Contents
- 1 December 31, 2020
- 1.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 2 December 30, 2020
- 2.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 2.2 Nova Scotia conservation group buys 220-hectare wildland outside Halifax - CTV News post
- 3 December 29, 2020
- 3.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 3.2 Vandana Shiva and Maude Barlow Decry Move to Trade in Water Futures - The Blue Planet Project post
- 4 December 28, 2020
- 4.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 4.2 Frankenfish or food of the future? The risks and rewards of Canada’s genetically engineered salmon - The Narwhal article by Sara Cox
- 4.3 Atlantic Skies for December 28th, 2020 to January 3rd, 2021 - by Glenn K. Roberts
- 5 December 27, 2020
- 5.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 5.2 'An enormous responsibility': COVID-19 through the eyes of Grade 3 teacher Emma Boswell - CBC online article by Sheehan Desjardins
- 5.3 The real cure for COVID is renewing our fractured relationship with the planet - The Globe and Mail article by James Maskalyk and Dave Courchene
- 6 December 26, 2020
- 6.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 6.2 The Ties That Bind - by Russell Wangersky in his column "Eastern Passages"
- 7 December 25, 2020
- 7.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 8 December 24, 2020
- 8.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 9 December 23, 2020
- 9.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 9.2 Opposition outrage is perplexing - The Guardian article by Jason Alward
- 10 December 22, 2020
- 10.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 10.2 Federal NDP leader supports P.E.I. basic income pilot - The Guardian article by Stu Neatby
- 10.3 GUEST OPINION: Planet's health for human progress - The Guardian Guest opinion by Palanisamy Nagarajan
- 11 December 21, 2020
- 11.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 11.2 Atlantic Skies for December 21st - December 27th, 2020 - by Glenn K. Roberts
- 11.3 A year unlike any other - By Peter Bevan-Baker, MLA Leader of the Official Opposition
- 12 December 20, 2020
- 12.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 12.2 10 brilliant Christmas light displays to see on P.E.I. - CBC PEI website post by Cindy MacKay
- 12.3 EDITORIAL: More than the pandemic - The Guardian Editorial
- 13 December 19, 2020
- 13.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 14 December 18, 2020
- 14.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 15 December 17, 2020
- 15.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 15.2 GUEST OPINION: P.E.I. water issue is not urban versus rural - The Guardian Op-ed by Gary Schneider, Ann Wheatley and Don Mazer
- 16 December 16, 2020
- 16.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 17 December 15, 2020
- 17.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 17.2 Charlottetown council rejects planning board recommendation, approves apartment project on Sherwood Road - The Guardian article by Dave Stewart
- 18 December 14, 2020
- 18.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 18.2 Atlantic Skies "A Timeless Gift" - by Glenn K. Roberts
- 19 December 13, 2020
- 19.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 19.2 Police clear out Burnaby protest camp as TMX construction starts- BurnabyNow article by Dustin Godfery
- 20 December 12, 2020
- 20.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 20.2 Trudeau goes it alone with new climate plan, proposes carbon price hike - The National Observer article by Carl Meyers
- 21 December 11, 2020
- 21.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 21.2 Press release: Westfor applies for injunction against mainland moose blockades - Nova Scotia Advocate
- 21.3 The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Invisibility of Nature - Emergence Magazine article by Michael McCarthy
- 22 December 10, 2020
- 22.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 22.2 JIM VIBERT: COVID's ill wind may blow some good for climate crisis - The Guardian article by Jim Vibert
- 23 December 9, 2020
- 23.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 23.2 Ending UK’s climate emissions ‘affordable’, say official advisers - The (U.K.) Guardian article by Damian Carrington
- 24 December 8, 2020
- 24.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 24.2 The CBC is a Pandemic Lifeline. The CRTC Should Treat it Like One - Policy Magazine article by Percy Downe
- 25 December 7, 2020
- 25.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 26 December 6, 2020
- 26.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 27 December 5, 2020
- 27.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 27.2 Capital budget passes by healthy margin as fall session wraps up - The Guardian article by Stu Neatby
- 28 December 4, 2020
- 28.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 29 December 3, 2020
- 29.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 30 December 2, 2020
- 30.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 30.2 The death of Darth Vader - The Guardian article by Colby Cash
- 31 December 1, 2020
- 31.1 Chris Ortenburger's CANews
- 31.2 LETTER: Equal access for vaccine - The Guardian Letter to the Editor
December 31, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Local food for New Year's Eve, New Year's and the weekend:
Charlottetown's Farmers' Market open, 9AM-2PM,
today (and NOT Saturday, January
2nd).
Farmacy and Fermentary (Heart Beet Organics)
open 1-6PM for kombucha and local goods, 152 Great George Street,
Charlottetown.
Some New Year's Eve
retrospects, with a positive spin:
an excerpt from a note
from activist Avi Lewis and The Leap:
If your inbox is anything like mine, you have a dozen emails
that start something like, “2020 is almost over and good riddance!” Or, “2020:
Worst. Year. Ever.”
Ok, fine, 2020 has been horrible.
But one thing has been keeping me going: all of you. Despite
all of the fear and suffering, seeing the uprisings of 2020,
people in the streets demanding justice has given me so much hope,
and conviction, that we can win a better world for all.
2021 is going to be the fight of our lives, and at the Leap,
we’re fighting to ensure that care work, the low-carbon life-saving work that
holds our communities together, is valued and that care workers are treated
with dignity and respect.
<snip>
And more good news:
Samara Centre for
Democracy describes its year's work, here (LINK ONLY):
https://www.samaracanada.com/samarablog/blog-post/samara-main-blog/2020/12/22/the-samara-centre's-highlights-from-2020
improving democracy in Canada. It won't reprint well, so best to go to
the link and shee see all that they were doing.
-----------------------------------------
Consider organizations like this for charitable giving, and consider
publications offering year-end deals today for subscriptions (like the National Observer,
details here:
https://www.nationalobserver.com/subscribe?
There are a spate of recent letters in The
Guardian, smoting some of our provincial leaders for poor
decisions, demanding access to shared natural resources, and pretty much being
curmudgeoney. Maybe New Year's wishes for all to acknowledge the
simplicity and truth in what are more than bromides of being kind and patient
with each other, and of getting out and absorbing the beauty, and fragility, of
our natural world in our little corner of it.
Best wishes to you all.
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Verdi’s Rigoletto, until 3:30PM this
afternoon
Starring Christiane Eda-Pierre, Isola Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico,
and Ara Berberian. From December 15, 1981. Everybody loves the Duke
(Paravotti), except his jester, Rigoletto.
Because this is from
Europe, it's afternoon our time--- 5PM today
New Year's Eve Gala
The Met
rings in the new year with a gala performance featuring a dazzling quartet of
Met stars—sopranos Angel Blue and Pretty Yende, and tenors Javier Camarena and
Matthew Polenzani—live from the Parktheater im Kurhaus Göggingen, in Augsburg,
Germany, a stunning example of neo-Baroque architecture. The program will
include arias, duets, and ensembles from Donizetti to Puccini, as well as
arrangements of operetta and Neapolitan songs.
Ticketed event -- details here.
Verdi’s Ernani, tonight 7:30PM until Friday about
6:30PM
Starring Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, and Ruggero
Raimondi. From December 17, 1983. "Nobleman turned bandit",
love quadrangle, so sad.
saving the best for
last, and with heartfelt thanks to Todd MacLean for a whole year of sharing
this positive, big-hearted gift of his Global Chorus project with us again:
Global Chorus essay for December 31 Maya Angelou
There’s a hospital in my town that has the Maya Angelou Women’s Health &
Wellness Center in it, and in each wing there are statements which say, “I
promise to treat every patient as if she’s a valued member of my family.” “I
promise to treat the hospital as my home, and respect it and keep it clean.”
This is what we should be doing on our planet. Because this is all we have, as
far as we can be sure. We may have walked on the moon, but nobody is colonizing
another planet. So we should be careful with how we treat this planet, since it
is not only our home now, and has been the home of our ancestors, but is going
to be the home of our children to come. And so we should be careful with it –
be careful with the temperature, and we should look after ourselves and our
home with respect and gratitude: to have a constant attitude of gratitude.
We really have enough food on this planet to feed everybody alive. We don’t
need to have somebody starving in order for us to give. We are encouraged by
every religious tract, whether the Bible, or the Talmud, or the Torah, or the
Bhagavad Gita, to be respectful and care for each other. And that is whether we
look alike – whether we are caring for somebody who looks like us and speaks
our language or not. Until we evolve into a group which has enough courage to
really care about each other, we will continue to be at odds.
When I speak of love, I speak of that condition in the human spirit so profound
that it encourages us to develop courage – courage enough to care for somebody
else, who may not look like us, who may call God a different name if they call
God at all. I don’t speak of sentimentality when I’m speaking of love. I speak
of that condition which may be that which holds the stars in the firmament.
That causes the blood to run orderly through our veins. It’s a powerful
condition. It crosses ignorance. It spans the mountains and the rivers. It
dares us, and allows us, to look after someone else’s children. To care about
the people who are yet to come. That, to me, is love. And this is our way
forward.
—
Maya Angelou (1928-2014), poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist,
producer, actress, historian, filmmaker and civil rights activist
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/maya-angelou
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 30, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Fruit tree orders deadline today:
from
the P.E.I. Farm Centre Legacy Garden:
We are making a wholesale order for fruit trees from Southern
Ontario and want to share the benefit of a reduced rate with those who are
looking to plant fruit trees in the spring on PEI! The varieties that we have
selected are known to be disease resistant, cold hardy, and grow well in
backyards, orchards, and farmland! These trees will make a great Christmas
present this season!
Even if you don’t have space for a tree, there is always space
in the Legacy Garden where you can see your tree thrive in our edible forest,
or in our Memorial Garden (where trees and bushes, and plants can be planted in
memory of a loved one).
The deadline for orders is December 30th, 2020, and the trees are expected arrive in PEI in mid-June. Apple trees will arrive on PEI about 10
inches tall and are $12/tree + HST. Peach trees will arrive 4-5 feet tall and
are $30/tree + HST.
You can place your order here: https://forms.gle/W8CGqC1XzKw9RsyCA
New Year Farmers'
Markets:
Charlottetown:
Tomorrow, Thursday,
December 31st, 9AM-2PM
(no Market Saturday this
weekend)
Summerside:
Saturday, January
2nd, 9AM-2PM
(no market before New
Year's)
Considerations for places for Year-end donations for tax receipts (if that is
something that you can take advantage of) :
multitude of nature/climate change
organizations (local, national and internation)....
social justice
organizations
political parties
PEI Symphony
Orchestra or other cultural organizations
Next door https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/nova-scotia-conservation-group-buys-220-hectare-wildland-outside-halifax-1.5247190
Nova Scotia conservation group buys
220-hectare wildland outside Halifax - CTV News post
Published by The
Canadian Press on Tuesday, December 29th, 2020
HALIFAX -- The recent purchase of a huge swath of land just
outside Nova Scotia's capital city marks a "huge win" for
conservation efforts in the province, according to a local environmental
advocate.
On Tuesday, the Nova
Scotia Nature Trust said it had successfully completed the purchase of the Blue
Mountain Wilderness Connector, a 220-hectare private plot of wildland west of
Halifax.
The group's
executive director, Bonnie Sutherland, said the purchase will help protect
thousands of untouched hectares of wilderness from future industrial,
residential and logging development. "It helps to provide that landscape
level connectivity that's so important for the long term for nature to survive
and thrive," Sutherland said Tuesday. "It's a huge win for
conservation."
The group said the
formerly private land is located between two sections of the provincially
protected Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area. The newly purchased
plot of land includes forests, bogs and wetlands and supports over 150
different bird species
Sutherland said
the group raised $2.8 million over the last two years to complete the purchase,
which went through in mid-December. Funding partners included the city Halifax,
the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust and the Canada Nature Fund.
The protection of
the area is a crucial step in warding off encroaching urban expansion,
Sutherland said. "If you look at an aerial view, you can see that there
are intense developments right up to the edges of what's been protected in
almost every direction so those pressures are real."
The protected area
will only be open for "non-mechanized recreation," including hiking,
paddling and swimming, Sutherland added.
Momentum for the
protection of nature has been steadily growing over the past decade, she said.
"Twenty-five years ago, there was just a sense that we have tons of nature
and we don't really need to protect it," she said.
Sutherland's group
said it plans to protect more than 12,000 hectares across the province by the
end of 2023.
This report by The
Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2020.
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Puccini’s Tosca, today until 6:30PM
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by
James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.
Verdi’s Rigoletto, tonight 7:30PM until tomorrow
afternoon
From December 15, 1981. " Luciano Pavarotti is the elegant, reckless Duke
of Mantua whose betrayal of the innocent Gilda (Christiane Eda-Pierre) leads to
a tragic ending. Louis Quilico plays Rigoletto, the court jester and Gilda’s
father, who has dedicated his life to keeping his daughter away from the
Duke—only to have her sacrifice her own life for the villainous
nobleman." It is hard to think of the buoyant Pavarotti as a
"villainous" anything, but he still sings so beautifully.....
Global Chorus essay for December 30
David W. Orr
No sane gambler would bet on us. Armed and dangerous, we are loading the
atmosphere with carbon as fast as we can, thereby changing the climatic and
ecological conditions necessary to our own survival. The reasons are said to be
economic necessity, but to paraphrase Thoreau, what good is a booming economy
if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on?
For a species pleased to call itself Homo sapiens our situation is ironic. Many
scientists saw the peril decades ago, but the powers that be were deaf to warnings
and dumb to opportunities.
That too is ironic because the knowledge and capacity to build a
sunshine-powered, ecologically resilient civilization has grown in pace with
the dangers. It is possible to power civilization by efficiency and sunlight, feed
humanity sustainably, eliminate waste and build cities in harmony with Nature.
Such things are not just technically possible and economically feasible, they
are moral imperatives.
Are there grounds for optimism? Not if you know enough. Are there reasons for
despair? Not if you care enough. But in contrast to optimism or despair, hope
requires us to act in ways that change the odds. And everywhere on Earth,
people are rising to the challenge. They are dreaming, planting, building,
tending, caring, healing, organizing and restoring. They are working from the
bottom up to lay the foundation for decent and durable communities and
societies. And someday, on a farther horizon, our descendants will know that
this was, indeed, humankind’s “finest hour.”
— David
W. Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor, Oberlin College, Ohio
https://www.oberlin.edu/david-orr
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 29, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
A year's end often brings thoughts of resolutions,
and since most resolutions of the traditional type (get out and be more
social, get to the gym more, make more money) were laughable in
retrospect of 2020, the Climate Change-minded Umbra at Grist last week
looked at some other old resolutions and reprints this, and though it is
from 2018, and United States-focused, perhaps you will find some use,
and smiles:
(Umbra writes:) I dug through the archives for this one and I think I found a good — and timely — option. Behold, from 2018: Call the people you care about more often. In
these terrible modern times, we have a million ways to reach the people
we love. The phone is the best one, sorry: It requires little to no
effort, you get to hear a friendly voice, you have to engage in real!
listening! conversation, and people are generally so afraid of this
communication tool that your embracing it will come off as an
extra-special achievement. If you, like me, sent 17 million texts in the
past year but made only a few phone calls a month, maybe you want to
call more.
... and, you could call your elected officials. They’re just like your family, except they hate you. Just kidding! 2017 saw a massive uptick in
calls to political leaders, because so many people were so angry about
so many pieces of legislation..... Even if your call on a passion issue
doesn’t sway a particular vote, it does communicate that you’re
<ticked off> enough not to vote for that official in the next
election, and that can change things. And your call on super mundane
issues that actually matter — local environmental regulations, for
example — can change minds. A
vaccine doesn’t guarantee that life will return to the packed-parties
and intimate-hangouts normal of 2019, and the end of the Trump
administration doesn’t mean that meaningful climate legislation is
guaranteed. Call your congresspeople, your state legislators, your city
councilbro, your mayor’s office ... call everybody! And maybe get an
unlimited data plan! |
|
Some
troubling global water news from earlier this month, but being aware of
it, we can assert this is not acceptable (and perhaps make a few calls
about it!) https://www.blueplanetproject.net/index.php/vandana-shiva-and-maude-barlow-decry-move-to-trade-in-water-futures/
Vandana Shiva and Maude Barlow Decry Move to Trade in Water Futures - The Blue Planet Project post
Posted by The Blue Planet Project on Friday, December 18, 2020
We
are horrified that on December 7, 2020, CME Group – the world’s largest
financial derivatives exchange company – launched the world’s first
futures market in water, opening up speculation from financiers and
investors seeking to profit from the planet’s water crisis. The new
futures market is linked to the spot water market in California, a major
food producer living in the shadow of perpetual drought.
We
deplore this development and urge people and governments everywhere to
reject it. The planet is running out of accessible clean water because
humans have polluted, over-extracted, diverted, dammed, and mismanaged
it. We have seen water as a resource for our profit and convenience and
not as the essential element for all life that we have a duty to
protect. Already, private corporations and investors have commodified
water through the privatization of water services, the bottled water
industry, land and water grabs and water rights given to extractive
industries such as energy and mining.
In
fact, the chemical and water-intensive model of industrial agriculture
in California and many other parts of the world is a major driver of the
water crisis. Commodifying water is not the solution. Protecting and
conserving water and sharing it equitably is an ecological and justice
imperative so that the right to water of all human beings and non-human
beings is guaranteed. The Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother
Earth is clear that water and nature have inherent rights. Commodifying
water as is proposed would violate this pledge.
If
water is put on the open market like oil and gas, it will lead
inevitably to rising water prices in a world desperately in need of
water for life. Nearly two million children die every year due to dirty
water – a situation made more critical in a time of Covid when half the
world’s population lacks access to a place to wash their hands with soap
and warm water. This in itself is a travesty, but to imagine that
wealthy hedge fund speculators and faceless derivatives gamblers will
have the right to drive up the price of water for their own profit is
totally unacceptable and must be stopped.
Ten
years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution
recognizing that clean water and sanitation are basic human rights. The
move to commodify water on Wall Street directly threatens these human
rights and puts billions in jeopardy.
We
demand that people everywhere and all governments reject the
commodification of water and its sale on the open market and recognize
that water is a public trust and a human right in law and practice for
all time.
Maude
Barlow is a Canadian activist and author. She is the founder of the
Blue Planet Project, co-founder of the Council of Canadians and chairs
the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch.
Dr.
Vandana Shiva Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental leader, a
physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of numerous books.
-30-
More about The Blue Planet Project:
https://www.blueplanetproject.net/
Old Movie Department:
Today, Tuesday, December 29th:
The Wizard of Oz, broadcast at 4PM, CBC TV
-----
Metropolitan Opera video performance streaming: https://www.metopera.org/
Two classic performances from the 1970s with the truly legendary Luciano Pavarotti.
Puccini’s La Bohème, today until 6:30PM
Starring Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, and Paul Plishka. From March 15, 1977.
Puccini’s Tosca, tonight 7:30PM until Wednesday around 6:30PM
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.
Global Chorus essay for December 29 Guujaaw
what of the Beast
that has no face
no head
no heart within
the motherless Beast
though born of man
became his master
the wily Beast
revels in our selfish desires
while guiding its makers
to their own demise
the Beast feels no guilt
as it spoils the earth
and no regard
for the sentient being
the powerful Beast
it rules the rulers
and rids itself
of those in its way
our fathers sit at its table
do its bidding
then reap its reward
… or be replaced by another
the repulsive Beast
will not be satisfied
and cannot be slain
though the beast be unleashed
it is within …
to the Beast we say
Enough, you loathsome error
you bring no peace
you bring no love
be of with you
We are of life
precious life
it is time for living
— Guujaaw
Guujaaw is a Raven of the Haida Nation.
http://guujaaw.info/
________________
essay from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 28, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Local Food this week:
Charlottetown Farmers'
Market to Go *online* ordering is *closed* this week.
Charlottetown
Farmers' Market will be open Thursday, December 31st, from 9AM-2PM.
and *not open* Saturday, January 2nd, 2021.
Regular ordering and Market hours resume the week of January 4th, 2021.
When local food is not
really local and some might argue not really food....
This article from last
week
is labeled,
and as an 18-minute read, it says, and a very good overview of an area that
doesn't get much oversight, and is so close to home, behind closed doors.
I don't often tell people what to eat and what not to, but let's go with the
point that there may be better ways of getting protein than
"farmed-raised" Atlantic salmon, GMO or not.
(and apologies for formatting issues on either computer or phone versions of
this newsletter. Going to the original The
Narwhal article may help.)
In-Depth https://thenarwhal.ca/gmo-salmon-canada/
Frankenfish or food of the future? The risks
and rewards of Canada’s genetically engineered salmon - The Narwhal article by
Sara Cox
Published on
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020
Some Canadians with
an appetite for salmon may have already consumed the world’s first genetically
modified food animal without even knowing it. As the aquaculture industry
tinkers with fish DNA to more efficiently feed the world’s growing population,
critics say we’re moving too far, too fast without adequate transparency
This is the second
part of The Narwhal’s three-part series on the future of sustainable salmon.
On Prince Edward
Island, anchored between Rollo Bay and a sea of potato fields, the first
genetically engineered salmon raised in Canada for food are swimming in
tanks.
Grown in a
land-based containment system, they look like any other Atlantic salmon: silvery,
pale-bellied and speckled on top. But hidden in their DNA is a growth hormone
gene from chinook salmon — spliced into genetic coding from ocean pout, an
eel-like fish — that allows them to grow to full size at twice the speed.
When the salmon are harvested early in the new year, they will be shipped to
seafood distributors, finding their way to restaurants, hotels, hospitals and
grocery stores. Yet Canadians munching on salmon tacos or salmon au gratin won’t have a
clue they are eating the world’s first genetically modified food animal. Unlike
the European Union and the United States, Canada does not require GMO foods to
be labelled — and the fast-growing fish are no exception.
AquaBounty Technologies, the U.S.-based
biotechnology company pioneering the genetically engineered salmon, says it is
“combining the goodness of nature with the power of science and technology.”
“We believe
savouring your favourite fish and helping save the planet should be one and the
same,” the company’s website says. “And that’s why we believe in using science
and technology to help solve global problems, like food scarcity and climate
change.”
AquaBounty markets
the salmon as disease- and antibiotic-free, saying its product comes with a
reduced carbon footprint and no risk of pollution of marine ecosystems compared
to traditional sea-cage farming.
But others have a
wildly different view of the AquaBounty salmon, grown with technology called
AquAdvantage, a name that would be at home on the pages of a dystopian Margaret
Atwood novel.
“It’s
Frankenfish,” says Charlie Sark, a member of the Mi’kmaq First Nations and
professor in the school of climate change and adaptation at the University of
P.E.I. “It’s science fiction. Just because we’ve created a machine that can
splice genes together, does it mean we should do it?”
Even if the
engineered salmon are raised only in land-based containment systems, Sark and
others say human error could lead to the genetic contamination of threatened
wild salmon stocks, underscoring that the federal government’s
behind-closed-doors approval of AquAdvantage fish has far reaching consequences
for Indigenous Rights and nature.
“Salmon are
sacred,” Sark says in an interview. “You just can’t change the genetics of an
animal that Indigenous peoples have used for thousands of years without first consulting
them.”
Genetically modified salmon eggs approved by
Harper government
Genetically
engineered salmon eggs were approved for land-based production in Canada in
2013, when Stephen Harper’s Conservatives were in power.
The government
only permitted one company, AquaBounty, to produce the eggs — and only at a
P.E.I. facility. Today, the Rollo Bay operation is also the sole supplier of
genetically engineered Atlantic salmon eggs for the company’s land-based salmon
farm in Albany, Indiana, which planned to send salmon to market late this year
or early in 2021.
The eggs had their
genesis in a laboratory at Newfoundland’s Memorial University, where scientist
Garth Fletcher and his colleagues isolated the anti-freeze gene in ocean pout,
which can survive year-round in near-freezing waters.
They replaced the
coding region in the middle of the anti-freeze gene — unlike in other fish, the
gene doesn’t turn off seasonally — with the growth hormone gene from chinook
salmon (the scientists used chinook because it was readily available at the
time).
Then the team
injected the new coding sequence into Atlantic salmon eggs. “It took a while
for us not to kill the eggs,” Fletcher, head of the ocean sciences department,
says in an interview.
After tweaking
their technique, Fletcher and his colleagues were excited to discover the
genetic trait was passed on through breeding. And then came another exciting
finding for the team; the rapidly-growing salmon reached maturity in just under
two years, compared to three.
“It was an
enormous change in the rate of growth,” Fletcher says, noting that
cross-breeding has further enhanced growth speed. “It’s the same with any crop,
if you can replant land or get another set of fish earlier than normal, you
have increased productivity.”
By comparison,
regular Atlantic salmon grown in optimal conditions in Atlantic Sapphire’s land-based facility in Florida reach
maturity in 22 to 24 months.
Fletcher doesn’t
consider the genetically modified salmon to be much different than new fruit
and vegetable products created through cross-breeding, such as the Cosmic Crisp
apple that has a longer shelf life or Depurple, a purple cauliflower sweeter
than the typical white variety.
He says food
companies are “getting rid of everything that doesn’t meet their standards in
terms of a commercial product. You’re actually changing nature … all these
kinds of things are unnatural if you want to call it that.”
“There is a
problem with food production in the world. I know some of it is political, but
if I have an idea or a technique that might be able to help with food
production then I’m all for it, as a scientist.”
The need for
protein is growing in tandem with the world’s rising population, expected to
top nine billion before 2025. Salmon, which have Omega-3 fatty acids and are a
good source of minerals and vitamins, are increasingly in demand. But the
on-going decline of wild stocks is constricting supply. And as tighter
regulations make open net pen salmon farming more challenging, investors —
including AquaBounty — are turning to land-based salmon farming.
Fletcher’s team,
which was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council,
partnered with a small company that morphed into AquaBounty, largely bankrolled
by billionaire biotech entrepreneur Randall Kirk.
When AquaBounty
set up its research and development facility on Prince Edward Island to produce
the genetically modified eggs, the federal government did not permit the fish
to be grown to adult size, so eggs were shipped to an AquaBounty research and
development facility in Panama.
Once Health Canada
approved the salmon for consumption in 2016, Ottawa allowed AquAdvantage salmon
grown in the Panama facility to be sold to unwitting Canadian consumers.
The first batch of
genetically modified Atlantic salmon from the Panama facility arrived at
Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport in 2017, according to import documents
obtained by the Quebec food watchdog group Vigilance OGM. More than 4.5 tonnes
of AquAdvantage salmon subsequently flowed, unlabelled and untraceable, into
Canada’s food supply.
“There is no
mandatory labelling for consumers in the grocery stores and there’s very little
transparency, and yet we find ourselves in the position of eating the world’s
first genetically engineered animal,” says Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, which represents
16 groups working on issues related to genetic engineering in food and farming.
Sharratt, who has
an extensive background working as a researcher and campaigner for groups
involved in genetic engineering and global justice issues, says the lack of
transparency extends to Ottawa’s decision-making process for approving the
engineered salmon.
Starting in 2019,
following a federal risk assessment, Ottawa allowed the salmon to be raised to
maturity at the Rollo Bay facility, which also produces conventional salmon
eggs, triggering concerns about a potential mix-up.
The biotechnology
action network has tried to obtain information about the “behind closed door”
approval process, Sharratt says, but information AquaBounty submitted to the
government is confidential and the network’s questions haven’t been
satisfactorily answered.
“The information
that’s used to decide the safety of genetically engineered food is submitted by
the companies that want approval,” she says. “Very little of that information
is publicly available. Very little is peer-reviewed.”
The absence of
information is all the more concerning, she says, because of the broad — and
also unknown — implications of tampering with nature and the precedents it
sets.
“What we have here
is potentially a very profound shift in the way we view food and where it comes
from. Do fish come from the ocean, do they come from our rivers, do they come
from an ecosystem? Or do they come from an on land factory? … What decisions
are we making that further threaten the future of wild salmon?”
Nature Canada senior advisor Mark Butler says the
federal government has opened a Pandora’s box by approving the development and
sale of genetically engineered salmon and eggs without a robust public
discussion about the potential consequences.
“You could say,
‘what’s wrong with pink blue jays or blue cardinals?’ We are now applying
engineering to the genome to the very blueprint of life. It has big
implications and this technology is racing along. I think it gets at the whole
issue of what’s wild and what’s nature, and where do humans stop and where does
nature start?”
“Do we have the
right to edit the genome of a wild species from an Indigenous perspective? This
raises some pretty fundamental questions and challenges.”
Salmon are sacred
to Indigenous peoples like the Mi’kmaq, and are part and parcel of food
security and food sovereignty, Sark points out. They are also an integral part
of cultures through ceremony, song, oral history and art. As wild stocks
decline, it has a reverberating impact on the physical and spiritual health of
Indigenous communities.
Sark says
Indigenous peoples should have been properly consulted and Ottawa should have
obtained their free, prior and informed consent before approving genetically
engineered salmon.
“As a Mi’kmaq I
have a right to food, I have a right to fish lobster, I have an inherent right
to access and harvest fish out of the ocean or out of the streams, the brooks,
the rivers, the lakes. The Canadian government cannot extinguish that right.”
He wonders what
would happen if he caught an Atlantic salmon that somehow contained DNA owned
by AquaBounty.
“I’m holding a
salmon that I’ve caught in my traditional waters, that my ancestors have used
for thousands of years, but because it’s an escaped salmon or an inbred salmon
from this genetically modified [organism], is it illegal for me to hold that
fish and eat it without paying AquaBounty?” Sark asks. “Where does this
end?”
Kris Hunter of the
Atlantic Salmon Federation, a science and
advocacy organization dedicated to conserving and restoring wild Atlantic
salmon, says genetically engineered salmon could be an ecological disaster for
wild salmon, especially if rules change and they become the fish of choice for
the farmed salmon industry.
