Monday, November 30, 2009

More on Gender Apartheid, Honor Killings..

...and all that pleasant stuff:

I Hope the West Does Not Give In

Sunday, November 29, 2009

All Eyes on Copenhagen

As the mushroom cloud grows larger and more incriminating by the day, viz:

Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation
"A week after my colleague James Delingpole , on his Telegraph blog, coined the term "Climategate" to describe the scandal revealed by the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, Google was showing that the word now appears across the internet more than nine million times."
[---]
"The reason why even the Guardian's George Monbiot has expressed total shock and dismay at the picture revealed by the documents is that their authors are not just any old bunch of academics. Their importance cannot be overestimated, What we are looking at here is the small group of scientists who have for years been more influential in driving the worldwide alarm over global warming than any others, not least through the role they play at the heart of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."
...there is some some sign that Harper and other leaders know exactly what's up:

Harper stands firm on 'modest' emission cuts despite UN plea

I'm having a hard time shaking the hunch that the stand taken by Western leaders at Copenhagen is going to be one that kills the global AGW warmist gestapo for good.

In the meantime, at least one American senator is calling for a hearing to uncover the truth and intends to attend Copenhagen as "one man truth squad". This is going to be just like Watergate. The term Climategate was well chosen.

Actually, it's going to be much more important than Watergate. Watergate dealt with the corruption of one president and his administration in one country only. Climategate involves not only the entire planet, but trillions of dollars already expended on solutions to a problem that doesn't exist. Lawyers will be enriching themselves for years and years to come. As for me, my most fervent hope is that the credibility of the institution of peer review will eventually be restored.

Oh, and I won't even begin to speculate what this will do to the compliant and complacent MSM (ie. big television). At least some of the newspapers are doing their job, so maybe there's hope for them yet, at least the pixels on monitors variety.

Has Political Correctness Run Its Course in Europe?

Holland votes to put Iran's RGC on EU-terror list
"The Dutch resolution appears to be the first European motion to target the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity. The resolution cited the IRGC's support for Hamas and Hizbullah as reasons to label the Guards as an unlawful organization fomenting terror."
Swiss voters 'back ban on building of minarets'
"The approval is the latest act by European voters in support of anti-immigrant parties, following electoral successes over the last decade by far-right parties in Austria, the Netherlands and France."
'This isn't the Britain we fought for,' say the 'unknown warriors' of WWII
"As a group, they feel furious at not being able to speak their minds.

They see the lack of debate and the damning of dissenters as racists or Little Englanders as deeply upsetting affronts to freedom of speech.

'Our British culture is draining away at an ever increasing pace,' wrote an ex-Durham Light Infantryman, 'and we are almost forbidden to make any comment.'"
Maybe. Only time will tell. In the meantime, let's give the Brits another election, please.

The Smell of Gravy

Rwanda becomes a member of the Commonwealth
"The former colony of Germany and Belgium is the second country to be admitted without a British colonial past or constitutional link to Britain.

Mozambique is the only other Commonwealth member without historic UK ties."
Must be that gravy train.

The Farce of "Peer Review"

...continued.

Tim Ball talks about the farce as it relates to climate change.



Saturday, November 28, 2009

Case in Point

Canada Singled Out

The UN is giving Canada a lecture on CO2 emissions.
"Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper faced growing international pressure to take action, with some activists even calling for Canada to be suspended from the Commonwealth."
Oooh. Scary! What a joke.

I wonder if Harper has some trick up his sleeve?

"The First Enemy..

...was human rights values of the West and particularly women's rights." (2:28)



Good comments beginning at 5:55 too. Hell, the whole thing is well worth a listen - over and over. We need more YouTube videos like this one.

In the meantime, click here and download "Mr. Tolerance".

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Death of Peer Review

Vincent Gray on Climategate: There was Proof of Fraud All Along
"IPCC expert reviewer Gray — whose 1,898 comments critical of the 2007 report were ignored — recently found that proof of the fraud was public for years."
In my undergraduate years, long ago, I majored in anthropology and history. Somewhere along the way, in the late 1970s and early '80s, a "new" discipline arose combining both fields, and others, which was dubbed Native Studies. The faculties that populated the new Native Studies departments were radical leftists from the 60's generation.

Before long, these Native Studies departments were publishing their own academic journals. A similar movement took place in what was dubbed "Women's Studies". For all I know, the emergence of Environmental Studies departments may have followed the same trail. I can't say for sure how Women's Studies and Environmental Studies academic journal publishing fared, but I do know that in Native Studies, anything that did not conform to the politically correct orthodoxy of the Indian Industry would never be published. Peer review consisted of radical leftists reviewing papers submitted by radical leftists, with the only critical thought put into the effort being to ascertain whether the party line was sufficiently followed.

Perhaps some day there will re-emerge some sort of ethics in academia. But if it seeped into the hard sciences from the soft sciences, it must be frightfully and deeply entrenched. In the meantime, I would highly recommend you send your sons and daughters to trade schools. They will get a far better education and will end up being far more useful to their communities and to society as a whole than if they are forced to absorb the crud that comes from most arts and science university faculties today.

Believe me.

HAH!!! Amy Goodman Questioned at Border

Far leftist loon, Amy Goodman, was apparently asked some questions as she tried to enter Canada on a speaking engagement.
“When I handed our passports over the border guard, they told us to pull over. We had to go over to the border facility. And they started asking me questions about what I was going to be speaking about. I was totally taken aback. They wanted to see my notes,” Ms. Goodman told the Globe Thursday.."
Good. I'm glad her nose is out of joint.
"They began to search her notes and computers and those of her two colleagues, Ms. Goodman alleged. They then photographed the journalist and gave her a stipulation to leave the country by Friday night. They were delayed over an hour."
[---]
"“There's supposed to be a separation between the state and the press. The fact that the state was going through my documents, that they were rifling through notes, that they were asking me what I was planning to speak about, is a very serious issue,” she said."
Sorry, sweetie. "The state" also has a right to refuse entry to anyone it chooses. You're not a citizen of our country, and God willing, you never will be. The fact that they let you in is our loss and your gain. Be grateful. If I had my way, you would never set foot in this country.

