Sunday Morning 'Toon: Climate Change Edition

Have to say, I've always been skeptical of the whole "cap & trade" idea. Back in the 2008 election, when everyone from Jack Layton to Stephen Harper was prattling about how hard to understand the Green Shift was with its carbon tax, I kept wanting to say, "Okay, smart guy, how'll one of those cap & trade schemes you're offering as an alternative work?" None of the candidates came to my door in 2008, so never got to ask that. And the mainstream media never bothered to ask them about it either. The election seemed to be so much about tearing down the Green Shift regardless of the merits of what it was proposing.

Well, congratulations, guys. Mission accomplished.

Anyway, the people who made the Story of Stuff animation, have put together a new video called the Story of Cap and Trade. They do a pretty good job of explaining how the system works. And they do an excellent job of highlighting the serious problems with cap and trade. (I find the tone of the narration a little irritating, though.) Turns out -- surprise, surprise -- cap and trade is awfully complicated and some really nasty problems can be hidden in the fine print. And it looks like cap and trade is just another scam by financiers to make a pile of bucks without providing much in the way of benefit to society.

Not being an expert on such things, I can't say if any of the cap and trade schemes proposed for Canada are as corrupt as the one examined in this animation. But this makes me pretty damn skeptical that any cap and trade system could be the magic solution to our carbon problems.



I still can't help but think that taxation is the easiest way to put a fair price on carbon. I wouldn't even demand it be a revenue-neutral sort of deal. Pity that idea's been pretty much scuttled in this country... at the federal level, at least.

Pick of the Day: A Christmas Surprise

I had originally intended to feature the Stereos gig at the Distrikt tonight with The Midway State, Artist Life and The Envy as pick-of-the-day. But that fell through. Checking the headliners out on-line, it's just as well, as they do exude a bit of a poseur vibe. To begin with, they're from Edmonton. So why is that one dude with the tats sporting a Chicago Bulls jersey? Big fan of the NBA? Or just searching for that ever elusive punk/hip hop street cred?

If you were keen to see them though, don't sweat it, as Stereos will be backing up Hedley at Brandt Centre on March 30. Today though, especially if you're a parent, or you can arrange to borrow some kids for the afternoon, you might want to drop by the Royal Saskatchewan Museum for a holiday celebration. In addition to cider and goodies, there'll be musical entertainment courtesy of the the Regina Community Orchestra, Cadence and Eddie & the Shone-delles. There'll also be a screening of the movie Prancer, along with an opportunity to check out the museum's various galleries and displays.

Overall, sounds like a great way to spend the afternoon. There's no charge, but the RSM will be collecting donations on behalf of the Regina Humane Society.

Saturday Morning 'Toon: Climate Change Edition

A little animation on how the climate tipping point works.

Pick of the Day: Bright Star

Directed by Jane Campion (The Piano), this biopic details a brief love affair between British poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his neighbour Fanny Brawne (Abby Cornish). Considering Keats, a leading figure along with Byron and Shelley of the Romantic period who was born in central London in 1795, died at age 25 (likely from tuberculosis in Rome) pretty much everything about his life would qualify as brief. In Campion's film, we see him through the eyes of the pragmatic Fanny -- a dressmaker who defied convention to fall in love with the penniless poet. Author of such classic works as Ode to a Nightengale and Ode on a Grecian Urn, Keats, in his short life, epitomized the romantic ideal of the impoverished artist. That ideal still operates, of course. Pretty much the only reason we have art in our money-grubbing society is because a small segment of the population, similar to Keats in his day, is willing to sacrifice virtually everything -- their financial well-being, their social standing, even their health, in order to create. If you see this film, please keep that in mind. Here's the trailer. (YouTube)

Toronto Mayor Accepts Fossil Award

Canada took home two Fossil of the Day awards in Copenhagen today, taking the first and second prize for promoting inaction on climate change. This means we've six in total now, more than any other nation -- we're even decisively out ahead of the Ukraine. (Er... yay?)

