They also report as "losses" when they don't make the desired, projected profits, then they demand tax cuts to steal more, and more, from the stupid, gullible public, who still believe that this is all OK, because questioning it would be "socialist".

This means that the cops who catch thieves, or the courts that sentence them, must be dirty, rotten "socialists", runining "free enterprise"?

When small businesses report losses, it means real losses the owners have to pay for one way, or another. As I have done many times, feeding my family from overdrafts. But when the multinational mafia complains about losses it means cuts in their thievery.

When workers ask for a few percentages of raise to cover daily growing expenses, they're "ruining our economy by pricing it out of competition". But when companies raise prices without any valid reasons, it means "a healthy growth of the GDP"

Ed Deak, Big Lake.

Here's an idea .How about a $10.00,per barrel eco tax charged to the oil comapnies for every barrel of oil they drill .
The fund would be used to mitigate the damages caused by these corporate clowns(clones)
I know this was written tounge in cheek but it is as frightening as 'Silent Spring'

Jane Jacobs, an independent thinker, passed away last week.

I am encouraged by the "Independent Thinkers" out there and here (not all of course IAMC!).

Keep on thinking!

The most frighteing part is that this is all written up by so called "economists" as GDP and Growth and Productivity, swallowed by quisling politicians and forcefed to the public.

Ed Deak.

Oil is Satan's blood and those who collect it Exxon, Petrocan, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron etc for the almighty dollar.
Shareholders are the soldiers of these evil driven money grubbin lunatics, like gold fever!
Bring these oil corporations to ground by the people not buying gas for 2 days starting on April 1st 2006!
Let’s make this internet thingy work for the people take these evil doers down to -60 cents a liter they'll still make big profits.
We'll see who is more powerful then?

I agree freebear, Jane Jacobs was a brilliant mind.

It is amazing to see Rafe Mair's slow progression from rational and insightful cabinet minister to outright lunatic.

As a young consultant, I used to listen to the guy while driving between clients. Until, I could no longer listen about fish farms. I only returned to CKNW with Bill Good.

It is unfortunate, because I am sure many share my opinion. Rafe could have been a legend in Vancouver, instead we have Bill Good.

Get a grip Rafe. You're part of the problem too.

The best cure for high prices is high prices. If there's to be additional taxes, it should be at the pump and directed toward consumers.

BC Dude: You're a shareholder too

By the way, where did all the glaciers go 22,000 years ago?

neocon
There is a "big" difference between shareholder, 4 profit & a consumer, no profit!

BP Amoco is currently developing an offshore deposit called Northstar; Statoil (Norway) is tapping into a gasfield 90 miles into the Barents Sea from Hammerfest that it calls Snow White which is expected to start pumping LNG next year and which may generate as much as £34B over the next 30 years. Then there is the Shtokman field about 300 miles off the Russian Arctic coast which is 10 times larger than Snow White and into which Gazprom intends to drill some 120 wells in a range of joint ventures with other companies.

Any reason to doubt why pee wee is planning to flex his muscles in the Canadian Arctic?

Between 1996 and 2004 the National Resources Defence Council says that there were 4,530 spills of 1.9 million gallons of diesel oil, acid and other chemicals along the Alaskan border zone alone. In March, thousands of litres of crude oil from a 30-year-old BP pipeline ended up in the Arctic Ocean.

Since some estimates indicate that 1/4 of the Earth's remaining fossil fuels are in the Arctic I'd say you ain't seen nothing yet.

BC Dude:

As I said, you're a shareholder too.
Consumers "profit" by buying the cheapest.

G West: Technical correction - you can't pump LNG from the ground (earth).

Never said you could neo conman

G West: what's with the name-calling?

http://www.ucomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2006/04/29/

Good point - unless he rides a bicycle.

Corporations are the dictators of the world. Even wars are 'arranged, or not' by corporations depending if it will interrupt the trade flow of neighboring nations.
A very good book on the subject is "The world is flat".
No worries about Iran - Corporations will work it out with the Iranians.

Gerhardius
Nice! Thanks for the chuckle.

neocon
Don't see it as name calling..seems like fair comment re the whole scam that neo conmen are trying to get sensible people to swallow.

I always have a good laugh when I see these neocon collectivizers jumping up and down in desperation, trying to defend the indefensible.

Keep it up kids, we need the comedy relief !

Ed Deak.

Mr. Mair should visit the public library in Iqaluit, which features a (glorious) diorama of Iqaluit after global warming. The diorama is a serious attempt to encourage investment by pointing out that Nunavut won't be a frozen hole forever. Obviously, a lot of people up North think global warming is a good thing for them (and, if you've ever been North, it would be hard to disagree).

