On his show yesterday, you could hear the exasperation in Charles Adler's voice. I was so moved by this that I wrote him an e-mail, which he read on-air today. Here's the e-mail in full . . .
Dear Charles,I listened with undivided attention to your Wednesday segment regarding the 3rd Graders in Toronto protesting oil pipelines. The despair in your voice about has happened to our Great Country of Canada was disheartening. But totally understandable.
With the hope of giving you a little solace, let me take you back to Toronto about 20 years ago. I was working as a mining engineer 400 km north of there, in Sudbury, for the mighty Inco. I used to visit friends of mine in Toronto on a regular basis. I'll never forget the parties I attended with them, often meeting 20 & 30 something yuppies, most from privileged families in & around the city, all with 4+ year university educations. In the normal course of conversation I would be asked what it is I did for a living. As soon as I mentioned "Sudbury" I would get the usual, "Oh, I'm sorry." When I mentioned "Mining Engineering" I would frequently get asked how I could live with "destroying the environment" (their words, not mine).
The first few times I was somewhat shocked to be accused of such a thing. Perhaps many decades before there would have been some credibility to their accusation but while I was working there, and very much more so today, Inco (now called Vale) spends millions upon millions of dollars to restore the environment back to the same or better than it was before.
Eventually I grew tired of the Enviro-Destroyer comment and responded in a manner akin to the following:
"I work as a mining engineer to retrieve nickel & copper from over a mile below the surface. The nickel is a crucial component for creating steel. That steel enabled you to drive or take the train or bus here tonight. It's also the reason why you're able to be in this comfortable, safe apartment building right now. And the copper enables electricity to be delivered into this home so that the lights can be turned on, and so that your TV and radio and fridge and washer and dryer and computer will function. Without me & my colleagues doing what we do, you would freeze every day unless you decided to continuously chop down trees to keep yourself warm. And that one-week holiday to Cuba you just got back from never would have happened unless you had paddled up the St. Lawrence and down the Atlantic in a wooden boat. Excuse me, I need another beer."
I always said such things politely but you can imagine the stunned silence I would receive. Lo and behold these eco-hypocrites would never speak with me again. Undoubtedly their self-doubts about their rampant hypocrisy got pushed to the back of their minds as they wrapped themselves again in the warm blanket of their like-minded fellow sanctimonious urban finger-waggers.
All of this is to say, Charles, that the more things change, the more things stay the same. Uncle Joe referred to such folks as "Useful Idiots". Another term, "limousine liberals" often accurately describes them. Canada's big cities contain most of them. Like an infected big toe, they'll always be with us. True to their hypocritical nature, they relish & demand all of the wonderful social programs that our nation's resources pay for but they'll never stop insisting that we put an end to the extraction of our resources. Isn't that pretty much what Thomas Mulcair was hinting at recently with respect oil? Ignorance has never been more bliss than it is in 2012!
Salutations from Canada's Left Coast,
Robert Werner
Well done Robert. I heard Chuck read your letter as we were driving down the Deerfoot and I and all my boys heartily agreed with your tact and point.
We politely tell the eco-hypocrites to piss off when the opportunity arises also, with much the same results.
Fab letter!
It's one thing to teach children values. It's quite another to use them as human shields for a cause.
Milestone around the neck, as they say.
The reason for this thinking is simple. Public Education. "Dumb by Design."
Somebody taught the teacher to teach the children this.
Robert/
Regarding the hypocricy/unreality of the left re their disgust with all things re mining& manufacturing while oblivious to the fact of the savage irony of their yet simultaneously being desirous of the enjoyment of all the fruits of the very "evils" of industrialization they so demonize, I'm reminded of all the post-colonial leftist "single-party" Marxist states in Africa which totally rejected "western materialism" and democracy, yet somehow believed they could enjoy the material benefits that the despised western societies produced without bothering to establish the cultural and political structures that produced them--sort of like expecting to be ranked the #1 tennis player in the world and enjoy all the money and fame that goes with it w.o. bothering to work or save to buy a tennis racquet or learn how to play tennis (let alone put in thousands of hours of practice time and physical conditioning) while one was instead spending all ones time as a couch potato watching the Soaps. Same mentality...and it worked SO well for the newly emergent African post colonial independence movement, didn't it?
