Watched the Conservative government lose the confidence motion in Parliament this morning. It was a little exciting as one never knows how this will really go in the end and also to see our Parliamentary tradition in action, this is not America sha-la-la-la-la, as David Bowie once sang. For once, in the six times Prime Ministers have fallen to non-confidence motions, this was not over the budget but rather over Contempt of Parliament, a first in our history. This was apparently something to celebrate as the Conservatives stood up to vote and a couple of them did a fist-bump! Right On! We collapsed the government for lying to Parliament, drinks all round!!!
What really gets me is the notion, or the media driven notion, that Canadians don't want this election. Nobody asked me, probably because I don't have a land line anymore. I am always up for an election. Are you all too busy? It will be a Monday, it's not like it conflicts with American Idol, or are you too busy voting on Dancing With the Stars? Maybe that's the problem? I keep seeing people on TV saying "it's too expensive" and "we'll get the same result". It sounds expensive to you and me but nothing like the budget for the military, 6.3% of the total Budget, almost 19 Billion $ in 2009. So we can do stuff like help the Afghan women vote or enforce the No-Fly-Zone over Libya so one day they might get rid of Khadafi and hopefully vote too. Yet so many Canadians are so bored of elections, too busy, not interested. I sometimes wonder if Canadians have everything too easy? No strife, well fed, lazy and entitled, perhaps a little closer in attitudes to our American friends than we may like to think? Don't worry about it, your government was just ousted out of power for lying and over the last few years was very quietly giving tax breaks to corporations while shifting the tax burden onto you. I guess things have to get worse for Canadians to be less focused on Hockey and more focused on something that matters?
You will likely hear a lot of talk about Coalition Government from the Conservatives, it's bad if oppositoin parties want one but was OK when they proposed one with the Bloc Quebecois a few years ago, go figure? I remember Calgarians actually protesting, outside, when a Coalition was proposed a couple of years ago by Stephane Dion. It seems some Canadians think we live in a Republic, with term limits and set election dates, I say you're all watching too much American TV! That's how Parliaments work darlings! England, Australia, almost all of Western Europe and Israel all have Coalition governments. Check out Belgium, they haven't had a government since June 2010! Deadlocked by Flemish separatists, the country still apparently runs by a sort of "Lame Duck" Prime minister who is still negotiating a deal! It makes our Quebec issues seem easy in comparison!
I was reminded today that turnout in the last Federal election in Canada was around 40%, sad! We had an even lower turnout for our Civic elections until last year, all it took was a good candidate with good ideas, it really got people involved, so I won't write all you Canadians off just yet, the campaign is just about to begin!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Baby, I Was Born That Way.
Heard about a new Apple iphone app today that can help you "pray away the gay" so to speak, from the homosexuality obsessed Christian "church" Exodus International. There is a petition for Apple to pull it and it's 4+ rating (no objectionable material). You can sign it herehttp://www.change.org/petitions/demand-that-apple-remove-ex-gay-iphone-app#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=t Awww, and I was pondering getting the ipad2, partly so I can ruin everyone's last year Christmas gift, and partly because I thought Apple was soooo cool! Oh Apple, when did you become "the Man"? You used to be all about the young and creative standing up to the monopoly of Microsoft! Now you're associating with radical Christians because you can make a buck? In the Punk Rock days we would have shouted Sell Out!!!
So I looked up Exodus International and their large indexed essays against same sex attraction, which they call SSA. They refuse to use the word "homosexuality" because they don't believe in it. I find all of it quite laughable as someone who has been gay since the days of landlines with corded telephones! I don't have to live up to my parents expectations or societies anymore, I've been with the same man for 24 years whether anyone likes it or not, including God! I gave up on the concept of God a long time ago but that topic is for another day, I don't worry about it!
A lot of the essays on Exodus International seem geared toward youth like "The role of mother and father in SSA" or "What caused me to have SSA?" They cite several studies which contradict each other and explain it by saying nobody really knows, even science. They also bring up "sensitivity" in young boys a lot and seem to think they can apparently de-sensitize you into heterosexuality. The "sensitive" boys don't like playing with other boys, have bad (or not) relationships with their fathers, and resort to creative arts as teens to escape and then become addicted to gay sex. They make these broad generalizations and then constantly add this is not true of everyone of course, because it isn't and they can't prove anything and probably most people have noticed this by now in society? They constantly cite seemingly scientific sources at the same time as citing the Bible, see what psychologists have said, now look at Verse, Chapter, whatever, because if an illiterate goat herder living 3000 years ago believed it, it's true, right?
