John Doll, a US Congress hopeful from Kansas, made a large and ugly splash with Canadians and American's alike in his posting to Daily Kos this week. In that piece, Mr. Doll outlined Kansas' current water crisis and proposed some interesting solutions:

Some questions may include, in that scenario - Where do we get an infinite fresh water supply? Second, how do we transport the water to the aquifer? Third, how do we finance such a project?

Perhaps a good source of water would come from our good neighbor to the North, Canada.

We are told that the Northern Rocky Mountains, in Canada, hold an abundant amount of fresh water that is replenished constantly. It has been suggested that we could develop an infrastructure to transport water from Canada, for example, by building a pipeline that originates in Canada, traveling through the coal mines of Wyoming. We are told that 80 percent of the cost of coal is transporting coal from the mines to the factories. Therefore, we further understand that such a water pipeline will pick up coal as it passes through Wyoming creating a coal slurry. Upon arrival, coal would be easily and inexpensively extracted from the water, benefitting tax-payers and the resulting water could be then plugged into the aquifer or another holding facility. Consequently, the cost of coal should be reduced while we have a constant flow of water. I like plans such as this one that are also environmentally sound. (bold added)

If there are any recent examples that better exemplify American ignorance, arrogance and ecological cluelessness than this proposal I haven't read it. It also typifies a far too common attitude held by some American policy makers - that the rest of the world is there primarily to prop-up the policies and practices of the most unsustainable nation in the history of the world.

In nobodies informed opinion is the diverting of massive quantities of water across a continent an "environmentally sound" plan. It becomes even more irresponsible when the purpose of the diversions is to prop up wasteful water usage. The would-be congressman is also oblivious to the fact that our own Rocky Mountain glaciers are also in retreat, thanks in no small part to the 1.133 billion tons of coal consumed by the US last year - a number Mr. Doll proposes to increase with the aid of our water.

Blackstar at The Next Agenda gave Mr. Doll a thorough lashing on behalf of Canadians and environmental progressives. Those with memberships at The Next Agenda or Daily Kos, please stop by to add your comments to the debate.

Finally, the Foundstone videos from BlackHat are going online. Check out Foundstone TV with Chris Wysopal and Dinis Cruz.

Don't forget to digg it.

(Yeah, lame post. Sue me.)

Here are the specs on California's landmark global warming bill. Take notes Steve:

• California, the world's 12th largest producer of greenhouse gases, will cap emissions at 1990 levels by 2020, approximately a 25 percent reduction.

• By 2008, the California Air Resources Board will begin requiring reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by the biggest polluters.

• By 2011, the state will set greenhouse gas emissions limits and reduction measures to go into effect in 2012. Failure to comply will lead to penalties.

• The state board is allowed to draw up market mechanisms to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions, including carbon credit trading.

• The governor can halt implementation of regulations for up to one year in the event of "extraordinary circumstances" like a natural disaster or economic crisis.

I'm kind of discouraged today, as I slog through my stall. But I know I'm staying at below 20 carbs so it will catch up on the scales eventually.

I have been fascinated by a story in our LOCAL PAPER today about the Sugar Bandit. Now, if this is not the power of sugar, I don't know what is. Some yahoo broke into a Danny & Clyde's (sort of convenience/grocery/gas place) overnight and was arrested fleeing the scene laden with doughnuts and danishes. Asked why he broke into the store, his response was simple: "I wanted some pastries."

Now, we could go on a while about whether convenience store doughnuts and danishes could ever in this world or any other be considered real "pastries," but the bottom line is the same. The man was driven by the evil forces of Sugar to commit a felonious act.

I think someone should send the poor slob a copy of the Atkins book. Deliver it to his jail cell--just don't hide a file or a Little Debbie Swiss Roll inside.

Seven friendsTwo vodka & diet cokesDim sum, news of engagement, champagneA microphone, REM, The Violent Femmes, Simon & Garfunkel, Vanilla Ice, Madonna, Shirley Bassey, The Killers, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner.Several beerssix cigarettesTwo CosmopolitansTaxiCall from very drunk friend thinly veiled as a person who is worried about getting home safely3.38am11.28amEmergency beans on toast at local

Doesn't he look like a captain of some ship out in sea? A good friend of mine Patrick Brown told me that cropping in itself is an art form. This image is was cropped a lot, and it works your eye has no where to go....it goes right where it should.....the boatman is calling u.....

About a week ago I wrote a prep-post predicting that the Tory PR machine was about to go into full swing in and effort to make Canadians forget about Kyoto, global warming, and carbon dioxide, and reposition the environmental debate - and swing voters - around the issue of smog. Well, here we go....

In a sneak preview of their upcoming "Made in Calgary"....i mean "Canada" environmental plan, environmentalists were shown the first details. As predicted, they represent a concerted effort to draw the connection between health and smog while making zero mention of global warming or Kyoto. They did say that the focus of the plant will be on pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes, as well as stating that the Conservative' environmental concerns over the next year (god knows what happens afterwards) will be:

....air quality; greenhouse gases; toxics and hazardous materials; conservation; environmental assessment; water quality and quantity plus monitoring; compliance and enforcement.

Given their stated concerns, here is a different approach, early though it may be.
Create mandatory vehicle emission standards and tackle coal fired power generation, a move that would:

• Drastically improve air quality (smog)
  
• Sharply reduce greenhouse gases
• Limit polluting compounds that originate in vehicle exhaust from entering the air
  
• Stop mercury from coal burning power plants from entering our air, water and children, and
  
• Reduce the need for expensive and bureaucratic enforcement, monitoring and compliance.

If you're going to state objective environmental concerns Steve, you should propose the best solutions to address them rather than burying your head in the tar sands....or the smog.

Update: 5:44pm - Schwarzenegger has reached a deal with the Democrats to impose a cap on expulsion of carbon dioxide and other gases, defying the opposition of his fellow Republicans.


The Green-inator just keeps rolling. Following up on strong action forging international partnerships and in setting carbon emissions targets, Arnie has now signed into law an new initiative that would see the installation of 1 million rooftop solar panels by 2018 and make California a world leader in solar power production.

Only Japan and Germany do better.

This month I will be showing you guys images from Mexico. All taken with a digital camera. It was really fun shooting digital because we could edit on location.. The story behind this picture is.

I was shooting a little girl on a balcony. Well she saw me and ran back inside. So I was waiting for her to come back so I could get my shot. Beautiful colors, they had flowers all around the balcony. Well she never came back outside so I starting yelling.....about that time I got a tap on my back, I look around and its this guy, I'm like O shit thats his little girl up there and here I am yelling at her to come back outside.....To make a long story short, he wanted to show me something special. Its a calf with two heads.. Born in some town that we were staying in. He was really proud of it... as you can tell by the way he posed for me.

Was anyone besides me (and, allegedly Katie Couric) really irritated by the story circulating today? ("Today," get it?) Anyway, apparently, the new CBS News anchor appears in the September issue of a magazine distributed to about 400,000 CBS affiliates and on American Airlines flights but she appeared a little chunky in the official photo so the magazine decided to trim off 20 or 30 pounds.

Now, I use Photoshop software and I know how easy that is to do. But good grief, folks, can we give it a rest on the Anorexic Ideal already?

I've decided I don't really need to lose a zillion pounds. I'll just doctor all the photos of myself and stay inside, live a virtual life, and no one will know the difference. Well, until I keel over from a heart attack and the firemen have to break out a wall of my house in order to extricate my huge self. THEN the photos won't be doctored.

