What could possibly go wrong? “The crucial ingredients for nearly all antibiotics, steroids and many other lifesaving drugs are now made exclusively in China.”
Reader Tips
In tonight’s entertainment en route to the tips we listen to Sister Janet Mead’s rock version of the The Lord’s Prayer, which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Venezuela’s Murderous Dictatorship
Exploring Barcelona on Sunday, I inadvertently came across a large protest. 63 photos & 5 videos later, I now have a much better appreciation for how terrible life has become for the people of Venezuela. Hugo Chavez was bad but Nicolas Maduro appears to be much worse. The Wall Street Journal shares their views of the situation:
It’s getting ugly in Venezuela. Three people were killed in anti-government protests on the streets of Caracas on Wednesday. The killers haven’t been identified, but Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro is using the deaths to justify a government crackdown on growing civic unrest directed at his leadership and a deteriorating economy.
Mr. Maduro was Hugo Chávez’s hand-picked successor, and one of Chávez’s Cuban-influenced legacies was politicizing the armed forces and the police and developing an informal militia that still roams cities and towns on motorcycles to intimidate political opponents. Today, Caracas is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
Coincidentally, in last night’s Reader Tips, SDA regular, Marc in Calgary, provided a link to an excellent video in English.
What struck me more than anything at today’s events was how much so many Canadians take for granted. Whether it’s free speech or the legitimate rule of law or democratic elections or a whole host of other things, too many of our fellow citizens don’t understand that we are privileged to have these “rights”, where so many others in the world do not.
Update: Here’s a compilation of the video segments I shot at the protest. The singing in the middle was both profound and beautiful.
This Is Not Your Grandma’s Humane Society
I stood up on my tippy toes, mustered my strength, quieted my anger, and yelled: “I’m a farmer. If you have any questions about farms, ask me, not them.”
The Anthropogenic Catastrophe of the Gray Lady’s Book Review
Here is overwhelming evidence:
Without a Trace
‘The Sixth Extinction,’ by Elizabeth Kolbert
By AL GORE
…According to a conservative and unchallenged calculation by the climatologist James Hansen, the man-made pollution already in the atmosphere traps as much extra heat energy every 24 hours as would be released by the explosion of 400,000 Hiroshima-class nuclear bombs. The resulting rapid warming of both the atmosphere and the ocean, which Kolbert notes has absorbed about one-third of the carbon dioxide we have produced, is wreaking havoc on earth’s delicately balanced ecosystems. It threatens both the web of living species with which we share the planet and the future viability of civilization. “By disrupting these systems,” Kolbert writes, “we’re putting our own survival in danger.”..
“People change the world,” Kolbert writes, and she vividly presents the science and history of the current crisis. Her extensive travels in researching this book, and her insightful treatment of both the history and the science all combine to make “The Sixth Extinction” an invaluable contribution to our understanding of present circumstances, just as the paradigm shift she calls for is sorely needed…
Al Gore: “Sterilisation Macht Frei”
I don’t know. Does Africa have enough trains?
Global Test
The world is in the very best of hands.
Kerry told reporters Obama was concerned about the deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Syria and also by the fact that peace talks between the opposition and government had not produced a discussion of a transitional government as had been planned.
As a result, Kerry said, “he has asked all of us to think about various options that may or may not exist.”
Oh, Shiny Pony!
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
CTV, Sept. 18, 2013;
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has made another high-profile addition to his team, announcing Wednesday that retired lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie will be co-chair of his newly established International Affairs Council of Advisors.
One of Canada’s most high-profile military leaders claimed more than $72,000 in expenses, including real estate fees, for a move from his Ottawa home to another residence in the city after he retired, CTV News has learned.
Documents obtained by CTV News show retired general Andrew Leslie, who once led Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, claimed the expenses for a move in 2012.
Trudeau’s name does not appear in the second item. Oddly enough! (h/t Manny)
Y2Kyoto: Roadkill
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
Engineering miracle, 1942 – “In March 1942, after striking a deal to build through Canadian territory, the U.S. Army broke ground. Just eight months later, the project (Alcan Highway) was complete.”
Engineering miracle, 2014 – “Bridge company president Dan Stamper said Thursday it was a “proud” moment for management and owners of the Ambassador Bridge after nearly eight years of working toward getting EA (environmental) approval in Canada for a new span.”
Big tip ‘o the hat to Jamie Mac. for this one.
Reader Tips
Tonight we watch in-studio footage of Bob Marley (his father was a white British ex-naval officer, I just found out) and The Wailers, as they perform a Marley song that was a hit for Johnny Nash in 1967: Here’s Stir It Up.
The comments thread is open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Honey, I Finished The Internet
Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors
The Olympic whitewash of Sochi;
What to say of the gormless press-agent twaddle conjured up to describe the Soviet Union? In its opening video for the Olympic Games, NBC’s producers drained the thesaurus of flattering terms devoid of moral content: “The empire that ascended to affirm a colossal footprint; the revolution that birthed one of modern history’s pivotal experiments. But if politics has long shaped our sense of who they are, it’s passion that endures.”
To parse this infomercial treacle is to miss the point, for the whole idea is to luge by the truth on the frictionless skids of euphemism.
h/t Maz2
Unredacted
Conservative MP Paul Calandra, speaking in the HOC:
Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, the CBC revealed the names of three NSA employees when its cameras panned across National Security Agency documents. In fact, the CBC has revealed leaked NSA document that have inadvertently disclosed the names of at least six intelligence workers…
What the CBC cameras won’t do is pan across a list of the salaries of talking heads like Peter Mansbridge.
More at BC Blue.
Y2Kyoto: State Of Anorexia Envirosa
California, of course.
Free Mark Steyn!
Well, the fact that I even have to explain this shows what a cowardly, snivelling, career-safe, intellectually feeble, morally compromised age we inhabit. By rights, Mann v Steyn should be the 21st-century equivalent of the Scopes monkey trial, with believers in free speech, proponents of the scientific method and sympathetic millionaires and billionaires all piling in to Steyn’s defence with op eds, learned papers, and lavish funds to buy the hottest of hotshot lawyers.
Instead, what do I read?
Riding Mass Transit Is Like Inviting 20 Random Hitchhikers Into Your Car
Make room for Patient Zero: BART Riders Exposed To Potentially Fatal Disease By UC Berkeley Student
It’s Probably Nothing
A 37-year-old JPMorgan Chase & Co executive director who died from unknown causes Feb. 3 appears to be the latest in a series of untimely deaths among finance workers and business leaders around the world in the past three weeks.
h/t peterj
Reader Tips
It’s Valentine’s Day (at the time of this posting), so have a hot cup of Hoffee, ladies, and jump in David Hasselhoff’s car. Because it’s too far to walk on your own.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars
Spontaneous Tesla Rationalization: “Dealing with occasional fires is something that every car company has to do…”
h/t Kevin B.
It Will Be The Farmers Driving Lamborghinis
“More people in America study public relations than study farming. We have no farmers. The average age of farmers in America is 58 years old. In Japan, the average age is 66. In Australia, it’s 58. Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmer commit suicide every year. It’s a disastrous business. In the U.K., the highest rate of suicide is in agriculture. It’s been a horrible business for 30 years. Prices have to go up – have go to up a lot – or we’re not going to have any food at any price.” More from Jim Rogers HERE