Of course I have kept abreast of modern scientific theories on homosexuality. One of the most fascinating was different brain activity observed in gay men and gay women, it found that gay men had the same patterns of activity in the hearing centers of the brain as straight women, and gay women the same as straight men. I always thought this explains why gay men like hanging out in discos and straight women always want to go dance there, while lesbians like country music and classic rock and can't dance, like most straight men. What was I saying about broad generalizations? Oh well, I think the gays have a superior sense of humour too!
Seriously though, I had the opposite of what these Christians think is the gay creating parents,I had a domineering mother and a caring involved father, compare to my husband who had the domineering father and sensitive traditional-type mother, yet I am as gay as the day is long. Go down to my local leather bar and ask them how gay I am, happy hour is from 4-6. These Christians point to the "sensitive" boys having distant relationships with their father and other boys and twist this into this is a choice. I don't agree and point to the brain study, born that way, scenario. The reasons I didn't like hanging out with straight guys when I was a boy are the same as they are now, straight men are really boring. Straight men like competing to levels of self injuring stupidity probably because if you are going to spread your genes they have to do this primate proving of strength to each other and females, the gays do not have a breeding instinct thus do not have to go thru this charade. As a school boy this kind of chest pounding often involved winging balls at whoever's head (usually the gay ones) to practice aim on a moving target and to impress others. Although I have met the odd gay sports fan I wouldn't say it is common, sports is not shown on TV screens in gay bars. I have had to feign interest in sports from time to time but I just see it as a waste of time especially on TV, I have never understood the fascination. Of course hating sports was a conflict in my school days, I think it's the brain difference that causes this, lesbians seem to love sports, I could never take a game that seriously.
As for the young gay boys pursuing solitary activities, true in my case, is it any wonder? When you get into puberty and they gay starts to show, or people start to notice, they are often calling you names and treating you like a pariah and then you have your parents anger and disappointment directed at you as well as messages from media and certain Christian groups saying out loud that gays are evil and/or destroying society, wouldn't you retreat into your own world too? It all works out in the end, society needs people who have developed creative skills or whatever solitary skills, it makes the world go round, everyone cannot be some jerk-off yelling at the TV over a hockey game or else nothing would ever get done!
As for "sensitive" men, isn't it straight men who must "buy into" the world of the feminine?, it starts with finding a romantic spot to propose marriage followed by lengthy wedding plans followed by caring for babies. I have seen my manly straight friends succumb to all the feminizing traits that go along with raising kids, they have to go from frat house to baby shower pretty quick in some cases, who is sensitive now? If straight men weren't so "addicted" to a little pink taco once in a while they wouldn't have to sit thru Eat, Pray, Love. Women can control mens sex lives and for this they are so angry they are going to go vacuum the car for three hours or watch The Indy 500 for eight! Or go around blaming the gays for ruining traditional marriage.
The most current theory of what causes the gay is hormones in the womb. There were a couple of studies about penis size and it was found that homosexuals had bigger ones, somehow Mainstream Media ignored these findings. It proves that God is actually on our side, no, it lends credence to the theory that elevated testosterone at a certain time of development in the womb makes the penis grow bigger and could also affect the brain. It's a lot to explain here but can easily be found on Wikipedia. I like to think that people just vary, we seem to worry lots about sexuality, people vary in lots of ways, temperament, personality, intelligence, yet we don't seem to be worrying about it as much. If we didn't have the gays then we'd all be out there competing for women, and you wouldn't like that, think of it as less competition for you straight men, and on the penis size issue, I haven't had any complaints!
*** Just did some more reading on Exodus International and found out while they were trying to establish a presence in Canada, mainstream (if you can say that) Evangelicals turned their back on them, basically said go back to Florida where y'all came from.Too radical in their ministry. Also, Calgary based "Kings Glory Fellowship" church which was linked to Exodus International had it's charitable status revoked January 2010 by Canada Revenue Agency, because they were "too political in their views on abortion, divorce, homosexuality..." Sweet! Kings Glory? My word, it sounds like a new gay bar! How do they come up with these names!?!?!?
So I looked up Exodus International and their large indexed essays against same sex attraction, which they call SSA. They refuse to use the word "homosexuality" because they don't believe in it. I find all of it quite laughable as someone who has been gay since the days of landlines with corded telephones! I don't have to live up to my parents expectations or societies anymore, I've been with the same man for 24 years whether anyone likes it or not, including God! I gave up on the concept of God a long time ago but that topic is for another day, I don't worry about it!
