cheese. Now that I think of it, it was a pretty nice controlled-carb diet. I did the Stillman Diet, the Rotation Diet, some horrendous liquid protein stuff. I did grapefruit diets, cabbage diets, and several rounds of Atkins that I didn't stick with. I did Nutrisystem--twice, and Weight Watchers at least four times. I've tried Sugar Busters and South Beach, and Carb Addicts. Hmmmmm. Did I mention the Scarsdale Diet, and the Wine Diet (a personal favorite)?

If you feel like a trip down memory lane for your own dieting adventures, check out The Fad Diet website.

The UK is attempting to turn the tide against pro whaling nations with an all out recruitment drive to bring new countries into the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and reaffirm the international ban on commercial whaling.

Since 1946, the IWC has been charged with the conservation of the world's whale populations after rampant slaughter nearly annihilated many species. However, after implementing a complete ban on commercial fishing in 1986, there has been growing pressure from Japan, Iceland and Norway to resume the practice. To bolster their cause, Japan has been working behind the scenes to bring "sympathetic" countries into the IWC by exchanging foreign aid for pro-whaling votes.

This past June they tipped the scales and two decades after the ban went into effect, the IWC voted 33-32 in favour of the eventual return to commercial whaling. Shortly after that, Iceland announced annual quotas of 30 minke whales and 9 endangered fin whales and harvested their first catch - a 70ft fin - in October.

Its a controversy that will become more heated in the coming years.

As whale populations recover, the debate is slowly shifting from the outright preservation of whales a more subtle moral consideration of their value as unique intelligent creatures. Conservationists have acted for years under the implicit premise that whales should be set apart and afforded special protections that go beyond the mere survival of the species. The primary concern of pro-whaling nations is the management of the species for commercial harvest.

Tony Blair and the British government have embraced the conservationists view and are actively seeking other nations to join in the cause. Canada, despite having the longest coastline of any nation - and being home to 11 endangered whale populations - is not a member of the IWC.

To encourage Canada to join the UK's efforts write the appropriate Ministers below:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper - pm@pm.gc.ca

Environment Minister John Baird - John.Baird@ec.gc.ca

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay - mackap2@parl.gc.ca

Today on Digg, there was a story about software that slows down Windows XP substantially. The worst offender? Norton Anti-Virus et. al. That sparked a discussion regarding light or lighter weight applications to replace those applications that slow you down to a crawl. I decided to compile that list here, a "one stop shop" if you will. All programs listed are free and have been given

****************************************WARNING: Kiwi readers will probably not appreciate this post. ****************************************In recent days I have wandered into a trough of intolerance for things that are different from my homeland. I imagine this is something many migrants endure, and that it will disappear with time. However, for the moment, I am being picky about the

While we're on the subject of endangered animal babies, here's an interesting article at female oriented science site "Inkling Magazine" about the many recent panda births across the world's zoos - Baby Pandas Face a Hard Road Ahead

But are giant pandas really bounding their way back from the brink of extinction, or are we just losing our minds in the midst of so much prime-time cuteness? The facts hold both promise and cause for concern.

The article links to this cute video, which sadly fails to live up to its slippery potential...

This week's Georgia Straight published a punishingly accurate condemnation of the Canadian media's role in convincing the public that there is a scientific debate about global warming, when in reality there is none. Calling their actions "journalistic malpractice" columnist Mitchell Anderson deftly outlines the failure of our media system and the role of big oil in manufacturing that failure.

the public is being misinformed on climate science by poor journalism that continues to tell both sides of the story even when there is no other side. The resultant political inaction might well kill the planet.

The opinions of any so called global warming "skeptic" should be considered null and void until unless they can refute the contents of this article.

The piece also offers some valuable reading for anyone who wants to be informed about the truth about global warming and are also listed under the new Must Reads header on the Conscious Earth's sidebar. They are required reading for anyone with an interest in both the global warming and the environmental debate.

Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco's Tactics to "Manufacture Uncertainty" on Climate Change - the title says it all.

Balance and Bias: Global Warming and the U.S. Prestige Press - outlines how global warming science is distorted by media.

The British government is turning up the heat on Canada and pushing the Harper government to join a UK lead effort to create a post-Kyoto climate change plan and avert catastrophic global warming.

Canada and the other major sources of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions must lead the way toward a new, post-Kyoto climate-change deal or risk economic and environmental disaster, says British Prime Minister Tony Blair's special envoy on global warming.

That man is Elliot Morley who met with Environment Minister John Baird in Ottawa Wednesday. His intention? To get Canada plus 12 other countries to join a group dubbed the "G8 plus 5" in order to craft a climate change plan that would be tabled at this year's G8 meeting in Germany and be finalized at the 2008 meeting in Japan.

Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa would join the G8 nations in building the plan. Together, these countries represent 75 per cent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions.

During his Canadian visit, Morley was refreshingly blunt in summing up the Conservative government's climate change stance to date.

"I think when the Canadian government was elected, the present one, their intention was to kick the whole climate-change issue into the long grass, basically, and I think they underestimated Canadian public opinion, the strength of the opposition parties."

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been in the news saying he will not follow US President Bush in setting hard targets for reduced oil consumption. he is also calling on CBC's French-language television network to retract a report that links the PM to a planned fivefold increase in oil sands production to fuel US consumption.

I've been uncharacteristically quiet the past few days, tending to my mom after her surgery (which went well).

But now I'm back!

I couldn't believe it when I read this story about a California man, a Hepatitis-C sufferer, who was denied boarding on a Southwest Airlines flight to Arizona for a liver transplant? Why? Because he was "too fat" and they wouldn't let him fly without purchasing an additional ticket so he'd have two seats.

Wow, I thought. He must have been really huge. Well, not really. The man weighs about 300 pounds, according to his daughter. He's on disability and couldn't afford the extra ticket.

Now, while I wonder why the guy was flying alone, why no one was with him to pick up the cost of the ticket and sort it out with Southwest later, etc., the fact remains that some ticket counter personnel thought it was more important to punish the fat guy than have some compassion for someone who was ill--the flight wasn't even sold out.

On the other hand, another Southwest employee bought him the second ticket so he could make the flight.

I have to fly to Chicago in March on business, and I'm already dreading it!

Renee in Ohio has transcribed the conclusion of Douglas Adams' "Parrots, The Universe and Everything" video speech that we posted about way back in January 2005.

The full 87 minute video can be viewed at UCTV-University of California Television, and Renee's partly transcribed text can be found over at the ePluribus Media Community. I've always loved the bit about the puddle...

I mean, there's no other conclusion you can come to. And it's rather like a puddle waking up one morning--I know they don't normally do this, but allow me, I'm a science fiction writer (laughter). A puddle wakes up one morning and thinks "Well, this is a very interesting world I find myself in. It fits me very neatly. In fact, it fits me so neatly, I mean, really precise, isn't it? (Laughter) It must have been made to have me in it!" And the sun rises, and he's continuing to narrate the story about this hole being made to have him in it. The sun rises, and gradually the puddle is shrinking and shrinking and shrinking, and by the time the puddle ceases to exist, it's still thinking, it's still trapped in this idea, that the hole was there for it. And if we think that the world is here for us, we will continue to destroy it in the way in which we have been destroying it, because we think we can do no harm.

Also, check out Renee's new Douglas Adams Tribute Page on Squidoo.

A lot of baby news today it seems. Pass the cigars around....

MSNBC and other sites are reporting that Lulu, the Northern White Rhino in Budapest Zoo, has given birth to the a calf conceived by IVF. I'll be honest here, I didn't even know she was pregnant again. The first attempt resulted in failure, as we sadly reported back in August 2005.

But it would appear Lulu was successfully implanted again. It must have been very soon after the first calf died because she has been pregnant for another 16 months.

The world's first rhino conceived by artificial insemination has been born at Budapest Zoo, officials said in a statement on Wednesday.

The female baby rhino, born at 5:55 p.m. on Tuesday, weighed in at 128 lbs. "The little one seemed active and vital. An hour after being born it stood up on its own legs," the statement said.

The baby rhino has yet to be named, said zoo spokesman Zoltan Hanga, who added the zoo hoped to find a sponsor for her.

This is really terrific news.

And finally, many thanks to Mark Pritchard for his generous £50 donation to our Save The Rhino fundraiser at JustGiving. We're doing very well, and have now raised a total of £265.

The BBC and many other sites are reporting the remarkable hatching of five male Komodo Dragon babies from the "virgin" Flora at Chester Zoo in England. The page includes a Video report.

Flora produced a clutch of 10 eggs without mating at Chester Zoo, Cheshire, in May 2006.

Although other lizards reproduce this way, it has only recently been recognised in Komodo dragons.

The five male hatchlings are up to 18 inches (46cm) long and weigh about 4ozs (113g). Two eggs are still in incubation and three others collapsed.

More coverage at MSNBC.com.

Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora’s virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first time it has been documented in a Komodo dragon.

The evolutionary breakthrough could have far-reaching consequences for endangered species.