He points to the
escape of hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon from fish farms in B.C. and
Washington state. In December 2019, more than 20,000 salmon escaped from a Mowi fish farm near Port Hardy on
northern Vancouver Island, while more than 160,000 Atlantic salmon escaped from a Cooke
Aquaculture fish farm in Washington State in 2018, leading to a state ban on
raising Atlantic salmon in open net pens.
Some escaped
Atlantic salmon have been found in the salmon-bearing Fraser River, heightening
worries that they will compete for food and habitat given evidence that the farmed
fish can naturally reproduce.
“Our concern would
be if these animals were to get out and what impact that would have on the wild
fishery? The wild fishery is not doing well right now.”
Karen Wristen,
executive director of Living Oceans Society, a non-profit
organization dedicated to protecting Canada’s oceans, is uneasy about how the
fast-growing genetically modified salmon might behave in the wild, possibly
mating with endangered salmon populations, preying on wild juvenile salmon and
outcompeting wild salmon and other ocean creatures for food. “You can picture
it wanting to hoover up everything in its path.”
And if the salmon
farming industry transitions to land-based containment systems, Wristen and
Butler say there will be pressure on companies from investors to embrace
genetically engineered salmon, to keep costs in line with competitors.
‘Systems fail and accidents happen’
The U.S. Food and
Drug Administration approved AquaBounty’s genetically engineered salmon in
2010, on the condition that the salmon be sterile. Sterility is achieved
through a process that creates a condition called triploidy — the salmon have
three chromosome sets instead of two — that is between 99.5 and 99.8 per cent
effective.
“It’s an important
barrier, but not a fool proof barrier,” Butler notes. For every 10,000 salmon
the company produces, between 20 and 50 fish will be fertile.
Hunter, director
of programs for P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, says the Atlantic Salmon Federation has
met with AquaBounty and the company appears to be doing due diligence to make
sure the genetically engineered salmon don’t escape.
“Our concern is an
accident. A truck goes off the road carrying these things as it’s crossing a
salmon river, and the next thing you know these fish are out and they’re
breeding amongst other fish populations and causing untold damage.”
Genetically
engineered salmon eggs could also get mixed up with the regular salmon eggs
harvested at the same AquaBounty facility and end up at an open net pen farm,
Hunter points out. The company isn’t currently permitted to sell the eggs to
open net pen operations in Canada, but Hunter says that could always change.
“Systems fail and
accidents happen. Once the genie is out of the bottle you can’t put it back in
… We think this is a very risky enterprise. And we don’t necessarily see the
benefit.”
In an emailed
response to questions from The Narwhal, AquaBounty president and CEO Sylvia
Wulf said the company does not plan to supply AquAdvantage salmon eggs to open
net pen farms and will produce the genetically modified salmon in its own
land-based facilities.
AquaBounty’s
land-based farm in Albany, Indiana, plans to send its first salmon to market
later this year or early next year, depending on demand, which has been
dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also plans to build a much larger facility in Mayfield,
Kentucky, that will produce 10,000 metric tonnes of salmon a year, about eight
times more than its Indiana plant.
Wulf says all of
the company’s market production salmon are female and sterile, which means they
cannot mate with each other or with other Atlantic salmon. In addition to the
biological barrier, she says the company’s land-based containment systems are
equipped with physical barriers, including screens, grates, netting, pumps and
chemical disinfection, to prevent escape of salmon at all life stages, from
eggs to full size.
And AquaBounty
will address egg mix-up concerns by ensuring that eggs are from conventional
salmon before sending them out to farms, says Wulf, who declined a telephone
interview.
Sark calls the secretive federal approval process of AquAdvantage salmon a
“coup d’etat,” noting that the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which regulates
genetically modified organisms, hasn’t been updated for 20 years and doesn’t
have the bandwidth to consider genetically modified salmon.
The act, according
to Butler, is a “really complicated and obtuse piece of legislation,” while
Wristen says as challenging to decipher as the often maligned income tax act.
“Our act is
outdated,” Sark says, “and I would say extremely colonial in its essence that
it can’t consider genetic modification of animals that Indigenous people to a
large extent still rely on, or use for ceremonial purposes, which is a matter
of our sovereignty. Using the animals for sustenance is a matter of food
security. The role it plays in ceremony and in culture and identity is a matter
of our food sovereignty.”
In the September Speech from the Throne, the Trudeau government pledged to
update the environmental protection act. But Butler says senior officials in
Environment Canada have indicated the changes will be minor, much to the dismay
of those considering the impacts of genetically engineered salmon.
“This is a first
in the world,” Sark says. “You’re approving it to go ahead. And your
legislation is inadequate and you’re not considering making it adequate? Wait a
second. Isn’t that your job? Isn’t that the role of government … to make sure
our health and security is looked after? Isn’t that the ultimate number one
goal when you sit there in Parliament… to look after our interests, not the
economic interests of one company?”
U.S. groups sued FDA for approving
engineered salmon
In 2016, the
Centre for Food Safety and the environmental law organization EarthJustice sued
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approving genetically engineered
salmon, acting on behalf of a broad coalition of environmental, consumer,
commercial and recreational fishing organizations and the Quinault Indian
Nation.
In early November,
a U.S. federal court judge ruled the Food and Drug Administration failed to
analyze the risks to endangered salmon from an escape and to take into account
the full extent of plans to grow the genetically modified salmon in the U.S.
and around the world.
The court also
ruled that the Food and Drug Administration’s conclusion that genetically
engineered salmon could have no possible effect on endangered wild Atlantic
salmon stocks was wrong, and violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
While Judge
Vincent Chhabria found the current risk to wild salmon stocks is low, he said
the possibility of exposure increases with each new facility built.
“Understanding the
harm that could result from that exposure — and having an explanation of it on
record — will only become more important,” the judge said, ordering the FDA to
go back to the drawing board to sketch out a full explanation of potential
environmental consequences.
The decision,
watched closely by Nature Canada, the Atlantic Salmon Federation and other
groups in Canada, was celebrated by Earthjustice and its clients. “Our efforts
should be focused on saving the wild salmon populations that we already have —
not manufacturing new species that pose yet another threat to their survival,”
Earthjustice managing attorney Steve Mashuda said in a media statement.
Earthjustice cited
studies showing there is a high risk for genetically engineered organisms to
escape into the natural environment, and that genetically engineered salmon can
crossbreed with native fish. Genetically engineered crops commonly
cross-pollinate or establish themselves in nearby fields or the wild — a
process known as transgenic contamination. The contamination episodes have cost
American farmers billions of dollars over the past decade, Earthjustice noted.
“In wild organisms
like fish, it would be even more damaging.”
Wulf says the
company is disappointed with some of the judge’s conclusions but remains
confident “in the robust scientific studies and review” that led to the 2015 FDA
approval of AquaBounty salmon.
“This case did not
call into question FDA’s approval regarding the health and safety of our
AquAdvantage salmon,” she wrote in her email. “The focus of this decision was
on the potential environmental impacts, and the judge confirmed the ‘low’
threat to the environment of our salmon.”
The decision will not impact operations at the Prince Edward Island or Indiana
facilities, according to Wulf, who says the company will work with the FDA on
next steps and will “continue to evaluate the legal decision.”
“The future of our
domestic and global food supply will depend on innovation and technology and
AquaBounty remains steadfast in our commitment to leading that charge.”
Butler, who
supports land-based salmon farming operations, has a piece of advice for
AquaBounty: “Skip the genetically engineered salmon and just raise normal fish
using the best techniques and the best genetic strains — and we won’t have a
problem with your operation,” he says.
“Most Canadians,
if they had to assess the risks and benefits, would just say, ‘Give me a normal
salmon.’ ”
-30-
Citizens' Alliance Board member Doug Millington is captured on film playing
holiday music outdoors on his trombone with the "COVID Quartet", on
page 2 of today's Guardian.
It's been a tough time for live music and fun to see creative
people giving the gift to others in any (safe) way possible. It you enjoy
listening to holiday music, even after the 25th, there are some selections at
the Slideshow Bones YouTube channel, here.
Atlantic Skies for
December 28th, 2020 to January 3rd, 2021 - by Glenn K. Roberts
Closer Though Not Warmer
When I tell people
that Earth will actually be at its closest approach to the Sun
(perihelion) for the year on Jan. 2, 2021, they have a hard time
understanding why, if we are closer to the Sun then, we don't have warmer
weather. One would logically assume that, being approximately 10
million kilometers closer to the Sun, we would experience warmer
weather. If the Earth's northern hemisphere was actually tilted towards
the Sun at this time of the year, we would, indeed, experience much warmer
weather. However, as the Earth travels along its orbital path around the
Sun each year, it wobbles slightly, its poles transcribing circles much
like a child's spinning top, tilting about 21 degrees from perpendicular
(relative to its orbital plane around the Sun), first towards the Sun,
then away from it at different times of the year (which gives us our summer
season and winter season respectively). Only at the two equinoxes (Vernal and
Autumnal) are the Earth's two poles aligned at 90 degrees relative to
Earth's orbital plane to the Sun. Earth's annual orbit around the Sun is not
circular, but is, instead, elliptical in shape, with the Sun just slightly closer
to one end of Earth's oval-shaped orbital path than the other.
As a consequence,
on Jan. 2, 2021, Earth is on the end of the oval shape closest to the Sun, and,
thus, at its closest point to the Sun. Because the northern
hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun at this point in time, it receives
less direct sunlight; what it does receive is spread out at a lower angle
over that portion of the hemisphere facing the Sun, resulting in less warmth,
and the onset of colder weather. The southern hemisphere, however, being
pointed towards the Sun at this time of the year, and approximately 10
million kms closer, receives a greater amount of direct sunlight, and enjoys
their hot summer weather. Take heart though, as of Dec. 21 (the Winter
Solstice), the days are now slowly getting longer, and, as the
Earth continues its journey around the Sun, are working their way towards
the Summer Solstice in June.
Early January
brings the new year's first meteor shower. The Quadrantids peak on the
overnight period of Jan. 2 -3, 2021. The radiant (the meteor shower's
apparent point of origin in the night sky) lies between the constellations of
Draco - the Dragon and Bootes - the Herdsman. This meteor shower (first
observed in 1825) is actually named after a now defunct constellation -
Quadrans Muralis (an angle measuring device used by the ancient Egyptians and
Greeks) - removed from the official list of constellations in 1922 by the
International Astronomical Union, but because the shower had already been
named, the label Quadrantid was retained. The Quadrantids are debris from
the asteroid 2003 EH1, discovered on Mar. 6, 2003, and subsequently found to be
the parent source of the Quadrantid meteors. Unlike many meteor showers whose
peak may last a couple of days (nights), that of the Quadrantids lasts
only about 6 hours. Begin to look for the Quadrantids once the radiant has
cleared to NNE horizon just before midnight, with the best viewing likely to be
during the pre-dawn period. Unfortunately, the waning, gibbous Moon will
be up all night, and will wash out the fainter meteors. The Quadrantis hit
the Earth's upper atmosphere at about 150,000 kms/hr, so you can expect to
see some bright fireballs, despite the moonlight, especially away from
city lights.
Mercury is still too
close to the Sun to be seen. Venus (mag.-3.94) remains just visible in the
eastern, pre-dawn sky, rising around 6:20 a.m., reaching 9 degrees above the
southeast horizon before fading from view by about 7:35 a.m. Mars (mag. -0.32)
is visible shortly after 5 p.m., 44 degrees above the southeast horizon,
reaching an altitude of 54 degrees above the southern horizon by about 7:15
p.m., and remaining visible until about 1:10a.m. when it drops below 9 degrees
above the western horizon. Jupiter and Saturn have now drifted far apart
from one another in the western, post-sunset sky. Jupiter (mag. -1.96) is
visible about 12 degrees above the southwest horizon shortly before 5
p.m., setting by about 6:30 p.m. Saturn is now too close to the Sun to be seen.
The last Full
Moon of the year occurs on Dec. 30, 2020. It is often referred to as the
"Cold Moon", the reasons for which are, no doubt , self-evident.
Until next week,
clear skies, and may 2021 be a prosperous and healthy year for you all.
Events:
Dec. 30
- Full (Cold) Moon
Jan. 2
- Earth at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun)
-
Quadrantid meteor shower peak (after midnight)
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Verdi’s Falstaff, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson
Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo. From December 14,
2013.
Nightly Opera Streams, December 28–January
3
Pavarotti
Week
This week of
free streams celebrates the great Luciano Pavarotti, one of the greatest
singers of all time. Featuring seven of the beloved tenor’s most memorable
performances—from the inaugural 1977 Live
from the Met telecast of La
Bohème to broadcasts of Un
Ballo in Maschera and L’Elisir
d’Amore from 1991—the lineup traces Pavarotti’s extraordinary Met
career. Explore the articles and resources below to expand your knowledge and
enhance your experience as you enjoy the screenings.
Monday,
December 28
Puccini’s La Bohème, from 7:30PM tonight until about
6:30PM Tuesday
Starring Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, and
Paul Plishka. From March 15, 1977.
An amazing cast can transport you, even if you've seen this before and know how
it ends. And at just two hours, it's a good opera to watch, for people
who don't think they like opera.
Global Chorus essay for December 28
Ta’ Kaiya Blaney
We humans have been travelling on a road of consumerism. Ever since the start
of the industrial revolution (which brought about corporate colonization and
environmental injustice), we’ve been witnessing signs saying “Stop,” “Dead
End,” “Yield,” and “Wrong Way.” We continue to drive ahead despite the obvious.
Our steering wheel is becoming weaker and weaker, and our brakes are becoming
looser and less functional. Our warnings have been given. Someday we’ll drive
of that cliff and fall, and then there’s no turning back. Presently, we’re
still driving on that road, and our solutions lie right in front of our noses.
Our options for our future under the context of sustainability are vast and
wide, yet we make no actions to officially begin using our alternatives. Why?
Why do we continue to wait for change in our societies, led by authorities such
as our prime ministers and officials? We are denying the fact that if we wait
for change it may never come.
We must be the voice, for that is what we were given. Our role is to be the
Healer, the Warrior and the Teacher. We must be the change for our many
generations to come, and for our Mother Earth. The decisions made within the
last few centuries shaped our society into what it is today. I believe that
positive decisions made today to influence sustainability can also shape the
society of the next generation and the generations to come. However, we need
our actions to flow now, and our change needs to happen before our steering
wheel slacks, and we plunge from the cliff. We still have time to turn around.
We have a voice to speak up, and a superpower called change. Let’s use it. :)
—Ta’Kaiya Blaney
singer/songwriter, youth environmental activist
http://www.takaiyablaney.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 27, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
An event:
Christmas Bird Count in Hillsborough area today -- it is different this year,
with details at Nature PEI
https://naturepei.ca/
An article about a fabulous teacher and
wonderful Bonshaw neighbour, Emma Boswell. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-teacher-covid-responsibility-1.5848090
'An enormous responsibility': COVID-19 through
the eyes of Grade 3 teacher Emma Boswell - CBC online article by Sheehan Desjardins
Published on Thursday, December 24th, 2020, at CBC online
If you spoke with her high school teachers years ago, Emma
Boswell says they would likely tell you they never expected her to enter
the teaching profession.
But if you spoke with
Boswell herself now, you wouldn't be surprised she's currently teaching Grade 3
French immersion at West Kent Elementary in Charlottetown.
Even through a phone
call, her quick wit, gentle humanity and raw honesty is apparent as she reflects
on what her life has been like since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Island
classrooms in mid-March, only reopening them this fall.
"I actually made
a joke about it," she told CBC News. "I jokingly said in a group
[message] to my staff that if we shut schools down or had to do online
learning, I was going to quit.
"I very quickly
went back and said, 'I don't really mean that,' because I realized I may be
eating my own words in the future.'"
'Double
the work'
As COVID-19 crawled
its way across the globe, public schools on Prince Edward Island shut their doors on March 17 and eventually
switched to online learning.
"I was
devastated," said Boswell. "Maybe 'shock' is probably a better way of
putting it.I guess I just didn't see it getting to that."
Suddenly Boswell was
forced to figure out a way of teaching 8- and 9-year-olds online, and in a
second language. "I had to make almost double the work, because I had to
explain to parents what it was I was asking the kids to do in English, and then
create the lessons in French," she said.

Spencer the cat helps (Emma
Boswell photo)
------------------------
Teaching from home
Boswell quickly
realized that creating virtual lesson plans wasn't the only uncharted territory
she would have to navigate.
"It's very
different face to face with a child," she said. "You want to still
create a healthy boundary between the fact that they are still your students,
even though they're at home and you're at home."
Boswell recognized
she wasn't the only one dealing with the additional stress of COVID-19. And
with that, she said she had to learn to keep her conversation with her students
"human" while maintaining those boundaries.
"Sometimes,
especially in the pandemic situation, you're having conversations with people
that are pretty raw," she said.
But Boswell there
were pleasant aspects to working from home, like being able to take
walks on her lunch hour.
Boswell said the
most difficult part of the pandemic for her has been the uncertainty.
First, officials
planned to reopen schools April 16 — but that date ended up
being delayed almost five months.
Having to plan to
start up in September with no certainty over whether that might change at the
last minute if an outbreak happened?
"That was very,
very hard."
Few
complaints from students
Public schools on the
Island eventually re-opened the second week
of September. Arrow stickers were plastered on school floors, maximum capacity
signs hung outside bathrooms and, again, there was no other option than to
adjust.
"It's unbelievable
how resilient and adaptive [students] have been and for the most part,
with almost no complaints," said Boswell.
"Obviously, some
of the things were harder for them to process, like not being able to see some
of the other kids in the other grades."
Boswell said she
has had to remind herself what she can control and what she
can't. "You're not the one who decides whether they're at school or
not. So that's not my responsibility," she said.
'Enormous
responsibility'
As someone entrusted
with keeping so many children safe during a global pandemic, Boswell said she
tries her best not to focus on it.
"It's an
enormous responsibility and it can be almost like freezing," she
said. "It almost, like, stops you in your tracks if you think too
much about it. At least, for me it does."
Instead she's taking
it one day at a time, thanking those at her school and remembering that she's
not the only one working to educate children in the face of the pandemic.
"There is not a
single teacher, administrator, staff member… not a single one of us who
doesn't come to work remembering the importance of what we're doing and the
responsibility of it."
With the holidays
finally here, Boswell said she has been looking forward to a break.
"I'm just really
excited to have a little bit of time, because it has felt absolutely like
non-stop," she said. "It feels almost like it hasn't stopped since
March."
-30-
Some not-so-light reading for a chilly Sunday: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-real-cure-for-covid-is-renewing-our-fractured-relationship-with/
Opinion
The real cure for
COVID is renewing our fractured relationship with the planet - The Globe and Mail article by James Maskalyk and Dave Courchene
Contributed to The Globe and Mail and published December 18, 2020
James Maskalyk is an emergency physician, associate professor
in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine and author of the
forthcoming book Doctor: Heal Thyself.
Dave Courchene is the founder of the Turtle Lodge International Centre for
Indigenous Education and Wellness and chair of its National Knowledge Keepers’
Council.
If humanity is to
endure, the coming months must hold healing, not just of populations across the
globe from the coronavirus, but of the Earth herself. As is true of many
zoonoses (diseases that jumped from animals), this virus emerged from pressure
humans put on a global ecosystem.
A lack of
healthy, natural habitat weakens the immune systems of animals and the
resulting sicknesses pass rapidly through them. Birds, prairie dogs, pigs,
bats. With each infection, a chance for a virus to mutate into one that can
sicken humans, and sometimes, global livelihoods. As such, a vaccine alone, no
matter how effective, will not tip the balance toward health because COVID-19
is not a disease; it is a symptom of an exhausted planet. The renewal of a
healthy relationship to our one shared mother, planet Earth, is the cure.
There is good
news. We do not need to wait to determine how, because the answer is already
here, and has been known for thousands of years. It is in the wisdom and sacred
teachings of Indigenous people across the world. They have the deepest
connection to the spirit of the Earth and its history, and from this intimacy,
healing can occur.
This is neither
speculation nor fantasy. A 2019 study from the University of British Columbia,
looking at biodiversity in Canada, Australia and Brazil, found more species of
birds, animals and amphibians on land managed by Indigenous people, even
greater than in national parks. In the same year, a collaboration involving 50
countries and more than 500 scientists, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), concluded that human
activity and the resultant lack of biodiversity allowed for five new diseases
to emerge every year with the potential to infect humans. They noticed that
Indigenous land, though it faced the same pressures, was eroding less quickly.
Capturing their knowledge, and expanding their stewardship, was cited as
necessary for a healthier world.
No one created
the problems that threaten to overwhelm us from malice. Not the plagues, nor
climate change, nor extinctions. They have occurred as side effects of a system
whose rapid growth is both encouraged at all costs, and blind to natural
limits.
If the Earth is
as alive as both climate scientists and Indigenous peoples say, and like a
body, kept well by a diversity of cells, deeply connected, then the medical
diagnosis that fits most neatly our modern sickness is not an infection, but a
malignancy. If unaddressed, it threatens to use every last joule of energy, not
from need, but from appetite until only it, and a husk, remain. As the IPBES
concluded, we must “decouple the idea of a good and meaningful life from
ever-increasing material consumption.” This must be the priority of our Group
of 20 leaders, who met recently to talk about “recovery.” The solution will not
be found by beating back the symptoms so we might return to business as usual,
but fanning the flame of aliveness of the beautiful and healthier world beyond
them that is in retreat.
This past summer,
at Turtle Lodge in Manitoba, a sacred Anishinaabe lodge of traditional teaching
and wellness, Indigenous knowledge keepers from coast to coast met and
discussed challenges affecting their communities and the world. Their main
concern was a disconnect of people from the land and its lessons. In that
rupture, like a break in the body’s immune system, sickness has crept. Opiate
and alcohol addiction, anxiety and depression. COVID-19. We can learn from the
line of inquiry of some traditional healers, who instead of asking their
patients first about their pain, start with a more direct question: Who are
you?
We have forgotten
who we are. There is a remedy held in the gathering statement of the Turtle
Lodge National Knowledge Keepers’ Council, and endorsed by Indigenous people
across six continents. On Dec. 21, as the Earth reaches equilibrium and begins
its solstitial yaw, we are all invited, Indigenous and those of us displaced
from our traditional lands, to light a sacred fire, and keep it burning
throughout the day. A fireplace, a candle. In its flame, the sun’s light, the
Earth’s gifts, and our own spirit. It is the first step toward knowing our
nature, and that of the planet, as not two, but one.
We are of the
Earth, and have everything we need to heal. The cure for COVID-19 is here. It
is us.
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Lehár’s The Merry Widow, until 6:30pm
tonight
Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader, and Sir Thomas
Allen, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From January 17, 2015.
Verdi’s Falstaff, 7:30PM until 6:30PM Monday
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson
Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo. From December 14,
2013.
Global Chorus essay for December 27
Xavier Rudd
If I think too much about this topic I find myself hitting a brick wall, as the
issue is so layered and so vast. If I feel it out in my heart and my dreaming,
certain messages arrive: if every human being on the planet began with taking
even one minute in their day to simply reflect on the fact that we are of this
Earth and not just on this Earth, would that alone start a swing towards
healing the simple energetic connection between human and land? As we know,
energy is in everything and its power is often overlooked. And by changing each
individual’s energetic focus on the importance of our Earth, even without
physically doing anything, it would be an important start in reigniting the
lost sacred harmony between human and Earth, which has been the platform for so
much environmental destruction.
We are seeing more and more little pockets of society taking their own
initiatives to educate and implement sustainable living practices and to stand
up with force against environmental threat. These ideals need to grow and
expand and our children have to be somewhat reprogrammed. The power of the
Internet in activism has proven to be amazing and really is all so new in the
scheme of things. If we consider victories we’ve had at this point, it is
exciting to imagine the power of our Earth guardians and the spread of
imperative environmental education even only ten years from now. It is
extremely important that active groups become more united around the planet.
There is too much division and that alone is unsustainable. If we are to create
conditions necessary for our own survival, we are going to need to build a
massive syndicate greater than anything we’ve ever seen in order to be able to
keep things on track.
Yes we have hope – hope is revealed daily in our magical ancient ecosystems
still thriving around our Earth. Victories like the recent win at James Price
Point in the Kimberley and the many sustainable-living practices growing daily
show that we can do it. The big question is time and the balance of the scales
between the healing and the destruction. Either way, I feel our great Mother
will be okay eventually, whether she hosts humans or not, and that makes me
smile.
— Xavier
Rudd, Australian singer, artist and activist
https://www.xavierrudd.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 26, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Christmas Bird
Counts look a little different this year, and Nature PEI has
details on them here:
https://naturepei.ca/
with Montague being today and Hillsborough area tomorrow.
A good day for an annual
reading of this good essay: https://www.saltwire.com/opinion/eastern-passages-the-ties-that-bind-3385/?location=nova-scotia
The Ties That Bind - by Russell Wangersky
in his column
"Eastern Passages"
Published on December
26th, 2015,
For me, it’s clementines first.
The
lasting smell of the torn peel on your fingertips, the tart slices, the
horn-of-plenty feeling of that old-school wooden slat box stacked high with
fruit, that box that you can bust down into kindling as soon as the fruit is
gone.
I don’t know about you, but right about now, I’m probably eating something.
Washing it down with something else. And that will be Christmas more than
anything I know.
I’m not much for the lights and the carols and the cards and, as the years have
gone by, for the presents either. Christmas, especially with children pretty
much fully-grown, is a smaller thing now. And I always get cranky in the
lead-up. I don’t like the way the songs start in the malls in the second week
of November — I don’t much like the malls, either. I never have.
But what I do like is that handful of days that really are Christmastime. Like
today.
And the foods. Some things are expensive — some things not. Brewis, the soaked
hardbread that, in Newfoundland, you soak and then fry up with salt fish or
steak. Fishcakes, made with salt cod, the noble rot smell of the fish when you
drain it that’s both enticing and off-putting at the same time. Enticing,
because you know how good it will taste. Off-putting, because some primal part
of your senses says “there’s something slightly off about this” — what you
might call the Stilton or blue cheese reflex.
Dark, fresh strong coffee in the morning shadows of some of the shortest nights
of the year. Dark chocolate, one bittersweet square at a time. Somewhere, you
might be fortunate enough to get to cadge a strip of smoked salmon, salty and
oily and rich and so smooth on the tongue. Deep red olives with their
sharp-ended pits and almonds, smoked.
I remember that, when I was growing up in Halifax, a family my older brother
knew passed on one of their favourite foods. It was simple enough, but also a
fascinatingly different flavour. We’d always had pancakes with butter and
syrup, or butter and cinnamon sugar. They introduced us to putting dark brown
sugar on pancakes, and then squeezing lemon juice over the top. A sweet and
sour concoction that you can bring up in your mind at will after you’ve tried
it even just once. Flavours that are their own bookmarks.
And ham.
My son once dared me, years ago, to buy a ham in the grocery store. A Christmas
ham — a monster ham. A ham so large, the girl at the checkout burst into
laughter at the sight of it. I gave ham to everyone that Christmas, and I
nipped salty strands of it from the fridge and ate them every time I opened the
door. Ham sandwiches with mustard. Fried ham. A stupid extravagance. One I
repeat now, on a smaller and more dignified scale, every year.
A big screen television? No chance. No out-of-reach, pay-for-months bills, no
need to break the bank on finding just the right present. It’s present enough
to be, well, present.
The smell of a real Christmas tree, a hint of wood smoke in cold, clean winter
air, a strange cheese or two, the smell wafting up as they warm, ungentle as a
locker room.
I hope you can find that simple comfort, and that you have helped others to
find it, too.
--Russell Wangersky is
Saltwire's Media’s Atlantic regional columnist and author
Metropolitan Opera
Saturday Afternoon at the Opera Radio Broadcast:
Mozart's The Magic Flute, Abridged English version, 2PM,
CBC Radio Music 104.7FM.
More info
Metropolitan Opera video
performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge,
and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008. Two hours
of confection!
Lehár’s The Merry Widow, tonight 7:30PM until Sunday about
6:30PM
Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader, and Sir Thomas
Allen, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From January 17, 2015. About 2 1/2 hours
Global Chorus essay for December 26
Bill McKibben
I decided some time ago that I was going to spend no more
energy trying to figure out if things were going to come out alright or not.
We’re engaged in a civilization-scale wager with enormously high stakes –
my role, I think, is to get up every morning and try to change the odds of that
wager a little bit, without any guarantee that it will come out okay.
And there can be no guarantee, I fear,
for we’ve done massive damage to the planet’s most important physical systems.
The most important of these is the climate – after 10,000 quite stable
years, the period that scientists call the Holocene, we’ve moved on to a new,
much tougher period. How tough is still up to us, though the damage done so far
(the melted Arctic, for instance) is sobering.
In short, the single thing we must do is
get off fossil fuel, and in a matter of years. Physically we could do it, but
it would mean a colossal effort, in the face of the power of the coal, oil and
gas industries, the richest and most powerful enterprises in human history. It
would mean changing some of our rich-world notions about economic growth. And
it would mean, most of all, trading in the hyper-individualism of high consumer
society for tighter, closer communities. Cultural, technological, political
change of large magnitude, in other words. There are days I think it can’t be
done, and days – looking at the huge swath of organizing 350.org has
managed to do in the last three years – when I think we might just figure
out a way. But as I say, I’m not going to think any more about it. Back to
work, all of us!
— Bill McKibben, author,
educator, environmentalist, founder of 350.org
So much to think about,
consider a year-end donation, etc., at the website:
350.org
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 25, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Merry
Christmas and best holiday wishes to all.
A day to celebrate (including some local talent below), and hope for
"peace, order and good governance"; and I appreciate your interest,
hope, and works all the year though, to be part of that "public voice for
positive change" that the Citizens' Alliance of P.E.I. strives to be
Here is sharing some favourite words and music:
|
|
From Nova Scotia poet and musician Tanya Davis:
Love As Well As Gifts
by Tanya Davis
2015
What if angels were just people having generous days
and the realms of glory were all the world's corners from which they came
and the night was silent 'cause no one was crying out in loneliness or
pain?
