BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID

It is said that the Evening News is where they begin with - 'Good Evening;' and then proceed to tell you why it is not. As this is written the European Common Market, the "Euro Zone" is at the brink of financial and political collapse after Greece backed-off a pledge to fix its debt crisis, proposing instead to bring the matter before a national referendum. (Beware of Greeks bearing referendums!)

The net result being that the long simmering worldwide deep-Recession, a troublesome Depression for many, which began when banks in the United-States over-extended their own credit in 2008 does not appear to be going anywhere north of the ledger for the foreseeable future. Investors and retirees who squirreled away their nest-eggs 15 years ago in so-called safe instruments saw the value rise until 2001 then flatten-out and stagnate. Check the major stock market indices: They are hovering over the same territory as ten years ago. Little wonder that desperate people have taken to the streets in shiftless and pointless "occupy" protests.

Weather extremes so severe that some regions
may be only "marginally habitable".

Just as the planet's population topped 7-Billion souls earlier in the week,  scientists issued a warning that there are too many of us here..."global warming isn't the sole villain in future climate disasters. An even bigger problem will be the number of people who live in harm's way." - One of two conclusions reached in a yet unpublished report of a Nobel Prize winning panel of experts working for the United-Nations and the World Meteorological Organization. A draft summary of the report was leaked to the Associated Press in the United-States probably because its authors fear their conclusions will be "watered-down" by U.- N. officials, politicians and diplomats after a scheduled meeting to review its content in Uganda near the end of the month.

To digress: Critics of The Bilderberg Group, the highly secretive club of influential business tycoons, financiers and politicians formed in 1954, have accused the "club" of fomenting a plan to reduce the planet's population to a sustainable 500-million to 1-billion people....

The leaked report obtained by the Associated Press says our future together is one of grim floods, more heat waves, more droughts, typhoons, stronger hurricanes and, if the world economy wasn't already bad enough, far greater costs to deal with weather catastrophes.  It warns that extremes occasioned by climate change may eventually grow so severe that some locations become..."increasingly marginal as places to live." (!)

AP says the report claims the world will have more extreme spells of 'heat' peaking as much as 5 degrees (C) hotter by 2050 and as much as 9 degrees by the end of the century. Weather reports being compiled in the United-States show already that 2,703 specific daily high temperature records were set this past summer (2011). According to Weather Underground Meteorology, that makes it the hottest summer in the U.S. since the height of the Great Depression Dust Bowl of 1936. - Maybe there's a noteworthy parallel here!

Perhaps there is a valid reason after all why the mysterious centuries' old "Mayan Calendar" expires in December 2012.

WATER: NOT JUST FOR THE COMMODE

Media personalities, screen actors, winners of the Nobel Prize have been pushing back publicly against the Keystone XL oil pipeline project set for President Obama's final approval any day now.

Demonstrators have recently moved the protests to Ottawa as it has become increasingly obvious that in Washington's politically charged atmosphere, one year out from a Presidential election, green-flagging the pipeline is a "slam-dunk"; or a no-brainer as Stephen Harper described it to Bloomberg News in New York last weekend.

The 2700 Kilometer Keystone XL pipeline will draw unrefined oil from northern Alberta through Saskatchewan to enter the United-States in Montana on its way to the petroleum refineries along the Gulf Coast of southern Texas. The economic impact and the number of jobs created along its multi-states route are simply too overwhelming for the Obama Administration, which is fighting to regain control of America's troubled economy, to ignore.

Moving-on: Every step of the way along the Harper Government's efforts to improve trade relations with the United-States (pipeline included); Canada's strategy for negotiating the enhanced "Perimeter Security" arrangements has butted-heads and been hampered by America's steadfast resolve that homeland security trumps trade. Even when trade is with its neighbourly and overwhelmingly largest international business and trading partner. Though it may be unrelalted, The Government of the United-States has already declared that "water supply" is a national security issue.

A significant element of the problem already affects several states south of our shared 49th parallel. They have now allocated their maximum existing water supplies to farming, industry and urban development. Either they will have to do with less water, or tap large new sources as the North American climate continues to change and erode largely because of our human habits and indiscretions.