Oh well. Still in my alternating-week stall. I lose lots of weight on odd-numbered weeks and stall on evens. This is week four, and I am hanging in there.

I'm discovering what a nightmare it is to have a husband at home when you're trying to work on something really important. I'm at the stage of writing up, and so I need long blocks of time where I can focus my brain on producing 10,000 words that hang together. I do not need the siblings-in-law to come around with two babies in tow at a time that's convenient for them, so that they can

From time to time I will post an article about an oddity or something of great interest that's going on in the IT community or on the web in general. For instance, the decision between eBay and Google to run text ads or Google's new development/office software for small businesses.So it is that this next short but interesting tidbit comes to you on mattbthompson.com. Earlier this week I had

The world's top agency for cultural stewardship and awareness is condemning Canada for bowing to industry interests in two designated World Heritage sites - the Northwest Territories Nahanni National Park and the parks of the Canadian Rockies.

UNESCO, the United Nations organization that oversees 830 World Heritage sites including 13 of this country's most significant historic attractions and wild spaces has red-flagged its concerns about mining and other potentially disruptive activities near the two western parks.

Despite the efforts of numerous environmental groups - including CPAWS, Sierra Legal and the Pembina Institute - the door continues to be held open for mining developments that threaten the ecological integrity of Nahanni and the Rockies.

Toss in our collective failure in protecting the non-UNESCO Clayoquot Sound and you can credit Canada with an anti green hat-trick.

Click here to sign the Nahanni petition.

One of the most frustrating (or exhilarating) things about low carb eating is the "whoosh" phenomenon--frustrating or exhilarating depending on which part of the cycle you're currently on. I seem to be on a weekly cycle. I'm in week four and losing nothing. Week one: 9.5 pounds; week two, nothing; week three, 8 pounds; week four....well, you get the picture. I have to resist the temptation to rely too much on what the scale says and remember that it will all even out in the long run. Still, it's a tough thing for an impatient person like me.

Lunch continues to be my biggest challenge, meal-wise. This week, I'm eating an amazingly easy Chicken Chili made from a Dana Carpender crockpot recipe. Throw boneless chicken in the crockpot, dump a 16-ounce jar of salsa on it (I chose Chipotle pepper blend), a tablespoon of chili powder and a crushed chicken bouillon cube. Cook it for 8 hours on low or 4 on high and, voila, really delicious lunch for a week! Of course the "dollop of Daisy" sour cream on top doesn't hurt : )

George W. received a pair of defeats last week in his ongoing effort to rollback environmental safeguards throughout the US. On August 23rd a federal judge blocked the Administrations plan to allow commercial logging in Giant Sequoia National Monument, and on August 25th Judge Coughenour shot down their attempt to weaken the rules governing pesticide use.

Although Bush has been successful in rolling back countless environmental protections at the expense of air, water, species, and public health, the courts have remained his biggest obstacle in moving forward with more aggressive pro-industry policies. Enter the proposed Ninth Circuit U.S. split.

Through this initiative, the Senate Republicans are pushing to change the pool of judges that decide the fate of environmental laws in the western states into a mix that would favour industry over the protection of the natural world.

Earthjustice is running an ongoing petition against the proposed changes. Visit to add your name and help protect the integrity of the judicial system and the environment....because it's time to retire this batter.

Canada's most loved outdoors man is going off the grid. Lee Stroud of OLN's Survivorman has a new program to show us all how important living on the grid really is(n't).

While renegotiating doing another season of “Survivorman™”, Les Stroud is producing two one-hour specials for Canada's OLN (Outdoor Life Network) called “Stroud... Off The Grid”. This new and captivating show will highlight Les’ family's move to their 150 acre bush lot with solar power, rain harvesting systems, and many new technologies for living an energy-conscious and self-sustaining life. “Stroud…Off the Grid” episode 1 will premiere in Fall 2006.

Given Stroud's usual adventures, this latest project should be like going on vacation.

GOAL: 80 LBS. between Aug. 16, 2006, and March 28, 2007
STATUS: 17.8 lost; 62.2 to go

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the hellish nightmare that Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee failures began in New Orleans, and I have a separate Life in Post-Apocalyptic New Orleans blog so I won't talk much about that here except in terms of diet. Anyone interested in that blog should go here and take a look.

Anyway, my Katrina experience in a nutshell was: a week in a hotel in Shreveport, La., with an 80-year-old mom and two freaked-out dogs watching my life fall apart on national TV; a traumatic drive during power outages and gas shortages to Alabama to seek refuge with a friend in Montgomery, Ala.; a two-month evacuation during which I did not know if my home survived and part of which was unsure about my job; coming home to find my beloved city in ruins beyond what even the TV coverage could convey. I had about $40,000 worth of wind damage to my house, thankfully mostly covered by insurance. My garage was flooded and everything in it ruined, not covered by insurance but who cares, really, in the big scheme of things. About 70% of my repairs have been completed and I have applied for federal grant money to fix the rotting garage. The "hurry up and wait" for life to return to normal continues and is likely to continue for a long, long time.

During the two-month evacuation, I learned a lot about myself and food. Before Katrina, I had leisurely been following the South Beach Diet off and on, and had lost about 40 pounds and gained back about 20 over the course of a year. The first week of Katrina, when I was literally in shock, I had no appetite. I was nauseous and couldn't even think about eating, as witnessed by my willingness to eat at Luby's Cafeteria multiple times without protest.

Once I got to my friend's house in comfortable and safe surroundings, with WAY too much time on my hands and all the financial and life uncertainties swirling around me, I began to eat. And eat. Hunger had nothing to do with it. Pre-K (local-speak for before the hurricane), I would have sworn I was not really a stress eater. I was wrong. I CRAVED chocolate. I am normally not a big chocolate fan--I like it with other things mixed in. But, suddenly, I was glued to the sofa watching CNN 24/7 eating Hershey's chocolate kisses--bags and bag of them--and Snicker's bars. And Publix Key Lime Pie. And on and on and on. If it had sugar, I wanted it.

The upshot of all this was a two-month evacuation and 22 pounds. And today, the day before the first anniversary of the time all of our lives here changed so drastically, I can finally announce that my Katrina weight is gone. It's time to move on.

Cross Posted at: Off the Grid

Mag-Wind has developed a residential rooftop wind generator that has the potential to make domestic wind power readily available and affordable. The unit promises an output of 1,100 kWh per month given an average windspeed of 13mph through a turbine that measures just 4 ft in diameter. The technology is similar to the recent advance made by Chinese scientists that will boost efficiency in large scale wind farms by 20% by harnessing the low friction generation capacity of magnetically levitated turbine.

Installed throught communities in large quantities, a domestic wind generator combined with solar has the potential to revolutionize the electricity business by making the domestic consumer a significant generator of energy - while doing so with a zero carbon footprint. However, despite the appeal of these innovations, the major barrier facing widespread adoption is still cost. Even with an attractive return on investment, the consumer remains on the financial hook in order to convert their home (for Mag-Wind about $7,000 and upwards of $10,000 - $20,000 for solar). Here is an opportunity for governments at all levels to demonstrate true leadership in tackling global warming and promoting renewable energy.

What is required from here are 1) meaningful tax incentives for both purchasing and installing units in existing homes 2) municipal by-laws to push for inclusion of these technologies in new developments and 3) government negotiated contracts for large scale purchasing and supply to help drive down costs. With a concerted green taxation and policy regime such as this, real progress in bringing renewables to domestic consumers could begin, while simultaneously addressing global warming.

Beginning today, I'll be posting to Off the Grid. Hosted by our friend 1337haxOr, the site delivers news, engineering, science and experimentation on technologies and advancements in renewables to keep your domestic life (and paycheque) off of the utilities grid. Stop by often for the latest innovations on the market.

Turner FieldToday was the first, and hopefully not last(!), Bark in the Park at Turner Field. Wag-A-Lot — Why wag a little, when you can Wag-A-Lot?! — was the sponsor. We take the "kids" there for doggie day-care and for boarding when we're on vacation. So when we received the invite a few weeks back, we figured it would be fun to have a day at Turner Field, watch the Braves and play with all the dogs.

We took the dogs for a long walk this morning on the new Whetstone Creek Trail, a part of the PATH Northwest Atlanta Trail system, which runs very close to our house. They were tired when we got home, so the plan was working. Wear them out before the game, otherwise, they'll wear us out at the game.


Braves FansThe game was at 1:05 P.M., so we headed down to the stadium around noon. They had a special check-in for all Bark in the Park people and pets to receive our tickets. After entering the stadium we walked up the stairs to the Coke Pavillion nosebleed seats which were blocked off for our convenience. On the pavillion they had hoses lined up to hose down the dogs and keep them cool, a vet station, "ice-cream" treats for the dogs and many kiddie pools filled with ice water for cooling baths. There were dogs EVERYWHERE! Java and Lucy made quite a number of new canine friends as we sat in the stands and watched the Braves beat up on the Nationals. They also got to sniff all kinds of nasty stuff left behind in the bleachers from previous games. Ewwww.


Atlanta Skyline Everyone had a good time with a lot of very well behaved animals. The only part of the day that sucked was the limited access to vendors to buy food and beer. I know I'm a beer snob — no, really, its true! — but the lack of anything other than American piss-water beers in the vicinity of our seats was a real bummer.

Speaking of beer... I bottled the dry Irish stout last night. Of course I had to do a taste test and it was GOOD! Nice roasted malt nose, rounded body with a lot of roasted malt flavor. It could be a little drier and its a bit on the thin side for a stout, but it will be very drinkable. Now I just have to wait a few weeks for it to carbonate.

Icewater Bath I also picked up a lot of malts yesterday to make two beers next weekend, a dunkelweizen and an Imperial porter. I'm going to use my 4 day weekend fully and enjoy myself greatly while I begin to make some heavier beers in anticipation of cooler weather in the fall.

Audio

Mr.Tube and the Flying Objects – Brothers in a bind – Sweet Nothing
Deadboy & the Elephantmen – Stop, I’m already dead – Fat Possum
Charalambides – Dormant love – Kranky
ISAN – Yttrium – Morr Music
Code Inconnu – Friction – Chmafu
Dwayne Sodahberk – Open cuts – Tigerbeat6
Sickoakes – Missiles & mammals – Type
Barbara Morgenstern – Ein paar sekunden – Monika
Glissandro70 – Bolan muppets – Constellation
Pellarin & Lenter – Taiko – Statler & Waldorf
Ms John Soda – Done twice – Morr Music
Schneider TM – Peanut – City Slang
The Big Eyes Family Players – Lapping – Pickled Egg
Mekon with Roxanne Shante - Yes Yes Y'all - PIAS
Mekon with AfriKa Bambaataa - D-Funktional - PIAS
Ranking Joe - World in Trouble - FlexiMix
Black Uhuru - King of All Time - Greensleaves -
Riddim Zone - Holding on Dub - Silver Camel
Wailing Jennys - swallow - Red House
Alice Rose - Trash - White and Red Records
Department of Eagles - Sailing by Night - Melodic
Tunng - Jenny again - Static Caravan
Ali Fraka Toure - Penda Yoro - World Circuit
squeezel - Let the sun shine down - Cheap and Best Records
Dub Spencer and Trance Hill - Fernet - 96 Recordings/Echo Beach

I started this blog a few weeks ago, found it got "infiltrated" by hostile forces and now am trying to start it again. Welcome to my Low Carb Blog!

I'm a middle-aged (egads) woman living in America's Fattest City--that would be New Orleans, where we not only have our regular bad eating habits to contend with these days, but also our "stress eating" from coping with the lingering aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I was inspired to begin low-carbing (again) about a month ago after lurking on Jimmy Moore's Living La Vida Low Carb blog for a long time, then finding the Kimkins site. If anyone doesn't know about these, let me know. I'll link to them as soon as I figure out how to do that!

Anyway, I have lost 14 pounds in the last three weeks doing "Suzikins," which is basically Atkins Induction. I'm not counting net carbs, but only total carbs because I found, in my last stab at this, that I would abuse the "net carb" rule and stuff myself with high-fiber foods that caused problems, i swear you don't want to hear the details, that I won't go into here.

I'm also trying to avoid most of the low-carb foods, the exception being the Chocoperfection bars, which I eat in small quantities (one square of a five-square bar) as a snack.

Anyway, I hope to post daily now that I'm back up and running. My goal is to lose another 66 pounds before a big conference I have scheduled for the end of March 2007. FitDay tells me that's 2.3 pounds per week. I can do this!!

Isn't it amazing how you can get re-addicted to daytime television so easily? I haven't missed an episode of Neighbours this week. I consider it research into antipodean social custom, but it's still awful television. I find myself strangely attracted to the Paul/Izzy storyline, and something is definitely up with Cameron. It's a shame that they haven't featured for a few days. I need some

Scientists are reporting that the hole in the ozone layer will take about 15 years longer to heal than originally projected, with full recovery expected in 2065.

The eventual recovery is good news for both the planet and the our political will as we move forward towards addressing global warming. It demonstrates the ability of international agreements to overcome global environmental catastrophe's, and the power of our combined will to make the environment a core concern in our shared society.

The delayed recovery also shows the fragility of the planet, and the uncertain time frames for its recovery from abuse at human hands - an important warning to politicians stalling on taking immediate action on climate change.

Those who think that nuclear energy is going to solve the planet's climate woes have had a summer of hard knocks.

Radioactive contamination of groundwater beneath California's San Onofre nuclear power plant last week came on the heels of a major leak at a nuclear disposal facility in France earlier this year. In recent years, the story has been little better as the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formed a task force to investigate more than a dozen leaks over that time.

In all of these cases the culprit was tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen implicated in cancer, miscarriages and birth defects. At San Onofre tritium levels were between 2 and 16 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's safety limit.

Meanwhile, world leaders continue to pump up the nuclear option as a solution to global warming. This despite the fact that nuclear plants throughout Europe were forced to shut down during this summers heat wave because the river meant to keep them cool, was too warm to do the job.

If the health, security, reliability and cost problems with nuclear are not enough to convince policy makers to dump it as a global warming solution, then the shear volume of lobbying and propaganda dollars it takes for the nuclear industry to sell their product should be.

This is a 'solution' that is dangerous, unhealthy and unwanted. Just as importantly, the more we tie jobs and our economy to nuclear power and radioactive materials, we increase the risk to both our health and our ability to embrace better solutions.

Sweden is going oil free without adding any nuclear capacity. What's our problem?

Get out your cigars, folks. My supervisor responded to my frantic "Help! I cannot compute simple statistical equations and my brain has melted. Do I really have to do this?" email. It did take her a few days because (I can only assume) she was off saving the universe from bad research projects and their consequences, as she is truly a superwoman. Her reply, long story short, was "Dude.

