The House & other Arctic musings

Cannibal!

First off, I believe that climate change is a serious problem, that it is human driven, and that it is having a profound effect on the Arctic.  That said, it annoys me to no end that almost everything is being used to make the arguement that climate change is happening.

Look, I understand that it is a crucial issue, and one that it is difficult to convince some people (the very people who happily point out that the earth was warmer in the past accept the science that tells us that while rejecting the same science that is telling us that it is warming at unprecedented rate).

The problem with ascribing absolutely every problem or perceived problematic behaviour to climate change is that it dilutes the evidence at the end of the day. It has the power to numb, not shock. And what currently has me shaking my head is the cannibalistic Polar Bear photos and news item that is currently making its way around, the media and the internet.

Polar Bears are a touchstone for many people. They are charismatic, beautiful animals, and the ice they depend on is disappearing. Their listing as threatened by the US has done nothing to alleviate the threat to them. The threat to them isn't from hunting, either sport or by Inuit. Fifty bears or fifty thousand, when the ice disappears so will much of their food supply. There are many healthy populations right now that can and do sustain a hunt, the listing notwithstanding.

Because they have suddenly become the iconic messenger for climate change in the Arctic these photos, and the accompanying text (there are media stories as well, in pretty much every market) are being waved as climate change warning flags. "Look! The bears are being forced to eat each other because of their disappearing habitat and food supply!" "They are being forced to eat cubs!" (those are imaginary quotes - illustrative if you will.) But here is a quote for the Reuter's photos that I linked to:

 " Climate change has turned some polar bears into cannibals as global warming melts their Arctic ice hunting grounds, reducing the polar bear population..."

I don't know about you, but I grew up on a steady diet of nature films/docs and practically every one that had Polar Bears had the dramatic part about the mother bear having to keep an eye out for males that will kill her cubs. Not the best evidence you say? That is true, how about this snippet from Polar Bears International

Male polar bears, like males of other ursids, will kill and eat dependent cubs (Hansson and Thomassen 1983; Larsen 1985; Taylor et al. 1985; Derocher and Wiig 1999). Although this activity does not account for a large percentage of the mortality, it is a curious cause of death in young bears. A male bear that kills cubs fathered by another probably confers some survival advantage to cubs he fathered by eliminating possible competitors for resources. Also, female bears undergo a lactational anestrus. By killing her cubs, a male interrupts that anestrus, and theoretically could breed with the female, inducing her to have his cubs rather than the cubs of some other male. Infanticide, therefore, is a mechanism by which males can increase their relative fitness.

and

Polar bears will eat the flesh of their own kind, and often a bear that kills another will eat it. The killing of young cubs is probably not motivated by predatory instincts. Small cubs provide a very limited amount of energy, especially considering the risk of injury to a predatory male imposed by the defending female. Males that kill cubs may not even consume them (Derocher and Wiig 1999; S.C. Amstrup, unpublished data), perhaps due to their limited energy value.

So we have known behaviour from Polar Bears (and other animals, the killing of offspring is often used by males to both eliminate other male's genes from the pool and bring females back into breeding condition) suddenly being trumpeted as evidence of climate change. There's plenty of other evidence, we don't need to make everything evidence of climate change.

Avast Pirate

I like to think of myself as a creative person. I write reasonably well, and one day I hope to convince someone that a screenplay or three that I've written are worth paying for. Or perhaps one day I'll get a little more serious about writing some magazine articles that are percolating around my brain and convince someone to pay me for those. Who knows, perhaps my photography will progress to the point that someone will think it worth buying.

I'm a little funny in that I think that people should be compensated for their work, if its good enough, and if they offer it up for sale. A couple of comments of friends of mine lately have made me wonder if I'm the only one who thinks that. It seems that a good many people think that they should just be able to take someone's work, because, well because they can.

A week or so ago a friend and I were discussing movies, and they said they never buy, or rent movies. Never. They download what ever movie they want and watch it. When we continued on with the conversation, with me taking the tack that people should be paid for their work, they acknowledged that it was wrong... for others. People should pay, but the justification was that money was tight and they wouldn't be able to watch as many movies if they had to pay for them.  Logically I suppose that could apply to any product. Money is tight, I shouldn't have to pay for my internet connection, or the carrots I'm eating right now.

Today another friend made a comment on facebook (and I suspect that there might be a blog post outlining their position in the works) that they were going to download the new Paul McCartney Live Album without paying for it.

Now it was somewhat surprising because this friend is a creative person, and I suspect that the friend hopes to sell a novel someday. The friend is a talented writer and should profit from it. Sir Paul, is a talented musician, he should also profit from it.

