"One should doubtless keep an open mind...though open at both ends, like the food pipe, and have a capacity for excretion as well as intake." -- Northrop Frye, 'The Great Code'
... When the IPCC was awarded half of the Nobel Peace Prize back in 2007 (Al Gore won the other half), its chairman profoundly over-stepped his authority. Writing to IPCC-affiliated academics en masse, Rajendra Pachauri proclaimed: “This makes each of you Nobel Laureates.”
This, of course, led to many claims by individuals (or by their organizations on their behalf) to be Nobel Prize winners or Nobel Laureates. British Columbia has more than its fair share:
In March 2013, The Walrus magazine published an article it said had been written by a “Nobel laureate” and a “Nobel economist.” But Mark Jaccard, who teaches at Simon Fraser University, has never won a Nobel prize — not in economics or any other field.
... [Jaccard] is a special advisor to the BC environment ministry’s Climate Action Team. An official web page claims that eight membersof that entity were awarded the 2007 Peace Prize. When we stretch the truth so extravagantly, this is where we end up.
It got so bad that the IPCC was prompted to issue an official statement (Dec 2012) to try to stop the practice:
... The prize was awarded to the IPCC as an organization, and not to any individual associated with the IPCC. Thus it is incorrect to refer to any IPCC official, or scientist who worked on IPCC reports, as a Nobel laureate or Nobel Prize winner. ...
As an aside, if anyone has any doubt as to where the BC government stands on the issue of "climate change" it's "Climate Action Plan", "Climate Action Team" and its carbon tax are hints that it brooks no skepticism.
Much like the Keystone XL debacle in Washington, the EU’s proposed Fuel Quality Directive illustrates the hypocrisy of climate change politics — tough to sell at home, the pain of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is pushed abroad to feign the appearance of progress.
... What’s disappointing is that years of Canadian pushback that the directive is discriminatory has not changed the anti-oil sands’ nature of the proposal, spearheaded by EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. ...
Thanks to the lies and distortions of disloyal Canadian eco-extremists (like the Pembina Institute and David Suzuki) heavily funded by foreign interests, the oil sands have been turned into an international eco-whipping boy. Naïve, goody-two-shoes Canadian companies and governments have spent boat-loads of cash to reduce carbon emissions and to be environmentally responsible. On the international front all Canadians ask for is a level playing field and honest dealing.
And what do Canadians get in return? Blatant lies and hypocrisy from the likes of Connie Hedegaard and Barack Obama who threaten trade restrictions and deny approval of pipelines.
The bitter irony is that all of this (the disloyalty, the hypocrisy, the lies, the naïve, earnest good-faith efforts of Canadians, the waste) is premised on fears driven by dubious, unproven theories of catastrophic global warming - theories that are contradicted by 17 years of credible scientific data - data gathered by and for the fear-monger-in-chief, the UNIPCC.
EzraLevant continues his outstanding exposé of David Suzuki and expresses gratitude to the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) for doing what the Canadian media has failed to do for over 40 years - a professional job of interviewing their celebrity guest, exposing him to real questioning by experts in their field. Suzuki is revealed as an out of date, out of touch huckster and mystic with some truly kooky ideas:
Bravo to Ezra for a fantastic job!
FYI, here's the entire ABC program complete with viewer comments. It seems Suzuki has many uncritical Aussie fans.
Being among the most vulnerable to its potential abuse, the handicapped are at the forefront of the battle against legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia. So Steven Fletcher is going against the grain when he comes out in support of legalizing assisted suicide:
... Mr. Fletcher’s experience has prompted him to support those who argue in favour of legally assisted suicide for people with terminal illnesses. “I think those people should have the opportunity to ask for help to close life’s circle,” he said, a position that puts him at odds with his party. ...
So, Mr. Fletcher holds up his own situation following his terrible accident as justification for legalizing assisted suicide. Does this mean he wished he'd killed himself to avoid the temporary pain of his injuries and/or the quadriplegic state he now endures? It seems so, which would imply he wishes he were now dead. If so, he should go ahead and fulfill that wish. He has my blessing. But he shouldn't be seeking to involve the rest of us in killing him. Suicide should be strictly DIY.
And, let's be frank, legalized assisted suicide would soon morph into legalized euthanasia. That's what these death cultists really have their black, cowardly hearts set on. Legalizing assisted suicide is just a foot in the door.
If the facts of the case are as reported, Andreas Pirelli is surely as guilty of stealing Rebekah Caverhill’s property (one half of a duplex) as he would be had he been able to stuff it in a duffle bag and run off with it.