1. I have a job! One that pays real money! It's not ideal, but it is temporary and doesn't involve any forms in triplicate, so I'm relatively happy. Nobody seems to have noticed that I am woefully underqualified. As a special bonus for being a newbie at work (or, because they're paying me by the hour and can't think of anything useful for me to do), I have today off! Which is a good thing,

This year's Academy Award nominations are out and An Inconvenient Truth has been named as a finalist for Best Documentary.

The movie has played an invaluable role in galvanizing global awareness about the threat of climate change, while setting an example for sustainable business. Both the film and the book of the same name were carbon neutral projects, while all profits are being devoted to initiatives that are fighting global warming. Although the nomination officially goes to director Davis Guggenheim, Al Gore is expected to attend the Oscar event.

"The film ... has brought awareness of the climate crisis to people in the United States and all over the world,'' Gore said in an e-mail statement. ``I am so grateful to the entire team and pleased that the Academy has recognized their work. This film proves that movies really can make a difference."

The film was also nominated in the category of Best Original Song for "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Ethridge.

Check out this video on uTube to see a subliminal ad for McDonald's supposedly found during an episode of Iron Chef America on the Food Network. Hmmmm.....wonder if you're supposed to crave a Big Mac if this is flashed at you enough times. Am I the only one who finds this totally insidious?

Let me introduce you to Binji, my evil twin. Binji likes to binge. When faced with an opportunity to overconsume, she becomes out of control. Her mind stops working; all reason is lost. The little voice in her head that is me, is ignored (if she hears it at all). She is the possessor; I am the possessed.

I've had Binji on a short leash for the past five months, and boy is she unhappy. When she escaped her leash on Christmas Eve, I let her roam free for a few days, until New Year's Day, when I reined her in again.

She didn't like that.

And yesterday, she saw her chance to escape again, when a friend showed up to watch the New Orleans Saints-Chicago Bears debacle of an NFC Championship game, bearing (no pun intended) chips, popcorn, and Blue Bell ice cream in Binji's favorite flavor, Homemade Vanilla.

Binji broke free about halfway through the first quarter of the game and rampaged till bedtime, when I, ironically, finished reading Courtney Rubin's "Weight Loss Diaries," a raw and honest account of her own battle over binge eating. I was about 20 pages from the end before I accepted that no way was she coming up with a solution, a breakthrough, a-ha moment, before the end of the book. She sabotaged herself through 200 pages despite running marathons, battling compulsive eating and poor self-image over a two-year period. Her final analysis? Relax and do the best you can; you have to live your life, and accept that battling food is always going to be a part of your world.

At what point is it relaxing, and at what point is it surrender and defeat? I'm not ready to concede it yet.

She's back in her pen now, and it's another day.

Another Kiwi holiday weekend provides a further wilderness opportunity. We booked ourselves onto an organised but still rather intrepid foray into the countryside, and it is my personal belief that Cowboy’s main attraction to the trip was that it included the word ‘jetboat’. We set off after work on Friday and drove two hours to the stop-over town, where we bedded down in a motel replete

The Harper government has announced a series of pro environment initiatives over the past number of days. Some are worth credit, and some are worth a closer look.

First, credit where credit is due. BC protected areas got a good shot in the arm with $30 million for the Great Bear Rainforest and $2 million for Stanley Park. Granted, the money for the rainforest comes a year after the agreement was reached, and offering funding for Stanley Park is a political no-brainer, but both announcements are good ones and represent real progress for the areas affected.

The Conservative's climate change initiatives are a quite a different story though. Harper's crew has been busy opening up the purse strings, offering $230 million to clean energy technology, $300 million for wind and renewable energy, and funding for a toned down version of the Liberals Energuide program. Unfortunately, this spending doesn't amount to any real progress and only serves to restore Liberal programs that the Tories have spent the last year criticizing.

To date, the net impact of Harpers green approach has been a one year delay in implementing what was already on the books.

Fortunately, there is better and more important news buried within these announcements. With public demand for action on global warming soaring and an election somewhere on the horizon, politicians (even the climate change skeptics) are being forced to compete for the environmental vote.

As with any competitive market, the winners will be the consumers - both the people casting their vote, and the environment as a whole.

The new Democrat controlled House of Representatives has rolled back tax breaks to big oil and boosted boosted royalties to the tune of $14 billion dollars in their first 100 hours in office. The bill was passed 264-163, including 62 yes votes from Republicans, and applies over the next 10 years.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has also created a new Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, much to the chagrin of some Republican legislators.

Pelosi said the committee would be designed to "raise the visibility" of energy and climate change issues, and that it would not have legislative jurisdiction. Many lawmakers saw it as a way to diminish the influence of veteran lawmakers, such as Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), who in the past has guarded the interests of the big U.S. automakers from his state by opposing higher fuel efficiency standards.

You go girl! Bring on the next 100 hours!

