Sunday, June 29, 2014

Hello Gentle Readers:

 I went to a magnificent 'Pink Martini' concert tonight at Place Des Arts in Montreal, with their on stage invited guests, the young Von Trapp family singers. If you have seen the movie the Sound of Music with Julie Andrews, you may remember how one of the Von Trapp children declared he was incorrigible. That child grew up to train his grandchildren into one of the best singing groups of our time. I could not believe my ears. These kids are excellent and they are going straight up the charts with their first de-but performance in Montreal. The Von Trapp great grandchildren are on their way to becoming international super stars and if they remain with Pink Martini, the mix will meld into one of the best shows in the world! It will also finally give Pink Martini the kind of international publicity they deserve because these musicians and singers are the very best and they are well worth both the price of admission and the standing ovation they received from tonight's adoring audience.

 
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Friday, June 27, 2014

Hello Gentle People:

 It is hell week in Quebec, Canada. The week leading up to the first of July when thousands of basically poor people shift out of shoddy rental apartments and into even worse apartments. If you are trying to find an apartment for rent at a reasonable rate, forget it. Landlords have stopped renting and Condominiums are for sale everywhere. Condos today are basically apartments guarded by private real estate Brokers who filter people with the ability to pay higher monthly rates from those who can barely scratch a living on welfare or who exist on small old age pensions. Brokers do this class discrimination in exchange for a finders fee from the Condo owner and Brokers are the reason rental rates have jumped out of reach for thousands of people.

 Almost directly because of brokers there is a quiet revolution going on where a certain group of renters, with help from the police, are becoming hostile towards small scale landlords.
These renters sign a lease for a year and then, for one reason or another, refuse to pay two or three months rent. They know for certain that the police will not remove them from the apartment they are occupying and they also know that the police will send the unsuspecting landlord to an arbitration court. It is in the court house the landlord discovers he or she is responsible for opening a file and finding a lawyer to either help remove the tenant from the property or force the tenant to pay money owed; but only after both tenant and landlord face a judge. The landlord may, if the judge rules in his favour, be able to collect past due rent from a tenant who left without paying but only if that person can be found! To find lost tenants a landlord has to hire a detective specializing in finding lost tenants. Meanwhile, the lost tenant may suddenly reappear and claim the few days remaining on his lease. Even though said tenant cancelled his Hydro Electric contract in the middle of the final month and has not paid rent for two months, he now wants to re-enter the apartment to collect a few of his things. Things such as door knobs, light bulbs, plastic electric plug shields and basically anything that is not nailed down. He or she may even do a little damage and claim the damage was not their fault and it is the reason they refused to pay rent. If the landlord complains, the tenant quickly phones the police and claims the landlord is a threat to his or her person. They explain to the police officer entering the scene that all they were trying to do is move out of the apartment and the landlord intimidated them. Of course the officer will create a police report and now the landlord has a police file and begins to seriously consider converting his property to Condos and hiring a Broker to sell his renovated Condominium; thus leaving the poorest of the poor out on the street. Satan must love hell week?!  
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Monday, June 16, 2014

Gentle readers, this week I recommend you find www.Greenpeace.org and www.Sierraclub.org in our Index and read the facts you will not find in the commercial media..

The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement presents: Our INTERNATIONAL WEB SITE INDEX .

3851-56th., Street,
Laval, West,
Quebec, Canada.
H7R1M5
------------------
Freedom with honesty and justice and courage…
Compassion with dignity, tolerance and humour…
Peace with love and harmony towards all life on Earth.
"All that ever was still is constantly changing within the eternal energy of the universe and the only constant is
constant change. Author: Joseph Raglione."
Gentle People:
Welcome to my index of fun web sites and return as often as you like. Joseph Raglione/
18. = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhLa6O1OP0Y
28.=  http://www.nytimes.com/
29.= http://video.canadiens.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=291&id=587397&lang
30.= http://www.iTooch.com  How to greatly improve our school systems.
31. =http://www.Netmaths.com
32. =http://www.Evernote.com
33. =http://www.abmaths.com
34. =http://www.Sciences.com
35. =http://www.iBooks.com
36. =http://www.skitch.com
37. =https://plus.google.com/u/0/  
38.=http://www.jaccorde.com
39.=http://www.Atlasdumonde.com
40.=http://www.Echecs.com
41.=http://mlb.mlb.com/home
42.=http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/
43.=http://www.nfl.com/
44.=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83650
45.=http://crowdenergy.org/ocean-energy-turbine-kickstarter-video/
46.=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVmmpGeR6nk
47. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events
48.  http://www.sierraclub.org/

