Friday, May 4, 2007
SimCity Dreams Come True
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Prisoners
I find it simple, hilariously sarcastic and elegantly to the point...
PrisonersI haven't weighed in about the Iranian hostage crisis, but it's about time that I did. I'm shocked, shocked, to say the least, that a country would dare to unilaterally detain citizens of another sovereign country without trial, and subject them to questioning. Why, I'm sure it's only the massive media attention that kept them from dressing them up in orange jumpsuits, keeping them in humiliating conditions, and torturing them.
Iran has released them, but we cannot soon forgive this unpardonable violation of sovereignty and rights. Especially given that the British may have been in Iraqi waters. No foreign country has any right to enter those waters without Iraq's permission.
And on it goes.
by dru - The Dominion
Friday, April 27, 2007
Who Cares About Global Warming?
While the movement supporting some kind of action has gained momentum within activist circles (à la Al Gore) and the international public opinion, I for one am not hopeful of any significant change over the near future.
In the international relations arena, the divide between those that favour action to curb climate change and those who deny the pertinence of such action is a very clear one: on one side, you have the Bush administration, Australia and Canada (whose previous administration failed to implement the Kyoto Protocol and whose current one has no intention of upholding it); on the other the "rest of the world", including world leaders, NGOs, international bodies, public opinion, etc... Kyoto, without the participation of the United States (25% of world emissions) and of China and India (who ratified but are exempt from emission cuts for the time being) is truly dead.
No change can come from the top on climate change: those who can enforce change will not betray the industries that pollute the most, because they are direct or indirect beneficiaries of industry. Most declarations of politicians concerning curbing emissions is mere lip service, as what really drives the world is the bottom line: profit, re-election, consumerism, comfort, all of which can be neatly tucked into that most American (indeed, Western or globalized) of ideals - the pursuit of happiness, which means that not enough consumers care enough to demand a change in attitude from their elites, or from themselves.
What I am getting at is that the whole discussion on whether or not climate change is man-made is deeply flawed. Rather, it sidesteps the issue. If you deny human activity as a catalyst for climate change, then clearly there is no issue. If, on the other hand, you agree that the current fast-paced climate change is related to human activity, then you wallow in self-pity, blaming the lack of will of those who are in the position of actually bringing the mass scale change that is necessary to revert the trend.
But, as I said, both sides have missed the real issue: human misuse of the world. Whether or not our activity is causing global warming does not matter. What matters is that it is NOT sustainable. Changing from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Recycling is a great thing, although very little of it is done on a global scale. Organic food? Great, if you can afford it.
Clearly, though, those solutions (including carbon emission reduction) are but band-aids, typical of the Western-turned-global mindset: we treat the symptoms without addressing the disease. Have a problem? Pop a pill and keep moving! What we need is a paradigm shift. We need to change as a society, as individuals even. I could go first, but what's the point - are you gonna follow???
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Mercury Rising in the Middle East
Suddenly, the
These past months have seen a lot of activity: as Ms. Rice collects her miles between DC and the
Yet since last week, events seem to be snowballing: Rice is back in the
Then this week, Russian media reported that a
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat leader of Congress is in
Of course, it is a distinctly possibility that all this is pure rhetorics, shouldered by warships in the
One thing is certain, SOMEthing is about to happen in the