What if coming home for christmas meant you never had to run again
and no bombs dropped and there really were good kings
and all ye faithful came together while having faith in different things.
What if the most wonderful day of the year
was 'cause peace on earth was finally here
no matter what or where we sing
This is my resilient daydream
I call it: joy to the world
I have it all year long
while I make my way through the world
I am not that strong
I crumble often from the truth
like the fact that guns and bombs are still lawful things we use
and there's too much yet there's not enough food
and still the void we're aching with – the pain, the love, the wound
Meanwhile empty tables
meanwhile we sing carols preaching morals that we're scared of
we are wary more of strangers, giving gifts while building walls
It's a host of contradictions and christmas won't fix it
I crave connection as I close off to it.
Can you see me?
Do you hear what I hear, it's the sadness of humanity
it's the basic human joy
it's the bonds thereof, it's the bombs of lost love
once we all have love enough – o holy night
And by the sun's returning shine I trust we will
in the meantime let us align our hearts with our goodwill
open arms for strangers seeking refuge in our midst
while welcoming our neighbours with love as well as gifts.
--Tanya Davis
----------------------
Tanya wrote and performed poems
in Mille Clarkes' 25 minute documentary Island
Green, which would make great
watching any time of the year, but with such focus on real family farming
and gatherings, now might be a good time:
https://www.nfb.ca/film/island_green/
-----------------------------------
From a few years ago, too, from big-hearted Islander Keith Kennedy:
"The
day is upon us where most folks say happy this and that. I wish you peace
and if you are happy that's great. But mostly I hope you find the peace and
the love you need. For this is the greatest gift of all."
--- Keith Kennedy, December 2018
|
|
And by way of CBC's
Mainstreet with Matt Rainnie and producer Lee Rosevere, a solstice holiday
song, by Dar Williams, "The Christians and the Pagans" (three
minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vggo_9EDZU
and about Dar: https://www.darwilliams.com/
And opera offerings,
too:
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Puccini’s La
Bohème, today until 6:30PM
Starring Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Richard Stilwell, and
James Morris. From
January 16, 1982.
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, 7:30PM today until 6:30PM
Saturday
Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge,
and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008. So
much fun for all ages --- this version was just broadcast on Saturday,
too, so great to be able to share the video.
Global Chorus essay for December 25
Nelson Mandela
Note: For
this December 25th entry, editor Todd MacLean wrote: "Applicable extracts
from various public addresses have been arranged below to bring forth Nelson
Mandela’s representation in Global Chorus".
When I go to the place and area of my birth, so often as I
do, the changed geography of the place strikes me with a force that I cannot
escape. And that geography is not one of mere landscapes and topography, it is
the geography of the people. Where once there were trees and even forests, we
now see barrenness …
I try to live by the simple precept of
making the world one in which there is a better life for all, particularly the
poor, marginalized and vulnerable. A devastated geography makes for a
devastated people …
Let us stand together to make of our
world a sustainable source for our future as humanity on this planet.
--------------
The world is becoming ever more
interdependent. What each one of us does as an independent nation impacts on
others. We therefore have no choice but to build a system of relations which,
while it guarantees such independence and seeks to exclude the possibility of
one country’s imposing its will on another, creates the possibility for each to
have a meaningful say in how we should live together in one peaceful, stable,
prosperous and free world.
---------------
The new world that is being born foresees
the dawn of the age of peace, in which wars within nations, between countries
and among peoples will be a thing of the past.
---------------
Peace is not just the absence of
conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish,
regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other
social markers of difference. Religion, ethnicity, language, social and
cultural practices are elements which enrich human civilization, adding to the
wealth of our diversity. Why should they be allowed to become a cause of
division and violence? We demean our common humanity by allowing that to
happen …
Human beings will always be able to find
arguments for confrontation and no compromise. We humans are, however, the
beings capable of reason, compassion and change. May this be the century of
compassion, peace and non-violence … in all the conflict-ridden parts of
the world and on our planet universally.
—
Nelson Mandela
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 24, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Hello, all -- have a great day with perhaps some
errands, getting ready for the Christmas holidays, good snacks and warm drinks,
enjoying being around the people near you, and thankful for the real gifts we
have. All the slightly grumpy political stuff can wait a few days
:-)
Events:
Charlottetown
Farmers' Market is open from 9AM-2PM today.
There will NOT be a Market on Boxing Day Saturday, but there will be on-line
orders next week, and a Market on New Year's Eve Thursday.
Though reindeer are presumably pretty busy this time of year, here is a short
video from the website "The Kids Should See This" (TKSST) that shows
one part of their incredible migration. Three minutes long, from Public
Broadcasting in the States.
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/thousands-of-reindeer-take-an-epic-journey-across-lapland
Island Waste Management has not produced any new social
media or guides for preparing for sorting trash for the holidays, but here are
some notes ...adapted
from previous years, and sorry for any inaccuracies.
Some main points:
For
stuff you have to deal with:
COMPOST:
Most wrapping paper, greeting cards and present box boxboard (not wavy
like corrugated cardboard)
WASTE:
Tinsel, foil wrapping paper, bows, styrofoam, and broken and artificial
stuff. Wreaths, unless you dismantle them scrupulously into their
components.
TREE
PICK-UP: Real trees can be picked-up
curbside if they are out before 7AM, Monday, January 11th, 2021, or
dropped off at a IWMC when they are open during the month of January, or
contact them to make other arrangements, like for getting your tree to
hungry or bored goats
CARDBOARD
(wavy) (including pizza boxes and
brown paper bags) is to be flattened and bundles and tied up with string
or something and set out with Recyclables
Recycling
Blue Bags --paper and paper bags
can go in paper recycling, and items with recycle symbols 1-5 in the other
Blue Bags (though we know recycling has its issues, too)
"No
Bag is Best", just put the waste and compost
in their respective bins, without bags. Be careful dumping on windy
days!!
From 2017, but an
extensive article from CBC on sorting tips during the holidays: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-waste-watch-garbage-1.4457874
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia; until 6:30PM
tonight
Starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman, Maurizo
Muraro, and Paata Burchuladze, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From November 22,
2014.
Puccini’s La Bohème, tonight 7:30PM until Friday at
6:30PM
Starring Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Richard Stilwell, and
James Morris. From
January 16, 1982.
Ah, nothing says
Christmas Eve like the the most wonderful 1830's Parisian Christmas Eve packed
stage scene in Act II (but followed by the most tragic story of Mimi and
Rodolfo, and you'll tearfully wish they had a Basic Income Guarantee and
treatment for consumption back then).
This is a classic, gorgeous recording. Two hours.
Besides Opera ;-)
Handel's Messiah, a free virtual
sing-along, available anytime until Saturday, January 2nd, 2021.
Sing along at home to excerpts from the 2019 performance of the
Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Cappella Festiva, with lyrics on the screen and
commentary by Guest Conductor Christine Howlett.
Click to view day of show - https://youtu.be/VNQPRHgAIgE
Facebook event details
The Nutcracker ballet, a free virtual event,
anytime today after 8PM out time, until Friday, January 1st, 2021.
Click to view day of show - https://youtu.be/Lb2tGCmjfnY
Premieres December 24 at 7pm EST. This video will be available
to watch any time after its premier on our YouTube channel through January 1.
Presented by the New Paltz Ballet Theatre. Catch the performance
filmed at the Bardavon in 2019! The New Paltz Ballet Theatre’s 22nd season
presenting this classic holiday event featuring dancers from the New York City
Ballet.
Facebook event details
Theatre Calgary is
showing a three-person production of a play of Dickens' A Christmas Carol (ticketed, $25 per
household for access for five days)
with Stephen Hair and two others. Mr. Hair has been Scrooge for over
twenty years.
Theatre Calgary details
Global Chorus essay for December 24
Kira Salak
Do you think this world of ours must be changed? Or must we instead change
ourselves?
When we lose our faith in God, in the goodness of the Universe, the world
becomes a barren, heartless place, and we, its prisoners.
Hope for this world must start from within.
It must begin with a faith – a knowingness – that all that happens needs to
happen. All of it. The “good,” the “bad.” Everything is evolving to the next
level.
Through our triumphs, we bring grace to the world. Through our pains, our
anguishes, we learn how to open our hearts to compassion.
It is compassion that will save this world, and nothing else.
It is compassion that will save all of us.
— Dr.
Kira Salak, writer, journalist, philosopher, National Geographic Emerging
Explorer and extreme adventurer, author of The White Mary and The Cruelest
Journey: 600 Miles to Timbuktu
www.kirasalak.com
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 23, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Event today:
Summerside Farmers'
Market, 9AM-1PM
Book signing with
Todd MacLean:
2-4PM, Green Eye
Designs, Victoria Row in Charlottetown,
Todd MacLean, creator and editor of Global Chorus, will be signing copies of
his new and first for children's book, Christmas
at Squirrel Castle, but there will be no copies for sale (advance
copies, due to publishing quirks in Covid times, are only available from
Amazon)
Word that Eric P.
MacPhail, of New Haven, has passed away. I only had glimmers of
experiences with him, but can tell he touched so many in his 94 years with this
gentlemanly nature, love of community, curiosity, and kindness.
His funeral service will be live-streamed on Monday, December 28th. Details on
his life and service planned are here, along with some stories of his generous
nature:
https://belvederefh.com/memorial/eric-p-macphail-0
Housing: from Jason Alward,
president of the NDP-PEI; it's good to hear the NDP's voice, but this could be
a bit more positive and offer more tangible solutions in addition to clarifying
positions. Perhaps this could be the first of a series.
Opposition
outrage is perplexing - The Guardian article by Jason Alward
Published on
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020
On Dec. 8, the outrage in the legislature by the
official Opposition over the missing $9 million unspent dollars on social
housing made for some great theatre and political hay. During that sitting, the
Opposition protested the King government for failing to spend $9.4 million of
last year’s allocation towards social housing, in exchange for paving roads.
The problem is, neither Greens nor Conservatives believe in
true “social housing”. These parties have misconstrued the meaning of those words.
Minister Ernie Hudson continues this mischaracterization by thinking social
housing is the provision of rent supplements in privately-owned buildings and
Green MLA Hannah Bell, it appears, is happy to join in the misleading
narrative. Social housing traditionally is aimed at creating housing that is
publicly owned and maintained on a non-profit basis and which can weather
volatile market fluctuations. This was traditionally funded federally but was
abandoned by the Chrétien government in the 1990s. Since then, the only area in
which P.E.I. governments have seen fit to develop any public housing units is
in the area of seniors’ housing.
Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker’s line of questioning appears
noble, but in fact, the King government, by a small margin, has proposed more
true social housing than the Greens. In 2019 King promised 100 public housing
units of which some would be for families and nonsenior singles, while the
Green party has never independently proposed public investment in non-profit
housing for anyone. In fact, publicly owned housing was conspicuously absent
from the Greens’ 2019 election platform. MLA Bell also spoke to social housing
concerns on Tuesday, but her released Integrated Housing Framework from 2018
has no mention of social or not-for-profit housing. Ms. Bell, it appears,
prefers to believe that the market will solve our problems. In a 2018 Vice
article she stated that "the government needs to remove as many barriers
as possible for developers “and then get the hell out of the way.”
The Green party is not alone in a lack of focus on publicly
funded housing. Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have relied on
developers to provide what they call “affordable” housing. Recently, this has
been done through a suggested loan agreement period. Unfortunately, developers
can pay and exit this agreement early and return to the high rental market
prices. This pales in comparison to the 38,000 non-profit housing units being
built under 60 year agreements in British Columbia.
We only have to look in the Charlottetown core to see the
benefits of the government investments of 40-50 years ago. Multiple co-op and
public housing units not only still provide essential shelter to low-income
earners, but they were built in high-density, accessible areas which create
viable livable communities.
But, unfortunately market based projects, not public
investments are the focus of this legislature.
Jason Alward is the
president of P.E.I.'s NDP
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Massenet’s Cendrillon, today until 6:30PM
Starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, and
Laurent Naouri, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. From April 28, 2018. so
sweet, and playful, taking the word "storybook" both figuratively and
literally.
Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, tonight 7:30PM until Thursday
about 6:30PM
Starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman, Maurizo
Muraro, and Paata Burchuladze, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From November 22,
2014. A wonderfully energetic Barber, even more so than usual!
and the real crux of the
matter, forgiveness...
Global Chorus essay for December 23
Tara MacLean
Instead of continuing to hurt and hide from the devastation I saw in the world,
I picked up a guitar and sang what I felt. I sang to others. This one act of
choosing not to hide saved my life. It released me and paved the way for a life
of connection. I went to protests, blockaded the logging trucks that were
clear-cutting the ancient rainforests and spent two weeks in jail. I had never
felt so free.
This is a crucial time for real connection. It is time to stop hiding. It is
time to forgive. When Buffy Sainte-Marie was asked how she forgives those who
have done so much harm to her people, she answered that we are a very young
species, and in that understanding, she finds deep compassion for us all. This
is an essential key to our survival.
It seems that humanity is in the “toddler” phase of its evolution. We have some
words, but mostly we hit, bite and destroy. We are distracted all the time,
mostly with our own suffering. We are blinded and trapped by anger, self-pity
and righteousness. Mine! My view, my pain, my reactions! We crash into things,
throw tantrums and create chaos.
What if growing up means learning that the pain in life is a necessary part of
the experience of being alive? It exists to forge us into stronger, greater
beings. We hurt each other, we hurt the Earth and we make mistakes. This is how
we learn. Knowing that, we could even be grateful for the suffering and
practise Radical Forgiveness. So forgiveness and compassion really are the
same: seeing clearly that we are not separate.
Forgive yourself and everyone else. Let it go. We are all human and fallible.
Stop crashing, start connecting. With this action you help to eliminate the
seeds of war. This is a revolutionary act because it leads us out of ignorance.
With an uncluttered mind, free from anxiety and self-pity, imagine what we
could do! We could truly serve one another and the planet, united to face the
bigger issues at hand. It is time for a revolution.
Find your words. Sing your song. Save the world.
— Tara
MacLean, singer/songwriter, mother, activist
http://www.taramacleanmusic.com/home
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 22, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Local Food
ordering:
Notice from Eat Local PEI: Holiday and Winter Hours for on-line orders:
Order deadline Wednesday, December 23rd by 9AM
for pickup or delivery Christmas Eve Thursday, or
pickups Sunday through Wednesday, December 30 (various options)
Info:
https://www.localline.ca/eatlocalpei
Note that in January the order deadline will be Wednesday evening for
pickup or delivery Friday-Sunday.
News:
Federal NDP leader supports P.E.I. basic income
pilot - The Guardian article by Stu Neatby
Published on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/provincial/federal-ndp-leader-supports-pei-basic-income-pilot-533593/
Federal New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh is the first federal
party leader to support calls for implementing a basic income guarantee pilot
program in P.E.I.
In an interview with The Guardian on Monday, Singh said his party
campaigned on implementing a national basic income pilot project and said he
would support such a pilot on P.E.I. Singh’s statements on the subject followed
a report by all-party special standing committee on poverty, which called for
implementing a full basic income guarantee (BIG) on P.E.I.
"We campaigned on a pilot project, so we absolutely support a pilot
project," Singh said. "P.E.I.'s legislature put forward that as
an idea, and they asked for federal funding to support this. The federal
government has been unresponsive."
The report from P.E.I.’s special committee on poverty
recommended the provincial and federal governments partner to implement a full,
Islandwide basic income guarantee program, which would offer a government
income support cheque to as many as 50,238 Islanders at a yearly net cost of
$260 million. The committee also recommended that, if federal funding could not
be secured, the provincial government implement a three-year BIG pilot project
on P.E.I., involving between 3,073 and 4,176 Islanders. This pilot project was
estimated to have a yearly cost of between $19.5 million and $26.5 million per
year.
But Singh did not specify whether his party would specifically push for
funding for a basic income guarantee pilot in upcoming budget negotiations with
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.
"We've got a leverage that we can use to fight for things that
people need. So, this would be one of the things that we believe is helpful. We
would fight for this. We haven't drawn lines in the sand before we come to the
critical point in the negotiations," Singh said. "If there was
legislation needed, we would support it. And now the ball is really in the
Liberal government's court."
P.E.I. Social Development and Housing Minister Ernie Hudson has written
to federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen
asking for financial support for a basic income guarantee. Premier Dennis King
has also said he will advocate for the program at the federal level, as have
P.E.I. Liberal MPs Sean Casey and Wayne Easter.
Trudeau told a townhall earlier this month he did not currently “see a
path to moving forward" on a BIG.
Singh emphasized a basic income pilot as opposed to a permanent
Islandwide program. But Singh did not dismiss the special committee’s
recommendation around a more expensive Islandwide basic income.
“I've already said we would absolutely do a pilot project. But the
request to go beyond it is something we should look at, we should consider
it," Singh said.
When asked
whether he has spoken to Premier King, Casey or Easter about the P.E.I.
proposal, Singh said he had not. He said P.E.I.’s representative on the NDP
national council urged him to raise the issue.
Throughout the fall, Conservative
Leader Erin O’Toole has increasingly spoken about tackling income inequality.
But, in response to questions about a P.E.I. basic income guarantee, an emailed
statement provided by a press secretary for O’Toole did not specifically
address the subject.
“While Justin Trudeau’s
ideological approach has left too many Canadians behind, Erin O’Toole and the
Conservatives will continue to put forward ideas to support hardworking
Canadians as they strive to provide for their families,” the statement read.
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Mozart’s The
Magic Flute, today until 6:30PM
Starring Ying Huang, Erika Miklósa, Matthew Polenzani, Nathan Gunn, and René
Pape. From December 30, 2006.
Massenet’s Cendrillon,
tonight 7:30PM until Wednesday about 6:30PM
Starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, and
Laurent Naouri, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. From April 28, 2018.
Both of these
operas have short "graphic novel" type synopses found here for The Magic Flute
and here for Cendrillon.
They are darling and really help people of all ages :-)
A sample of The Magic Flute synopsis:

GUEST OPINION: Planet's health for human progress - The Guardian Guest opinion by Palanisamy
Nagarajan
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/guest-opinion-planets-health-for-human-progress-533405/
"Even with all our medical technologies, we cannot have well humans
on a sick planet. Planetary health is essential for the wellbeing of every
creature. All must find a way to exist in harmony with the natural world."
-- Thomas Berry, 1992.
Almost six decades ago, Rachel Carson, a marine biologist, in her
influential book Silent Spring, sounded this warning with utmost clarity and
uncommon foresight of what lies ahead.
"The (development) road we have been travelling is deceptively
easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its
end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by —
offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the
Earth's preservation."
But unfortunately, we completely overlooked the long development trail
leading to a balanced economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Since then, the
search for infinite economic growth on a finite planet Earth, being on a
dangerous collision course with natural systems, has intensified more than
ever, particularly since the beginning of global neoliberalism's Great
Acceleration era without anticipating the inevitable consequences. According to
the Global Footprint Network, the world is currently producing and consuming resources
and discarding waste equivalent to 1.6 Earths. Let us not forget this implies a
global ecological deficit. If the current world consumption and production
trends continue, we have to extract 183 billion tons of materials from Earth
every year by 2050, three times today's amount. That would put enormous strain
on ecosystems, severely disrupting the priceless services that nature performs.
Sustainability has been a major rallying cry for public policymakers at all
levels since the path-breaking 1987 Brundtland Commission's report Our Common
Future. But we have yet to take a sharp U-turn from an enticing unsustainable
development path to a sustainability trajectory staying within the planetary
system boundaries.
We now face the most pressing emergencies of our time. The cumulative
myriad unsustainable growth outcomes and their lagged unravelling cascading
effects on climate change complexities and Earth Systems' destabilization are
increasingly risking human health and well-being and the planet's life-support
systems.
Seemingly, the formidable challenges we are confronting are just the tip
of the iceberg. Many other related hazards, something more extensive and
complex, are waiting to happen.
The World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report 2020 provides alarming
evidence of humanity's extensive destruction of nature. The planet Earth is
flashing red warning signs of natural systems failure and humanity's broken
relationship with nature.
The report
comments that the COVID-19 pandemic is a grim manifestation of the human
catastrophes of exploiting wildlife and ever-increasing encroachment on all
aspects of the natural world. It has also spotlighted the interconnectedness
between nature and human health and how the biodiversity crisis threatens the
planet's health. The year 2020, one of the worst years on record in a century,
is fast drawing to a close. The coronavirus pandemic, which surfaced in Wuhan,
China, in December 2019, continues to ravage the entire world by upending
millions and millions of people's lives and livelihoods. So far, the human
tolls have surpassed 1.6 million and left 67 million people infected worldwide.
Besides, the consequences of the global economic upheaval resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic is beyond one's comprehension. The COVID-19 pandemic is
spreading like a wave. So it is difficult to say whether the world would be
free in 2021 from the horrific nightmare of the invisible virus, which is a
thousand times smaller than a grain of sand. Comprehending the fact it has
brought the world to its knees is difficult.
Recently, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his address to
the general assembly special session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,
stated most cogently: "Let's not fool ourselves. A vaccine (for the
coronavirus) cannot undo the damage that will stretch across years, even
decades to come. Since 2007, the WHO has declared six public health emergencies
of international concern. COVID-19 will not be the last. We must make peace
with our planet if we are to live in balance with its incredible
riches."
The UN secretary-general's visionary remarks are highly
commendable.
But the fundamental question is this: How can we protect or make peace
with our planet Earth when the dominant scientific-techno-economic paradigm is
all about exploiting nature at an ever-increasing rate to promote growth for
human progress?
First and foremost, a fundamental shift in our thinking about the
economy, society, and environment from a systems perspective is needed to
protect our planet's health, which is essential for human progress. Perhaps, it
is only through the "one health" approach, linking together human,
animal, plant and environmental health, we can tackle the critical challenges
facing humanity as we have entered an era of crises.
Palanisamy Nagarajan is an emeritus professor of economics and island
studies teaching fellow at the University of Prince Edward Island.
-30-
yet another essay that gives such food for thought,
and especially relevant as it was when written in 2013 and now in the time of
the coronavirus pandemic...
Global Chorus essay for December 22
Eduard Müller
In spite of great individual intelligence, humans have failed to achieve
collective intelligence. Our western development style, brought upon most of
the people on Earth, willingly or not, has come with intellectual reductionism,
globalization of markets and monetization of cultures and nature. Competition
is at the core whilst co-operation and solidarity are left behind. Current
global challenges require solutions with major investments and structural
reform where governments, private sector and society as a whole must act beyond
self-interest, making decisions considering global interdependence and
well-being. It is now clear that solutions won’t come from governments, global
meetings or corporate responsibility alone. Civil society, meaning each
individual through collective action, must change, based on ethical values and
principles.
Humans are capable of collective action when disaster strikes, going beyond
self-interests to help others. The uniqueness of our current state is that, in
spite of increasing local disasters, we have not fully acknowledged global
disaster. If we wait much longer to act, we will go past tipping points
announced by scientists. To avoid a global state of anomie, we have to jointly
construct a community of life. The key lies in the intergenerational
responsibility, where youth start demanding no further destruction of their
possibilities to survive on a truly living planet. Involving youth means having
them identify their life projects, getting past immediate satisfaction through
sumptuous consumption, while investing true efforts to change and being
rewarded with quality of life. Life projects today are not about jobs or
professions; they are about achieving a higher level of consciousness where
individual responsibilities come before individual rights, accompanied by
behaviour according to consequences of our actions and inaction and not only
individual well-being.
More and more youth, especially those that have more freedom of thought and are
not shaped by their parents to follow our current catastrophic patterns of
development, are now looking for better livelihoods, based on quality, not
quantity, where people are valued for what they are and not for what they have.
We must collectively foster this new global society and accelerate the celebration
of life on Earth.
— Eduard Müller, founder and president of
the University for International Cooperation, San Jose, Costa Rica, vice-chair
for education and learning at the World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN
https://www.eduardmuller.com/
________________
essay from:
Global Chorus: 365
Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E.
MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 21, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Local Food:
Charlottetown Farmers' Market:
....from the very shouty announcement page on their website.
This WEEK'S PICK UP DAY is WEDNESDAY, DEC 23, 2020.
THE ONLINE STORE WILL BE CLOSED THE
WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS AND RESUMING WITH THURSDAY PICK UP DAYS, JANUARY 7th,
2021.
*Order due by 5PM today.*
https://cfm2go.localf
oodmarketplace.com/Overview
THE FARMERS' MARKET WILL BE OPEN ON DEC 24th AND
DEC 31st, 9AM-2PM, and CLOSED on Boxing Day, December 26th, and Saturday,
January 2nd, 2021.
Summerside Farmers' Market is Wednesday, December 23rd this week.
---------------------------
Sunrise in Stonehenge is on Facebook Live, at the link below, *Right Now*
(early Monday). I think the clouds are in abundance there, too.
https://www.facebook.com/StonehengeEH
A lovely long astronomy column, but make the time and enjoy it...
Atlantic Skies for December 21st -
December 27th, 2020 - by Glenn K. Roberts
It's That Time
of Year Again!
It's not hard
to tell what time of year it is. If your house is anything like mine, the
children, and especially the grandchildren, are so wound up about Christmas,
they can hardly sit still for longer than two minutes. However, besides my
granddaughter, Scarlet, constantly dropping hints..."Poppy, you'll never
guess what _______ (the name changes from day to day) is asking Santa for
Christmas this year!", I can tell the festive season is upon us once again
by the number of emails I get from my readers regarding what
size/type/model telescope to buy for the budding astronomer in their family.
Each year (and this one will be no different) I answer..."Do not buy them a
telescope!" First of all, you probably can't afford one that has enough
quality to maintain their interest in the heavens above, and, secondly, even if
you could afford a good one, unless your budding astronomer is a)
very committed to viewing the night sky, b) technically inclined, and c)
extremely patient, it will end up gathering dust in the attic or garage.
Good quality scopes are not cheap (several hundreds to thousands of
dollars just for the scope, then there's the lenses, filters, etc.);
the cheap ones are ultimately a disappointment for all concerned. I
strongly recommend that, instead of a scope, you buy them a good set
of binoculars (7x35s if they are small, or, if they are a bit bigger, 10x50s).
Both www.astronomy.com and https://skyandtelescope.org have excellent articles on
selecting and buying the right binoculars. Also, buy them a
planisphere (a plastic wheel device that shows the constellations of the
night sky at any hour, night and month of the year), as well as a good, basic
introductory book on astronomy and the night sky (suitable for their
age)....something with star charts, constellation diagrams, double stars, the
planets, a map of the Moon, etc. You can find these items at your local
bookstore or on-line. Oh, and purchase an astronomer's flashlight
with a red light (check on-line), so you can reference the planisphere/star
chart/book whilst outdoors (the red light will save your night vision). Before
heading outdoors, make a list of what they might want to look for (a lot easier
to do in the warmth of your house than out in the dark); then, with the
planisphere/star charts, go outside on a clear night and help them find
what they are looking for. As celestial objects are found (it can be
a fun challenge), cross them off the list, and, later, make plans
to go out another night and look for something different. You'll be
surprised at the number of amazing things that can be seen in the night
sky with a good pair of binoculars, and even with just your eyes. If, and when,
their (or your) enthusiasm grows, and they/you want to see more distant
celestial objects (nebula, galaxies, globular clusters, etc.), then perhaps
consider buying a telescope. But, until then, the greatest gift (and the
one they'll remember the most) that you can give them for Christmas, or any
other time of the year, is your time, and an interest in their interest.
If you are
reading this article on Monday, Dec. 21, I hope, wherever you are, that
the early evening sky to the west of you is clear, even for just an hour or
two, after sunset, and that you have an opportunity to see (and perhaps
photograph) the "Great Conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn just above
the western horizon. Although these two giant planets will be at their
closest (their actual closest point was at 2:30 p.m.) on the evening of
Dec 21, 2020, they will remain fairly close to one another low in the
post-sunset western sky until Dec. 25, 2020. Hopefully, there will be at least
one clear evening this coming week! As mentioned in last week's column, the
next Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn won't be until 2080. Weather
permitting, I and my granddaughter, Scarlet, will be out together to view it
this evening (or later in the week). When I told her about the conjunction, and
how rare it was, and how the next one wouldn't be for another 60 years (after I
am long gone), she said she wanted to see it with me, so that when she is old
and has grandchildren of her own, she can take them out and show them the
conjunction, and tell them about when she and their great-great
grandfather, Poppy, saw the Great Conjunction of 2020 together. I hope you
are as blessed with grandchildren as I am.
Mercury, having
reached superior solar conjunction on the 19th, remains too close to the
Sun to be seen. Venus (mag. -3.94) is visible around 6:30
a.m. in the eastern, pre-dawn sky, remaining observable 11 degrees
above the southeast horizon until it fades from view as dawn breaks around 7:30
a.m. Mars (mag. -0.50) becomes accessible around 5:00 p.m., 40 degrees above
the southeast horizon, reaching a height of 53 degrees by 7:30 p.m., and
remaining visible until it drops below 9 degrees above the western horizon by
about 1:25 a.m.. Jupiter (mag. -1.98) and Saturn (mag. +0.64) are visible low
above the western horizon (see reference to the "Great Conjunction"
above) just after sunset this evening (Dec. 21). If the weather is clear, don't
miss this rare celestial event; take a photo with your cell phone or camera.
The Ursid meteor
shower (radiant just above the bowl of the "Little Dipper" asterism
in the constellation of Ursa Minor- the Little Bear) peaks overnight on
Dec. 21-22. The Ursids are debris from Comet 8P/Tuttle, discovered Jan. 5,
1858. The First Quarter Moon will set shortly before midnight, so will not
interfere. Expect to see 10+ bright meteors per hour from a dark site away
from city lights. Though not a spectacular shower, it is my favorite of the
year, as it occurs on my birthday. I have successfully seen some Ursids on 48
of my 72 past birthdays, and, weather permitting, will
make it 49 tonight.