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Thursday, June 12, 2014

It is far past the time the U.S. government helped to mass market pure Electric vehicles. I suggest they retool General Motors and drop their gas burning engines once and for all. Remember what president Bush did to the  EV1. He totally destroyed that great little Electric car and then forgot they ever existed. I suggest president Obama return the favour with the same result to polluting gas burning vehicles. Convert G.M. assembly lines to all Electrics and do it fast. Why? Because the Japanese have already started the process. Why let them have all the fun in 2015. Do this before the Democrats lose and are removed from political office. It takes courage but it is not like starting a war! Bush did that also.
 Contact NASA for ideas on making viable Electric Cars and then sell all Electrics at prices average people can afford. Twenty thousand Dollars or less is a reasonable sticker price for a new  Electric car. Finally, create an electric charging station grid for long distance travel. Today, we are being barraged by gas burning cars on Television and on the WWW. Polluters know how to market cars and there is not a decent pure Electric car in sight. Elon Musk, the maker of the superb Tesla Electric car is currently concentrating on creating a rocket to Mars. I salute his courage and creative intelligence but I and millions of people around the world are riding Bicycles while waiting for affordable Electric cars to hit the market and meanwhile, CO2 continues to build up in the atmosphere. Soon, the proverbial merde is going to hit the fan.
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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Gentle People:
 It is a shame but General Motors continues to sell anything but pure Electric Cars on Television and in the print media hoping against hope that average people are stupid and have short attention spans and they will forget about Electric vehicles. It has been proven that pure Electrics are faster than gas burning cars, create zero pollution and have the capacity to travel up to six hundred Killometers without a charge. Electric vehicles are on the market but the Oil cartels with their political allies in Washington and Ottawa along with their advertising friends on Madison Avenue, continue to block their progress. The good news is however that average people everywhere now have the communication ability to spread the truth and the CAA has a web site that provides somewhat slanted information about Electric vehicles. Slanted towards gas burning vehicles which proves my point but hey anything is better than nothing!. http://electricvehicles.caa.ca/types-of-electric-vehicles/   Until Tesla produces more cars and reduces their cost, Nissan will continue to be a front runner for Electrics. http://www.nissan.ca/en/electric-cars/leaf/charging-range/

 Companies like G.M. who refuse to change and are willing to gamble with the future of their children and grandchildren, have the selfish and ignorant hope that global warming is not dangerous! They now also have the ability to quickly place their advertisements everywhere on the world wide web and feature smaller Hybrid cars that continue to burn gas. Look below this article for proof. With new electronic components copied from the magnificent Tesla Electric car company, many auto makers pretend to have modernized but nothing is further from the truth! Smaller cars do burn less gas but not when twice as many jam the highways! That equals the same amount of pollution.
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For True Believers
Copyright: Joseph Raglione

They could not explain Eternity
Though they certainly tried.
But could not explain Eternity
And so they lied!

They lied about Eternity
And were so very good,
They created fraternities of True Believers
Who would follow them as only True Believers would.

And pods of imaginary Gods to terrify those who should,
According to them, be True Believers...
And believe in Them or face the wrath of their
Omnipotent Gods!

With strife and damnation and pain for none believers,
A Supreme Being will never deign to explain creation
To foolish sinners here on Earth...
But if YOU obey without question,
Follow orders without disruption...
The Gods will heap rewards upon YOU in the
Afterlife!

Obey the Gods and they will gladly explain creation to you
After your dead...
But will only give mercy and love to you
While you live...
If you are a True Believer.


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Sunday, June 8, 2014

Gentle readers, if honesty is the best policy, why am I not rich?


