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Reader Tips
Tips thread open for Tuesday.
Y2Kyoto: The Science Is Settling
Towards a smaller, deeper carbon footprint;
Staufen, in the Black Forest, was proud of its innovative geothermal power plan that was supposed to provide environmentally-friendly heating.
But only two weeks after contractors drilled down 460ft to extract heat from below the earth, large cracks have appeared in buildings as the town centre subsided about a third of an inch (8mm).
The baroque Town Hall, the main church, two schools and over 64 other buildings in the historic centre were severely affected. Experts said buildings in the outer part of the town had risen by a similar amount.
According to Robert Breder, an engineer, the problems began when geothermal probes penetrated an underground reservoir. As the water seeped out and the pressure fell, upper layers of earth started to collapse, causing the surface – and the town – to sink.
Bad Voodoo
A heads-up, via email;
In June 2007, as the American military surge reached its peak, a band of National Guard infantrymen who call themselves “The Bad Voodoo Platoon” was deployed to Iraq. To capture a vivid, first-person account of the new realities of war in Iraq for FRONTLINE and ITVS, director Deborah Scranton (The War Tapes) created a “virtual embed” with the platoon, supplying camer as to the soldiers so they could record and tell the story of their war. The film intimately tracks the veteran soldiers of “Bad Voodoo” through the daily grind of their perilous mission, dodging deadly IEDs, grappling with the political complexities of dealing with Iraqi security forces, and battling their fatigue and their fears.
Bad Voodoo’s War is scheduled for Tuesday, Apr.1 at 9pm on Frontline. (Check local listings)
There’s a preview here: pbs.org/frontline/badvoodoo
Fitna, Restored
And back up at Liveleak;
On the 28th of March LiveLeak.com was left with no other choice but to remove the film “fitna” from our servers following serious threats to our staff and their families. Since that time we have worked constantly on upgrading all security measures thus offering better protection for our staff and families. With these measures in place we have decided to once more make this video live on our site. We will not be pressured into censoring material which is legal and within our rules. We apologise for the removal and the delay in getting it back, but when you run a website you don’t consider that some people would be insecure enough to threaten our lives simply because they do not like the content of a video we neither produced nor endorsed but merely hosted.
Nick Packwood says this is the way to do it. Agreed.
Previous
Desert Battles
Interestingly, the people who accuse Yezidis of being devil-worshippers are responsible for the deaths of perhaps a million people in the last few decades. They are the ones who put Yezidis on “reservations,” poured chemical gases on Kurds, set oil wells ablaze, poisoned the water with oil, and encouraged suicide attacks. What do Yezidis want from us? Not much. They want to thank Americans for beating back Saddam. They want Americans to know they appreciate the sacrifice. They don’t ask for much, but since the Iraqi government remains mostly inert, if you’re offering, they’d like to have a school in their community—a real school, not a place of religious indoctrination. They want their kids, including their girls, to get university degrees.
Copies of Yon’s new book Moment of Truth in Iraq can be ordered at this link.
The Party Of Robert Byrd
In Mississippi, 31 percent of voters in the Democratic primary said race was an important factor in their decision. Of those, 62 percent voted for Obama. In Ohio, 20 percent said race was an important factor. Of those, 59 percent voted for Clinton. And those are just the people who actually admitted, to an exit pollster, that race was an important factor to them.
“I think he paid his dues”
Ahenakew gets reinstated …
FSIN Chief Lawrence Joseph displays the fine art of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”
More on John Gormley Live at 9AM CST
Culex Mohammedus
“Mark Steyn is full of crap“. – Norwegian imam Mullah Krekar*
Seven Year American Recession Watch Remains On High Alert
The news remains as bad as ever…
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Well, is the economy slowing? Well, yeah it is. But call me crazy, is it as bad as this? This week, the Associated Press claiming Americans are being subjected to, and I quote “economic water torture.” And then this little ditty item on the GDP, “The economy nearly sputtered out at the end of the year.” We were up at the end of the year. Why someone here says this is all part of the media’s plan to get a Democrat in the White House. Is it?…First to Ben Stein, and Ben, your reaction to this idea that we’re going to hell in a hand-basket.
BEN STEIN: Well, the media has been selling us on fear and recession for months maybe years now. Even before there was and really seriously bad news they were selling, selling, selling fear. They have been shouting “FIRE” in a crowded theatre now for months, quarters, I’d say probably over a year. The actual economic conditions are not that bad. I think if we have a recession, if we have a serious recession, a great deal will lie at the media’s feet. And I don’t know why they’re doing it. They’re the ones that are going to lose their jobs.
