It’s no secret that Canadian election laws are outdated. A party can
have a majority government with less that 40% of the popular vote. In
the last election there were 59 ridings where a conservative MP was
elected with less than 50% of the vote. 9 of those ridings were won
with less than 40%.

       Many have proposed electoral reform such as Alternative Vote but all
have failed in Canada. It is simply too difficult to change the
constitution. There may be another way to keep our 18th century
electoral process relevant to the needs of the 21st century. A
voluntary pre-election between two or three parties that will decide
who will run against the incumbent in the actual election. That way,
there would be two choices on the ballot, the incumbent and the
challenger.

       So if parties B and C decide that they would rather have B or C than
party A they may want to hold a pre-election known as a primary. This
works only if the two parties voluntarily agree to a binding primary.
This may be what the people in the riding want, but it is met with a
lot of resistance by the parties.

       Political parties in Canada are traditionally very exclusive and not
willing to give power over to another group. Imagine if halfway
through the season, all the Oilers fans became Flames fans because
they had a better chance of making it to the play-offs. Clearly, there
is more at stake in politics, such as a 30 billion dollar F-35 deal
that gives the Canadian war chest over to American arms dealer
Lockheed Martin. 30 billion dollars that could go toward our
hospitals, schools and repairing our crippled economy through
infrastructure investment.

       So in ridings where the winner one with less than half of the vote
could rise above their differences and cooperate then real electoral
reform can happen even without altering the constitution. Stopping the
split won’t fix everything in government, far from it. Yet it will be
more in align with what the voters want on the whole, both as a riding
and a country.

While the world gawks at the trial of former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is still a long way from establishing a democracy. His televised trial has millions of viewers and his not guilty plea “I categorically deny all the charges.” has been turned into a popular ringtone for Egyptian cellphones. 

While many are quick to proclaim victory over Mubarak’s 30 year regime there are still thousands of people continuing to protest in Tarhir Square. For the working poor, they don’t have much to go back to, many of them continue to strike and are hosting a sit in. They are demanding compensation for the lives of their family who were killed by the police during Mubarak’s desperate attempt to maintain power this past spring. 

However, there are many in Cairo who just want to get back to normal. Businesses around Tahrir Square are becoming very angry at the protesters who refuse to leave because they can’t pay their rents if no clients come. The economy in Egypt was on its last legs and many simply want to get back to work.

Amidst this chaos has emerged a new villain, and subsequently, a new crime.  The new leadership the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces or SCAF has found that the continued protests in Cairo do not look good anymore, since Mubarak is out. A new crime has been created, thuggery, with military trials that last twenty minutes.  Baltageya, thugs, was a word that used to be reserved for plainclothes freelance fighters for the police. Now the word it being used by the military to describe anyone it doesn’t like or views as a threat. 

The truth is that simply replacing Mubarak does not undo 30 years of autocratic rule. The old methods of handling dissent, including torture, which SCAF has also been accused of, are alive and well. The deposition of Mubarak was just the end of act one of the Egyptian revolution, the transition to democracy is within sight, but still a long ways off.

  In 2007 a house near Cleveland Ohio exploded after a gas leak seeped into the water well. The high levels of flammable methane and natural gases were also found in 12 other nearby water wells, making the water toxic, undrinkable and even flammable. A new method of Natural Gas extraction was being used in the area. 

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has been around since the end of WWII but has only gained widespread popularity in the last decade. The process involves trucking or piping a large quantity of water to a gas well head and mixing it with a chemical mix and pumping this gellied mix at high pressure to break up underground shale rock and release natural gas. 

Fracking is designed to release trapped gasses in the shale rock which makes the extraction of natural gas possible from these deposits where it was previously impossible. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA) estimates that this shale gas will comprise about 20% of U.S. total U.S. gas supply by 2020.

The ingredients of this toxic cocktail is not fully disclosed to regulators. Companies argue that the chemical mixes are a closely guarded trade secret. However when these chemical have a potential to mix with the water supply they constitute a public health risk and need to be highly regulated. 

Energy companies argue that fracking is safe because it occurs thousands of feet below ground, much lower than water wells. However in the last 5 years there have been thousands of homeowners who have found gas and chemicals in their well water shortly after franking started. 