I'm having a art show at Mitchells Coffee House on Sept 1. All the information is there if you would like to come. I decided to call the show A Visual Journey because the show will have a collection of my work from the beginning to now. And the other reason is because there are a lot of walls. The picture you see on the flyer will not be in the show.........on that note


this is my 100 post!!!! yeah I made it.. thanks to all the peeps that check out my blog!

now go and do the right thing....

I'm walking around in Havanva, on a mission, got some place to go and out of the corner of my eye i see this stairway...put on the breaks, walked through this little alley, stopped and took a breath..click...click i got some place to go..where it was i don't know.... I should have talked to the lady maybe took a few of her on the stairway, but I left it alone....sometimes those are the best pictures...the ones just left.....alone

I'm currently at 36000' flying up the west coast. I have had a hellish travel schedule for the past few weeks. Plus I've been double booked trying to manage a number of projects and complete my own projects. I'm ready for some down time!

Starting a few weeks ago...

Fly Atlanta to Las Vegas round trip.
As soon as I landed in ATL, I drove home, met Steph and drove 3 hours to Hendersonville, NC for the weekend.
Drive home and work from home for a week.
Fly Atlanta to Miami round trip.
Home for two days.
Fly Atlanta to San Diego for two days.
Now I'm on my way to Seattle for the remainder of the week. I should get to my hotel by midnight. Thank you, Mr. Client, for pushing back tomorrow's meeting until 10 A.M.

I fly home on Friday and remain in Atlanta for a few weeks. That is assuming I don't have to drive to Augusta, GA next week to meet a new client. Argh!

All the miles are paying off. Steph and I are taking a 6 night vacation to Los Cabos in November, paid for entirely with frequent flier miles and hotel points.

Enough bitching. I still love the travel, even when I have a crappy schedule.

The reason I'm writing is because I just finished Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat. When I sat down to write I had some poignant thoughts. The Alaskan Summer Ale seems to have wiped them from my brain. Damn.

Great book.

Read it.

You won't think the same way about outsourcing and globalization again. The author's insights on the driving force behind global terrorism is quite interesting.

I'll actually write a real review of the book when I get my head together again.

P.S. Delta could learn a thing or two from Alaska Airlines. Serve beer that is representative of where you come from or is locally brewed near your headquarters. Alaska serves beer brewed in Juneau by Alaskan Brewing Company. Delta is based in Atlanta, the home of Sweetwater, Terrapin (well, close enough), Atlanta Brewing Co. and Zuma. Perhaps their beers should be offered on your flights? While I love a glass of Woodford Reserve bourbon on Delta, a decent beer would be really nice too! Now if only Alaska has the Alaskan Smoked Porter.... yum.

P.P.S. Rudy's flight was late. Baggage claim was backed up. Budget had a line to rent cars. We didn't even get to the hotel until 1 A.M. Blah!

The buzz continues over Wal-Mart's green plans. Given the company's past transgressions, skeptics will remain rightfully vigilant regarding the companies actions; however, this is a move that makes sense on more than a public relations front.

As the world's largest global company and retailer, Wal-Mart's prices, revenue and most importantly margin, rely on the global acquisition and transportation of goods. Which means that their bottom line is intimately influenced by the world's energy prices. Unlike Exxon and BP, higher energy prices take away from Wal-Mart's bottom line, leading to a real business incentive for them to cut transport costs and go green.

Whether they credit their new green leaf to company values, consumer demands, or the bottom line is largely irrelevant. What does matter is their commitment to action, and so long as both parts of that equation - commitment and action - remain strong, the progressive community is best advised to throw their voice in support of Wal-Mart's environmental efforts. The fight for labor rights can come next.

Here's the Video of the Week. Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott interviewed by Charlie Rose.

I think there was this one episode of Coach where Luther got totally sunburned. I think maybe the episode begins in Coach’s office and Coach and Dauber are talking about something football related and maybe they’re supposed to have a meeting or something but Luther’s not there. So then Dauber is all, “Hey Coach, where’s Luther?” and Coach is like “I don’t know, he said something about going tanning.” And then Dauber is like “Tanning?” and then Coach gives some response about how maybe Luther’s wife or girlfriend or something (I don’t remember if Luther was married) wanted him to try it out before their trip to some beach place.

Then, I think, Luther came in to the office and was just totally sunburned. And the audience laughed for over a minute and the camera just kept cutting between different angles while Coach and Dauber pretended to be speechless waiting for the laugher to stop.

I think that throughout the episode all sorts of hilarious hijinx happened to Luther, like maybe he had a hard time sitting down or maybe some unknowing football guy slapped him really hard on the back because he hadn’t seem him in so long.

I’m pretty sure he had a hilarious tan line around his eyes.

SPSS is giving me a major headache. I worked out yesterday that what really bugs me about this whole situation is that I have sat in front of the software with three books, the resource of the internet, and many hours, and I'm still not understanding what the hell I'm doing. This is a situation which is alien to me, though I acknowledge that it makes me sound arrogant to say so. Every so often

The Conservative blogoshpere continues to rampantly spread the distorted and misleading lies of Peter Schweizer and his USA Today editorial Gore isn't quite as green as he's led the world to believe. In that piece, Mr. Schweizer, an employee of the ExxonMobil funded Hoover Institution, attempts to divert attention away from global warming and discredit Al Gore through a poorly crafted series of lies:

Lie #1: "Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property."

Gore receives no royalties from this mine, which was shut down in 2003. A correction has already run in the USA Today.

Lie #2: "So why, then, didn't Gore dump his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum? As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock."

Al Gore has never owned stock in Occidental. However, his late father did, all of which was sold nearly 6 years ago. His mother also had a small number of shares which were also disposed by the trustee of her estate. Mr. Gore is not the trustee.

Lie #3: "Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist."

Al Gore has signed up for every green power option made available by his utility suppliers and had already begun adding photovoltaic solar panels to his home before Schweizer's baseless attack.

Lie #4: "And he claims he uses renewable energy credits to offset the pollution he produces when using a private jet to promote his film. (In reality, Paramount Classics, the film's distributor, pays this.)"

False again. The Gore's achieve their personal offsets independently through their own means, while the makers of An Inconvenient Truth provide leadership in neutralizing the carbon impact of the film.

In addition to these lies, the article utterly ignores the front line leadership demonstrated by both Mr. Gore and his business partners. An Inconvenient Truth, in both its film and book format, are the world's first carbon neutral projects in their respective genres. Gore's independent media company Current TV is committed to going carbon neutral, and the Gore co-founded Generation Investment Management offsets the carbon impact of their business operations and the travel and domestic emissions of all employees.

If there was ever a leader in climate and environmental issues it is Al Gore. Schweizer's piece, and the unquestioning support of it by conservative pundits, nakedly demonstrates their shared agenda - to mislead the public about global warming and vandalize the reputation of anyone who demonstrates the courage and integrity to speak the truth about climate change. This time they won't succeed.

A working tries to repair the cobblestone streets of Trinidad, Cuba.