Reader Tips
The story behind the Iraqi truce. “With the fifth day of fighting in Baghdad, Basrah and the South completed, the Mahdi Army has suffered major losses over the past 36 hours.”
“All you need to know about how rotten the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) is — how undemocratic and anti-freedom it has become — is that in hate-speech complaints, the commission has a 100-per-cent conviction rate.”
Kyoto for Dummies.
The all-powerful Mike Harris.
Add yours in the comments.
SDA Gets Results!
The Earth Hour post-mortem continues!
At the city of Regina’s request, SaskPower compared power consumption in Regina during Earth Hour, with the same hour in past Saturdays. It turns out Reginans actually used MORE power: three megawatts more, not a huge amount. Asked why, SaskPower’s Larry Christie says only consumers can really answer that. But he suggests that a cold night may have had something to do with it.
Or, maybe not.
Environment Canada temperature data for REGINA A, SASKATCHEWAN for 20:00 – 21:00.
Mar 22, 2008: -4.3C dropping to -4.7C (windchill -9C)
Mar 29, 2008: -1.0C dropping to -1.6C (windchill -9C)
In fact, it seems that the closer an Earth Hour observance location was to Earth Hour Offset Project Central, the more likely that a provider was to see a net increase in electrical usage.
The data is in, the science is settled, so let the SDA deniers hurl their insults, and lash out in impotent rage.
For tonight, when the sun sets over the horizon and the clock inches once again to the magic hour of 8 o’clock, we shall gather in solidarity, inhale the sweet exhaust of diesel duallie, and raise our glasses to the Christmas Lights Of Victory!
Y2Kyoto: Don Cherry’s Favourite Left-Wing Kook
CBC Earth Hour
Howard Roark Is Dead
Reader Tips
A few related links picked up surfing.
Will he stay or will he go-go? A glimpse into the Zimbabwe election at This is Zimbabwe.
Dith Pran has passed away. If you have kids of a suitable age, you owe it to them to rent the Killing Fields.
The Religion of Peace, from A to Z
Don’t let Jason Cherniak see this. Who knows what two giant legal minds might accomplish if they combined forces.
An interesting photo – it appears to show Chinese troops carrying monks robes, but I’d like to know the provenance.
Your Sunday tips in the comments.
SDA Gets Results!
Following a little dip after supper hour, Ontario power demand rose from 7pm to 9 pm.
(h/t reader Stephen Jacks)
I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’m a little choked up.
(Yes, I noticed the “projection”. No dice, blackout boosters. The science is settled – any detected upward trend is a win in my column.)
Update – They love us in Singapore, too!
Well, those who count do, anyway.
More – Saskatoon Shines!
Plus – The numbers down under;
We watched at least 7 helicopters flying around the inner Brisbane skies. I sent a leftie friend of mine an sms at about 8:15pm asking her if she could hear them too – she was very perplexed as to why they were there until I explained it was the Earth Hour people filming the lights so that they could go home and watch their “success” on their plasma televisions.
Quote Of The Week
“It’s rare that the population wants an election, but we can feel it when the fruit is ripe. And at that time – it’s not up to me to tell you when; it’s part of the strategy that we keep close to our chest – there will be an election.”” – Stephane Dion
(h/t “aek”)
Because “Earth Day” Is All About “Raising Awareness”
Quite right. At 8pm tonight, rational Canadians will become aware of which of their neighbors live on programmed-control thought timers.
And then be aware that there are those who, while admitting their own token effort won’t make any difference, think that an hour of illuminated dissent will result in “driving up your electric bill”. This is less awareness raising than it is an IQ test for the candle powered.
But that’s not all. Be aware when Green Party peepers come prowling your property;
Between 8 and 9 tonight, I’ll be doing what I usually do at that time:I’ll be out with my wife walking our two dogs 5km around our small town.
Tonight, however, I’ll be looking at my neighbours’ windows to see which ones are participating in Earth Hour.
And I’ll be looking out mine to see which ones are skipping national Clean Your Firearms Day.
Related: Take a cue from Google – do nothing.
Earth Hour Offset Project* UPDATE! – SDA gets results!
UPDATE 2! – Be holistic in your efforts to waste. “This earth hour, think inside the box.”
Carrion Is The New News
As reported on CTV Newsnet. Yes, that means that a “seal rotting on beach” story has now gone international.
Seriously? I hope it was clubbed.