{"id":22696,"date":"2016-06-30T23:23:58","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T06:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=22696"},"modified":"2016-06-30T23:23:58","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T06:23:58","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-30062016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/06\/30\/squatchs-open-thread-30062016\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread — 30\/06\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well it has been a busy day  . . . mostly spent slaving over a hot keyboard with this and two other articles,  I haven't even done TC's Open Thread yet.  I did manage to get out to pick up my new cell phone so I'll have to spend some time getting accustomed to it.  Tomorrow is Canada Day and I am staying low.  It may rain anyway, but I have a few urgent matters requiring my attention.  Lucia will be out with her kids so no teaching tomorrow.  A nice rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Think Progress<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — In a blunt letter<\/font><\/a> to Congress, 31 leading scientific societies reaffirmed the reality that humans are causing climate change and only we can stop it. “To reduce the risk of the most severe impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must be substantially reduced,” they write.  …<\/p>\n

But as long as the media still gives presidential candidates<\/font><\/a> (and pretty much every other major politician) a free pass on this most preventable of existential threats to America, scientists will have to keep “reminding” policymakers of the broad scientific understanding about human-caused climate change.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research concludes that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver,” explain the 31 scientific groups. “This conclusion is based on multiple independent lines of evidence and the vast body of peer-reviewed science.'”<\/p>\n

I guess the old adage "give until it hurts" applies here.  Certainly the Republican dominated (for now!) Congress is not going to back down from their denial state.  That would mean ignoring their ever fattening wallets.  Of course, if they and theirs don't have a world in which to make more money and spend it, who cares, right?  They are such a bunch of myopic lame-brains!<\/span><\/p>\n

CBC<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned approval of Enbridge's controversial Northern Gateway project after finding Ottawa failed to properly consult the First Nations affected by the pipeline.<\/p>\n

"We find that Canada offered only a brief, hurried and inadequate opportunity … to exchange and discuss information and to dialogue," the ruling says. …<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Constitutional requirement to consult<\/h2>\n

The majority ruling was signed by two of the three judges on the Appeal Court panel. Judge Michael Ryer wrote a dissenting opinion.<\/p>\n

Pipeline opponents have called the decision "landmark."<\/p>\n

"At every turn you're going, you are seeing nails in the coffin of the Enbridge project," said Peter Lantin, president of the council of the Haida Nation, one of the parties that appealed.<\/p>\n

"I don't think there's enough room for another nail in the coffin."<\/p>\n

It was former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his harlots that rushed that decision through in 2014 ignoring the consultative process.  Not surprising really!  He ignored a lot of First Nations issues and emergencies such as Attawapiskat.  PM Trudeau commented that he does not want to see a pipeline through the Great Bear Rainforest of the BC central and northern coast, nor oil tankers, massive tankers, plying the coastal waters of the Pacific.  I hope this will be the end but the pro-pipeline group is likely to try to take this to the Supreme Court of Canada.  May they fail miserably!<\/span><\/p>\n

Daily Beast<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — The battle to become Britain’s next prime minister has descended into a blood-spattered Shakespearean epic within 24 hours of the nominations being opened. Betrayal, intrigue, and backstabbing<\/font><\/a> gripped the Conservative Party at the end of the most dramatic week in the history of British politics.<\/p>\n

\n

Boris Johnson<\/font><\/a>, who was the favorite to win the contest earlier Thursday, was forced to pull out of the race when his own campaign manager betrayed him in spectacular fashion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Johnson is widely thought to have campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union<\/font><\/a> in last week’s referendum as part of a cunning plot to seize the leadership of the Conservative Party from his old school friend David Cameron.  …<\/p>\n

In a statement that shocked Westminster on Thursday, he announced he would quit his role as Johnson’s campaign manager and put himself forward for the party leadership.<\/p>\n

“I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead,” Gove said. …<\/p>\n

“I have never seen anything like it. He’s ripped the Tory party apart, he has created the greatest constitutional crisis in peacetime in my life. He’s knocked billions off the value of the savings of the British people. He’s like a general who marches his army to the sound of the guns, and the moment he sees the battleground he abandons it,” said Lord Heseltine, the former Conservative deputy prime minister and Thatcher-era Cabinet member.<\/p>\n

It is not just markets and currencies that have taken a hit from the Brexit vote.  British politics, post Brexit, are starting to look a lot like American politics with backroom deals and skullduggery!  Pip! Pip! Old chaps.  Let's be civil!<\/span><\/p>\n

My Universe <\/strong>— <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Run<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Run Forest! Run!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Let\u2019s<\/p>\n

Some kids can sleep in any position!  Life is tiring when you're so cute!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well it has been a busy day  . . . mostly spent slaving over a hot keyboard with this and two other articles,  I haven't even done TC's Open Thread yet.  I did manage to get out to pick up my new cell phone so I'll have to spend some time getting accustomed to it.  […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-politics","category-35-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}