Muscle Flexing and Double Standards

Indian Tamil Tiger supporter deported
"A CBSA spokeswoman, Patricia Giolti, confirmed the arrest, and his lawyer, Hadayt Nazami, said immigration officials had intended to deport him on security grounds unless he left voluntarily.

He departed Canada last night."

Sounds Like a Deal to Me

China says no emission checks without foreign funds

You keep your carbon. We'll keep our funds. But maybe we could cooperate on the CRUgate issue. Are ya' up for an old-time class action suit?

Thursday, November 26, 2009

"We have effectively reached a dead end,....

....unless Iran engages fully with us."

Meanwhile...
"You know Iran's shell game is getting absurd when even El Baradei is starting to sound serious . However, the consequences for Iran will likely be limited to yet another deadline from the bottomless bag of meaningless gestures toward eventually holding Iran accountable....but not right away."
In other news, if you've been wondering how Columbia University has been getting away with those highly questionable decisions about who gets to speak at the University and who doesn't, wonder no more:
"Anti-Israel, pro-Iran university professors are being funded by a shadowy multimillion-dollar Islamic charity based in Manhattan that the feds charge is an illegal front for the repressive Iranian regime.

The deep-pocketed Alavi Foundation has aggressively given away hundreds of thousands of dollars to Columbia University and Rutgers University for Middle Eastern and Persian studies programs that employ professors sympathetic to the Iranian dictatorship."
And it doesn't end there:
"In one of the biggest handouts, the controversial charity donated $100,000 to Columbia University after the Ivy League school agreed to host Iranian leader and Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to the foundation's 2007 tax filings obtained by The Post.

Rutgers professor Hooshang Amirahmadi, former head of the school's Center for Middle Eastern Studies and president of the American-Iranian Council, a nonprofit advocacy group, unabashedly has touted Hezbollah and Hamas as legitimate organizations and not terrorists."

"We found evidence that the government of Iran really controlled everything about the foundation," said Adam Kaufmann, investigations chief at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Federal law-enforcement authorities are in the midst of seizing up to $650 million in assets from the Alavi Foundation, which they charge funnels money to Iran-supported Islamic schools in the United States and to a syndicate of Iranian spies based in Europe."
If that's not enough to make your day, try this from the horse's mouth:

"Alireza Zakani, a hardline, pro-government MP and a member of parliament’s election committee in a speech he gave in Imam Sadeq University has said that based on TWO polls the day BEFORE the election by both the INTERIOR MINISTRY and the MINISTRY of INTELLIGENCE, the results would be a close tie between Mousavi and Ahmadinejad. According to the SUPREME SECURITY COUNCIL’S reports the day before the election, the same results were predicted.

He also said that in a meeting that Mohsen Rezaie [the other conservative candidate] had with the council, he said that based on the given stats, 17 million votes were cast until 5 p.m. on election day and an additional 22 million votes in the remaining five hours would be impossible.

He also added that in the statement released by the six member parliamentary committee the lines congratulating Ahmadinejad were crossed out and this was done by “a source close to the speaker of parliament” [Ali Larijani] who has stated that “fraud in the election” had taken place."

[---]
"In a meeting we had with Rafsanjani, he said that Rezaie believed 32 millions votes were cast in this election and that the remaining 8 million votes were fraudulent. He said that up to 5 p.m. on election day, 17 million votes were cast and it was impossible to have another 21 million votes in 5 hours"
So, you think Iran will engage "fully with us", do you? Sorry, but that dead end was crossed miles ago.

h/t Michael Ledeen

Climate Changes Before the Present

I posted this video a few months ago under another topic. However, Spencer Wells, the speaker, does mention several salient facts about prevailing climates during much earlier times. Just goes to show that climate has always been in a state of flux, with or without humans putting all those CO2 molecules in the atmosphere. Watch for it at about 12:20:



Here's another one that picks apart the gospel according to Algoracle.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

On July 27, 2048

...the Asian tiger, India and China, will outstrip the West. I love this guy's graphics, and for that alone I can forgive him for his belief about climate change.

TED, by the way, has some great talks, even though many of the speakers have bought the AGW ruse, lock, stock and barrel and as a whole, slant toward the left of centre in their ideology.

You Forgot to Mention

Better Late Than Never

Cambodian Khmer Rouge trial of comrade Duc set to end

Too bad justice wasn't as swift as that for the victims of that other tyrant of the late 20th century:

Denial

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas

What he said. Read it and believe it.

What the Bow Really Meant

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was greeting you.

Well, Finally!!!

Obama plans to send 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan

Even if it is fewer than the 80,000 troops McChrystal recommended. I guess that's The One's way of saving face while screwing the Afghan people. IMHO he still deserves a pox on his house.

Related and disturbing. But, of course, that's Bush's fault.

EXACTLY!!!!

Yup

Great article on the CRUgate scandal. Great comments. Read the comments on this one, too.

Sigh. So much to read. So little time.

Green Party of Canada...

...makes a statement on the CRU hack/leak:
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* Yeah. I couldn't find one either. Funny that, since climate change is one of their primary cause celebres. But they do have statements on the treatment of Aboriginal children, the elimination of poverty and reprehensible torture. Oh and a pitch for Canada to take a strong stand against climate change at Copenhagen - of course - and a few links to news articles about the Copenhagen conference. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Brigitte Gabriel Again

You go girl!!!