I don't understand why the ecoists ad leftists in general hate working class folk so much. It isn't me, with my tenured university position,
that will be hurt very much by the cruel measures the ecoists advocate, it is the people who work hard in uncertain jobs for less that will get it in the neck.
The Conservatives seem to be the only party who give a damn.
Former NASA 'scientist' James Hansen, who has the same urgent melodramatic tone and predictions as Al Gore, claims that the Canadian tar sands puts civilization at risk.
Add James Hansen to Al Gore, David Suzuki and Ted Kaczynski. Fruit loops, all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
John Lewis, how right you are! Have you ever heard the eco-zealots blast CHINA for its environmental, safety, health, and labour standards failures? Nope! Could it be because China is communist?
I knew there was a good reason I enjoy your posts Robert..and BRAVO for a beautifully written email. As the wife of an old 'hard-rock' miner,I know how bloody hard they work.Hubby always says,'it's not having the gold,it's getting the gold' that he loved. I respect this trade so much,and liken them to the 'patch' workers (where my son is) Back in the day,they worked hard,and partied harder...oh the stories I could tell! I have also had the great pleasure of going over a mile underground,was so facinated I forgot to be scared.Thank you so much again..and keep it up.I too get so disheartened at what goes on in our world but will NOT weaken!
With the most innocent face I can generate, my response to any Eco fruits & nuts who whine on about cutting down trees, building pipelines or mining is.
"so, would you close down hospitals or schools to make up for the lost tax revenues from your decision?"
I get the most unbelievable stunned looks from the Eco moonbats and then the real fun begins as they try to wiggle out of their untenable position.
Fish.
Barrel.
Shoot.
To expand on his letter. My job can best discribed as the tip of the spear. It is not glamorous but it connects you to that beautiful industry that risks limb and fortune to bring you petroleum products.
If there is no fuel for me to deliver the world as you no it does not exist. This is not hyperbole this is fact. Take a minute and think how you would go about your day if there was no fuel for me to deliver.
There is nothing special about me but there is magic in what I haul around in the tanks.
It is not often you can sum up your life in a sentence except here. If there is no fuel to deliver you are a peasant.
The people that produce the product I deliver should be held in the highest regards and thank God they ignore the idiots that hate them.
This crap really pisses me off.
Is that Robert W in Vancouver or somewhere? I salute you.
chutzpahticular at May 10, 2012 6:25 PM
He is not a "former NASA scientist" he is still on NASA's payroll at GISS. When he writes and uses NASA as a lapel, he is speaking for the US government. If not, then he should be fired.
Well said Robert.
chutzpahticular puts his finger on it by saying "Could it be because China is communist?" The ecoists and leftists would have no problem keeping the resource extraction process operating, as they would use them as reeducation camps for enemies of their ideology.
"He is not a 'former NASA scientist' he is still on NASA's payroll at GISS. When he writes and uses NASA as a lapel, he is speaking for the US government. If not, then he should be fired.
Posted by: Robert of Ottawa at May 10, 2012 7:36 PM"
Thanks, Robert...I looked him up, and yes, he still works for NASA. He thinks that Obama is not doing enough to combat global warming.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/nasas-james-hansen-slams-obamas-failure-to-lead-on-climate-20120510
Ford Prefect
You are no less or no more then any of us who actually provide needed goods and services.
From the rig pig to Winston Rothchilds Sewer Sucking Service, we, the little people, keep this show running.
Our leftard friends have lost sight of that fact...at their peril...
In Ontario McGuinty and his band of idiot limousine liberals have via the Green Energy Act suspended some 21 pieces of legislation that were duly created by his and proceeding governments to protect us from the abuses that could happen should the development of lands be a free for all.
This includes the Planning and Municipal Acts, as well as the Environmental Assessment Act.
To what end? To allow for the unhindered construction of amongst other things, wind turbines that will be putting their power onto the grid for a hefty premium to what it would cost to get it from most any other source except for the even higher one of solar. At the same time, other green hydro electric generation is being turned off or sold at a loss to the US to off set the supply.
