Blog move

Helllllo everyone.

I’ve moved again. I know. Silly. But I think you’ll like it over there. Really.

www.padraiginmurphy.com

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

The U-Turn

For the first (and perhaps only) time, I am currently on the side of the Conservative government in Canada. The Economist’s article on the new Canadian plan for lowering emissions is a good summary of what is going on.

David Suzuki isn’t happy. Al Gore, who is in Toronto this week, is very disappointed. The liberal government is calling it a fraud.

And I’m thinking – liberal government, shuttup. For 13 years after signing the Kyoto Protocol you took no steps toward meeting our targets. The current government has inherited from you a difficult situation of an unreachable signed agreement, plus emissions which have been increasing steadly for 13 years.

Environmentalists…I know, I know. It isn’t good enough. It won’t meet the Kyoto protocol. It is putting the economy first. I am with you on being annoyed by these things. HOWEVER–it is actually putting the environment on the priority list, and that is new. It is a commitment to change, and that is new. It is a step in the right direction and you should be grateful that the population actually cares a bit now.

This government’s support comes out of oil-based Alberta, Canada’s little Texas. I can’t believe anyone was expecting anything more than what they got with this deal. A minority government cannot risk cutting out it’s only support base by alienating them on an issue its opposition is pushing for. This is a brilliant compromise.

Heck-of-a-Headline

“Jewish lesbian couple support alleged Islamic terrorist.” A neat story with one heck of a headline.

*I’ve been a bit of a news junkie the last few days waiting for a story I’m expecting to break. Runners up for the heck-of-a-headline title included “Missing zebra found dead in Carrot Creek“

Pro-Awareness and Education

This, right here, is your biggest problem. If you want to stop abortions then make students aware of how NOT to get pregnant. Sure some students will wait until they are married. Sure it may be a good idea and one worth teaching. But if that’s all you give people then some of them are going to have unprotected sex and they are going to get pregnant. …and social conservatives, unwanted pregnancies cause situations you really don’t like.

A $166 million US INCREASE in money used to teach abstinance to students. Brilliant.

I am not pro-choice in the sense that I think abortion is a woman’s right. But women and men should be educated about making smart choices. And “unwanted children” is a phrase I would love to see irradicated from our terminology altogether. Just teach, people. That will solve your problem.

I have been taking classes over at the Catholic College, St. Michael’s, this year. The anti-abortion propoganda there has been blowing my mind. One sign says “Countries which allow abortion are not promoting love, but the idea that you can get what you want through violence. That is why abortion is the single greatest destroyer of love and peace.” Like I said I am not fundamentally pro-choice. The idea of abortion makes me queasy in a lot of ways. But THE GREATEST DESTROYER OF LOVE AND PEACE? …you have GOT to be kidding me. Try world hunger? no. War Children? nah. Lack of international literacy? nope. The AIDS epidemic? No silly. …abortion.

Ridiculous people. Get some perpsective.

Environmental Thoughts at MatthewGood.org

A while ago Matthew Good expanded his blog to include a number of authors. This has allowed for more perspective and more variance in topics (my cousin’s blog Bifsniff has taken a similar turn). As of today matthewgood.org has a new author, Meg Fowler who is going to be focused on Environmentalism and Sustainable living. Her first post was excellent. Below are some excerpts but I recommend reading the whole thing through.

When you walk down the aisles of markets and drugstores in our First World nation, you’d think that living in a Land of Plenty really means living in a Land of Product and Packaging. It’s ‘marketing’ and ‘convenience’ and ’safety’ and ‘freshness’ and ‘innovation’, but mostly?

It’s a mess…

At the most committed end of the scale, sustainable choices can dictate every single aspect of how we live our lives…

Realistically speaking, however, most people just aren’t prepared to give it that much thought…

Environmentalism and sustainable living are not “all or nothing propositions” — you don’t have to chain yourself to a tree to help prevent the destruction of forests, or live in a biodome in order to minimize the impact you have on the world around you.

You just have to ask more questions. Give your actions a couple minutes more consideration. Reevaluate a few of your needs. Make different choices where better options exist. Even spend a couple of extra bucks now and then to buy from responsible companies (though you’ll invariably save in the long run.)

I’ll be looking forward to more posts from Meg.

Edit:I have just been informed that Bifsniff is actually just my cousin Frank and my good friend Eoin. Whoops. Ah well. …apparently you guys are doing a great job and appear to be blogging in much greater numbers… *coughcough*

The Way I See It

…it is unacceptable to have a green Christmas, and the lake I grew up on still not frozen over by New Years but to wake up on April 5th to a snow-covered ground.

Goldfish Memory

I just saw a movie I really really enjoyed. I have been taking a Celtic film course this year as part of my I-now-study-Ireland-because-I’m-learning-about-my-heritage plan. It has been a great experiance but with only a few exceptions most of movies have been either dark, or depressing or both. Even the more up-beat films (such as Trainspotting, and Divorcing Jack) were incredibly dark in the subject matters they were dealing with.

Goldfish Memory was a welcome change from this trend. Although many of the shots gave the appearance of a 90s Canadian or UK made TV show (and thus were somewhat less-than-awesome), the storylines were refreshing, and exciting and fun. My whole class was laughing. I walked out feeling light and airy, but without that ‘yuck-I-wasted-an-hour-and-a-half’ that often accompanies romantic comedies.

Definitely suggest watching it.

Winning the Vote

In class today we were talking about the suffrigest movement in the UK. My prof was saying that her grandmother always used to say she would never forget the first day she went out to vote, refusing to allow her husband’s opinion to sway her.

“Before she died, she was around 100, she wasn’t going to mass anymore on Sundays, but by God she was out to vote in every election.”

Oh, the days of commitment to democratic responsibility.

Also Professor Ann Dooley rocks.

Observations from a walk

1.) In my city the streetcar cables criss-cross against the sky as if to remind us that by living here we are seperated from the rest of Mother Nature.

2.) People who walk down the street in mid-day with a lit joint in their hand make me laugh. It is as if they are unaware I can smell what they have long before I am close enough to notice that their palm is scooped around an item they are trying to conceal.