Thursday 31 March 2016

The Pathos of Republican Reformers - The New York Times

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/the-pathos-of-republican-reformers/

Massive supervolcano eruptions once rocked Yellowstone - CSMonitor.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0326/Massive-supervolcano-eruptions-once-rocked-Yellowstone?cmpid=ema:nws:Science%2520Weekly%2520%2803/31/2016%29&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20160331_Newsletter:%20Science&utm_term=Science_final

Saturday 19 March 2016

Warren Buffett Wages Quiet War on Solar in the West

http://ecowatch.com/2016/02/22/warren-buffett-war-solar-west/

Jeff Rubin: Oil Sands Are 'Hemorrhaging Red Ink,' Doomed to Shutter | The Tyee

http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/03/18/Jeff-Rubin-Carbon-Talks/

Where does this end?

Friend writes from Alberta ...

I've never really experienced racism or overt hate speech. I'm white, it never happens. 

However today, An elderly white morbidly obese gentleman approaches me at the gym today at the University of Calgary. He starts chatting me up and because I'm a nice guy I carry on with the conversation. 

It quickly skewed into Trumpesque racist rhetoric. At first I thought he was joking. But the way he was trying to recruit me into his racist belief system was really impressive. I mean someone can have an opinion but there's a fine line between opinion and hate speech. It quickly went to hate speech and I mean the kind that Adolf Hitler liked to use.

Before I knew it, all of Canada's troubles are to be blamed on Muslims, specifically Arabs, Jews and native Canadians. And what went from an uncomfortable opinion to hate speech was striking. 

I suspect he wanted me to empathize with him because I happen to be white. 

So, a little bit flustered I didn't know how to respond until I realized that he was being absolutely hateful in his rhetoric. 

I responded 'your opinions are stained with overt generalizations and really disgusting racist attitudes' I followed 'you are in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong century for that kind of belief system.' It is not welcome at the University of Calgary. 

He huffed and puffed and I said to him 'You and I are the only white people in this gym' you were probably in the wrong place to be making such commentary.

So I wasn't sure if this is something you should complain about without proof. So I went to the guest services at Active Living at the University of Calgary and relayed my experience. They were fantastic, they took this very seriously and are investigating. 

Anyway, a bit of a startling experience. I've never experienced racism but that was pretty ugly.


..

Angela Merkel’s Misunderstood Christian Mission | Foreign Policy

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/18/angela-merkels-misunderstood-christian-mission-eu/


Truth is like a school of fish ...

Friday 18 March 2016

Malta gives go ahead to shooting of 5,000 endangered turtle doves | Environment | The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/16/malta-gives-go-ahead-to-shooting-of-5000-endangered-turtle-doves?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Green+Light+2016&utm_term=162576&subid=11218&CMP=EMCENVEML1631

Surge in renewable energy stalls world greenhouse gas emissions | Environment | The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/16/surge-in-renewable-energy-stalls-world-greenhouse-gas-emissions?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Green+Light+2016&utm_term=162576&subid=11218&CMP=EMCENVEML1631

What Donald Trump Gets Pretty Much Right, and Completely Wrong, About China - The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/upshot/what-donald-trump-gets-pretty-much-right-and-completely-wrong-about-china.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_up_20160318&nl=upshot&nl_art=1&nlid=60644272&ref=headline&te=1

Republican Elite’s Reign of Disdain - The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/opinion/republican-elites-reign-of-disdain.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article

Friday 11 March 2016

Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge? | Environment | The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/10/could-a-new-plastic-eating-bacteria-help-combat-this-pollution-scourge?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Green+Light+2016&utm_term=161444&subid=11218&CMP=EMCENVEML1631

Task Force Report: North America: Time for a New Focus - Council on Foreign Relations

http://www.cfr.org/world/north-america/p33536?cid=nlc-public-the_world_this_week--link39-20160311&sp_mid=50896914&sp_rid=d3VobGF4QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2

‘Apostle,’ by Tom Bissell - The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/books/review/apostle-by-tom-bissell.html?emc=edit_bk_20160311&nl=bookreview&nlid=60644272&ref=headline&_r=0

Everyone is a philosopher .... Interesting quote from "Karen Barad physicist: Was ist das Maß des Nichts? Unendlichkeit, Virtualität, Gerechtigkeit (dOCUMENTA (13): 100 Notes - 100 Thoughts, 100 Notizen - 100 Gedanken ... 100 Notizen - 100 Gedanken) (German Edition)"

Hi - I'm reading "Karen Barad: Was ist das Maß des Nichts? Unendlichkeit, Virtualität, Gerechtigkeit
(dOCUMENTA (13): 100 Notes - 100 Thoughts, 100 Notizen - 100 Gedanken ... 100 Notizen - 100 Gedanken) (German Edition)" by Karen Barad and wanted to share this quote with you.