Audio

Link Wray - Jack the Ripper - Ace
The Revels - Intoxica - Ace
Ted Barnes - Waiting for all she knows - Sketchbook
Hassle Hound - Star lantern and two mice - Staubgold
Bird Show - On the beach - Kranky
Kelly Stolz - Ever tyhought of coming back - Sub Pop
Tom Verlaine - Paradise in Littleton - EMI
Roommate - Hot commods - Plug Research
The Year of - There's something about you - Morr Music
(The Year Of) Black to Comm - Ruckwarts Backwards - Dekorder
Chihei Hatakeyama - Granular haze - Kranky
Mile End Ladies String Auxilliary - Seqences of a Warm Front -Bangor
Linn - Available - Resist - Resist cd55
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Light into darkness [808 state remix] - Resist
Closer Musik - Maria - Resist
Colin Kerr - the perilous final passage of the romatic weights - 5th floor - www.colinkerr.co.uk
Orchestre Rail Band de Bamako feat. Sailf Keita - Mali Cebalenw - Rough Guide
Sizzla - One Love (Dub) - Greensleeves
Sugar Minott - Three Wise Men - Moll-Selekta - Moll-Skelta
Donal Maguire - Sailing off to the Yankee Land - Rossendale Records - www.donalmaguire.co.uk
Squeezel - Spy vs Spy - Cheap and best
Mundy - July - Camcor Recording - CCR9
The Sunshine Underground - Borders - City Rockers
The Wailin' Jennys - Glory Bound - Red House Records

The Conservatives are continuing in their Orwellian campaign of rewriting history and removing all mentions of Kyoto and global warming from federal websites.

The latest victim is the federal climate change website itself, which has been offline since August 16th. In all likelihood, the website will be up and running with lights blazing in September - completely rewritten and in full endorsement of the Harpers so called "Made in Canada" plan to tackle Kyoto, set to be released after Labour Day.

Unfortunately, Harpers plan stands to do nothing to tackle climate change. Instead, it will attempt to spin the issue into one of smog and air quality, and paint the Conservatives as environmental heroes while largely ignoring Canada's Kyoto commitments for C02 reduction.

In layman's terms, Harpers "Made in Canada" solution to addressing Kyoto commitments will be to do nothing to meet them.

As with past initiatives, he will attempt to hijack the issue to further his party's own interest. Much like the Conservative's "daycare plan" that largely benefits wealthy couples over poverty stricken single parents, their "environment plan" is sure to benefit polluting energy industries at the expense of the Earth's climate.

Something to remember during his next string of promises at election time.

The Conscious Earth's article debunking Peter Schweizer's smearing of Al Gore was cited today at Treehugger in Lloyd Alters post on sinful second homes. You can read it here.

For the last few days I have been working even harder. On Tuesday I worked for 12 hours, which was the time it took me to finish my coding, data entry, discover and correct my errors, print out some extra articles, and tidy up. I have now moved on to the more intellectually challenging task of trying to understand statistics and SPSS. Specifically, what statistical tests I can apply to my (it

There are some real cowboys in Cuba. I got to hang out with these guys for a while. They were taking a break from working in the fields. I took a few pictures with my mamiya 7 then I left. Before I left I gave all the guys lighters. They were so excited! I couldn't believe it, their smiles were rim to rim! So, I'm about to leave and the lady calls over to our guide and they have a talk....and he comes back to me and says the lady is mad that you didn't offer her a lighter because she smokes to. I told my translator to apologize for me and to tell her i thought she didn't smoke. I gave her my last lighter and she gave me the biggest hug....mind you she hardly had any teeth left...i'm just glad she went for the hug not a kiss!

Protest is growing over the BC Government's plan to allow commercial development inside provincial park boundaries. To date, 13 conservation groups including the The B.C. Wildlife Federation, which represents about 30,000 hunters and anglers in the province, have joined in condemning the Liberals policy.

"The government's proposal to locate lodges or resorts within the boundaries of B.C.'s wilderness parks should bring concern if not outrage to all British Columbians," says a statement issued jointly by BCWF parks committee chair Ed Mankelow and executive director Tony Toth.

Mr. Mankelow, who in 1998 toured British Columbia as part of a provincial panel to measure public attitudes on parks, said he learned then that the No. 1 concern is that "parks be maintained in perpetuity and that they not be sold, commercialized or privatized."

Develop plans extend far beyond the fixed roofed structures in Environment Minister Barry Penner talking points. The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is reporting that freedom of information documents they have obtained indicate the BC Park Lodge Strategy includes provisions for major resorts, tennis courts, ski hills and golf courses.

Freedom of information documents obtained from the BC government by the Wilderness Committee show that the BC Park Lodge Strategy also includes provisions for “major resorts” within park boundaries. According to the government documents resorts of this scale typically “include pools, tennis courts, ski hills and/or golf courses.” The documents also refer to “high end” facilities with up to 100 beds and staff housing.

I attended a Green Party of BC event on Tuesday night here in Vancouver featuring a speech by Monica Frassoni, leader of the European Green Party and representative of Belgium to the European Parliament. What a difference between her and our local talent. Where Canadian Greens often sound grasping, Ms. Frassoni spoke with the focused confidence of both an environmental leader and a powerful elected representative.

Granted, Green Parties in Canada do not have the seasoned experience of the their European counterparts, but too often the Green Party comes across as the underprivileged brother of the NDP, scrounging for left leaning votes and anyone else who is simply sick of the status quo. By honing their vision the Greens have the opportunity to make major inroads In Canadian politics. Here are several points our own Green Party leaders would do well to embrace.

1. Greens are not the lefts alternative to the NDP, and they should distance themselves from their union patronizing platforms. The BC Green platform deals extensively with unionized labor in BC and specifically with reinstating unionized contracts for food and cleaning services in government departments. Unfortunately, most Canadians do not support public dollars going towards bolstering minimum wage services and corrupt unions, so the more of an issue it is in the platform, the fewer voters will vote green. Wage issues should be addressed through minimum wage policy and labor laws, not by pandering to unions.

2. Do promote alternate tax structures to advance sustainable economy and discourage unsustainable practices. Here is the Green's bread and butter and the real way towards winning new voters. People believe in private enterprise and the role of government to provide free market leadership through a fair and productive tax structure. The place to find those votes is in the progressive supporters of the Liberal Party, not the NDP's left overs.

3. Engage the private sector as a part of a meaningful fundraising strategy. Once destructive union sympathies come off the Green Platform, they stand to be the party of choice for responsible, sustainable and green industries being hampered by the pollution friendly policies of current administrations. Renewable power producers, alternative fuel manufacturers, and companies moving ahead to meet Kyoto targets are being hurt by the foot dragging policies and lack of commitment shown by both the Federal Liberals and Conservatives whose are supported by corporations opposing Kyoto.

4. The number one priority of every Green Party in Canada, both provincial and national, is to ensure that the upcoming referendum on electoral reform is passed in BC. The referendum date is set for the next provincial election in 2009, and if passed it would put BC on the road to electing a proportionally representative government in the election to follow. Based on current voting patterns, that would mean almost 10% of the seats in government going Green. If electoral reform is successful in BC, it is very likely that similar initiatives will take hold in other provinces, clearing the way for the Green Party to become a genuine political force in Canada and for progressive values to gain a stronger voice in Canadian government. But that all depends on the success of this first step.

The Green Party recongizes the electoral system as their major barrier to election. Now they need to put their collective money where their mouth's are by beginning immediately to put together an effective public education program in support of electoral reform in BC that will ensure the success of this intitiative.

Currently, all Green candidates are dedicating their campaign dollars towards elections that they know they will lose before they begin. The path to success lies in having the courage to put forward a long term vision of sending representatives to government in 2013, by putting all available dollars towards ensuring the referendum's success in 2009.

