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Monthly Archives: March 2008

Just a short blurb here….this just goes to show what the power of the people can do.

Now it we could only sway the Gov’t to abandon

Gateway and get rapid transit out the 401 median to Chilliwack

….something like a magnetic train like they have in Europe or Japan….

Then we could get away from the the North American standard of freeways and pollution.

Here is a disgusting proposition.

Industrial activity in Provincial Parks. Will park employees voice their disapproval? Will You?

So what’s it all about…..its about power creation… dams and flow disruption in the Pitt River watershed….8 tributaries rich salmon habitat to be disrupted a pristine wilderness area closer to Vancouver than Squamish. river-runs-through-bigger.jpg

Do you agree with industrial activity in BC Parks? Do you know what a precedent is?

Write a letter Do it ….. UpperPittRiver@gov.bc.ca comments@northwestcascadepower.com

and to BC Parks PineconeBurke@gov.bc.ca

Tibet a canker on China’s backside. Why …does China support freedom?… Is it happening there?

Why?….natural resources, imperialism, economy. Tibet as threat, religion as threat Dalai Lama as threat.

It’s disgusting that we put economy and wealth ahead of morals and ethics.

China…. do you support China? Is there an echo of Europe 1936?

How will China save face….when are the Olympics again?…

Oh yeah…there is one coal fired power plant coming on line each day in China…..what do you think….where is China…

graphic-arrow-left.jpg Beijing – Tibet / Vancouver – Downtown Eastside graphic-arrow-right.jpg

Embarrassments both what are the commonalities here?

I wrote a letter to the Vancouver Sun last year about the disgrace of the DT Eastside and the Olympics I drove through the area today nothing has changed.

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Way of the Dodo… Dutch settlers clubbed the last 50 pound flightless bird to death in Mauritius in 1680. The 7 ton Stellar’s Sea cow only took 27 years for it to disappear at the hand of Bering Sea fur hunters. They loved the meat, it tasted like veal. That was 1768.

According to George B. Schaller (1980) 150 vertebrate species have vanished since 1600. Now extinction rates are accelerating everywhere.

When habitat is reduced by 90 percent of its original size 50 percent of the plant species will become extinct.

Most people only notice bigger species like the whooping crane or orangutan.

It is estimated that we are losing 10 – 40,000 species per year. We know more about stars in the heavens than the 1.7 million species of life that have been described thus far but thats a drop in the bucket because more exist and who knows they might harbour a cure for some disease, who knows….. when they disappear it will be too late.

Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson

“The one process ongoing in the 1980’s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is a folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.”

Canada Post has recently produced an attractive commemoration issue for Canadian Endangered Species.

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In the early 1900’s Floyd Nelson, a Washington prospector was inspired to build the Pacific Northwest’s first backpack…..probably the first one that was widely marketed in North America. He came up with the idea after a trip to Alaska where he used a First Nations pack. He modified the design and used pack cloth for breathability. Click Here More Info

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When I first went to summer camp up Indian Arm near Vancouver …Camp Jubilee….my parents bought me this pack…I used it until I was about 14. I remember doing a hike in the UBC Research Forest with a Cub Scout group and cooking up hamburger patties in foil with onions over an open fire….I spilled some of the grease from that meal on the pack…pack-layers-wp.jpgI think I can still smell it today.

That was the same trip where a kid rubbed his feet raw by wearing, ankle cut rubber boots instead of hiking boots.

Years ago after skiing 5 days in the Tonquin we headed to Jasper for dinner. I rarely buy souvenirs but I couldn’t pass up an Ice is Nice t-shirt. The design was cool an ice climber in silhouette. I had that for years until it basically rotted off my body.

That was in March and March can be pretty cold in the Rockies…. any way here is a shot of famed Norwegian ice climber Slim Doag….in the Canadian Rockies eh. There is good ice in Oslo too….apparently.doag-ice-wp.jpg

Just as an aside American ice prodigy Jeff Lowe, a real famed climber of monumental proportions upwards of a thousand first ascents including the Himalaya has been fighting MS for the last 10 years…that sort of just blew me away found that out just recently.

Stay Tuned for up coming schedule for 08…..I am going back to Asia this fall in November….Himalaya with side trips to Cambodia and India.

There will be 2 coast mountain workshops ( 5 day ) that will include air travel and base camps. And One 7 day Rocky Mountain Canada Workshop.

And weekend workshops will continue this year lower mainland GVRD and Gabriola Island based.

and……..alpenglowpro was placed on The Tyee’s  BC Blog List today  check the link out……

You decide eh…

Bali Global Warming Conference – Foreign Perception Are Canadians Really that Inept….Disgusting

UN Canadian Peace Keeper Dies as Israeli’s Intentionally BOMB border outpost – Pure Gutlessness Here Who’s Accountable?

Chuck Cadman Bribe Denial – An Admission of Guilt would be so much Better…  This Reinforces Political Cynicism

Brian Mulroney Wrong Doings – What’s there to say here are you surprised?

Downtown Eastside Harm Reduction Policy – A no brainer, Physicians, Scientists agree yet there is opposition.

Homelessness – People continue to Die on the streets of Vancouver Whats wrong here?

And Not to mention Afghanistan …… how about shipping by AIR a company (lots) of Leopard tanks to Afghanistan……how much does that cost??? You gotta do stuff like that when you are at war…I guess.

Are We at War??

So I have been on a bit of a mountain bike binge of late you might have noticed?

In east Abbotsford McKee Hill this weekend. Go there and hike and ride before its too late. Its under threat.

Developers are on on the land grab…… houses cover the flanks of the hill….a 500m hill…..Existing trails are just amazing…super groomed intermediate single track dips and curves, bumps and drops excellent training ground in a super pretty environment. Now it is under threat.

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The town council will they realize that people Need park area. A sea of houses exist in the surrounding environs.

The Mckee Hill area is an amazing resource for walking, photography and the peace that comes with being in the trees. It doesn’t need to be developed. merv-flintstones-wp-canvas.jpg

Do you want this??