... In return for three months’ free rent, Pirelli agreed to do some reno work on the unit. Instead, according to Caverhill, Pirelli declared himself a Freeman-on-the-Land, essentially a sovereign citizen to whom Canadian laws and taxes do not apply.
Pirelli allegedly gutted much of Caverhill’s duplex, painted his bedroom black (all of it: walls, floors and ceiling) and then declared it an embassy for his sovereign state of ... well, his sovereign state of himself....
... What is especially frustrating is police are timid about helping Caverhill regain her property. They have told her her complaint is a civil matter, not a criminal one, so they cannot help. ...
They sometimes say that "the law is an ass". In this case, if it is as the crown
and police claim, they "cannot help", the law is a complete MORON. But I don't
really believe that. The so-called "Freeman" is a fraudster and vandal who, by his own
admission, has effectively stolen Ms Caverhill's property - illegally removed it
from her possession and control.
In another less "complicated" day in the not so distant past, this vandal, fraudster and thief
would have simply been removed, charged, jailed and tried in court. Today, the
"authorities" overthink the situation and decide to do nothing. This is more evidence that our well-paid so-called "enforcers" of
the law are becoming useless, politically correct idiots.
Ezra Levant: " Suzuki was on Australian television and was asked hard questions from scientists
in the audience. Questions he would never be asked in Canada. Watching an unscripted David Suzuki ... reveals how misinformed and out of touch he is. ... "
In order to create a safe space, this programme is open to people of colour only. A similar conversation for white students, faculty and staff is planned for the spring semester.
You see, it’s a “conversation,” one that’s all about “healing and mutual respect” and “engaging with diverse views.”
I’m actually rather tickled by the notion of students needing a “safe space” at Hamilton College, an elite New York liberal arts college with an endowment of around three-quarters of a billion dollars and where tuition is a mere $46,ooo, excluding room and board. This, after all, is one of the most cossetting and exquisitelyPC environments on the face of the Earth. ...
If it were only Hamilton College infecting young minds with this kind of insanity it might be funny. But nearly every university and college in North America has similar programs doing similar damage to millions of students and wasting untold $billions. It's an unmitigated disaster.
People object for a number of reasons to the new "smart meter" technology being installed by power companies across the country. Russell Irwin, the first guy in the above video, just doesn't want a new meter ("shoved down his throat") saying his original analog meter works just fine. Others object to the installation of the remote metering WiFi technology on their premises, fearing adverse health effects. The second fellow, Len Miller, objects on grounds of privacy and the potential for government to monitor his activities.
First, the meters belong to the energy company and are installed by agreement between the buyer and the supplier of energy. If you want power you agree to pay for what you use. If the company decides to upgrade its metering equipment that's strictly its business unless the equipment can be reasonably shown to be harmful to the customer. If all BC Hydro did was use WiFi technology to remotely collect monthly power usage data, presumably reducing meter reading costs, then who could object?
Well, lots of people would anyway. People like Russell Irwin and those who fear the health effects of WiFi. But neither has reasonable proof of harm.
Of all the objections against smart meters, the only legitimate one, so far, is Len Miller's objection based on privacy concerns. The potential for future encroachment of Big Brother is a real threat that needs to be addressed. [Miller's completely unacceptable treatment by the idiot thugs of the Vancouver Police Department is a separate and much more urgent matter.]
I wrote to BC Hydro last year with my own concerns about privacy and the potential for smart metering to be used by government to manipulate and coerce energy use (for example to enforce "climate change" policy). Their response:
Thank you for
contacting us regarding BC Hydro’s Smart Metering Program.
Our customers trust
us to protect their privacy and security, and we recognize and take that
responsibility very seriously. That’s why extensive privacy provisions are in
place for the Smart Metering Program.
BC Hydro takes the
responsibility to protect your privacy and security very
seriously.
BC Hydro has been
collecting electricity consumption information for 50 years through a safe,
secure and regulated process. The Smart Metering Program is no exception.
Privacy is governed
by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, for which
the Office of the Privacy Commissioner here in British Columbia provides
oversight. BC Hydro has worked closely with the Commissioner’s Office over the
past few months and will continue to work closely with their office to put in
place the most stringent privacy standards, and to ensure privacy is built into
the entire system.
Your information will
remain private and secure with the new smart metering system because:
Smart meters do not
contain personally-identifiable information. The only information
stored on the meter is hourly consumption information. The information is
encrypted much like online banking.
Smart meters cannot
detect what appliances you are using or when. Smart meters only
measure how much energy a home used or generated in total. This is the same
information we have always collected, just more frequently – up to three or four
times per day rather than once every two months.
BC Hydro does not
sell or disclose personal information to third parties. The information
collected will be handled in accordance with the B.C. Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Act – just as it is now with your existing meter.
The smart metering
system uses multiple layers of security. Multiple layers of
security ensure that any single point of vulnerability will remain contained and
will not compromise the overall system. We have hired online experts to test our
systems and develop the strongest possible protections.
All personal
information will then continue to be handled in accordance with the British
Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
We do not have an opt
out option. BC Hydro is committed to working with you to understand your
specific concerns. We understand that
some customers are uncomfortable with radio frequency based technology and
that’s why we are working with those customers on a case by case basis to find
mutually agreeable solutions. The options available
to you will depend on your individual concerns and circumstances. In addition,
the costs associated with customization will also vary depending on your unique
circumstances.
Your concerns have
been noted on your account and a smart meter will not be installed at this time
until we have communicated with you further. [They installed the meter without further communication].
I suspect that was a pro-forma response. And they didn't address my point about the potential for manipulation to enforce policy for "fighting climate change".
... [the IPCC's AR5 report claims:] “In summary, the globally-averaged surface temperatures are well within the uncertainty range of all previous IPCC projections, and generally are in the middle of the scenario ranges.” Later, in Chapter 9, it states with “very high confidence” that models can correctly simulate global surface temperature trends.
... The IPCC must take everybody for fools. Its own graph shows that observed temperatures are not within the uncertainty range of projections; they have fallen below the bottom of the entire span. Nor do models simulate surface warming trends accurately; instead they grossly exaggerate them. (Nor do they match them on regional scales, where the fit is typically no better than random numbers.)
... since we are on the verge of seeing the emergence of data that could rock the foundations of mainstream climatology,this is obviously no time for entering into costly and permanent climate policy commitments based on failed model forecasts. [Someone call Stephen Harper.]
Americans unsure what to think about President Obama's plans for Syria should remember that all military action undertaken by Democrats for the last half-century has led to utter disaster. (With the possible exception of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." video, which I say still holds up.)
I know you liberals care more about free birth control than geopolitics, but if you keep electing Democrats, you'll be getting fitted for burqas, not IUDs.
"Statistical misrepresentations, faulty global warming claims and conflicts of interest in the "Costly Diagnosis" report by Pembina Instituteshould invalidate its call for an early shut-down of Alberta coal plantssay Friends of Science."
... Keystone has become the most contentious issue in U.S.-Canada trade relations since the 1980 National Energy Program. ...
... Keystone XL’s opponents are not reasonable people. It has become a “pipeline in the sand” for a radical U.S. environmental movement, which sees stopping it – and holding up development of the oil sands – as a symbol, and evidence of their coercive power, from which governments, and corporations should learn. Or else.
... What is truly astonishing is how these activists, who have little or no concern for either science or jobs, are given equal time – and even supported — by Canada’s media. ...
Ezra Levant has been doing an excellent job of exposing how radical environmentalist, anti-oil sands, global warming alarmist "think" tank lobby group, the Pembina Institute, has been receiving support from organizations who ought to know better:
- the city of Calgary
- the government of Alberta
- oil companies
- the Harper government
- Preston Manning
Ezra is particularly disappointed in his old friend and mentor, Preston Manning:
... in a throwaway Tweet, Professor Dawkins observed that “all the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. ...” ... Almost every London paper ran at least one story on the “controversy.”
... “How dare you dress your bigotry up as atheism. You are now beyond an embarrassment.” ... “It’s time someone turned Richard Dawkins off and then on again. Something’s gone weird.” ... “Please be quiet, Richard Dawkins, I’m begging.” ... “we must consign Dawkins to this very same pile of the irrational and the dishonest.”
... Whatever its virtues, Islam is not a culture of inquiry, of innovation. You can coast for a while on the accumulated inheritance of a pre-Muslim past ...but it’s not unreasonable to posit that the more Muslim a society becomes the smaller a role Nobel prizes and translated books will play in its future.
... Maybe I’m wrong, maybe Dawkins is wrong, maybe the U.N. Human Development chaps are wrong. But the ferocious objections even to raising the subject suggest we’re not. ...
Oh, how I long for the days when liberals wailed that "the rest of the world" hated America, rather than now, when the rest of the world laughs at us. ...
"It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences." -- C. S. Lewis