Damned Hard to Keep Up, But....

....I think this article by Lord Monckton at Pajamas Media has some important bits and pieces: They Are All Criminals
"The tiny, close-knit clique of climate scientists who invented and now drive the “global warming” fraud — for fraud is what we now know it to be — tampered with temperature data so assiduously that, on the recent admission of one of them, land temperatures since 1980 have risen twice as fast as ocean temperatures. One of the thousands of emails recently circulated by a whistleblower at the University of East Anglia, where one of the world’s four global-temperature datasets is compiled, reveals that data were altered so as to prevent a recent decline in temperature from showing in the record. In fact, there has been no statistically significant “global warming” for 15 years — and there has been rapid and significant cooling for nine years.

Worse, these arrogant fraudsters — for fraudsters are what we now know them to be — have refused, for years and years and years, to reveal their data and their computer program listings. Now we know why..."
[---]
"Finally, these huckstering snake-oil salesmen and “global warming” profiteers — for that is what they are — have written to each other encouraging the destruction of data that had been lawfully requested under the Freedom of Information Act in the UK by scientists who wanted to check whether their global temperature record had been properly compiled. And that procurement of data destruction, as they are about to find out to their cost, is a criminal offense."

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Funding Angle

CRU Files Betray Climate Alarmists' Funding Hypocrisy
"In addition to four government sources of potential CRU funding, it lists an equal number of "energy agencies" they might put the bite on. Three -- the Carbon Trust, the Northern Energy Initiative, and the Energy Saving Trust -- are U.K.-based consultancy and funding specialists promoting "new energy" technologies with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The fourth -- Renewables North West -- is an American company promoting the expansion of solar, wind, and geothermal energy in the Pacific Northwest.

Needless to say, all four of these CRU "potential funding sources" have an undeniably intrinsic financial interest in the promotion of the carbochondriacal reports CRU is ready, willing, and able to dish out ostensibly on demand. And equally obvious, Jones is all too aware that a renewable energy-funded CRU will remain the world’s premiere authority on the subject of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) despite any appearance of conflict.

And yet, no such latitude has ever been extended to scientists in the skeptical camp."
[---]
"The issue is this: Just how is it that funding from renewable energy interests evades charges of bias, yet subsidies from traditional power entities scream bloody conflict when each is equally friendly to the recipient’s cause?"
[---]
"And it has become abundantly clear that it is not, nor was it ever, the AGW skeptics who were the liers. Or the cheaters.

Or the bought-and-paid-for hypocrites."

Iranian-Canadian Journalist

...saved by Leonard Cohen.

"Bahari said he felt the walls were closing in around him while in solitary confinement, but he was comforted as he hummed the words to Leonard Cohen's song, Sisters of Mercy. He said the title came to him in a dream about two women who both looked like his sister.

"And all of a sudden this universe was created, this universe that was guarded by Mr. Leonard Cohen, and it was just ridiculous to me that this old Jewish [man], and one of the most cynical poet songwriters in the world, managed to save me in the heart of the Islamic Republic."

Beautiful. I wouldn't mind being saved by that old Jewish man, either. Love his music.



The Daily Bayonet Does Some Skewering

Start here and work your way up.

The Parsing Continues...

.....and likely will for a long time to come, but here's another early analysis of several of the "mushroom cloud" email exchanges, with lots of links to the actual emails that illustrate the condemnable behavior:

Global WarmingGate: What Does It Mean?

Moneyshots (italics and bullets in the original):

"The hackers released about 172 megabytes of data, and we can be sure examining it closely will take some time. But after a few days, certain things are beginning to become clear.

  • The data appears to be largely, perhaps entirely, authentic.
  • The emails are incendiary.
  • The implications shake the scientific basis for AGW, and the scientific reputations of some of AGW’s major proponents, to their roots"
They appear to reveal not one, not two, but three real scandals, of increasing importance.
  • The emails suggest the authors co-operated covertly to ensure that only papers favorable to CO2-forced AGW were published, and that editors and journals publishing contrary papers were punished. They also attempted to “discipline” scientists and journalists who published skeptical information."
[---]
  • The emails suggest that the authors manipulated and “massaged” the data to strengthen the case in favor of unprecedented CO2-forced AGW, and to suppress their own data if it called AGW into question.
  • The emails suggest that the authors co-operated (perhaps the word is “conspired”) to prevent data from being made available to other researchers through either data archiving requests or through the Freedom of Information Acts of both the U.S. and the UK.
What makes this interesting is that the CRU, in later years, announced that they had “inadvertently deleted” their raw data when they responded to an FOIA request from … McIntyre."
[---]
But, at least on this first look, it appears that the three scandals are:
  • First, a real attempt by a small group of scientists to subvert the peer-review process and suppress dissenting voices.... This is at best massively unethical.
  • Second, a willingness to manipulate the data to make a political case. This is certainly misconduct and possibly scientific fraud. This, if it proves true, should make these scientists subject to strong disciplinary action, even termination of their tenured positions.
  • Third, what gives every appearance of an actual conspiracy to prevent data from being released as required by the Freedom of Information Acts in the US and UK. If this is proven true, that is a federal crime.
Wow! Wow! and Wow!!