Back in 2010, Canada was one of a handful of countries which abstained from a vote at the United-Nations declaring water to be a universal right. Flushed with renewable fresh water resources along with our miniscule population which is less that 0.5% of the planet's, we Canadians are already the world's largest per capita consumers of water. The simmering debate given recent new life by trend spotters, some investment gurus, and conversely little attention by policy makers, seems to suggest: Forget oil and gas -Invest in water! Back in July, the Chief Economist at Citibank, William Buiter, pretty much said so in a memo to investors: "I expect to see in the near future a massive expansion of investment in the water sector, including the production of fresh, clean water from other sources (desalination, purification), storage, shipping and transportation of water. I expect to see pipeline networks that will exceed the capacity of those for oil and gas today." (Quoted from the Alphaville Blog)

An analysis prepared by the Canadian military, and so far (it seems) largely ignored by the escalating level of incompetents responsible for our Department of National Defence, (I digress!) claims that up to 60 countries could fall into a category of water scarcity or stress by 2050. It would place Canada and our abundance of water on the path to "a key source of (political) power" or a "basis for future conflict." Parts of the draft report titled: 'Army 2040 - First Look' were seen by Postmedia News in June, before the Citibank memo was issued by the Chief-Ecnomist.

The draft of the Army report concludes that Canada's path into this hazardous and problamic future depends on the policy decisions made by the government today. Haven't seen any. - Sure hope the planned largely discredited "Law and Order" legislation before the House of Commons isn't a sign-post precursor of the road ahead.

MY NEW BEST BUDDY

Unprecedented winter snowfall, spring floods of apocalyptic proportions, famine on the African Continent while North Americans bake under an unrelenting heat-wave. If it wasn't for the absence of plagues and pestilence believers might well conclude that Biblical Prophesy is upon us.

Little wonder that radio and television weather forecasters; "climatologists" as per the preferred designated terminology of this 21st Century, have assumed the role of Hero to the Masses. Lest I digress, what a surprising turn of events particularly when contrasted against the featured dumb-blond stereotypical "Weather Girl" (The Weather Bunny) of the golden age of television and/or the iconic mid-sixties Hippie-Dippy Weatherman persona of the brilliant monologist, George Carlin...



The acute dramatic changes in climate which we now suffer are (of course) the result of humankind's abuse of the planet and its precious ecological systems and balances. Since we're clearly not doing enough to change the obvious outcome, we North Americans must slog through a crisis decade of remarkable floods, drought and in the United-States in particular this year, the deadliest tornado season on record. And if we can't change the weather (or if we won't!) then better that the broadcast meteorologist be our new best bud.

As the weather becomes a bigger story, our need for information will grow. U.S. National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro told The New York Times recently: "The weather is more extreme, the floods are wetter and the droughts are drier. That's going to have real implications on society and it elevates the need for more information and a need for those on-air personalities. It's beyond what to wear for the day or do I need to carry an umbrella."

I am of a generation who remembers when the weather forecast was read directly right-off of the teletype machine. Or at best the weather guy stood in front of a giant chalkboard map to draw smiley face suns and gloomy clouds after patiently waiting his turn till the very end of the News Broadcast. Now of course weather broadcasters preside over radar systems and they frequently cover more "on set" real-estate than their fellow news readers and reporters.

Clearly changing atmospheric patterns are now the reason why "weather" commands watching television news. And in as much as most of us would like the climatologist to "change the weather" sometimes, if he could he wouldn't be on television. We should just get used to watching, preparing for the worse and hoping for the best.

WATER WARS

A nearby neighbour here in central Florida was perplexed by my response to a suggestion water from the Great Lakes would resolve drought issues along the American south.

He thought building a pipeline pumping water from the lakes to the parched south would be a great American economic stimulus project which, in addition to creating thousands of jobs, would eventually alleviate environmental concerns about America's water shortages. He'd just never considered that Canada, which shares the Great Lakes with the United States, might want to have a say in the matter.

Lost amongst the hoopla of the Parliamentary debate in Ottawa this week, there's been a three-day conference in Toronto that kicked-off "World Water Day" on Tuesday. There is real growing potential for violent conflict to erupt over fresh water as the global population grows amidst a backdrop of climate change and over-population. And, the Great Lakes represent as much as a quarter of all of the world's surface fresh water, and 95% of the entire North American supply.

The three day conference held at the prestigious Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto, has been looking at the prospect of future wars being fought over water. The planet's population will top 9-Billion people by mid-century. Combined with climate change caused by global warming, and the growing impact of natural disasters they add-up to what one expert described as a "hydro-climatic bomb" which has already started to tick. A very recent case in point - Tokyo's tap water has been deemed unsafe for infants because of radio-active emissions from those crippled nuclear reactors which are several hundred miles from the city.

As Canadians edge ever closer to a spring Federal Election, the former Prime-Minister Jean Chretien, is unlikely to get much political support for proposing that we should not be afraid of a national debate about exporting some of our vast water resources. Mr. Chretien told the Toronto conference he believes a new national discussion is needed. During Mr. Chretien's term as Prime Minister in the 1990's intense public backlash derailed plans at both ends of the country (in British-Columbia and in Newfoundland) as well as Ontario to export fresh water to the United States and by tanker elsewhere overseas; as we do oil and natural gas.