The Winter
Solstice (winter's official start here in the Northern Hemisphere)
occurs at 6:02 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2020; the shortest day and longest night
of the year for us.
I wish you all a
very merry festive holiday with your loved ones. Remember, there is no greater
gift we can give than the time we spend together with our families.
Until next week,
clear skies.
Events:
Dec. 21 - Winter
Solstice; 6:02 a.m.
-
Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn; just after sunset
- First Quarter Moon
- Ursid meteor shower peaks; overnight
24 - Moon at apogee
-30-
A year unlike any other - By Peter Bevan-Baker, MLA Leader of the Official Opposition
Published on Friday, December 11th, 2020, at:
https://peigreencaucus.ca/2020/12/a-year-unlike-any-other/
Looking back to my childhood, this
is the time of the year when our family developed enduring and unique
traditions. Some of those have stayed with me into adulthood as Ann and I
developed customs with our own growing family. In the midst of all the seasonal
celebrating, taking the opportunity to look back at the year is one thing that
I have always liked to do. During the course of a year a lot of living happens.
Getting out the calendar reminds us of the range of experiences that have made
up the last twelve months and provides an opportunity to give thanks for things
that may have been forgotten along the way.
At the end of this legislative session, I want to do the same sort of
thing. Looking back to a year ago, the contrast is stark. At the end of the
fall sitting in 2019, there was the usual flurry of seasonal events, visits
from distant family members to look forward to, community concerts, parties,
dropping in to friends’ houses, and planning your way around the levees that
were only a few weeks away. This year my empty calendar is a reminder of the
year that COVID stole.
It wasn’t that nothing happened, of course: lots and lots happened, but
way too much of it was bewildering, scary, and chaotic. Although I wouldn’t
describe the sitting that just ended with those adjectives, it definitely
presented its own challenges as well as moments of success and joy.
Advancing the needs of Islanders
This sitting we asked important questions related to mental health and
addictions, affordable housing, social equity and inclusion, building a greener
economy, protecting our water and lands, and supporting the tourism sector, all
while holding government accountable.
We initiated debate on sustainable tourism opportunities, resolving the
housing crisis, the support of Treaty rights, and ensuring Islanders have
access to vaccinations they need.
We passed motions pressuring government to make mental health and
addictions programs and services a priority, and ensuring government provides
answers to decisions impacting Islanders in a timely manner.
We also succeeded in making PEI a leader, and the envy of Canada, in the
fight against climate change by passing Green legislation that sets the
strongest provincial emissions targets in Canada.
Our accomplishments this past sitting, as well as the work of the
previous 18 months, clearly demonstrate that having a strong Green presence in
the Legislative Assembly is helping create a fair, equitable PEI – a province
that promotes and protects the dignity and security of every Islander.
Our caucus remains committed to working in partnership with other
members of the House to build a strong post-COVID province where all Islanders,
no matter who they are or where they are from, have the opportunity to reach
their full potential.
Our commitment to one another serves us well
Since last March, Islanders have shown their unshakable commitment to
each other. We continue to be a model to the rest of the country, and indeed
the world, for how strong community and a sense of responsibility to one’s
neighbours are how we will create a safe, healthy and vibrant future
together.
As we approach the shortest day of the year, I am reminded of the
pivotal ceremonies celebrated by so many religions and cultures around the
winter solstice. The darkest days of the year begin to fall away behind us, and
we start emerging back towards the light. I hope that in our journey through
COVID, the darkest days are also behind us, and we will emerge to a brighter
year ahead. I also hope the strains caused by the pandemic will soon ease.
Happy Holidays to you all and best wishes for the brightest, healthiest,
and most prosperous New Year.
-30-
Metropolitan Opera video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Deborah Voigt, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Waltraud Meier, Jay Hunter Morris,
Iain Paterson, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From
February 11, 2012. Huge production, last of the Ring Cycle, just under 5
hours.
Week 41
Holiday Fare
Supplementary content—including
synopses, articles, and more—is available here.
Mozart’s The Magic Flute, 7:30PM tonight until
6:30PM Tuesday
Starring Ying Huang, Erika Miklósa, Matthew Polenzani, Nathan Gunn, and René
Pape. From December 30, 2006. This is the shortened (under 2 hours)
English version. "Adults and children alike were enchanted by the
whimsical humor and breathtaking puppetry of Julie Taymor’s hit
production."
Global Chorus essay for December 21
Elizabeth Lindsey
There’s no greater power economically, politically or socially that can compare
to the power that lies within each of us.
The problem is we’ve forgotten who we are.
In an era of technological advancement, we’re bloated with information yet
starved for such wisdom. Malnourished and overwhelmed, millions lead lives of
“quiet desperation.” Connected 24/7, loneliness is at an all-time high.
What to do?
“When the veil of forgetfulness is lifted,” my native Hawaiian elders said,
“and people remember that within them is a spark of the Divine, strife will
cease.”
The world doesn’t need us to save it. The world needs us to save ourselves. It
doesn’t need our anxiety and fear. It needs our clarity and courage.
Once we understand that what exists outside of us is a refection of what stirs
within, then and only then, will we be able to make a difference in the world.
Until then, we offer Humanity nothing more than a pale imitation of who we
might have been. And none of us is here for that.
No one else will see the world through your eyes or express it as only you can.
Imagine if a small woman in India thought that caring for the poor and the
dying was too much trouble. We might never have been inspired by a nun named
Theresa.
This is the Power of One … one person’s willingness to be transformed. By
changing ourselves, we change the world.
— Elizabeth
Kapu’uwailani Lindsey, PhD, humanitarian and the first Polynesian Explorer in
the history of the National Geographic Society
https://www.elizabethlindsey.com/
________________
essay from:
Global Chorus: 365
Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E.
MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 20, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Event today:
Sunday, December
20th:
A Quarantunes Christmas Cabaret, 8PM, Facebook Live
from Todd MacLean
(and Becca Griffin):
A cozy show with Becca Griffin and Todd MacLean, performed from downtown on
Victoria Row at Green Eye Designs, on Facebook Live at the Quarantunes page:
https://www.facebook.com/Quarantunes-Isolation-Concerts-111893603773141/
While there is a little snow to
brighten things up even more (LINK ONLY):
10 brilliant Christmas light displays to see on P.E.I. - CBC PEI website post by Cindy MacKay
Published on Friday,
December 18th, 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-christmas-light-displays-to-see-this-year-1.5845200
Real Lights (1):
Astronomical,
tonight is getting to the peak of the "Great Conjunction" of Jupiter
and Saturn, at sunset.
An excerpt from:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jupiter-and-saturns-great-conjunction-is-the-best-in-800-years-heres-how-to-see-it/
You can see the upcoming great conjunction in detail with
binoculars and telescopes, “but the best part about it is we’ll be able to
watch it with the naked eye,” (American Museum of Natural History's Jackie)
Faherty says. Find a spot where you can watch the sunset with a clear horizon
in front of you, free of trees or buildings. In the hour or so after nightfall,
first Jupiter will appear in the western sky, and then Saturn, both shining
dots distinguishable from the stars by the fact they do not twinkle. “They will
likely be visible even with light pollution—Jupiter is pretty bright,” (Rice
University astronomer Patrick) Hartigan says.
Although the
great conjunction will arrive on December 21, “you should be watching Jupiter
and Saturn draw close every night until then,” Faherty recommends. Otherwise,
“it’d be like tuning into the finale of a show without seeing all the episodes
before it to get you caught up on what’s going on. By watching them get closer
and closer, you can get a sense how celestial mechanics works in the nighttime
sky.” <snip>
Real Lights (2):
Also, Solstice, and if you want to watch it live-streamed from Stonehenge, go
to this Facebook page from the English Heritage page for information: https://www.facebook.com/events/157169579436386/
also, Stonehenge has a Facebook page, of course:
https://www.facebook.com/StonehengeEH
EDITORIAL: More than the pandemic - The Guardian Editorial
Published ONLINE on
Saturday, December 19th, 2020, in The Guardian's Saltwire website
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/editorial-more-than-the-pandemic-532672/
“Why announce carbon taxes now? New taxes? We’re in a pandemic!”
You can almost hear
the tone of the response. No, wait — you can hear it. Here’s Ontario Premier
Doug Ford’s reaction: “I can’t understand for the life of me why anyone would
want to put a burden on the backs of the hard-working people in this province.
This carbon tax is going to be the worst thing you’ll ever see.”
But have a little
pragmatism with your outrage.
Yes, we’re facing a
global pandemic with a rising toll in Canada. Yes, that pandemic has massive
economic implications for countries around the world, Canada included.
And a huge amount of
the federal government’s attention and resources are being directed at trying
to get the pandemic under control in this country.
But that doesn’t mean
everything else just stops.
Climate change is
happening, and you can’t simply ignore the issue.
Even the federal
Conservatives seem to now understand the need for climate action, even if the
current carbon tax method is not to their liking.
“Conservatives know
that protecting our environment is critical. We agree with the goal of reaching
net zero by 2050. Let’s protect our environment and natural spaces,”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole tweeted after the Liberals announced their
plans to increase the carbon tax by $5 a tonne every year for the next eight
years, while also increasing grants to families to offset rising costs caused
by the tax.
And it’s not only
climate change.
As much as we’d like
things to stop, the pandemic doesn’t mean that everything else happening in the
world is simply on hiatus.
As oceans advocacy
group Oceana pointed out on Tuesday, pandemic or no pandemic, plastic waste is
continuing to flow into the world’s oceans and fresh water — with 10 million
kilograms of that ocean-clogging plastic coming from Amazon packing material (air
pillows, bubble wrap and other plastic packaging).In 2019, Amazon generated
21.3 million kilograms of plastic waste in Canada alone — and the pandemic
certainly did nothing to stop or slow that, as online sales and shipping spiked
in COVID-affected 2020.
We can try and get a
handle on the plastics problem now — a problem being exacerbated by the immense
growth in, and disposal of, plastic-based personal protective equipment like
masks and gloves — or we can reap the whirlwind that plastic is creating in our
ocean environments when it’s too late to do anything about it.
The same is true for
climate change.
Yes, the pandemic is
the most serious issue facing governments right now.
But it’s not the only
issue, and it’s not even the most serious issue facing the world stretching on
out into the future.
If we focus on just
one battle, we’ll succumb to a larger environmental threat.
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Verdi’s Nabucco,
today until 6:30PM
Starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo,
and Dmitry Belosselskiy. From January 7, 2017.
Ending the week with a bang, kind of:
Wagner’s Götterdämmerung,
7:30PM tonight until Monday about 6:30PM
Starring Deborah Voigt, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Waltraud Meier, Jay Hunter Morris,
Iain Paterson, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From
February 11, 2012.
very good essay
Global Chorus essay for December 20
Maggie Padlewska
Is there hope for the future? I am sure I’m not the first to say that this
question is as complex as it sounds simple. I’ve pondered it over the years,
only to find my thoughts drifting in directions as varied as the research,
articles and books we read, the experiences we encounter, the things we witness
and the richness of stories, views and perspectives of the people we meet
throughout our journeys. I’m a one-woman-band, frequently travelling solo to
meet people the world doesn’t often get to hear about or the communities that
are not actively engaged in the global dialogue that is thriving online … and
it is often through those people that I learn the most.
Our world is, without a doubt, facing countless and serious crises, from
threats against global cultures to irreversible environmental damage. The
communities I meet with are familiar with these things, mainly because they are
often the ones directly affected by the negative effects of foreign policies,
multinational trade deals and the intensifying extraction and depletion of
natural resources. Yet many remain silenced, misunderstood and dismissed as the
uneducated poor.
This, in my modest opinion, is where the world fails.
Human rights and environmental considerations have become secondary to the
ambitions of the wealthy elite and policy-makers. Communities are being
displaced from traditional lands to make way for exclusive development
projects, the natural landscape is being contaminated, cultures are being threatened
by globalization, and traditional wisdom is overlooked by the ideologies of the
self-righteous.
We are at a crucial juncture, a moment with enough evidence to establish two
clear options. The first, to continue along a destructive path driven by political
or corporate greed, or second, to pause and rethink what it truly means to be
human and the kind of life and behaviours that would sustain a healthy global
community and planet for generations to come.
Is there hope for the future? Yes, IF the world recognizes the devastating
consequences of its current trajectory and redirects its behaviours to truly
reflect a commitment to a healthy future – not focused on cleaning up the
messes that would be created, but on preventing them from happening in the
first place by learning from those who have been living that way for centuries.
—
Malgorzata “Maggie” Padlewska, video-journalist, founder of One Year One World
https://www.maggiepadlewska.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 19, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Farmers' Markets
open, 9AM-1PM Summerside and 9AM-2PM Charlottetown.
Ordering food for
next week:
Charlottetown Farmers'
Market to Go (CFM2GO):
CFM2GO ordering has
begun and will close on Monday, December 21st at 5PM
Pick-up will be
Wednesday, December 23rd from 3-6PM
https://cfm2go.localfoodmarketplace.com/Index
Heart Beet Organics'
Farmacy (152 Great George Street) will be open today, Tuesday and Wednesday,
then closed until January 11th.
https://heartbeetorganics.ca/the-farmacy
Cooking the local
food:
Island Chef Margaret Prouse, always able to teach and share practical,
locally-focused shopping and cooking tips, stars in this video about a tasty
and straightforward side dish, Brussels sprouts and cranberries. 5
Minutes
https://youtu.be/qgu35nq2x90
Music
for the Holidays:
Handel's Messiah -- A Free Virtual
Event, access starting at 3PM today and lasting over the holidays
Sing along at home to excerpts from the 2019 performance of the
Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Cappella Festiva, with lyrics on the screen and
commentary by Guest Conductor Christine Howlett.
Click to view day of show - https://www.youtube.com/c/BardavonPresents/videos
Premieres December 19 at 2pm EST. This video will be available
to watch any time after its premier on our YouTube channel through the new
year.
Facebook event link
Metropolitan Opera
performances this weekend:
https://www.metopera.org/
Saturday Afternoon at
the Opera, 2PM, CBC Music 104.7FM
Special Holiday
Performance!
Humperdinck’s Hansel
and Gretel
Conducted by Donald Runnicles; Lisette Oropesa (Gretel), Tara Erraught
(Hansel), Dolora Zajick (Gertrude), Gerhard Siegel (Witch), Quinn Kelsey
(Peter) From January 6, 2018
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov
Starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny
Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, and Vladimir Ognovenko, conducted by
Valery Gergiev. From October 23, 2010.
Verdi’s Nabucco
Starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo,
and Dmitry Belosselskiy. From January 7, 2017. Pretty much all the
elements of great opera -- father-daughter complications, madness, royalty, a
love triangle....and amazing costumes and set, and of course, singing.
And has the haunting "Song of the Hebrew Slaves" in Act III.
Tomorrow, Sunday,
December 20th:
A Quarantunes
Christmas Caberet, 8PM, Facebook Live
from Todd MacLean
(and Becca Griffin):
"Cozy up at home as Becca Griffin and I bring you our
Christmas show to Facebook Live, performed from downtown on Victoria Row at
Green Eye Designs"
Quarantunes page at 8PM Sunday - and enjoy the
show!!
I have not read this yet, but it's from Project Drawdown, and about the future
of Agriculture and Climate Change:
'Our latest
publication “Farming Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis-- A Drawdown Primer”
details and quantifies the planet-healing potential of land use, agricultural
practices, and food systems.'
You can get the
e-mail download from this page:
https://drawdown.org/
or here it is directly: https://drawdown.org/downloads?tca=7kcJDw6Pw--JZ852ds8YOWVhgaaH0QXFCqN9xd63VCc
48 pages, with photos
and charts.
Global Chorus essay for December 19
David Buckland
It is perhaps unsurprising that it has been the scientists reporting the
evidence of global warming who have become the most passionate in calling for
society to urgently change its course.
However, this urgency isn’t being communicated successfully enough to provoke
the real change needed in our global societies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and mitigate climate change. The resistance to cultural change is bafflliing in
the face of extreme weather events and other disturbances across our planet.
Anthropogenic climate change threatens us all with an uncertain physical,
social and economic future, so why are we not engaged in sorting out our
future? Perhaps cultural approaches can succeed where the hard facts of science
have failed.
The international Cape Farewell project, now in its 11th year, aims to do just
that. It embeds artists, writers, architects, musicians and filmmakers with
climate scientists as they measure and evaluate planetary changes at the
Earth’s known climate change “hotspots.” So far, we have made seven expeditions
into the Arctic aboard the 100-year-old Norwegian schooner Noorderlicht
(Northern Lights), one expedition to the Andes and the Amazon and one to the
Scottish Western Isles. Each of these journeys has enabled the diverse
expedition team to examine how anthropogenic activity is affecting our habitat.
When I set up Cape Farewell in 2001, the aim was to create a different language
of climate change with which to engage the public. Over 140 artsbased
practitioners have taken part in these voyages, openly engaging with more than
45 scientists, creating artworks, exhibitions, books and films that have toured
worldwide. This international effort, including people from China to Mexico,
has brought distinctly different cultural sensibilities to the story of climate
change’s causes and impacts.
The overriding memory of each of the voyagers engaged in these adventures is
more akin to having fun than experiencing suffering. Climate change is truly a
cultural challenge; it affects all of us and we all need to become part of the
solution. But perhaps we should approach it more in the spirit of an expedition
that encompasses the optimism of moving forward. As Marshall McLuhan put it,
“Spaceship Earth doesn’t carry passengers, only crew.”
— David Buckland, founder and director of Cape Farewell
A great deal of interesting content here:
www.capefarewell.com
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 18, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Fridays4Future, 3:30PM, by Cenotaph near Province House,
Charlottetown
Consider writing your MLA or MP -- Find your MLA at:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
Find your MP:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en
-----------------
Inaccuracies --
yesterday I said the Solstice Walk Anywhere was Saturday, and it is MONDAY,
December 21st, from 6-7PM.
Related CBC article (LINK ONLY):
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-howlan-road-power-line-1.5825654
best to find a better map of the
area to enhance reading Herb's letter:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: King must divert
high voltage lines - The Guardian Letter to the Editor
Published
on Thursday, December 17th, 2020, in
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/letter-to-the-editor-king-must-divert-high-voltage-lines-532247/
Wind-powered electricity is a renewable resource that could
benefit all Islanders in their homes and businesses by creating jobs and
providing an alternative to fossil fuels to do our part in countering global
warming. However, acquiring and transmitting wind-generated electric power must
respect and receive social license from residents most affected by the development
of the resource.
In 2006, the
government of then-Premier Pat Binns allowed the establishment of a high
voltage power line to transmit power from the West Cape wind farm along parts
of Routes 142, 144, 147 and 143 in western P.E.I. The line ran along the
highway through the communities of Springfield West, Haliburton, Forest View
and Howlan.
Following
compelling appeals from residents, in 2008 the Ghiz government diverted part of
the high voltage line away from Howlan, joining a non-inhabited corridor to
Summerside, but left most of the line that remains in parts of Springfield
West, Haliburton and Forest View. Close to fifty dwellings, housing almost
three times as many residents continue to have the high voltage power line
along the highway adjacent to their homes.
Many residents
in these communities have health concerns, and their property values may be
compromised due to the presence of high voltage power lines. Although debate
exists in scientific circles as to health risks for those near high power
lines, a responsible government should follow the precautionary principle and
avoid risk to the people they claim to represent.
The King
government must heed the legitimate concerns of rural Islanders and correct the
failures of previous governments by ordering complete diversion of the West
Cape wind farm high voltage transmission line and allow meaningful consultation
for any further development.
Herb Dickieson,
O’Leary
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNei. From April 7,
1984.
Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, tonight 7:30PM until Saturday
about 6:30PM
Starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny
Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, and Vladimir Ognovenko, conducted by
Valery Gergiev. From October 23, 2010. Was Boris good enough? Watch
and determine for yourself. Rene Pape is certainly brilliant.
Global Chorus essay for December 18
Maude Barlow
With all my heart I believe that hope is a moral imperative. I could not do my
work otherwise.
However, if truth be told, there are days when it is hard to hold on to this
place of hope. A friend says she is numbed by “apocalypse fatigue.” Not me.
Every new study on Arctic melting, species extinction and water depletion
invades my soul.
Is there a way past the current crisis? Yes, there is. But it lies on a
different path from the dominant economic and development model of our time.
Growth, deregulation, privatization, free markets, more stuff travelling
farther with fewer barriers – that is the dominant political narrative
currently driving most governments, the big-business community and global
institutions. It is killing the planet and disenfranchising billions.
An important recent study found that the global trade in food is consuming the
bulk of the world’s water heritage and depleting groundwater far faster than it
can be replenished. One American environmentalist said that unlimited growth
has the same DNA as the cancer cell. It has to turn on its host to survive. Now
we are being told that unless we place a price on Nature and bring it into the
market economy, it will not survive.
The way forward lies with an alternative narrative. Instead of seeing Nature as
a “resource” for our convenience, pleasure and profit, we need to see it as a
living ecosystem from which all life springs, and adapt our lives and laws to
those of the natural world. That means challenging the growth imperative and
moving to more local economies of scale. It means recognizing that Nature has
rights too. Conservation, preservation, biological diversity, co-operation,
local sustainable food production, fair trade, economic justice, public trust:
these are the hallmarks of the path forward.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales says the goal must be to live well, not to live
better than others. Listen to the Earth.
Listen to the ancient peoples. The answers lie there.
—
Maude Barlow, national chair of the Council of Canadians, chair of
Washington-based Food and Water Watch, author of Blue Covenant: The
Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water and Blue Future:
Protecting Water for People and the Planet Forever
The treasure that is
Maude has recently stepped down from her role as Honourary Chair of the Council
of Canadians.
https://canadians.org/maude
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 17, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Announcements:
Fruit Trees from the Legacy Garden at the P.E.I. Farm
Centre:
We are making a wholesale order for fruit trees from Southern
Ontario and want to share the benefit of a reduced rate with those who are
looking to plant fruit trees in the spring on PEI! The varieties that we have
selected are known to be disease resistant, cold hardy, and grow well in
backyards, orchards, and farmland! These trees will make a great Christmas
present this season!
Even if you don’t have space for a tree, there is always space
in the Legacy Garden where you can see your tree thrive in our edible forest,
or in our Memorial Garden (where trees and bushes, and plants can be planted in
memory of a loved one).
The
deadline for orders is December 30th, 2020, and the trees are expected arrive in PEI in mid-June. Apple
trees will arrive on PEI about 10 inches tall and are $12/tree + HST. Peach
trees will arrive 4-5 feet tall and are $30/tree + HST.
You can place your order here: https://forms.gle/W8CGqC1XzKw9RsyCA
This is a fundraiser for the Farm Centre's Legacy Garden, and
you can find out more about the garden here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WpORz4A51g&t=4s
----------------
Community Food Questionnaire from the City of Charlottetown
Deadline
is December 18th (I think)
"There are only three more days to answer the
Charlottetown Food Council’s Community Food Questionnaire! This survey is
intended to collect important information about Charlottetown’s food
environment and to identify food-related assets in the city. Additionally, the
results of this survey will be compared to those of a similar survey, which was
launched prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, to gain insight into the way the
pandemic has affected the food system in Charlottetown.
All residents are encouraged to participate. The survey will only take a few minutes to complete and all
participants will be entered to win a fruit tree from Van Kampen’s!
For more information on the Charlottetown Food Council, visit www.charlottetown.ca/foodcouncil
--------------------------------
An Islander has
started a Facebook group to showcase locations of people's spectacular PEI Christmas lights,
including a map, which is the first pinned post. Lots of photos of
displays, too.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2204752023184831
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The River Clyde
Pageant has highlighted magic in simple things and endured during challenging
times. They have a lovely idea for celebrating the Solstice:
Saturday,
December 21st:
River Clyde Solstice
Walk, 6-7PM, *Everywhere*
The River Clyde Solstice Walk celebrates the promise of light on
the darkest day of the year. On December 21st from 6-7pm, wherever you live, we
invite you to step into the darkness with a flame, light, or lantern, and walk
with us to invoke the return of the sun.
As we take our lanterns alone into the dark, we will see the
lights of friends and neighbours stretching out, before us and behind us into
the year’s last long night.
The Winter Solstice reminds us of the cycle of renewal and the
potential for change as we emerge from the darkness. In the midst of the
pandemic and the climate crisis, we offer this Solstice Walk to illuminate our
capacity for transformation, through our attention and our presence, together
and apart.
Share your light with us by using the hashtag #riverclydesolsticewalk
The River Clyde Pageant has created a series of video tutorials
on lantern building for anyone who wants to build their own lantern using red
osier dogwood, willow, wire and old bedsheets. We invite you to construct a
lantern using this technique or any other technique and bring your light out
into the world.
Video 1: https://youtu.be/JiwPAZXLzz0
Video 2: https://youtu.be/Cmq0g9qQe7I
Video 3: https://youtu.be/3JRRyhNIys4
We encourage everyone to wear a mask and practice social
distancing on your walk to keep our communities safe.
This walk is a project of The River Clyde Pageant, a
large-scale, community-led, outdoor spectacle in New Glasgow, PEI. To find out
more about our work, visit www.riverclydepageant.com
GUEST OPINION: P.E.I. water issue is not
urban versus rural - The Guardian Op-ed
by Gary Schneider, Ann Wheatley and Don Mazer
Published on
Wednesday, December 16th, 2020
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/guest-opinion-pei-water-issue-is-not-urban-versus-rural-531733/
It is disturbing to hear the genuine public concern over
high-capacity wells being deliberately misinterpreted as “urban versus rural”
and as an attack against farmers. The Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward
Island has been working for years to usher in a new era of water protection and
conservation, and never once have we opposed farmers. Farmers are important to
the economic and social health of the province.
What we have
consistently opposed is the form of industrial agriculture that continues to
result in fish kills and anoxic events, reduced water levels in streams and
depleted levels of organic matter in soils.
Many excellent
farmers in the province realize that a healthy environment is critical to their
future existence. To paint this issue as farmers versus non-farmers does them a
disservice.
Members of the National
Farmers Union (NFU) have long advocated for better management practices. Doug
Campbell, P.E.I.’s NFU district director, was recently quoted as saying: “Why
do we have no organic matter in our soil? The reason for that is because of the
way the land is being farmed. Why is that? Because of pressure from
industrialized farming.”
We’ve also had
conversations with other farmers who are very concerned about the direction of
potato farming and the influence of the Irving family, which is where the push
for high-capacity wells is coming from. Clearly, not all farmers want or could
afford high-capacity wells. But their voices are seldom heard.
In 2013, the
P.E.I. Potato Board and Cavendish Farms asked the P.E.I. government to lift a
long-standing moratorium on high-capacity wells in the province. Indirectly,
this led to the development of a new Water Act. During the public process to
develop the act, there were 57 presentations, along with written submissions
from a diverse range of groups and individuals, and from industry. The vast
majority of these presentations wanted the moratorium on high-capacity wells to
be kept in place. This was also the recommendation in the environmental
advisory committee report on the meetings.
Unfortunately,
the Water Act passed in 2017 has yet to be proclaimed, and the revised
regulations still have not been released for public comment. During this time,
there have been a number of new holding ponds developed that would not be
permitted under the draft regulations. We need to enact the Water Act, to
maintain the high-capacity wells moratorium, and prohibit holding
ponds.
But we also need
to find a way out of the unsustainable cycle we’re in. Climate change will
likely bring hotter and drier summers. The need for irrigating potatoes will be
greatest when water is less and less available, and when the need for water to
maintain ecosystem health is the greatest. At the same time that more water is
needed for agriculture, we should be taking less.
More
high-capacity wells will only enable this increasingly unsustainable cycle. We
need to find ways of doing agriculture differently.
Considering water
as a common good and a public trust requires all of us to conserve and protect
it. Water should not be seen as a resource, simply to be extracted and
exploited, but as an essential part of living ecosystems that support all life.
It is imperative that respect for protecting fresh water be at the forefront of
decision-making when it comes to water extraction. P.E.I. is one of only a
small number of places entirely dependent upon groundwater. This makes P.E.I.
unique and also vulnerable to any disturbance in the ecosystem.
And clearly, all
water use is not equal. Humans need clean drinking water and that should be our
first priority. Ecosystem health should always be a priority since it must be
preserved in part to provide the life-giving essence mentioned above. Domestic
use and emergency use for firefighting are next. Agriculture and industry are
generally far down the priority list for access to water.
Islanders are
once again at a crossroads. We can be ever more committed to an industrial model
of agriculture, with more water usage, larger fields, less and less soil
organic matter, shrinking windbreaks, continuing fish kills and anoxic
conditions, fewer farmers on larger acreages, and a small number of jobs
created per acre.
Or we can look at
truly becoming the Garden of the Gulf, with excellent drinking water, food
security and tremendous employment opportunities (as our organic growers and
innovative small and large farmers have demonstrated throughout the pandemic).
All Islanders would live in a healthy environment that continued to improve,
and we would become a haven for tourists looking for a beautiful, safe and
sustainable place to visit.
Wouldn’t it be
wonderful to be able to say we are Canada’s Food Island without having dead
fish in the water? And, especially in an era of escalating climate change, it
is good for all of us to remember that no one, and nothing, lives without clean
water.
Gary Schneider,
Ann Wheatley and Don Mazer represent the Environmental Coalition of P.E.I.
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Berlioz’s Les
Troyens, tonight until 6:30PM
Starring Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Karen Cargill, Bryan Hymel, Eric Cutler,
Dwayne Croft, and Kwangchoul Youn, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From January 5,
2013. Trojan Horse, the Fall of Troy, the regal refugees take refuge in
Carthage and cause tragedy. But the singing!
Zandonai’s Francesca
da Rimini, tonight 7:30PM until Friday about 6:30PM
Starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNei. From April 7,
1984. In a version of a story by Dante, Francesca is promised to the
horrid eldest brother, but she loves the middle brother, and there's a younger
brother who loves her, too. It ends badly, but the singing!