The Conservatives have vowed cough up $30 million for the protection of BC's Great Bear Rainforest. The announcement comes nearly 12 months after environmentalists, native leaders, and the BC provincial government reached a historic agreement for the preservation of the area.

The federal dollars will join $60 million already contributed by private foundations, and an additional $30 million from the BC Liberals, to form a $120 million pool for the creation of a new protected area three times the size of Prince Edward Island.

Moving forward, the future of the forest will largely depend on the enforcement of the ecosystem based management system that will govern logging in the area, as the strict protected area will only cover about 1/3 of the total forest area. This was a controversial part of the agreement, and as recently as 2005 the David Suzuki Foundation published findings that showed widespread clear cutting and negative impacts from logging in the region’s most productive salmon bearing watersheds.

Background: At approximately 6.5 hectares the Great Bear Rainforest is widely considered to be the largest intact temperate rainforest remaining on the globe. It is also also home to the rare kermode, or spirit bear - a sub species of black bear whose recessive gene trait makes it snow white.

A quick update from late last week. The Federal Government has pledged $2 million dollars to help fund the restoration of Stanley Park.

The new money joins a raft of contributions including $1 million from the BC Provincial government (to be matched by the city of Vancouver), a $1 million pledge from local billionaire Jim Pattison to match public contributions, and a Global TV fundraiser that has pulled in $2.5 million. All totaled this could mean up to $8.5 million to help rebuild the damaged park where over a 1,000 trees came down in recent wind storms.

Founded in 1888, Stanley Park is the third largest city owned park in North America and covers approximately 1,000 acres. More on the park here.

In 2001 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report that sent the political world reeling, and made any legitimate skeptic of global warming rethink their position.

After the most comprehensive look at global warming science ever performed, the panel found a 100% agreement that global warming was a serious issue affecting our future and that it is unquestionably being caused by human generated greenhouse gases. Much of the political and media debate since then has been an effort for the world to come to grips with the end of global warming debate and start coming up with real solutions.

Now the IPCC's 4th report is set for release, and a draft copy released yesterday offers a sneak preview of the scientific consensus surrounding the environmental destruction and unstable weather that will be caused by unchecked climate change.

A draft copy of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, obtained by The Observer, shows the frequency of devastating storms - like the ones that battered Britain last week - will increase dramatically. Sea levels will rise over the century by around half a metre; snow will disappear from all but the highest mountains; deserts will spread; oceans become acidic, leading to the destruction of coral reefs and atolls; and deadly heatwaves will become more prevalent.

The report is compiled by thousands of leading scientists and is considered incredibly conservative. Only points and conclusions that are considered indisputable by the entire panel are published in the final document.

Specific findings from the report will include:

• 12 of the past 13 years were the warmest since records began
• ocean temperatures have risen at least three kilometres beneath the surface
• glaciers, snow cover and permafrost have decreased in both hemispheres
• sea levels are rising at the rate of almost 2mm a year
• cold days, nights and frost have become rarer while hot days, hot nights and heatwaves have become more frequent
• and finally, in a point leveled squarely at industry funded "skeptics", the panel reports that mankind's industrial emissions have had five times more effect on the climate than any fluctuations in solar radiation.

The final draft of the IPCC report is scheduled to be released on February 2nd, and will be a further wake up call to any governments still dragging their feet in fully recognizing the threat of global warming.

Audio

Dadiao – Lusheng Mangtong Music:
Bullfight – opening – Miao Music CD
Tom Waits – Jayne's blue wish - Anti
Tom Waits – Redrum - Anti
Tom Waits - Lowdown - Anti
Rosy Parlane – Atlantis – Touch
Henry Jacobs – Guitar Lesson – Important
Ellen Allien & Apparat – Bubbles – Bpitch Control
B6 – Little secret – Bit Records
Asuna – Happy misunderstanding – Wire cdr
dan.lofi – Chamber electronica ep#1 for violin and vocal samples:
track 1 - Transcover Productions
Ike Yard – We are one – Acute Records
Team Doyobi – Thus jacked Zarathustra – Skam
Carla Bozulich – Evangelista 1 – Constellation
Mum - Scractch Bicycle/Smell Memory - Fat Cat
Odori - Thousand (featuring carl Stone) - Hefty records
Drone - Waterlillies - My Kung Fu Recordings
Massonix - Diamond Dance (4th, Heavy Water) - Skam
Kris Drever - Steel and Stone (black water) - Reveal
Drew Pilgram - Shades of Grey -
Delicate Hammers - Spaguetti Head - Cheap and best records
Macolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat - Full Time Hobby
The Earlies - Broken Chain - Full Time Hobby
Aereogramme - Barriers - Chemikal Underground Records
Field Music - A House is Not a Home - Memphis Industries
Dr Fathallan Ahmed - Jozi Tjawaz Alai - Union Square / Metro
Mighty King David Sounds - Everlasting Glory - Earthquake Dub -
Johnny Horn Crew -Demo
L.Pierre - Drift - Melodic

We all take our multivitamins like good little girls and boys, trusting the big old vitamin manufacturers to have our best health in mind.