Jack's:

Even if he rides a bicycle, I'm sure Rafe heats his house or uses electricity. We're all part of the problem, except Mr. Deak and his teenage posters.

Are you adding 'age-ist' to your repetoire?

Percy

Your positive outlook is commendable. Where others see disaster..you see opportunity. Reminds me of Condaleeza Rice talking about seeing " the opportunities" in Iraq reconstruction or the ruin of New Orleans.

Let's say for the sake of argument that the right is right on this and that global warming is not happening because of anything to with humans.

Does that let us off the hook? Is there enough energy to meet the needs of the current population for the indefinite future? What if the population continues to grow at the same rate as it has and we're looking at 15 billion people on the planet within 50 years?

What about using fresh water to recover petroleum? Is that a viable strategy when there are already folks who are short of fresh water?

Is not the argument over global warming academic since there simply isn't enough fossil fuel energy available to meet our needs for any decent length of time anyway?

And also, is not the question of blaming humans or nature for global warming also an academic exercise since it doesn't matter where the blame lies, we have to figure out how to survive on a warmer planet regardless?

And lastly, what if the right is wrong and humans are having an effect on the environment, where does that leave us? Do we get a "do over" if it turns out the right is wrong? Who would ever take that risk assuming they have kids?

It just seems to me that even if the right is right most of the problems are still there.

If we want to save the polar bear, why don't we re-colanize some in the antarctic. Surely they'll be fine down there???

Truth is, we don't know what is causing global warming - or if indeed, global warming is occuring. There is hardly sufficient information to determine. We may be in a 200 year cycle of warm weather.

I do find that hard to believe given what we know about greenhouse gases...

We have to encourage development all over the world. Maybe in a couple hundred years, we can use all of the nuclear power plants to release a cooling agent throughout the world. Thereby controlling the world's temperature and saving Rafe's beloved polar bears.

Haha -

bob the cat:

there are amazing opportunities in new orleans - i've been there recently. there is government funded development all over the city. any entrepreneur willing to take a risk will be insured.

as for iraq - go invest in some halliburton. i guarantee you'll make some money!

you negative, negative people.

Percy -

There is really nothing up North for anybody. However, isn't it nice to know those places exist?

The world is ours to share, and I for one have been enlightened by wildlife.

let's see. We burn more oil causing increased global warming. Increased global warming causes violent weather. Violent weather causes Katrina which destroys New Orleans and gulf oil wells. American response? Get more oil to replace lost wells in the gulf so we can burn more oil. Fortunately, the neocons present their own best arguements against their mistaken beliefs. Too bad the average person has not had enough of this stupidity to stand up and demand better. We are unfortunately all part of the problem and all the talk in these comments waste valuable brain power instead of actually doing something about the problems. Shouldn't we be out there showing those without the time or ability to understand the truth instead of trying to convince a few misguided idiots that they are wrong? Then again here I am writing on this posting myself.

The debate is over on global warming C-man. Check your facts.

As to the polar bears, are you really suggesting importing a predatory species to another continent?

Try to ask yourself "and then what" once in a while OK? You won't find yourself making such ludicrous statements as often.

Ask the inhabitants of the old offshore coastal plain here (now Queen Charlotte Sound/Strait, Hecate Strait, the Dixon Entrance, etc. I'm sure they'll be able to fill you in.

I've usually found them pretty thick-headed, actually. Other than a certain bear experiencing satori in an old apple orchard, I've never really found animals to be very good at koans.

Hey Rafe,

Thank you Rafe Mair once again for the exposure of truth.

In Alberta, the head of a major oil company and his family are clients of mine. His daughter is going to school for geology. She is vocal about dismissing Global Warming as completely unfounded and a lie. The Oil baron also says global warming is purely a natural cycle. He choose to not deny the overwhelming evidence stacked in support of the problem with g.h.emmisions. Many other "oil interests" clients of mine refuse to blame global warming on humans as well, but too supprot the concept of "natural process".Hmmmm...

Rafe used Japanese whalers as an example of "cover-up". I think they can be considered the "same" as the oil barons, or for that matter, the ranchers killing wolves so they can leave their helpless cattle alone, and safe, in prime traditional wolf hunting grounds. Guide outfitters, and hunters kill wolves and other predators in an effort to increase deer, elk and other targeted animals...

These are peoples "livlihoods". This is how they live. This is their economy, the way they put food in the bellies of their children. They will distroy, maim, and kill, land or species the earth to do so, defend it, and then some of them, actually sleep at night."gasp"

So, are the giant oil companies CAPABLE of having an farsighted, sneaky,unsustainable, unethical, deceptive, immoral, and darn well anthropocentric agenda...? Let me think about it yes...