A lot of the essays on Exodus International seem geared toward youth like "The role of mother and father in SSA" or "What caused me to have SSA?" They cite several studies which contradict each other and explain it by saying nobody really knows, even science. They also bring up "sensitivity" in young boys a lot and seem to think they can apparently de-sensitize you into heterosexuality. The "sensitive" boys don't like playing with other boys, have bad (or not) relationships with their fathers, and resort to creative arts as teens to escape and then become addicted to gay sex. They make these broad generalizations and then constantly add this is not true of everyone of course, because it isn't and they can't prove anything and probably most people have noticed this by now in society? They constantly cite seemingly scientific sources at the same time as citing the Bible, see what psychologists have said, now look at Verse, Chapter, whatever, because if an illiterate goat herder living 3000 years ago believed it, it's true, right?
Of course I have kept abreast of modern scientific theories on homosexuality. One of the most fascinating was different brain activity observed in gay men and gay women, it found that gay men had the same patterns of activity in the hearing centers of the brain as straight women, and gay women the same as straight men. I always thought this explains why gay men like hanging out in discos and straight women always want to go dance there, while lesbians like country music and classic rock and can't dance, like most straight men. What was I saying about broad generalizations? Oh well, I think the gays have a superior sense of humour too!
Seriously though, I had the opposite of what these Christians think is the gay creating parents,I had a domineering mother and a caring involved father, compare to my husband who had the domineering father and sensitive traditional-type mother, yet I am as gay as the day is long. Go down to my local leather bar and ask them how gay I am, happy hour is from 4-6. These Christians point to the "sensitive" boys having distant relationships with their father and other boys and twist this into this is a choice. I don't agree and point to the brain study, born that way, scenario. The reasons I didn't like hanging out with straight guys when I was a boy are the same as they are now, straight men are really boring. Straight men like competing to levels of self injuring stupidity probably because if you are going to spread your genes they have to do this primate proving of strength to each other and females, the gays do not have a breeding instinct thus do not have to go thru this charade. As a school boy this kind of chest pounding often involved winging balls at whoever's head (usually the gay ones) to practice aim on a moving target and to impress others. Although I have met the odd gay sports fan I wouldn't say it is common, sports is not shown on TV screens in gay bars. I have had to feign interest in sports from time to time but I just see it as a waste of time especially on TV, I have never understood the fascination. Of course hating sports was a conflict in my school days, I think it's the brain difference that causes this, lesbians seem to love sports, I could never take a game that seriously.
As for the young gay boys pursuing solitary activities, true in my case, is it any wonder? When you get into puberty and they gay starts to show, or people start to notice, they are often calling you names and treating you like a pariah and then you have your parents anger and disappointment directed at you as well as messages from media and certain Christian groups saying out loud that gays are evil and/or destroying society, wouldn't you retreat into your own world too? It all works out in the end, society needs people who have developed creative skills or whatever solitary skills, it makes the world go round, everyone cannot be some jerk-off yelling at the TV over a hockey game or else nothing would ever get done!
As for "sensitive" men, isn't it straight men who must "buy into" the world of the feminine?, it starts with finding a romantic spot to propose marriage followed by lengthy wedding plans followed by caring for babies. I have seen my manly straight friends succumb to all the feminizing traits that go along with raising kids, they have to go from frat house to baby shower pretty quick in some cases, who is sensitive now? If straight men weren't so "addicted" to a little pink taco once in a while they wouldn't have to sit thru Eat, Pray, Love. Women can control mens sex lives and for this they are so angry they are going to go vacuum the car for three hours or watch The Indy 500 for eight! Or go around blaming the gays for ruining traditional marriage.
The most current theory of what causes the gay is hormones in the womb. There were a couple of studies about penis size and it was found that homosexuals had bigger ones, somehow Mainstream Media ignored these findings. It proves that God is actually on our side, no, it lends credence to the theory that elevated testosterone at a certain time of development in the womb makes the penis grow bigger and could also affect the brain. It's a lot to explain here but can easily be found on Wikipedia. I like to think that people just vary, we seem to worry lots about sexuality, people vary in lots of ways, temperament, personality, intelligence, yet we don't seem to be worrying about it as much. If we didn't have the gays then we'd all be out there competing for women, and you wouldn't like that, think of it as less competition for you straight men, and on the penis size issue, I haven't had any complaints!