Not.

This story from MSNBC cites a study by ConsumerLab.com that shows half of 27 brands of multivitamins failed a quality test.

One vitamin--The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women, was contaminated with lead. Lead!

Others didn't contain the ingredients they claimed, or contained them in different amounts. The article said, "Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, a multivitamin for children, had 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A in the retinol form, delivering 5,400 International Units (IU) in a daily serving. That's substantially more than the upper tolerable level set by the Institute of Medicine of 2,000 IU for kids ages 1 to 3 and 3,000 IU for those 4 to 8."

Nature's Plus Especially Yours for Women took twice as long as allowed to disintegrate, while AARP's Maturity Formula took almost twice as long. Eniva's VIBE, had only half the amount of Vitamin A claimed on the label.

The good news is that if you stick with the big brands, you're probably OK. Among the multivitamins passing the test were Centrum, One-a-Day, Flintstones Complete, and the Member's Mark brand from Sam's Club.

Unfortunately, you have to subscribe to the site to see the full report. Hopefully, it'll get picked up somewhere else to get the full list.

January's DFGFI Field News is now online with news of a HUGE gathering of Mountain Gorillas from Beetsme's and Pablo's group.

Karisoke field staff witnessed an exciting start to the New Year with an interaction between Beetsme’s and Pablo’s group – an incredible 83 gorillas all together. On Jan. 2, field staff arrived at Beetsme’s group and found silverbacks from both groups interacting together. Each silverback was in a stiff-legged strut stance – a posture used by silverbacks to display their strength.

Also, check out their Gorilla Sounds Flash application.

DFGFI brings you closer to the gorillas with our special gorilla vocalization recordings. With this fun and informative interactive flip book, you will view gorilla photos, read gorilla sound descriptions, and then hear the audio recordings of their vocalizations!

If "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" is correct, and Woz pretty much said it was, then Steve Jobs has in fact partaken in illicit drug use. Apparently, he is at it again.How else could you explain the circumstances surrounding the launch of Apple Inc.'s (NYSE: APPL) new iPhone? At first, it seemed like there was a lot to like, but as more details come out, it has left most consumers (even Apple

Which valentine gift works best for your sweetie? The Krispy Kreme heart-shaped donuts or the heart-shaped low-carb cheesecake? Or some heart-shaped cheese,better yet!

Interesting piece from The Center for Science in the Public Interest. Everyone's favorite killjoys have identified 10 foods that we should never, ever, ever eat--and it's obvious the CSPI folks are still under the hypnotic influence of the low-fat mafia. What are the 10 worst foods?

• Pepperidge Farm Original Flaky Crust Roasted Chicken Pot Pie, with 1,020 calories, 18 grams of saturated fat (oh the evils!) and 13 grams of trans fat. I agree this is a nightmare.
  
• McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips. A five-strip order has 630 calores and "11 grams of artery-clogging fat." Frankly, I'd be more concerned about the 1,550 mg of sodium and the floury mix the chicken is breaded with.
  
• The Cheesecake Factory's Six-Carb Cheesecake, with 610 calories and 29 grams of saturated fat. Oh heaven forbid! Hey...where can I get this. Wish we had these restaurants here.
  
• Dove Ice Cream, with 300 calories and 13 grams of saturated fat for a half-cup. Uh, what about all the SUGAR?
  
• Mrs. Fields Milk Chocolate and Walnuts Cookies, with 300 calories "and as much saturated fat as a 12-ounce sirloin steak." Yummmm...steak. Also has six teaspoons of sugar per cookie!
  
• The Starbucks Venti 20 Oz. Caffe Mocha with Whipped Cream, which CSPI calls "A Quarter-Pounder with Cheese in a cup." 490 calories and 16 "grams of bad fat."
  
• The Burger King Quad Stacker. Four patties, 4 slices of cheese, 8 strips of bacon, and sauce on a bun, with 1,000 calories, 30 grams of saturated fat and 1,800 mg of sodium. Hmmm. Wonder what the carb count is without the bun...
  
• Campbell's Chunky, Select, and Red-and-White-Label Condensed Soups. Too much salt. I agree with this one. All those noodles and flour aren't too cool, either.
  
