Monday, December 07, 2009

Phylum Miscellanea

CDs in Play: The Who, Live at Leeds. Morphine, The Night.

Winter is Here

One of the things I don't think I totally grasped last winter in Saskatoon is just how much darker it is here that it is in Vancouver. We do get more sunlight throughout the season, but the day arrives later (around a half an hour) and sets earlier. I didn't think that such a slight difference in latitude would make so much of a difference. A coworker from Kenya said it hit her straight away, since the Sun rise and sets at pretty much the same time all year around. (0600-0630 to 1800-1830) It certainly makes one want to take advantage of the day as much as possible. It is currently -30°C.

Climategate

Well the deniers of Global Warming have the event that they have been wishing for. Scientists from the University of East Anglia have hurt the world far more than they ever helped it. For many, no matter what evidence you can produce about the effects of emissions on the environment will ever reach them now. I am not going to get into it quite yet, but I have ask why it is so important for the deniers to deny the effect that humans are having on the environment? Even beyond the issue of Global Warming there is that pesky and passé little issue of pollution.
Pollution has serious effects on the health and well being of everyone on the planet. It gets into the food chain and into us. It damages terrain and man-made structure. It effects our health in numerous adverse ways. Cutting emissions is cutting down on sources of pollution, how is that a bad thing? Are practices that are adverse to the health and well being of our species worth preserving? Isn't it worth adopting new practices that reduce harm? It may mean a hit to the profit margins of some of those big companies/industries out there, but so what? It isn't like the majority of us actually reap the benefits of those profits ourselves. Nor are we ever likely tom so why not look after our own best interests - our health?

Women

So I was seeing a woman and she broke it off. C'est la vie. But did it have to be the "It's not you, it's me" speech? One day I want to go out with one of those women again and then break it off by saying, "Look, if it is any consolation it's not me, it's you."