The Power of One

The power of one individual, to change things, came into sharp focus these last few days. The untimely, though not unexpected death of NDP leader Jack Layton was first. I had a grudging admiration and respect for that man, certainly not for his contributions to Canada, or any of the blather that has been coming from the statist mainstream media this week. No, as someone said: "Death is not a reason to rewrite history." So I won't join that parade of mourners, in much the same way as this writer.
Mr. Layton was to his party, everything. He was the leader, and the centre of the socialist solar system in Canada. I indicated as much last May, after the Federal election, he was the "orange crush" incarnate, and the sole reason that his party rose to official opposition status in that election.
Aside from his Marxist-Socialist political stance, there was much to admire about Jack Layton. He was one of the first to support free choice on abortion when it was a divisive political issue (still is - damned conservatives). He was one of the first to back the Gay Rights movement. He was generally antiwar and anti prohibition on some drugs. All those issues would still raise the ire of conservatives across the country, but not libertarians. Mr. Layton had principles, any libertarian can understand that.
So is the NDP in shambles with Mr. Layton's passing? I hope so, in fact I think a Liberal-NDP merging is now more likely than ever, and I hope it happens, just to eliminate vote splitting.

The other picture up there is of Steve Jobs former CEO of Apple. While Jack Layton changed Canada in some ways, Steve Jobs changed the world. Mr. Jobs retired from his duties yesterday, and one can only assume he is not well, and that is a terrible loss.
I have used Apple products on and off (mostly on) since the days of the Apple II. I have a basement full of old Macs, going back to the Mac Classic. I'm using a newish iMac to write this, and I love my iPad 2. You get the picture. Thanks to Steve Jobs and the people at Apple the world thinks differently now. I hope he's OK, and can still add his two cents to whatever new products Apple unveils. Some say he is a micro-manager, and was in control of all that was Apple. If thats true, it is even more impressive.   

The truth about AGW is becoming CLOUDy

Its funny how quickly science can change.
Here I am in the midst of a disagreement on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) and a Facebook friend (H/T Redmond) tags me on the very same issue with a story that might shut the AGW alarmists down.
This story is just hot off the press, literally, and appears in Nature today, and I can't say that I fully understand its implications just yet. But what I do understand is that cosmic radiation has an effect on climate change through cloud formation....I think. As someone cleverly retorted on Facebook, he can just hear Al Gore saying "bullshit."
But the most interesting part of the story is that CERN scientists have been told earlier to stay mum on the results, likely because it goes against the current AGW orthodoxy.
Of course that is not preventing other AGW skeptics from weighing in here, and here.
This kind of story could have huge political implications, not the least being in the Ontario election campaign now underway. Imagine all the effort spent on reducing CO2 and then discovering that it has a minor role at best on global warming. Embarrassing? You bet.

Environmentalism, NAZI style

LNSGP

Are those two symbols related? Its hard to believe but they are. Combined they can be thought of as forming the basis for the organization whose green flag is on the right: the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party (LNSGP). I should quickly add that the LNSGP, an American organization, has no affiliation with either the US (or any) Libertarian or Green Party.  The LNSGP has 3 precepts namely: personal freedom, environmental improvement, and collective action, a bit too contradictory for me.
I mention this because of my previous posting which featured Al Gore venting his frustration at the opposition to AGW. A comment to that posting contained the phrase "Dishonesty is the primary tool of the AGW deniers." The writer meant that my post was dishonest because I suggested Gore "lost his cool." No, my issue with Gore is very similar to my issues with fascism, NAZIsm, or any top-down organizational "-ism" that forces their opinions (and worse) on humanity.
Gore complains that there is no longer a "shared reality on climate," an admission that public opinion is increasingly skeptical of the climate alarmists. Then he goes on to proclaim "the very existence of our civilization is threatened." That's what he said in his rant, go have a listen. That kind of rhetoric will give anyone with libertarian leanings a reason to step back and examine the speaker and the meaning of his words with a jaundiced eye.
The truth is, I am not opposed to preserving and protecting the environment, far from it. I just have a completely different approach to how that might be achieved (see video below). Let me add, this does not mean that I agree that something needs to be done on global warming, I don't.
Al Gore and others who espouse the idea of collective action on AGW remind me too much of the Green Wing of the NAZI Party. The smear terms "eco-nazi" and "eco-fascist" have a legitimate historical derivation. Environmental concerns were deeply embedded within European fascist philosophy, and Hitler himself was profoundly concerned about the welfare of animals (PETA would love to hear that). Not that Gore and his associates are NAZI's, but their calls for global government action, reduced freedoms, and huge additional costs to fend off a supposed imminent catastrophe, have a totalitarian twinge about them.
So are AGW deniers liars? No more than AGW alarmists are. Al Gore can get just as hyperbolic as anyone, and lately his rants are back page news.
Hear how a libertarian view of the environment can be so much more reasonable:

  

Gore loses cool on global warming

Today in the National Post, Rex Murphy suggests that the global warming debate is "running out of gas." That is not surprising considering the financial crisis that we have had and are still facing. I have mentioned the likelihood that this will happen several times in previous posts. Unfortunately various governments have already committed their populations to a variety of programs designed to reduce carbon emissions at tremendous cost to taxpayers and the local economy. Ontario, of course, is the one most concerning to me and my family with such laws as the Green Energy Act. In this Act the government forces  taxpayers to subsidize uncompetitive "renewable energy" production, while endangering Ontario's future energy requirements in a vain attempt at preventing climate change.  

As a measure of the frustration felt by global warming alarmists with the increasing public scepticism and criticism, Rex Murphy describes Al Gore's recent meltdown in Aspen Colorado. Here is how it sounded: