Where Did All the Trees Go?

On a recent day trip to Manning Park in the interior of Beautiful British Columbia, our family was very saddened to discover that the picnic area at Lightning Lake has had all its trees, specifically the lodgepole pines, removed. We imagine this has to do with the pine beetle infestation the area is suffering under.
Although I guess this is really the only viable solution at this point, it really hit home a couple of things:

1. Global warming is having a definite local effect as the winters aren't getting cold enough to kill off the pests
2. Inaction eventually has its consequences

When will we learn that ignoring a serious problem too long leads to even greater problems later on. If some simple strategies had been applied to control the outbreak 10 years ago, would my son have been able to grow up to see Manning Park the way I had seen it?

Oh well, I guess the forestry companies and provincial government are now making money by harvesting the dead and dying trees. It is so reassuring to know we only act when there's a profit motive...

Crises in Lebanon

Super Squirrel is full of squirrelly fury at the situation between Israel and Lebanon right now. Granted, Hizbollah is firing rockets into their country, but as far as I am concerned, Israel's is not a "measured response" no matter what Prime Minister Steve says. Of course, Israel should have a right to defend itself, but does that justify the massive, continuous bombardment of a non-combatant country and the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians?
They say Hizbollah is a terrorist organization that must be uprooted. But what happens when the uprooting creates a brand new crop of young terrorists? Won't that simply continue the cycle of violence?

Sometimes it amazes me that the citizens of Israel, many of whom fled horrific violence and terror in the first half of the 20th century, so easily respond with the imposition of violence (and indeed terror) on their mid-east neighbors. Whatever happened to "never again"?! Isn't all war really terrorism?

Uh-Oh

Uh-oh. Haven't kept up with this at all. However, looking over the over all content and my links, I think I'm on the right track with the kind of site I've got going.

Maybe I should split into two blogs:

1. MLO discussing politics and social change
2. Personal journal type of blog

Hmmm.

Single Transferable Vote is a Good Compromise

Although it has many detractors, I believe that the STV proposal on the May 17 Referendum ballot is a good idea:

• STV typically yields a legislature with seats much more closely aligned with the popular vote, whereas results of the traditional FPTP (first-past-the-post) system are always skewed in favour of the two main political parties (the major cause of BC political polarization)
• STV eliminates scenarios where a party that gets less than 50% of the popular vote still receives a huge majority of seats in the legislature
• A legislature distibuted more closely along the lines of the popular vote is more inclusive of a diversity of political opinion (good for alternatives such as independents and smaller parties)
• A legislature with more diversity provides a more accountable majority component and a stronger opposition
• A government that is more accountable/representational will help get society at large involved in civic affairs once again
• When people are more involved in civic affairs, special interest groups like large corporations will not always get their way automatically

The major strike against STV that most dissidents make is in regards to its complexity. Although I agree it is a somewhat complex system, why is this automatically a bad thing? Many things in the world today are complex.

STV supports the traditional Canadian electoral values of local representation, representation by population, and yields a legislative distibution in alignment with the popular vote. If the system works as well as it appears to, and provides the huge benefits listed above, is it not worth the effort to learn more about it and try the system for a few elections as mandated in the proposal?