Be that as it may, Mr. Chretien's suggestion was swiftly rebuked by the Council of Canadians. The 1985 creation of Alberta publisher Mel Hurtig and author Pierre Berton, the "council" has substantially expanded its mandate since Ottawa activist Maude Barlow became the national chairperson. Ms Barlow is the author of: "Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Rights of Water". Ms Barlow says it's disconcerting that the former Prime Minister is opening the door to a water-trade debate. She told the "Globe and Mail" the country would lose control of the resource if it begins providing it to customers south of the border and beyond. Five years ago the Great Lakes Commission, a partnership of the US States and Canadian Provinces which border the lakes, estimated that communities around the basin of the Great Lakes already were pumping 850-Billion gallons of water out of the system every day. That free flow of fresh water is unlikely to have diminished in subsequent years.

Research presented at the Toronto conference suggests that 25% or more of the world's water(related)conflicts over the past 5000 years have occurred in the 11 years since the start of the 21st Century. That's likely just the tip of the (melting) iceberg. R.W. Stanford, a Canadian with the "United Nations International Water For Life Decade" says the global water situation is changing so rapidly that it may soon no longer resemble anything that's existed on the planet before.

Humans of the future may adapt to life without the benefits of oil, natural gas and gasoline. We can't survive without fresh water. When it starts to run out. That is when things will get really ugly.

BAD WINDS OF CHANGE

At the very height of the 2007 hurricane season the Director of the National Hurricane center based in Miami, Florida was forced out of his job. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina late in the 2005 season, Bill Proenza's mistake had been to publicly criticize the ageing satellite technology the world's foremost tropical storm / hurricane center depends on to predict land falling storms. Between 2004 and 2005, a total of 8 hurricanes and 3 (named) tropical storms had struck or brushed Florida. In fact. 2005 remains the most active hurricane season on record...



Hurricane Center Director Proenza is long gone; but the old technology he complained about almost 4 years ago still remains the only "go to" Earth-watching system in place. There are 13 Earth-observing satellites still in orbit and all of them are passed their "best before" date. Lest I digress: Perhaps in order to avoid Director Proenza's fate, scientists have taken to claiming the orbiting satellites are in "their sunset years."

In addition to ending the storied Space-Shuttle program later this year; years of belt tightening have left NASA's Earth-watching system in sorry shape. And, any money for new environmental satellites will have to survive Washington's budget cutting, the naysayers on global warming, and most recently increasing doubt in the United States about the competency of the space agency which put the first man on the moon more than four decades ago.

For the second time in two years at week's end a rocket glitch sent the latest $425-million weather watching probe to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Early on Friday, the Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA's "Glory" satellite lifted from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and plummeted to the ocean's floor several minutes later. The same thing happened to another system named "OCO" in late February of 2009.

Back at the time of Bill Proenza's Miami demise in 2007, his concerns were echoed by a panel of the U.S. National Academies of Science which claimed that NASA's climate-monitoring system was at "risk of collapse". It's now feared that these recent back-to-back fiascoes could have serious political repercussions. It is feared that the Tea-Party backed newly elected Republican controlled American Congress and the climate-change skeptics who support them have just been handed more ammunition to question whether this is a good way to spend taxpayer dollars for rockets that fail and for purposes they claim to be suspect.

NASA's bruised ego, record and reputation surely are in desperate need of an image make-over. Perhaps sadly one which requires appealing to the somewhat baser instincts of American society. Among them the vast middle-class which has been crushed by mounting national debt and stagnant employment rates. All of which may just explain the Fox News "exclusive" this weekend claiming that a NASA Scientist, Richard Hoover, says he's uncovered evidence of Alien life on a rare class of meteorites, of which there are a total of nine known to have crashed to Earth.

FINAL FRONTIER

Just a few miles east of here the Space Shuttle "Discovery" has been rolled-back to the launch pad it abandoned in the fall for its rescheduled final departure on February 24. The flight is more than 3 months late because it was sidelined by a pesky hydrogen fuel leak.

After its 11 day mission, "Discovery" will be mothballed, as will the other two remaining space shuttle aircraft, "Endeavour" and "Atlantis" currently scheduled to undertake their last flights to the International Space Station on April 19 and June 28 respectively. After that the partner nations in the space station project, including Canada, will be hitchhiking aboard the 40 year old Russian "Soyuz" technology.

Strapped for cash, America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is terminating the shuttle program. The return "man to the moon" missions announced with fanfare a couple of years back by President George W. Bush have also been axed. The State of Florida with its unemployment rate still above 12% can ill afford to lose the several thousand jobs associated with the shuttle program on its central east coast. It's unlikely though that the newly minted Republican controlled Congress would re-establish the funding cuts of the Obama Administration as the GOP has made budget cuts a central national political policy.