The pricing scheme envisioned by McGuinty will see our rates increase by some 40% over the next few years, to a point that Ontario will be one of the most expensive in North America.
Industries are already saying at those rates we will be closed.
Where are these windmills going? Not downtown Toronto or Ottawa.
Where does McGuinty have his seats? Not in rural Ontario.
Where do the environmentalist come from? Same place.
The Suzuki's of the world, who want to jail or even have killed deniers of proven bad science, have said squat about the damage to wildlife that windmills create. I don't know what kind of science they need for them to speak out.
All what I am left to think is that calling the Suzuki's of the world, McGuinty, these teachers or environmentalists stupid, hypocritical or naive is only reflective of a deeper mental illness. They are psychopathic as they are willingly destroying our environment and our province's economy.
Joseph Williams:
As a resident of Ontario, I cannot agree with you more. It is nothing more than a tragedy.
The true eco warrior McGuinty and I just never tire of posting his vision of Ontario:
http://quixoteslaststand.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/untitled2.png
Great letter Robert. Fortunately this mindset seems to be limited to large cities and I'm glad to be free of it now that I live in the interior of BC.
Where I live now mining is a big part of the economy and new mines are viewed as a source of new jobs, not as a threat to the environment. It's a very refreshing change although I'm getting a bit rusty at the type of putdowns of moonbats that Robert described as where I live is almost a moonbat free zone.
The education system bears a large portion of the blame as people are no longer taught how things are made. For some unknown reason, manufacturing is viewed with disdain and in talking with Vancouver moonbats, I got the impression that they believed their iPhones and mp3 players were created by magic. They hadn't a clue about the technology involved or the composition of the chips that went into the product. As long as it was manufactured out of their sight, they seemed happy.
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Pirsig explored this area and divided people into those who were pre-occupied with the surface appearance of objects and those who were preoccupied with the function and inner workings of objects. In regard to motorcycles, the first group would likely ensure that the artwork on their motorcycle gas tank was top quality but wouldn't have a clue how to disassemble their bike engine (and more importantly put it back together again) if their bike developed a problem while they were on a trip to appreciate the superficial beauty of the environment. The other category of individual wouldn't care if his bike was a beatup older model but rather that it was in perfect running order due to regular maintenance.
Curious how dividing individuals via this classification scheme also tends to largely segregate them by political views also.
It was a surgical slice that Pursig applied Loki. One that I have come to believe that was well placed...
Hey Robert, well done!
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Caught a bit of that grade 3 teacher interview the other day (on Menzoid, I think it was). Huh??
What gives with HR dept's nowadays? Are thre no hiring standards anymore? The dipsh!t had more hardware than Bolt Supply...looks like he did a face-plant into an open tackle box!
Yeah, in case I'm not making myself clear here, I don't like where this is going! Now get off my frickin' lawn! Harrumph!
Robert and ford prefect
The only difference between these enviro-nazis and suicide bombers is an explosive vest....self destructive with the same ends...
Back in the day, I was involved in heavy duty security....a professional soldier....and a big part was a thorough knowledge of the workings of oil fields and pipelines...in order to defend them better.
Our fraternaty has many sayings but this two will do...
We the willing have done so much, for so long, with and for so little that we can generaly do anything with/for nothing...
They are glad to see us come but much happier to see us go.....
sasquatch, "They are glad to see us come but much happier to see us go....."
This has been the case for untold centuries and will be the case as long as this dirt lasts.
It seems that the last century had an inordinate amount of brainwashing and this one is starting off the same.
The followers of Ned Ludd and Karl Marx have sure been busy.
Wow. Some people are just so stupid.
You know who you are.
Define stupid Jason...We know you can...
Good letter, Robert. Say, Ford, how much fuel can a Prefect haul, really? Can't be much? ;~)
57000 liters. It is a super sized english model. Laugh if you like but no fuel you walk or ride a beast. There is no other option. Actually maybe I am just oversimplifing and there is another option that someone can point out.
The challange. Disprove the statement without petroleum fuel you are a peasant.
The solution has to be available right now not some time in the - if only we could get the batteries right - future.
Ford, I would go further than your argument. The price of fuel is largely dependent upon the processing and transport systems required and less so on the actual cost of the raw fuel. As we've seen over the past few months, the price of crude oil has little to do with the solid increases in the price of gasoline. Refinery shutdowns and resulting transportation bottlenecks explain most of it.