From: Ivan Frishberg, BarackObama.com (info@barackobama.com) 
Sent:Wed 6/04/14 7:47 PM
To:Joseph Raglione (human4us@bell.net)
Friend --

Some of the reaction to the President's climate plan from the other side this week has seemed straight-up bonkers.

One group likened it to a terrorist act, the Senate minority leader called it a "dagger in the heart of [...] representative democracy"...

This would all be kind of funny, too, if the opposition wasn't backed with a whole boatload of cash.

The polluters and special interests are prepared to fight this with everything they've got -- right now, we want to know who's willing to fight back.

So, how about you? Stand with President Obama, and support aggressive action to combat climate change.

The nonsense on the other side is no accident. This is their strategy.

Last week, House Speaker John Boehner told a reporter, "I'm not qualified to debate the science over climate change."

But this week, he was one of the first out of the gate to throw a punch at the President's plan, saying that this proposal will cost our country billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. The fact checkers don't agree -- Politifact rated his claims "false."

Here's what it boils down to:

The other side is prepared to spread myths and worse to get their way. We just need people to understand the facts.

If you're proud of the President's aggressive plan to fight climate change, you should help fight for it.

Add your name today to support common-sense EPA standards on carbon pollution:

http://my.barackobama.com/Support-Carbon-Pollution-Standards

Thanks,

Ivan

Ivan Frishberg
Climate Change Campaign Manager
Organizing for Action
==============================
A message from Joseph Raglione.
 If choking to death in smog filled cities is your idea of the good life, you have been brain washed by too many TV car commercials created by people who do not care if you choke to death in smog laden cities.
 The rich have alternatives to Oil and Coal. They can place their Billions of Dollars on: electric vehicles, green-house gardens, city gardens, buildings that can be heated and cooled with the sun and the wind, solar panels, water mills that generate electricity utilizing ocean currents everywhere on Earth. Tree planting projects help to save the environment and they create jobs everywhere on Earth.  On the cultural side jazz and dance festivals generate employment for thousands of people around the world. Almost anything we can imagine is possible and the rich will not lose a single dime. In fact they will make more money doing life sustaining projects than it will cost them struggling against the rising wave of change now moving towards those same life sustaining projects.
  The idea of losing thousands of jobs in the Coal mining industry is bogus. Mountain top blasting and the use of Bulldozers and giant shovels have created unemployment for hundreds if not thousands of below ground miners. Why dig holes in the ground when you can simply blow away mountains to expose the Coal veins? Now that the mountains are half flattened, why not place dozens of Wind powered electric generators on those same mountains and give work to local people maintaining the generators?


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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Gentle readers:

  Honest political activists and journalists tend to become hard nosed and cynical the more they struggle against injustice and tyranny and pollution. Every once in a while I look in the mirror to update my consciousness. Today, I did not like the old tough guy who looked back at me and because of him I am going to write a  love poem to my one and only lady.
----------------------------
My sweet love.
Though we are apart my love
Imagine a gentle kiss as soft as a Butterfly's wing
Sent to you on the wind with my full promise of future bliss...
Close your eyes and allow my love to surpass your imagination,
To gently surprise your heart and
To kiss and to kiss and to kiss again
Your soft satin lips...
My sweet love
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Hello gentle readers!
 For many years now I have been arguing that Electric vehicles are here to stay and that they are both faster and cleaner than gas burning vehicles. For just as many years my beloved family and friends have told me to shut up and not to make political and economic waves. They argued passionately how Electric Cars do not have the capacity to travel long distances and are not economically viable. Tesla became an example of a car only the rich could afford and the excuses hit me from all directions. Here are a few examples:
1. Electric vehicles are too expensive and I can't afford an Electric Car.
2. Electric Cars are only small glorified Golf Carts and they don't move fast enough.
3. The Oil companies will never allow Electric cars on the open market. Look what they did to the EV1!
4. They don't have charging stations everywhere.
-------------------------------------------------
    Well the Bullshit stops here! Read what the Japanese have done and continue to do while North American car manufacturing companies are sleeping with the Oil and Gas cartels.

An electric car in Japan has set a new world record by running for more than 27 hours and covering over 1,000km (621 miles) without being recharged.

