Hi! My Name is Sandy, This is Your Wake-Up Call!

At the end of a U.S. election campaign that has ignored climate change and global warming, Mother Nature has weighed in with a persuasive argument.

Sandy's wake-up call couldn't have been any more loud or clear. (note - the link to the Huffington Post article is not working at time of posting due to power outages effecting the site's operations)

Numerous cities and towns along the U.S. eastern seaboard have experienced flooding and damage on a scale never seen before.

Despite tragic loss of life and billions of dollars worth of damage that has already occurred, it seems that we may have dodged a bullet to some extent. If the water had been one foot higher, or the winds a little stronger, no telling how much worse it could have been.

Unfortunately, the latter scenario is exactly where we're headed.

Worldwide temperatures are on the increase. The sea level is rising. Extreme weather events are becoming larger, more frequent and more extreme.

Katrina was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Sandy, another once-in-a-lifetime event. How many lives do we get?

This year, the Arctic ice cap melted down to 20-30% less than the previous record low level, which had been set in 2007.

The increasing pace of melting ice packs and rising sea levels, combined with higher global temperatures, can only mean more severe and more frequent weather events in the near future.

Sandy is telling us that measures to reduce co2 emissions are desperately needed.

  

Alexandre Trudeau: embedded in Justin's campaign.

According to the Winnipeg Free Press, Sacha Trudeau is "stepping up" to act as senior advisor to his brother Justin's campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Unlike the story in the WFP, I would never stretch this so far as to mention "Jack and Bobby" in the second paragraph of the story. (oops)

Nor would I mention that I saw this coming and predicted it here. (oops)

But I will say this: anyone who thinks that the Liberals under Justin Trudeau will be "same old same old" may well want to reconsider.

Sacha is probably most well known for his film, Embedded in Baghdad, which he made before, during and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Certainly no lack of courage, conviction or imagination in this young man.

Given the low profile Alexandre has kept, it is difficult to say what his influence will be and how much he will have. Just a gut feeling that he could be bringing a leftish perspective to things, but this could be altogether wrong. His role will probably be more that of the trusted confidante, rather than a strategist or policy advisor.

Indeed, I could see a Liberal Party under Justin (best case scenario) that would transcend left and right, neutralizing this whole "Fox News vs Daily Show", "right vs left" sham of political discourse that exists. When one considers that the vast majority of Canadians (and Americans) really live outside of "left" and "right" interest groups, it becomes plausible to hope that there is room for other more valid movements.

Anyway, Justin's first week on the campaign trail has been a success and I presume it will be very interesting to keep an eye on as the campaign unfolds...

Alexandre Trudeau: “It’s not my show tonight”

For anyone tempted to speculate that the Liberals under Justin Trudeau would be "same old same old", there was one new face in the crowd last night whose influence may yet become powerful, even if not necessarily front and centre.

Trudeau’s younger brother, Sacha, was on hand with his young family, too, but politely rebuffed reporters’ questions. “It’s not my show tonight,” he said.

The operative word being, "tonight"(?)