Chart of the day November 5, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics.Tags: economics
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When listening to the radical “free market” arguments of the Gordon Campbell’s and Stephen Harper’s of this world, it’s important to, you know, remember the actual facts. Facts such as the era of greatest economic growth was one with “high marginal tax rates, generous minimum wages, and strong unions.”
A solution to a problem that doesn’t exist October 29, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics.Tags: cupe, income inequality, vancouver
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Over at Anti-CivicScene, former Sam Sullivan Chief of Staff Daniel Fontaine flags an alarming development:
With the release of next week’s council agenda, the corks are popping over at CUPE headquarters now that former BC Federation of Labour operative Councillor Geoff Meggs has introduced a motion to pull Vancouver out of the regional labour relations bureau.
My goodness, what nefarious scheme are the union thugs up to this time?
By doing so, it is hoped they will succeed in getting higher wages and greater benefits for their members.
OH NOES!
Jonathan Ross at anti-CityCaucus takes care of, one might even say eviserates, the accuracy of both facts and characterization contained within Fontaine’s post. But there is a broader aspect that’s worth mentioning too: Fontaine and his buddies at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are concerned about a problem that doesn’t exist and their solution will exacerbate a serious problem that does. Labour costs are not out of control in British Columbia. In fact, over the last 25 years the median income has plummeted in this province. This despite the fact GDP has grown. Where did the wealth from this growth go? Well, those in the upper-income brackets – like those represented in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business – have done quite nicely during this time period, thank you very much. One might even they’ve done nicely in a historically unprecedented way.
Income inequality has grown in BC, and income inequality is a serious problem for society as a whole. If CUPE manages to leverage the “whip-saw” effect to spread the wealth around more equitably, and if that helps wages in the private sector rise, then that’s a good thing for everyone.
Too, I’m sure Mr. Fontaine declined the 17.5%+ raise that non-unionized City employees received.
How to undermine a good cause October 27, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics, effluvia.Tags: climate change, environment
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Environmental protestor Jeh Custer apparently has been caught adding blood to his face for an interview with CBC following yesterday's Bill C-311 protest on Parliament Hill. Utterly self-defeating.
Boo! ACORN! September 24, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics.Tags: ACORN, City Caucus
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While I’m at it, the anti-CivicScene – CityCaucus.com – has a new post up that asserts links between Gregor Robertson and the American wingnut whipping boy du jour, ACORN. It’s up to their usual standards, where “I sent my small check and best wishes, and we did what we could to encourage the candidacy along” is translated by the CityCaucus-izer into “sometimes Robertson campaigner”.
Yes, Wade Rathke is a founder of ACORN. Here’s another thing he’s a founder of.
Alas, I’m sad to inform that CityCaucus hasn’t kept up with the latest ACORN developments, where the “Republican sting” is unravelling (as they usually do).
I do, however, look forward to the first CityCaucus guest post by Michelle Malkin.
Show your work September 24, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics.Tags: "vancouver public library" censorship vpl
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Jonathan Ross, over at his new blog CivicScene.ca, has written a post in which he posits the Administration of the Vancouver Public Library needs to be “reigned in” because of what he feels is a pattern of bad decision-making in choice of speakers at the institution. To support this, he highlights the VPL appearances of Greg Felton and assisted-suicide advocacy group Exit International.
I’m not going to speak to whether it’s appropriate for a library to allow someone like Felton or EI to use their facilities. Nor will I speak to whether it’s fair to conflate Felton and EI as equivalent in objectionability.
What I will speak to is:
- A pattern has alleged to which exactly 2 examples have been cited in support (one of which was, you know, cancelled).
- VPL actively seeks speakers, rather than passively approving speakers who approach them.
On 1, I left a question of Ross at CivicScene and I’ll repeat it here: What is the ratio of furor creating to non-furor creating events at the Library? Don’t know if I’ve received a response or if I will, but I ask because VPL has outside speakers every day and has for decades and if you can only cite two (one of which was, you know, cancelled) as objectionable then it’s not really a pattern that requires “reigning in”, is it? So “show your work”. There has to be more to it, right?
On 2, this is matter of factual accuracy and Ross oversteps in his characterization of VPL’s role in these two events. He uses the term “selection” and “booked” – as if VPL sought Felton and EI out to appear rather than what is actually the more mundane case (as it is for the vast majority of VPL events) – that Felton and EI approached VPL to use their rooms and VPL approved (in, you know, one case).
I would also be curious to know what is meant by “reigning in” in practical terms. Does he mean speakers must be approved by the Library Board? Or what? What if the Board approves someone that someone else somewhere objects to? Do we then reign in the Board?
Finally, I too had the great misfortune to be in the audience of the Felton event and while it definitely degenerated into a worthless screaming match I would not say it was a “near riot”.
How climate change denialists operate… July 31, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics.add a comment
“They stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization,” said Tim Freilich, who sits on the executive committee of Creciendo Juntos, a nonprofit network that tackles issues related to Charlottesville’s Hispanic community. “It’s this type of activity that undermines Americans’ faith in democracy.”
The faked letter from Creciendo Juntos was signed by “Marisse K. Acevado, Asst Member Coordinator,” an identity and position at Creciendo Juntos that do not exist.
This letter, about Creciendo Juntos supposed opposition to the climate change bill, was sent to congressman Tom Perriello. It has been traced to lobbying firm Bonner and Associates — a pioneer in “strategic grassroots/grasstops” lobbying whose clients have included Citicorp, Aetna, PhRMA, Dow Chemical, AT&T, and General Motors.
More about rivers in Egypt July 26, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics, effluvia.Tags: global warming
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Like the previous post, this is written in response to a comment made by “Urbanismo” on Francis Bula’s urban affairs blog State of Vancouver.