Now my friend's justification for this is (as I understand it): A) Sir Paul is rich; B) he is an idiot (actual phrase was "wanker" but I'm going to assume that it was not intended to mean that Sir Paul is a masturbator - but I could be wrong); C) because of his stance on sealing he has caused untold hardship and grief to sealers; and D) despite all of this the friend enjoys Sir Paul's music.

I have to admit I struggle with these ideas. That it is okay to steal (and let's face it that is what taking something of value from someone who has offered it up for sale, for nothing) simply because they are successful, or because we don't like them. I can understand it a little more as a means of revenge, for punishing someone for another stand that they've taken. I understand, but I still don't think it's right. If you want to take that stand, then don't get the music at all. Don't get the music, that is the right way to take that stand.

It is what I would expect for my work, it is how I'll treat other's.

 

Going down in (Olympic) flames

I'm not sure why this story about the Olympic Torch's trip through the north struck me as funny. My first thought when I saw it was "Sure, an open flame on an airplane, but if I try to board one with nail clippers or a bottle of water..."

My other thoughts turned to what often happens to my stuff when it travels on a (granted different) northern airline.  So I give you my latest script... Going Down in Flames

INT  CARGO OFFICE, NORTHERN CANADA -   EVENING

A man sits leaning back in a chair his feet up on a desk.  Dressed in dark coveralls and a fluorescent green vest, hearing protectors sit on his head. He holds a paddle with a small rubber ball attached by a rubber band, and he is bouncing the ball repeatedly with the paddle.

The phone rings. Looking annoyed he reluctantly sets down the ball and paddle and answers the phone.

CARGO MAN

Nameless Northern Airline, Cargo Office, may I help you.

Screen splits to reveal a man dressed in a suit, standing in front of the unlit spot for the Olympic flame at a crowded Vancouver Olympic Stadium. He's talking on a cell phone to the Cargo Man.

OLYMPIC MAN

Hi, yes its me Mark from Vancouver 2010. I spoke to you before. Have you found the torch yet?

CARGO MAN

All of our cargo gets forwarded on the minute it arrives here at Nameless Northern Airline.

OLYMPIC MAN

Look, we've already been through this. We still haven't got the torch, it's been three weeks and we really really need it now.

CARGO MAN

Can you describe it?

OLYMPIC MAN
(Yelling)

Its the Olympic Torch!

CARGO MAN

Can (beat) you (beat) describe (beat) it?

OLYMPIC MAN
(Sighing)

Its about three feet long, a wavy silver torch, there's an Inuksuk and the Olympic Rings printed on the sides. It has orangy yellow flames...

CARGO MAN

Whoa! Flames? That would be dangerous goods. Did you know that nine whole coconuts are considered dangerous goods for shipping on an airplane. (chuckles) Coconuts.

OLYMPIC MAN

We've been through this. We've gotten all the permissions. Where is it?

CARGO MAN

Okay, okay, don't get your pants in a knot. Now when did you ship the coconuts?

Murder he writes

It should be pretty straight forward. Although the laws surrounding murder, and what constitutes 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder and manslaughter are fairly complex, the section that deals with the culpable homicide of a police officer is pretty clear.

Section 229(4) of the Criminal Code lays it out.

(4) Irrespective of whether a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of any person, murder is first degree murder when the victim is

(a) a police officer, police constable, constable, sheriff, deputy sheriff, sheriff’s officer or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace, acting in the course of his duties;

Which is why, if the statements of the accused's lawyer in this article are accurate, I wonder just why in the hell there is a trial still going on for the murder of Chris Worden.

Even if you took the accused's, Emrah Bulatci, claims at face value (and I have to say that a claim that you shot someone twice to "hurt" them, and that you didn't intend to fire the next two shots that killed him stretches all manner of credibility) he is guilty of 1st degree murder.

According to the article Bulatci admits he fired the four shots that killed Chris Worden, he acknowledges that it is his fault that Chris Worden is dead. Chris Worden was acting in the course of his duties. He was in uniform, responding to a call of a suicidal person. Bulatci further admits that he was in Hay River to deal drugs, and armed with an illegal firearm.

Whether he intended to kill Cst Worden or wound him is immaterial. He killed a police officer by shooting him four times, knowing full well that his death could result from those actions.

His guilty plea in court today was an admission of first degree murder, and there needn't be a trial to determine that.

