thoughts born of boredom

I am a Global Warming Denier, that's right, I said it!

Denier: someone who denies

When utilized in the political arena it is equatable to being the scum of the earth 

While some voices in the media would like to portray us deniers as the scum of the earth, equatable to the Holocaust deniers, crazy, kooky loons, this representation is incorrect.  For starters, let's look at the comparison between Holocaust deniers and AGW deniers as the utilization of the term is supposed to represent.  Fact one, there are survivors to the Holocaust whose stories illustrate the horrors of the Holocaust.  Fact two, there are records of the Holocaust from governments around the world.  Fact three, there are written accounts from soldiers and non-survivors of the Holocaust and the horrors individuals were subjected to.  Fact one of AGW, there are no facts.  Fact two, a comparison between an actual event and a theorized event that deals with ambiguous data, much of which we cannot even comprehend let alone understand is impossible.  Fact three, science is not and can never be "settled."  Well, that settles it for me, of course I can see how the two could even be closely related to one another *COUGH*  Really? Let's put our heads back on straight and deal with this like rational people with brains in our heads.

So I am a denier, what does that really mean?  Does it make me a bad person?  Does it mean my opinion is any less valid?  Does it mean I think we should say, "whoo hoo, let's stop making advances and stop trying to keep our environment healthy?"  No, what it means is that I have analyzed the data for myself, have looked into both sides of the story and have come to the conclusion that, whether global warming exists or not it is not man-made and we should not be ready to throw our economy into turmoil in order to stop a threat that doesn't have the evidence to support it.  That being said, I think we should all do whatever we can to clean up our environment and stop polluting it, not because of global warming or global cooling but because we have a rising level of childhood asthma and other health problems that are attributable to the environment ... heck, let's clean up the environment so that I do not feel as though I have walked through a pit of grease and grime every time I walk out the door.  Our health and a better life are reasons to try living healthier, not to prevent some theoretical event that many high-profile scientists say is based on shoddy data and many others think is only a way for Al Gore to get himself to the big chair.

Aside from the economic turmoil we can expect should we being implementing the alarmist decrees there is a second reason that I am bringing attention to my "denial."  Getting on the plane to go back to Hamilton on Thursday I grabbed a copy of the National Post and got mad at the cover ... so mad in fact that I had to put the paper down.  What could possibly have gotten me so upset?  Two of the cover stories were devoted to the Moncton summit that occurred this past weekend and both dealt with the issue of "Going Green."  This is a trend that I have noticed in much published work lately, everyone is jumping on the "go green bandwagon" but see, here is my issue.  One of the articles was about the internal fighting in Canada between the Premiers over this issue.  Alberta won't do this, Ontario won't do that unless Alberta agrees to do this ... FIRST, we are a country ... you know "United we stand, divided we fall?" Let's get our act together guys.  They went away from the summit without a decision as to how to reduce green house gas emission ... not that I care as I think it has already been established that I do not believe this to be the crisis Al Gore is making it into.  I have a problem with reading something like this:

Begging argument 'escalated' in stabbing

See, over the weekend a man died after he was repeatedly stabbed by a group of kids who had asked him for money.  When he refused, an argument broke out and he was stabbed.  This is a problem across Canada.  Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto ... the list of cities dealing with aggressive panhandling is growing and nothing is being done to stop it.  Now sure, this might seem like an issue that should be dealt at a municipal level, but in reality it deals with human rights, the rights of those on the street as well as the rights of those who are constantly being harassed for money and who fear for their safety should they say no.  Why is our government spending a weekend discussing an issue that has no proof that has a growing number of dissenting voices being attached to it daily rather than dealing with an issue that is affecting the lives of Canadian, TODAY?

This is not the biting and sarcastic piece that I set out to write I seem to have calmed down a little since deciding I was going to write this but I would like to send you to a wonderful series of articles that I found today dealing with the "Deniers."  Unfortunately, this aeries was published in the Financial Post and therefore isn't getting the recognition I think it deserves, nor is it having the impact I think it could have but nevertheless, it is a step in the right direction.  Enjoy, and even if it doesn't convince you, I hope it makes you think.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/environment/story.html?id=4432a41c-7c52-4b74-934e-f0dac3b2bcb8  

So I am sure we have all heard about the push in Canada to immunize all females with the HPV vaccination.  Being me, I wanted to look into the vaccine and see what/if there were side-effects etc that women should be aware of but that are being hidden from us.  Once I have those answers I will post them up here but first, I found this quote and laughed my butt off, so I thought everyone could use a chuckle.