We scored our twofer first thanks to a declaration from our cheif negotiator that Canada's carbon emission reduction target of minus 3% over 1990 level is "science based" (real scientists say developed countries should be shooting for minus 25 to 40% over 1990 levels), and second for our environment minister saying that the Kyoto Protocol should not be extended and something new put in place.

Toronto mayor, David Miller was on hand to collect our "prize", saying that, like most Canadians, he's ashamed of our government's appalling record on climate change.

Rally for Climate Justice

With negotiations for a new climate treaty ongoing in Copenhagen, some local environmental activists are holding a rally at the Cenotaph in Victoria Park on Saturday to express solidarity with millions of other people across the planet and press world-leaders, including Canuck bad-boy Stephen Harper, to forge an agreement that results in substantial cuts to greenhouse gas emissions now. The rally begins at 12:18 p.m. and will last until 1 p.m.

Monckton Calls Protesters Crazed Hitler Youth

This bit of coverage of the Copenhagen Climate Conference is a couple days old, but here's some video of protesters who crashed an event put on by the Americans For Prosperity -- that'd be one of those groups of climate cranks and deniers in Copenhagen trying to sabotage any constructive work being done. Speaker Christopher Monckton -- who visited Regina earlier this year -- is shown on tape calling the protesters "crazed Hitler Youth."



Notice how poorly attended this denier event is by actual deniers. The vast majority of the audience is protesters. Goes to show how out in the cold this gang's ideas really are.

Anyway, as Kevin Grandia points out over at DeSmogBlog, apparently the potty peer hasn't heard of Godwin's Law as he spends the next day wandering about Copenhagen ambushing young delegates, spouting nonsense at them and again accusing them of being Nazis. (The Jews among them aren't too pleased by the comparison.)



He even goes so far as to calmly explain to one delegate (who's posing as a climate denier) how climate scientists should be rounded up and jailed for fraud.



Don't forget this is the same guy who, back in the 80s, calmly and rationally explained how AIDS patients should also be rounded up and jailed. (He sort of recanted this in one publication by saying, essentially, that there are now too many AIDS sufferers to jail them all.)

I'm happy to see his lunacy exposed so clearly but have to say it's like shooting at bug-eyed mutant fish-creatures in a barrel. Monckton clearly adores the attention. More than any of the A-list climate liars, Monckton's arguments are completely indefensible. It'd be kind of nice if he quit getting so much attention. That'd really hurt the bastard. Talking to him only seems to be making him stronger.

Friday Afternoon Kitty!

Simon's cat is the creation of British animator and cat lover Simon Tofield. Tofield's unbelievably funny shorts show a real understanding of how cats act like total jerks. But we all adore them anyway. Right?

You can see more Simon's Cat films here, at the Simon's Cat website. There appear to be products available as well. Buy stuff, support an animator!

Six In The Morning

1 GOVERNMENT BANS GREENPEACE T-SHIRTS So much for freedom of speech. Stephen Harper's Canada fucking sucks. (CBC)

2 WE REALLY DO SUCK Canada faces scorn as it bumbles along in Copehagen summit (Winnipeg Free Press)

3 PROTESTORS PROTEST FUR IN REGINA By being cold, nearly naked and sexy. (CBC)

4 TAX THE BANKS, SAVE THE CLIMATE? Gee, I can't imagine this anti-global warming proposal would be popular with ordinary people... (Guardian)

5 SAFETY INSPECTOR FIRED BY PROVINCE Claims all she wanted was safer prisons. (Leader-Post)

6 OTTAWA LETS FURRINNERS--FURRINNERS!--INTO CANADA'S PRIVATE CELL PHONE PARTY Not an expert but I bet this is one of those stories where absolutely everyone is the bad guy. (Toronto Star)

What, No "Oops ... I Did It Again!"?

The top 100 albums of the first decade of the third millenium, again courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine.