Ken's friend Allan by Mattel and Turkey dinner

One reason the 1960's may have some redeeming things is this friend of Ken. This is Allan, Ken's friend from Mattel. Allan lived on for many years, my guess as a closet case...

Maybe because Ken liked Allan better than Barbie? Just asking...



He looks like a good friend of Dorothy.

*grins*

Then there is a good reason to forget those sixties...

I will let this little ad speak for itself!

Global Warming -- Who are You Going to Believe?

The Climate Conference in Copenhagen begins next week.

Meanwhile, attacks on climate science from interests invested in the status quo of "Drill, baby, drill!" and "Burn, baby, burn [fossil fuels]!" continue to cloud the issue with attacks on the science and scientists. Denialist arguments were seemingly supported by the release of hacked emails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Britain last week.

"Global Warming a massive conspiracy!" many on the right decried.

But is it really....?

Who and what should non-scientists believe?

I admit that at times I've questioned the science...it's hard not to when so many media voices claim that none of it's true, Al Gore's a liar, our economy will be in tatters if we move to a green economy, you can't trust those alarmist scientists who predict disaster and make up stuff just to get more research funding....

But ultimately the choice of who and what to believe is pretty obvious...

From Google News today:











From The Winnipeg Free Press:










And this from the Financial Post:

"There is no valid scientific evidence that polar icecaps are melting and there is no valid scientific evidence of global warming being the cause of polar ice melting."

I don't know about you, but I'm going with Science and Direct Observation by experts. Thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers point to the undeniable fact that the planet is warming and that humans are responsible.

Massive conspiracy?

Then the melting Arctic must be in on it too!

From The Washington Post:

"MAKE NO mistake, Arctic Sea ice is melting. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the maximum extent of the winter sea ice cover for 2008-09 was the fifth-lowest on record. Underscoring their point, the agencies added, 'The six lowest maximum events since satellite monitoring began in 1979 have all occurred in the past six years (2004-09).'"

Ten year old boy - Gay rights Ally

So why can't other Americans...

A 10-year-old Arkansan who has refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance until gays and lesbians have equal rights. CNN's John Roberts asks Will Phillips why the issue is so important to him.

Says Phillips: "Because I have many -- I've grown up with a lot of people and good friends with a lot of people that are gay and I really -- I think they should have the rights all people should. And I'm not going to swear that they do."

Roberts also asks Phillips what he said to the teacher after refusing to say the Pledge.

Said Phillips: "I eventually, very solemnly, with a little bit of malice in my voice, said, 'Ma'am with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge.'"

Phillips says that since taking a stand he has been repeatedly called a "gay-wad" by other students, which he calls a "discriminatory name for homosexuals." - Towleroad

Everything is disposable

Okay, who is a collector out there? It looks like we collect a ton of things, all of which are disposable yet we keep them. Is anything really made to last forever?

"We live in this moment where nothing must be thrown out, yet everything is disposable” said Ken Hillis, editor of Everyday eBay, a collection of essays about the auction site on which millions of objects are bought and sold each day. “I think you see eBay working very well there to tell people that this sense of self and long-term identity can be completely attached to objects.” Globe and Mail.

Maybe all those tonka toys and dinky cars are worth something, sure wish I still had them...

sick for profit

Check out sick for profit. Post it or send it to all your American friends. Get them to send to all their friends.

“our Father, who art in heaven”

That's what could be used to begin every council meeting of the Lanark County. Lanark County Warden Paul Dulmage announced a week ago he plans to introduce a motion to that effect. My Zeus what is happening to this country of Canada. In a couple of hours the House of Commons will be voting to end the long gun registry and now I read that the community I spend half my time in when I escape the Centre of the Universe (that's you Toronto) for three or four days a week has decided to stuff some other god down my throat.

It was only a few weeks ago I read that some anti-gay christian radical dude that wants to ban books about gay families was appointed to sit on the Library board in Eganville an hour away from Lanark. The world is changing but not for the better.