Global Chorus essay for December 17
Jonathon Button
Within every individual there is a need to give and contribute to the greater
of humankind. We all want to make a difference. The main hurdle is that most of
us don’t know where to start. Through education, society can further understand
what the biggest issues are. Through understanding these problems, individuals
can break them down into smaller obstacles which can be attacked.
With Life Out of the Box, we have been on an evolving adventure throughout
Third World countries searching for these issues and understanding the source
of them. What we have found is that many of those in need simply lack the tools
to further develop into the person they want to become, which would lead them
to further contributing to society and helping humanity. Without knowledge, it
is impossible for the world to understand the problems, which results in a lack
of action.
Life Out of the Box is dedicated to inspiring people to get out there, explore
the world, learn and then take action towards making a difference. It is easy
to think out of the box, but the key is making it happen and actually living
your Life Out of the Box to make the world a better place for all. Thoughts and
ideas are a necessary step towards accomplishing the goal, but they are nothing
without actually taking the steps towards making them a reality.
I have great faith in the future. As the world is becoming more connected
through social media, the understanding of the world becomes more clear and
enables individuals to recognize the needs that must be addressed in order to
ensure our existence. Through this new awareness, we can reflect on our actions
and understand how they are currently contributing in a positive or negative
way to the globe. Life is great. It should never be taken for granted and
together we must contribute towards ensuring that all living species can
experience this precious gift.
— Jonathon
Button, co-founder of Life Out of the Box
www.lifeoutofthebox.com
which includes
encouraging and uplifting podcasts from Quinn and Jonathon Button, something
they have just started recording again
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 16, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Condolences to the family of Muriel Allen, a sparkling and
indomitable spirit, who passed away yesterday at 88. Especially noteworthy in a noteworthy life, of "...teaching
at a one room school as a young woman to being a vital member of the P.E.I.
Library Service’s Bookmobile team from 1972 to 1993." Stories that
have been explored and should continue to be shared, of super Island women.
Some Act Local and Think Global notes today:
Local Food option:
The Farmacy
Vegetable Market, 3-6PM, 152 Great George Street, Charlottetown. Vegetables
and ferments from Heart Beet Organics and others. Order ahead suggested:
https://heartbeetorganics.ca/
------------------------------
The deadline is today to submit a nomination.

Some retail options:
Love Local PEI
https://lovelocalpei.ca/blog/love-local-20-stocking-stuffers-ideas-for-20-or-under/
This website is sponsored by a lot of local Chambers of Commerce and has news
and lots of ideas for supporting local businesses, especially this holiday
season.
About the Monsieur
Vrac store, with the gumption of opening a reusable non-waste
container store in Charlottetown during a pandemic:
https://monsieurvrac.com/en/home/
https://www.facebook.com/monsieurvraccharlottetown/
Climate
Justice:
Greenpeace Canada
asks:
Now is the time to build a powerful people-powered
response that brings us together, provides care for our communities, restores
nature and reshapes what is politically possible. Climate
justice means acting on the climate crisis in a way that builds equity and
respects everyone’s human rights.
How can we
make this happen? Help
build political pressure and power by emailing your MP and Cabinet ministers
now.
Link for petition
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Wagner’s Lohengrin, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar, and John
Macurdy. From January 10, 1986.
Berlioz’s Les
Troyens, 7:30PM
tonight until 6:30PM Thursday
Starring Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Karen Cargill, Bryan Hymel, Eric Cutler,
Dwayne Croft, and Kwangchoul Youn, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From January 5,
2013. Cassandra, Dido and Aeneas -- pretty dramatic stuff and amazing
stars.
With mythical elements of both Cassandra and Wonder Woman,
today's Global Chorus essay
is by Atossa Soltani, founder and now Executive Director of Amazon Watch.
about her:
https://amazonwatch.org/about/staff-and-board
Amazon Watch
documents what is really going on in the region.
from:
https://amazonwatch.org/work
Protecting
the Amazon and our climate by supporting Indigenous peoples
Since
1996, Amazon Watch has protected the rainforest and advanced the rights of
Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with Indigenous and
environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate
accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems.
Our work is
focused on three main priorities:
Stop Amazon Destruction | Advance Indigenous Solutions | Support Climate
Justic
Here is there most
recent news posting/year's wrap-up:
https://amazonwatch.org/news/2020/1210-resisting-another-record-breaking-year-of-deforestation-and-destruction-in-the-brazilian-amazon
Global Chorus essay for December 16
Atossa Soltani
We stand at the crossroads of history, where our collective actions over the
next decade will determine the fate of humanity for the next millennia. At
present, we are crossing many tipping points and face multiple crises, the most
alarming being global climate chaos. I believe we have no choice but to change
course to ensure that future generations will inherit a livable world.
Many indigenous peoples hold as their aspiration to be “good ancestors” to
future generations. I believe that if we are to survive, this must now become
our collective aspiration. To have lasting change, we need to reshape our
values and worldviews. Growing numbers of us realize the dire need for rapid
systemic change. However, the majority continue living in a business as usual
mindset, in what could be called collective denial.
Indigenous peoples represent only 4 per cent of the world’s population, but
their territories hold 80 per cent of the Earth’s biodiversity. From these
guardians we can learn how to hold all life sacred and live in greater balance
with Nature.
The ecosystems of the planet that produce our oxygen, water, rainfall and soils
are key to our survival. Safeguarding and restoring the planet’s remaining
forests, mangroves, coral reefs and other productive ecosystems is a critical
priority. And dismantling global corporate economic domination and bringing
back responsive government is a prerequisite. We can bring the world to embrace
local traditional food systems, decentralize energy production, cut overall
resource consumption, phase out fossil fuels, overhaul our transportation
systems and improve the condition of women and the poor to stabilize our
population.
We have the knowledge, the understanding, the creativity and the technology to
act in time. The people who understand this urgency need to step into
leadership and make it their life’s work to transform and recreate our world.
There is the analogy of when the U.S. was on the eve of the Second World War
and called on its citizenry to join the war effort and the majority did,
helping the U.S. significantly retool its economy in under a year. That’s what
we need now. All hands on deck!
—
Atossa Soltani, founder and executive director of Amazon Watch
The
Green Interview, with dear Silver Donald Cameron and Atossa (about 7 minutes):
https://thegreeninterview.com/interview/soltani-atossa/
from January 2014:
Summary:
Atossa Soltani,
founder and director of Amazon Watch, a US-based organization that works to
protect the Amazon rainforest and support its indigenous peoples. Media
strategist, photographer and filmmaker, she leads campaigns to force
international corporations to raise their environmental and social standards.
In this
exclusive Green Interview, Atossa Soltani discusses Amazon Watch, the
organization she founded in 1996 that works to protect the rainforest and advance
the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. She also discusses the
ongoing legal battles in support of indigenous people who are either resisting
oil exploration in their territories or fighting for compensation as a result
of pollution. Soltani also discusses her recent involvement with a global
movement calling for rights of nature.
Amazon
Watch
In 1996, while
Atossa Soltani was working as a campaign director for Rainforest Action
Network, she confronted Brazilian President Cardoso, who was addressing the
United Nations, about deforestation in the Amazon. As Cardoso was leaving she
managed to stop him for about 20 seconds and protest his plans to build roads
through the Amazon. In this Green Interview, Soltani recalls the
pivotal moment after Cardoso got into his limousine, leaving her with an
audience of 20-30 journalists doing an “impromptu press conference.” When they
asked her who she was she says she “took a deep breath and said Amazon Watch! I
just made up the name at the time and the next day it was all over the
newspapers: “Amazon Watch Confronts the Brazilian President.”
Resisting
Oil Exploration
In Ecuador, Amazon
Watch supports a court case to hold the U.S oil
company Chevron accountable for the dumping of 18 billion US
gallons of toxic waste water into a region of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest
inhabited by more than 30,000 people – purported to be one of the largest oil
related contaminations ever. Amazon Watch is also involved in Peru, where it’s
a plaintiff in a case against U.S oil company Occidental for its damage to the
rainforest and where it also supports the indigenous Achuar people in resisting
oil exploration on their lands by Talisman, a Canadian oil company as well as
the Argentinian company Pluspetrol. It is also active in struggles against oil
companies in Colombia and Brazil. Amazon Watch also supports a school
that trains indigenous leaders how to defend their rights against oil and
mining companies.
Rights
of Nature
Atossa Soltani is
also involved in the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, where in 2014
she was one of 8 “judges” in the world’s first ethics Tribunal on Rights of
Nature in Quito, Ecuador, the first country to recognize the rights of nature
in its constitution. The Tribunal is planned to be a permanent platform for
hearing and judging cases from around the world. Seven specific cases were
presented to the Tribunal including the B.P Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, over which Soltani presided.
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 15, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Local Food options:
Charlottetown
Farmers' Market 2GO, order by noon today for Thursday afternoon pickup:
https://cfm2go.localfoodmarketplace.com/
Eat Local PEI order
by Wednesday, details here:
https://www.localline.ca/eatlocalpei
Heart Beet Organics,
order online today until tomorrow morning for pickup Wednesday aftenroon.
https://heartbeetorganics.ca/the-farmacy
If you want to get the P.E.I.
Government's news releases/ subscription service (and see how
little CBC and The
Guardian do before they publish them ;-) haha
subscribe via the button on this page:
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/service/subscribe-to-government-subscription-service
This newsletter writer has no claims
of depth of knowledge on the housing situation, but there still seems to be a
Wild West scrabble of projects proposed, and certainly a lack of a cohesive
plan on the City of Charlottetown's part. Here is approval --citing the
housing shortage as rationale-- of an apartment building near a bus stop, with
a promise for greenspace and some "affordable units", but right
between a Maritime Electric substation and Seafood Express trucking centre, and
against its own planning and heritage committee's recommendation...
Charlottetown
council rejects planning board recommendation, approves apartment project on
Sherwood Road - The Guardian article by Dave Stewart
Published on
Tuesday, December 15th, 2020
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/charlottetown-council-rejects-planning-board-recommendation-approves-apartment-project-on-sherwood-road-531100/
Charlottetown city council tried to put a dent in the housing
crisis by approving four separate projects Monday, including one that went
against the wishes of its planning board.
At the regular
public monthly meeting, council voted 6-1 against a resolution to reject a
rezoning request from Arsenault Bros. for the property at 18-2 Sherwood Road,
which puts it next to the Seafood Express plant. Council subsequently passed a
resolution to approve the project.
Councillors
Mitchell Tweel, Alanna Jankov, Greg Rivard, Terry Bernard, Kevin Ramsay and Bob
Doiron voted against rejecting the application while Coun. Mike Dufffy, who
chairs council’s standing committee on planning and heritage, voted in favour.
Coun. Terry MacLeod declared a conflict and abstained from the vote.
The developer was
asking council to rezone the land from industrial to commercial in order to
construct two apartment buildings that will result in a total of 186 units.
Prior to the
meeting, David Arsenault with Arsenault Bros. posted on social media that 10
per cent of the units would be affordable (geared to income), accessible,
pet-friendly and would be marketed as long-term rental units. “City planning
says nay due to a perceived shortage of industrial land in the city that
(should be) preserved for industrial uses,’’ Arsenault said in a social media
post that included an overhead photo showing other nearby apartments.
Duffy said the
board and the city’s planning staff are concerned with the fact the property is
located next to a Maritime Electric substation.
Rivard argued
that the land was zoned for many as-of-right uses, meaning a developer could,
for example, come along and build a daycare, a far less attractive use for the
property. Rivard, the previous chairman of planning, also pointed out that the
developer has been very eager to work with the city, that the property is close
to a T3 Transit stop.
Jankov said the
planning and heritage committee was very torn on the issue. She was impressed
with Arsenault’s willingness to work with the city, such as adding more
greenspace and a playground.
Following a
question from a councillor, Alex Forbes, manager of the planning department,
urged council, if it ultimately voted in favour of the project, to require the
developer to sign a development agreement. That requires the developer to
follow through on the offer of things such as additional greenspace and a
playground. In the end, council attached the development agreement to their
approval of the project.
Forbes added that
Maritime Electric is opposed to the project. He said the utility doesn’t want
to have to deal with complaints from residents down the road in regard to its
substation. “I think their primary concern is they invested heavily in’’ that
property, Forbes said.
Tweel and Doiron
spoke highly of the developer, the need for additional housing in the city, the
affordable housing portion of the development and Arsenault’s willingness to
work with City Hall.
-30-
Congrats to Dante!
P.E.I.'s first Black human rights commissioner
hoping to make a difference - CBC News online article by
Shane Ross
Published on Monday,
December 14th, 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-first-black-commissioner-human-rights-commission-1.5840857
Danté Bazard says he is hoping to bring a new lens to
the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission. Bazard, who has a master's
degree in clinical criminology from the U.K. and studied psychology at UPEI, is
the human rights commission's first Black commissioner.
He is one of six
commissioners, plus the chair. He officially began his duties about a week
ago. The commission is an independent agency that is responsible for
administering and enforcing the P.E.I. Human Rights Act.
Bazard, who is
originally from the Bahamas, said he faced racism when he came to P.E.I.
several years ago. He said he has been called the N-word and told he should
only date Black women. He has been working on human rights issues ever since.
He is a co-founder of BIPOC USHR and has been part of
the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I. Bazard is hoping his appointment
will make a difference. "Now, you'll be able to have that lens when
looking at human rights issues on P.E.I. that wasn't there before, and that
will also bring together the BIPOC community when it comes to reporting human
rights and being able to receive justice."
Commissioners are
appointed by members of the P.E.I. Legislature's standing committee on health
and social development. Commissioners oversee the operations of the commission
and conduct panel hearings when required.
Bazard said he
is looking forward to the challenge. "Being the first Black person
in the position, it's definitely a lot of responsibility," he said.
"But just even being on the commission itself is a lot of responsibility.
Human rights is not an easy issue to even talk about, let alone to do good
work. But I am equipped, able and ready, and I am very confident in the current
team."
-30-
More about the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission:
https://www.peihumanrights.ca/home
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila, today until 6:30PM
Starring Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov, and
Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. From October 20, 2018.
Wagner’s Lohengrin,
tonight 7:30PM until Wednesday about 6:30PM
Starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar, and John
Macurdy. From
January 10, 1986. 3 hours 45 minutes
Although one feels the dark clouds
of the last couple of years on democracy and transparency....
Global Chorus essay for December 15
David Jewitt
Some historical perspective: up until 500 years ago you, as a citizen, would
understand the world through the words of an authority figure. It could be a
king or an emperor, or perhaps a religious leader in charge of a rigid system
of permissible thoughts, questions and actions. Your authority figure would
lack any real understanding of the world, but he (it was almost always a “he”)
would point to the writings of the ancients, perhaps to Aristotle, to Confucius
or to something in the Bible, as the ultimate basis of his authority. Nobody
could see the world clearly under those circumstances.
Since then most authoritarian political and religious systems have cracked,
allowing our two great inventions of modern science and practical democracy to
blossom. The all-wise leader is replaced by the idea that truth can best be
found through insightful observation accompanied by critical reasoning and free
thought. The world still has religion, and a few fading dictatorships persist,
but there is no serious doubt that science and democracy are transcendent.
So, 500 years ago I would have doubted our chances for the future, but today I
am extremely optimistic. For the first time in recorded history, our eyes are
open to the world, giving us enormous power both to appreciate its beauty and
to identify and address its problems. We have never been more perceptive, more
powerful or more capable. We have never been better placed to determine our own
future on this planet than we are now.
-----
David Jewitt, Professor of Astronomy at University of California, Los Angeles
https://www.planetary.org/profiles/david-jewitt
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 14, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Local Food:
Organic Veggie Delivery, last order before the
Holidays,
due tonight for
delivery Thursday.
More details at:
https://organicveggiedelivery.com/
Tonight:
"Ask me Forum", with Provincial
Green Party MLAs Lynne Lund, Steven Howard, Ole Hammarlund and Karla Bernard,
7PM, Zoom
"Got a question for our Green MLAs? The "Ask Me"
forum is your opportunity to pose your questions directly to Green Party deputy
leader and Shadow Critic for Environment, Water and Climate Change and for
Green Economic Development Lynne Lund; Shadow Critic for Transportation,
Infrastructure, and Energy, and for Justice and Public Safety, Steve Howard;
Shadow Critic for Education & Lifelong Learning, and for the Status of
Women, Karla Bernard; and Shadow Critic for Tourism & Culture Ole
Hammarlund.
This 1-hour long forum will take place via Zoom."
Please click THIS LINK to register:
Facebook event link
for more details
-----------------------------------------
Deadline for
applications:
Wednesday, December
16th, 2020

Here is the general
government page for the PEI Wildlife Conservation Fund, and here is
the organization's own website, which the About page has more about the Fund
Committee membership.
http://www.peiwcf.ca/
"The Christmas Star of
2020", explained:
Atlantic
Skies "A
Timeless Gift"
- by Glenn K. Roberts
I'm going to jump
ahead slightly to the early part of the week of Dec. 21, 2020. As my column
gets published in different papers throughout the Maritimes on different days,
I'm not exactly sure what day you, my readers, actually see my article. I want
to make sure, ahead of time, that you get to see a very special, actually rare,
celestial event which will occur on Dec. 21. If you have
children/grandchildren, you may want to take them out to see it as well;
you'll understand why shortly.
As you may have
been noticing, the planets Jupiter and Saturn have been drawing closer to one
another in the evening sky since last summer. When two celestial bodies in
space appear to be close to one another (although, in fact, they are still
millions of kilometers apart), it is referred to as a "conjunction".
Approximately every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn experience what is called a
"great conjunction", when they are at their closest to one another in
the sky. On Dec. 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will be at their
closest great conjunction (0.1 degrees, as seen from Earth) to each other since
1226. There was a great conjunction between the two planets in 1623, but that
conjunction occurred when the two planets were very close to the Sun, and
the conjunction wasn't observed. This makes the great conjunction on the
21st the closest one seen in nearly 800 years. The next great conjunction
won't be until Mar.15, 2080. Thus, my recommendation of taking your
children/grandchildren out with you to see this one. You can then tell
them that, when they see the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 2080,
they can think of you, and remember sharing this rare celestial event together.
Now that is a timeless gift, indeed.
Although the great
conjunction itself (0.1 degrees separation) actually occurs at 2:30 p.m.
on the 21st, you can still observe the conjunction (there won't be
any appreciable difference in separation) in the early evening sky just after
sunset. The two planets will appear to the unaided eye as a single
"star" low (about 12 degrees) above the southwest horizon (find an
unobstructed view of the horizon if you can) by about 5:15 p.m.; binoculars or
a small scope will separate the two planets, with Saturn being the fainter one.
You will have to be quick though, as both planets will disappear below the
horizon shortly before 7 p.m. Don't worry, however, if you miss the
near-actual great conjunction on the 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will remain
visible (less than the diameter of the Full Moon apart) low above the southwest
horizon just after sunset until Dec. 25.
Heading towards
superior conjunction (passing behind the Sun as seen from Earth) on Dec. 20,
Mercury cannot be observed, but will reappear in the southwest evening sky in
January 2021. Venus (mag. -3.95) is likewise shifting closer to the Sun
with each passing week, and is now only visible around 5:45 a.m. in the eastern
sky before fading from view when dawn breaks around 7:30 a.m.. Mars (mag.
-0.70), though slowly fading, is still visible in the early evening sky around
4:55 p.m., reaching a height of 52 degrees in the southern sky before dropping
below 8 degrees above the western horizon by 1:40 a.m.. Jupiter (mag. -2.0) and
Saturn (mag. +0.64), moving ever closer to one another, are visible in
the early evening sky. Jupiter is visible around 4:50 p.m.,16 degrees
above the southwest horizon, and Saturn around 5:10 p.m.,15 degrees above the
southwest horizon; both planets will have set by 7:15 p.m.. Watch the crescent
Moon slide passed the planets Dec. 16 - 17. Don't forget their "great
conjunction" on the evening of Dec. 21.
Until next week,
clear skies.
Events:
Dec. 14 - New Moon
15 - Moon at perihelion
21 - "Great Conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn (just after sunset)
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
John Corigliano’s The
Ghosts of Versailles, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Teresa Stratas, Håkan Hagegård, Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn
Horne, and Renée Fleming. From January 10, 1992.
Week 40
Theme: Epic
Proportions
Supplementary
content—including synopses, articles, and more—is available here.
Saint-Saëns’ Samson
et Dalila,
Monday 7:30PM until Tuesday about 6:30PM
From October 20, 2018. The same guy who did "Carnival of the
Animals"? Yes. "A towering biblical epic, Saint-Saëns’s operatic take
on the story of Samson and Delilah has many of the hallmarks of grand
opera—show-stopping vocal displays, thrilling choruses, and an engrossing plot
set against a sweeping, pseudo-historical backdrop....Tenor Roberto Alagna is
the heroic Samson, who ultimately falls victim to the seductive power of
Dalila—the captivating mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča. Bass-baritone Laurent
Naouri sings the sinister High Priest of Dagon, with conductor Sir Mark Elder
on the podium."
good stuff...
Global Chorus essay for December 14
Christy Morgan
The easiest way to make the greatest impact on the environment is through our
diet.
Agriculture and factory farms create more greenhouse gases than the
transportation industry. Also, our desire for quick, packaged food and produce
that is not seasonal to our region creates a heavy drain on our precious
resources. Use your dollars more wisely by choosing whole foods over packaged,
organic over conventional and local over transported. These choices are more
healthful in the long run for you and your family.
Visit your local farmers market to see what’s in season during the year. You
may discover some new and exciting vegetables you’ve never tried before! The
most important thing we can do for our health and the health of the planet is
to eat a diet rich in natural, whole foods. Eat foods in all the colours of the
rainbow. Kale, lettuce and celery for green; carrots, yams and oranges for
orange; eggplant for purple; cabbage, strawberries and apples for red;
pineapple, squash and grains for yellow; grapefruit for pink; beans for brown;
cauliflower, daikon and tofu for white. Fruits and vegetables that are
beautifully coloured are rich in antioxidant elements that protect us from free
radicals and make our health soar.
Start by adding in the good stuff and then crowd out the things that aren’t
serving your greater good. A balanced, whole food, plant-based diet can give
you the energy you need to make your body, mind and spirit happy as well as
nourish the planet!
—
Christy Morgan, vegan chef, educator, author of Blissful Bites:
Vegan Meals That Nourish Mind, Body and Planet
https://blissfulandfit.com/
________________
essay from:
Global
Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca December 13, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
There is no
Artisans' Christmas Market at the Charlottetown Farmers' Market today.
(Perhaps creative thinking and
back-up plans could have made it possible to figure out an on-line version --
like a shopping channel-type event -- that could salvage some sales. And there
still is another full weekend before Christmas....)
--------------
Tonight (if you are already bored of holiday movies ;-)
Sunday,
December 13th:
Webinar on
"Electoral Reform Referendums: A path to informed decision-making?",
8-9:30PM AT,
Register info here
Climate Change:
And while many of us appreciate Justin Trudeau's stance for fighting climate
change (announced Friday), and realize he is getting backlash, there are still
the young people who wisely and sadly challenge us to get our act together:
Greta Thunberg,
Saturday, December 12th, 2020:
Today at the UN #ClimateAmbitionSummit our leaders celebrate their shameless
loopholes, their empty words, their distant insufficient targets and their
theft and destruction of present and future living conditions - calling it
"ambition".
There are no climate leaders.
The only ones who can change this are you and me. All of us,
together.
#FightFor1Point5
Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who
was 12 years old in 1992, at the Rio UN Climate Summit, appealed to the leaders
there. (A part of it is featured in today's Global Chorus essay by Raffi.)
A talented team has made a animation of her speech (to be available on-line
soon), the trailer of which is here:
Only
A Child (trailer)
https://vimeo.com/410300326

Severn (now 40) is, of course, still working on climate issues:
https://severncullissuzuki.com/
And about that pipeline the Canadian government now owns, and about that police
force that appears "to serve and protect"* something other than
people...and the familiarity with our own small resistance to the poor
judgement and needless destruction of the Plan B highway....
Here is news about a sweet, positive group of people in British Columbia,
working to delay the TMX pipeline, and the developments this week.
(and thanks to Marilyn for bring it to my attention).
A 9 minute video -- and
they ask that you share it to bring greater awareness.
Cottonwood Treehouse Video
and the news reporting (LINK ONLY): https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/police-clear-out-burnaby-protest-camp-as-tmx-construction-starts-3169747
Police clear out Burnaby protest camp as TMX
construction starts- BurnabyNow article by Dustin Godfery
Contractors
for Trans Mountain showed up Wednesday morning to begin work near the Brunette
River
Published on
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020
------------------------
Here is a map of the
area, which I haven't really searched around as much as I would
like,
from The Wilderness Committee.
--------------------
*"To Serve
and Protect" is the motto of the Los Angeles Police Department, often used
by other forces.
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Weill’s Rise
and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, today until 6:30PM
Starring Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay, Richard Cassilly, and Cornell MacNeil.
From November 27, 1979.
John Corigliano’s The
Ghosts of Versailles, tonight 7:30PM until Monday about 6:30PM
Starring Teresa Stratas, Håkan Hagegård, Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn
Horne, and Renée Fleming. From January 10, 1992. This infrequently produced
opera is actually part of a trio of storytelling regarding The Barber of Seville.
Global Chorus essay for December 13
Raffi Cavoukian
In
every age, love is redefined. In our time, this will be in terms of what we do
to restore our children’s stolen future. With climate change, the greatest
threat on Earth, the global family needs a survival shift in awareness.
Losing my future is not
like losing an election or a few points on the stock market
… You grownups say you
love us.
But I challenge you,
please, make your actions reflect your words.
— Severn Cullis-Suzuki, age 12 (Rio, 1992)
Every society’s treasure is its young, its promise to a better world. Yet an
uncaring, bottom-line commerce that ignores social and planetary costs is
wreaking havoc. No spiritual tradition condones this abuse of Creation and her
young. The remedy is an integrated vision I call Child Honouring, one that
simultaneously respects Earth and Child.
We can’t overlook what’s known about the Child – humanity’s foremost learning
system. Being human is not neutral: infants must learn to feel their loving
nature or founder. Failure is not an option; it scars lifetimes.
Creating the conditions that honour infants’ formative needs is the most
practical way to shape humane and sustainable cultures, ones that grow mature,
resourceful, compassionate individuals. That’s why Child Honouring is a
universal ethic to enrich life for generations.
Fast forward a Copernican shift in consciousness: from the “childism” prejudice
of societies centred on adults to a child-honouring world in which the
early-years ecology benefits all. For our survival, Godspeed a new peacemaking
economy, a “bionomy” to revive “global chi.”
Each of us can be a change-maker. Shun ideology. Embrace radical inquiry.
Empower your inner 8-year-old to free your heart’s most generous impulses. Live
along your highest spiritual values. Honour the young.
In the Child, the human face of ecology, we find our refection and infinite
potential. The well-tended garden yearns to yield riches.
—
Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC, singer, author, ecology advocate, founder of the
Centre for Child Honouring
https://raffinews.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 12, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Farmers' Markets are open, but with reduced capacity, so plan for extra time in
line but scooting through as quickly as you can. "Shop, Don't stop!"
so others can get in.
Charlottetown -- 9AM-2PM
Summerside --
9AM-1PM
Summerside
Farmers' Market writes:
Our Market is still open every Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM,
with the following restrictions as set out by the department of Health:
All food vendors are now takeout only. Our seating area will
be closed to the public so we ask that you take your food and coffee to go.
Also, our market capacity has been cut in half, which means
you may run into longer wait times at the door. Not optimal given the colder
weather. Please be mindful
once inside the market, that others may be waiting outside to get in and cannot
do so until you leave. We ask that socializing be done outside ( Bah humbug!)
Once again, We invite you to contact your favourite vendors
in advance and make special arrangements to decrease your chances of being left
in the cold!
We thank you all for your continued support during these
trying times."
Heart Beet Organics Market/order pickup,
9AM-1PM (store and food for take-out open
until 6PM)
No Artisan Christmas
Market tomorrow.
Some News from FairVoteCanada:
Today, Saturday, December 12th:
You
can help proportional representation on social media #MakeYourVoice Heard!
On
Saturday, December 12, we are amplifying that impact with a social media day of
action, sharing photos of proportional representation supporters across
Canada with cards (calling for a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform) for Trudeau!
You can follow the action at #MakeYourVoiceHeard
and @FairVoteCanada on Twitter and Instagram. We’ll also be sharing photos
from our Facebook page.
Tomorrow,
Sunday, December 13th:
Webinar on
"Electoral Reform Referendums: A path to informed decision-making?",
8-9:30PM AT, Register info here
"This webinar will do a deep dive into
some of the best research of the last 20 years, looking at the formidable
barriers faced by those fighting for a fair electoral system.
For the second half of the webinar—the question and answers and
discussion—we’ll be joined by Professor Emeritus Lawrence LeDuc. Professor
Leduc is a leading Canadian expert on referendums, with a special emphasis on
electoral reform, who will provide valuable insight based on his decades of
work on this topic."
Register here
The Canadian Parliament has recessed for the holiday break, and yesterday Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau announced (in this well-detailed article in The National Observer): https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/12/11/news/trudeau-new-climate-plan-proposes-carbon-price-hike
Trudeau goes it alone
with new climate plan, proposes carbon price hike - The National Observer article by
Carl Meyers
Published on Friday,
December 11th, 2020
Four years ago, Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau appeared side by side with premiers as he announced a
“pan-Canadian” climate plan. On Friday, he unveiled his new “federal” strategy,
flanked by members of his cabinet.
The difference was
immediately obvious, as Trudeau acknowledged in his remarks how the government
still needed to talk turkey with the provinces and territories. “This plan for
a healthy environment and a healthy economy was developed for the federal government,”
Trudeau said in Ottawa.
“We look forward to
working with the provincial governments and all Canadians as we move forward.”
It was a different
image than the one on Dec. 9, 2016, when Trudeau rolled
out the Pan-Canadian Framework while seated with premiers and talked about
“co-operation and collaboration.”
