"You Could Grow Orchids in There" / That's not Leadership

President Obama, is a new brand type of leader. He is going to do things differently in Washington.

For example, he has decided to forgo the outmoded tradition of entering buildings through doors.

(Oval office, no less. Photo here. Might I remind everyone that there was recently a "door photo" that embarassed Bush. Difference was, Bush was trying to open a locked DOOR, -- pictured in the same link.)

But that's just an aside. The REAL story is here:

The Obama that waxed eloquent only last May about the need to change our habits:

We can't drive our SUVs and, you know, eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees at all times, whether we're living in the desert or we're living in the tundra, and then just expect every other country is going to say OK, you know, you guys go ahead keep on using 25 percent of the world's energy, even though you only account for 3 percent of the population, and we'll be fine. Don't worry about us. That's not leadership.
-[Emphasis is mine. The oratory is, you know, simply breathtaking.]

Is the same Obama that was seen without his jacket, at his first day of work in the Oval Office.

Is it because he was working THAT HARD for the little guy? Was it to put other staffers at ease with a less formal atmosphere?

Nope.

Here his advisor explains:

WASHINGTON — The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat. “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.

Hey Mr. President. To quote no less an authority than yourself:

"We can't ... keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees at all times... That's not [you know] leadership."

You can't really argue with yourself, now, can you?

You being that all-new-and-different-sort-of-leader would NEVER demand that we do as you Say, not as you Do...

Right...?

Going in for the Cull

What do the following stories have in common?

Miracle on the Hudson

60,000 Turkeys Culled in BC

Food Bank Donations Way Down

Here's a hint:

Miracle on the Hudson -- Bird strike thought to be the culprit.
60,000 Turkeys culled -- Due to Threat of Avian flu.

We have, in Canadian cities, a classic case of a problem becoming a solution. But is the Canadian psyche ready to seriously consider it?

The Canada goose!

Early reports suggested that the Canada goose may have brought down the Airbus A320 -- a plane able to survive impacts with smaller birds.

If 60,000 domesticated turkeys pose a risk of Avian Flu transmission, (despite the fact that they are not mobile and are restricted to decidedly rural areas), what risk do the clouds of wild Canada Geese that crowd our cities pose? They have none of the limitations of movement that domesticated birds have, and (worse) they can congregate in densely populated areas.

If the true fear is that H5N1 Avian Flu is transmitted to the human population, should this not be a concern? In Ottawa, alone, some of the parks are often unfit for use -- Andrew Haydon Park, for example -- due to the tremendous quantity of droppings left by the geese.

A quick visit to the CDC page on Avian Influenza shows that it is transmitted by "...direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces." The virus is carried in "their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces."

It doesn't require much imagination to see how a large, mobile population of waterfowl in a major population center, gathering in (and fouling) a shared space that people use for recreation could quickly become a problem if Avian Flu were to cross into the goose population.

The Food bank, naturally, enters into this in two ways.

1) A problem.
With the culling of Turkeys, basic economics will tell you that the costs of the meat will rise. Thus, the ability of the food bank to purchase quality food will be affected. Not welcome news in this period of layoffs and uncertainty.

2) The solution!
We begin to cull the numbers of the bird populations to more limited numbers, and use the meat (perhaps even the feathers) to supply organizations that support the most needy in our society.

Everybody wins!

And maybe the next time you fly, you won't have to cross paths with a flock of them.

Climate Change Cult Update

Poor Al Gore.

The weather just doesn't like to cooperate with his speeches.

It seems he may have to call off his Senate F0reign Relations Committee meeting.

He won't be able to warn of the dire consequences of Global Warming (the cultists want you to say 'climate change' now because it's more difficult to refute generic change). There is a Winter Storm Watch in effect in DC. (h/t Drudge)

To twist the knife a little, here are some other related headlines currently on the BBC "Latest Headlines" feed:

Tough Love for Car Industry (Obama is throwing the US automakers under the bus in favor of "green" policy.) Reducing emissions by closing factories, Barry? Your union backers are going to be awfully put-out.

'Climate Hope' in Economic Plans

[Funny, hope was once a firm thing, anchored in a future event in which one had confidence. You know, like the hope students have that "Spring Break" is coming, if they can just hang on until then, or like children anticipating Christmas morning.]