6:50PM BST 25 May 2010
The customised Mira EV travelled at speeds of around 40kph as it drove non-stop around a car racing course in Shimotsuma in Ibaraki Prefecture.
The red and white vehicle, fitted with a special lithium ion battery created by the Japanese company Sanyo, ran for 27.5 hours covering a distance of 1,003km without being recharged.
A total of 17 different people took turns at the wheel of the electric car as it circled repeatedly around the racecourse during the experiment.
The test run was organised by the Japan Electric Vehicle Club, which plans to request that the Guinness World Records officially recognise it as the world's longest electric car journey, according to media reports.
The achievement is timely: Japan and other nations are bracing themselves for an electric car boom as car manufacturers race to produce competitive versions of the environmentally-friendly vehicles.
However, the biggest inconveniences for many potential e-car owners relate to charging – from finding a nearby charger to making sure that the car does not run out of power during the school run.
The latest epic electric vehicle drive of over 1,000 km effortlessly beat the previous world record of uncharged driving 555.6km, which was achieved last November by the same Japanese organisation.



   

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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

May 21, 2014


The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement presents: Our INTERNATIONAL WEB SITE INDEX .

------------------
Freedom with honesty and justice and courage…
Compassion with dignity, tolerance and humour…
Peace with love and harmony towards all life on Earth.
"All that ever was still is constantly changing within the eternal energy of the universe and the only constant is
constant change. Author: Joseph Raglione."
Gentle People:
Welcome to my index of fun web sites and return as often as you like. Joseph Raglione/
18. = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhLa6O1OP0Y
Posted by at  
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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Hello gentle readers. 
 Here is a letter from sweet Annie Leonard, the "Story of Stuff" senior advisor whom I helped with free publicity several years ago and who is now advising me of big changes to come in the future. 
Dear Joseph Raglione,
By now you have probably heard about the big changes under way at The Story of Stuff Project. We’re in for the biggest move yet in our six-and-a-half years of existence. My move to becoming a Story of Stuff Board Member and Senior Advisor, and new job leading Greenpeace USA, comes at a time of incredible excitement and action here, and affords us fantastic opportunities.
The greatest joy I have experienced through The Story of Stuff has been discovering just how many millions of people around the world connect with this message. I have been blown away by the passion of you, the Story of Stuff Community, and your desire to take action. We all need to do our part to tackle the big problems we’re facing, but while individual actions are a great place to start, they are a terrible place to stop.
And we are not stopping. In fact, we’re about to kick it up another gear. We are building new programs that will allow our Community to work together to reduce our collective footprint, build our citizen muscles, and make major changes in our communities and countries.
We know that the challenges we face are enormous, but recent technological innovations have given us power to connect, educate, and organize as never before. I’d like to take some time to let you in on the systems that we’re building out to help you, our Community, find each other, receive training, and work together to find Solutions. 
One of the things I hear repeatedly from members of our Community is “I am the only person around here who cares about these issues”.
We know how many of you are out there, and we are building out the capability of our site for members to connect with each other -- to find other Actors participating in The Story of Solutions -- and meet up to share your own stories, experiences, and tips for living well. In time, we’ll give you the tools to find and organize community events, such as pot-lucks, clothing-swaps, and community gardens. These tools will allow members to get to know neighbours that share their values, and work together to reduce consumption and live better lives.

What you can do is help us support our exciting new programs.

 Your reward will be cleaner air and water and less pollution!


Another refrain I often hear is from people overwhelmed by the enormity of the issues we’re facing -- “What can I do?”

In response, we’re working with partners across the key issues you have identified so we can leverage our power to speak out, together, and have the most impact. We’ll be able to flex our Citizen Muscles in unison to push corporations to remove harmful toxins from their products, to get local governments to go plastic bag free, and to fight the political corruption that stands in the way of real reform. I hope that you will join our community in taking action on these important issues.
For many of us, this may be enough, but I know that there are a ton of passionate people out there who want to learn what they can do as changemakers to become leaders in their local communities. To help out with this, we’re building up our Citizen Muscle Boot Camp -- the graduates of which will be leaders for our movement in their communities. The Boot Camp, which will begin its first phase of large-scale testing next month, will be a four-week course on how to identify the issues you most care about, and learn how to bring about change at the local level.