Yes Rafe, as usural, you speak of the reality of our earth and it inhabitants with compassion and concern and then put on a canvas of humor. I encourage you to keep up the attempts to educate us all my friend, as I am of the opinion that only through the exposure of TRUTH can we be saved...

Peace.

RTB

Opps...first paragraph...correction. "he choose to deny (take out the word "not")..."

sorry...RTB

What neither side dares to mention is the little fact that all this destruction is financed and licenced by the deregulated money creating system with infinitely inflated, worthless capital looking for conversion into resources.

These horror stories could never happen with a monetary system designed, regulated and controlled by a responsible public body and not by the carpetbagger mafia looking for world control by a new wave of fascists.

Ed Deak.

For what it's worth most of our heat comes from a wood pellet stove.

And I con0fes0s to being part of the problem ... I just wish we could find some leadership to address the problem I'm part

Rafe

Another good piece Rafe! As to the guy moaning about fishfarms, look what the hell has happened when Rafe was let go! More fish farms, massive reports of sea lice consuming the smolts and starving wildlife that depend on the fish for food.

Billy (who desperately wants an Order of Canada) Good and Brand-X will never report the truth about fish farms.

More oil >> just drill to your hearts content and buy those 10 mpg SUV's. Global warming >> a Communist plot to destroy our ecconmy. Oil companies >> the best corporate citizens the planet ever had!

I think we are very close to a global fiasco. The BBC is now reporting that there is a very steep decline in Ocean fish stocks. Think about it, no fish, no food for billions of people. Starving people will do anything to eat, no wonder Iran wants the bomb, I think Canada should have one too, just to keep our neighbours to the South honest.

Rafe says: "I just wish we could find some leadership to address the problem I'm part"

Me too Rafe...

Fiat Lux say: "These horror stories could never happen with a monetary system designed, regulated and controlled by a responsible public body..."

I couldn't agree more Ed. We need to develope these "responsible public bodies", but one point to ponder is with so much Oil money supporting and creating biases in our educational systems, the task seems daunting...

Peace all...

RTB

The Queen Charlottes were never touched by the last ice age, hence the unique biosphere and enviornment they live in .
Plants and animal life totally unique to the area .
It is a living laboratory .

hannibal wrote: "The Queen Charlottes were never touched by the last ice age, hence the unique biosphere and enviornment they live in .
Plants and animal life totally unique to the area.
It is a living laboratory".

I have heard of this... The birds, wolves, and bears still exist within their original ecology. That is the coolest. I have also heard that EVERYTHING depends on the Salmon, including the old cedars... Pristine and Perfect...

What a beutiful world we live in.

Peace.

RTB

Capitalism And Neocon what universitys did you go to to study sceince? I dont think it is global warming that will kill us all. But it is happening says all the top sceintists oh and even our friend GORGE W. finely admmited it.
overpopulation will kill us
Insted of the war on iraq the us could have had the war on poverty. To educate and feed third world countrys and eliminate there dept to the U.S. would have done alot better for the world but that is too long term for our dision makers of today.

The scenario regarding tourism in the far north would be screamingly funny if it weren't so close to the truth. Tourists flock (on jets, presumably) to Churchill, Manitoba annually to cruise around (in tank-like vehicles or in snowmobile fleets) checking out the polar bears. All of this in the guise of "learning about the wonders of the natural world." There might not be a polar bear in Stanley Park any longer, but now hordes of people can generate loads of revenue (and CO2 emissions) turning places like Churchill and Inuvik into Great White North theme parks.

Having said all this, I really wish I could have seen more of the North when I was younger. Maybe I just read one too many Farley Mowat books and Wade Davis essays...;-))

neocon,

Geez neocon, the right-wingers of 22,000 years ago are still denying there were any glaciers to begin with.

I take it from your comment we can assume you do believe in at least one instance of global warming then? :-)

Gloomy,

Me too, I'd like to see us have about 20, just to keep everyone who might want our resources on the up and up.

Hello Rafe and everyone else, check out this site it may lay to rest about misconceptions about global warming.friendsofscience.org

Check it out and don't knock it until you have read it. The biggest threat to the salmon is developement on the islands. Check out all the resorts that are shooting up and some of them are huge.

A slippery slope folks...uranium mining and nuclear weapon development to stave off the imperialist aggressors? think i've heard that one before....;-))

I don't think the list of countries with nukes who've been invaded is very long.

willy, a lot of earth science and geology guys on that list isn't there? Guys whose paycheques are signed by the oil industry perhaps? Also don't know why I should trust guys like

Dr. Ross McKitrick, associate professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Guelph, Ont.

when it comes to the issue of global warming. Did he do his PhD on economics or on climate?