*** Just did some more reading on Exodus International and found out while they were trying to establish a presence in Canada, mainstream (if you can say that) Evangelicals turned their back on them, basically said go back to Florida where y'all came from.Too radical in their ministry. Also, Calgary based "Kings Glory Fellowship" church which was linked to Exodus International had it's charitable status revoked January 2010 by Canada Revenue Agency, because they were "too political in their views on abortion, divorce, homosexuality..." Sweet! Kings Glory? My word, it sounds like a new gay bar! How do they come up with these names!?!?!?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Springtime For Hitlers
Time has been flying by this month, so much to comment on and so little time! Earthquakes, tsunamis, radiation and scandal, and that's just Charlie Sheen! I've been closely following events in Wisconsin and the dictator-governor Scott Walker in his quest to destroy collective bargaining rights for Unions, it still ain't over and it looks like Walker will be doing the opposite of "winning" in the long term.
I also went on a business trip for a few days recently so have been out of the loop, combine this with the week of warm weather we had and I have been remiss in this blog!
We're having some (more) political scandal in Canada this week, Contempt of Parliament charges against "The Harper Government" as well as a growing prostitute/lobbying scandal so I had to spend some time reading up on Canadian stories this morning. I haven't read the Calgary SUN in many months but I see my prediction that they will become FOX News North is rapidly coming true! I wonder how long people will read this rag because all it is, is Republican talking points written by Canadians, and nothing to do with local stories. I rolled my eyes at the anti-union article, please, I know all the Republican talking points from the Wisconsin fight! Nice try though. What made me gasp, even more, was the pro Peter King article concerning the hearings in Washington recently. In case you were too busy watching Charlie Sheen these were the McCarthy-esque charges against all Muslim people in the US that Republican Peter King thought he would bring up, instead of creating all those jobs they campaigned on. The basis of this right-wing theory is that Muslims caused 9/11, therefore, all Muslims are terrorists and there need to be lengthy hearings to prove this, all the while Peter King himself supported the IRA (Irish Republican Army) publicly, his reasoning? No American were killed, the subtext, white terrorists are OK. Anyway, most of us see this as racist religious bias which is also unconstitutional in both our countries (freedom of religion) and a total waste of time, as well as making the US, and now Canada-thank you SUN, a target for even more terrorist attacks in the future, you know, so the Taliban can go around saying, see the West hates us. Yeah, so I didn't finish reading this piece of crap article, I've heard it all before from the American right-wing talking heads, like, 3 weeks ago!!! Good luck Calgary SUN, I honestly don't believe Canadians are on the same page here, in the City that just elected North America's first Muslim Mayor? I just don't see the kind of racist/religious divisions in Canada that exist in the States. Why not try attacking Unions and the working poor like FOX News has done during the Wisconsin protests? Lets see how that flies with your illiterate reading base, it's why the SUN contains at least 2 spelling/grammar errors in each issue.
I digress. This pro Peter King piece in today's SUN comes after yet another Nazi/White Pride march in Calgary this weekend. Fortunately the 16 neo-Nazis were kept far apart from the 200 anti-racist protesters by the police, the Nazis didn't get near City Hall and gave up, taking a City bus out of the downtown, and probably back to their parents houses where they were made to eat creamed corn which probably made them even angrier! I kid, but only slightly. I've been doing a lot of homework on our local Nazi's, there are many sites that follow all their chat sites and facebook chatter. They are mostly a bunch of young hooligans who came from Kitchener, Ontario, during the boom here, they are highly unorganized and have more dramatic sub plots than Glee! They are a real threat however, most of them are in jail currently for assault charges, hence the low turnout this year. There will always be young hooligans, most of them will hopefully wind up in jail or wind up dead from having more testosterone than brains. What I find more disturbing is the gang of so-called journalists who think it is OK to publish the theories of the raving hate machine that is the Republican Party these days in their propaganda that is shaped like a newspaper. I'm sorry I thought we lived in Canada? We don't judge people by religion or race, gender or sexuality. It's a little funny that in all my reading of the Nazi posts they all complain about being underemployed, hate non-whites (obviously), gays, women, and MSNBC. When I follow what the (New and Improved) Republican Party say, they hate, or constantly complain about the economy, non-whites-especially Mexicans, gays, women-most of them and especially their reproductive rights and MSNBC. I don't know about you but I can see who the institutionalized Nazis are here! I know, I agree with Jon Stewart who says we can't go around calling people Nazi's we don't agree with politically, the right-wing is different, they don't want to kill people just take away their rights and make it really hard for them to live, it's different see!
All that aside, many will scream "freedom of expression" in cases such as Nazi marches. I do not agree, if I can get all Constitutional on your ass, the intent of freedom of expression which applies to the press, and the right to peaceable assembly are for protesting the government not other groups of people you don't like. The intent of those lines in many of our Constitutions around the world guarantees our right to criticize our governments, not to spread rumour and fear about Muslims or gays or Unionized labour or whoever is the political victim of the time.