In 2005 a family from Rosebud, Alberta received chemical burns on Christmas eve for simply taking a shower. Tests of the water showed high levels of methane and man made chemicals. Encana had recently begun franking in the area. The gas levels were so high the water had also become flammable. Dramatic video was broadcast on news stations of people lighting their tap water on fire. 

New documentaries such as Gasland from the U.S. and CBC’s Burning Water here in Canada document case after case of contaminated drinking water and how regulations are being side stepped by energy companies. 

The evidence is mounting against Coal Bed Methane fracking as a viable source of energy. Government regulators should place a full stop of this type of extraction until full disclosure about the types of chemicals and their impact can be studied and assessed. This is not an unreasonable request our food has has strict government and so should our water table.

The current industry tactic appears to be to extract as much as possible right now before legislation can react to shut this process down. The government appears to be dragging its feet on regulation because it does not want to scare away energy investment.

            It’s so easy it almost makes one feel guilty about criticizing Alberta Health Services CEO Stephen Duckett for the already famous “cookie brushoff’. Almost too easy, at least until you find out that he has a yearly salary of over $570,000 and that his decisions affect thousands of people waiting in hospitals.

            Duckett has already apologized for his refusal to answer CTV reports on Friday. The CTV video of him childishly trying to wriggle out of answering a few questions has received over 55,000 views on YouTube. There is also at least two remixes, one involves a bad Schwarzenegger movie. I won’t be surprised if there will be a auto-tuned ringtone made out of “can you explain why you won’t stop?” “…I’m eating a cookie!… I’m interested in eating my cookie!”

            It would be one thing to casually remark the cookie, and that will be a media announcement made in half an hour. Yet, Duckett at one point goes so far as to hold the cookie right inches in front of the CTV reporters face to clearly make his point. His point about how the cookie is more important to him than questions about health care.

            Part of the reason why this has Duckett has been getting so much criticizes is that its such a obviously petty and ridiculous excuse. You certainly can not go around shoving cookies in reporters faces when they are well within their right. Reporters would be doing a pretty poor job if they simply took their press briefing and re-wrote it like good doggies. Which is exactly what it looks like Duckett would prefer.

            In a strange way this cookie incident will probably be good for health care in Alberta, a blessing in diguise. Had Duckett simply said the classic ‘no comment’ this would not nearly be as big of an issue. When people are wondering why the CEO is so incompetent and insulting they may also become aware of the real issues. The increasing ER and surgery wait times and growing inefficiencies of the status quo.

EDIT - Update:: Stephen Duckett’s contract was severed by the Alberta Health Board:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/stephen-duckett-head-of-albertas-health-board-loses-job/article1812570/

According to local officials two separate US drone UAV (unmanned ariel vehicles) strikes killed 14 in north western Pakistan Saturday . The CIA directs these drone strikes from halfway around the world in Nevada. The BBC reports more than 700 people have been killed in attacks such as Saturday’s strikes since 2008. The victims have been identified in less than a dozen such cases.  The CIA does not comment on it’s drone strikes, who specifically it is targeting or how many are killed.

 Remote controlled killing is a radically different kind of war. All other previous revolutions in war, steel, gunpowder, the machine gun, warplanes and even the atomic bomb gave humans the terrible ability kill each other more effectively. But now we are entering a world where the very identity of the warrior is blurred.

Because of this disconnect, there is a relatively higher rate of post-traumatic stress disorder for these drone pilots than combatants in the field. Although they are disconnected physically they are fully aware of the consequences when they send the signal to fire the missiles on people.

Half way around the world there are hundreds of drones flying over towns and cities at all hours of day and night while their engines create a high pitched noise.  It is difficult to imagine the fear knowing that even though you have done nothing wrong you could be mis-identified and killed by a missile strike from above at any time. Local doctors say prescriptions for anxiety medication and sleeping pills have all increased due to the drone flights.

It may be argued that drones are just another logical step in reducing risks to our modern soldiers and that it is not very different from a pilot flying dropping satellite guided bombs through clouds. But it is very different. Remote war takes on a video game quality. There is zero risk to the pilot in Nevada who can go home to his family at the end of the day. If war becomes costless (in terms of life) then there is more political support for it.