Amusing Comment On CRUgate

This comes from a comment on Steve McIntyre's mirror site:
"Found the following advice to staff on the University of East Anglia website:

Guidance for staff
5 key facts that all staff should know about Freedom of Information

* The Act gives everyone both in and outside UEA a right of access to ANY recorded information held by UEA
* A request for information must be answered within 20 working days
* If you receive a request for information which mentions FOI, is not information you routinely provide, is unusual, or you are unsure of, you should pass the request to your FOIA contact or the Information Policy and Compliance Manager
* You should ensure that UEA records are well maintained and accessible to other staff, so that they can locate information needed to answer a request when you are not there
* As all documents and emails could potentially be released under the Act, you should ensure that those you create are clear and professional

Priceless! Particularly the last two points. Apparently Phil Jones has never read this advice, or perhaps he thought this applied only to lower forms of life."

Reaction From a Denier

A couple of pieces by Roy Spencer, one of the dreaded deniers. Gotta love the title of the first one.

Global Warming's Blue Dress Moment? The CRU EMail Hack Scandal
"While it is too early to tell just yet, there seems to be considerable damning evidence that data have been hidden or destroyed to avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) data requests; data have been manipulated in order to get results that best suit the pro-anthropogenic global warming agenda of the IPCC; e-mails that contain incriminating discussions are being deleted. And, on the bright side, we skeptics seem to be quite a thorn in the side of the IPCC.

In reading these e-mails from the ‘other side’ of the scientific debate I am particularly amazed at the mindset of a few of these scientists. I exchange e-mails with other like-minded (read ‘skeptical’) scientists, as do the IPCC scientists with their peers. But never do I hear of anyone manipulating climate data to achieve a certain end."
[---]
"As of this writing, the BBC is the first mainstream news source to cover the story. But instead of discussing the content of any of the e-mails, the BBC is focusing on the illegal nature of the computer system breach. An expert was quoted who alluded to the contentious nature of the global warming debate, and how both sides would resort to tricks to help their side.

That’s pretty rich. If the hacked e-mails — with incriminating content — just happened to be Sarah Palin’s, does ANYONE believe that news reports would avoid disclosing the content of those e-mails?"
ClimateGate and the Elitist Roots of Global Warming Alarmism
"These scientists look upon us skeptics with scorn. It is well known that the IPCC machine is made up of bureaucrats and scientists who think they know how the world should be run."
[---]
"Even if this language does not survive in the treaty’s final form, it illustrates the kind of people we are dealing with. The IPCC folks jet around the world to all kinds of exotic locations for their UN-organized meetings where they eat the finest food. Their gigantic carbon footprints stomp around the planet as they deride poor Brazilian farmers who convert jungle into farmland simply to survive.

Even mainstream journalists, who are usually on board with the latest environmental craze, have commented on this blatant display of hypocrisy."
[---]
"While the skeptics’ blogs allow those who disagree to post opinions as long as they remain civil about it, RealClimate.org routinely ignores or deletes posts that might cast doubt on their tidy worldview. The same thing happens at Wikipedia, where a gatekeeper deletes newly posted content that departs from the IPCC party line.

A few of the CRU e-mails suggest that manipulation of climate data in order to reduce the signature of natural climate variations, and to exaggerate the supposed evidence for manmade climate change, is OK with these folks. Apparently, the ends justify the means.

The defense posted at RealClimate.org actually reinforces my point. Do the IPCC scientists assume that this is how all climate scientists behave? If it really was how the rest of us behave, why would our eyebrows be raised up to our hairlines as we read the e-mails?"

"Year after year, the evidence keeps mounting that most climate research now being funded is for the purpose of supporting the IPCC’s politics, not to find out how nature works. The ‘data spin’ is increasingly difficult to ignore or to explain away as just sloppy science. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…"

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Time for a CRUgate MeltdownMann Linkfest

UPDATE: Steve McIntyre has set up a mirror site, since the original Climate Audit site is being hit so hard.
===================================

Some reactions to the stunning revelations of fraud and a carefully contrived cover-up dug out of CRU computers and sent round the world:

Hacker Released Data Implicating CRU in Global Warming Fraud (Good summary with updates.)

Climate cuttings 33 (Contains a nice summary of some of the most damning statements made by the "scientists' involved in the scam.)

The Alarmists Do Science: A Case Study (Another summary.)

Do hacked e-mails show global-warming fraud?


The CRU Hack

Hold your fire

Warmist conspiracy exposed?

Big News: The Hacked Climate Documents - "Climate Gate"

Death Blow to Climate Science

Climate Skeptics See 'Smoking Gun' in Researchers Leaked E-mails

Evidence of climate fraud

And the media's coverage of it:

Mainstream Media Ignores Greatest Scandal in Modern Science

What she didn't ask (A case of blatant bias at CBC regarding reportage on the global warming issue. Are we surprised? Of course not.)

Climategate: How the MSM reported the greatest scandal in modern science

And for reaction from the left: It's the usual deny - echo ..... echo.......echo and/or ignore - echo......... echo............. ecoooo.................. ooooo................ ~~~~~~~~.................... ______________________ (insert white noise here).

If you can get on to it (not surprisingly, it seems to be over-loaded with hits today), Stephen McIntyre's website, Climate Audit, is a good place to watch as this breaking news unfolds or pay a visit to Watts Up With That?, Climate Change Fraud or Climate Skeptic.

This is huge news, sorta like I remember Watergate being, way back in 1973/4, but don't expect the media to keep on top of it. It doesn't support the narrative they have pushed for the last half decade or so. The segway to toward a new narrative will, of necessity, have to be subtle and drawn out, if it's going go happen at all. Otherwise they reveal their own incompetence and complicity. A tape recording of Nixon talking to his co-conspirators, even though, or perhaps because of the infamous 18 minutes of it that had been erased, was the whistle that blew the lid off what became known as the Watergate scandal.

This time, there appears to be no equivalent to the missing 18 minutes and no equivalent of Rose Mary Woods to take the fall . It's only a matter of time. The cover has been blown off and those guilty of fraud will face the consequences. The real victims here are science itself and what used to be one of the cornerstone checks and balances pieces - the process known as peer review.