I will also add, what a luxury it is for you people to mar the reputation of my City, take up valuable police resources, complain about everything in this society and then take a tax payer funded Bus to safety. There are people in this world who have lived under total oppressive regimes, lived with decades of War, had their countries devastated by earthquakes and radioactive clouds, what are you complaining about? Neo-Nazis and SUN columnists alike?
* If people are so scared about Muslim terrorists please remember Timothy McVeigh the Oklahoma City bomber, the UniBomber, abortion clinic bombings and the murder of abortion provider Dr. Tiller as well as the recent failed MLK Day Parade bombing in Spokane by a self described neo Nazi. On a more local level, four of the neo Nazi "Blood and Honour Canada" goons who were planning this march in Calgary were arrested in Edmonton earlier this month after assaulting several people on Whyte Ave. and in surrounding businesses.
I also went on a business trip for a few days recently so have been out of the loop, combine this with the week of warm weather we had and I have been remiss in this blog!
We're having some (more) political scandal in Canada this week, Contempt of Parliament charges against "The Harper Government" as well as a growing prostitute/lobbying scandal so I had to spend some time reading up on Canadian stories this morning. I haven't read the Calgary SUN in many months but I see my prediction that they will become FOX News North is rapidly coming true! I wonder how long people will read this rag because all it is, is Republican talking points written by Canadians, and nothing to do with local stories. I rolled my eyes at the anti-union article, please, I know all the Republican talking points from the Wisconsin fight! Nice try though. What made me gasp, even more, was the pro Peter King article concerning the hearings in Washington recently. In case you were too busy watching Charlie Sheen these were the McCarthy-esque charges against all Muslim people in the US that Republican Peter King thought he would bring up, instead of creating all those jobs they campaigned on. The basis of this right-wing theory is that Muslims caused 9/11, therefore, all Muslims are terrorists and there need to be lengthy hearings to prove this, all the while Peter King himself supported the IRA (Irish Republican Army) publicly, his reasoning? No American were killed, the subtext, white terrorists are OK. Anyway, most of us see this as racist religious bias which is also unconstitutional in both our countries (freedom of religion) and a total waste of time, as well as making the US, and now Canada-thank you SUN, a target for even more terrorist attacks in the future, you know, so the Taliban can go around saying, see the West hates us. Yeah, so I didn't finish reading this piece of crap article, I've heard it all before from the American right-wing talking heads, like, 3 weeks ago!!! Good luck Calgary SUN, I honestly don't believe Canadians are on the same page here, in the City that just elected North America's first Muslim Mayor? I just don't see the kind of racist/religious divisions in Canada that exist in the States. Why not try attacking Unions and the working poor like FOX News has done during the Wisconsin protests? Lets see how that flies with your illiterate reading base, it's why the SUN contains at least 2 spelling/grammar errors in each issue.
I digress. This pro Peter King piece in today's SUN comes after yet another Nazi/White Pride march in Calgary this weekend. Fortunately the 16 neo-Nazis were kept far apart from the 200 anti-racist protesters by the police, the Nazis didn't get near City Hall and gave up, taking a City bus out of the downtown, and probably back to their parents houses where they were made to eat creamed corn which probably made them even angrier! I kid, but only slightly. I've been doing a lot of homework on our local Nazi's, there are many sites that follow all their chat sites and facebook chatter. They are mostly a bunch of young hooligans who came from Kitchener, Ontario, during the boom here, they are highly unorganized and have more dramatic sub plots than Glee! They are a real threat however, most of them are in jail currently for assault charges, hence the low turnout this year. There will always be young hooligans, most of them will hopefully wind up in jail or wind up dead from having more testosterone than brains. What I find more disturbing is the gang of so-called journalists who think it is OK to publish the theories of the raving hate machine that is the Republican Party these days in their propaganda that is shaped like a newspaper. I'm sorry I thought we lived in Canada? We don't judge people by religion or race, gender or sexuality. It's a little funny that in all my reading of the Nazi posts they all complain about being underemployed, hate non-whites (obviously), gays, women, and MSNBC. When I follow what the (New and Improved) Republican Party say, they hate, or constantly complain about the economy, non-whites-especially Mexicans, gays, women-most of them and especially their reproductive rights and MSNBC. I don't know about you but I can see who the institutionalized Nazis are here! I know, I agree with Jon Stewart who says we can't go around calling people Nazi's we don't agree with politically, the right-wing is different, they don't want to kill people just take away their rights and make it really hard for them to live, it's different see!
All that aside, many will scream "freedom of expression" in cases such as Nazi marches. I do not agree, if I can get all Constitutional on your ass, the intent of freedom of expression which applies to the press, and the right to peaceable assembly are for protesting the government not other groups of people you don't like. The intent of those lines in many of our Constitutions around the world guarantees our right to criticize our governments, not to spread rumour and fear about Muslims or gays or Unionized labour or whoever is the political victim of the time.
I will also add, what a luxury it is for you people to mar the reputation of my City, take up valuable police resources, complain about everything in this society and then take a tax payer funded Bus to safety. There are people in this world who have lived under total oppressive regimes, lived with decades of War, had their countries devastated by earthquakes and radioactive clouds, what are you complaining about? Neo-Nazis and SUN columnists alike?
* If people are so scared about Muslim terrorists please remember Timothy McVeigh the Oklahoma City bomber, the UniBomber, abortion clinic bombings and the murder of abortion provider Dr. Tiller as well as the recent failed MLK Day Parade bombing in Spokane by a self described neo Nazi. On a more local level, four of the neo Nazi "Blood and Honour Canada" goons who were planning this march in Calgary were arrested in Edmonton earlier this month after assaulting several people on Whyte Ave. and in surrounding businesses.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
I Am So Mother F***ing Tired Of This Mother F***ing Weather!!!!!
We Canadians love talking about the weather, more than anyone else on the globe, mainly because it's always doing something to us; causing us to be late for work, cancelling trips, making us bring a change of clothes to work, ruin gardens by either being too hot or cold or too dry or wet. You have to plan ahead when you live in Canada and pay attention to the weather forecast as your life may depend upon it, it is very serious business! Just this week a local news story showed us some unfortunate guy who drove into the mountains, had car trouble and didn't realize there is no cell phone coverage in the mountains! Stranding him for a dangerously long time. Sorry, but what an idiot, the temperatures are already dangerously low and snow was in the forecast, if you can be bothered to flip on a television, and, honestly darling we don't live in California, if stranded you can easily die at -20 if not prepared. Weather in this part of the world is not to be taken lightly.
Everybody seems to have very strange and unscientific opinions on the weather and climate and of course Climate Change. I saw some clips of people on our National News where people actually thought it would be an early spring because of the Groundhog Day predictions, that's nuts!!! It's a cute tradition based in New England from a time period a little after putting women on trial for Witchcraft and before satellite imagery of the Earth. Where I live there will be six weeks of winter regardless, it has no bearing on reality.
I love (to hate) the Conservative pundits I see and hear everywhere that say, well it was cold where I live or it snowed in Texas so Climate Change isn't happening. These people do not know the difference between weather and climate nor have a world view on the topic. Yes there are always extremes but one must look at the bigger picture, Climate Change is not relative to your small geographic area.
So, what's with the weather this winter!?!? Well, my friends there is a lot to know, many variables not suited to Sarah Palin sized soundbytes. It is a very complicated system that most people don't have the time to understand or care about. I think this provides enough wiggle room for the oil industry and Conservatives to fill peoples minds with doubt and ridiculous statements that scientists are lying about Global Warming, they are taking advantage of mass ignorance.
I will try to explain some of the things you need to know about weather, I am no meteorologist but have taken this up as a hobby for some time, I need to know if I should try growing tomatoes or not this year! One of the main things this year is the presence of the tropical Pacific phenomenon called La Nina. It is a cooling of Pacific waters off the coast of South America and has a huge effect on winter weather in North America, especially the West, where I live. It also causes heavy rains in Australia, please see UTube for graphic footage. La Nina is the cold one and El Nino is the warm one, it makes for warm weather in Western Canada but causes plenty of trouble elsewhere on the globe. Then there's the Arctic Oscillation, the Antarctic has it's own oscillation too. What you need to know is, it has two cycles, positive and negative, positive pushes cold air over Labrador and Greenland , negative pushes cold air west over the middle of North America, which is what we are experiencing in Calgary where it's been in the -20's C for days! What you never hear about this winter is how warm it has been in Canada's Eastern Arctic, Labrador and Greenland. It has been so warm that the Arctic Ice Pack is at 50% of historical norms. So what does that mean to me? Well, it's quite serious as it seems to be affecting weather for all of us in the temperate zones in ways nobody understands, because it's never happened in our scientific records. It would seem that it is making the rest of North America very snowy and very cold this year. Here is a great graphic of temperature anomalies that illustrates how warm the Arctic has been this year compared to how cold (compared to normal) for most of the Continent.http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=48882 This has been bad news for Polar Bears in the Hudson Bay and also caused, seals, who normally have their babies on ice floes, to have them on the beaches of Sable Island this year. It sucks for them and it sucks for us who have to deal with temperatures 20 degrees below normal! Yes, La Nina is responsible for some of the cold weather and is a natural event, however, open ocean in the Arctic is not normal and could be causing unprecedented events.
