Despite pressure from the United States, Pakistan has reached an agreement for the construction of a pipeline to import natural gas from Iran. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally, the gas pipeline appears to be routed right past Gwadar, the Pakistani southern port, control of which has recently passed to China. Just
Continue readingAuthor: The Mound of Sound
The Disaffected Lib: It’s Still Fossil Fuel
The Japanese have successfully tapped seabed methane clathrates, also known as “flammable ice.” Deposits of compressed and frozen methane are fairly common in northern waters. British Columbia has looked at exploiting them. The gas field is about 50km away from Japan’s main island, in the Nankai Trough. Researchers say it
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Underestimating China
The Chinese keep taking the West by surprise with their technological advancement. We’re pretty sure a fair bit of their knowledge is purloined via the internet. Some, probably, but not all. And, speaking of the internet, it seems China is poised to rock the world with a “next generation” internet
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Shhh. Don’t Tell Harper
With his authoritarian bent, this might just appeal to Sideshow Steve. And, of course, when thinking of Ruler Harper who doesn’t think of Albania? Wired.com has a neat item about former Albanian strongman Enver Hoxa and his obsession with bunker-building. During the Communist dictator’s 40-year rule, he covered his country
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Well, That’s That Then.
In an upset, Falkland Islanders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of flipping the bird to Argentina. Despite near zero temperatures and flurries of snow and rain, the turnout was 92% from an electorate of 1,650. All but three people voted yes to the question posed on the ballots: “Do you
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: In Papal News
Let the Conclave begin! Wait, what’s that? There’s already a snag? Frontrunner Papal would-be, Cardinal Angelo Scola’s diocese has just been raided by Italy’s anti-mafia cop squad. Anti-mafia detectives swooped on homes, offices, clinics and hospitals in Lombardy, the region around Milan, and elsewhere. A statement said the dawn raids
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Manila the Miners’ Canary of Climate Change
The Philippines are now being thought of as the “miners’ canary” of climate change. The archipelagic state has reeled under the impacts of sea level rise and typhoons of increasing frequency and intensity. But the capital, Manila, is the worst of all and now faces permanent flooding because residents have
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When Pigs Float
Shanghai has a water problem. Somehow more than 2,800 dead pigs wound up floating in one of the main rivers that supplies drinking water to the mega-metropolis of 23-million. Local authorities claim the river water is still safe to drink but they are local authorities and this is China. Nobody
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How Twisted was Tony Blair?
That Tony Blair lied Britain into war with Iraq is obvious and more than a bit creepy. What’s truly creepy, however, is what Blair aides now describe as the evangelical mindset to the world that informed Blair’s decision-making. Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain’s ambassador to Washington during the run-up to the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Dear Alberta
Fossil fuel is crazy stuff. It’s addictive and, like most things addictive, it can be very harmful and that goes for users and traffickers alike. As easy as it is to get addicted to the product, it can be just as easy and as dangerous to get addicted to the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Kabul Kold-Shoulder
Hamid Karzai is acting like he discovered Taliban lipstick on Chuck Hagel’s shirt collar. Oh, for shame. America’s freshly-minted defense secretary called off a joint press conference with Karzai after the Green-Breasted Loon of Kabul angrily accused the Americans of collaborating with the Taliban to keep foreign troops in Afghanistan
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Preston Pouts Over Tory Perceived Weakness on Environment
Preston Manning, former Reform Party leader who now heads a Conservative Junior Achievement Academy/Komsomol to indoctrinate train and churn out “right thinking” Conservative leaders criticized the Harper Cons today for their “perceived weakness” on the environment. Preston seemed remarkably blase to the party’s actual failure on the environment or its
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Herring Here, Herring There, Herring Everywhere
A harbinger of Spring where I live is the annual herring run through the Salish Sea. The herring in their countless millions migrate south as they spawn, the females attaching their fertilized roe onto kelp. As they spawn their milt paints the dark ocean a pale emerald green. And as
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Time Science Deniers Were Driven Out of Office
The Harper government is full of them and, judging by their policies, the other parties have their share too. They’re science deniers, those who find it politically expedient to either deny scientific opinion or simply ignore it in the quest for political expedience. The simple fact is this type of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Arms Race Update – China’s Anti-Satellite Weapons Tests to Continue
China may soon become the only nation with the hardware to take down high geo-stationary orbiting satellite systems such as GPS. The U.S. is warning that China is preparing for a third anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon test. There is now speculation that orbiting debris from a 2007 Chinese ASAT test may
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: But They’re Not Alone. U.S. Politicians Overestimate Their Constituents Conservatism
Republicans and even Democrats have been found to think their constituents much more conservative than they are in fact. It’s no surprise, therefore, that they govern according to false perception and at odds with the public they purport to serve. Conducted by the University of California’s David Broockman and University
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Walkom Almost Gets it Right
Tom Walkom writes that Alberta made a sucker’s bet on bitumen and so, thanks to Ottawa, did the rest of Canada. The Toronto Star columnist adds that, thanks to both governments’ single-minded policies, Alberta’s economy is going down and will drag the country’s with it. Since the world economy went
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Can Your Grandma Do This?
What a darling. As the tune dies down, 88-year old Nana explains: “I could dance all f***ing day.”
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Rob Ford a Groper and Dirty Old Man???
Former Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson says bad boy Mayor Rob Ford hit on her and grabbed her ass. Here’s a picture Thomson posted of herself an an apparently happy Mayor Ford “Thought it was a friendly hello to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at the CJPAC Action Party tonight until
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Conrad Black Stands Up for Tom Flanagan
It seems Connie Black got to know a few guys slammed up for possession of kiddie porn while he was in prison and he says that, like Tom Flanagan, they got a bad rap. More from HuffPo.
Continue reading