Most of those premiers
have now changed, and some provinces are now recalcitrant in the face of
Liberal environmental policy, taking the fight over the carbon price all the way to the Supreme Court.
Trudeau, in turn,
couldn't help but play defence when asked what would happen if the Supreme
Court ruled against the federal government.
“There are some
jurisdictions that still don't understand that the only way to build a strong
economy for the future is to protect the environment at the same time,” he
said.
“There are some places
in this country that still want to make pollution free again.”
Carbon
price rising to $170 per tonne
Trudeau’s new climate plan proposes growing the
carbon price, tightening federal rules and injecting $15 billion worth of
initiatives into the economy. His government is hoping that these efforts will
result in steeper cuts to Canada’s carbon pollution that go beyond current
measures.
A key part of the plan
involves accelerating the growth of the carbon price each year. The current
federal carbon pricing system is set at $30 per tonne of greenhouse gas
equivalent, and is designed to rise by $10 per year to $50 per tonne in 2022.
The new plan proposes
that the increase would accelerate in 2023 to $15 more per tonne each year,
reaching $170 per tonne in 2030.
This carbon price
increase would need to be discussed with provinces and territories, said
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
“The pricing proposal
is a proposal. We will be reaching out to discuss with provinces and
territories going forward,” he said.
“We’ve been very clear
as a government that our view is that a price on pollution is the most
efficient way to reduce emissions ... all of the provinces and territories are
aware of that, and that conversation will continue.”
The Pembina Institute
called the “significant” increase in the price a “smart” move.
“This is our most
effective and powerful tool to tackle emissions that are contributing to
climate change that is already costing Canadians billions of dollars,” said
Linda Coady, executive director, and Isabelle Turcotte, federal policy
director.
Meanwhile,
Conservative environment critic Dan Albas called the proposal a broken promise,
and said it was “shameful” the Liberals “failed to properly consult provinces
on their plan.”
“The environment is an
area of shared jurisdiction and Canada’s Conservatives will respect the
jurisdiction of the provinces and territories by scrapping Trudeau’s carbon
tax,” he said.
Alberta’s Environment
Minister Jason Nixon said Friday afternoon that the province would be reviewing
and providing feedback on the federal strategy when draft regulations become
available.
But he took an initial
shot at the plan for a higher carbon price, calling it “yet another attack on
Alberta’s economy and on Alberta’s jurisdiction.”
‘There
is no vaccine against a polluted planet’
Trudeau unveiled the
plan Friday as new federal forecasts showed a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases, raising alarm bells about Canada’s death toll ticking
upwards in the coming weeks.
The prime minister
sought to tie the two crises together in his remarks, telling Canadians that
science is a not a “buffet” where people can “pick and choose” which scientific
conclusions to believe and which to ignore.
“If we trust
scientists with our health, as we do, then we must also trust their research
and their expertise when it comes to other existential threats — and that
includes climate change,” he said. “There is no vaccine against a polluted
planet.”
The $15-billion plan
is broken up into five elements that involve carbon pricing, slashing energy
waste through retrofit programs, boosting zero-emissions vehicles, promoting
hydrogen and other alternative fuels as well as carbon capture technology and
nature-based solutions.
The government is
proposing “adjustments” to the output-based pricing system for large industrial
emitters, as well as strengthening the “benchmark” criteria it uses to evaluate
the strength of provincial carbon pricing systems that it accepts in place of
its own.
As Wilkinson discussed in comments Thursday, it also includes an
attempt to align Canada's “climate and industrial policies” by proposing “performance
standards, investments and incentives” to ensure Canadian businesses are tuned
towards low-carbon products and services.
Climate Action Network
Canada executive director Catherine Abreu said the plan showed Canada was
“finally joining countries representing 50 per cent of global GDP that know
strong economic policy hinges on strong environmental policy.”
“With this plan,
people and communities across Canada can see themselves joining the huge clean
economy that is taking over global markets,” she said.
Other countries,
however, have announced that they are stopping the expansion of fossil fuel
investments, Abreu noted, while Canadian governments “continue to double down
on fossil fuels.”
The plan acknowledges
how greenhouse gas emissions from “Canada’s industrial sector, including oil
and gas production,” are 37 per cent of Canada’s total carbon pollution.
“Working with large final emitters is essential to Canada’s climate goals,” it
says.
Canada’s top 25
highest-emitting facilities represented 118 megatonnes of emissions, reads the
plan. Eight of those are coal-fired power plants, which the government is
moving to phase out by 2030. The remaining 17 “are a mix of oilsands, steel,
refining, and a pipeline.”
Three-quarters of
those 17 facilities are in Alberta, the home of the oilpatch.
“Through targeted
support to large emitters in the oil and gas sector, cement, iron, and steel
sectors, this can enable near-term deployment of technologies to reduce
emissions at the ‘megatonne’ scale,” reads the plan.
‘At
least 85 million tonnes’ of new pollution cuts
The government said
that the new proposed actions, if fully implemented, are projected to result in
emissions reductions of “at least 85 million tonnes” beyond the current
Pan-Canadian Framework.
That would, in theory,
exceed Canada’s current target of 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030,
instead resulting in about a 32 per cent cut to 2005 levels by that date.
Government officials
said this should not be interpreted as Canada’s new official national emissions
reduction target. That will ultimately be informed by the coming engagement
with premiers, Indigenous leaders and others, they said.
Canada is also already
projected to overshoot its current 2030 target by 15 per cent.
“It's good to see
policies that can, if implemented quickly and with the greatest stringency
possible, take Canada's climate ambitions further than our current insufficient
Paris pledge,” said Abreu.
“It is also good to
see a significant investment of $15 billion in climate action. However, these
numbers pale in comparison to commitments being made by our closest trading
partners in the European Union and the United States under a new Biden
administration.”
-30-
Lots of Opera
Saturday:
Radio:
Saturday Afternoon
at the Opera (Metropolitan Opera recording), 1PM, CBC Music 104.7FM
Beethoven’s Fidelio
Performance from April 1, 2017
Sebastian Weigle; Adrianne Pieczonka (Leonore), Hanna-Elisabeth Müller
(Marzelline), Klaus Florian Vogt (Florestan), David Portillo (Jaquino), Greer
Grimsley (Don Pizarro), Falk Struckmann (Rocco), Günther Groissböck (Don
Fernando)
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming -- one of the newest recordings, a live concert,
and one of the oldest recordings, all in a day....
https://www.metopera.org/
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, until Noon today
Starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick
Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker, and Donovan Singletary, conducted by
David Robertson. From February 1, 2020.
Afternoon ticketed performance live (and available for a few weeks) of " Legendary bass-baritone Sir Bryn
Terfel performs a holiday program live from Brecon Cathedral in
his native Wales. Joining Terfel are several special musical
guests." Details here
Weill’s Rise and Fall of the
City of Mahagonny,
7:30PM tonight until Monday about 6:30PM
Starring Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay, Richard Cassilly, and Cornell MacNeil.
From November 27, 1979.
Global Chorus essay for December 12
Kitty van der Heijden
Sustainable development means balancing the economic, social and environmental
pillars of development. If you ask an economist to review progress since the
Earth summit in 1992, chances are that she or he will boast about tremendous
growth, particularly in the Asian tigers and African lions. Ask that same
question to a development practitioner, and he or she will highlight the great
strides in reducing hunger, child and maternal mortality. But important MDGs,
such as gender equality, lag behind, and inequality is rising between countries
and within countries. Now ask that question of an environmentalist. Chances are
she or he will look at you bewildered. Progress? PROGRESS? Almost all
indicators indicate a worsening trend: loss of biodiversity, deforestation,
pollution, climate change, ocean acidification, resources scarcity. In
statistical jargon they call such curves a “hockey stick,” with a gradual
change at the outset, then fast acceleration upward.
As humankind, we are in that fast lane now. We are speeding towards a cliff of
ecological destruction. That hockey stick will hit us hard – all of us. But it
will hit the poor and young most of all. We are the first generation that,
rather than sacrificing ourselves for our children’s future, are sacrificing
our children’s future for ourselves.
The upbeat note is that we are not just part of the problem, we are also part
of the solution. We can change. Take climate change. We can end global
deforestation. We can beat the glum statistic that 30 per cent of food produced
is lost or wasted, squandering resources such as water and land, and needlessly
producing GHG emissions. We can achieve major emission reductions if consumers
worldwide abide by the WHO advice regarding animal protein intake. We could
reduce GHG emissions by 10 per cent if we would simply phase out
environmentally perverse subsidies on fossil fuels.
Of course we can do it. It is a matter of choice.
As CEOs and corporate employees, we decide what and how to produce.
As consumers, we decide what products to use.
As shareholders and constituents casting our votes, we decide what policies and
politics to refuse.
We are all in a position to lead change. Take charge.
—
Kitty van der Heijden, Special Envoy for Sustainability and Development,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
https://www.government.nl/documents/speeches/2020/10/05/speech-by-kitty-van-der-heijden-at-global-education-forum-meeting
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 11, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Event:
Fridays4Future, 3:30PM,
by Cenotaph near Province House, Charlottetown
You can tell your MLA about the importance of paying attention to Climate
Change -- Find your MLA at:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
News from the P.E.I.
Farm Centre Legacy Garden:
"The Holiday
season is upon us and we have some local garden gifts still available! Our
Legacy Garden garlic is on sale, 15% off 1 lb to make it $17, and 25% off 2 lbs
which makes it $30! This garlic has been cured and will last all winter long!
Legacy Garden Tea is available as well! We have Herbal Blend
and we have only one bag of Mint left! $5 each!
You can order your goodies here: https://forms.gle/qwYB82ik8CgWt47r8
Also, the Legacy Garden Tree Fundraiser is in full swing! Get
the gift of a fruit tree for your friends and family that will arrive in the
Spring!
You can order your apple and peach trees here: https://forms.gle/yyVrSfpXHvB26Jy76
Farm Centre Legacy Garden Facebook
page
thanks
to Tony Reddin for bringing this to my attention https://nsadvocate.org/2020/12/10/press-release-westfor-applies-for-injunction-against-mainland-moose-blockades/
Press
release: Westfor applies for injunction against mainland moose blockades - Nova
Scotia Advocate
Published
on Thursday, December 10th, 2020
Two blockades on
crown lands to protect mainland moose in the New France area, Digby County, may
end abruptly in the days to come. Extinction Rebellion (XR) occupiers received
word today from their lawyer that WestFor Management Inc. has applied for an
interim injunction intended to force the forest protectors to pack up and
leave. That application is set to be heard in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
9:30 a.m, this morning.
Several people at the
blockades have indicated they are willing to get arrested, if necessary, to
focus attention on our government’s failure to protect endangered species and
enact promised forestry reforms.
The initial
encampment began on October 21st when XR learned that forestry
crews were in transit to crown land in the Silver River, Rocky Lake area where
Richard Amero had shown CBC’s Phlis MacGregor tracks of the endangered Mainland
Moose and described past sightings the previous week.
On November 22nd, a
second blockade close to the Caribou River was established to impede loggers’
access to crown land allocations where further cutting has been occurring.
Industrial forestry crews are scheduled to cut 1650 acres of mainland moose
habitat in the area in the next year.
XR’s specific demand
has been to place an immediate moratorium on all proposed and current logging
on Crown lands from Fourth Lake south to the Napier River. This moratorium
would remain in place until ecologically based landscape level planning for the
area has been conducted by independent ecologists and biologists, as
recommended by the 2018 Lahey Report. Where this area is known habitat for
mainland moose, it should be assessed for Protected Area potential,
safeguarding connectivity between the Silver River Wilderness area and the
Tobeatic.
Bob Bancroft released
a Moose Map on Monday that highlighted all South West Nova Scotia, confirming
multiple moose sightings and or signs of their presence in that area.
“We are standing up
to protect wildlife and their habitat. When the moose are in trouble, so are
we. To address the climate and extinction crises, we need to protect and
restore our natural forests. Industrial tree plantations are ecological
deserts,” said Nina Newington, one of the encampment organizers.
“Our provincial
government had approved the destruction of the very habitat the endangered
mainland moose need to recover. Despite a severe scolding from the Nova Scotia
Supreme Court in May, the Department of Lands and Forestry continue to shirk
its legal obligations under its own Endangered Species Act. If government
refuse to do the right thing, then citizens must stand up together. Enough is
enough,” she said.
Link to Information
Morning’s story: – https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-27-information-morning-ns/clip/15804113-digby-resident-says-province-logging-endangered-mainland-moose
-30-
"In 2020, Nature was not a lost
year. Just the opposite."
The Coronavirus Pandemic and the
Invisibility of Nature - Emergence Magazine article by Michael McCarthy
As rampant urbanization increasingly severs
humanity from the living world, naturalist Michael McCarthy explores the ways
in which the “anthropause,” ushered in by the coronavirus, has—on an
unprecedented scale—made nature visible again.
a
good long read, from Emergence
Magazine, below:
https://emergencemagazine.org/story/the-consolation-of-nature/
(link only)
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating
Angel,
until 6:30PM
Starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice
Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David
Portillo, David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn, and
John Tomlinson. conducted by Thomas Adès. From November 18, 2017.
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, 7:30PM tonight until noon
Saturday
Starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick
Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker, and Donovan Singletary, conducted by
David Robertson. From February 1, 2020.
Global Chorus essay for December 11
Llewellyn
Vaughan-Lee
How can we heal and transform our ravaged ecosystem, our dying world? How can
we become free from the soulless monster of materialism and its child,
consumerism, and instead create a civilization that values all of creation, one
that supports the interdependent web of life of which we are a part? First,
there is a need to recognize that beneath this outer ecocide another tragedy is
being enacted, as devastating as it is unreported: our forgetfulness of the
sacred nature of creation. Our culture regards the Earth as a resource to be
exploited, not as something sacred to be revered. And without this central
spiritual awareness, which was at the foundation of almost all previous
cultures, our world becomes increasingly out of balance.
We need to return to a simple awareness of the sacredness of the Earth and all
of life. Then we can reconnect with the real nature of the Earth as a sacred
being, what indigenous peoples know as the Mother who sustains us, both
physically and spiritually. There are many ways to make this connection – for
example, being aware of the sacred nature of the food we eat, or holding the
Earth as a living being in our hearts and prayers, feeling our love for the
Earth. Through simple means we can bring the sacred back into our daily life,
and so help to heal the split between spirit and matter and restore the balance
in our world.
Recognizing the Earth as a living, spiritual being with a soul as well as a
body, we will find that she can regenerate, come alive in a new way – no longer
a resource to be used, but full of wonder and sacred meaning. Listening to her
deep wisdom we will find ways to work together that sustain all of life, that
care for the soul as well as the soil. This is the future that is waiting for
us, full of all the magical possibilities of creation as well as the mystery
and joy of the sacred.
—
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, PhD, Sufi teacher, author of Spiritual
Ecology: The Cry of the Earth
www.goldensufi.org
https://emergencemagazine.org/
www.spiritualecology.org
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 10, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Shopping for local food this weekend will look a little
different, as customer size limits will be reduced, so plan more time.
Charlottetown
Farmers Market and the Sunday Artisan Christmas Market are planning to be open.
Details tomorrow.
Heart Beet Organics
on Great George Street is open Tuesday-Saturday, until 6PM, for local food and
vegetables (no indoor dining, though).
Their expanded
market will be open 9AM-1PM Saturday, with pre-ordering suggested for faster
pick-up time. Ordering for Saturday:
https://heartbeetorganics.ca/
----------------------------------------
Want to catch up on some legislative records from last week?
See both of these sites for records and recordings:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly Facebook page link
https://www.facebook.com/peileg
columns and letters: https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/regional-perspectives/jim-vibert-covids-ill-wind-may-blow-some-good-for-climate-crisis-529117/https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/regional-perspectives/jim-vibert-covids-ill-wind-may-blow-some-good-for-climate-crisis-529117/
JIM VIBERT: COVID's ill wind may blow some good
for climate crisis - The Guardian article by Jim Vibert
Published
on Wednesday, December 9th, 2020
It's an ill wind that blows no good, and COVID-19 most assuredly
came on an ill wind.
But the COVID-19 crisis, or more precisely, the resulting
lockdowns and widespread disruption of economic and other activities, led to an
8.8 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide in the first
half of 2020 and an expected decline of between four and seven per cent on the
year.
It took a pandemic to force the kind of GHG reductions the world
needs to hold global warming at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius and stave off
catastrophic climate change.
Of course, 2020's fleeting, single-year reduction in GHG
emissions is meaningless in the grand scheme to contain climate change, unless
it is followed by the structural changes needed to replicate that reduction,
year-in and year-out, for decades to come.
The annual climate change performance index (CCPI) released this week says that the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting need for economic recovery, have brought
the world to a crossroads.
One road leads back to business-as-usual, continued global
warming and the worst that climate change has to offer. The other road leads to
the low-carbon recovery the world needs if it's going to escape that fate.
Whatever good that blew in on COVID-19'S ill wind isn't found in
a temporary, one-year reduction in GHG emissions. Rather, it's in the plans
nations are making and rolling out for a green economic recovery.
It's five years this week since 197 countries, Canada included,
signed the Paris Agreement and committed to making the GHG emission reductions
needed to contain global warming and climate change.
Most of those nations, Canada again included, have missed
virtually all of their climate change targets.
But in a survey of 60 nations and the European Union –
collectively they produce 90 per cent of the world's GHG emissions – CCPI found
reason for optimism.
More than half of those nations dedicated economic recovery
spending to green initiatives, and a third have either implemented or are
considering fiscal reforms to slash fossil fuel subsidies.
That's the good news. The bad news is that many of those same
economic recovery plans also include measures that run contrary to a low-carbon
recovery, usually by protecting existing, high-polluting industrial sectors.
“Policymakers still have the chance to scale up low-carbon
interventions, because national recovery plans are not fully laid out,” the
CCPI report says. “Future interventions must expand current good practices to
situate low carbon investments at the centre of the recovery efforts.”
With that appeal, the report's authors could have been talking
directly to Canada.
Canada is a climate change poser. It finishes at or near the
bottom of the pack in three of the four categories CCPI uses to rank national
efforts to curb climate change.
Canada is doing a lousy job reducing GHG emissions, isn't
transitioning to renewable energy sources fast enough, and its overall energy
use remains too high.
On the semi-positive side, Canada talks a good game, so it scores
in the middle of the pack for its climate policy. September's throne speech and
the recent federal economic update both claimed that the nation's economic
recovery will be green.
We can only hope that the rhetoric is matched by action, this
time.
And, if you subscribe to the old environmental adage to think
globally and act locally, there may be a candidate in Nova Scotia's Liberal
leadership race who's worth a look.
Iain Rankin released an environmental plan this week that, he
says, can make Nova Scotia Canada's first carbon neutral province. His
proposals surpass the timid approach to environmental issues that characterized
Stephen McNeil's government and which Rankin was a part of.
He wants to get Nova Scotia off coal-fired power by 2030, well
ahead of the current plan. He also plans to electrify public transit, invest in
solar power, and offer incentives to buy electric vehicles.
In Nova Scotia and around the world this week, people will gather
in candlelight to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement and to
shine a light on the failure of nations to meet the commitments they made when
they signed the deal.
The CCPI survey and report tells us there is still time to pull
back from the brink of climate disaster, but the plans to avert that calamity
need to be part of the world's COVID-19 economic recovery.
-30-
Something to think about: https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/regional-perspectives/letter-finding-a-washroom-difficult-528526/
LETTER: Finding a
washroom difficult
Published on-line at
Saltwire's website:
(edited for length)
I realize that the availability of public washrooms may not be an
important issue for someone in their 30s to 60s. For anyone with colitis,
irritable bowl syndrome or bladder issues, however, this is a very important
issue. And what about child training? They must fit in this category.
With the COVID-19
pandemic all around us, it seems washrooms have been closed in just about every
store. I realize all people are not clean but when you need to go you need to
go and you can’t tell your body you can’t go because there is nowhere to go.
I was at a local
clothing store the other day and I needed to go and go sooner. The clerks told
me to go to a nearby fast food restaurant. After struggling there with dire
pains, I discovered their bathrooms were closed. Now what?
Please help.
Somewhere in (our localities) must provide bathrooms that are not miles
away. If you are desperate, there is no going somewhere else. Think for a
moment.
Patricia McKenzie, Sydney, Nova Scotia
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Britten’s Peter Grimes, today until 6:30PM
Starring Patricia Racette, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Anthony Michaels-Moore,
conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. From March 15, 2008.
Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating
Angel,
7:30PM Thursday until Friday about 6:30PM
Starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice
Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo,
David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn, and John
Tomlinson. conducted by Thomas Adès. From November 18, 2017.
Global Chorus essay for December
10
Paula Kahumbu
I wake up at two a.m. and my mind is racing. I don’t have the answer to the
question posed to me yesterday: “What are we going to do to stop this?” My
caller was referring to the fve rhinos slaughtered over the weekend, part of
the ongoing epidemic of rhino and elephant poaching.
Experience teaches us that extraordinary leadership can create a tipping point
to turn around public views and drive unlikely actions. In 1989, Kenya burned
12 tons of ivory in what remains the most iconic conservation message of all
time. It was a risky, dangerous plan: that ivory was worth millions of dollars.
But Richard Leakey and President Daniel Arap Moi did it anyway. Te world
celebrated and the consumers of ivory felt the shame. That year, the world
banned the international trade in ivory and over the next 20 years, elephant
populations recovered. Now the problem is back – only it’s much much worse –
and we are really at risk of losing all our elephants and rhinos in a matter of
decades.
I believe it will take extraordinary creativity to achieve understanding
amongst consumers and poachers so that people comprehend what is at stake if
elephants and rhinos go extinct. Most Africans are poor and yet we are proud
people. Our continent is recognized the world over for her diversity in people and
wildlife, which are housed in astounding beauty. People say that their lifelong
dream is to go on safari to Africa. They experience a connection to the land of
the origin of humanity. At the rate things are going, we stand to lose it all.
Africa’s wildlife belongs to the world and we Africans are beginning to realize
our obligation to humanity to help fulfill this human dream of seeing the herds
of the Serengeti, the scarps of the Rift Valley, the snow on the equator.
We have the capacity to change – we just need courage to uphold sacred values
of fairness, transparency, honesty and accountability. We can do this, and
develop our economies by using the tools of this technological age of
connectedness.
—
Paula Kahumbu, CEO of WildlifeDirect blogging platform and a voice for
conservation leadership in Africa
_______________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 9, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Search, order and pick up, and read or watch:
The P.E.I. Public
Library Service writes:
"All our libraries are now open for curbside pickup
only. Please email or phone your local library during regular open hours to
schedule a pickup time."
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/education-and-lifelong-learning/public-libraries-locations-and-hours?
Some good news climate
future reading from the United Kingdom, care of their Guardian:
Ending UK’s climate emissions ‘affordable’, say official
advisers - The (U.K.)
Guardian article by Damian Carrington
CCC recommendation includes half of cars being electric by
2030, gas boilers phased out and 10,000 wind turbines
Published on
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020, in The (U.K.)
Guardian (link has photos and graph)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/09/ending-uk-climate-emissions-affordable-net-zero-climate-change-committee?
The world’s first
detailed route map to ending a nation’s use of fossil fuels is both “ambitious
and affordable”, according to the UK government’s official advisers, and would
see half of the cars on the road being electric by 2030 and 10,000 giant wind
turbines in the North Sea.
The Climate Change Committee’s analysis found that the
future cost savings from no longer having to buy oil and gas almost offsets the
£50bn-a-year investment needed in low-carbon power, transport and home heating
across the next three decades.
The eyes of the
world are on the UK as it prepares to host a critical UN summit to tackle the climate
crisis next November and UK leadership is considered vital for success. The
prime minister, Boris Johnson, recently announced a green industrial revolution plan, but the CCC said
further action was needed now from the government to set the UK on the path to
ending emissions by 2050.
The CCC route map
forecast people’s energy bills remaining level, before falling after 2030 as
cheap renewable energy expands. Electric cars will also save drivers money but
a phase-out of gas boilers will mean some households will require government
help to install more expensive low-carbon heating systems, the CCC said.
The plan envisages
air travel staying near current levels and meat eating,
which is already
falling, being reduced by just 20% by 2030. Changes in how people live “need
not entail sacrifices”, the CCC said. It said mixed woodlands covering an area
three times the size of Greater London should be planted by 2035, capturing CO2
and providing new green spaces.
The cost of
offshore wind power has plummeted in recent years and the CCC sees it as “the
backbone of the whole UK energy system”, with all electricity being renewable
or nuclear by 2035. The UK will become an electric nation, the CCC said, with
double the current amount of power being generated by 2050, but with hydrogen
expanding to fuel heavy industry and transport and warm some homes.
The CCC also set
out a new carbon budget for the UK for 2035, as required by law. CO2 emissions
are to reduced by 78% compared with 1990 levels, equivalent to cutting
two-thirds of today’s emissions. The CCC said this advanced carbon cuts by 15
years compared with plans in 2018, reflecting falling green costs.
Getting to net
zero emissions is “ambitious, realistic and affordable”, said Lord Deben, chair
of the CCC. “The price is manifestly reasonable. It will be the private sector
that will do much of the investment but it will be the government that sets the
tone.”
“It now has to set
out in detail the steps required,” he said. “As we emerge from the Covid-19
pandemic, this is a chance to jump-start the UK’s economic recovery.” But Deben
added the costs of the transition must be distributed fairly across society.
The government has accepted all previous carbon budgets proposed by the CCC and
has until June 2021 to accept the new one.
The CCC analysis
found it is cheaper to transition to electric cars and vans than to continue
with petrol and diesel vehicles. “That’s an amazing new insight, because it has
major implications for the overall cost of achieving net zero,” said Chris
Stark, chief executive of the CCC.
The annual net
cost across the 30 years to 2050 is £10bn, or about 0.5% of GDP, the CCC said.
This does not include the benefits of new jobs or better health as air
pollution and damp, cold homes are reduced. Today, poor housing alone costs the
NHS £1.5bn a year. “It’s now clear that – at worst – we’ve got a very small
cost overall in order to unlock those very big benefits of tackling climate
change,” said Stark.
Alison Doig, at
the Energy and Climate
Intelligence Unit, said: “The report demonstrates that taking bold action makes
sense for jobs and prosperity, but also keeps the UK at the forefront of an
international zero carbon revolution. The government can show it is serious
about delivering the goals of the Paris agreement by taking [the CCC] advice.”
Prof Rob Gross,
director of the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology, said the CCC reports
were hugely significant. But he said the major expansion of both renewable
energy and electric cars would be challenging: “The speed with which we would
need to get charging stations sorted out is a real challenge, if we are to
avoid alienating motorists.”
Clara Goldsmith,
at the Climate Coalition, said: “The government must accept this advice and
unleash a decade of ambitious action. There is no downside to embracing this
plan. It can transform our society and create hundreds of thousands of green
jobs.”
Doug Parr, at
Greenpeace UK, said: “The CCC may have set out its paths to net zero but we’ll
need much more legwork from the government over this parliament to reach it.
While some progress has been made recently there remains a yawning gap between
our targets over the next decade and action needed to meet them.”
Stark said the
climate crisis was worsening, with global CO2 emissions and temperature still
on an upward trend: “We are in a bad place.” But he said 2021 would be a big
year for action in the UK, with government strategies due for heat and
buildings, food, aviation, hydrogen and trees and peat bogs. “It is the actions
to deliver [net zero emissions] that are important now.”
-30-
Related article (LINK ONLY):
"What would a
climate-friendly UK mean for you?"
Electric cars, the
end of gas boilers, green jobs, more trees and less meat are all part of
government advisers’ net zero plan
(well, if you lived
there)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/09/what-would-a-climate-friendly-uk-mean-for-you
Some
good watching:
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
John Adams’ Doctor Atomic, today until 6:30PM
Starring Sasha Cooke, Thomas Glenn, Gerald Finley, Richard Paul Fink, and Eric
Owens, conducted by Alan Gilbert. From November 8, 2008. Canadian Gerald
Finley as J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Britten’s Peter Grimes, tonight 7:30PM until Thursday
about 6:30PM
Starring Patricia Racette, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Anthony Michaels-Moore, conducted
by Sir Donald Runnicles. From March 15, 2008.
Some thoughts from
someone who's traveled a lot and see a lot of snow (melting):
Global Chorus essay for December 9
Gretchen Bleiler
Now more than ever, there is a feeling we are living in a world that has spun
out of balance. It seems the principles of force and effort are dominant in our
society on all levels, and because we are all connected, it is this exact model
that is not working and that has taken us to this place of global environmental
and social crises. I think we are getting close to the point where we as a
collective are so disturbed with what we have created that we say “we won’t
take this any longer.” But right now there is already change brewing. And I
believe one perfect example of this change is Marianne Williamson’s Sister
Giant, which is a movement to start a new conversation, a “politics of the
heart”. (see below)
Movements like Sister Giant are what we need to bring the qualities of masculine
and feminine back into alignment in our world. There is always a masculine face
and a feminine face to every energy and these two faces depend on one another
to thrive. But we’ve been living in a world where the goal-oriented, assertive
and individualistic qualities of the masculine have dominated the intuitive,
non-differentiating, joining qualities of the feminine. So in order for this
world to truly prosper individually and collectively we need our feminine
energy to step into its full power again with the masculine.
Once we as a people have brought balance back into our society through the
balance and union of the masculine and feminine, we will naturally find balance
with Nature again as well. Instead of fighting against Nature as we have done
for so long now, we will start to learn from and work with her. As Deepak
Chopra and David Simon have written in their book Te Seven Spiritual Laws of
Yoga, “Nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease. If you look at the
ebb and flow of the tides, the blossoming of a flower, or the movement of the
stars, you do not see Nature straining.” We can echo Nature’s intelligence to
live and create a new world of effortless ease, balance and rhythm.
And that is where it seems we are standing just on the cusp of potential.