Have a look at this temperature anomaly map for January 2011http://processtrends.com/images/RClimate_GISS_temp_anom_map.png This is exactly what scientists predicted would happen with Global Warming, a significantly warming Arctic. It produces what has been called "The Open Refrigerator", it's like if you open your fridge you will feel the cool air rush out and cool the rest of the room while the fridge gets warmer. I often remark, Global Warming does not mean the Earth will heat up like a toaster oven, it's not as simple as that. The Earth is always trying to seek a balance, I think it's making weather more extreme.
I have talked to people from almost everywhere, from the tropics to the Arctic, and you know what they all have in common? They always say, the weather is changing, it's not like it was. Let's take the summer of last year for example, 2010. While my region was statistically average, it only worked out that way because one day a week was extremely hot while the next few were extremely stormy and cool, the pattern did not change until fall. There were several funnel clouds (the precursor to tornadoes) in my City and to the Northwest of here in the foothills. Ask any meteorologist how rare it is to have tornadoes in any foothill area and they will likely tell you it's pretty rare. They mostly form on open plains, over trailer parks, kidding! When I was growing up I saw a funnel cloud once, it was a big deal locally, nobody ever worried about tornadoes in this area. That's one example. As an avid gardener I notice weather and wait and wait to plant outside in this climate. The last few years we have also had unprecedented cold spring weather, it was so cold in June 2009 the local news interviewed me when I worked at a Calgary greenhouse about what people should do with their plants? Mmmmm, don't plant yet darlings! Last spring was also cold and late, summer was a disaster too, is this the face of Global Warming? I think it may be for my region, unfortunately.
There is more, of course, to the world and my little corner of it and whether or not I can grow pretty plants in defiance of my latitude and proximity to the Rocky Mountains. Growing seasons are also for growing food, oh yeah, I forgot, I was too busy watching Lady Gaga pop out of an egg to worry about where food comes from! Consider that 2010 was the warmest year on Earth, tied with 2005. Remember the heat wave in Russia last year? It has been reported that 15,000 people died from it and it also caused Russia to lose 15 Billion $ in GDP as well as halt grain exports from Russia. There is also a continuing drought in China's main grain growing region. Does this have something to do with escalating food prices that have also led in part to revolutions in the Middle East recently? You bet it does! Weather is more than an inconvenience, it affects all of humanity mainly because our food is grown in it. We may feel immune to it North America but I sometimes wonder for how long, can any of our societies survive a major interruption in food supply, History says no, have a look at Classical Mayan society. A small change in weather patterns caused drought in the Yucatan, thus, no corn to eat and the whole culture went to hell in a hand basket pretty fast! It happened to many societies, the Anastasi, Easter Island, the City of Ur. Humanity is more fragile than you might think.
As for now, I can't wait for this cycle of La Nina to end, it's always one extreme or the other around here, myself I would settle for normal and I believe I've been saying this for the last two decades!
Everybody seems to have very strange and unscientific opinions on the weather and climate and of course Climate Change. I saw some clips of people on our National News where people actually thought it would be an early spring because of the Groundhog Day predictions, that's nuts!!! It's a cute tradition based in New England from a time period a little after putting women on trial for Witchcraft and before satellite imagery of the Earth. Where I live there will be six weeks of winter regardless, it has no bearing on reality.
I love (to hate) the Conservative pundits I see and hear everywhere that say, well it was cold where I live or it snowed in Texas so Climate Change isn't happening. These people do not know the difference between weather and climate nor have a world view on the topic. Yes there are always extremes but one must look at the bigger picture, Climate Change is not relative to your small geographic area.
So, what's with the weather this winter!?!? Well, my friends there is a lot to know, many variables not suited to Sarah Palin sized soundbytes. It is a very complicated system that most people don't have the time to understand or care about. I think this provides enough wiggle room for the oil industry and Conservatives to fill peoples minds with doubt and ridiculous statements that scientists are lying about Global Warming, they are taking advantage of mass ignorance.
