Follow up to the last post...

Did you know that one of Canada's leading scientists, Don MacIver was dropped from the climate change delegation? Jim Prentice (my "second-favourite" MP, y'all know who my "first-favourite" is, right?) says that it was a cost-cutting measure.

All this tries to make sense... but the article also says that MacIver's costs were to be covered by the World Meteorological Organization"as part of his role as the chair of the organizing committee" and not by Canada. Now, MacIvor likely would have been drawing a salary during the conference, so I guess that money is better spent doing... something else that scientists do. Because we'd hate to have the scientists COMMUNICATING with one another as they try to get us out of this mess we've made.

Oh, yeah, it is the full moon...

How else could you explain the troll-full reactions to this article on Canada's role at the UN Climate Change talks in Poland? Reactions like:

Canada stands proud, sovereign, free, and under God.

Harper has led Canada into a position of proud global leadership. In light of this new strength, we no longer need to be concerned with "disappointed" environmental socialists and those countries that adhere to a flawed global warming fear tactic!

Canada can unite free and proud on its own terms! God bless Canada.

Not that I'm Christian or anything, but wasn't there something about Adam and stewardship in that Bible of yours?

Or this:

Do the foreigners pay tax here? No? Then what they think or say doesn't mean JACK! The next time the decadent Europeans decide to have a war, we should stay home. Say, don't they still owe us for winning WWII for them? What short memories these guys have. Must be all the wine and creamy sauces...

Mmmhmm. There must be a variation of Godwin's Law here somewhere....

Oh, and Minister Prentice? When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told you that Canada has played an important role "historically" in international affairs, I think you should take some time to reflect on what "historically" actually means and why it's not necessarily a good thing.

Making News Again

Yep, I'm in the paper again:

Car sharing co-op attractive option for Calgarians

If you're interested in carsharing (I've been doing it since April), all the information on CATCO is on the website: www.calgarycarshare.ca.

First Fruits: What are you thankful for?

O Hadondia*, great is thy bounty

Endless are the streams of thine abundance

We call upon you now to nourish us

And those around the world who are in need

Teach us to receive and know that we deserve

Teach us to give and share the overflow...

Shekhinah Mountainwater

Today is Lammas, the festival of first harvest. It is a time for us to be thankful and aware of the abundance in our lives, as we celebrate that which we have worked for. It is also a time of sacrifice as we let go of what is no longer needed in our lives.

This Lammas, with the ongoing green debates, it is important to remember that the Earth is a living being, and Her bounty needs to be shared equally by all. If not, all will suffer, but those who have less will suffer the most.

*Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Abundance and Prosperity

No Fares?

The first of a five-part series, 17 Reasons (or More) to Stop Charging People to Ride the Bus looks quite interesting. (Actually, I've been referred to The Tyee more and more in recent days. I'm thinking I need to spend some time browsing!)

I don't know what it would take to make such a move in car-happy Calgary. Even though the parking fees keep increasing, and the construction makes driving a nightmare, people continue to drive in large numbers. I think the author's assessment, that a plan would need to be in place to address other factors before dropping fares, is a fair one. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Streets are for Bikes Too

Sometimes people just need to take things into their own hands... TheStar.com - News - Bike activists going guerrilla.

I've been thinking about getting a bicycle for a couple of months. (My last bike was stolen from AUC's campus in 1991, and I just never got around to replacing it.) I'd really like an electric one, as there are a number of serious hills in my area, but the cost is a little much for us at the moment. (I've also thought about buying one and then converting it later, but I'm worried that if I don't have the electric option at the beginning I'll talk myself out of using it because of the hills.)

One of the other things that has been holding me back is the way cyclists are treated by drivers in this city. It can be pretty scary out there, especially as there aren't many bike lanes. (There is the bike path system, but to go anywhere I'd like to go to, e.g. grocery shopping, I'd need to ride on the actual road.)

So I can understand why the people in this article would be frustrated; to have the lanes promised and not happen in a timely fashion? And I think it's sad that the city decides to clean it off rather than be proactive. I wonder, what would have happened if they'd approached cyclists and asked for help in getting the lines painted? That would have been revolutionary.

Conference Crashing for Gaia

The Gas and Oil Exposition in Calgary was gate-crashed by the Yes Men, the combination theatre group and political activists. They pulled off an impressive con, pretending to be representatives from the NPC and Exxon. Andy Bichlbaum gave a talk, posing as Shepard Wolff of the NPC, where he admitted that the Earth is heading towards “huge global calamities”. On the bright side, he suggested, “the oil industry could "keep fuel flowing" by transforming the billions of people who die into oil.”

CFCN is reporting that attendees had paid $50 each to hear the speech, and CBC has listed its article under "Diversions" but not on its Calgary news site. There's a clip about the incident (including a little bit of the speech) at TheEnergyNews.com (June 15 edition, you have to get about three minutes into the video).

EDIT: Wired News is reporting that attendees paid $45 each for the keynote lunch event, and that the Yes Men were issued a $287 fine for trespassing. There is also more information and links at the Vivoleum website.