To continue the discussion on the merits of climate change or Kyoto read the following:
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=040505C or check any book by Dr. Robert C. Balling Jr. http://www.tcsdaily.com/Authors.aspx?id=242 or read Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming - Dr. Patrick Michaels, Dr. Roy Spencer http://www.tcsdaily.com/Authors.aspx?id=267. Global warming is blamed for everything where the evidence is wanting. The real agenda of you watermelons (green outside red inside) is to bring back civilization 1000 years no different than the Taliban and Ludites.

Nope, its to prevent people who can't see anything beyond their own nose from wrecking the only world we have.

Anyhoo, send your links to George Bush and see if you can convince him that the globe isn't warming. Then try the insurance industry although I'm sure you'll claim they're all communists.

Ned Ludd is our leader.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/02/washington/02cong.html?ex=1147233600&en=6a9b475384a7cd44&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Yes,RTB it is truly a beautiful world we live in and you are spot on that the forrests depend on the bears to maintain them.
They eat their salmon on the floor of the forrests and they break down to make fertilizer and as any good gardener knows fish fertilizers are some of the best available .All natural purely organic .
Have you seen the spirit bear ?
Basically a cinamon coloured black bear.
I think there are only 200 left in the wild .
These bears are revered by natives and sometimes are refered to as spirit bears .

I am a watermelon! Moist and full of seed(s)

Dirtmeister you're funny. Would love to poke more fun at you, but I have to get to work to jam my computer's hard drive with a wooden shoe!

And don't forget to take a piece of cardboard to jam the devil's dvd-drive too Stump.

Oh what the hey, just use a hammer.

I think I'm a tomato, red on the inside and red on the outside.

Much better than being a pepper, vast emptiness on the inside.

Better than being a mango too, I don't care for mangoes.

Ah well, the watermelon line has been around for 30 years, its fun when someone discovers it for the first time though.

Remember Rafe, the biggest profiteer of high energy prices is government. Follow the money. And we are the government.

Sorta like the phrase from Dogpatch "I've seen the enemy and he is us."

'nuff said on this waste-of-space website.

neoconman
It's a good thing the government did get some benefits from the following:

Countesy statistics Canada
Further, to make the necessary point:

Even a substantial reduction in federal taxes on fuel would have only a small impact on pump prices. This is due to the fact that high gas prices are less a result of taxes than of recent substantial increases in the world price of crude oil.

Another consideration is that gasoline tax revenues are used to support a broad range of programs that are valued by all Canadians, including health care, education and programs for seniors. In fact, Budget 2005 committed $5 billion in gas tax revenues over the next five years to support environmentally sustainable infrastructure for cities and communities.

Harper's budget bears watching to see if the infrastructure funding tax expenditures are sustained in today's budget.

I thought Canada was a theme park .

hannible says: "I thought Canada was a theme park".

It is a "theme park" to be sure hannible, but it is under threat to industry, and I worry about it...

You asked hannible if I have seen a spirit bear... I was on the Central Coast last summer and going back this summer. I stayed with a wonderful community and learned so much... I saw many animals, but I have never seen the spirit bear in real life... Perhaps this summer "he" will show up...

Cool.

Peace bro.

RTB

kootowl says: "learning about the wonders of the natural world."

I believe this is the "thing" that will save these areas provided it is done well. Eco-tourism if properly managed, will introduce the Natural World BACK into the lives of humans.

Cheif Dan said if people do not know the animals, they will be afraid of them, and what one fears, one destroys...

People need to love the animals and the natural world before they will save it, and they need to experience them and their world before they will love them. This is what E.T. is, not to mention it too will give an economy to those that need one, such as the FN people...

That is my view anyways...

Peace.

RTB

Chief Dan in my books is right up there with Ghandi and Nelson Mandela .
I was being facitious when I said that I thought Canada was a theme park .
Wise words from a ,very,wise man .
Little Big Man is still my all tiime favourite movie ."Did she show enthusiasm" one of the best lines ever spoken .
Totally agree with your take on eco-tourism it may well save our little corner of the planet .
Make sure you take a camera Bear when you return, as a sighting is very special .
I think there are only 200, left on the coast that makes them rarer than the Chinese Panda of which there are 1,600,in the wild .
Good luck !

Bears are not companions of men, but children of God, and His charity is broad enough for both.
Bears are made of the same dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters.
A bear's days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are over domed by the same
blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsings like ours and was poured from the same fountain...