I will try to explain some of the things you need to know about weather, I am no meteorologist but have taken this up as a hobby for some time, I need to know if I should try growing tomatoes or not this year! One of the main things this year is the presence of the tropical Pacific phenomenon called La Nina. It is a cooling of Pacific waters off the coast of South America and has a huge effect on winter weather in North America, especially the West, where I live. It also causes heavy rains in Australia, please see UTube for graphic footage. La Nina is the cold one and El Nino is the warm one, it makes for warm weather in Western Canada but causes plenty of trouble elsewhere on the globe. Then there's the Arctic Oscillation, the Antarctic has it's own oscillation too. What you need to know is, it has two cycles, positive and negative, positive pushes cold air over Labrador and Greenland , negative pushes cold air west over the middle of North America, which is what we are experiencing in Calgary where it's been in the -20's C for days! What you never hear about this winter is how warm it has been in Canada's Eastern Arctic, Labrador and Greenland. It has been so warm that the Arctic Ice Pack is at 50% of historical norms. So what does that mean to me? Well, it's quite serious as it seems to be affecting weather for all of us in the temperate zones in ways nobody understands, because it's never happened in our scientific records. It would seem that it is making the rest of North America very snowy and very cold this year. Here is a great graphic of temperature anomalies that illustrates how warm the Arctic has been this year compared to how cold (compared to normal) for most of the Continent.http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=48882 This has been bad news for Polar Bears in the Hudson Bay and also caused, seals, who normally have their babies on ice floes, to have them on the beaches of Sable Island this year. It sucks for them and it sucks for us who have to deal with temperatures 20 degrees below normal! Yes, La Nina is responsible for some of the cold weather and is a natural event, however, open ocean in the Arctic is not normal and could be causing unprecedented events.
Have a look at this temperature anomaly map for January 2011http://processtrends.com/images/RClimate_GISS_temp_anom_map.png This is exactly what scientists predicted would happen with Global Warming, a significantly warming Arctic. It produces what has been called "The Open Refrigerator", it's like if you open your fridge you will feel the cool air rush out and cool the rest of the room while the fridge gets warmer. I often remark, Global Warming does not mean the Earth will heat up like a toaster oven, it's not as simple as that. The Earth is always trying to seek a balance, I think it's making weather more extreme.
I have talked to people from almost everywhere, from the tropics to the Arctic, and you know what they all have in common? They always say, the weather is changing, it's not like it was. Let's take the summer of last year for example, 2010. While my region was statistically average, it only worked out that way because one day a week was extremely hot while the next few were extremely stormy and cool, the pattern did not change until fall. There were several funnel clouds (the precursor to tornadoes) in my City and to the Northwest of here in the foothills. Ask any meteorologist how rare it is to have tornadoes in any foothill area and they will likely tell you it's pretty rare. They mostly form on open plains, over trailer parks, kidding! When I was growing up I saw a funnel cloud once, it was a big deal locally, nobody ever worried about tornadoes in this area. That's one example. As an avid gardener I notice weather and wait and wait to plant outside in this climate. The last few years we have also had unprecedented cold spring weather, it was so cold in June 2009 the local news interviewed me when I worked at a Calgary greenhouse about what people should do with their plants? Mmmmm, don't plant yet darlings! Last spring was also cold and late, summer was a disaster too, is this the face of Global Warming? I think it may be for my region, unfortunately.
There is more, of course, to the world and my little corner of it and whether or not I can grow pretty plants in defiance of my latitude and proximity to the Rocky Mountains. Growing seasons are also for growing food, oh yeah, I forgot, I was too busy watching Lady Gaga pop out of an egg to worry about where food comes from! Consider that 2010 was the warmest year on Earth, tied with 2005. Remember the heat wave in Russia last year? It has been reported that 15,000 people died from it and it also caused Russia to lose 15 Billion $ in GDP as well as halt grain exports from Russia. There is also a continuing drought in China's main grain growing region. Does this have something to do with escalating food prices that have also led in part to revolutions in the Middle East recently? You bet it does! Weather is more than an inconvenience, it affects all of humanity mainly because our food is grown in it. We may feel immune to it North America but I sometimes wonder for how long, can any of our societies survive a major interruption in food supply, History says no, have a look at Classical Mayan society. A small change in weather patterns caused drought in the Yucatan, thus, no corn to eat and the whole culture went to hell in a hand basket pretty fast! It happened to many societies, the Anastasi, Easter Island, the City of Ur. Humanity is more fragile than you might think.
As for now, I can't wait for this cycle of La Nina to end, it's always one extreme or the other around here, myself I would settle for normal and I believe I've been saying this for the last two decades!
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