As some of you know I was raised in, what I consider to be, the best household environment possible.  It is the way I plan to raise my children and the way I wish more people would raise theirs.  Sex, drugs and alcohol were not taboo topics in my home, they were discussed so that we (the children) would understand the consequences of our actions be able to see beyond the mystery surrounding these things when suddenly we were 14 and our friends brought their newly acquired knowledge about these taboo things to us.  As a result my whole family, all four of us kids, are some of the most responsible you will ever meet.  We didn't jump on the underage drinking bandwagon, nor the drug one and, while I cannot speak for the others about the sex issue, I can tell you that while my peers in high school were getting their freak on ... oh and having abortions and getting STDs b/c they didn't know what a condom was nor had anyone ever told them about birth control, I was not. 

While searching for the info on the HPV Vaccine I came across and article writing in 2005 entitled Virginity or Death! (how I ask can you pass up reading an article with that title?) about, can you guess it?  Right-wing Christians and their attempts at keeping girls virgins by reporting on the evils of sex.  I would recommend reading this article if, say you send you kids to Catholic School and never once told them about birth control or the dangers of sex b/c I can guarantee you they are either having sex right now, without protection b/c neither their parents nor their Catholic teachers will say anything about anything more than "natural birth control" or your kids are thinking about having sex and if they haven't yet started, don't you want them to be safe about it?  Hey, while your at it, talk to them about drinking and drugs, let the know the consequences of their actions, let them know that no matter their decisions you will love them but stress to them the importance of being responsible which means, not necessarily abstaining completely but recognizing that if they do participate in said behaviours they shouldn't be out in a car driving around or hanging out on the street.  Let them know that they can call you and you will pick them up b/c you would rather they be safe than hurt themselves or someone else.  I think I got off the topic of the quote somewhere along here.    

Here is the quote I loved so much:

"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful," Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council told the British magazine New Scientist, "because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex." Raise your hand if you think that what is keeping girls virgins now is the threat of getting cervical cancer when they are 60 from a disease they've probably never heard of.