All of this will be offered for free, but costs us money to build out and support. Please become a Champion of our Story by chipping in $5 a month to help us become a fully Community-supported organization.

I would not be leaving the day-to-day activities of The Story of Stuff if I did not believe in these programs and the people behind them. There is an enormous positive energy here, and I am immensely excited both by the work that we will be unveiling over the coming months -- the reasons that Greenpeace was so eager to collaborate with us.
The energy around this Community has always been fantastic. I have been immensely impressed by  our hard working Story of Stuff Community. They have taken the message to heart in order to bring change to their lives. Now, we are building out tools that will make it even easier for you to multiply your effects and bring about positive changes to your community, and to our world.
I look forward to taking the next steps with you. 
Annie Leonard, on behalf of The Story of Stuff team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From Joseph Raglione" 
Dear Annie: Our enemies have Billions of Dollars and friends in government. Sometimes, like in Canada and Russia, they are the government. Individuals like you and I do have the ability to communicate on the world wide web but we are not heartless socio-paths who believe winning is everything! We tend to believe in sharing and caring and if we are forced against the wall, we can generate negative publicity to stop the worst company abuses around the world, unfortunately, money is the problem and not the solution. Everybody wants money and money creates industrial pollution! We have to place our money on clean air and water and on food creation systems. These along with clean recycling systems are vitally important!
We need to generate much more publicity to counter the Oil based commercial crap being generated by companies and people who care only for profit.
Thanks for reading Annie and I am passing your message along to my readers.
Joseph Raglione

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Monday, May 12, 2014

GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN Waidhan, Mahan, FOR PROTECTING THE FOREST.

I asked them why were they here, at this hour? They said, "You will find out soon."
We woke-up to the sound of loud knocking on our door. It took us a few minutes to realize what was happening. It was around 12.00 at night. Ten policemen in uniform and plain clothes were at our door, asking us questions but answering none of ours.
They walked into our guest house in Waidhan, Mahan and arrested our colleagues, friends and activists Akshay Gupta, Vinit Gupta, Bechan Lal Shah and Vijay S. Singh. They were taken away in separate Boleros. I asked Mr Barkhade, the officer in-charge, "Where are you taking them." The answer was, "You will find out soon." This was enough to tell us that things were not good. An argument with them would make things worse.
Chase begins
As soon as they left, Avinash, Hardayal, Virender S, our driver Manoj-ji and I decided to follow the four police vehicles to the Mada police station. On the way our vehicle was followed by a white Bolero no: UP 64Q676. They stopped after following us after a few minutes.
Still on our way, we received information that our activists had been taken to the city office of the Superintendent of Police in Darhan. We decided to go there and submit a petition seeking the release of our friends. Ekta and Ravi, members of Kisan Adivasi Isthapit Ekta Manch, joined us on the way.
An official met us at the SP's office in Darhan. We asked for the SP but the official said that it was too late for us to meet anyone. We then requested him to give our petition to the SP. He said he didn't have the authority to do that.
Dissapointed and worried about the well being of our friends, we went back to our office in Waidhan. We still had no idea about the whereabouts of our colleagues. Back at the guesthouse, we sent emails to the Superintendent of Police, Singrauli, District Magistrate Singrauli, Inspector General, Reva, and the Director General of Police, Bhopal.
Our breakthrough came when we got a call from Vijay Shankar, one of the people arrested, who had managed to sneak in his phone. He told us that they had been taken to the Mada police station.
We were back on the road, this time heading straight to the Mada police station. When we reached the police station, we saw the Bolero that had followed us parked outside the police station. We were now becoming even more suspicious. Later one of the village locals identified the car. He told us it belonged to the village 'Sarpanch', known to be a friend of the company.
Questions and cases
Avinash, Ravi, Ekta and Hardayal tried to enter the police station, while the rest of us waited in the car. They were not allowed into the police premises. The police official told them it's too late for them to meet anyone. When Avinash and the others informed them about the purpose, they were pushed out and refused any information or help.
We left the police station and took a short halt at Koyal Khunti. At 5.00 am we headed back to Mada. Avinash and others were now joined by Virendra in the attempt to enter the police station.
This time they were let into the premises but not into the main station building. They saw Bechanlal ji and Vijayshankar but couldn't see Akshay and Vineet. Interestingly, Avinash also saw a company person, Arvind Singh inside the police station.
At 7.00 am we are allowed to enter the premises. We found out that all four of them had been charged under four sections: 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from doing their duty), 186 (Obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions), 392 (punishment for robbery) and 180/14 (refusing to sign a confession).
When Avinash tried to get more information, the officials indirectly threatened him with consequences similar to the four activists under arrest. Later we found out that Akshay and Vineet were beaten-up as they refused to sign a document.
Fight for rights continues
We've been at the Mada police station since 5.00am now. More people from the village have joined us. Our friends will appear in court today and tomorrow. They are being punished for protesting peacefully to protect Mahan's forests and the rights of its people. Those who are doing the real harm are being allowed to dictate the law.
None of us, including those who are in jail right now, want the company to prevail over people in Mahan. The stakes are too high for us to give-up now or ever. So we stand together growing stronger everyday, determined to protect forests, people, rights and ultimately this planet.
Zindabad!
Vivek Goyal is an activist with Greenpeace India.
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Saturday, May 10, 2014



