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Month: September 2019

Environmental Clickbait – Blog3

September 26, 2019 / / 1 Comment

Environmental Clickbait – Blog3

(435 Words)

If you’ve been reading news on the interwebs for more than a couple years, you’ll have no doubt realized there are 2 ways to make a successful article. Making a well written, informative, and engaging article is the best way. The other way is to insert a clickbait title with a clickbait picture and bingo bongo! Get that good ‘bait’ money.

Case in point, this so called ‘Science Reporter’ (Not a real job title) Ivan Semeniuk. He threw up an article on The Globe and Mail in 2016, took 2 years to realize he bungled the job, then went back and edited it in 2018. His horrendously mind numbing take on Canada’s endangered species list starts off strong with a clickbait title. “After a long wait, 11 new names added to Canada’s list of species at risk”.

Couldn’t think of a longer title eh Ivan? That should be irresistible to any bleeding heart Environmentalist. Insert picture of cute fluffy animal and you’ve got yourself some baits. I’ll save my few loyal readers from ingesting that drivel. Its just a long-winded attempt at saying something that contains useful information with a few jabs at the Conservatives (just for good measure). These 11 ‘species’, while accurate, is wholly misleading to the general public. 7 of those ‘species’ are flies, fungus, and a slug. Yeah, bet all your eyes are really tearing up over those ‘species’. Sure, biodiversity is important for a plethora of reasons, but Ivan is getting us riled up over the imminent death of 11 cute and cuddly critters when its really just 1 rabbit that looks like a rat, 3 birds, and some pests.

Plus, Mr. Science Reporter didn’t bother explaining what’s being done if anything to protect the species added to Canada’s Endangered Species List. Listing the species is a great first step but I doubt the lichen (read fungus) gives a Collared Pika’s ass. Lets hear about stopping the spread of urban sprawl. Maybe tell us about how pushing the development and use of clean technology can benefit not just the environment but even the economy. The forestry business is a crucial part of our economy, but it negatively affects some of these ecosystems that your flies and fungus live in. We already have vertical farming as a viable solution to the destruction agriculture has wrought (that means you soy boys!), so it shouldn’t take an Einstein or even an Ivan to bring that up as a viable strategy against deforestation.

I say, if humans stop meddling, the planet will sort itself out. If that rat looking Pika survives too, then Great! Otherwise:

  • IfTheyDie

And heres my name to say so.

D.A. Mills > SCIENCE REPORTER PROFESSIONAL BULLSHITTER

References:

Semeniuk, I (2016, June 22). After long wait, 11 new names added to Canada’s list of species at risk. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/after-long-wait-eight-new-names-added-to-canadas-list-of-species-at-risk/article30570259/

The Environmental Platforms are all Dumpster Fires – Blog2

September 21, 2019 / / 2 Comments

The Environmental Platforms are all Dumpster Fires – Blog2

(649 Words)

Canada’s 2019 election is looming before us and watching our 4 main parties is like watching a horror movie. Especially so on the topic of environment. The whole lot of them are bumbling their way into the environmental arena and battling it out, seeing who can out enviro-woke the others. It’s a real cluster duck, but listening to arm chair politicians (me) is always fun, so grab some popcorn!

ALRIGHT! LETS GET STARTED!

We’ll have to make a choice come October. Before that we can only fantasize about throwing their 4 environmental plans onto a chopping block and Frankensteining them into a semi-functional monster. If only all 4 brains that made the plans weren’t so Abby Normal.

Lets be honest, I’m just throwing politics at the wall and seeing what sticks. Based on only the points laid out from a hacked up cut of a September 8th Globe and Mail article (1), I chose whose ‘presumably’ lies were most palatable and made a few observations. Sure, the Globe and Mail is reputable and they sourced their article well enough, so I tend to believe what they have to say about climate change and despite an online reputation as Center Right biased, they presented the candidate platforms with admirable neutrality. Believing any one of our future Stooge in Chiefs is a different story entirely. Their ‘loans’, ‘rebates’ and ‘tax incentives’ are just word du jour to buy votes with the promise of free money.