Friday, November 20, 2009

At This Very Moment..

UPPERDATE: Throughout the day, the left side of the blogosphere has closed ranks and for the most part refused to give quarter to this startling revelation.

Big City Lib has two entries both in full on denial that this means anything. There were, at the time that I visited, a grand total of 17 comments, mostly from folks telling him he was out to lunch together with his pathetic attempt at rebuttal.

Everybody else was completely silent, although several did have posts up with today's date. These include Dr. Dawg, Saskboy, Stoogeleft (although he did have an entry a few days ago criticizing the lack of enthusiasm from the worlds political leaders, including Obama, about the upcoming Copenhagen conference), Canadian Cynic, Bow, James Bow, My Blahg, Unrepentant Old Hippie and Daily Kos.

Red Tory has a blog entry about the general global warming issue, but of course it was just more of the same old same old, with no hint of any acknowledgment that this story had broken.

Bunch of losers. As always.
====================================
UPDATE: At this very moment, Real Climate diehards are working hard to suppress the truth.
====================================
...the Copenhagen Hoteliers' Association is holding an emergency meeting. It seems all those rooms they'd blocked off may not be needed after all.

h/t SDA and Jay Currie

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Blockbuster!!

Columbia University Does It Again

First they let the king of Islamofacism speak. Now they deny Nonie Darwish the same podium. Just when did America's universities become practitioners of sedition? This has to stop.

The Importance of Soccer Football

The Garden of Eden Restored

Resurrecting Eden, where the story of Noah's Ark began.

Inspiring!!

He's Back!!

After a four month hiatus, Iraq Pundit is back. Check out one of my favourite Iraqi bloggers. You gotta like a guy who can skewer Juan Cole the way he does, or for that matter, Obama.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Good Lovin' Christ!!!

What next?

UN Report: women hit hardest by climate change
"Women, especially those living in developing countries, are burdened with the impact of climate change....
[---]
"Aimed at highlighting the gap between the rich and poor and the inequities between women and men, the report, titled "The State of World Population 2009," links the relationship of population dynamics, reproductive health, and climate change in the face of unpredictable weather events."
Oh, but don't you know, weather is not climate. How many times have we heard that. Now they are changing their minds.
"Women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate change -- mainly because, they're more likely than men to live in poverty and therefore more likely to lack the resources to cope with the effects of climate change," said Editor Richard Kollodge at the launch of the report at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The report said that since women play a larger role in the agricultural work force, where in the case of drought or heavy rainfall, women are then left to fend even harder to obtain water, food and energy for their homes."
[---]
"Women are among the most vulnerable to climate changes, partly because in many countries they make up the larger share of the agricultural work force and partly because they tend not to have access to as many income-earning opportunities as men..."
[---]
""The report explores the critical connections among population dynamics, reproductive health, women's lives and climate change as they relate to greenhouse-gas emissions and societies' resilience against the impacts of climate change, .... Often girls have to drop out of school to share this responsibility which contributes to the cycle of poverty and inequality -- and "undermines the social capital" adequately needed in addressing climate change, said the report.

To prevent the world's 3.4 billion women and girls from bearing the brunt of climate change, Kollodge underscored the need in "empowering women to cope with the changes in climate" in order to "become agents for positive change."

Access to reproductive healthcare, including family planning, will cause decreased rates of fertility, which then contributes in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions over a period of time, said the report.

"Climate change is about people -- people are affected by it, people must adapt to it and only people can stop it," Kollodge said."
Same old clap trap. Pretty new wrapping paper. Me thinks there's no cause which the global warmists cannot exploit. Sorry folks, that wrapping paper is becoming more and more transparent.

Hey Yanks and Leftards!

Next time you wanna diss Canada remember this. Transparency International has just released it's 2009 report ranking countries by the degree of corruption in their governing bodies, and once again Canada is least corrupt in the Americas.

Canada shares 8th place with Australia and Iceland, but is bested by New Zealand (1st place), Denmark (2nd), Singapore and Sweden (3rd), Switzerland, Finland and The Netherlands at 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. Canada's rank is one place better than it was last year but still one place below where it ranked in 1995, the first year the index was compiled. The UK holds 17th spot and the US is 18th.

There are two Arab countries (surprise, surprise) in the top 30 - Qatar and United Arab Emirates, ahead of Israel even!! And there are some European countries that fair pretty badly.

Rock bottom are Iraq (176 for shame), Sudan (176), Myanmar (178), Afghanistan (179) and Somalia (180).

Anywho, let's do better next year, Canada!! As soon as Obama finds out, he'll be apologizing left and, well, left and trying to do better. We can't let them Yanks out do us!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Greens in Quebec

I'm so tempted to use the word "Frog" in this entry, but maybe I shouldn't. After all, you gotta reward people who use their common sense, not slander them. But anyway, it appears it's not easy being Green in Quebec. This, from Steve Janke:
Green is so passe: The Greens received only three percent of votes cast in all four by-elections. And Michael Ignatieff last month declared that the environment will play a central role in the Liberal Party platform in the next election. So maybe yet again Michael Ignatieff is utterly misreading the electorate.
hehehehehehehe.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Still Waiting

I wonder what The Music God is up to? Has he been unable to find any relevant links to make his case against mine? Is he consulting with his masters at NDP headquarters for speaking points that might work? Or has he again, as I suspect, given up?

I don't want to hound the poor boy, but I would like to add one more to my list of links. Should he ever come back to duke it out, I might pull out all the rest as well, but this one provides a good summary of Saddam Hussein's rise to power through the vehicle of his own brutality. He didn't need no help from them 'Mericans.

Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti - The Evil Begins

Be sure to follow the links on the side of that page, especially the one entitled The Media Once Saw the Evil of Saddam. The bios of Uday and Qusay are also worth a read.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Telling It Like It Is

Black conservatives speak out:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Leaving Islam - Apostates Speak Out

Just in case you have any doubts about the wisdom of Jason Kenney's new Citizenship Guide, which, by the way, you can find here, watch this.

Ibn Warraq reads from his book, Leaving Islam, in nine parts:



Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9.

Update on Slavery Post

African slavery apology 'needed'
"Traditional African rulers should apologise for the role they played in the slave trade, a Nigerian rights group has said in a letter to chiefs.

"We cannot continue to blame the white men, as Africans particularly the traditional rulers, are not blameless," said the Civil Rights Congress."

The Population Bust and Other Nonsense

Remember The Population Bomb, written by Paul Ehrlich in 1968? In it, he warned of imminent population collapse due to our over stretching the limits of the earth's carrying capacity. There was supposed to have been a massive die-off of human beings in the 1970s and '80s. Didn't happen, of course.

He postulated a host of other dire consequences, too. The United States would see its life expectancy drop to 42 years by 1980 because of pesticide usage, and the nation's population would drop to 22.6 million by 1999. Also didn't happen.

India was going to see massive starvation. Nope. Didn't happen. Instead, India underwent the famous "green revolution".

Still, the predicted overpopulation and subsequent collapse could happen, but considering the actual population figures then and now (we have nearly doubled since 1968), it's risky to postulate what population might be the tipping point.

That's the trouble with alarmists. They invariably fail to take into consideration any mitigating factors, such as human ingenuity.

Same goes for today's warmists and assorted other goofballs like Elizabeth May. Is it just a coincidence that both Erhlich and May were/are long-time members of the Sierra Club and all the crackpot youthful idealists that have inhabited this organization over the years, whose alarmist hysteria has led to an accusation that they advocate eugenics. Consider what the Greens are advocating now with their strident faith in global warming hysteria: Nothing short of a complete collapse of our economies. It never occurs to them that their comfy middle to upper class lifestyles would be the first to go. I can hardly wait to hear the writhing and moaning after Copenhagen.

Copenhagen, Climate, Canada

Let's hope Prentice is a fossil
"The angrier greens get at Canada's environment minister in Copenhagen, the happier we should be"
hehehehehehe
"I suggest Canadian taxpayers who don't have the time or money to go winging off to the UN's never-ending Kyoto road show to remind politicians that they work for us, instead let out a huge cheer and a sigh of relief back home every time Prentice receives a fossil award in Copenhagen.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Lord Pearson on Radical Islamists in Britain

Link: Lord Pearson "England has 2 years to stop Islam"

Slavery - The Whole Story, Almost

Link: Euro slavery

Friday, November 13, 2009

A Good Way to Start the Morning

Canada takes a baby step in the right direction.

New citizenship guide says no to "barbaric" practices
"Canada's revamped citizenship guide warns newcomers that "barbaric cultural practices" such as honour killings will not be tolerated, marking a stronger tone against importing beliefs that clash with Canadian values."
"In Canada, men and women are equal under the law," the document says. "Canada's openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, ‘honour killings,' female genital mutilation or other gender-based violence. Those guilty of these crimes are severely punished under Canada's criminal laws."
Colby Cosh has a great analysis of the new guide and, of course, a member of the Liberal Party is whining.

Green Arm Bands Everywhere...

... including on a basketball court. The singer is Farshid Amin, and Iranian-American.



Related:

The Starfish Revolution?
"If you decapitate a spider, it dies, but if you lop off an arm of a starfish, it regenerates. In like manner, despite a massive crackdown from the Iranian regime–thousands of arrests (now termed “kidnappings” by Iranian Tweeters), scores of executions, mass rape and other forms of torture, show trials and stern intimidation from political and military leaders, judges and clerics, the Green Path moves on, with its next publicly announced challenge to the regime set for December 7th."
[---]
"There are lots of starfish in this movement, and the regime knows it. That is why, with all the brutality that has been unleashed, the mullahs still recoil from arresting the troika. (Ed: Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami) They know that such an act would fill the streets, and they also know that many members of the security forces would stand aside, or even join the revolution."
[---]
"But even a movement like this one cannot flourish without good leadership. Anyone looking at the behavior of the anti-regime crowds cannot help being enormously impressed with their discipline. Slogans are prepared and chanted, signs and banners are brandished at the security forces, green arm bands, head bands and wristlets appear at just the right moment. This points to organization, not pure spontaneity."
[---]
"Funny world, isn’t it? The Islamic Republic teeters on the edge of history’s garbage dump, a fascinating revolutionary movement bids to change the world, and peace prizes are given to an accomplice to evil–Mohammed al Baradei–and an American president who won’t throw his moral weight behind tens of millions of Iranians who are risking their lives to be able to have a government like ours."

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Lifetime of Accomplishments

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Great One from American Thinker

The Left and Terror
"Clearly, American leftists cannot act otherwise. They can never be truly patriotic in the real sense, in the sense of sacrifice and overcoming doubts, of valuing their country as a larger expression of family and neighborhood. To ask that of them is to ask them to give up their higher allegiance, to demand that they stop being leftists, stop being progressives, stop being the world's holy fools. And that is to ask too much."
[---]
"So how do we respond? We'll pause here to allow the loud cry of "Hang ‘em all!" to roll over us and commend everyone involved for their enthusiasm, if not their prescription. But what we need,....
RTWT

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Salim Mansur Explains the Origin of Political Islam

Right from the beginning, folks.







h/t Blazing Catfur

Robert Spencer 'Splains It

...for the Jihadist-deniers:

Three More Years of This??!!??