            A just war requires that both the reasons for going to war and the conduct during war are honorable. Drone wars are not costless, the cost us our honor and morality.

      Newspapers, news websites and news channels all reference the latest
public opinion polls, especially leading up to an election or a major
policy decision, such as going to war. There is a widespread view that
politicians act on what they believe to be right but also have a look
back to see if the public is following or not.
There are also many examples were public opinion goes against
political decisions. An August 2010 Angus-Reid poll regarding Canadian
opinion on the war in Afghanistan reported that 53% oppose the
mission, only 39% support it and 8% don’t know. If we lived in a
direct democracy this poll clearly suggests that if there was a
national vote on staying in Afghanistan, our 2,000 plus combat troops
would come home.
      But we live in a representative democracy and we entrust our
leadership to make informed decisions. Despite the polls both Harper
and Ignatieff  support Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan, at
least until the end of 2011.
      Normally a the opposition party would attempt to turn the low public
opinion of the governments decision into more votes by opposing the
government and making it an election issue. However, the Liberal party
was in power when the decision to go to Afghanistan was made and do
not wish to appear as though they are “cutting and running” from an
uncompleted mission which they started.
It is not only Canada that has this low public opinion of the war yet
high support among political leadership. Other high troop contributing
nations such as France, Germany, and Italy all have a minority of public
opinion for the war in Afghanistan; yet have relatively high
leadership support.
      Public opinion is difficult to measure and it can change widely over
time. Yet public opinion polls are nevertheless a main course in the
political news menu and should be taken in context and not own their
own accord. Wars in particular should be judged on their reasons for
going to war and their conduct during the war. Not on public opinion
polls.

       Creativity is an elusive ability that enable us to transcend the
conventional and synthesize diverse ideas into unique solutions. It is
often thought of as a “either you have it or you don’t” trait,
something that nature has given you, or not.

       However that is not true. Creativity can be taught. Nature plays a
significant role, but it’s not the whole picture. Being tall can help
you in basketball but shorter people can also become quite skilled at
the game with practice.

       As it turns out, regular practice with creativity is the key. Weekend
workshops won’t suffice in nurturing creative thinking. It needs to be
applied in everyday work or school problems.

       In schools there is a tendency to argue that the overloaded
curriculum simply doesn’t allow the students enough time for art class
to become more creative. Yet time for art class isn’t the problem. The
problem is that creative thinking has been divorced from other areas,
such as math and science.

       The typical math question will give you a paragraph that defines the
problem and gives the values. The student searched for the relevant
numbers and plugs them into a memorized formula to generate the
answer. This sidesteps the entire creative process. It turns the
student into a assembly line worker putting together pieces in a
predefined way rather than nurturing creativity.

       Recently 1,500 CEOs stated creativity was the number one “leadership
competency” of the future. Further, Professor Paul Torrance’s
creativity assessments which started in the 1950s have found 3 times
greater correlation in lifetime achievements with childhood creativity
levels than childhood IQ scores.

       Nurturing creativity isn’t easy, it requires time and patience. The
first step however may be to avoid things that stifle creativity.
Television time reduces time children have for imagination and
creative activities. Telling someone to ‘be creative’ does not work
and often halts people in their mental tracks. Instead suggest “do
something only you would come up with.”

       Our education system is failing to recognize and nurture creativity
in every subjects. Currently it’s left to random luck who is creative
and who is not. Some scholars and educations experts are now arguing
that creativity is as important as literacy. With this shift in
perspective teachers can be catalysts for change in the system and
their students creative abilities.

“Travelling is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark Twain

    It’s impossible to have a conversation with everyone in the world. But on a individual human level simply listening to someone tell their own story is a fascinating glimpse into their perspective and daily reality.

    6 Billion others is a project by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He and his team have traveled for over 5 years shooting video interviews of people from around the world. The interviewees respond 40 questions and their answers have been translated. It is an attempt to empathize with the world at a personal level.

    Many of these stories are raw, heartfelt personal stories that offer a glimpse into the daily reality and perspective of people you will never meet. Rather than a reality television, which desperately dramatizes the mundane this project patiently allows individuals to speak honestly about life, love, challenges, community and family.
   
