Some articles of note in The Tyee today.
In the interests of fairness, a positive review of 24 and Jack Bauer--quite a bit different than my take on the series....
A savage review of 300--the new comic book treat in the vein of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorow.
"Some might say this policy is anti-women, anti-poor people and
anti-child. But I think this ignores the policy's subtle genius.
Finally, we have a conservative policy that is pro-environment."
An enraged article by Terry Glavin, I writer I deeply respect, defending the seal hunt. I must say, this gave me pause for thought. "It's long past time for conservationists to make a clean, clear, open
and unequivocal break with crystal-gazing animal-rights eccentrics and
all their camp followers. For them, the conservation of wild resources
was always just a flag of convenience. They're dead ballast, so over
the side with them."
And remember that day when the RCMP shut down th offices in the Legislature and cleaned out all those boxes of documents, arresting Basi, Virk, and Basi? Well, "In a nutshell, the defence has alleged that there was an internal
political decision by the B.C. Liberal government to "fix" a $1 billion
dollar deal and pay off the losing firm with another deal worth up to
$100 million. And it seeks internal RCMP and government information on
whether the B.C. Rail deal should have been rescinded." It looks like this might be a very interesting chapter in BC political history--and that's saying something!
And when it comes to a democratic deficit, there ain't any place that does it better than Alberta. Liberal leader Kevin Taft, another writer I very much respect, details many of the Alberta Conservative's scandals in his new book Democracy Derailed. Check out Jeremy Klaszus' review.
In the interests of fairness, a positive review of 24 and Jack Bauer--quite a bit different than my take on the series....
A savage review of 300--the new comic book treat in the vein of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorow.
"Some might say this policy is anti-women, anti-poor people and
anti-child. But I think this ignores the policy's subtle genius.
Finally, we have a conservative policy that is pro-environment."
An enraged article by Terry Glavin, I writer I deeply respect, defending the seal hunt. I must say, this gave me pause for thought. "It's long past time for conservationists to make a clean, clear, open
and unequivocal break with crystal-gazing animal-rights eccentrics and
all their camp followers. For them, the conservation of wild resources
was always just a flag of convenience. They're dead ballast, so over
the side with them."
And remember that day when the RCMP shut down th offices in the Legislature and cleaned out all those boxes of documents, arresting Basi, Virk, and Basi? Well, "In a nutshell, the defence has alleged that there was an internal
political decision by the B.C. Liberal government to "fix" a $1 billion
dollar deal and pay off the losing firm with another deal worth up to
$100 million. And it seeks internal RCMP and government information on
whether the B.C. Rail deal should have been rescinded." It looks like this might be a very interesting chapter in BC political history--and that's saying something!
And when it comes to a democratic deficit, there ain't any place that does it better than Alberta. Liberal leader Kevin Taft, another writer I very much respect, details many of the Alberta Conservative's scandals in his new book Democracy Derailed. Check out Jeremy Klaszus' review.
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It amazes me to see any environmentalist attempt to defend Canada's commercial seal hunt, given the very real conservation concerns surrounding the annual kill.
ReplyDeleteJust a few things people who claim to care about the environment should bear in mind about this hunt:
1. Even Canadian government scientists say current seal kill levels are far too high and the quota should be lowered dramatically. However, the Fisheries Minister appears to be ignoring that advice. He has indicated his first concern is putting money into the pockets of sealers, and the quota will not be lowered by much.
2. Harp seals - the target of the commercial seal hunt - are ice dependent animals. This means they rely on sea ice upon which to give birth to and nurse their pups, and to forage for food. Global warming has caused the sea ice cover in the northwest Atlantic to decline in recent years. When the ice does not form properly, mother seals abort in the water. When the ice melts before the pups are strong enough to swim, thousands perish. In 2002, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans estimated 75% of the pups born in the Gulf of St. Lawrence died because of the bad ice conditions. Notably, this year's ice looks worse than 2002.
3. The best available science - even that from DFO - shows marine mammals are a vital part of the ecosystem of the northwest Atlantic, and culling seals may inhibit recovery of some fish stocks.
4. The seal hunt is a hunt for fur, and so hundreds of thousands of carcasses are left to rot on the ice - which simply contributes to oxygen depletion in the ocean, a leading cause for groundfish stock declines.
5. Canada's commercial seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth, with over one million seals killed in the past three years alone. The last time Canadian seal hunters killed this many harp seals, a half century ago, the population was quickly reduced by as much as two thirds. At the time, the Canadian government scientists warned all commercial seal hunting should end for at least a decade or the harp seal population could be lost.
How any environmentalist could claim to support this needless and unsustainable slaughter of marine mammals to produce fur coats is beyond me.