To your main point, the difference between the 10th and 21st centuries is very simple, coal and oil. The nature of modern farming today can basically be considered as the science of turning petroleum into something edible.
Thanks for all your supportive words, folks. Makes me realize that there's more than a few fellow Canadians who haven't had their brains numbed in the Ignoramus Brainwashing Zone!
For those who missed the original video of David Menzies interviewing the brainwashed, you can see it here. h/t SDA Matt
I remember going for an interview for a job at a mining company in my 20s. For many years I had been involved in a group that was supportive of environmental causes, and I had trepidations about taking a job with a company whose main business involved harming the environment. But I needed the income. My soon to be boss shared with me some very wise words, which, when I thought about it, was an absolute truth, and made it possible for me to accept the job without guilt. That job kept me gainfully employed for more than a decade.
"If it can't be grown, it's got to be mined."
I'm with you! The clowns that are "teaching" these children are an insult to their profession. The sprawling City of Toronto, the location of their school, is on top of some of the most fertile agricultrual land in Canada. The hypocrisy of the protest was incredible! Children and their teachers complaining about 'damage to the environment" while they stood on a street corner where one can count the trees and blades of grass on one hand! Someone needs to give their head a shake!
"The challange. Disprove the statement without petroleum fuel you are a peasant."
Nuclear!
Challenge response Nuclear.
Although it has a place in the generating electrical power, it will not power the machines needed to get the resources to build the power plant. Therefore with out petroleum no nuclear plant. Good try.
@ Ed Minchau at May 11, 2012 9:37 AM
"Disprove the statement without petroleum fuel you are a peasant."
Like taking candy from a baby.
To begin with you would not be using your computer, cell phone, TV, radio,or anything that is not encased by steel,wood,cement or fabric.
Oh hell I'll be here all day. Just read this:
http://www.anwr.org/features/oiluses.htm
Ford, it can in principle, if its electricity is used to produce hydrogen. Given today's electrolysis technology which has about a 50 % conversion rate, about 20 reactors will produce enough hydrogen to move Canada's vehicle fleet.
This is more expensive than current fossil fuels, which is the main reason why we don't do it. But if at some time in the future the cost of fossil fuels rises sufficiently, this is the most likely alternative that can be scaled to meet the needs.
Your main contention however is correct. The battery powered electric motor is not ever going to be the transportation answer to anything.
Not sure who wrote this diatribe in 2000:
http://andrewtobias.com/column/lets-hear-it-for-metal/
Ahem.
Great letter, Robert.
Keep socking it to the ignorant! I live in Toronto, where I encounter these folks every day (even in my own family). I'd say nuke Toronto, except that I live here!
This will continue to happen if we keep turning our children over to the public school systems, and even many of the parochial schools, are so, in name only. Yet if you say anything negative about the public school system, you will be ostracized in the MSM. They want control of our children younger and for longer periods of the day. It is true folks, the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world. I think Robert feels as I do: The whole world has gone mad!
@ larben at May 11, 2012 11:26 PM
Yup, cause they no longer teach the 3 R's. Into this now:
http://bctf.ca/uploadedfiles/Public/SocialJustice/Issues/LGBTQ/Resources/GenderSpectrum.pdf
Absolutely frightening peterj, I couldn't read through it all, I felt I might become contaminated by the untruths and politically correct suppositions.
I remember as a young boy, virtually worshiping the local school heroes, the athletic young fellow who seemed so cool, someone I wanted to emulate. Of course this was all presexual, and harmless and something I think all kids (boys and girls) go through prior to adolescence. Now, if teachers sense that you are attracted to certain buddies, they will naturally think, and encourage this to be continued into adolescence, when most naturally grow out of that. You'll want to be "like" the cool guy and have a retinue of young girls sighing about you. It's time for us to tell the teachers to LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE!
@ larben at May 12, 2012 11:07 AM
Teachers are immune as long as they are protected by the unions. They are even getting into the latest social engineering endeavor...co-parenting. I no longer have kids in the system(thank god) but if I did they would be in private school or home schooled.