3 of the parties had items on their environmental agenda that tasted vile and reek of a lack of foresight. Leaving the unpopular Conservatives as the best choice. They just didn’t have any particularly heinous ideas. They’re the only party (from the article), who are pushing to fight the climate change on a global scale. Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions pale in comparison to China, USA, and India. Canada’s 2017 Greenhouse-gas emissions sat at a meek 617,000 Kilotons, while the US rolled in at a whopping 5,107,393 Kiltotons, and China more than doubles that (1). I don’t see a benefit to the environment if the GOV taxes and regs companies right out of Canada so they can freely pollute in other countries. Canada loses money and jobs while those countries end up polluting more. I’m all for lowering emissions and cleaning up the environment, just not at the expense of Canadian jobs. Double that when any changes we make will hardly be a drop in the bucket with our global neighbors stinking up the planet. The Conservatives are going big picture with their plan, and cleaning up the big polluter countries by selling them cleaner fuel ought to even make Canada a few bucks.

The Liberals and Conservatives are specifically making a big push to develop clean technology, while the Liberal’s promise to invest in public transit is probably the most feasible part of their plan. The NDP and Green Party sound like they’re having a wet dream about turning Canada into an environmental Gulag. Removing all fossil fuels from the grid, but not offering viable alternative. The Greens’ only platform point I can get behind, wasn’t covered in the Globe and Mail’s article. They are pledging to stop Canada’s imports of foreign oil (2). That’s just smart business to me. Unfortunately, as per the Globe and Mail, the Greens are planning on also stopping all pipeline expansion and removing fossil fuels from the grid. That, coupled with their hard stance against nuclear energy, and one can’t help wonder how they plan to meet Canada’s energy needs. Perhaps they plan to install manual generators in all the Carbon Gulags. Under the Greens or NDP, in the grim darkness of the far future there is only the climate-war.

I hope no one’s eyes started festering from reading this, I watched videos of the 4 parties talk about their platforms to verify a few points, so my eyes sure are.

And heres my name to say so.

D.A. Mills

Related Articles:

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/dumpster+fire

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b0qRIMmIBPU/V_53l7Y0lxI/AAAAAAAAIRo/Pbe42_zWOLYOfxsxMBTQYgrW9YJg4rF_wCPcB/s1600/ab1a28797cd08c898a7a38df17e3cded.jpg

References

  1. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-election-2019-where-the-four-main-parties-stand-on-climate/
  2. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-oil-green-party-leader-elizabeth-may-1.5151214

Blog One SFD

September 13, 2019 / / 4 Comments

Blog One SFD

(290 Words)

In the article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamotte, she talks about the first draft of writing being like a “child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place…” (para.4). I really like that way of putting it. The idea seems to be, throwing words at the paper and seeing what sticks when you’re done.

People tend to think of children as innocent and uninhibited. Treat the first draft that way and you’ll probably get a few nuggets out of it that you otherwise wouldn’t if you were all ‘self conscious’, trying to wordsmith a piece of art on the first shot.

Where I come from, children are vile parasitic beasts that know no law but chaos. Lamotte’s idea still holds up.  Look no further than myself, an avid consumer of eloquent words. A Novel Gourmet, if you will. I consume my ‘sustenance’ in all its forms, video and audio with a heavy helping of the ol’ written word. Inspired as I am, I’ve never been able to put pen to paper. Much like an aspiring artist fearing the canvas. He sees his own potential from a lofty seat upon the shoulders of giants like da Vinci and van Gogh.

Yet here I am today, driven by the life and death situation of college grades, and that innocuous piece of advice from Lamotte, I’ve let loose a demon child. Much like the spread of a nasty virus, words populated the page with wanton abandon. There were mistakes and there were edits. You now have the pleasure(?) of reading those words with a thinly veiled threat of more to come.

And heres my name to say so.

D.A. Mills

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