Freedom with honesty and justice and courage…
Compassion with dignity, tolerance and humour…
Peace with love and harmony towards all life on Earth.
All that ever was still is constantly changing within the eternal energy of the universe and the only
 constant is constant change.
Welcome to my index of fun web sites and return as often as you like.   Joseph Raglione/

18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhLa6O1OP0Y
at No comments:

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Hello Gentle readers:

  Here is how to terrify economic exploiters, political scam artists and thieves. Repeat the following words:
 I don't want anything that is not absolutely practical and useful, durable and life sustaining as well as educational. Thank you very much!

 With this simple philosophy you do not need to go shopping in large box stores to buy non sustainable
junk. With this philosophy you can stop the pollution created from fossil fuels simply by removing yourself as a consumer of products created from Oil and Coal. Nobody is going to shoot you for making pro environment choices. They certainly will do everything they can to convince you that buying crap is good for the economy but that argument is ridiculous and unconvincing. Everybody knows global warming is our fault and that we can mitigate global warming simply by changing our buying and living habits. It will happen sooner or later but I seriously advise you, gentle readers, that sooner is the better option. Forget Oil pipelines and gas burning cars and concentrate on Electric vehicles, water pipelines, tree plantings, garden creation and double or even triple insulated houses. Recycle absolutely everything! Educate your children from baby-hood up with music and dancing and science. Teach children that sharing and caring is better than selfish greed because if you don't, the selfish and greedy will eventually force us to abandon our social programs and they will take away our basic security and our personal freedom. Force will be the rule within human society and not the exception. Thanks for reading and have a great pollution free Sunshine day!
Joseph Raglione

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Monday, April 28, 2014

Gentle readers, this Vancouver Sun article is heart breaking! Please help me protest this planned atrocity against endangered whales today by sending a message of protest to the prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. Inform him how you feel about his latest step to help his Oil friends at the expense of the most endangered species on the Planet, and do everything you can to stop Harper's project!


The Vancouver Sun

Ottawa removing North Pacific humpback whales from list of ‘threatened’ species

 

