I know I said I was going to talk about space exploration in the next few articles, but in the mean time while I research this more there is a very emotional and substantive topic I would like to discuss with all of you.
So, I'm not going to hold back punches on this because this is my blog and I will say what I want on this.
To the administration at Brock University: Go to Hell
To my Brothers and Sisters at CUPE Local 4207: Stay Strong, and I stand in Solidarity with all of you.
Brock University, as I have come to learn from my time there, is an institution rooted in making the lives of students, faculty and all other workers on campus a living nightmare. The strong-arm tactics of the University have gotten to the point where they are willing to break the laws of the Province of Ontario because they simply believe that they are better than everyone else.
Brock is taking advantage of 38 ESL Instructors, and the other unions on campus are not letting them get away with it.
Brock:
1) Refuses to honor its agreements made with employees at the University
2) Refuses to come back to the table, as CUPE 4207 just offered today, with the Provincial Mediator to work things out
3) Refuses to acknowledge the legitimate claims of workers on campus of harassment, hostile work conditions, contracting out, and other issues as addressed in the collective agreements they made between the them and the labour unions on campus.
I am asking for all of my readers to please support these workers. I once was part of their ranks, and I will always have their side because I know too well the living hell they are in right now. If you would like to know how to help them please get in touch with me at jwhalen4207@gmail.com
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Space: Still a Final Frontier?
I was asked recently by a reader to look into space exploration. The idea intrigued me, given that the Obama administration cut off NASA domestic manned space missions is space exploration and investment still a good idea?
The next few articles I write will explore this idea. My initial thought is that while manned space missions could be seen as a National Security issue by not having domestic missions is the whole idea of looking into space and what how we can exploit the universe still a viable possibility?
Many companies provide consulting services and private project works with the US government and governments around the world to assist in exploration efforts. Thousands are employed in this capacity to figure out new and better ways to use materials and especially create machines that produce their own energy to function. Many of these new technological advances have made their way into products we all use, especially cars and our own energy productions systems.
Leave your comments below and let me know your thoughts. Like in previous articles, I want to have participation and include everyone in conversations I start here.
The next few articles I write will explore this idea. My initial thought is that while manned space missions could be seen as a National Security issue by not having domestic missions is the whole idea of looking into space and what how we can exploit the universe still a viable possibility?
Many companies provide consulting services and private project works with the US government and governments around the world to assist in exploration efforts. Thousands are employed in this capacity to figure out new and better ways to use materials and especially create machines that produce their own energy to function. Many of these new technological advances have made their way into products we all use, especially cars and our own energy productions systems.
Leave your comments below and let me know your thoughts. Like in previous articles, I want to have participation and include everyone in conversations I start here.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Keystone XL
In any examination of an economy, energy is a sector that is part of it's "main heights." One of the reasons many have called for nationalization of the sector.
But I like to think of energy in a completely different view. Knowing the fact we need energy to support ourselves there needs to not only be a more comprehensive movement away from oil, but a more robust examination of what "Green" technology will really do for Labour and how that affects all of us and what can be done to have less dependance on all materials that harm our environment(s).
I chose to talk about the Keystone XL pipeline for one reason in particular: this pipeline, and the issues surrounding it, exemplify all of what I have mentioned above.
The Tar Sands of Canada, mostly located in the Province of Alberta, are a source of crude for all of the western hemisphere and the rest of the world as well. The nice thing about the tar sands is that drilling is not a main method of extraction, rather crude, once filtered out, is literally in the soil itself and is easy to obtain. The Tar Sands have brought enormous prosperity to Alberta and many Canadians travel to work there for the dream of striking it rich even in the lowliest of jobs at the sites.
The downsides outweigh the benefits to the production of crude. Water systems have been polluted, some to the point where life is no longer sustainable; Aboriginals (Native Americans here in the US), have had their lands destroyed; Alberta itself has become so expensive to live in that even with a $80,000 salary it is hard to make ends meet if you are the only paycheck in your household; and among other things, the price of oil in Canada, as in the US, has risen rather than fallen.