The address is in a remote area and deliveries are not made daily

I get that this isn't the easiest place in the world to deliver packages to. We're way up past the Arctic Circle and flights don't come here daily. But it also isn't that difficult. I regularly get Express Post mail, and it is rare that it takes longer than a week, ten days at the outset.

I also understand that not everyone is familiar with the geography up here. Its a big spot on the map, with a lot of unoccupied space. But when you're in the business of delivering packages worldwide, you should have some competency in doing just that. I mean heck, anyone with a computer can figure out in ten minutes where exactly we are, and how things get here.

Not UPS though. I dread when I make an online order and see UPS is the carrier. Because it is a rare, rare occasion that they don't screw up. Packages that take weeks to get here are not uncommon, they often try (and I'll emphasize try) to collect brokerage fees from items ordered from Canadian sites. And they just don't have two clues when it comes to getting things here timely, without them criss crossing the country, sometimes several times.

Having filled up the hard drive on my senescent computer I ordered a new external drive so I can keep processing photos that I take. UPS is the carrier. So last night, with a moderate amount of trepidation, I clicked on the tracking number to see where my hard drive was, and where it had been.

The first thing I saw was that it was in Edmonton with the words that form the title of this post written boldly beside it. I've noticed that this phrase appears on all of their shipments here, so that didn't concern me too much. It was the next thing I read that troubled me. "Ship to Aklavik NT".

Arctic Bay is on the north end of Baffin Island in Nunavut's eastern Arctic. Aklavik is on the MacKenzie delta, in the Western Arctic of the Northwest Territories. If you hopped on a plane and flew directly from Aklavik NT to Arctic Bay NU, it would be about an 1800 km trip. Of course that's not the route my harddrive would take from there to here, and it would be more like a 7900 km trip, down to Edmonton, across the country to Ottawa and then north to here.

So soon I was on the phone to Apple. I love Apple, and I never have trouble with their service, but this was a little overwhelming for the person on the other end of the phone. After talking to UPS they came back (and as an aside they had a really good play list while I was on hold) to tell me that: UPS had tried to deliver the package to me in Aklavik, but were unable to. Now that hardly seems surprising that they couldn't find me there, seeing I'm on the other side of the country, but I was more interested in what UPS was doing to deliver my package to me here. The reply was that they would ship the package back to Aklavik but the address is in a remote area and deliveries are not made daily. I went on to explain that no matter how long or how quickly the package took to reach Aklavik it wouldn't do me much good seeing I didn't live there.

I know she was just trying to be helpful when she suggested that seeing as the package was at UPS's facility in Edmonton perhaps it was best if I just picked it up there, but I laughed out loud and said if I wanted to spend $5000 in airfares I'd go to an Apple store myself and pick the damned thing up. I then launched into a lesson in Canadian geography and began begging that they put some sort of note on my account never to use UPS to ship to me. Never. Ever. But alas that's all done at the factory/warehouse that the part originates in and it would apparently be impossible. 

Luckily my latest order is coming via FedEx.

Gavage

Gavage is the practice of force feeding ducks and geese, usually associated with the production of pate de foie gras. The force feeding produces a disease called hepatic lipidosis, which results in an abnormally large liver, up to three pounds in weight. Animals involved in the production of diseased liver, er, pate de foie gras, are frequently penned up in cages little more than the size of their body. A description from wikipedia describes the process, and the amounts that each animal is force fed.

In modern production, the bird is typically fed a controlled amount of feed, depending on the stage of the fattening process, its weight, and the amount of feed it last ingested. At the start of production, a bird might be fed a dry weight of 250 grams (9 oz) of food per day, and up to 1,000 grams (35 oz) (in dry weight) by the end of the process. The actual amount of food force-fed is much greater, since the birds are fed a mash whose composition is about 53% dry and 47% liquid (by weight).

The feed is administered using a funnel fitted with a long tube (20–30 cm long), which forces the feed into the animal's esophagus; if an auger is used, the feeding takes about 45 to 60 seconds. Modern systems usually use a tube fed by a pneumatic pump; with such a system the operation time per duck takes about 2 to 3 seconds. During feeding, efforts are made to avoid damaging the bird's esophagus, which could cause injury or death

This agricultural practice for the production of food is common in at least one EU country, France and produced in others. To be fair a number of EU countries have banned Foie Gras production.

Gavage is not to be confused however with Garbage, an example of which is the false controversy of a visitor to the Canadian Arctic (in this case the Governor General) partaking in a traditional meal that consisted in part of sustainably hunted seal, a huge part of the 100 mile or local food diet, in this part of the country. A controversy generated by the Europe based International Fund for Animal Welfare, but in a climate created by the EU decision to ban seal products (and inexplicably reported on as "news" by Canadian News Organizations, whose job doesn't include parroting what every "official" tells them to "create balance"). These seal are taken in a humane, sustainable manner: no cages, no growth hormones, no pesticides (apart from those that are accumulating in the north thanks to southern agricultural practices and industrial pollution).