Ironically it seems NASA's most significant space research vehicles are also its oldest. The twin-explorers "Voyager 1" and "Voyager 2" have been in space for more than 33 years. The spacecraft were designed in the hope they would fly by the planet Neptune and transmit data back to earth. They accomplished the mission in 1989 and kept on going. they are now about 11 billion miles from us on the edge of the solar system. They continue everyday to transmit back home from their 23-watt transmitters: Radio waves that now take more than 12 hours to reach back to earth. The technology so old that the "Voyagers'" memories are about 1-million times smaller than the computer on which you are reading these lines...and their scientific data is recorded on 8-track audio tape machines.

It's too late to change the status of the shuttle program so scientists may have to rely increasingly on the antiquated data being returned by the "Voyager" probes to confirm the news that the star "Betelgeuse" (beetle-juice) is about to explode and appear as a second sun in our sky...



"Betelgeuse" is the bright red star positioned in the right shoulder of the constellation Orion and may be easily seen in the night sky rising in the east right after sunset. The news that it's about to become a supernova, that is: Explode so spectacularly that it will appear as a second sun in our sky, has been floating around the Internet for several months. Some physicists believe the time is near. Only once before has history recorded such a phenomenon, in 1054 when the Crab Nebula exploded.

The possibility of a supernova adds weight to those who believe in the Mayan apocalypse prophecy foreseen in the lost civilization's ancient calendar which mysteriously ends on December 21, 2012. Many already believe the world will end on that date.

For the time being, perhaps some NASA thinkers could hold back on parking away the shuttles as museum pieces come next summer. The rest of us may just otherwise have to load-up on an awful lot of extra SPF sunscreen and hope for the best.

THE MEDIA SUPERLATIVES JUST WON'T DO.

Welcome to another year of climate change. Unfortunately, North America's media headlines and superlatives may just not suffice anymore.

In the last 24 months (or so) our now all too frequently weather extremes have been described in media headlines as "storms of the decade"; no wait: "storm of the century"; and yes everyone will surely recall "Snowmageddon of 2010."

The obvious reality is that the world is the victim of an aggressive change in climate brought about by the planet's warming; and for which (besides the media's obsessive headlines) we are doing pitilessly little to deal with. Here in North America slogans and headlines have become our antidote for efficiency.

Having now wrapped the first decade of the 21st Century the slogans, "Snowmageddon" et all have simply replaced mankind's ability to deal with the symptoms of our crumbling human infrastructures...God forbid we should even begin to deal with the reality that our two-legged Race is causing the planet itself to strike-back against the excesses.

In the wake of three successive December storms along Canada's Atlantic coast which caused damages in the millions of dollars to New Brunswick's already battered economy; Robert Hughes, a researcher with the province's Department of the Environment concludes that the unprecedented storms may be an example of climate change, and advises..."in the end Nature will tend to win."

Of course the same storms also caused havoc along the northeast coast of the United-States, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelling passengers at airport and railway terminals and on highways stretching from the deep south to Maine's border with the fore mentioned New Brunswick. And, the headlines screamed that either the airline customer services failed, or the Mayor of New York; Governor of New Jersey...and all the others have somehow been the ones to blame.

Of course, it's not just us: There's flooding across the Pacific rim from Australia all the way north to California. Unprecedented storms in western Europe and record breaking low temperatures affecting the Caribbean Islands and into Florida. Polk County, Florida - America's tender fruit mecca - set a total of seven record cold days in December, including minus 4 Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) on December 28. Not terribly good for everything from the Orange and Strawberry crops to the precious tropical fish farms which lost 70% of the year's output.

It's complicated to believe that "global warming" is freezing our asses off. But that is the reality and not only is there no short term relief, but it seems that as a human race we aren't even prepared to face the rapid changes we have brought unto ourselves - Of course other than to nod "yes" when the media scream with another superlative adjective, and/or blame others for the state of the weakened infrastructures which can no longer cope with Nature's fury.

If that isn't enough, maybe this will help: Breakfast teas produced in India and sold worldwide; notable for their heartiness, strenght and body, are turning weak and fowl tasting. Experts conclude it's more evidence of flavour fall-out occasioned by climate change. The Queen surely isn't likely to be amused.

Clearly we are both unprepared and unwilling to take the necessary measures which would give humans a fighting chance against the changing climate circumstances successive modern generations have visited on the planet's ecology. Guess we can all keep watching for the superlative media headlines and hope for the best...but in the end: Nature likely will win.

DERAILING THE "TOMMOROWLAND EXPRESS."

From Woody Guthrie's hobo lullaby "The City of New Orleans", through Billy Strayhorn's "Take The A Train", and Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo"; musicians, troubadours and poets reflect the nature of their times with their compositions. Though troubling, it wasn't all surprising that songs performed during last weekend's "American Music Awards" in Los Angeles included "Times Like These" performed by Kid Rock; and "Pray" by teen-pop idol, Justin Beiber.

It was just about one year ago that U.S. President Barack Obama in a much publicized speaking engagement in Tampa, Florida rolled-out his Administration's plan to develop a nationwide multi-billion dollar high-speed rail system as a significant element of his nation's efforts to reduce energy costs; get cars off choked highways; and fight the release of CO2 gasses into the atmosphere. Florida was among the first state expected to benefit from the program with a 168 MPH train link between Tampa and Orlando, and future plans to extend the system south to Miami and then north along the Atlantic coast to Jacksonville.

Now Florida is on the verge of becoming the biggest train wreck yet along Mr. Obama's much touted plan. So far the state has received $2-Billion (70% of total cost) from the Federal Government for the rail link set to launch in 2015. But; brimming with confidence from this month's mid-term Congressional elections, and vowing to rein-in government spending; Republican conservatives have zeroed-in on "high-speed rail" as wasteful and too expensive at a time when all levels of governments are dealing with horrific budget pressures.

Critics claim the projects will only worsen the U.S. debt and will not attract sufficient riders in an American culture built around highways, automobiles and cheap gasoline. The backlash against rail projects as relief for congested roads and highways is rippling across the country. The "New York Times" has identified several projects already chopped: An $8.7 tunnel and rail line to connect New Jersey and New York has been cancelled by the Governor of New Jersey. - The Governor-elect of Wisconsin ran on a promise to kill a high-speed rail link between Milwaukee and Madison. - And; the Governor-elect of Ohio has promised to stop plans for a similar project in his state. As for Florida the Republican Governor-elect, Rick Scott, claims it isn't too late to knock the train off the tracks here as well.

In Canada, the government of Prime-Minister Stephen Harper has already signalled it plans to reign-in federal spending to slay our ballooning deficit closing-in on $60 Billion in the current fiscal year. It's already withdrawn funding for Edmonton's plan to host the 2017 "World Fair"; and may be setting the stage to kibosh the Quebec City bid for the 2022 "Olympic Winter Games" by denying funding for a new arena which might also accommodate a new "Nordiques" NHL franchise. If America is to set the trend: The City of Ottawa's plan for a $3-Billion underground "light-rail" system; VIA Rail plans for high-speed links in the Quebec City/Windsor corridor; and subway extensions in both Toronto and Montreal; might very well be tempting targets to "spread the pain" as pressure intensifies to control spending.

THE WHITE ELEPHANT IN THE BACKROOM

I will be in my native province of New Brunswick during the next few days; fresh in the aftermath of this week's defeat of the first term Liberal Government of Premier Shawn Graham.

During the month-long election campaign, the Liberal Party of Mr. Graham was hobbled by a laundry list of initiatives that on successive occasions during his government's term had residents of the province taking to the streets in protest.

The most controversial issues involved the provincial public utility energy corporation - NB Power. It was a two-fold element; a One, Two Punch really: More than four years ago another government, that of Conservative Premier Bernard Lord, committed to a contract with Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) to rebuild the Point Lepreau Nuclear Power generating station along the Bay of Fundy. "Lepreau" is unique in that it was the first next generation CANDU 6 reactor to be built. It became operational in 1983 to support energy consumption in the Maritime Provinces and sales to the American northeastern states. It had been designed to be permanently shut-down 25 years later in 2008. But, anxious to demonstrate the viability of re-building and refurbishing its reactors - Which have since been also installed in China, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Argentina - AECL and NB Power entered into a contract to refurbish Lepreau. The effort is a gigantic money-pit which is several years behind schedule and the estimated cost of $1.4 Billion will likely be doubled. That excludes the $1-Million per day NB Power is spending to purchase elsewhere the energy the generators haven't produced since being shut-down in 2008.

Lest I digress; the project and its process are so acutely compromised that sources indicate that "starting over" is a real possibility, and technical assessments are now underway to determine whether that's the only viable solution.

