Canada: The Last Principled Nation?

Canada has once again become a role model for the world. Responsible fiscal policy, shrinking deficit, rapid economic growth, and the latest, a principled and commanding foreign policy. Prime Minster Stephen Harper: "When Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand."

Yesterday, Canada took a leadership role in the G8 statement regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict, explicitly opposing President Obama's call for using the 1967 borders as a basis for negotiations. All references to the 1967 borders were removed from the G8 joint statement, at Canada's insistence.

Fracking Vindicated Yet Again

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has confirmed there has not been a single case in which the process of "fracking", or hydraulic fracturing, has caused ground water contamination.  The left-wing smear campaign against fracking, including the unscientific documentary Gasland, has once again been proven false.

"Good-will" message beamed to first habitable exoplanet. Alien invasion to follow.

We have discovered a habitable planet, possibly with liquid water oceans, 20 light years away. Shortly after the discovery, we beamed a high-intensity "good-will message" to the planet. Approximately 40 years from now, we can expect to be invaded by space aliens from Gliese 581d. Start preparing now, people.

We should have ended that good will message with "By the way, we have nukes so don't even try it."

Fracking Vindicated

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences vindicates the process of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking". The charges and scare tactics against the natural gas industry by so-called environmentalists are shown to be unfounded, including the wildly inaccurate claims made in the anti-industry smear movie Gasland.

In summary, the NAS scientists found no leakage of any chemicals from the fracking process into groundwater. They conclude it is unlikely that methane or any pumping fluids can leak up through the thousands of feet from the gas deposits to the groundwater. They found high levels of methane in shallow drinking water wells, but only when those drinking water wells were within 1,000 meters of active natural gas wells. The conclusion is that some of the well casings are leaking methane. This has nothing to do with the process or technology of fracking. Instead, it means companies must engineer more robust solutions for cementing and casing wells to prevent methane leakage into the immediate surrounding area.

The Death of Bin Laden: Public Relations Vs. National Security

President Obama is being praised for his decision to take out Bin Laden. But seriously, who WOULDN'T make that call? The decisions he's made since the successful raid are the true measures of his leadership.

If I'd been President, I'd have hid the death of Bin Laden for as long as possible. I'd use a cover-story for the raid and implore/threaten the Pakistani government to go along with it. I'd use the intel from Osama's computers to take down the rest of Al-Qaeda before they even knew what hit them. I would not sacrifice national security for a PR event.

Consequences

Bin Laden was killed in a mansion outside of Islamabad. The previous government that harbored him was bombed back into the stone age. But they didn't have nuclear weapons. I wonder if the situation over there just got a little more complicated.