The New Iran Man at the State Department's Iran Desk

Obama snubs Fort Hood to Relax at Camp David

Unbelievable.

That hissing sound is the deflating morale of the American armed forces. Way to go Obama.

Pajamas Media is all over this one: here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

"Dummer Than Just Noise"

Terry Glavin gives Murray Dobbin a well deserved kick in the nuts. I had the displeasure of rubbing shoulders with Dobbin a long time ago when I lived in Saskatoon. Dummer than just noise is an apt description. How anyone could still be a raging Marxist in 2009 is well beyond dumb.

Ann Bayefski Meets the Thugs...

...at the United Nations and is escorted out for speaking the truth.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Cherish What We Have and Hold Fast

Million umm Hundred er Ten Thousand Man March

...okay, I'll even accept a thousand men and women. When I see Western Muslims organizing and marching in defense of Western civilization, and during which the chants and signs are "Down with terrorism!" or "No to political Islam", or "Not in our name!" or maybe "Nidal Malik Hassan Go to Hell!" or "CAIR is the Problem!" (I'm sure I could come up with several more), that's when I will believe the great masses of Muslims living in Canada and the United States are (*cough* *hack*) truly moderate. Let's hear it folks. I'm willing to walk with you, but first you gotta show your faces, in all senses of the phrase. Louder, please!

While I spit on the phoney outrage that customary issues from CAIR, my heart goes out to the victims' families, friends and the entire body of American armed forces.

UPDATE: Jamie Glaslov interviews Dave Gaubatz on the nature of radical Islamism and the incident at Ft. Hood.
"Journalists and their affiliated news organization are so afraid of being labeled or sued by organizations such as CAIR that they will withhold the truth from the American people.

My team and I have conducted first-hand research at over 200 Islamic Centers in the U.S., and in various Islamic organizations such as CAIR. There is one common denominator: There is an open hatred being advocated by Islamic scholars toward Christians, Jews, and Muslims who do not adhere to ‘all aspects’ of Sharia law (Islamic law).
The materials being distributed by these scholars are very clear in their message: violence against anyone who “oppresses” Islam is justified. It makes them subject to the punishment of death. Rifqa Bary (the 17-year-old Muslim girl who left Islam for Christianity) tried to speak out, but has been ignored. Many more Muslims have tried to speak out but the PR machine of the Muslim Brotherhood (backed by Saudi and Egyptian money) keeps them silent."
[---]
"Investigative journalists need to ask Imams across our country what these following statements mean and if it is likely and very possible that Muslims could use these teachings to commit acts such as occurred at Ft. HooInvestigative journalists need to ask Imams across our country what these following statements mean and if it is likely and very possible that Muslims could use these teachings to commit acts such as occurred at Ft. Hood...."
RTWT

Copenhagen Bust

Good thing, too.

Look at these headlines today:

US wants India to assume leading role on climate change
"Ahead of the Copenhagen summit next month, the US today said India should take a leadership role on the issue of climate change and indicated it wanted the country to cut carbon emissions."
Copenhagen deal will be 'political' not 'legal'
"The Copenhagen summit is unlikely to produce a legally binding way forward on tackling climate change, Ed Miliband has admitted."
Vaclav Klaus: 'Largest tax increase in world history'
"We should not forget how the doctrine of global warming came into being. In a normal case, everything starts with an empirical observation, with the discovery of evident trends or tendencies. Then follow scientific hypotheses and their testing. When they are not refuted, they begin to influence politicians. The whole process finally leads to some policy measures. None of this was the case with the global warming doctrine."
Copenhagen toughens up Prentice
"...the federal government has finally realized the approaching climate-change talks are an impossible mission."
Nice summary. With any luck, the whole shebang will be lying on the floor, along with history's other big scams and crazy ideas, before there is an agreement, but what I see here is that the politicos have gotten the message but are still a wee bit frightened by the warmmongers. It's only a matter of time.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

At the End of the Day

Barack Obama ...

...tries another shade of lipstick.

But alas, it's still a pig, after all.

h/t Spirit of Man

And Michael Ledeen gives his take on Obama's brave words:
"...their (the protesters) contempt is not limited to their own tyrants. It extends to President Obama, who today issued a masterpiece of appeasement and all but groveled in begging the leaders of the Islamic Republic to make a deal..."
[---]
"He could not spare a single word for the plight of the people of Iran, who were being beaten, clubbed, stabbed and shot as he issued his statement."

Meanwhile, Back in the Mediterranean...

...Iran faces a different challenge.

Israeli navy intercepts arms shipment headed for Syria and Hezbollah, a gift from, you guessed it, Iran.

"The weapons seized on the ship, which was sailing under an Antiguan flag, included some 3,000 rockets of various types, as well as bullets and ammunition.

The transfer of such large amounts of weapons out of Iran could "create a balance of power" between Israel and terrorist organizations, assessed Brigadier General Rani Ben-Yehuda, deputy commander of the Israeli navy..."

[---]

"After leaving the Bandar-Abbas port in Iran, the cargo was shipped through the Suez Canal, unloaded at the Mediterranean port of Damietta in Egypt and then loaded onto the ship that was captured by the navy. The intended destination was the port of Latakia in Syria, with the contents of the shipment to be sent to Hizbullah, they said.

The ship's crew was unaware of the weapons on board, as the armaments were disguised as humanitarian aid and hidden behind sacks of polyethylene."(Emphasis mine.)

Quelle surprize!!