    By asking simple, open questions such as; What did you learn from your parents? How do you define love? or What has been the most difficult test you have had to face in your lifetime, and what did you learn from it? The responses to these and other questions combined with the close up video of the individuals allows for a deep reciprocity. The humanity present in all the interviews allows the viewer to connect and reflect on their own lives. It is fascinating to see human traits of fear, anger, regret, pride, and love.

    The project was realized on the internet last year and has since been opened up to anyone with a internet connection to go online and add their voice to the project.

    Mark Twain’s famous quote about travelling is also essentially true about the 6 billion other project. While, in this case it’s not necessary to travel, simply listening to diverse perspectives of the world is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

Published June 7th Wainwright Star - http://www.starnews.ca

    Just a few weeks ago on May 10th, 2010 the European Central Bank authorized a 750 billion Euro (967.2 billion CAD) bailout so Greece, and other highly indebted countries in the Eurozone could reduce some of its national debt and to restore confidence in the Euro currency. The markets have held and further crises has been averted. However the decision has divided public and political opinion.

    Some view this as the beginning of the end of the Euro-Zone and the Euro as a viable currency. That economic pressures from under preforming, highly indebted states will become too much for the more finically stable states in the Eurozone like Germany and France. Without strict penalties or regulations on national debt levels there is no motivation for self-regulating and responsible spending.

    The other side is confident that this recent bailout is proof of the resiliency of the EU, That the countries are willing to support each other in times of need. The reality is that its in Germany’s and France’s self interest to maintain the status quo as they hold tens of billions of dollars worth of Bonds that are linked to Greece. A greek default would put enormous economic pressure on not only the Grecian economy, but all of Europe’s as well. So the bailout is self-interested in nature.

    European integration is kind of a mixed bag. It is sort of like the Canadian federal system.  One one hand provinces (Euro-Zone nations) have control of resources, spending and local matters and the National government oversees foreign policy, the military, and international trade. However the major difference is transfer payments from rich provinces to poorer ones which requires federal oversight.

    Thus the current debate in Europe is raging between weather the EU should be continued at all or should it move in the direction toward a system of more federal oversight of budgets. This would become more like a United States of Europe.

    However, between these two options lies the more likely course of action. That counties within the Euro-Zone will take greece’s crises as a sign to tighten their economic belts and improve their banking practices and policies. The Euro-Zone will continue. It has simply become too integrated into the economy and the economic costs of discontinuing it are still too high. Complete integration into financial federalism with high oversight, such as in France or mexico.

Published May 31st Wainwright Star - http://www.starnews.ca

Some news outlets are predicting that the BP Gulf of Mexico spill and well leak could be the biggest man made environmental disaster in history.This event may come to overshadow even the 1989 EXXON-VALDEEZ oil spill just off Alaskan shores.

There is a lot of money, blame and reputation on the line in the BP oil spill. The various companies and, insurance agencies, contractors and equipment manufactures will be playing offensive defense over the next several years and suing each other and attempting to prove guilt by negligence.

But this is petty mudslinging compared to what the deep water oil industry will have to deal with in the short and long term, and with good reason. The White House has issued a moratorium on new deep water wells and a mandatory physical inspection of existing offshore rigs.

Environmental groups the world over are already using the BP disaster as a rallying cry, and they should. Since the general attitude in a democracy is to ignore the environment when the economy tanks. Environmental groups will likely see a surge in support over the next few months as it is clear that it is needed.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday “As we’ve said before, the National Energy Board is clear: there is no drilling unless the environment is protected, unless workers are protected,” the prime minister told the House of Commons Monday. “That is the bottom line and this government will not tolerate the kind of situation we see in the Gulf of Mexico.”

But Harper, we do tolerate it. The tailings ponds or ¨reclamation sites¨ in Alberta are proof of our tolerance. The contaminated seepage from these sites is not nearly as dramatic as what is happening on the seafloor in the gulf but the size of the Alberta oil sands project is on a much larger scale. Moreover, this Gulf oil leak will eventually stop or be sealed while production in the tar sands continues.

Worse is that this disaster may be a positive for tar sands oil as they can now suggest their oil is not as bad as deep water drilling.

When you start rationalizing by comparing to the worst disasters something is seriously wrong.

Published May 10th Wainwright Star - http://www.starnews.ca