• Chipotle Chicken Burrito, with 1,180 calories and 19 grams of saturated fat. Is this a chain? I'm not familiar with it. Anyway, it's tortilla, rice, beans, plus chicken and salsa. Mexican is hard to low carb, by the way--my office is doing a Mexican birthday lunch tomorrow and I still haven't figured out what to eat. I think fajita without the wrap.
  
• Haagen Dazs Mint Chip Dazzler. Three scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, Oreos, chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream. The 1,270 calories and 38 grams of saturated fat aren't the biggest problems here.

Did you know that the USDA never really published their revised food pyramid--it's only online? And that they're now going to start a push to drive people to their interactive website, where you plug in a little basic info (age, activity level) and they will provide you with a "personalized" food pyramid?

So I did that, and here's my daily food recommendations according to Uncle Sam:

-- 6 ounces of grains--half of them should be whole grains. I guess the rest can be Frosted Flakes.

--2.5 cups of veggies daily, or 16.5 weekly, of which 3 cups should be dark green, 2 cups should be orange, 3 cups should be dried beans or peas, 3 cups should be starchy (I thought peas WERE starchy--guess this could be potatoes, and 6.5 cups should be other. More potatoes?

--1.5 cups daily of fruit. How many cups is an apple?

--3 cups a day of milk/dairy

--5 ounces/day of meat/eggs/protein. Five ounces? Less than grains?

--5 teaspoons of oil a day.

--195 calories a day of "extras" such as sugar or extra fat.

It's better than what it was, and it's easy to see it headed begrudging toward lower carb. Still need to up the protein, lower the grains, be more specific on the type of oil that's recommended.

To find what they want you to eat, click here.

This one was created by the folks at Harvard School of Medicine in response to the USDA's new "customized" pyramid (see yesterday's entry) because they didn't think it adequately reflected the current research.

The Harvard "Healthy Eating Pyramid" (shown above) takes a few more steps in the right direction but still remains too heavy on the grains, in my opinion, while continuing to vilify saturated fat.

BUT it is an improvement. Although whole grains take up half of the bottom rung and are recommended for "every meal," an equal weight (up to 35% of daily calories) are recommended from the so-called "good" oils. But non-plant protein sources--fish, poultry and eggs, are relegated to the bad side of the pyramid, as is dairy. They prefer a calcium supplement. At the very top of the pyramid, to "use sparingly," is red meat, butter, white rice, white bread, white pasta, potatoes, soda and other sweets.

It is irksome that they're lumping red meat and butter with sugar and white bread, though.

Seventeen people died in a suicide car bomb in Iraq over the past day as a part of the continuing violence waged for the protection of American access to oil.

Meanwhile, 65 have died in the US as winter storms continue to grip the so called Sun Belt states. To date, the cold snap has featured snows in the Malibu resort area of California and 33 deaths in the unlikely states of Texas and Oklahoma.

In northern Europe, 10 people have died and hundreds of air flights have been cancelled due to violent storms and hurricane force winds slamming into Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and France. The storms have also forced the cancellation of hundreds of air flights, including 123 at London's Heathrow, in addition to shutting down ferries, closing schools and roads, and causing the abandonment of a container ship listing in the English Channel. Germany currently has 40,000 volunteers on standby in anticipation of damage and flood.

So where is the greatest risk? In the savage unpredictability of unstable climate? or in the irrational fear of a decimated Muslim nation whose 95th ranked GDP could scarcely buy a plane ticket across the Atlantic, let alone pose a genuine threat to the US? The Bush administration has its own answer, and they continue to spend $300 million dollars per day to ensure the growing impacts of global warming by subsidizing the United States ongoing oil addiction through their war in Iraq.

Fair comparison? You decide. But the fact remains that top analysts estimate the total cost of the war will be $1.2 to $2 trillion dollars. A fraction of that total could make the United States the global leader in solving climate change while simultaneously offering all citizens the security of our survival - as a civilization and a species.

The awesome Antonia has popped my meme-tag cherry! Thanks Antonia! I am supposed to tell you five things about myself that you probably didn't already know. Which easy because nobody I have met in real life reads this blog apart from Lane. And hard because none of my five things are as amusing as Antonia's Nylon Schlong.Without further ado:1. I Have An Astonishing Dental History.Were I to

Following through on their goal to paint their party in a greener light, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and newly appointed Enviroment Minister John Baird have announced 58 million dollars per year for four years for the development of clean energy technologies. Meanwhile, in what I'm sure they would insist is an irrelevant side point, the Tories continue to funnel 1.4 billion in tax subsidies to the booming oil and gas industry.