I suppose if the EU wishes to take away their citizen's ability to purchase seal products that is their prerogative. Even if it is misguided and led by problematic charisma. But really it is no business of theirs what a Canadian, even one of the Governor General's stature and profile, eats while in Canada, with Canadian products.  Perhaps if they need something to occupy the time they spend on this nonsense they might turn their attention to several member countries of the EU, whose constant over fishing is helping to empty the worlds oceans.

Close your eyes and imagine...

"Imagine that you're standing at the edge of cliff, looking down at the water far below."

I know that I am a lucky man, in many, many ways. One of the strokes of fortune that I enjoy is a family with no major health concerns. I look around at others and wonder if I could handle the challenges they face. I like to think I can, but I don't know for sure. I have no idea what it is like to have a child with autism (as friends of mine do), or to have ALS (as a friend of mine does), or a child with seizures (as other friends of mine do).

I have a little better understanding what that is like today, because of the powerful voice of one of those friends. If you do nothing else today, go here, and listen to Meandering Michael.

Excellence

Our more than 1,000 First Air employees remain dedicated to excellence in customer service and our belief in continuous improvement.

Scott Bateman: President and C.E.O. First Air

Eleven days ago we had a food mail order from Northern Fancy Meats in Yellowknife delivered to First Air Cargo there.  As we've yet to receive the order, and we have a rather interesting history with First Air and food mail I tried to track it down today.

My first call was to Northern Fancy Meats, to get a shipping reference number and confirm that the order had been shipped. The second was to our local First Air cargo office, which was unfortunately closed for the day, as I reached them after business hours.  My next call was to First Air Cargo in Iqaluit.

Excellence

This is essentially how my call there went:

Me: I'm calling from Arctic Bay and I'm trying to find a food mail order that was shipped from Yellowknife on the 11th that we haven't received.
Cargo: Its not here.
Me: I haven't given you the reference number yet.
Cargo: It doesn't matter.  Its not here, as soon as we get food mail its sent out on the next flight. Its not here.
Me: Do you want the number.
Cargo: Its not here! We ship it out on the next plane when we get it.
Me: Then why did it take one of my orders three months to arrive.
Cargo: Its not here.
Me: Never mind, I'll call down to Ottawa.

Continuous Improvement

A short time later Northern Fancy Meats called back to let me know that a check with First Air in Yellowknife confirmed that it had been sent, that it wasn't in the freezer there, and the system showed it was sent to Iqaluit. I related the above to her. 

Having reached the voice mail of the First Air office in Ottawa I was trying to reach, I left an angry message and then set about putting the details in an email to them. The phone rang again and Shiloh from Northern Fancy Meats again greeted me, this time with the good news that she had found our order in Iqaluit.

She had apparently spoken to the same person I had, who told her the order was there in Iqaluit, and that he had missed seeing it when I had called (which apparently was why he was able to answer me so quickly on my call, I had reached him on the phone in the freezer). He had overlooked our four boxes of frozen meat initially but would ensure they would be put on tomorrows plane to Arctic Bay.

He was also under the impression she was calling from First Air in Ottawa.

Yep, excellence and continuous improvement.

If you are looking for excellence in customer service however I will highly recommend Northern Fancy Meats in Yellowknife. I have used them for food mail for a number of years now and have yet to be disappointed.  Their products are first rate, they package exactly how I ask, and Shiloh, who handles the food mail orders for me is incredibly cheery, and always extremely helpful.  Make your next meat order through them, and tell Shiloh that Clare sent you.

Gallow's Pole

I meant to post this earlier, a congratulations to New Mexico for becoming the fifteenth State to abolish the death penalty. It didn't come from a realization that the Death Penalty is fundamentally wrong, but from the, almost as important, realization that justice systems, despite their best efforts otherwise, are unable to guarantee that no one will be wrongfully convicted, and that innocent people will be (and have been) executed.

The abolition on March 18th, 2009 is something that New Mexico should be very proud of. It is unfortunate that Montana squandered the same opportunity just a few days later, and even more unfortunate that there remains 35 States where execution has not been abolished.

In honour of New Mexico's decision here is one of Robert Plant's and Jimmy Page's most powerful songs. Thank you New Mexico.

Perhaps its time to move to the private sector.

This just saddens me.