That is right, stick to the threats and fear for we all know that works *cough*

Cheers

SO after what might be classified as the worst afternoon imaginable I can officially say that I did not go to Waterton.  It is really a very funny story .. that I think has left me with sun stroke (do you normally need to put on full winter clothing and a fleece blanket after coming inside from spending a long day in the sun?).  Anyway, so here is what happened.  I set out to leave here at 1:09 to catch the CTrain at 1:19 (this should have given me ample time); however, I failed to take on thing into consideration when I made all my plans and that was how the extra weight of everything that I was carrying would affect my speed.  So just as I was getting there, (like literally I was this [---] far away from the station), the train I needed passed by.  This being Saturday that means that there is no train for another 15 minutes, which doesn't matter anyway since the bus I needed to catch runs like every 1/2 hour and if I needed to catch it at 1:25 there was no way I was getting to the greyhound station on time.  So I attempted to use the map provided at the station to figure out where to go ... made the decision that I should probably catch the next CTrain to a different stop and try walking/catching a bus to get me close enough ... yeah welcome to Calgary. The only place in the world with more construction and a worse busing system than Hamilton.  There were no bus stops no matter where I went.  Then turns out, I could have reached my destination a lot faster if I had taken the CTrain all the way through the downtown (sure I would have had no idea where to go once I got off but for future reference I am good to go!).  So anyway, picture this, I am wearing jenas and a t-shirt (a girly one not a baggy one) with a backpack filled with stuff on my back, including a thermarest attached to the top (a thermarest for all of us who do not know, as up until a week ago I was one of you, is basically a blow-up thinkg to sleep on when you are camping I personally think is is birdagee but that is just me).  Yeah so there I am with my giant backpack, thermarest, tent in my hand, camera bag and messenger bag slung across my chest running through downtown Calgary in the heat ... with no water ... and then the thermarest unraveled so I had to hold onto it as I ran ... I looked like a retard and had virtually given up all hope of making it to the station when, what do I see but the greyhound dog up in the sky, beckoning me like the bat signal ... so I start running anew with 4 minutes left to make it to the terminal.  So I make it past all the rest of the obstacles, the horrible traffic that nearly killed me trying to get across the street, the insane hike uphill to get to the terminal doors, only to discover that I had to go downstairs now to get to the ticket booth ... get in line, find a clock and see that it is 2:23  so yes, there is still a little bit of hope   (for greyhound buses neaver leave on time, or at least not in my experience).  So I go up to the ticket guy and say, huffing and puffing, with sweat pouring down my face, "has the 2:20 bus for Claresholm left yet?"  And he says, "You mean the 2:00 bus?  A lot of people make that mistake, it leave Claresholm for calgary at 2:20"  to which I replied "but the internet schedule told me that it leaves at 2:20 (which is maybe why so many people make that mistake!!!!!!!)"  So one would think that is the end of the story right?  Not by a long shot.  Next, I go outside to try and call Toby who is picking me up in Claresholm but I cannot find a number to call him at since his cell doesn't work in Waterton.  So, as I am trying to find a number in my received calls I get verbally accosted by a mentally deranged man.  That was not fun.  I will not go into the details but let's just say if a creepy man approaches you near the greyhound terminal while you have a cell phone in you hand, turn and run or else you will get an earful about handcuffs, rape, that being the best way to do it and a lot more that you need never hear.  So I get, everything starts going my way, I manage to get in touch with Toby and the creepy man leaves me alone then ... well, have no idea where I was caused a little moment of pause.  Lucky for me I have an incredibly good sense of direction and I am willing to walk b/c there was no way I was getting on any buses without the explicit knowledge of where they would take me.  So I walked and walked and walked some more, finally making it to the road we live on, where I continued to walk until I could go no further and luckily found myself at a bus stop with the bus coming in 2 minutes ... so after leaving at 1:09 I finally got home at 4:20 having walked virtually that entire time.

There is more to the story including when I called 411 to get the number in Waterton as well as the  reaction I got calling Waterton but I am too tired to continue.

That was my afternoon.  How was yours?  

A second entry in one day ... who would have thunk it?  This entry is also inspired by Metro ... to think a free newspaper can generate so much discussion from one person (with themselves ... but nevertheless ... *cough*).

In the same edition of Metro that was mentioned in my previous post there is an article about the Goldmans winning the rights to O.J. Simpson's book, "If I Did It."  This got me to thinking about retribution and profit gain.  Is it alright for someone to receive the rights to someone else's intellectual property and name/image associated with that property to make up for the loss of a loved one?  While I think that, if a civil court decided Simpson was to pay 33 mil to the Goldman's and he refused to do so, they have the right to get that plus the interest on it that would have accrued over the past 10 years it is the courts responsibility to ensure payment.  I do not think the way to go about receiving their "just reward" is by giving them someone else's intellectual property; property that they could possibly make far more than the 33 million off of.  I mean, after all, a jury did find OJ innocent of the crimes (how is a mystery but still).  Is the influx of cash really going to be justice for the family?  Had OJ been found guilty of the murders, would that have been sufficient justice or would the Goldman's still have gone after his money?  At what point do we let these things go?   Sure they will always be with us but is 33 million dollars, more money than a person could spend in a lifetime, really going to do it?  If it doesn't, what next; trying to get more money?  Is putting another person in financial ruin (if that would in fact do that to OJ I doubt it) going to make up for the loss of a family member?  What about the effects of dwelling on this, the bitterness etc. and how those affect the lives of everyone else involved?  When do we give up attempting to get something after a loss?

Aside from the monetary gain, they would like to change the title of the book to I Did It or Confessions of a Double Murderer and marketing it as a true crime book.  Do they have the right?  If a jury found OJ innocent of the crime can they take a book he wrote, have the rights to his name and image on that book and change the title to make it seems as if it is a genuine confession.  Are they going to change all instances of the "if" or "should I have" in the book as well to make it into a "confession?"  If so, at what point does it stop being a hypothetical or ever real confession and become the fictional work of a bitter family that is looking to make as much profit as possible off it?