Saddled with this spiralling debt at NB Power; and the province's own fiscal accumulated shortfall now near $10-Billion (About $12,000 for each man, woman and child in N.B.); Premier Graham's government entered into secret negotiations a year ago to sell NB Power to the Quebec public utility - Hydro Quebec. Hydro Quebec is a titan amongst giants, the largest public utility corporation in North America (perhaps the world) and the biggest exporter of electrical energy to the United States. Graham planned to apply the nearly $5-Billion profit against the public debt. It seemed like a wise decision...Well, at least a good idea at the time: It went over like a "pair of rubber crutches in a polio ward." (Or lest you be offended: " a pay toilet in a diarrhea ward.") - This week the fallout cost Mr. Graham the election, earning him the dubious title of the only one-term government since the Confederation of 1867.

The incoming Premier, Progressive-Conservative Leader David Alward, is committed to the key element of his Party's election platform...a check-list dubbed: "Ten By Ten" - To wit 10 promises to be completed in the remaining 10 weeks of 2010. Number two is the appointment of an "Energy Commission" by October 15th. A group composed of politicians, energy representatives, the public and various other stakeholders to crystal-ball the future and presumably avoid..."four more years of risky schemes and reckless behaviour" as Mr. Alward has said.

You know: In a provinces of under 750,000 people with an unsustainable debt of close to $10-Billion and with time running-out. It may take some mighty hefty balls (crystal or otherwise) to come to anything but the inescapable conclusion that selling NB Power is just about the only solution. Except perhaps this time 'round it will be a buyer's market.

N.I.M.B.Y!

The prolific Kentucky born American man of letters, Wendell Berry, writes: "We have reached a point at which we must either consciously desire and choose and determine the future of the Earth or submit to such an involvement in our destructiveness that the Earth, and ourselves with it, must certainly be destroyed. And we have come to this at a time when it is hard, if not impossible, to foresee a future that is not terrifying."

I was chided in several FaceBook posted comments last month over my somewhat darkish Blog Post late in August ("Wake Me If Nero Pulls Out A Fiddle" / August 29) for coming to a somewhat not dis-similar conclusion. I may be naive, but it seems to me that the sign-posts for this prophesy of gloom are plenty apparent. What's a being to do? Psychologists identify the virus which infects this manner of discourse as "Confirmation Bias." - To wit: Once a person believes something, they will simply and uncritically endorse anything that confirms the belief.

In my opinion, the explosion on board the Deepwater Horizon on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the worst oil spills in history confirmed just once more our unquenchable thirst for energy; and our uncontrollable addiction to fossil fuels. Oh sure, it has caused many to question accountability and measures to protect and conserve the environment; perhaps more specifically the onset of similar drilling practices in the Arctic. And, Canada's own activities up there. But, our addiction to the earth's natural resources and our greed satisfying plunder of these are not about to be altered. In reality, if we North Americans don't do it; someone else surely will. And, we're also the ones to blame for that sad conclusion.

Rich in many natural resources including gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc and uranium, the Arctic holds one quarter of the planet's remaining petroleum sources mostly under more than 1000 feet of our partially frozen northern ocean.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO: While our developed western world has been preaching restraint and conservation to the planet's peoples for the past couple of decades, we've demonstrated just the opposite to the emerging economies of the third world; particularly those of the far east. They now want, expect and are unlikely to settle for anything less. Is it any wonder that attempts to regulate the plunder of our environment at Kyoto, Amsterdam and later this fall at Cancun are failing miserably?

Convinced of our "Confirmation Bias;" we have become our own worse enemy. We've taught our offspring and descendants in North America to expect and covet nothing less than what we have: Fuel guzzling SUV's; air-conditioned environments; 24/7 energy consuming gadgets of every description. Which (I might add) we expect third world countries to build for us, while we plan to restrain and restrict them from any hope of ever enjoying any of their own.

Maybe we talk a good game plan but don't let that rubber "hit the pavement" in our Continent's back yard - N.I.M.B.Y! - The fragile planet though may not give any of us a second chance...When despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound. (I) fear of what my life and the children's lives may be. (Wendell Barry - "The Peace of Wild Things")

DUDE! YOU CAN'T "HANG TEN" ON THE TIDAL BORE

As a university student in the mid-sixties, I worked several summers at the New Brunswick Tourist Information kiosk on the Trans-Canada Highway near Edmundston: Gateway to our fabled Maritime Provinces.

Jeepers! I just realized most among you weren't then born. I am old and given to digressions - Picture this: It was as America's west coast surfing craze was launching riding on a wave of Orange County, California music from the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and The Surfaris.