"When it comes to the quantum vacuum, as with all quantum phenomena, ontological indeterminacy (not epistemological uncertainty) is at the heart of (the) matter . . . and no matter. Indeed, is it not rather the very nature of existence that is at issue, or rather nonexistence, or rather the conditions of im/ possibilities for non/ existence?"

Start reading it for free: http://amzn.to/1Lgyc5p
--------
Download Kindle for Android, iOS, PC, Mac and more
http://amzn.to/1WLoAkB

Tuesday 1 March 2016

GOP leaders, you must do everything in your power to stop Trump - The Washington Post

"Now it is faced with a front-runner who, in the interval between the two Priebus comments cited above, said of a protester, "I'd like to punch him in the face." This is a front-runner with no credible agenda and no suitable experience. He wants the United States to commit war crimes, including torture and the murder of innocent relatives of suspected terrorists. He admires Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and sees no difference between Mr. Putin's victims and people killed in the defense of the United States. He would round up and deport 11 million people, a forced movement on a scale not attempted since Stalin or perhaps Pol Pot. He has, during the course of his campaign, denigrated women, Jews, Muslims, Mexicans, people with disabilities and many more. He routinely trades in wild falsehoods and doubles down when his lies are exposed."

Let's be clear Trump's approach is becoming the Republican Party

Washington Post ... Robert Kagan February 25, 2016:

"Let's be clear: Trump is no fluke. Nor is he hijacking the Republican Party or the conservative movement, if there is such a thing. He is, rather, the party's creation, its Frankenstein's monster, brought to life by the party, fed by the party and now made strong enough to destroy its maker. Was it not the party's wild obstructionism — the repeated threats to shut down the government over policy and legislative disagreements, the persistent calls for nullification of Supreme Court decisions, the insistence that compromise was betrayal, the internal coups against party leaders who refused to join the general demolition — that taught Republican voters that government, institutions, political traditions, party leadership and even parties themselves were things to be overthrown, evaded, ignored, insulted, laughed at?"

Trump's power is created by an extreme that he then extends into the destruction of democracy in America ... Watch out ....?

Arthur

Trump is the GOP’s Frankenstein monster. Now he’s strong enough to destroy the party. - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-the-gops-frankenstein-monster-now-hes-strong-enough-to-destroy-the-party/2016/02/25/3e443f28-dbc1-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html

NYTimes: Trump's Il Duce Routine

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/opinion/donald-trumps-il-duce-routine.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Europe knows that democracies can collapse. It watches Trump with memories of when the sky darkened.

NYTimes: Obama Sends Plan to Close Guantánamo to Congress

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/us/politics/obama-guantanamo-bay.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

The president has long worked to empty the prison in Cuba, which he calls a counterproductive symbol of American power.

REPUTED MOB LEADER AMONG 15 INDICTED ON RACKETEERING COUNTS - NYTimes.com

Trump had dealings with such concrete mobsters, not unlike those operating in Canada ..

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/22/nyregion/reputed-mob-leader-among-15-indicted-on-racketeering-counts.html

Trump swam in mob-infested waters in early years as an NYC developer - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trump-swam-in-mob-infested-waters-in-early-years-as-an-nyc-developer/2015/10/16/3c75b918-60a3-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html

Electric vehicles could be as cheap as gas-guzzlers soon | Grist

http://grist.org/news/electric-vehicles-could-be-as-cheap-as-gas-guzzlers-soon/


Truth is like a school of fish ...

Is The Electric Vehicle A Crude Oil Killer? - Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2016/02/25/is-the-electric-vehicle-a-crude-oil-killer/#65f16cef36ed


Truth is like a school of fish ...

Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physi... - Kindle

https://read.amazon.com/kp/kshare?asin=B00EHNU7UY&id=Hk8KFhJcSciP75k1kaLwqA&reshareId=01X09ZM4F42QEGX4HAD7&reshareChannel=system

YOU HAVE REACHED WOOH'S STREAM
The Internet User's Best Kept Secret

Sketches from scratches is a provocative blogspot that has grown out of the Wuh Lax experience. It is eclectic, which means that it might consider just about anything from the simple to the extremely difficult. A scratch can be something that is troubling me or a short line on paper. From a scratch comes a verbal sketch or image sketch of the issue or subject. Other sites have other stuff that should really be of interest to the broad reader. I try to develop themes, but variety often comes before depth. ... more!