All Eyes on Iran

Watch Winston's blog today for updates: The Spirit of Man

Gotta love his first report:
"Apparently pro-democracy people have gathered in front of Tehran university campus. People are chanting "Death to Russia" whenever the regime official asks them to chant 'Death to USA'."
Winston advises keeping an eye on this website for updates. Some samples:
"Usually reliable sources on Twitter said there has been a repeated use of teargas in Hafte Tir Square in Tehran. They also report that some protesters have been violently beaten by the security forces wielding batons. Metro stations have been blocked and there's a heavy police presence."
[---]
"Unsurprisingly the state media is ignoring the opposition protests and focusing instead on the official anti-US rallies. Press TV claims: "Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and many political persuasions have staged a rally at the site of the former US embassy in Tehran, better known in Iranian history as the 'den of spies'."
Article in The Guardian: Iran's student day protests
"Rumours have been flying about what may happen today. There's speculation that pro-regime students plan to storm the UK embassy, but there's also talk that opposition protesters may do the same to the Russian embassy."
Azarmehr has coverage, too, starting here. More recent entries are above that. Lots of good links.

According to Azarmehr, the people are chanting: 'Obama You are Either on Their Side or on Our Side' Hmmmm! Sounds familiar, doesn't it. I wonder what leftards will do with that!

Ya Think!!

Put thief, not me, on trial, grocer says

"In China, if this happened, a lot of people in the area would help, plus the police would arrive immediately," he said in Mandarin.

"The thief would be on trial, not the store owner."

Yah, well, this is Canada, that f***ed up country north of the 49th parallel. It's pink on the maps. Great colour, eh!

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Unbelievable!!!

Absolutely brilliant!! I don't think I will believe this until I actually see it, though.

Iran opposition to apologize to US for embassy siege
"...the tactic of using official holidays as cover has proved to be an effective means of challenging the regime. A day of solidarity with the Palestinians was similarly hijacked in September.

By expressing regret for the embassy takeover, the opposition is taking on the most cherished event in the first months of the Islamic Republic. The confrontation was to define the new state."
h/t Spirit of Man

This is a humongous slap in the face to the ruling Mullahs and their goose stepping CEO, Ahmedinejad. And to top it all off, using November 4th, the national holiday struck to commemorate the establishment of the Islamic regime is powerfully symbolic!!.

If they manage to pull this off in Iran itself, IMHO, it will be as significant as the fall of the Berlin Wall, twenty years ago. The Soviet Union collapsed not long after that. Will this step be the final blow for the world's only theocracy? Let's hope so.

Keep your eyes and ears open. Tomorrow is the eventful day.

Keep. Going. Iran.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Forget Carbon Trading

Now there's a recommendation to do fart trading.

Study claims meat creates half of all greenhouse gases
"In a paper published by a respected US thinktank, the Worldwatch Institute, two World Bank environmental advisers claim that instead of 18 per cent of global emissions being caused by meat, the true figure is 51 per cent.

They claim that United Nation's figures have severely underestimated the greenhouse gases caused by tens of billions of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and other animals in three main areas: methane, land use and respiration."
I think we have two ways of dealing with this. One would be to follow the New Zealand lead and try to impose a fart tax or we could eat beans instead. Since the Kiwis hit a bit of a brick wall with their fart tax idea, I think maybe the beans idea would be the best option.

That means we have to cultivate more land, though. Get those tractors out of the sheds. Oh wait...they use fossil fuel. Okay. I guess we'll have to rely on bovine powered plows. Oh wait....weren't we trying to reduce the amount of methane gas...

I like beans, by the way. I've a lot of vegetarian cookbooks and there's some great recipes in them, but, ya know... there's that small problem that occurs a few hours after ingestion called flatulence, aka, methane. They also take a lot longer to cook than you're average T-bone steak.

You just can't win.

More Yay Canada!!

The human capacity for innovation is limitless
Mr. Lewis' process cools the exhaust from farm tractors and injects it into the soil. This process eliminates the need for fertilizer.
Might as well capitalize on the CO2 nonsense, because hey, it's a great idea for farmers.

And speaking of capitalizing on the CO2 nonsense, how about this one:

Somali Pirates Learning from Mark Steyn?


Gotta love that quote from the master wordsmith.

Keep Going Canada

I'm glad there's one leader with balls left in North America.

Canada unveils UN resolution blasting Iran's rights record
"Canada deposited a draft resolution at the United Nations that implicitly criticizes the UN's array of human rights investigators, saying they need to get proactive about exposing human rights abuse in Iran."
[---]
"The draft resolution calls on UN investigators of extra-judicial executions, torture, free speech suppression, persecution of human rights activists, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances to "pay particular attention" to Iran." (emphasis mine)
[---]
"The text reflects past Canadian-led resolutions in identifying torture, flogging, amputations and stoning as "serious ongoing and recurring human-rights violations" in Iran." (emphasis mine)
Jeh Custer and the moral equivalence crowd can learn something here, but they won't, of course.
"The call for more UN investigator involvement comes amid criticism that many of the "special rapporteurs" spend a disproportionate amount of time probing alleged abuses in advanced democracies, while ignoring countries where the worst abuse takes place."
I'm thinking the Harper government would do this anyway, even if no Canadian had been kidnapped or murdered by that regime.

Keep. Going. Harper.

Twenty Years On

I can't believe it's been that long.



Leaders recall Berlin wall's fall

Good videos of it here and here. I'm glad Maggie didn't get her way.

The Cold War began just about the time I was born so this was this was easily one of the most significant events in my lifetime. What I recall is the suddenness with which it happened. It really caught me off guard and I could hardly believe it.

I also recall how difficult it was for West Germany to integrate the East Germans back into a free, democratic and capitalist society. The East Germans were obviously deeply scared by their forty plus years of communist dictatorship. I'm hoping something like this will happen in Iran very soon.