In the past year, the population of spotted owls remaining in BC has dropped from 23 to 17, and in that same time period the number of mating pairs has been cut in half to 3.

While spotted owls face imminent extirpation in Canada, the BC Liberals continue to ramp up logging of their old growth habitat - from 492,746 cubic metres in 2001 to 602,773 cubic metres in 2004. And despite these terminally fatalistic numbers, Canada's Environment Minister Rona Ambrose insists there is nothing to worry about.

The Liberals insist they are tackling the issue effectively with their 3.4 million captive breeding and release plan. Unfortunately, that plan will end following the 2010 Olympics once it is ensured that the Liberals avoid getting an environmental black eye in front of the international community.

Even if extended the program is destined for failure. Without old growth habitat to return to any spotted owl released from the program will face imminent end, and the money spent on this band aid solution may has well be deposited straight in the trash, or perhaps the recycling bin. The Liberals wouldn't want their enviro reputation taking any further damage.

So much for running. A week into running I strained a muscle in the outside of my right calf. I'm still unable to run, even a day of walking around causes me pain in the late afternoon and evening. This is why I have always said, "I only run when chased."

I've brewed two all grain batches so far. An American pale ale was the first beer I brewed on my birthday weekend. Unfortunately, it was infected in the primary fermentation and had to be thrown out. Bummer! The second brew session was last Saturday. This time around I did a dry Irish stout (think Guinness) which is currently in its primary fermentation. When I get home this weekend I'll transfer it to secondary where it will sit for a week before being bottled.

Let's hope this time my sanitation routine improved this time around...

I'm in Miami this week with a few other consultants. This is an odd town, I've never been in another city where people speak Spanish to you before they speak English. Well, except for in Latin America, but that's to be expected! Its gettA few more days here, working my ass off before I get to head home for a short weekend. And then off to the west coast for a week.

This whole TSA ban on liquids is irritating the hell out of me! I can't bring back any west coast beers from my trip! I refuse put any beers I pick up in my travels in checked baggage due to the liklihood of them being broken in transit. I sure as hell hope that the TSA relaxes their rules soon. Not being able to carry on my loggage is an absolute pain in the ass. The terrorists have won. They must be sitting back, laughing their collective asses off while watching the traveling public jump through hoops to travel.

Enough surliness for one night...

Trinidad, Cuba, what more can I say the place is amazing!

Further discrediting global warming "skeptics", this week's video is a BBC segment documenting the Bush administration's campaign of censoring global warming scientists and altering their reports fit with his agenda.

Included in the opener is an interview with Frank Luntz, Republican spin doctor and author of their propaganda script on global warming. In his now famous memo Luntz advised the Republican's to play up the uncertainty surrounding global warming science in order to win over voters. Now, in this BBC interview, Luntz tells says he now accepts the scientific consensus on climate change.

"It's now 2006. I think most people would conclude that there is global warming taking place and that the behavior of humans are (sic) affecting the climate."

BBC: "But the administration has continued taking your advice. They're still questioning the science."

Luntz: "That's up to the administration. I'm not the administration. What they want to do is their business. It has nothing to do with what I write. It has nothing to do with what I believe."

Here is that BBC program.

As posted here a couple days ago, Al Gore has been the target of a right-wing smear campaign attempting to refute his climate change credentials by bringing forward a series of irrelevant details about both his lifestyle and the Democratic Party. Painfully, as right-wing websites lap this material up, left leaning readers are also falling victim to this spin doctoring.

This tactic is old hat. We saw it in 2000 with the "Al Gore invented the Internet smear", it was repeated in 2004 with the John Kerry swift boat farce, and each time the Republican's face an opponent with genuine credentials, they use the same spin technique to falsely discredit the threat to their party line - and each time they do it far too many people on the left side of the spectrum fall for it and shoot their own efforts squarely in the foot.

For the progressive community to make real headway against these sorts of concentrated and broad reaching spin campaigns, they need to stay strong within the facts, and true to the real message at hand. Al Gore's choice of residence is irrelevant to his leadership on climate change, and each person who buys in to these irrelevancies is shoveling fuel on the Republican fire.

This isn't to say that progressive leaders should be free from dissenting opinion. A functioning democracy requires questioning and criticism at all times and at all levels of debate. But that criticism should be born out by facts and should be relevant to the issue at hand. The attacks on Al Gore satisfy neither of those two conditions, and serve only to spin the debate on the right-wing's terms.

Progress requires leadership, and leadership requires support from constituents. The right-wing is excelling in North American politics across the board by getting behind their leaders and fixing the terms of public debate. For progressives to gain a meaningful foothold, they'll need to stop reacting to conservative propaganda and begin establishing, and supporting, their own leadership and values.

Watch the show in Flash 9 (a bit faster but low quality)Download the video to open it in a separate Windows Media Player window.(Best Quality, allows full screen etc.)

I have returned alive from my weekend, which is a nice surprise given that it involved climbing around in treetops attached to a safety wire by two metal things and some rope, thus. It was Cowboy's younger brother's birthday, and this is how he chose to spend his time. Although I was dreading it (partly because Cowboy's younger brother and his girlfriend are uberfit and fearless and I am a

The BC provincial government has approved a 300 megawatt wind energy project proposed for the Peace River Region. The move is the right one, but the future sustainability of BC's power production will largely depend on how tightly citizens become wedded to coal generation.

Sifting through BC Hydro's warm and fuzzy production of the 2006 Integrated Electricy Plan (IEP), you are given little to go on aside from some lovely photos and a lot of environmental lip service. Time will tell if the Liberals choke us with cheap coal or remain committed to BC Hydro's tradition of green power. The Peace River announcement is a good start, now we need an an IEP that follows through with a commitment to sustainability.

With one click you can save a section of old growth forest in Sweden. "Ett klick for skogen" is Swedish for "A click for the forest" and with each click, their sponsors contribute towards the purchase old growth forests. To date 70 hectares have been protected. With your help, this number will grow.

Global warming is a global problem, so a tree in Sweden helps reduce CO2 as well as a tree in Ontario. You can click as often as you like, so visit often and help protect these forests and combat climate change. You can also make a direct donation.

Enjoying a morning smoke. I want to say all the Cuba Pictures were taken with a film camera. Shot on Slide film. The stuff coming up from Mexico is all shot on digital. You will be able to see some of those very soon. For me, I would love to go back to film...digital still not there but for traveling and knowing what you got during your trip.....Digital wins the battle...

Proving their deftness with manipulation and hypocrisy, the Conservative propoganda machine is continuing to fire on all cylinders in its relentless and manufactured assualt on Al Gore and the movie that has catapulted global warming into the forefront of human awareness.

In a USA Today column widely cited by conservative websites and blogs, Peter Schweizer compiles a largely distorted and baseless assualt on the credibility of Al Gore. Rather than recognizing the success of his impact on the global warming debate, and his personal leadership in embracing a carbon neutral lifestyle, Mr. Schweizer instead attempts to paint Mr. Gore as an environmental hypocrit by focusing on three irrelevant details of his personal consumption habits and the peripheral environmental impacts of his business and investments.

As with most right wing smear efforts, the article entirely misses the point. Al Gore is championing action against global warming, not recycling, not sustainable mining, and not the green character of the democratic party. What he is doing is advocating explicit action to curb and control carbon emissions, and he is living his life 100% consistently with this aim by going carbon neutral. This is the entire point behind Kyoto and other efforts, not to prescribe what we should and should not do or consume, but rather the leverage the power and innovation of the free market and allow businesses and citizens the maximum amount of flexibility in bringing our carbon impact under control.