-- John Muir

Kitasoo legend says that Raven: The Creator, went among the bears and turned every tenth bear white to serve as a reminder of a time when the Earth's great glaciers covered the landscape.

In the beginning of time, the world was white with ice & snow. Then the Raven came from heaven and made the world green, as it is today. But he wanted to make something to remind himself of the beginning and its whiteness. So on this Island, this special piece of paradise, he went among the black bears and every tenth one he made white. That way he could remember the world as it was. Then the Raven issued a decree: "The white bears would live here forever in peace"

Habitat:

The kermode bear lives in the rain forests of British Columbia, Canada. The range of this magnificent bear is from Princess Royal Island to East Hazleton,Terrace,Prince Rupert Island. The area of the kermode is about 7.2 million hectares. The place were the most kermode bears are found is Princess Royal Island. In fact,the population of these bears is so intense, that one tenth of the black bears there, turn out to be white. Along with the kermode are bald eagles, salmon, foxes, and other various animals.

The climate is beautiful although in great danger. Logging companies have their eyes on these rain forests with trees that are hundreds of years old. Many organizations are trying to save this wondrous rain forest but they are fast disappearing.
Just a little back ground on the Kermode bear(Spirit bear or Ghost bear)

Cool hannibal... Yeah man, once again, I look forward to the trip to the coast.

Hey, it sounds like you HAVE experienced these wonderful animals called the spirit bears. Well, if the "gods nod" perhaps I will see one one day...

Yes, on the Chiefs impact to myself as well...He was quite a man.

Funny you should mention Little Big Man, as I watched it on the weekend, and I remembered the line... to funny :-)

Oh yes, my appologies on my last message for mis-spelling you name dude...

Peace to you bro...

RTB

hannibal, on a sad note, on the island next to Gill Island (where the Queen of the North Ferry sunk), the Spirit bears are walking around with deisel oil on their feet from the ferry sinking last month. Quite a photo that would make for our 2010 Olympic Mascots eh..RTB

Capitalism:

I'm afeered you got it wrong, y'all! Rafe's irrational time was when he was cabinet minister. Now he is rational and insightful.....

neocon:

Oh, they are still there. Question should be: where are they going now? and what happens then?
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=7454

willyposted: 20 Hours AgoHello Rafe and everyone else, check out this site it may lay to rest about misconceptions about global warming.friendsofscience.org

Actually, I was there.... while I was writing an article about peak oil and global warming, so then I was also here: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/04/climate_change_is_real.php

Seems that of the sixty, 17 have been using flawed data, and one is a full blown "intellectual design" fan. Always good to know the backgrounds.

oops. thats intelligent design...

Hey there RTB,
I'm not against education that fosters respect for the rest of the animals that inhabit this world with us, but how this happens, is, imo, a big deal. "Eco-tourism if properly managed" can benefit all of us, but the proper management is what I don't see happening.

I'd love to see eco-tourism where the visitors actually do something useful (besides drop their $) in the area they visit. Let 'em have the experience of plugging a few trees into the ground. Or have them put a few hours in at the local recycling depot...it's been done elsewhere, why not here?

Hey kootwol,

Yeah, great idea my friend...

One thing though, is lets not undervalue the need for these people to have an economy. The gov't has bought most of their fishing licences, and as we know, this kind of "give-away, unsurally lends itself to social problems. Eco-tourism can support a local economy for these people and is a way that would encourage the PROTECTION of their "resourses" not the SELLING THEM OUT...

In saying this though kootowl...I think perhaps the "ultimate" eco-tourism experience would be leaving a little bit of oneself behind by being helpful and caring to the communities at hand. I know, having spent time with some of these communities there is ALWAYS something to do and the rewards are boundless...cool

I think, the first step it to allow the "tourists", through exposure to the animal, and the human communities, as well as their natural habitats, to develope a relationship with all these things. Many of the tourist are seeking this type of "vacation" out because of their need to heal and overcome personal fears of the unknown. This experience would help them to hopefully eventually, acquire a sence of confidence and belonging. After all, this is often a "new" experience for them...but clearly, they are willing, as evidence by their being there. The "rest" will happen once they love and connect with that which they are surrounded by...Cool.

In some ways kootowl, they (city-dwellers and others)need to be healed, and then they will want to help heal...

Peace bro...

RTB

If there is one important message to convey in this dialogue, it is the truth: that is, it is not Canada's oil, it is the property of the company that is contracted to work on the land that it is depleting at a rate never before witnessed in human history. Great! Short term profit. So, what is the long-term gain and what will be left at the current rate of depletion? And, most importantly, what are the consequences of our actions to the future generations given the reality of climate change and the subsidised oil industry?