So to those who say "DRILL!!" its not exactly working, anywhere, to get the price of oil down again because the speculators will still control what we all pay.
On the flipside, Labour Unions, in particular, and most other critics argue for the jobs the pipeline will create and sustain over a long period of time. Not a bad argument, but what is the reality in those numbers?
MSNBC, among others, have pointed out that over the long term, the jobs really won't matter because the costs, numerical and otherwise, outweigh the benefits. Nevermind that the pipeline will just cause more environmental disruption and a high potential of environmental damage in that same time period. In the interest of keeping this short, please follow the link to read the evidence I mention in this paragraph.
"Green" technology creates more labour issues on its own and there is no real sense that being "eco-friendly" all the time will solve our labour and environmental issues over the use of energy.
There are those in the scientific world who are experimenting with atomic energy down to the smallest of particles to find ways to make energy without disrupting our environment on a massive scale. Maybe paying more attention to these folks and giving them more support will lend a way to get us out of this mess generations before us got us into that we are now addicted to.
In my own conclusion, for now at least, investment in alternative sources of energy needs to be invested in more than it is now, we need to get off oil because as far as I'm concerned, I'm tired of feeling guilty everytime I turn up my thermostat, light my stove up, or get in my car. There needs to be a better way,
But I like to think of energy in a completely different view. Knowing the fact we need energy to support ourselves there needs to not only be a more comprehensive movement away from oil, but a more robust examination of what "Green" technology will really do for Labour and how that affects all of us and what can be done to have less dependance on all materials that harm our environment(s).
I chose to talk about the Keystone XL pipeline for one reason in particular: this pipeline, and the issues surrounding it, exemplify all of what I have mentioned above.
The Tar Sands of Canada, mostly located in the Province of Alberta, are a source of crude for all of the western hemisphere and the rest of the world as well. The nice thing about the tar sands is that drilling is not a main method of extraction, rather crude, once filtered out, is literally in the soil itself and is easy to obtain. The Tar Sands have brought enormous prosperity to Alberta and many Canadians travel to work there for the dream of striking it rich even in the lowliest of jobs at the sites.
The downsides outweigh the benefits to the production of crude. Water systems have been polluted, some to the point where life is no longer sustainable; Aboriginals (Native Americans here in the US), have had their lands destroyed; Alberta itself has become so expensive to live in that even with a $80,000 salary it is hard to make ends meet if you are the only paycheck in your household; and among other things, the price of oil in Canada, as in the US, has risen rather than fallen.
So to those who say "DRILL!!" its not exactly working, anywhere, to get the price of oil down again because the speculators will still control what we all pay.
On the flipside, Labour Unions, in particular, and most other critics argue for the jobs the pipeline will create and sustain over a long period of time. Not a bad argument, but what is the reality in those numbers?
MSNBC, among others, have pointed out that over the long term, the jobs really won't matter because the costs, numerical and otherwise, outweigh the benefits. Nevermind that the pipeline will just cause more environmental disruption and a high potential of environmental damage in that same time period. In the interest of keeping this short, please follow the link to read the evidence I mention in this paragraph.
"Green" technology creates more labour issues on its own and there is no real sense that being "eco-friendly" all the time will solve our labour and environmental issues over the use of energy.
There are those in the scientific world who are experimenting with atomic energy down to the smallest of particles to find ways to make energy without disrupting our environment on a massive scale. Maybe paying more attention to these folks and giving them more support will lend a way to get us out of this mess generations before us got us into that we are now addicted to.
In my own conclusion, for now at least, investment in alternative sources of energy needs to be invested in more than it is now, we need to get off oil because as far as I'm concerned, I'm tired of feeling guilty everytime I turn up my thermostat, light my stove up, or get in my car. There needs to be a better way,
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