The famous "doomsday clock" is a concept timepiece that first appeared in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 60 years ago. Since then it has been an ongoing symbolic image that periodically changes to reflect new threats or treaties that influence the likelihood of nuclear holocaust.

This week, the clock was moved forward two minutes to stand at 5 minutes to midnight (aka "doomsday"). The move comes not because of new nuclear threats, but rather to reflect the risk of catastrophic global warming now faced by humankind. The announcement came during an unprecedented joint news conference at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, and the Royal Society in London.

Once upon a time, I wouldn't drink diet sodas but drank so many regular sodas that I proclaimed myself the "carbonation queen." Then I figured out that if I drank diet soda I could have more calories for food, so I began downing enough Diet Coke to pickle a frog.

One of my big things now is to limit my diet soda consumption to one a day.

Apparently, I wasn't alone in my soda habit. According to this Chicago Tribune article, sodas are the new favorite breakfast beverage. I can believe it. I remember many a restaurant breakfast accompanied by a Diet Coke.

Now, this is too funny. According to this BBC piece, a Brit reality special was planned based on what would happen if you took nine ordinary folks and put them in a zoo--specifically, a tent in a zoo in Devon, England. The participants agreed to eat the same diet as the inhabitants of the Ape House next door for 12 days.

One volunteer, for example, weighed 266 pounds (19 stone). His normal breakfast was four slices of toast, followed by a mid-morning snack of a bacon, egg and sausage sandwich; fish and chips for lunch; Chinese takeout for dinner. By the end of his experience emulating the Great Apes for 12 days, he had lost 12-1/2 pounds, and reduced his cholesterol by 20 percent. All participants experienced greater energy and better overall feeling of health.

So, what did the Apes and the apers eat? That would be 2,300 calories of raw food: broccoli, carrots, radishes, cabbage, tomatoes, watercress, strawberries, apricots, bananas, mangoes, melons, figs, plums, satsumas, and hazelnuts.

Two actresses who wear more than a size 2 won Golden Globes last night. Could this be a sea change in Hollywood's love affair with anorexics? Nah, just a little glitch. Nice to see America Ferrera and Jennifer Hudson not held back by their size, though (Ferrera is a hefty size 12, I bet).

Okay, enough is enough. I've been on a soul-crushing cycle of losing and gaining the same five pounds for almost three months. Time to stop. I'm taking a bold and probably stupid move this week and leaving the Extreme Atkins plan for the first time since August 6--47 pounds ago--and putting myself to the test in a two-week experiment. I'm bored to death and need something to jolt me out of my boredom.

For the next two weeks, I will be doing a low-carbish version of the Weight Watchers program. I say "low-carbish" because I'm opening my food options up to include whole grains and fruits, two things that have been forbidden since August, when I've kept my carb intake to 20-25 total (NOT net) carbs per day. It's South Beach, for all intents and purposes, or Sugar Busters. Not so much low carb as controlled carb.

Will I puff up like a blowfish? Gain back all 46 pounds in two weeks? Start feeling sluggish again?

Well, that's why I'm putting a two-week limit on it. If I gain, it's over. But I won't step on the scales till the first week is over.

So stay tuned. Suzanne the Guinea Pig is reporting for duty!

Any thoughts about this? (Don't worry--I'm not going to start eating "rat poison" again!)

From the San Diego CityBEAT...

WAKE OF THE BAIJI at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla, 858-534-FISH. From 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, Robert Pitman, of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, discusses the extinction risks of the Baiji, the Yangtze River dolphin, and the Gulf of California porpoise. RSVP by calling 858-534-4109.

Hopefully I will have a video posted by this evening. The forwarding for www.mattbthompson.com stopped working, so I'll need to get on the horn with my hosting provider and figure out what's going on. Until then, just direct link here at mattbthompson.blogspot.com. See you soon.powered by performancing firefox

I did something of Note. I can hardly believe it. I'm very surprised to see this timid little blog listed as a Blog of Note on the Blogger homepage. If it weren't for the tip-off (thanks), I'd never have known, because I can barely locate the scroll-down bar on the browser on my good days. And you know what? Today is distinctly brown.Welcome, welcome, one and all! Don't stand on ceremony

A recent poll indicates that 82% of British Columbians think the province should pass mandatory emissions targets. Doubly thorny for the BC government is that the same poll found that 68% of citizens were opposed the government's plan to construct two new coal fired power plants.

Adding to this pressure, a prominent Anglican leader has spoken out urging the BC Liberals to set binding provincial targets to reduce greenhouse gases. The call to action came from a letter addressed to Premier Gordon Campbell from Rev. Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster, which includes the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and Fraser Valley.