I did not experience the event; but even in the absence of today's instant social media; a prominent story making the round of tourist counsellors was of the tourist(s) arriving toting surf-boards ready to ride the Peticodiac River's 'Tidal Bore.' A tidal bore, essentially a curly wave flowing against the river's current, forms on the Peticodiac as it is forced each day to reverse flow by the massive tides of the Bay of Fundy which can top 15 meters. (50 feet) - Human progress in the form of the building of a causeway in 1968 across the river reduced the "Bore" to a pitiful trickle. Lest I digress once more: My fellow Maritimers will know that four months ago the causeway's gates were re-opened for the first time in 42 years and that the Tidal Bore is making a remarkable come back. Last month's peak Fundy tide on July 15th brought-out a record crowd of camera buffs to watch it roll-in. (Still no word on surfers though!)

Every day, the equivalent of the outflow of every river on the planet passes in and out of the Bay of Fundy. The Tidal Bore is just one of the recurring phenomenon of the Bay's high tidal range...In the quest for world tidal dominance; they are the strongest and the highest, period!





Fundy's extreme tidal range, in addition to the Tidal Bore, cause the St. John River to reverse flow through a series of rapids, the famous Reversing Falls, through a gorge in the middle of the City of Saint John. And, eroded rock formations at Hopewell Cape allow stunned visitors to walk on the bottom of the ocean at low tide.

The Bay of Fundy and its ecological wonders have been designated finalists in a current world-wide search for "The New 7 Wonders of Nature." - The Seven Wonders Foundation, based in Switzerland, started with 440 sites in a competition launched now a few years back. The initial list has whittled-down to just 28 finalists. The Bay of Fundy is the only Canadian of two North American competitors to make the finals. The other finalist from the continent is The Grand Canyon. And, Fundy and the U.S. Canyon are amongst a group of impressive, worthy competitors: The Amazon Rain Forest; Ayers Rock (Australia) and Mount Vesuvius just to name-drop a few.

In a rare show of national unity last week at the annual conference of Canadian Premiers, the Premiers of New Brunswick, Shawn Graham, and Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter, received even rarer unanimous and uncontentious support for our natural wonder..."today we're calling upon Canadians from coast to coast to vote for the Bay of Fundy in this international competition as one of the natural seven wonders of the world." - Reads the unanimous motion. The heads of the provincial and territorial governments have also agreed to post a video on-line; make statements in their Legislative Assemblies and encourage residents to take part in the voting.

The choice of the "New Seven Wonders" will be finalized and announced on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11)! Fundy's got my vote.

FLORIDA'S MASSIVE HANGOVER

The 100 miles of beaches of the Florida Panhandle constitute the greatest strand of white sand on the planet. More than one-third (35 miles) have now been closed by the insidious oil oozing-out unabated since late April from more than a mile below the once pristine surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

Slowly, and almost as surely, America's "Sunshine State" is inching towards becoming an international vacation destination with the rules of an archaic museum: "Look, but don't touch!"

Floridians are angry. Their anger portentous of disastrous consequences for States and Provinces which have never (and may never) indulge the desire to allow oil drilling rigs off their shores. Like our pristine garden gem, Prince Edward Island; or the sandy beaches of southwestern New Brunswick which are at the mercy of drilling operations deep in the offshore of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Or, of British-Columbia's unique rugged coastline and the mighty oil carriers that ply the waters from Alaska down towards deep water ports below the 49th parallel.

When rigs first started drilling for oil off the coast of Louisiana more than 60 years ago; in Florida they scanned their own shorelines of dotted resorts and beaches of startling beauty and concluded: "No Thanks! - We'll stick with tourism."

The rare sands of the Florida peninsula tempered by its subtropical climate are the underpinning of a totally dependant tourism economy. The mere possibility of damage to the beaches is already hurting the industry in areas not yet affected by the oily tar balls from below; like the Tampa Bay area and communities south. In the majestic Florida Keys, an ecosystem unequalled anywhere in the world, locals are resigned to..."waiting for it all to disappear." As Key Largo resident Mike McLaughlin recently told the Associated Press.

The lesson learned for Florida, as perhaps it should be with Canada's coastal provinces; is that the State gets little if any financial benefits from drilling off its shore, even though it is sharing all of the environmental risks. Risks estimated just last week at the loss of 195,000 jobs and $11-Billion this year alone (2010) if the BP Oil disaster cuts tourism just by half.

And...there are far many other things it could lose beyond tourism and fishing. Florida's housing is concentrated along the State's 8,500 miles of shoreline. Deep in the wake of the 2007/09 economic downturn, housing values have sunk by as much as one-third, and statewide the unemployment rate is 12%. The impact of the oil spill could savage the economy for decades ahead.

Floridians may be heartbroken and suffering in silence over the damage they see in neighbouring Louisiana: But, they also compare Louisiana's quest for the ephemeral riches of oil and gas exploration to a neighbour with a bonfire that has now set the entire block on fire.

SARAH SMILE!

To digress: The spelling differs, but I hope the Philadelphia blue-eyed soul duo, Hall & Oates, will lend me the title of their 1976 smash hit - Sara Smile.

