White House 2020

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Is Global Warming a Hoax?

My rebuttal to Lenar Whitney:

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Is Capitalism dead?

Interesting opinions from a political expert/philosopher on current and future economic conditions with a focus on Capitalism.

I especially found statements near the end of the video assuring. Basically, the point was made that Scandinavian countries, while maintaining a high degree of social programs and a far more level income equality ratio among their citizens, they remain among the top countries in global economic competitiveness. In other words, the old argument that conservatives like to use for attacking all forms of  income re-distribution is a crock.

There is no reason why the wealth of a country cannot be more evenly shared while the nation remains vital in a global, competitive economy. You don't run out of "other people's money" because not everyone gets "on the dole" just because they can. People are just as anxious to invent, discover, and create jobs even if they won't earn the obscene amounts that their American counterparts do. I use the word "obscene" not because I begrudge anyone the fruits of their labour, but only because that wealth comes at the expense of large numbers of hard-working or even non-working folks who struggle for food and shelter every day.


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Love and the City

A couple of evenings ago, I had just turned on the TV and was hunting, when I stopped on a news story about volunteers teaching adolescents to cook. The story returned to Susan Hay, well-known Global TV weather girl and charity worker. The camera was close in on her face and in that moment it struck me what a truly rare young lady this is.

With bigtime looks and small town personality, she could take the world by the tail if she wanted. But what does she do, instead?

From 2001-2003, she hosted a news segment titled "Heart of the City" about community involvement. In 2003, Hay went to Africa with World Vision to help children orphaned by AIDS. She went to Africa two more times to transform lives. As if that isn't enough, Susan is a spokesperson for four charitable and research foundations, runs marathons to raise money for leukemia research, and is currently hosting "Making a Difference" seen bi-weekly on Global.

Ok, back to that instant in time I mentioned earlier. Just then, they flashed Susan Hay's e-mail address on the screen, and I jumed up and wrote her a short note commending her for all the good work she does. Despite being at the TV studio at the end of a very long and arduos day, this lovely woman took the time right there and then to respond to my e-mail within fifteen minutes of my having sent it.

The world could use a few more Susan Hays.

Now, you know

This video is so compelling, it just flies by. It explains the urgency with which we need to act to prevent a catastrophic meltdown of the planet--not necessarily due to global warming, but to many of the systems we take for granted every day--financial, food production, globalization, density, consumption, environment, etc. These systems are all based on infinite expansion, which is not only unsustainable, it can and will come to a screeching halt much sooner than most people think. World renowned Canadian author, broadcaster, environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki explains:

Right now

It's warmer in Toronto (17 C.) than it is in:

San Francisco (16 C.)
Rome (16 C.)
Paris (10 C.)
London (10 C.)

Must be all that globally warmed Arctic air wafting down.

Q & A's from around the web

Are the ice caps going to melt?

That depends. How long ago did you pick them up at the coffee shop?

Global warming

I was standing at the supermarket checkout yesterday and they had a a small ad taped to the scale where it is just below the height of most people's chin. It was hard not to notice it. It was a plea for charity. Specifically, it said "Could you still ignore it if it were this obvious?" Below that, was a picture of a sad looking boy of perhaps eight years old sporting a t-shirt which read "I'm Hungry". Apparently, I could not and I reached into my pocket and gave the requested Toonie (Canadian $2 coin) to the cashier.

Before I had advanced to the point of the sign, I had noticed that the girl in the queue ahead of me was buying quite a few tins of cat food, and it sparked the affection I will always hold for felines since I had 13 beautiful years with my own cat before I had to put him down due to health problems. Anyway, as I started to put my items into my eco sac, I noticed a cat food tin, so I quickly looked up and out the door and could see the girl who bought them, and gathering up my stuff, I rushed out and caught up with her as she was getting into her car. I handed over the tin and as she thanked me, I told her we can't have hungry cats meowing all over the countryside.

As I continued on my way home (walking distance from the store), I noticed that despite the nip in the October air, the two events left me feeling a little warmer than I was on my way to the store. I would like to take this opportunity to challenge you all to go out of your way in the next day or two and perform a random act of kindness, no matter how small. This kind of global warming is good for the planet.