— Gretchen
Bleiler, environmental activist, U.S. professional half-pipe snowboarder,
Olympic Silver Medallist, four-time X Games Gold Medallist www.gretchenbleiler.com
The Sister Giant website, started by Marianne Williamson, focused on her
running for the U.S. presidency earlier this year, but has a wonderful essay
about empowerment and environmental aspect, here:
http://sistergiant.com/creating-a-culture-of-peace/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 8, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Food:
Charlottetown
Farmers' Market to Go, Tuesday noon for Thursday delivery/pickup:
https://cfm2go.localfoodmarketplace.com/
Eat Local PEI --
Online Farmers' Market order: online orders until Wednesday for
pickups this coming Friday 12-6, Saturday 12-6, and Sunday 12-4, plus home
deliveries on Saturday 4-7pm. https://www.localline.ca/eatlocalpei
these may be subject to change this week as conditions have
changed so best to check the websites
A joke from Dominic Cummings (apparently a political adviser to Boris Johnson,
kind of its own joke) via The
other (U.K.) Guardian :
Why are Santa’s reindeer allowed to travel
on Christmas Eve?
They have herd immunity.
A recent ad in The
Graphic publications about the extension of CRTC hearings reminded
me of Senator Percy Downe's efforts to remind Islanders of his concerns about
the CBC and CRTC, and encourage public participation in the CRTC comment
process.
The CBC is a Pandemic Lifeline. The CRTC
Should Treat it Like One - Policy Magazine article by Percy Downe
In the early weeks
of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBC shut down local news shows just when news and
information had become a matter of life and death. Local coverage was
reinstated, but the CBC, the CRTC and Canadians need to learn from the
experience.
Published on
Monday, October 26, 2020, in Policy Magazine
https://policymagazine.ca/the-cbc-is-a-pandemic-lifeline-the-crtc-should-treat-it-like-one/
The notion of a
global village has been driven home this year, as a worldwide pandemic has had
an impact unprecedented in the living memory of Canadians. Through lockdown,
gradual reopening and further setbacks, and as concerns mount over what comes
next, we have watched as countries the world over continue to deal with this
situation. Some have been more successful than others, but the
interconnectedness of our world makes us appreciate the global reach of COVID-19,
and the global response to the challenge it represents.
Notwithstanding
the value of a worldwide perspective, what is important now is what is
happening in our own country and our own communities. We need to know what is
safe in our own neighbourhoods and what actions our own public health
authorities are recommending. Are things around us getting better or worse?
It’s good to hear about ongoing work on a treatment or vaccine, but that
doesn’t tell us whether we can meet with loved ones in person or on Zoom. Or
whether we can invite our neighbours over instead of waving over the fence. For
many of us, even with the world at our fingertips, that world seems to have
gotten much smaller these last few months, making information about local
conditions all the more important.
In many parts of
the country, especially in remote and northern communities, the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is the only lifeline for local news and
information. Which is why it was especially disappointing when, on March 20th,
at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBC announced that it had suspended
local TV evening news broadcasts. At a time when even the CBC acknowledged that
“Canadians everywhere are desperate for good information and the latest
developments as this crisis mounts”, the decision seemed nonsensical. Its
impact was felt most acutely in places like Prince Edward Island, where CBC Compass is the
only local evening TV news broadcast produced in the province.
CBC Compass has done an
outstanding job informing Islanders about the decisions their provincial health
officials have made to address the pandemic. As a province with some of the
worst internet connections in the country and a higher-than-average proportion
of the population identified as seniors, the information provided by Compass has been
essential for Islanders to prepare for and cope with the pandemic. Although
they did indeed restore local news within the week in the face of public
pressure — including a petition launched by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and signed by
more than 6,000 people — a dangerous precedent had been set.
All television
broadcasters in Canada operate with a license granted by the federal
government; consequently, the CBC operates under guidelines set out by the
Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as part of
its license. Under these guidelines, the public broadcaster committed to “at
least 7 hours of local programming per week”, the only exceptions being special
sporting events or statutory holidays. Moreover, the CRTC noted that “the CBC
cannot reduce the level of local programming under seven hours without Commission
approval following a public process.”
In many parts of the country, especially in
remote and northern communities, the CBC is the only lifeline for local news
and information. Which is why it was especially disappointing when, on March
20th, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBC announced that it had
suspended local TV evening news broadcasts.
However, prior to
the CBC’s announcement, there was neither a public process nor CRTC approval.
Perhaps the broadcaster decided it was easier to ask forgiveness than get
permission. In that respect, they were proven correct, for although the
Commission determined the CBC had acted in breach of its license agreement, it
would face no penalty for doing so. It’s not as if the Commission is powerless
to respond, or this was some sort of unforeseeable eventuality.
The Broadcasting
Act, the legislation that governs the relationship between the CBC and the
CRTC, prescribes a course of action if the CBC does not live up to its
commitments. Section 18(3) of the Act states:
“The Commission
may hold a public hearing, make a report, issue any decision and give any
approval in connection with any complaint or representation made to the
Commission or in connection with any other matter within its jurisdiction under
this Act if it is satisfied that it would be in the public interest to do so.”
Section 25(1) is even more explicit in the case of
a contravention by the CBC itself:
“Where the
Commission is satisfied, after a public hearing on the matter, that the
(Canadian Broadcasting) Corporation has contravened or failed to comply with
any condition of a license referred to in the schedule, any order made under
subsection 12(2) or any regulation made under this Part, the Commission shall
forward to the Minister a report setting out the circumstances of the alleged
contravention or failure, the findings of the Commission and any observations
or recommendations of the Commission in connection therewith.”
This grants the Commission
considerable latitude to act in such cases. I therefore wrote directly to the
CRTC inquiring as to why they were not requiring the CBC to comply with the
licence agreement. That they have plainly chosen not to is troubling to say the
least.
Therefore, unless
the Federal Minister of Heritage is prepared to intervene directly with the
CRTC, the only recourse for Canadians will be the public hearings that the
Commission will hold in January 2021 for the CBC license renewal application.
The CBC is not
just another television network. It receives more than $1.2 billion in funding
from Canadian taxpayers in order to fulfil its mandate. Part of that mandate is
to keep Canadians informed, in good times and bad. For the CRTC to merely wave
away the requirements of the Broadcasting Act is unacceptable.
This isn’t just a
matter of the CBC facing consequences for its decisions in the early weeks of
the pandemic. Canada is now facing a second wave, with the same worry and
uncertainty as the first. Canadians know that at the start of the pandemic, the
CBC and CRTC failed them. In a future crisis, what will happen if our national
institutions do not hold, but crumble at the first sign of trouble?
Percy Downe is the
Senator for Charlottetown.
-30-
I'll find the exact
ad from Senator Downe in the next days.
Here are Mark
Jacobson's list of sources for Wind, Water and Sunlight (WWS) -- a wonderfully
long list of links for a blustery day:
https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/susenergy2030.html
A long lunchtime read about the downside of some electric batteries -- lithium
mining (link only):
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/dec/08/the-curse-of-white-oil-electric-vehicles-dirty-secret-lithium?
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Thomas Adès’s The Tempest, until 6:30PM
tonight
Starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke,
William Burden, Toby Spence, and Simon Keenlyside, conducted by Thomas Adès.
From November 10, 2012.
John Adams’ Doctor
Atomic,
tonight 7:30PM until Wednesday about 6:30PM
Starring Sasha Cooke, Thomas Glenn, Gerald Finley, Richard Paul Fink, and Eric
Owens, conducted by Alan Gilbert. From November 8, 2008.
Global Chorus essay for December 8
Mark Z. Jacobson
We believe it is technically and economically feasible to transform the world’s
all-purpose energy infrastructure (for electricity, transportation, heating/
cooling, industry) into one powered by wind, water and sunlight (WWS) within
20–40 years.
The primary limitations are social and political, not technical or economic.
The limitations can be overcome by education of the public and policy-makers
and demonstration of the health, climate and reliability benefits of clean
energy technologies.
Ongoing efforts on large-scale conversion plans are discussed at www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/susenergy2030.html.
— Mark
Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of
the Atmosphere/Energy program at Stanford University
https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 7, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Well, OK, things are a little different now, but a little similar to spring....
News:
Some up-to-date
government Covid-19 news is here:
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/covid19
and the Government
Facebook site which would show live broadcasts is here:
https://www.facebook.com/govpe
-------------------------------------
Food (these may have some changes this week, so stay tuned):
Charlottetown
Farmers' Market to Go, Tuesday noon for Thursday delivery/pickup: https://cfm2go.localfoodmarketplace.com/
Eat Local PEI --
Online Farmers' Market order: online orders again on Tuesday
for pickups this coming Friday 12-6, Saturday 12-6, and Sunday 12-4, plus home
deliveries on Saturday 4-7pm. https://www.localline.ca/eatlocalpe
Organic Veggie
Delivery this week, order by tonight for Thursday delivery
Organic Veggie Delivery :: Veggies
this Week
Here is a link to the Vimeo site for the film (35mintes) on the Service
released yesterday to honour the victims of the Montreal Massacre and
Gender-based violence on P.E.I.:
https://vimeo.com/487804493
Atlantic
Skies for December 7th-13th, 2020
by Glenn K. Roberts
The "Gems" of Mid-December
While December 1
marks the start of meteorological winter (based on the division of the year
into four 3-month sections), the majority of us hold our collective
breathes for the "official" start of winter on the 21st of the month
(astronomical winter). Overhead, the stars bear silent witness to
humankind's petty preoccupation with time and the turning seasons, oblivious
to the fact that it is, from the audience seats of our
planet, their nightly performances that we so eagerly await. Quiet now,
please, ladies and gentlemen, the play is about to start.
As the setting Sun
dims the celestial theatre lights to darkness, the actors begin to present
themselves on stage. First to appear, in the opening acts of our
winter's play, are Prince Perseus and his princess bride
Andromeda, as well as the vain queen Cassiopeia, the ram Aries,
and the silvery fishes of Pisces. Waiting in the sky's eastern wings for
their cue to stride on stage as the play progresses towards midnight,
is the bold hunter, Orion and his canine companions, the fierce bull Taurus,
the renown charioteer, Auriga, and the tragic Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux. As
befits divas, these actors are all prominently bedecked with some of the
night sky's brightest and most colourful celestial jewels - Betegeuse,
Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Procyon, and the night's brightest and most
renowned jewel, Sirius. Once they have beguiled us with their harrowing
adventures and tragic tales of love and sacrifice (on occasion bringing us to
tears), they take their bows and, to our boisterous applause, make a quiet
exit stage right as the sky's house lights are once again slowly raised in
the east. Begrudge them not their rest though, for they will return each night
throughout the winter season to yet again perform for us. Weather permitting,
you shall have ample opportunity to assess their acting skills for
yourself, and may well have occasion to yell "Bravo, bravo", and to
toss flowers onto the stage.
The Geminid meteor
shower (radiant in the constellation of Gemini - the Twins) is one of the
year's most anticipated meteor showers. The shower peaks overnight on Dec.
13 - 14, starting just as the eastern sky darkens around 6:30 p.m. on the 13th,
with the most meteors likely to be seen between 2 a.m. and dawn on the 14th,
when the radiant is at its highest elevation in the night sky (about halfway
from the horizon to the zenith). The Geminids (or "Gems" as they are
affectionately called) are unique, in that they are the only meteor shower
associated with an asteroid rather than a comet. It wasn't until after the
asteroid 3200 Phaethon was discovered on Oct. 11, 1983, that the Gems were
associated with this asteroid. Phaethon, an Apollo class asteroid, is listed as
an "active asteroid", meaning that, although technically an asteroid,
it demonstrates a comet-like characteristic of ejecting dust particles from its
surface as it nears the Sun. Phaethon has a 1.434 year (523.6 days)
orbital period. The Gems peak coincides with the New Moon phase (on the
14th), so there will be no interfering moonlight. Expect to see anywhere
from 50+/hr to 150+/hr bright, slow moving, colourful meteors; the further you are
away from urban lights, the more meteors you will observe. Dress warm (coat,
warm boots, hat, gloves, scarf, etc),, find a comfortable chair or lounge chair
(the best idea), blankets or sleeping bags, and something warm to drink; let
your eyes dark adjust for 15-20 mins, place the north-east behind
you, and settle in for the show. If the weather forecast for the 13-14th is
predicting clouds, try the night of the 12-13th, or the nights of the
14-15 or 15-16; the Gems are around until the 16th (though in lesser
numbers). Enjoy!
Mercury, heading
towards solar conjunction on the 19th, is too close to the Sun to be observed.
Venus (mag. -3.96) is briefly visible in the eastern pre-dawn sky, rising
around 5:25 a.m., reaching an altitude of 15 degrees above the southeast
horizon before fading from view around 7:20 a.m.. Mars (mag. -0.91) is visible
in the evening sky 31 degrees above the southeast horizon around 4:50 p.m.,
reaching its highest point in the early evening sky 51 degrees above the
southern horizon; it is observable until about 2 a.m., at which time it
drops below 8 degrees above the western horizon. Jupiter (mag. -2.02) and
Saturn (mag. +0.64) are both visible in the early evening southwest, 18 degrees
and 17 degrees respectively above the horizon, Jupiter by 4:50 p.m. and Saturn
by 5:10 p.m.; Jupiter sets around 7:30 p.m, followed by Saturn around 7:40
p.m..
As mentioned last
week, the year's final (at least to date) comet is Comet Erasmus.
Currently in the constellation of Libra - the Balance/Scales (in the eastern,
pre-dawn sky around 6 a.m.), the comet shines at mag. 7.5 (visible in
binoculars), Brightening daily, Eramus is expected to reach mag. 5.8 and
naked-eye visibility by Dec. 11. To follow this comet, go to Comet C/2020 S3 (Erasmus) Information | TheSkyLive.com
In closing, as much
as I would like to claim the error was intentional to see if anyone was, in
fact, reading my articles, the truth is, I made a mistake. In my Nov.23 column
regarding Saturn's rings, I erroneously stated that the depth of the rings was up
to 200 kms, when, in fact, I had meant to say 200 meters. Thanks to the sharp
eyes of one of my readers, my error was discovered. Tip of my celestial
hat to Pat D'Entremont.
Until next week,
clear skies.
Events:
Dec. 7 - Last
Quarter Moon
12 - Moon at perigee (closest to Earth)
13 - Geminid meteor shower peak (overnight)
-30-
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Puccini’s Tosca, until 6:30PM tonight
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by
James Conlon. From December 19, 1978. Just about two hours of classic!
Week 39's Theme:
"In Plain English"
Thomas Adès’s The Tempest, tonight 7:30PM until Tuesday
6:30PM
Starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, Alek
Shrader, Alan Oke, William Burden, Toby Spence, and Simon Keenlyside, conducted
by (the composer!!) Thomas Adès. From November 10, 2012. An
amazingly inventive but approachable production. 2hours 20minutes.
Global Chorus essay for December 7
Martha “Pati” Ruiz Corzo
We have postponed addressing the planet’s emergencies beyond the limits of its
forces; this emergency demands a wave of action. Society must walk in the
direction of being more self-sufficient and frugal, and above all, turn its
eyes to Nature and our close relationship with Her.
We must embrace the values of service and the common good, where generosity and
love are the drivers. And since all that glitters is not gold, it would be best
to leave this life having provided service and creativity rather than any debt
generated by ambition and the destructive control of our system and the
marketing of life on Earth.
The re-evolution towards a society in kinship with the biosphere means to
embrace the simple life, accept the challenge to see who can live with the
least and be healthier, not compete, cause minimum impact, dedicate our
personal gifts to work and commit our emotion to the beauty and wisdom of
creation.
So, cheers to the humans who recognize the Earth as their Mother and who
relearn the purpose of having life and the capacity to act and construct
futures with hope.
— Martha
“Pati” Ruiz Corzo, co-founder and director of Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda IAP,
UNEP Champion of the Earth, National Geographic Conservation Leader
https://sierragorda.net/en/home/
_______________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 6, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Today: Artisan Christmas
Market at the Charlottetown Farmers Market is CANCELLED
-------------------
Some music later this week:
Friday, December 11th
and Saturday, December 12th:
"Night
Music" with pianist Sarah Hagen, 8-9PM, St.
Paul's Anglican Church, "pay what you will" at the door
“Night Music” returns to St. Paul’s Church during the Advent
season as a celebration of hope, love, joy and peace.
Pianist Sarah Hagen invites people yearning for an evening of
repose through music to come out for a carefully curated hour-long programme of
works by Chopin, Satie, Bach, and others. In the spirit of shared reflection,
the audience is encouraged to enter quietly, and pieces will flow from one to
the next without pause or applause... Seating will be distanced and very
limited in accordance with current health guidelines. Please reserve places in
advance by messaging Sarah through facebook, emailing info@sarahhagen.com or by filling out the
reservation form found here: http://sarahhagen.com/concerts/2020/12/11/night-music
Please note that October’s Night Music sold out well in advance
so it is recommended to reserve places early.
Admission is “Pay What You Will” at the door.
For more information, visit www.sarahhagen.com
Todd E. MacLean,
editor of
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet, is (always!)
working on new ventures.
"The tentative
working title is Global
Chorus for Young Eco-Warriors: 50 Examples to Follow Toward Environmental
Action. I'm working it now and plan to get this put together over
the course of this winter and spring."
and a finished project is:
Christmas at Squirrel Castle
by Todd MacLean
"Deep
within a forest called Arrahdoon, there is a place called Squirrel Castle.
Tucked within a sacred tree called Great Grandmother Oak, Squirrel Castle is a
friendly place, known and loved by all the animals in Arrahdoon Forest. Every
year, King Simon and Queen Sara host a huge Christmas celebration at the Castle
for all the forest animals to enjoy. But in this particular year, something has
gone terribly wrong. And it takes a Christmas Eve adventure –– led by a shifty
racoon to a hermit's backyard –– to figure out how to save Christmastime for
Arrahdoon Forest."
Christmas
at Squirrel Castle is a holiday children's book (for ages 7 to 9 or
thereabouts, but hopefully enjoyable for adults, too) and is coming out soon in
advance of Christmas. Written by Todd MacLean, illustrated by Laurie MacLean,
and edited by Ann Thurlow, Christmas at Squirrel Castle is Todd's first
children's book, and it is available for preorder
Amazon
book purchase link, for now:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08P5C357X
But will undoubtedly be in local bookstores within a few months.
Todd will be at a Book
Signing in Charlottetown at Green Eye Designs on Victoria Row at 160 Richmond
St on Wednesday, December 23rd, from 2-4PM.
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming, the last days of "Stars in Signature
Roles":
https://www.metopera.org/
Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, today until 6:30PM
Starring Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Tatiana Troyanos, and James King. From
March 12, 1988.
Puccini’s Tosca,
tonight 7:30PM until Monday about 6:30PM
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by
James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.
Global Chorus essay for December 6
Kristin McGee
Of course I think humanity can find a way past the current global environmental
and social crises. I believe in our ability to adapt and to create solutions to
our problems. I think more and more people are coming together in a communal
way through yoga and other forms of movement, creativity and expression,
through meditation, arts, music, theatre and healthy food. I believe the more
we come together and find communities in our neighbourhoods, cities, states and
countries, we can affect change and grow towards a more positive environment
and way of living.
We are a global community and the amazing technology that we have today allows
us to communicate with everyone all over the world. Through education,
communication and social movements, we can create whatever we need to make sure
we as a species – as well as all species – can thrive on this planet.
I have always seen the glass as not only half full, but overflowing with
potential and infinite opportunities. I don’t even think we are in a crisis,
just in a place where we need to discover what isn’t working for US (all of us,
from the birds to the bees to the trees!) so that we can move towards something
that will sustain us in a healthier, more positive way.
YES, we can do it!
— Kristin McGee, celebrity yoga/Pilates instructor and
trainor
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 5, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
Farmers Markets are open in Charlottetown
(9AM-2PM) and Summerside (9AM-1PM) today.
Tomorrow, Sunday,
December 6th and Sunday, December 13th:
Artisan Christmas Market at the Charlottetown
Farmers Market, 10AM-3PM.
Stop by and find gorgeous, one-of-a-kind crafts and artisan
wares for gifting this holiday season!
The Artisan Christmas Market at the Charlottetown Farmers'
Market takes place December 6 and 13 from 10 am to 3pm.
Admission is FREE and masks are mandatory.
The P.E.I.
Legislature closed yesterday -- it's like sleigh bells start
ringing and the everybody starts thinking of to-do lists, moving quicker,
getting the required work done and suddenly, we're waiting for the Honourable
Lieutenant Governor. Once the Capital budget and related documents were
being voted and commented on, it was apparent it was heading for the door
that day....
On one hand, it's too bad it didn't go a few more days and have continued
discussions on issues, and some stuff was left all over the place.
On the other, a lot of points were raised to hold government accountable, plans
made for actions, some good bills passed or set up for the next term -- which
is in FEBRUARY 2021, by the way, with the new calendar.
Some wrap-up documents and videos available here:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
and here:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly Facebook page link
https://www.facebook.com/peileg
---------------
The Guardian's
wrap-up, good but gives too much time to the posturing about voting/abstaining
for the capital budget and comments from MLAs about other MLAs' voting.....
Capital budget passes
by healthy margin as fall session wraps up - The Guardian article by Stu Neatby
Published on
Saturday, December 5th, 2020
comments
by CO
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/provincial/capital-budget-passes-by-healthy-margin-as-fall-session-wraps-up-527743/
In the end it was not close. The final vote was 19 in
favour to three against, with four abstentions.
The closing of the
fall session of P.E.I.’s legislature saw the passage of a $195-million capital
budget that the Progressive Conservative government of Dennis King portrayed as
a plan to steer P.E.I. through the choppy economic waters of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a lengthy
capital estimates process, in which the Opposition Greens accused various
ministers of failing to answer questions on the budget’s contents (note from Chris:
these accusations had merit), it had appeared a significant number of MLAs might vote against
it. The Appropriations Act for the capital budget was a confidence motion,
meaning it would need to pass to keep the government from falling.
On Friday, three MLAs
– Liberals Robert Henderson and Heath MacDonald, and Green MLA Hannah Bell –
voted against the capital budget.
But more vocal
criticism came from four MLAs from the Opposition Green bench – Trish Altass,
Ole Hammarlund, Michele Beaton and Leader Peter Bevan-Baker — who all abstained
from voting.
The move was unusual for a leader of the Opposition.
Bevan-Baker told the
legislature he was dismayed by allocations for affordable housing, a new mental
health campus at Hillsborough Hospital and school construction that went
unspent from the previous year’s budget.
"So far we've seen
more of the dithering and lack of action that typified the previous
administration," Bevan-Baker said. "In many areas of this
budget, government was unable or simply unwilling to give specifics, which
makes it very difficult for us on this side of the house who have critical
responsibilities to review and scrutinize government."
Similar statements
were made by Hammarlund, Altass and Beaton prior to the vote.
In an interview,
Premier King pointed out that an abstention in a parliamentarian system counts
as a vote in favour. He called the arguments about transparency from the Greens
a “false narrative.”
"As the leader
of the province, I need every day to have the strength and courage to make
decisions. I don't have the ability to abstain," King said. "We
consulted with all parties in the development of this budget. I believe the
Opposition Party asked for 13 requests — 12 of them are in the budget."
Liberal MLA Heath
MacDonald called the abstentions from the Greens “rather cowardly.”
“People, society expect us to make those decisions. That's why we're elected,”
Macdonald said.
“If we all come in
here with an attitude of abstaining on important votes, what would that do to
the democratic process of Prince Edward Island?"
In an interview,
Bevan-Baker said many members of his caucus felt the need to express dissent
with the budget. But he said members of his caucus did not want to risk
triggering a possible election through the defeat of a budget.
"I was talking
my responsibility to Islanders as the leader of the Official Opposition to be
absolutely sure that I did not contribute to something that I knew Islanders
did not want," Bevan-Baker said. "I'm surprised to hear Heath
actually describe it that way."
Now, the real
wrap-up of the sitting:
Throughout
the session, the legislative assembly passed 28 bills introduced by government,
in addition to the capital budget. Many seemed to involve relatively minor
tweaks to existing legislation, but some were very substantial. One bill will
allow the Province to recover costs due to pending lawsuits against
pharmaceutical companies related to the opioid crisis. Another would allow
arbitration for the first contract of newly unionized workers.
King pointed to the
Children’s Law Act, which revamped family law in the province, particularly as
it relates to custody of children. It will also match legislation in P.E.I. to
match recent changes to the Federal Divorce Act.
"I don't know if
people who watch from the outside understand how much work goes into that. So
that is a tremendous piece," King said.
Four bills introduced
by the Liberals were passed during the session. One established March 21 as
Down Syndrome Awareness Day, while another established a Winter Wellness Day in
January to promote physical activities. Two other bills set out possible fines
or jail time for individuals convicted of unlawfully entering places in which
animals or livestock are kept.
(The first two are very feel good bills, and the latter two
need a bit of scrutiny.)
"We listened to
the agricultural community and the business community and people that had
issues with health and that's where we went with this session," said
interim Liberal Leader Sonny Gallant.
The Opposition Greens
introduced one bill, the Net Zero Carbon Act, which was passed with support
from all parties. The bill put in place a reporting framework for progress on
climate change goals and set 2040 as the targeted date for achieving net zero
emissions.
But the Greens
focused significant attention during the session on debating non-binding
motions, introducing five that were passed. One saw unanimous support amongst
MLAs for a "moderate livelihood" for Mi’kmaq fishermen, both in
P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.
Bevan-Baker said the
focus on motions was intended to raise issues that are not always talked
about. "Sometimes the best way to make change is to have a really
deep conversation about the issue,” Bevan-Baker said. "We chose to
devote our time to motions that were more reflective of the concerns of
Islanders that we were hearing day after day."
-30-
Opera Overload:
Radio: Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, 2PM, 104.7FM, hosted from CBC Music by Canadian tenor Ben Heppner,
starts the 27-week season of radio broadcasts -- recorded performances for the
foreseeable future -- from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. So
they are doing a lot of work there, bringing their recorded performances to
people during the pandemic in the evening free video streaming and now the "regular"
season of weekly recorded audio performances.
The time shifts to
2PM our time.
Prokofiev’s War
and Peace
Performance from March 2, 2002
Valery Gergiev; Anna Netrebko (Natasha Rostova), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Sonya),
Elena Obraztsova (Mme. Akhrosimova), Gegam Grigorian (Count Pierre Bezukhov),
Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Prince Andrei), Vassily Gerello (Napoleon Bonaparte),
Samuel Ramey (Field Marshal Kutuzov)
Wow!! And I was just commenting that this one doesn't get done often....
-----------
Metropolitan Opera video performance
streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Bizet’s Carmen, today until 6:30PM
Starring Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, and Teddy Tahu
Rhodes, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From January 16, 2010.
Intense, colourful, the whole opera is one familiar melody.
Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, tonight 7:30PM until Sunday about
6:30PM
Starring Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Tatiana Troyanos, and James King. From March 12, 1988. Almost
wacky, opera-within-an-opera, despite its dramatic classic name, about two
troupes that have to work together on one stage. Very short at just about two
hours, and Jessye Norman was radiant as Ariadne.
Global Chorus essay for December 5
Matthew Wilburn King
Although
evolution has backed us into a corner when it comes to existential threats such
as climate change, it also offers us a way out. Climate change poses real
challenges for current and future generations. The failure of traditional human
governance institutions to come to grips with climate change – to perceive the
threat, formulate a coherent and flexible response and then enact it with vigor
and discipline – is all too plain.
Cultural evolution makes it possible to create the necessary changes for
survival despite our inherent biological traits that favor short-term interest
over our long-term welfare. The survival and evolution of cultures rely on the
inheritance of learned behaviors that can be transmitted and that change over
time. Evolutionary history has also equipped us for long-term planning and
action. We can imagine and predict multiple, complex outcomes and act
accordingly in the present to achieve desired outcomes in the future. This human
capacity is nearly two million years old.
Although evolutionary theory shows that we care most about our genetic
relatives, culturally we have embodied and acted upon concerns that extend
beyond family to others and to times beyond our own lifespans. Governments have
traditionally performed this role, but they have not been effective.
Fortunately, we are now seeing the emergence of a kind of governance that
departs from the centralized, top-down structures we have so far relied upon to
solve problems.
Networked systems of governance are a shift toward a more self-organizing
approach that brings together dispersed individuals from the state, civil
society and private sectors that have a shared interest. Each acts
independently yet remains connected through exchanging information, planning
for future events and co-operating as is useful. Networked governance is the
type of social evolutionary development or adaptation that will make it
possible for us to counter our inherent biases so that we can begin to reorder
our lives in a way that moves us toward a more sustainable future. We can help
drive their evolution by exploring ways they might be replicated at varying
scales to share lessons learned and encourage adoption of good governance
practices. Networked systems of governance are currently the most versatile,
agile and adaptive systems available to meet the challenges ahead of us. The
task now is to identify and strengthen these new systems as they are emerging.
—Matthew
Wilburn King, PhD, social entrepreneur, consultant, adviser, researcher,
philanthropist, founder and president/chairman of Living GREEN Foundation
https://matthewkingphd.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 4, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
The P.E.I.
Legislature sits from 10AM-1PM today.
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly Facebook page link
https://www.facebook.com/peileg
--------------------
Fridays4Future,
3:30PM, in front of Province House, reminding leaders and public about
climate change.
Facebook group page
----------------------------
Jingle Bell Walk,
6-7:30PM, Charlottetown Beach Grove Routes for Nature and Health, 200
Beach Grove Road, hosted by the City of
Charlottetown’s Parks and Recreation Department.
A self-guided walk anytime during that time, with the PEI
Library launching its first StoryWalk (featured story will be “Snowmen at
Night” by Caralyn Buehner). The StoryWalk will remain at the Beach Grove Nature
Trails for the month of December.
Hot chocolate while you are there, some holiday themed paint
your own cookies for children as a take home activity.
Bring a flashlight to light the trail and a bell for some
holiday jingle. All participants are strongly encouraged to wear a face mask.