"We believe the targets must be based on the best possible science in terms of what is required to stabilize the climate, and do not believe that so-called 'intensity' targets can replace the need for absolute reductions in B.C.'s emissions"

Words of true wisdom....and it's not the first time Rev. Ingham has taken the lead on a progressive issue. In 2002, he became the first Anglican bishop in the country to permit the blessing of same-sex couples in church. In throwing his support behind strict co2 caps, he is now pushing a Liberal government who are already under pressure to act on climate change.

Meanwhile, rumours persist that they will announce new action in the province's upcoming energy plan, which Campbell promises will "deal directly" with the issue. More to come.

MSNBC.com covers a new scientific initiative that was launched this week. The "EDGE" species plan aims to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction. Although the Baiji Dolphin tops the initial list, I think it's probably a little too late for that particular cetacean.

With an initial list of 10 — including a venomous shrew-like creature, an egg-laying mammal and the world’s smallest bat — the program will give last ditch conservation aid where to date there has been little or none.

“We are focusing on EDGE species — that means they are Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered,” said Zoological Society of London scientist Jonathan Baillie.

Full story at MSNBC.com.

More information about the Edge Of Existence program can be found at www.edgeofexistence.org. It is an excellent site with some fabulous photographs and information.

The top of the list currently appears as follows...

1. Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)
2. Long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni)
3. Riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis)
4. Cuban solenodon (Solenodon cubanus)
5. Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus)
6. Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)
7. Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)
8. Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus)
9. Northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii)
10. Sumatran rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri)
[...]
16. Aye-aye Lemur (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
[...]
84. Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis)

Senior members of the British government are saying that US President George Bush is ready to make a historic shift in his government's position on global warming. The announcement is expected during the President's upcoming State of the Union address where British officials anticipate the President to acknowledge the reality of global warming and move towards a cap on US greenhouse gas emissions.

Bush and Blair held private talks on climate change before Christmas, and there is a feeling that the US President will now agree a cap on emissions in the US, meaning that, for the first time, American industry and consumers would be expected to start conserving energy and curbing pollution.

This year's State of the Union address is scheduled for Tuesday, January 23rd.

Today I attended my second Kiwi job interview. I spent all weekend researching answers to pertinent questions that I might be asked about the subject matter of the job, such as "Can you tell me what percentage of New Zealand's greenhouse gasses are emitted by livestock?"*.Instead, I was asked whether I like to joke around at work. Answer yes, and you're marked out as a layabout hoon who thinks

I am in the process of upgrading Another Chance To See to the new version of Blogger. Please bear with me as I go through 700+ posts and and sort them with Blogger's new Label feature. This will replace the current hack that I have been using to categorize the posts. This process is sending the RSS feed a little screwy, but it should settle down in a day or two.

I've also used the Custom Domains option to make www.anotherchancetosee.com the new, easy to remember, address for the site. The old blogspot address will automatically forward to the new address, so any bookmarks or favourites will still work.

Audio

James Brown - Dead on It - Polydor
James Brown - Get on the good foot - Polydor
James Brown - Why am I treated so bad - Saturday King Records
Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy 5 - Jazzy Sensation (Bronx version) - Tommy Boy
James Brown - My Thang - Polydor
Yerba Buena - Fever (Blaze Roots Vocal Mix) - West End
James Brown - Rapp Payback - RCA
Joe Coleman - Get if Off the Ground - Jazzman
Vincent Montana, jnr featuring Double Exposure - You are my everything - Philly Sound works
James Brown - Wake up and give youself a chance to live - Polydor
Peven Everett - Sexy Make Up - Defected
James Brown - Papa's Got a Brand New bag - Verve
The Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's just begun (Extended Instrumental Breaks and Beats Mix) - RCA
James Brown - Get up offa that thing - Polydor
Funk for your face - Barna Soundmachine - Blindtest

On Friday, BC Premier Gordon Campbell visited storm hit Stanley Park and promised up to $1 million dollars per year for the next four years to help fund its restoration. The only qualifier on the funds was that the city match the grant amount each year, which means a total of up to $8 million dollars for the historic parkland site.

The promised aid is the largest to date and follows on an offer made by local billionaire Jimmy Pattison to match up to $1 million in public donations, in addition to an unspecified promise of aid from newly appointed federal Environment Minister John Baird made during his visit to the park on Tuesday.

History: Stanley Park is the third largest city owned park in North America and covers approximately 1,000 acres. In 1886, the city of Vancouver applied to the federal government to have the area - a former a military base - leased to the municipality as a park. The feds agreed and on September 17, 1888 Stanley Park was officially opened. Named after Lord Stanley of Preston, Governor General of Canada and benefactor of hockey's historic Stanley Cup, the park remains a centre piece of one of the world's most livable cities.