VICE NEWS: The Rise of the Islamic State: ISIS (or is this just plain terrorism)

VICE has an unprecedented look at the establishment of the Islamic State - a five Part series.  I find the 'life' depicted in this series to be very unsettling.  The images of the teaching and coaching of very young children in acts of violence against humanity is reprehensible.  I understand that this is a very different culture, that their perspective is very different from a western perspective, and I should not expect to understand it.  However, I cannot accept the principles of this culture, a passionate hate culture.  I cannot see this leading to good things.

"New" value in our modern world (with excerpt from BusinessInsider)

Photo © Peter S Jalkotzy

"With analysts estimating up to $200 million in annual revenue from the game, Kardashian is likely making more from her app than she made from all of her other projects last year. Forbes claims she made $28 million last year, and a report from TMZ says Kardashian receives 45 percent of the game's net profits, which would mean about $85 million so far." (Source - BI - 2014)

This text reflects a certain 'value' that is becoming increasingly apparent and maybe even important in modern society. It used to be that we had to spend our time acquiring food, and building shelter, and ensuring security to our family. I understand this is very elemental. It is intended to be. And I believe this 'productivity' component of our modern world has shifted/is continuing to shift.

In my view, productivity is in activities related to materials, construction, and operation, provision of food, shelter, and energy. I think these are the traditional sectors of agriculture, natural resources, and energy, and all the inter-related activities. Activities such as those related to entertainment, enjoyment, socialization and the interaction of life are increasingly a greater proportion of everyone's daily lives and more so, their expectations.

We have made life so simple in terms of the 'necessities' of life (i.e., food, shelter, security) that disposable time (along the same lines of disposable income) is plentiful and freely available. So we need to entertain ourselves - we like being engaged in our lives - if not for work, then play. And we're not just talking the Wild Joker of the King's Court. We're talking Red Bull Extreme sports. And of course, the Kardashians. But we are also talking all the music, movie, and theatre business. General travel. Adventure travel. Ecotourism. Professional volunteerism. Etc. Etc. Etc.

It goes far beyond that as well. With the world awash in cash from a global 'push the accelerator to the floor' policy, the world of art and celebrity have been vaulted to new heights. Specialty car auctions have continued to see incredible growth in 'value'. And you need someone to manage all your money for you - so the 'financial industry' has also seen massive growth in the last several decades. And with the rise of electronic trading, and ubiquitous access to markets, the trading of money for more money has also been elevated to new heights.

The argument that I have listened to is that this is not 'productive'. I agree - it is not productive in the old sense of the word. But what IF it is productive in the new modern society we are growing? Increasingly, I have friends and colleagues that do not have to 'work' in the old traditional manner, and spent a vast majority of their time in leisure, or self directed activities with or without limited connection to a traditional 'job'. While I am happy for them and their opportunities, I similarly, love the engagement and sense of accomplishment that I derive from my 'work', including my online activities.

The excerpt in the introduction is yet another example of what the world is expressing as 'value' - $85MM so far this year for an app game. And what about the $4MM/yr that the fellow from Europe makes for posting his commentary on games that he plays. The guy that makes $30k/month by publishing e-books on everything and anything. Speculative stock plays or an artificially intelligent algorithm that scalps price action in the Forex market. A big payout from somewhere or another. The days of the traditional career appear to be changing. Or at a minimum, the choices available are expanding rather dramatically.

And why is this? Why is it possible for someone to engage in some seemingly 'unproductive' activity, and make a life? I feel it is because we have distilled what 'life' means to simple monetary values. I believe the social, spiritual, psychological, physical, and mental values are mostly suppressed or marginalized. And I also believe that some of the world's most serious ills are a direct expression of that circumstance. The 'value' of these other aspects of living play a more important part of individual happiness and contentment that has been thought.

Significant tailings breach events of the last several years (Mt. Polley video Global)

Permalink to GlobalBC video

2008 - Tennessee, Coal Ash - 4.1MM m3

2010 - Hungary - Aluminum processing - 600,000-700,000 m3

2013 - Obed Mountain - Coal slurry - 670,000 m3 + 90,000 tonnes muddy sediment

2014 - Mt. Polley, British Columbia - gold/copper processing - 4.5MM m3 fines + 10MM m3 water

WISE (World Information Service of Energy - Uranium Project) has a compilation of major tailings dam failures since 1960 (HERE).  Invariably, the cause to these events are the function of operation practices that went beyond permitted limits, and monitoring of the facility was not enforced.  Many stories cite that tougher regulation or greater oversight is necessary.  As I have noted elsewhere (HERE), I do not believe it is the oversight that is required.  It is quite simply honesty and integrity to follow the rules that are in place to serve public health and safety, and property and environmental protection.  That means the proponents, the regulators, and the general public.  The mechanisms are all in place for these processes to properly vet a project and ensure that it is technically sound and operationally functional for its intended purpose.  Repeatedly, alternations are made, amendments are requested and follow through is not representative of the relative risk

In the case of Mt Polley there are many details that are emerging relative to any variety of failures in the process.  And it is my perspective that each one of these failures can be isolated to a breach on honesty and integrity within the process.  The proponents want to optimize their operations.  The regulators are overwhelmed.  The public has a challenge in understanding the real risks.  Who sites a tailings pond in the manner this site was located?  Who allows for operations to continue months and years after warnings and seemingly almost ad hoc practices are engaged to 'accommodate' the unanticipated volumes of waste and wastewater that the operations were generating?  Who and how, and when was it confirmed that the operations were not able to operate within their permitted limits and seemingly allowed the proponent to continue with what appear to be 'bandaid' mitigation to the much larger problem?

These projects need to be challenged by all levels of scrutiny in the process.  From the original design and calculations, their basic assumptions and all the 'thinking' that went into the decision to proceed, to the monitoring data and analysis of the 'performance' in accordance with design specs and regulator terms and conditions.  People.  Individual people are all involved in this process.  While certainly there will always be some probability of an unanticipated accident, these events noted appear to be completely preventable.

Play Based Regulation Pilot (AER)

Under the new organization of energy regulation in the Province of Alberta, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the commensurate components of the Environment and Sustainable Resource Development department merge to further enhance the 'one-window' opportunity for applications and approvals of energy projects across the province.  AER is testing a pilot project referred to as the Play Based Regulation Pilot.  The program is intended to run from September to March 2015.  Encana has submitted their interpretation of the regulation in a submission for their Simonette property.  The application discussed a variety of activities centered around the installation of water withdrawal and pumping, pipelines and related infrastructure.  By submitting, Encana has taken the risk at being first.  This can have both positive and not so positive outcomes.  I will be watching this process closely.

FULL DOCUMENT HERE

READ FULL APPLICATION DOCUMENT HERE

   

Grassy Narrows, Methyl-Mercury, and Minimata Disease

I first read (and wrote) about this problem in my final year of undergraduate work (1979-80).  I wrote an essay for Environmental Physiology that looked at the origin of 'Minimata disease' and the circumstances at the Grassy Narrows and Whitedog native reserves.  Caustic soda production upstream lead to severe mercurcy poisoning, similar to effects seen in Minimata District of Japan.   35 years later, this problem, while improving, remains a significant challenge for the local residents.

A Condensed Version of Report 1986-2001

Full 2010 Report (English)