The so called free market champions of the right should be embracing these efforts, but instead they are showing their true motivation and hypocrisy. The modern conservative movement does not believe in free markets, human innovation or freedom itself. What is at the heart of modern conservativism is the world's most complex and well funded propoganda machinery, whose sole purpose is to misdirect people's values into thinking we can anything without facing consequences, while bolstering the power base of the fossil fuel and military industries. And each time a threat to that structure bubbles to the surface, the full power of that propaganda machinery is turned loose against it.

Al Gore has now found his way into the crosshairs of that machinery, during a time of the current Bush administration where the right has perfected the manipulation of disinformation and the world of truth and fact has been ground in its gears. For decades, the right wing has built up grass root support, funding and a massive public relations infrastructure that can now be turned against any threat to its interests. Now the progressive community in general, and the blogging community in particular, is charged with providing the counterbalance - to build a network that can face this well tuned conservative machinery and support the true champions of progress, human freedom, and a sustainable world.

That begins by taking a stand against the systematic smearing of true leadership. Provide your feedback to the original article here, and email Peter Schweizer at peter.schweizer@stanford.edu and let him know your opinions on his style of journalism.

Audio

Bohannon - Take the Country to N.Y. City - Rhino
Eddie Palmieri - Ay Que Rico II - MOST
Nature creations - Freak-Unique - Capitol Hill Records
Amp Fiddler - Right Where you are - Genuine
Parlet - Wolf Tickets - Casablanca
Raw Soul Express - The Way We Live - Jazzman
Bobby Womack - Trust Your Heart - Columbia
Pharrell - Number One (feat Kayne West) - Virgin Records
Junkyard Band - Heavy One - Street Records -
Eddy Jacobs Exchange - Pull My Coat - Jazzman
chocolate Star - Gee Dee - Chocolate Star
Natures Plan Feat. Ed Motta - Without Words - Nascente
Escort - Starlight - Escort
Mr V. feat. Miss party - Do Dump - Defected
Gwen Guthrie - It Should have been you - Island
Bunny Mac - Let Me Love You - Defected
Record Player - Free Your Mind - Soul Cal
Sleepy Brown - Margarita feat. Pharrell & Big Boi - Virgin
Music Maestro Please - Midnight Groove - PYE
Juca Chaves - Take Me Back to Paiui - Nacente

Here is some math even Ralph Klein could grasp. The shut down of BPs supply pipe decreased US oil supply by 8%, drove crude costs up $2 per barrel and resulted in an increase of $24 million in import costs per day. All of those effects would be wiped out by a 1 mpg increase in fuel efficiency standards.

How much would we all save with a 5 mpg boost?

Some Friday fun for everyone. I can hardly wait until this vehicle hits the market.

Today I learned my exam result for the Theories of International Relations exam I sat in June. Amazingly, I received a mark of 'Distinction'. I'm reasonably proud of that, because it's the first ever non-law degree level timed exam I have ever taken. To say it isn't my academic area is an understatement. And, given that my participation attempts in seminars were (occasionally) openly

I only just saw this today and it is brilliant. During the Annual White House Correspondents Association dinner, comedian Stephen Colbert took Bush apart for 20 minutes with the President seated just 10 feet to his right. The press jumped all over Steve Bridge's impersonation of Bush, but Colbert's roast was the real story of the night.

"Most of all, I believe in this President. Now I know there are some polls out there that indicate this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that the polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality",.........and reality has a well known liberal bias."

Check out the complete video at Google Video or see it in three parts below.

Part 1:




Part 2:




Part 3:

This was taken in Havanva during their independence day. They walk along the Malecon. Different sections of the city wear different color T-shirts. Its pretty amazing to watch. I didn't get very many good shots on that day, I was in search of Fidel. I did see his motorcade but by the time I realized it was him, they were gone...He always walks in the front...but its only a couple of blocks...and then he is off... to God only knows where!

At some point in the show, Coach got hired to become the head coach of a professional football team. I'm pretty sure the team was called the Orlando Breakers and that Coach basically brought his entire staff from Minnesota State with him to Orlando to coach the team. Like, of course Luther and Dauber were there, but also so were I think the athletic director and maybe even the tall basketball chick. I don't know how Coach was able to swing that, but it was basically like he never even left Minnesota State. Man, what a stupid idea; good work Coach writing staff.

I don't remember any episodes whatsoever from this time period of the show, but I'm pretty sure that Coach had a bigger office.

Continuing to sound like a hog at the trough, Ralph Klein has told the Pembina institute to "keep their noses out of anyone's business, especially businesses that want to take risks" for calling for a moratorium on oilsands development until a plan to protect the Alberta's boreal forest a is developed. Unfortunately for Ralphie, when business's "risk taking" involves massive environmental harm, it is everyone's business.

Here are 9 reasons why Ralph Klein should look beyond his own nose before lashing out at anyone daring to suggest that his policies on oilsands development could use some improvement.

1. 141,000 square kilometres or 21 per cent of Alberta is up for grabs by the oilsands industry

2. Oilsands companies use 20 billion litres of groundwater a year to get the bitumen out of the ground and process it. They are licensed to use 75 billion litres a year.

3. For perspective, the total authorized water diversions for from the Athabasca River alone stands at 359 million litres - twice the volume used by Calgary in an single year.

4. Water used for oil sands becomes polluted and cannot be returned to the river system.

5. Royalties to Albertans for a barrel of oilsands oil has dropped from $2.90 per barrel in 1997 to just $1.70 per barrel in 2005. While the market value of oil has tripled, the value realized by tax payers has dropped by 39 per cent.

6. 84 per cent of Albertans support a public review of the royalty structure.

7. 91 per cent of Albertans believe protecting the environment is important, even if this means oilsands development unfolds more slowly.

8. Global warming. In addition to the impact of the oil itself, for every barrel recovered, enough gas is burned to heat a home for four days.

9. He sounds like a progressively bigger jackass every time he opens his mouth.

Are people getting value from the oilsands? Definitely, but who are those people? The extent to which that value goes to American owned oil companies and Albertans are stuck with the environment damage is the measure of Klein's failure. So far, Albertan's are not looking too good in that equation.

China, a country that has shown significant environmental leadership in embracing new technology such as high efficiency wind and advanced solar power, is showing the other half of its enviro face by announcing its intention to auction off hunting permits for endangered species. Revenue from the permits would be used to protect wild animals, but presumable not from hunters.

This article should give us all a powerful dose of insight into the political hurdles facing environmental causes throughout the world. Environmentalism is still approached as a special interest, and the ability to stand back and make objective decisions about the natural world for its own sake is a way of thinking that most people are far removed from. At heart, for good or bad, most people make decisions based on their best interests., so while a nation of 1 billion people can readily see the risk of climate change and mercury pollution from their growing energy needs, commitments to renewable energy policy are made because of the risk to the health and future of the country, not due to some inherent sense of environmental value.

The fate of the species and wildlife faces a more uncertain future, so long as their survival is seen as separate from the fate of the farmers or entrepreneurs that stand to profit from cultivating the land they rely on or from auctioning off their death certificates under the guise of species protection.

Bridging that gap in thinking is the real challenge of environmentalists. Preaching to the choir about species preservation creates no momentum for change and will never win over the people who either stand to profit from their death, or simply see no issue with the extinction of species great or small.