Taking Back the Streets: P (LOT) (TreeHugger)

Taking Back the Streets: P (LOT) (TreeHugger)

Why should streets be only for cars?

A Price to Pay for Alternative Fuels

His reward from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He's been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government. And to legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond. Read More

In Alberta, we pay 19¢ gas tax (10¢ federal, 9¢ provincial) per litre; the federal tax goes to no specific purpose while the provincial supposedly goes to road construction. (And there is enough of it going on in Calgary!) I wonder how long before the provincial government starts to look at taxing alternative fuel vehicles?

A Call for Magical Action

(from my inbox)

We are the rising of the moon
We are the shifting of the ground
We are the seeds that take root when we bring the fortress down...

A CALL FOR MAGICAL ACTION
TUESDAY 8.30 p.m AND WEDNESDAY 10.a.m.(German time).

Let's gather and weave a spell of love, protection and whatever else we think is needed for the protestors and participants at the G8 summit taking place at the Baltic sea:

'May the people who gather in order to contribute to the healing of the earth and her peoples have the power, strength, love, protection,wisdom, resources, companionship... and everything they need in order to do their work.'

Plastic has its benefits; no one would deny that. Few of us, however, are as enthusiastic as the American Plastics Council. One of its recent press releases, titled “Plastic Bags—A Family’s Trusted Companion,” reads: “Very few people remember what life was like before plastic bags became an icon of convenience and practicality—and now art. Remember the ‘beautiful’ [sic] swirling, floating
bag in American Beauty?” Read More

“We have this whole mantra, the three Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle — but we never seem to really consider 'reduce',” Saxby, who promotes cloth bags as an alternative to plastic. By taking the old bag shopping just 11 times, the consumer delivers a lower environmental impact than one single-use plastic bag. Read More

I bought us a number of cloth bags after seeing them at a supermarket in Winnipeg (because that chain is not near us, we rarely go there for groceries). They are quite useful; so far this month, they've been to soccer games (blanket, insect spray, snacks, and water bottle all fit nicely in one), the kid's birthday party (snacks, drinks, clean up supplies), gaming (cookies for the gang, books/DVDs to loan) and, of course, groceries. And, as I've placed them right by the front door, I'm less likely to forget them when I walk to the store. (I will be getting more, I think, to have in the car for those "just in case" trips.) So I have to remember to bring the bags; I had to remember to bring my cell phone and wallet when I got them, so I think I can do this. It's all about making the conscious choice to change, right?

Why the 9 to 5 Office Worker Will Become a Thing of the Past

The solution that makes the most sense is a remote work arrangement because it reduces employer costs and allows employees to adjust their work schedule to their mental energy cycle.

read more digg story

Pink Gecco and I were discussing this on the weekend, and she brought up the point that not everyone can work from home effectively. I think it's a matter of re-learning how we work; as this article suggests, working 8 hours straight just isn't "working" anymore. Maybe that's the piece that was missing from our discussion; that we can't expect people to work 8 hours from home, as they would in an office. Perhaps this heralds the shift from the importance of "time" to the importance of "productivity"?

I'm one of the lucky people who works from home. (Yes, people, I do more than chat on MSN all day. And for those who are chatting with me from work, I'd like to introduce you to your shaky moral high ground.) I've seen a number of benefits to it, from reducing our overall expenses and planetary footprint (no longer commuting, for example) and actually spending less time overall on household chores (because I'm always here, it's easy to turn on the dishwasher as i write in the morning rather than worry about it at night, as another example). And, honestly, I've seen big changes in my productivity because I'm working at a pace that works for me. But I've also realized that it was very easy to put in 8 hours at an office because there was an understanding that being there was working, regardless of what I was doing or not doing. (Those of you with co-workers who do nothing all day, this is my shout-out to you.) Being at home, though, has made me really look at how "many" hours I work daily and how much "time" it really takes to complete projects. It has been an eyeopener.

Of course, this shift will only work if our overall workforce structure also moves from a time/hourly wage to a productivity/salary wage, which has good and bad arguments as well. We all know cases, especially in non-profit, where the 40-hour-week is a myth and people are unable/unwilling/afraid to clock overtime because of personal ethics, funding shortages and the desire to help. That's something else that will need to be addressed as the knowledge economy shifts - but it will shift, and we will need to start looking at new ways of doing things as the shift occurs.

Now, I've got a dishwasher to empty. :-)

Congrunting: Living Green

• TV - always the idea that consumerism is exacerbated by TV/media - media based on consumer society - if you cannot consume or do not need to consume you are not a valuable member of society
• composting can be done in apartments
• issues of self-righteousness and self-depreciation - what can one really do?
• we need to change and to make change together - community
• always women are being asked to make the change (my mini internal rant re: diapers)
• recycling is the new opiate of the masses? recycling is a placebo (thanks, Lee)
• I can't go to my politician and yell at him until I do something myself
• only by addressing the profit line of companies will things change
• can you tell where your food comes from? - local food movement
• it really does become about reducing and changing behaviour - it's not just what we buy but how much and why