The comment:
Climate scientists have to honestly address these issues, instead of being wedded to whatever theories will get them the most funding.
Also like the previous post, this citation is a reprint of an article or blog post from elsewhere (globalresearch.ca seems to be some sort of clearinghouse for posts of a certain ideological bent). In this case, it’s from “Washington’s Blog“. Who Washington of Washington’s blog is I don’t know – there’s no bio at the site. Regardless, Washington begins by citing a USA Today article the gist of which is that the increase of atmospheric carbon is inadequate to explain the temperature rise during “Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum” – that might be some other process at work and this might have repercussions on current climate modelling. The USA Today article does not say what that process may be.
Washington, though, posits this might be a rise in methane. He cites a Nick Kristof piece from the NY Times on this. Strangely, he leaves out Kristof’s conclusion: The best reason for action on global warming remains the basic imperative to safeguard our planet in the face of uncertainty, and our leaders are failing wretchedly in that responsibility. But whatever, the important point is Washington claims his citation is saying something it clearly isn’t:
It is not just the Times speculating on methane burps as the main source of global warming.
Um, no is isn’t, and neither are any of the other citations he posts about “methane burping”. Indeed, they are all warning that the current carbon caused temperature increases could trigger an even worse methane led cycle!
At the end, Washington exhorts scientists to look into methane (as if they weren’t, as his own citations prove) and to stop “being wedded to theories which will get them the most funding”. It’s a line Urbanismo likes so much he repeats it. As if there wouldn’t be big money to be made if there were supportable alternate explanations from parties with big pockets.
It’s also so ridiculously wrong-headed that it’s what moved me to write this. We have just endured 8 years of an American Administration that both supressed evidence of global warming, and actually cut funding from research:
Last week the head of the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Professor Jane Lubchenco, warned that the gathering of satellite data – crucial to predicting future climate changes – was now at “great risk” because America’s ageing satellite fleet was not being replaced…
…Even before her warning, scientists were saying that America, the world’s scientific superpower, was virtually blinding itself to climate change by cutting funds to the environmental satellite programmes run by the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Nasa. A report by the National Academy of Sciences this year warned that the environmental satellite network was at risk of collapse.
On David Evans Unleashed: A new trend in climate alarmism July 23, 2009
Posted by spartikus in Politics.add a comment
Here is the more substantive reply. The gist of David Evans article – originally published in Australia on July 16th – is that ocean temperatures are a more reliable indicator of climate change, and they have shown “a slight cooling trend since at least late-2004, and possibly as far back as mid-2003.” That should immediately set off alarm bells. 5 years is, of course, not a long enough period to be able to plot a trend line for anything. Ah, says Mr. Evans, “ocean temperatures were not properly measured until mid-2003″ with the deployment of the Argo network. Alas, he says, “the Argo data is extraordinarily difficult to find on the Internet” (despite the fact I found it in 30 seconds).
To this end, Mr. Evans relies on others work of which, funnily enough, he doesn’t link to (more alarm bells). Boiled down though, Evans is using data from Josh Willis (a real climate scientist!). Evans quotes Willis “There has been a very slight cooling, but not anything really significant”. It would be nice to see what else Willis had to say in March 2008. And voila here is the full quote: “There has been a very slight cooling, but not anything really significant,” Willis says. So the buildup of heat on Earth may be on a brief hiatus. “Global warming doesn’t mean every year will be warmer than the last. And it may be that we are in a period of less rapid warming.”
Now we see why Evans didn’t link to Willis directly…classic quote-mining. Here’s more Willis: “The comings and goings of El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation are part of a longer, ongoing change in global climate,” said Josh Willis, a JPL oceanographer and climate scientist. Sea level rise and global warming due to increases in greenhouse gases can be strongly affected by large natural climate phenomenon such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. “In fact,” said Willis, “these natural climate phenomena can sometimes hide global warming caused by human activities. Or they can have the opposite effect of accentuating it.”
At the end, Evans states “It is worth bearing in mind that there is no actual evidence that carbon dioxide was the main cause of recent warming—it’s only an assumption, and the calculations of future temperature rises derive most of their warming from an assumed water vapor feedback for which there is only counter-evidence.”
This provokes this response from a real climate scientist: “(1) Evans’ assertions are contrary to the basic laws of physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, i.e. the infrared absorption/emission resonance effect of well mixed long-lived greenhouse gas molecules (H2O,CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, CFC) according to the Stefan-Boltzmann law1. (2) Water vapor constitute feedback effects, strong in the tropics but weak over deserts and almost lacking over the poles, which despite very low vapor levels are warming the fastest. (3) The solar effect since the mid-20th century was limited to +/- 0.1 Watt/m2 oscillations due to the sunspot cycle. (4) The paleoclimate record indicates intimate relationships between climates and atmospheric CO2 levels. (5) The above is consistent with the observations of leading research orgnizations (Hadley, Tyndall, NASA, Potsdam, CSIRO, NSIDC) and thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers. Dr Andrew Glikson Earth and paleoclimat scientist Australian National University”
The simple fact of the matter is 97% of active climatologists agree that human activity is causing global warming
Internet politically empowers people December 8, 2005
Posted by spartikus in Politics.add a comment
Internet users say that going online creates political clout. The comprehensive study of the impact of online technology conducted by the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future found that for the first time, the number of users who say that the Internet can be used to gain political power has increased. In 2005, 39.8 percent of Internet users agree that going online can give people more political power — up from 27.3 percent in the previous study. And, 61.7 percent of respondents — Internet users and non-users alike — now agree that going online has become important to political campaigns.
