Category Archives: Civilization

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Moses Znaimer’s ideacity – Rethinking Democracy

Very interesting discussion on Democracy

What I was most suprised about was Conrad Black’s portion of the discussion and his take on the political discourse in the United States and the current state of the news media in that country.

“(In the Unites States) As of now, public discourse, is essentially idiots on the right and left shrieking at each other making no sense at all, and you don’t get the best candidates running for president…”

Moses Znaimer’s ideacity – Rethinking Democracy

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America’s Nuclear Moonscape

A very cool interactive map showing nuclear tests in the Nevada desert.  This site is only about 100km from Las Vegas.

Nevada Test Site

America’s Nuclear Moonscape.

From website ESRI Website:
Established in 1950, the Nevada Test Site (NTS) was the main United States location for the testing of nuclear devices for both military and peaceful uses. Between 1945 and the voluntary suspension of testing in 1992, the U.S. conducted 1,051 nuclear tests worldwide – 925 of these were at the NTS. The legacy of that testing is evident in the image to the right of the NTS’s Yucca Flats area. Locations for 603 of the tests are plotted in 5-year increments.
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There’s no point wearing a poppy if you just want to be popular | David Mitchell

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/17/david-mitchell-remembrance-poppies-television

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Engineering algae to make the ‘wonder material’ nanocellulose for biofuels and more

Engineering algae to make the ‘wonder material’ nanocellulose for biofuels and more.

 

This is pretty interesting, if this goes onto a larger production, we could see the engineering world produce lighter and stronger vehicles, geofabric stiffer than kevlar, and possibly pavement that can withstand our frigid winters,  which I will so graciously reminded this weekend.  We’re supposed to get upwards of 20 cm in the Edmonton area.

All of that technology from algae and water…   Now if I could just get cell reception in my house from by letting what’s in my fridge fester a little more, I’d be onto something.

 

 

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The Tyee – Alberta’s Strange Sinking Sensation

Great article that hit a lot of points that have bugged me as a saskie living in alberta these last 9 years.

The Tyee – Alberta’s Strange Sinking Sensation.

Bitterman, Ty, maybe you should let Mr. Brad Wall know about it. The original article was by Andrew Nikiforuk from thetyee.ca.

The Best Part of this is the Bonus Guide…

“BONUS GUIDE: 16 SYMPTOMS OF PETROMANIA”

How do you know when you live in petro state? Here are some key signs:

  • When your government pays 30 per cent of its road, education, and hospital bills with finite and volatile hydrocarbon revenue.
  • When your province posts five budget deficits in a row during a so-called “bitumen boom.”
  • When the billionaire owner of a hockey club (the Oilers) donates $430,000 to extend the 40-year rule of a one party state that ran out of ideas 30 years ago.
  • When Alberta Health says it can’t comment on the public health impacts of hydraulic fracturing because Alberta Energy is responsible for “sustainable energy development.”
  • When the government approves 100 bitumen projects over a ten-year period without a cumulative impact assessment.
  • When government officials ban the use of the word “tar sands” the same way the U.S. military forbade the use of the word “insurgency” in Iraq.
  • When your government fires the Chief Elections Officer, Lorne Gibson, in 2009 for doing his job and reporting on widespread electoral fraud.
  • When your former premier, Ed Stelmach, advises the Ukrainian government on how to sell shale gas development to a skeptical public concerned about groundwater contamination.
  • When most university research chairs acquire boutique petroleum brands such as the Enbridge Research Chair in Psychosocial Oncology; the Cenovus Chair in Canadian Plains Mitigation and Reclamation, the TransCanada Chair in Regulatory Law and the Talisman Chair for Sustainability and the Environment.
  • When prominent scientists such as David Schindler are vilified and slandered for reporting on documented water contamination from tar sands development in top science journals.
  • When your government estimates that cleaning up toxic waste in the tar sands will cost more than $20 billion but asks industry to set aside only $1 billion.
  • When politicians describe bitumen, a badly degraded tar enmeshed in sand, as “the jewel of hydrocarbons.”
  • When the province’s oil and gas regulator argues in Queen’s Court that it owes “no duty of care” to Albertan landowners or the province’s groundwater.
  • When a bunch of Calgary lawyers decide that the best market for their self-branded “ethical oil” are Chinese national oil firms directed by the world’s leading moral philosophers, the Communist Party of China.