Future success lies in brining forward the values behind the environmental movement - our inherent connection to the environment, the unique beauty of our wild places and the creatures that, and most importantly the idea that the Earth is a single interdependent system that carries with it the keys to our very survival and that any assault on that system, is ultimately an assault on ourselves. Intuitively, most people realize this. Creating the political will for change is simply a matter of demonstrating how far from that ideal we have fallen.

Dominos......is a huge game down in cuba! They love it. They play a little different then we do. Each time a set is over you take a shot of RUM. YES i made this misteak...not knowing this and it was like 10 O' clock in the morning. I held my own till the 5th shot kick in!

OK, let us commence with the article. Brief history: this article was published on Feb 19th 2005, and is one of those that I have been forced to read for my research. Melanie Phillips writes for the Daily Mail, a paper that under normal circumstances would be deemed of insufficient quality to cleanse my backside. In fact, I have been known to cry out in agony should a copy be placed anywhere

Video of the Week - Australian power company EnviroMission, is set to become the world's leader in renewable energy technology through their proposed Solar Tower project - a $225 million green power experiment to construct a 1,600 foot tower with enough generating capacity to fuel 100,000 homes.

Instead of relying on solar cells, the tower acts like a giant greenhouse. The sun's energy is harnessed to create warm air currents that will drive a series of power generating turbines inside the tower. Located under the glaring sun of the Australian outback, the 50 megawatt pilot project will stand taller than Chicago's Sears Tower and sit 260 feet in diameter at the base. The capacity for the technology is far greater though, and has gained the attention of Chinese investors.

In 2002, Xiang Jiang Industrial became EnviroMission's second largest shareholder and plans to build a 200 megawatt tower in Shanghai, China.

Below is the demo video for the project.

Probably one of the most photograph places in Cuba. While we were there, the Cuban people were having a festival and all up and down the Malecon were these beer stands. The beer was in some kind of rusty looking barrel. Anyway, it was the worse beer I have never had! The funny thing was. Every stand had the same beer. So it wasn't like this stand had some beer from the south of cuba....it was all the same!! Anyway,if you have a milk jug.....it will cost you about 50 cents.

Still working on Melanie Phillips - I feel I can't continue with my blogging life until I've eviscerated her article properly, but finding the time is tricky.Anyway, I arrived back from my holiday in a state of exhaustion. Why? Because there was a child involved in the last three days of it. Cowboy's friends visited with their son, and they are nice people and the son is cute but MY GOD could

Trinidad, Cuba is a relic of the early days of the Spanish colony. It was founded in 1514. Cortes set out from here for Mexico in 1518, but despite this early start it remained a haven for smugglers until the late 18th century. Smugglers brought slaves and gold from British Jamaica, but all this changed in the early 19th century when a slave revolt in Haiti caused French planters to flee to Trinidad. Trinidad is one of the oldest cities in Cuba. You talk about color...Its out of this world....I'm walking along the road and I see this door. This huge BLUE door. It starts opening and I'm expecting a large person to come out. My camera is locked and reading to fire. I'm waiting and waiting...I'm like who is opening this door because all i'm seeing is darkness? Then all of a sudden a little girl peers out.....I took a few before she realized I was there. If I make it back to Cuba, I will find this door and give them a print of this. Lets hope they don't paint the door....

I forget the name of the town where this was taken. It was a small town, we were renting this huge house. The people that owned it were treating us like kings. They made breakfast and dinner for us every day. I mean good stuff. We had Lobster a couple of nights. After we left we didn't have very many good meals like that.

Hey All,Episode two of , drumroll please...In the Know Is just around the corner. Yes, what was formerly Blog Talk is now officially "In the Know". That's the first bit of information to whet your appetite. Yes I spelled whet correctly, look it up. Careful, you may have just learned something. Really, that is the point of "In the Know". To teach you about cool things and how to do cool

As global warming continues its assualt on our ecosystems, increased drought and water shortages will be two of its most significant impacts. Here is an outline of some of the top hot spots of future water conflicts according to ENN.

• India and Pakistan
• India and Bangladesh
• Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestinian Territories
• Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia
• Turkey, Syria and Iraq
  

These areas represent massive crossing points of culture, religion, historical unrest and oil, and given that they already represent some of the most significant areas of conflict in the modern world, the strain and the consequences of water shortages they face will be an additional destabalizing influence for all of us.

Audio

Mystic revelation of Rastafari – Inna barrel – Sound of World
Leroy Smart – Africa – Makasound
The Viceroys – I guarantee my love – Inna de Yard
Boxcutter – Bad you do (Halfstep) – CDR
Sandoz – Monopolize and destroy – Soul Jazz
Dub Trio – Table rock dub – ROIR
Ekkehard Ehlers – Nie Wieder schnell sagen – Staubgold
Little Axe – Blue neck dub – Realworld
La Supercumbia Futurista – title unknown – cdr
William Parker – El Puente Seco – Aum Fidelity
Helios – Dragonfly across an ancient sky – Type
A Guy called Gerald - Marching Powder - Laboratory Instinct
A Guy called Gerald - The Strip - Laboratory Instinct
A Guy called Gerald - Auto Rebuild - Laboratory Instinct
Blood On The Wall - Renuite on Ice - Fat Cat
Konono No 1 - Mama Liza - Crammed Discs - Craw27
Salsa Celtica - Grey Callito - Discos Leon
Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - World Circuit
Orange Blossom - Chef el Khof (I've Seen fear) - Wrasse Records
CSS - Padine - Sub Pop
KayDamaky - Sing, Even if you got no bread - EastBlok -
Superkings - Good to Have You Home - www.superkings.org
Woodsmoor - Smoke Siren - www.myspace.com/woodsmoor
Slim Smith - My Girl - Trojan

This is the Cuban workers house that I told you about in my last post. Look at the view! Pretty amazing. I wonder how life would be if I lived in a place like this? I wonder if life would be a daily grind. I wonder if life would be different....i wonder....i wonder.

Monsanto has reaped enormous profits from selling products that harm the environment and risk human health. Now the Organic Consumers Association has launched the Millions Against Monsanto campaign. You can help make their goal of 1,000,000 signatures a success by adding your name to the petition.

In the 1960s, Monsanto supplied millions of gallons of Agent Orange to the US military effort in Vietnam causing massive health impacts and over 150,000 birth defects. More recently, they have used the courts to bully farmers and to oppose citizen's rights to protect themselves against the dangerous effects of pesticides. A few of their products and actions include:

• Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) - rBGH is banned in Canada but used through the US. It causes severe suffering in cows while creating a risk of breast and colon cancer in people.

• Pesticides: Monsanto has consistently opposed the efforts of Canadian municipalities to restrict the use of pesticides in their communities, despite reports and testimony from doctors and scientists outlining the health risks from exposure to pesticides. Included in their actions is last year's failed lawsuit against the City of Toronto through the pesticide industry lobby Croplife.

• Genetically Engineered Crops: Monsanto continues to be the world's largest producer of genetically modified crops, while pursuing aggressive legal action against farmers over the use of their genetically altered seeds. Despite Monsanto's claims that using their seeds will reduce pesticide use, recent studies show that their GE products result in greater pesticide use over the long-term, while encouraging the emergence of resistant strains of weeds.

Without strong action and public will Monsanto will continue to create profit from environmental and human harm. Please visit the Millions Against Monsanto site to add your name to those opposing Monsanto's products and business practices and forward this link to everyone you know.