Info: Parks and Recreation Department (902) 368-1025.
The Santa Claus Parade may be going by there
this evening, too -- Check the routes and dates here:
https://charlottetown.ca/events___initiatives/special_events_and_initatives/santa_claus_comes_to_town
PEI Symphony Orchestra
presents Principal Morgan Saulnier, flute, in concert with Francis McBurnie,
Doors open 7PM, concert at 7:30PM, Kirk of St. James
tonight, Charlottetown.
"TWO evenings of rich and evocative flute
repertoire on December 4 at The Kirk of St. James in Charlottetown and December
11 at Hillcrest Church in Montague.
Morgan and Frances have been making music together for nearly
two decades, with performances spanning from PEI to British Columbia. This
program will feature works by Griffes, Deutilleux, Handel, Srul Irving Glick,
and others.
Tickets for the Dec 4th performance in Charlottetown can be
purchased in advance here: https://flutekirk.eventbrite.ca
Tickets for the Dec 11th performance in Montague can be
purchased in advance here: https://hillcrestrecital.eventbrite.ca
Yesterday's Question
Period was actually brimming with questions and answers -- not
so many "gotcha" questions and not so many gushing, useless or
evasive non-answers. Even Premier Denny King commented on this when he
said toward the end it wasn't like "this party or that party won" -- Islanders won,
presumably saying that when Opposition and backbenchers ask questions that pin
down Government on specifics or shed light on areas, and when Ministers
actually provided succinct and clear answers or commit to actions, they are
doing an important part of their job (and not really wasting time and money).
Question Period transcripts (draft) are available later the afternoon of the
same day, at the Legislative Assembly website.
Opinion from Vision
PEI and David Weale:
THE VIEW FROM THIS BRANCH
ISLAND
FARMERS ASKING FOR FAIR ACCESS TO WATER
by David Weale
published on
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020, on social media
A recent paid ad in the Guardian with the above heading (and
sponsored by businesses and organizations associated with industrial farming)
contained two principal points, the first was the repeated attempt to convince
Islanders that the type of farming we presently have is necessary to “protect
our Island’s food supply.”
Essentially it is a scare tactic, and a lie to boot.
There is no greater threat to the long-term food security of
the Island (and the world) than the soil-damaging and water-guzzling
methodologies of industrial agriculture. Not only is their claim a lie, but it
is the BIG lie: the kind that asserts boldly and cynically the exact opposite
of the actual situation.
The second point that comes across between the lines is that
when big companies begin doing this kind of expensive, high profile
self-justifying it becomes clear that we are getting to them.
In that regard I rather liked the ad! Keep it up gang. They
are worried; sensing a shift in public opinion.
-30-
I am all for maintaining
the infrastructure we already have (instead of building new roads over farmland
and woods), but hadn't thought of this aspect...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Cycling in P.E.I. a
dangerous proposition
published
on Thursday, December 3rd, 2020, in The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/letter-to-the-editor-cycling-in-pei-a-dangerous-proposition-527156/
EDITOR:
For those unfamiliar with the section of Route 12, known as the Cascumpec Road,
it's 19-kilometres from Portage to Alberton, dotted with fields, farms, and
forests with beautiful views of the Cascumpec Bay and the rivers that feed
it.
Filled with gently
rolling hills, winding turns and having almost been completely repaved in the
King government's recent resurfacing rampage. This road seems like an ideal
route for a cyclist looking for a Saturday ride, or at least that's what I
thought before heading out from Alberton Saturday, Nov. 28. It wasn't long
before I had a hearse whiz by within a meter as I climbed a blind hill; talk
about bad omens. Further on down the road, I encountered someone walking on the
opposite side of the road, with long lines of half-ton trucks and SUVs coming
from both directions it quickly became a hairy situation. Fortunately, the
vehicle at the front of the oncoming lane slowed to a near stop giving both
myself and the walker some much-needed space.
Another kilometre or
so and I'd have the closest call of the day when rounding a blind turn with a
half-ton truck in the oncoming lane, a small car and white SUV flew past me
crossing the double solid center line forcing both me and the oncoming half-ton
to swerve on to the unpaved shoulder. And that unpaved shoulder is also in part
what makes the Cascumpec Road so dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians,
forcing us to share a lane with the multi-ton vehicles now effortlessly
exceeding speed limits on asphalt as smooth as the Autobahn.
The fact that
millions were invested in revitalizing this stretch and many other roads for
those behind the wheel of gas-guzzling motor vehicles while adding nothing to
increasing the appeal or even safety of active transportation says a lot about
what this government prioritizes.
Samuel Arsenault,
Alberton
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Verdi’s Macbeth, today until 6:30PM
Starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Željko Lučić, and René Pape, conducted
by Fabio Luisi. From
October 11, 2014.
Bizet’s Carmen, tonight 7:30PM until Saturday
about 6:30PM
Starring Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, and Teddy Tahu
Rhodes, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From January 16, 2010.
Global Chorus essay for December 4
Allana Beltran
All crises, personal and global, lead to change. The current crises have arisen
in culmination of past attempts to avoid our humanity by escaping into
materialism. Hope for our future requires a shift in human consciousness.
Sustainable cultures throughout history have one major characteristic that is
largely missing from the current dominant forms of governance: a spirituality
that sees the divinity in all things and surrenders to it. Without a sense of
spirituality we seek fulfillment and identity in temporal material objects and
power. These illusions we have been pursuing are now crumbling at our feet –
witnessed through the destruction of society and the environment. Realizing
this, I believe many people will reconnect to their spiritual self by praying
in surrender to their personal divinity for help. I feel this shift has already
started.
In the breakdown and disillusionment of materialism, the active power of love
and compassion will be enabled to arise from our innate nature. We will feel
reverence for the interconnectedness of all life and subsequently act to
protect it. In our stewardship of the Earth, true fulfillment will arise in the
hearts of humankind.
I believe it is because of these crises and the consequential changes that our
collective consciousness can shift to a higher state of being. I believe we may
well be as never before, walking into a time of global oneness in which we will
experience everything – rivers, oceans, birds, animals, humans, mountains,
forests, all life – as an interconnected part of our own self.
—
Allana Beltran, Australian artivist
http://www.allanabeltran.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 3, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
The P.E.I.
Legislature sits from 2-5 and 7-9PM today.
You can watch live here:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly Facebook page link
https://www.facebook.com/peileg
and at the Assembly
website, you can find documents they are discussing, like the capital budget or
various motions or bills.
------------------------------
Today:
Charlottetown
Community Conservation about Food -- last one!
Theme: Buy and
Celebrate, 2PM.
To build on and celebrate assets in the food system to encourage
more citizens to buy and support local.
These Community Conversations are "60-minute virtual
workshops hosted online. All members of the public are invited and encouraged
to virtually attend one of these community conversations on food.
Pre-registration is required and available online at the link provided below."
Facebook event details
A check-in with rights, responsibilities, and who is holding power in
Charlottetown right now, thanks to Doug MacArthur and the Stop Killam PEI
website and social media posting:
https://www.stopkillampei.com/
Here is an article on Charlottetown development, which
appeared in The Guardian today. We hope you will share this.
Read the full article below, written by Doug MacArthur (we
will include a link when it's available on The Guardian website):
Charlottetown
development: Fact and fiction
By
Doug MacArthur
published on
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020, in The Guardian
Residents of our city, and many others who care about our
city, are encountering ongoing development misinformation and restricted public
input by city hall. The city's development objective seems to be to have every
conceivable project approved with a minimum of public input and in the shortest
timeframes possible. Let's look at the misinformation and fiction.
We are being told that all new construction projects are
great for economic development and create needed employment. The proponents of
that fiction have obviously no knowledge of economics. If life were so simple,
P.E.I. could increase its dairy quota and its lobster trap limits one
hundredfold, could entice in 100 Costcos, could build 50,000 new apartment
units, and we would all live richly and happily ever after. Unfortunately, in
the real world there is a required economic balance called demand and supply.
There is also a requirement for government to wisely manage our agricultural
land base, our fisheries stocks, and our urban development priorities.
The next fiction we are being told is that there is a
Charlottetown area general housing shortage. However, there continues to be a
major affordable housing need for those who cannot afford to pay market prices
for their housing. Very little is being done in the city to respond effectively
to that need. Instead, city hall engages in tokenism by praising and approving
questionable highend residential projects based on a project having 4-5 per
cent affordable housing units. Our city will never come to grips with
affordable housing needs until city hall makes an authentic effort to directly
address the affordability problem instead of being an enabler of developers'
inclusion of a few token units of affordable housing to justify much larger
high-end projects.
Our business community is a valued partner in the development
of our city. However, when 25-30 businesses, some of them from off-Island, upon
request provide letters of support to city hall for a developer's Sherwood
Crossing project, and when most, if not all, are suppliers to that developer,
they may be allowing their business interests to conflict with their community
responsibilities. Sherwood Crossing may be beneficial for those particular
businesses, but it may be devastating for Mount Edward Road and other area
residents. As residents, we try to support local businesses and we place
ourselves at risk in these COVID-19 times by supporting the need for foreign
workers employed locally. We expect some consideration in return.
One of the baseless red herrings raised by proponents of
questionable projects is that concerned residents are only complaining because
they have a Not In My Back Yard negativity to any project. Any citizen who is
not concerned about what happens in his or her "backyard" is probably
not one of the many thousands of residents who have built our city into one of
the finest anywhere. The day residents stop being concerned about development
in their neighbourhood is the day we will have turned over our city to
developers to do with it as they please.
Finally, this city administration is engaging in public
misinformation and restricting public input. For example, Mayor Brown continues
to cite "as of right" as the (fictional) reason there has been no
city council input or public meetings allowed in the questionable 15 Haviland
St. 99-unit approval process. However, as of right only applies if a
development has met all zoning and bylaw regulations. That particular project
has not even come close. Similarly, city hall has refused to share and allow
public input in the major city-financed traffic study which relates to Sherwood
Crossing. It is not acceptable that a study paid for by our residents and which
can cast light on a proposed Sherwood Crossing development which may house up
to 1,000 new residents, is kept from the local community who will be most
affected.
City hall needs to begin providing the responsible
stewardship and public input our citizens deserve and expect. The two years to
date of this administration has been a feeding frenzy for developers who are
able to get what they want, regardless of how unreasonable the ask. And the
asks and the enabling have become even more unreasonable, as evidenced by 15
Haviland Str. and Sherwood Crossing. Neither project will currently stand up to
public scrutiny, so the city hall solution has been to cut off public scrutiny.
Unless we stand up as a community, these projects will continue to be approved
without proper public input. Developers will get richer while our community
pays the price.
-30
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Wagner’s Parsifal,
today until 6:30PM
Starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and
René Pape, conducted by Daniele Gatti. From March 2, 2013. Wagner
threw so much into this, his last opera. 4 hours 50 minutes.
Verdi’s Macbeth,
tonight 7:30PM until 6:30PM Friday
From October 11, 2014. "Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a
sensation with her riveting performance as the malevolent Lady Macbeth, the
central character in Verdi’s retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy. She is joined
by Željko Lučić, who brings dramatic intensity and vocal authority to the title
role of the honest general driven to murder and deceit by his ambitious wife.
The great René Pape is Banquo and Joseph Calleja gives a moving performance as
Macduff. Adrian Noble’s powerful production provides an ideal setting for this
dark drama, which is masterfully presided over by Met Principal Conductor Fabio
Luisi." Riveting -- such an amazing performance. Under 3 hours.
I wish she were on the East Coast,
so we could see her and her works in person...
Global Chorus essay for December 3rd
Mae Moore
We will not know if we can turn around the destructive path we are on until the
time arrives when we have accomplished it.
To get there, we must protect the last remaining wild places on Earth from
resource extraction and we must live by a new model that values health and
happiness over economic profit. Each and every person in the First World must
recognize with gratitude (and not a sense of entitlement) that her/ his
lifestyle comes at a cost to the environment, to the Third World and to the
planet, and must take steps to shift this. We need to move away from being
rabid consumers and realize that there is nothing more important than clean
water, clean air and fertile soil.
Our population is too large to be supported by our planet. We have disrupted
entire ecosystems under the guise of progress. We cannot keep doing this.
People are awakening to one climate crisis after another. Our time is running
out to effect change.
Do I have hope? I answer that question with no, I do not have hope, as hope is
too passive an election. I will, however, live my life with the lightest
footprint possible and I will work toward actively redirecting our collision
course, through education, through public governmental lobbying against fossil
fuel, through growing food organically for my family and community and through
protecting our environment for other species at risk – through civil
disobedience if called for.
-----Mae
Moore, Canadian musician, artist, organic farmer, activist
See her website for her beautiful, vivid paintings and more about her:
https://maemoore.ca/
________________
essay from:
Global
Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca December 2, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
The P.E.I. Legislature sits this afternoon, from 2-5PM.
You can watch live here:
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly Facebook page link
https://www.facebook.com/peileg
More news about their
work so far in the coming days, but a short note from District 23 Tyne
Valley-Sherbrooke MLA Trish Altass writes on social media:
"Pleased that my
motion urging Government to
publicly fund the
Shingrix (Shingles) vaccine to Islanders 60-70 years of age, has passed
unanimously. We must do everything we can to support our seniors to live
healthy and well."
Altass also read the summary of the report and
moved the (unanimous) adoption of her report from the Special Committee on
Poverty on PEI, which looked specifically at implementing a Basic Income
Guarantee. Huge amount of work, and Altass kept the project moving and
put together.
Committee page
(I can't find the report
yet but will post it when I do)
-----------------------------
Open Dialogue Live:
The Future of Farming, 6:30PM, online free seminar, from Dalhousie University
"What does an increasingly digital-first world mean for the
future of farming? The growth of digital agriculture, like advanced devices,
precision and robotic systems, will impact how farms and other industry
stakeholders could become more profitable, efficient, safe and environmentally
friendly.
In this episode of Open Dialogue Live, two researchers and a PhD
student from the Faculty of Agriculture will discuss what this means in
practice. The conversation will focus on the benefits and challenges of
implementing digital technology along with how farmers are involved in
developing applicable and acceptable solutions."
For more event details and to register:
Registration website link
It's a Wonderful Life:
A Live Radio Play performs starting tomorrow through Saturday
at the Confederation Centre and next week at The Watermark Theatre in North
Rustico, presented by ACT.
more info:
The event will also run at the Watermark on December 10,
11, 12
Tickets for Charlottetown run:
https://confederationcentre.com/whats-on/its-a-wonderful-life/
Local shopping
option:
Discover
Charlottetown has put together a "Wishbook" featuring
glossy (on-line) pages of various items for sale in the area, that can be
obtained in-store or ordered on-line.
https://www.discovercharlottetown.com/holiday-wishbook/
from The (U.K.)
Guardian, Wedensday, December 2nd, 2020:
Sea change – Governments responsible for 40% of the world’s coastlines have
pledged to end overfishing, restore dwindling fish populations and stop the
flow of plastic pollution into the seas in the next 10 years. The countries –
Australia, Canada,
Chile, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Norway,
Palau and Portugal – will end harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing,
a key demand of campaigners. The countries’ leaders have set out a series of
commitments that mark the world’s biggest ocean sustainability initiative, in
the absence of a fully fledged UN treaty on marine life. Each country has
pledged to ensure all their exclusive economic zones in the ocean are managed
sustainably by 2025. That amounts to an area of ocean roughly the size of
Africa.
Full article:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/global-sustainable-fishing-initiative-agreed-by-14-countries?
Totally unrelated to
anything, but still sad...
The
death of Darth Vader - The Guardian article by Colby Cash
Published on the Saltwire website on
Tuesday, December 1st, 2020
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/national-perspectives/colby-cosh-the-death-of-darth-vader-526085/
On Saturday, David Prowse, the bodybuilder from Bristol,
England, who played Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, died of
COVID-19 in a London hospital. I don’t know if it’s true that people generally
die in the way that they lived, but Prowse’s death certainly reflects the
oddity of his career.
Darth Vader is a
staple of global culture, a byword for cinematic evil. Considered a
celebrity in his own right, Vader would be the most famous person to succumb to
the pandemic by some distance. But even Star Wars fanatics do not really think
of Dave Prowse as Darth Vader.
And, well, that’s
because Darth Vader has never been fewer than about a half-dozen people. James
Earl Jones, as everybody knows, provided the menacing voice. (George Lucas’
first choice is said to have been Orson Welles.) Prowse turned out to be too
clumsy to handle the light-sabre fight sequences, so a fencer and stage
choreographer, Bob Anderson, “plays” Vader in most of those scenes — a fact
informally suppressed until Mark Hamill spilled the beans in 1983.
During the big
reveal in the conclusion of the trilogy, the unmasked Vader is, of course,
played by Sebastian Shaw. Vader’s respiration, essential to the effect of the
character, was provided by sound designer Ben Burtt playing around with scuba
gear. And you can argue that none of these Vaders is as important as the
designer of Vader’s costume, Ralph McQuarrie.
Prowse, already
famous in the United Kingdom for being the star of a road safety publicity
campaign for children,......

British actor David Prowse, from 1975, as the Superhero
"Green Cross Code Man", teaching street-crossing safety. from his obituary
from the BBC
-----------------------------------
....was recruited to “Star Wars” more or less strictly for his physique. He
stood 6-6 and worked out; at that time, and especially on that side of the
Atlantic, this made him as unusual as any circus performer. In our higher-tech
age of filmmaking, the antagonist in a science-fiction epic would be one
talented actor; special effects and Hollywood “exercise” routines would be used
to take care of the rest. In the 1970s, George Lucas was forced to pioneer the
synthetic villain.
Synthetic, sure,
but on the set, in the scenes requiring Vader to interact with other actors,
Dave Prowse had to do the work, which included suiting up in a fussy, awkward
outfit. He learned all of Vader’s dialogue; Carrie Fisher later recalled that
his West Country accent led to the cruel nickname Darth Farmer, which surely
wasn’t coined by the Americans in the cast. English accent prejudices evidently
date back long ago, and are found in galaxies far, far away.
Members of the
Star Wars generation viewing the first film as adults may find, or merely
fancy, that they can detect a seam between the “physical portrayal” of Vader
and James Earl Jones’s delivery of the dialogue. But it can’t be denied that
Vader’s towering physical presence was a non-negotiable feature of Star Wars.
Prowse’s “part” of the Darth Vader performance gets the main point right. Vader
is, above all, imperious and intimidating.
In later life,
Prowse fell out with Lucas and the “Star Wars” merchandising empire. This may
have been attributable to Prowse’s candour, for he was known to mention that
his “profit-sharing” contract for “Return of the Jedi” added up to nothing
after “Hollywood accounting” was applied.
Maybe Lucas and
co. just felt that Prowse wasn’t Darth Vader-y enough without the costume and
the dubbing, and preferred to keep him in the background. He remains there now,
in death. And yet, according to the ancient traditions of the acting
profession, the performer who first plays a role, and not the writer or the
director, is referred to as its creator.
originally from The National Post
Twitter.com/colbycosh
-30
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
"Stars in Signature Roles" week continues with:
Verdi’s Aida,
today until 6:30PM
Starring Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto, James McCracken, and Simon Estes.
From January 3, 1985. Sumptuous production, and Leontyne Price is so
absolutely gorgeous and sings so masterfully as Aida -- her last appearance in
the role.
Wagner’s Parsifal,
tonight 7:30PM until about 6:30PM Thursday
Starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and
René Pape, conducted by Daniele Gatti. From March 2, 2013. OK, so it
is nearly five hours long, but "Jonas Kaufmann in the title role of the
fool 'made wise by compassion' is as convincing vocally as he is haunting
dramatically, delivering a thoroughly moving portrayal. René Pape is equally
compelling as Gurnemanz, the veteran Knight of the Grail..."
Global Chorus essay for December 2
Stephen Gardiner
Seven billion people stranded on a small planet face a big problem. Nothing
stands in the way of their confronting this problem but themselves. Yet the
challenge is extreme: the problem is genuinely global, profoundly
intergenerational, and current institutions and theories are poorly placed to
cope. Worse, the position of the most affluent is ethically compromised: they
face strong temptations to continue to take modest benefits now while passing
severe and possibly catastrophic costs to the future, and especially to the
less advantaged and other species. This global environmental tragedy
constitutes a “perfect moral storm.” Climate change is a paradigm example.
The perfect moral storm is a severe challenge, and so far we are not doing very
well. Yet succumbing to the storm is not inevitable. The dominant institutions
of the age – markets and standard election cycles – may be good at highlighting
short-term, narrowly economic motivations and bad at capturing concerns for
distant people, future generations and Nature. Still, this does not mean that
we do not have such concerns, or that they cannot be made operative in policy.
In my view, we do and we can. Confronting the storm will require extraordinary
courage, imagination, creativity and fortitude. It will take a great generation
to try, and an even greater one to succeed. Yet we can be that generation.
We must.
—
Stephen M. Gardiner, Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of the Human Dimensions
of the Environment, University of Washington, author of A Perfect
Moral Storm
current position:
https://phil.washington.edu/people/stephen-gardiner
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca
December 1, 2020
Chris Ortenburger's CANews
Events:
The P.E.I.
Legislature resumes sitting for the week, from 2-5PM and 7-9PM.
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly website https://www.assembly.pe.ca/
P.E.I. Legislative Assembly Facebook page link
https://www.facebook.com/peileg
------------------------
A lot about food today:
ACORN's 1st Annual
Organic Producers' Summit, 10AM-3PM, streamed live online
on Facebook live, all welcome to attend.
The Summit will touch on topics such as global market
trends and opportunities for the Island, access to water, access to organic
land and new work towards creating processing infrastructure.
All are welcome to view online and learn how the PEI Organic
industry is growing and planning for the future!
- - - Agenda for the Day - - -
* Please note timing may vary.
10:45 - Sebastian Manago, Market Researcher
Market research presentation that will identify global market
trends and specifically what markets may be of most opportunity for the Island.
This will include potential recommendations for policies, programs and
practices including some GMO-free products.
12:30 - Infrastructure Project – Karen Murchison, PEI Certified
Organic Producers
Update on the infrastructure project currently being negotiated
to create food hubs and food aggregators to give farmers the space they need to
process and add value to their products – on a smaller, shared infrastructure
model.
1:15 - Draft Position Paper on Agriculture Irrigation –
Matthew Ramsay, PEI COPC Vice President
The Association has created a draft irrigation position paper
which includes a comprehensive approach to providing the farming community with
access to water. There will be a presentation of the Cooperative’s position
with debate and discussion.
1:45 - Organic Land Network – Karen Murchison, PEI Certified
Organic Producers
Securing organic land can be a challenge for farmers. There are
also landowners who would like to lease their land to the organic community.
The association is exploring the concept of an Organic Land Network that could
act in a management role for landowners and farmers.
Facebook event link
PEI Certified Organic Producers' Co-operative Facebook
page
The Food Security
Project: Cooking with Andy Hay, 12noon-12:30PM, online, all welcome.
On December 1st at 12 p.m., Andy Hay of Andy's East Coast
Kitchen will be joining us for a very exciting #GivingTuesday Facebook Premiere. In this
30-minute cooking event, Andy will teach attendees how to prepare a simple,
delicious meal with easy-to-obtain ingredients.
The cooking lesson will be followed by live Q&A chat session
with Andy Hay and Ashley MacDonald, a PhD student in the Faculty of
Agriculture.
This event is intended as a thank you for our Giving Tuesday
donors-and as a learning opportunity for students. After all, food insecurity
is about more than empty cupboards. It can also occur when people lack the
resources and knowledge necessary to store and prepare food.
Whether you're a student, alumni, community member, or donor, we
can't wait to see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/Dalumni
Community
Cenversations about Food: Grow, Build and Support, 7PM, online. Sponsored by
the City of Charlottetown Food Council/Sustainability programming
The Conversation about Growing, Building and Supporting is
happening tomorrow, December 1st at 7PM!
We’re looking forward to talking to our panelists
Lisa Fernandes (Food
Solutions New England), Ann Wheatley (Cooper Institute) about how we can inspire neighbourhood level food security.
Description: This conversation's theme is inspired by the power of
neighbourhood level action in building community and a sustainable food system.
There are many examples of neighbours supporting each other from the COVID-19
pandemic, but there are also many projects across the country and globe that
demonstrate action at the neighbourhood level as a means of establishing food
security, as well as contributing assets to local communities. How can
individuals in Charlottetown grow, build, and support good ideas as it pertains
to food assets? How can we support food security growth on neighbourhood
levels, and support our neighbours in doing the same? The goal of this
session is to build on assets in our own food system and create more
connections and action at our neighbourhood levels, benefitting the whole
community.
Follow our Facebook event page to read more...
If you haven’t registered yet, please follow this link
The last Conversation (on Buy and Celebrate) is Thursday, December 3rd.
It's "Giving Tuesday", a bit of a
palate-cleanser from all the on-line shopping frenzy of the past few days, and
if you can, you are encouraged to make a donation to an organization of your
choice. On the Island itself, besides many people-helping groups, there
are several environmental/land preservation groups that run on donations, many
of which are registered charities and give you a tax-receipt for your donation,
if that's an incentive for you.
A slightly less obvious choice would be Project Drawdown, an international group
that is working to bring down carbon emissions rapidly and with people's health
in mind.
"Founded in 2014, Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization that seeks
to help the world reach “Drawdown”— the future point in time when levels of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily
decline."
Chad Frischman, research team member, was in Pugwash at the Thinkers' Lodge
retreat on "Climate Change and the Human Prospect" in 2017 and is a
really energetic and realistic person.
Jonathan
Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, writes:
Thank you for your
continued interest in Project Drawdown! We are very grateful to you all.
While we have made numerous contributions to addressing climate change, our
work is only beginning. Buoyed by the recent election in the United
States and accelerating action on climate change from communities,
businesses, and policy-makers, we see this as a critical phase to advance
climate solutions.
In short, 2021 will be a pivotal year in addressing climate change,
and Project Drawdown is gearing up for it.
We have been ramping
up efforts in research and communication, discovering and disseminating the
best climate solutions to the world. Moreover, we have launched exciting
new efforts around education (Drawdown Learn), community partnerships, and
engaging businesses, investors, and philanthropists (Drawdown Labs).
And coming soon, we are launching a major new effort called Drawdown
Lift to link climate change solutions to alleviating poverty, improving
public health, and other “win-win” opportunities to protect the planet and
improve human wellbeing.
(Donations help)
Project Drawdown identify and amplify solutions to the climate emergency —
and share that work with communities, policy-makers, business leaders,
educators, and other decision makers worldwide... (and) help Project Drawdown
address the climate crisis.
Project Drawdown donation page
https://www.drawdown.org/
words from a wise woman....
LETTER: Equal access for vaccine - The Guardian Letter to the Editor
Published
on Monday, November 30th, 2020, in The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/letter-equal-access-for-vaccine-525727/
EDITOR:
I get it that every country wants to ensure that their citizens get first crack
at a COVID-19 vaccine. But, what about caring that billions of less fortunate
people around the world won't have equal access? The refugees time-locked in
camps, people in conflict zones, the millions more in poorer developing
countries? Are their lives not as valued as ours, we who are merely by accident
of birth being born in wealthy developed countries? And what about the
potential for even more violent world unrest as people in those environments
seek safer countries as they flee conflict, starvation, disease, extreme
poverty and now potentially no access to pandemic vaccines?
I am referring
to the recent action by Canada the U.S., the European Union, Britain and
Australia to block a motion made by the WTO that would waive Big Pharmas'
patent protection known as "intellectual rights" on COVID-19
vaccines. A patent or intellectual rights as described in trade deals
allows Big Pharma to control who gets the vaccine and when, as well as how much
they can charge.
This when Big
Pharma has received unprecedented amounts of taxpayers' [public] monies to
develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Surely Canadians don't want to help Big Pharma put
profits before the lives of billions of people in poorer parts of the world.
Seems like our government is doing just that!
Edith Perry, Millview
Metropolitan Opera
video performance streaming:
https://www.metopera.org/
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, today until
about 6:30PM
Starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by
Valery Gergiev. From February 24, 2007. "The pain of unrequited love
is portrayed unforgettably by two of today’s greatest stars. Renée Fleming is
musically and dramatically radiant as the shy Tatiana, who falls in love with
the worldly Onegin, played with devastating charisma by Dmitri Hvorostovsky...."
Verdi’s Aida, tonight 7:30PM until Wednesday
about 6:30PM
Starring Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto, James McCracken, and Simon
Estes. From January 3, 1985. This was a magical evening, as it was
Price's final performance at The Met, as Aida, and she is given this crazy-long
ovation after her final massive aria.
Global Chorus essay for December 1
Yasmin Rasyid
We already have the basic know-how and the technology to address current global
environmental and social crises. We have so many amazing technological
advancements but we use them more for selfish and self-destructing reasons.
What is missing is the political will and the pressure from all parts of civil
society to ensure proper governance and enforcement on the ground. Today we
seem to be having too many meetings, talking too much, with minimal actions on
the ground. This has got to change. We need more people to walk the talk.
Technocracy is getting in the way of any efforts to work on building a
sustainable planet.
Many of us have hope, but that’s not enough. Hope needs to be translated into
real, tangible actions on the ground, and many of us are still not changing
ourselves for the better – be it in the way we live sustainably or the way we
utilize resources. Sitting around and hoping doesn’t do justice to the
environment; we need to rise to the occasion, even if it’s something small like
working with your neighbours to solve trash issues, or educating children about
sustainable living in schools, or even starting with changing the way you
manage your home. I believe if we can all collectively pick one thing we can
change for the better today, we can make more visible differences to the
planet.
Every day, the human race hopes for something, but hoping does not help solve
any problems around us. Doing something will change more parameters.
—Yasmin
Rasyid, founder and president of EcoKnights, chair of Malaysian Environmental
NGOs (MENGO) 2013/2014
https://yasminrasyid.com/
________________
essay
from:
Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet
edited by Todd E. MacLean
copyright 2014
http://globalchorus.ca