Just recently in my native province of New Brunswick, the Government of Premier Shawn Graham reversed its decision to sell the provincial utility; NB Power, to the world's largest power generator, Hydro Quebec, because polls showed the Graham Liberals would lose the next election over the issue.

It seems in politics, as in television's ratings battles, popularity contests trump noble objectives and principles. Just this week, environmentalists have been outraged by decisions south of the border.

In order to mitigate the anticipated fall-out in November's Congressional elections from the bitter divisive battle with the country's right-wing elements over health care. President Barack Obama has unleashed a wholesale assault on the oceans. In an unexpected, unanticipated and aggressive declaration on off-shore oil and gas exploration, the American Leader has lifted the country's moratorium on drilling off the east coast of the Atlantic; and he's set in motion measures to support and promote gas and oil exploration in the eastern Gulf Of Mexico and in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska by 2012. Not surprisingly, Obama's Republican opponents applauded his pronouncement.

Now this: Discovery Communications, which owns Discovery Channel and several other popular American cable and satellite television outlets is - (It seems with some measure of justification)- accused of being inconsistent with its owns principles and objectives by signing the former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to a contract to star in one more American reality TV series. It's not just that we all have had already too much of staged television reality; but critics point out that Discovery, known for its spectacular wild-life focused productions, appears here to sacrifice its own principles by signing Palin who served all of 2 1/2 years as Governor. Environmentalist note that during that period her State's government escalated a war on several endangered animal species including wolves and polar bears which, at the very least, appears inconsistent with Discovery's mission. At last check, a petition against the planned production launched by the a Washington based lobby group, "Defenders of Wildlife" claimed to have received close to 150,000 signatures.

Some think that Sarah Palin may be positioning to launch a campaign for the U.S. Presidency in 2012. Lest she flame-out like Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", she remains coy about firming-up her plans. She knows media interest would quickly evaporate if she abandoned aspirations to her nation's highest office. Anyone remember H. Ross Perot? And, he's a billionaire! - A wink and a smile perhaps; but Mrs. Palin is obviously not quite ready for her close-up.

PRAISING ORVILLE

If there is one thing to be said about the brothers Wright - Wilbur and Orville - it is that they were progressive in their view of the world. Be not for them and their understanding of powered flight, we very well might still be flapping our arms waiting for some magic take-off.

It seems that here in Ottawa, objectors to Orville's namesake: A real estate development named "Orville Station", in the city's deep west end, have locked themselves into the notion somehow that our world isn't evolving quite as it should. To digress ever so briefly: In fact, well advanced into my 62nd year I am considerably offended by the suggestion from David Jenkins, of the Stittsville Village Association, that..."particularly seniors, don't like the design."

Okay! You ask - What the hell is he ranting about? To confess: I am intrigued by, and interested in the design of "Orville Station". It's a proposed 36-unit stacked condominium project in Stittsville, Ontario a west end Ottawa community. It has already received the blessing and approval of the City of Ottawa's planning staff as a pioneer in both the city's intensification goals and praiseworthy environmental standards. But...old notions die hard.

Thus the local City Council member, Shad Qadri, and a group of local reactionaries the "Stittsville Village Association" (obviously seriously in need of a hobby), are in cahoots to sink the project. Well surprise! The City of Ottawa is about to spend upwards of $30-billion on a light-rail subway transit system. It has the stated honourable goal of creating pedestrian friendly communities and creating a society that relies less on the automobile as a means of transportation. But beware: When a developer seeks to achieve those goals precisely...old fashioned ninnies it seems feel called to arms. Progress indeed: Just make sure, not in my backyard. Good Grief!

And...in this case: Stittsville's "Orville Station", all of the bellicosity over essentially a total of roughly 3 automobile parking spaces. Twenty first Century entitlement gone mad. If you don't like it move to Russia.

Little wonder that the project's proponents and supporters are appalled at the "Johnny come Lately" politically motivated attempts to block the project. The city's own double-speak on the matter is equally appalling. Developers innovate and play by the rules, and get shafted in the end (literally) for meeting design guidelines and award winning environmental standards....But Ottawa's Planning and Environment Committee is set to consider an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board of the city's own Committee on Adjustments' decision to give the go ahead to "Orville Station". Left hand - Right hand - Duh! Bureaucracy gone wild on the taxpayers' tab.

Let's face reality: As if our present environmental challenges are not quite sufficient proof. Some people apparently still need to be dragged into the 21st Century. I am not one of them and I resent my money being spent on frivolous legal arguments that date back to another era and time. I will gladly trade parking for innovative green spaces any day. Get the picture?