I especially like the confidence they place in off-setting. It allows you to pay someone else to do the "right thing" (by somebody's definition) while letting you continue to do the 'wrong thing' with a clean conscience. Call it eco-indulgences where once the coin rang in the coffer to spring souls from "purgatory" (And it took a certain German monk to undo that mess...)

Entire nations can do the moral equivalent by buying potentially fraudulent carbon off-sets. (There was a clever parody of this scheme, paying someone else to be true to their spouse, so you could cheat on yours. If it doesn't make sense for marriage...)

But wait, just when we are told to have hope in the change that we are hoping will change us and the world that so desperately needs us to stop changing it -- or something -- we are left with another report. Global Warming is Irreversible. But, what about all the hope the previous stories about the socialist solutions were supposed to fill me with? It's futile, but we have hope anyway? That's settled science for you!

[Breaking: Germany to dump 6 tonnes of Iron Sulphate into the South Atlantic to "help stop Global Warming." That's Iron and Sulphur. Sin Tonnes of Iron and Sulphur into the Ocean! Hey Germany, there's a story about an old woman who swallowed a fly. There's a moral to it. Look it up!]

Just to round things out:

SNOW IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES! (UAE is experiencing snow for only the Second time in their history!)

I'm sure the fact the the world in presently in a cooling trend, that the other planets in our solar system are also in cooling trends, and we are experiencing unusually low solar activity has NO bearing on the convictions of the eco-cult demanding we be penitent for our sins.

We must Propitiate Gaia's wrath, after all.

Web at a glance

Here are a number of interesting posts that are worth looking at...

Right on top:

The terrorists are getting better at killing... themselves. =)

- Palestine violence continues... but now how you think. Palestinian Torture in Schools and Hospitals (Hamas vs Fatah). Much hand-wringing over how to blame this on Israel, presumably.

Similarly, here in Canada: a picture with a little girl holding up hate signs. thank-you Small Dead Animals.

- On Journalists and their criminal behaviour... (Which prompts me to ask: why are people given so much press when charged, but so little when they are acquitted or convicted? Doesn't that hurt presumption of innocence?)

- Obligatory Obama references, since he was sworn in yesterday:
- The "prayer" (or, rather, soliloquy) offered by Gene Robinson to a "god of our many understandings"... blah, blah, blah in an official Obama function. Funny, this guy ratcheted the politics up a few notches. Almost as if his primary audience was PEOPLE, not God. Seems he and I have differing understandings about the definition and function of "prayer".
- Comment on the comparison between President (I guess I have to use that title now, don't I) Obama and the heroic pilot who made the NYC water landing.
- The Star puts out a rant about swooning Journalists as they cover the rise of Obama
- The spin as Obama's speech is reported (Little Green Footballs).

Closer to home:
Income splitting as a Canadian Stimulus package suggestion.
Polygamy: the next national debate?
Ezra Levant on Maher Arar (one) and (two), be sure to check out his positions on the hate marches in Calgary while you're there.

We did something Right!

Our border agents made me proud! (This time.)

It seems someone turned back William Ayers at the Canadian border on Sunday.

Apparently, being in the leadership of a violent group that plays with explosives, and blows up public buildings such as, oh I don't know, police stations and the Pentagon is (gasp) unwelcome in Canada.

Well done guys.

Quirky History

Today's news-feed by the BBC had something I couldn't resist commenting on.

There has been an archaeological discovery that suggests that Persia used poison gas on the Romans in the siege of a city in the 3rd century A.D.

(Full article here).

I've been taking the opportunity recently to listen to some podcasts, and ancient history is a recurring theme in my choices. (I'm especially enjoying "Hardcore History" by Dan Carlin)

It brings it home somewhat to know how similar the (political) circumstances between our modern wars, and the ancient ones were, and to know, further, that the ancient Roman legions faced the same lethal battle-tactic that my great-grandfather may have in WWI.

Rented Friendship ???

You know we have let our priorities get WAY out of control when you see headlines like this one:

Rent-A-Friend in Japan

It's a story about a 'Cat Cafe' in which busy people can pay by the hour to bond with 'professional pets'.

It strikes me as eerily similar to prostitution, in one sense. No, not THAT sense, another one.

In both instances, money is exchanged for satisfaction. In both, someone offers a short-cut to the meaningful satisfaction that is rightfully found within a reciprocal relationship.

Whether finding gratification with someone else's body (for a paid hour or so), or with someone else's pet (also for a paid hour or so), they both seem to indicate an emptiness and disconnectedness larger than the symptoms themselves.