It kind of makes me wonder if Canada is caught in the BUSH era. It also says that there is no way on Estre's green earth we can let Harper gain a majority government. I mean it would be all of rich fat dead leader of the moral majority's wet dreams come true.

And then there is the Senate. This ought to scare a few folks here.

Wake up folks, don't you see that the land is being taken over by the Leave it to beaver crowd. Soon we won't even be able to toke up to take away these awful maladies if we don't do something.

We were born to FIGHT...

The good fight was set back in Maine last night and I can think of no better way to sum it up than how my fellow warrior Montreal Simon does here.

Do you want good news first? Washington State yes to gays

Gays win in Washington, lose in Maine

In the two big election events held in the USA yesterday an anti gay marriage victory in Maine and in Washington State "everything but marriage" passed.

The Maine vote was seen to have a good chance of succeeding. It almost did. Just after midnight with 82% Reporting 52.36% opposed gay marriage and 47.64% supported it. It appears to be lost.

Washington State's vote was 51.9% for "Gay Marriage" and 48.10% opposed. A victory to celebrate. The referendum confers all State and local rights of marriage to same-sex couples in registered domestic partnerships.

In Houston, Lesbian Parker was the top vote getter with 30% of the vote. She will take on the runner up in a run off in the weeks ahead...

... and in Chapel Hill, NC openly gay man Mark Kleinschmidt is going to be the next mayor. See Pam's House.

For more on queer victories in the USA go to gaypolitics.com.

Queer Mayor for Houston Texas? No way right?

It could be a big night for gays across the USA tonight. Two gay marriage votes are happening, one in Maine, the second in Washington State. In Houston Texas a lesbian, Annise Parker is leading the voting as I write this.

Yes deep in the heart of Texas a Lesbian could become the Mayor of Houston, America's forth largest city. That's got to be something for Bush and Dick Armey to choke on.

Tonight is the night when voters in Maine could become the first voters in the country to sanction gay marriage. Washington State follows a few hours later.


It's looking like a good night for us, a bad night for the religious bigots and their immoral minority. Hey it will be a minority soon...

Canada and Ontario took unacceptable risks

The current H1N1 vaccination effort is a mammoth job. It is made larger by the fact that every western country is trying to do the same thing at the same time. Alas we have shortages and the Ontario vaccination effort forcing people to line up for hour after hour until seven or eight hours go by is bizarre by Canadian standards of care.

These lineups were made inevitable due to the lack of foresight or outright risk taking by the Ontario Mike Harris government and in some cases by the current McGinty government. Harris slashed the heck out of public health in this province and McGinty has failed to fix it beyond a few band-aids and another round of reorganization.

We have learned little it seems from SARS or WALKERTON. The government has slashed or reorganized public health to a point that when they have to address a monumental task like the H1N1 vaccination of the entire population, they have few staff or resources available to get the job done.

It use to be that these vaccinations would occur in schools for our children. Seems to me that it would be much easier for the system to set up at each school and do this. Perhaps a team of nurses could do a few schools every day. They could even do this is daycare and kindergarten.

Large employers could deliver this to staff at work. Non-profit, Co-op's and community housing would be great places to do these shots as well. People could sign up online for a a window of time to get their shots. Many people living with compromised immune systems belong to or receive services from community organizations that could deliver the flu vaccine.

No the Ontario option has been to make people line-up for hours at a time or be one of the lucky to belong to a private clinic. All you need is $2300 a year for personalized care. Then there are all the staff in public health that are being run ragged. Working long hours and taking abuse from angry folks that have lined up for several hours.

Our health care system is being rationalized out of business. Our once vaunted status as a nation that looks after its citizens, where health care is a right, is showing severe signs of strain and lacking credibility. I live in St. Jamestown. The health care system could easily set up in the lobby of each building and vaccinate thousands of people in a few days and people would not have to stand in line for hours.

I believe those at the top have rolled the dice. They have measured the risks and gone ahead and accepted that lack of resources and staffing is acceptable for these "rare" occasions.