 
BY PETER O'NEIL, VANCOUVER SUN

OTTAWA — The Harper government is downgrading the protection of the North Pacific humpback whale despite objections from a clear majority of groups that were consulted.
Critics say the whales could face greater danger if two major oilsands pipeline projects get the go-ahead, since both would result in a sharp increase in movement of large vessels on the West Coast that occasionally collide with, and kill, whales like the humpback.
The decision was made under the Species At Risk Act (SARA), and declares the humpback a “species of special concern” rather than “threatened.”
The reclassification means the humpback will no longer be “subject to the general prohibitions set out in SARA, nor would its critical habitat be required to be legally protected under SARA,” states the federal government notice published this month in the Canada Gazette.
The decision removes a major legal hurdle that the environmental group Ecojustice said stood in the way of the $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project that would bring 550,000 barrels of diluted bitumen crude from Alberta to Kitimat.
Ecojustice said in December that a federal review panel’s conditional approval of the project flies in the face of the humpback’s protections under the federal legislation.
The fate of the humpback was a major issue during the Northern Gateway public hearings that concluded last year, with many groups fearing that collisions, potential spills, and excessive noise would be a serious threat to the whales.
The endangered species legislation declares that “no person shall destroy any part of the critical habitat of any … listed threatened species.”
The federal review panel, in its December report that is expected to lead to a government decision by June, noted that Fisheries and Oceans Canada had testified that “any project activity that could interfere with a species’ foraging efficiency, or cause displacement from important feeding sites as a result of disturbance, would be considered as affecting designated critical habitat in a harmful manner.”
The humpback was listed as threatened in 2005, based on a 2003 assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, an independent scientific advisory body for the federal government, which concluded its population was in the “low hundreds,” according to the Canada Gazette notice.
But that committee reversed its position in 2011, concluding that there had been no evidence of a population decline since the 1960s, when commercial whaling on the West Coast ended. It cited newer data that suggested the population had grown over several decades and totalled more than 18,000 non-calf whales.
The committee recommended a reclassification at that time, but a decision was delayed due to further scientific analysis prior to this month’s decision.
While no longer threatened, the species remained one of “special concern” due to a variety of potential and actual threats, including collisions with vessels that average about three incidents a year, according to research cited in the government notice.
The government sent out 312 consultation letters and got 22 responses back.
Only five were in favour of the new designation — a total made up of two unidentified B.C. government ministries, one tourism organization, one environmental non-government organization, and one “unknown source.”
Of the other 17, six environmental groups, three academics, two tourism industry organizations, one First Nations organization and a single “unknown source” were opposed. Another four — two academics, one First Nations, and another “unknown” — were undecided. In several instances, the undecided said insufficient information was available.
One environmental group questioned the committee’s advice.
“There are outstanding questions about the scientific reliability and sufficiency of the information (the committee) used to make the determination to down-list humpback whales,” said Chris Genovali, executive director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation.
“The proposed change in status for humpback whales would place them in jeopardy, particularly given the impending threats” posed by Northern Gateway and the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion to Burnaby, would increase the number of arriving tankers from eight to 28 per month.
The humpback is among the largest marine animals and can grow to 14 metres in length and weigh up to 40 tonnes. The North Pacific humpback’s range extends along the entire B.C. coast, including inshore inlets, all the way up to northern Alaska.
Northern Gateway proponents say that while the likelihood of whale strikes is “low,” there is no way to guarantee there will be no whale strikes along the route of the 250 huge tankers expected to enter and leave Kitimat annually.
Northern Gateway promised a number of measures to deal with the risk, including employing slower speeds and human and technical observers and monitoring, and promised to produce a risk-assessment report and “marine mammal protection plan.”
The federal review panel, in its favourable assessment of the project, noted in its findings that whales are “commonly observed” off the B.C. coast despite the current presence of many large vessels. The report praised the company for its “unprecedented” and “commendable” commitments to limit strikes.
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My name is Joseph Raglione and because I am a Canadian, my mailing address is h7r1m5. It is not in your zip code format and you know this, so why do you keep bothering me? I suspect you have sent me another automated email and you forgot how to communicate with real people.
The reason I helped Barack Obama years ago with computer publicity, was because the world needed peace on Earth and a clean environment and the U.S.A. needed Medicare...something Canada had before our current Prime Minister Stephen Harper took office and quietly privatized it. Now we have to quietly remove him from office and change it back to a working national program with compassionate Doctors filling our hospitals.

Signed: Joseph Raglione.
Executive Director: The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement.
P.S. You and your friends stopped taking my advice years ago and you are presently in a cold war with Russia. Try not to escalate the fiasco. 
==========================================

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 11:26:20 -0400
To: human4us@bell.net
From: info@barackobama.com
Subject: Seriously, your name belongs next to President Obama's
Seriously! 



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DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF INTELLIGENT? GET OVER IT!

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