Carbon Footprint of a Latte

I was just contemplating the carbon footprint of a latte. From the farting cows, to the transportation of the milk products, to the pasteurization heating, to the packaging and delivery to the distribution center, thence to the coffee bar, and the steaming. And that's just the milk. Let's not overlook the cooling requirements through the supply chain either. Those have got to hurt.

Then there is the coffee bean itself - originating on a plant that requires CO2, by the way - which must find itself through the same distribution routes, to a place of roasting (OMG the carbon!) and grinding.

I am having a hard time thinking of a progressive beverage with a larger carbon footprint. For what it's worth, having skim might reduce your own footprint, but is probably even worse for the planet because of the additional processing steps required to reduce the fat content, separate handling, equipment, and so forth.

My conclusion: you can't be true progressive and drink latte at the same time.

This diatribe sponsored by Big Tea.This is not a progressive post. Rather, it is a sensible post. (explanation)

Chickenhawks and ChickenMartyrs

Just in time for Eid, we have this cinema verite:

Al-Zawahiri says: "I urge you, in [the name of] the duty of jihad, which is incumbent upon every Muslim, to hurry and pursue martyrdom in order to kill the Crusaders and the Zionists." An armed individual calls: "[Oh] defenders of the faith, hurry and prepare [for jihad], this is no time for [internal] disagreement." Another individual, sitting under a banner that reads, "Expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula," asks: "Are there no men in this nation?" and a masked individual declares: "Jihad is ancient, and the fate of [all] infidel leaders is one and the same: to be slaughtered."

The video then shows a scene in which a man is beheaded. This is followed by another beheading, even more grisly, in which the severed head is waved in the air. (Both scenes, and another graphic scene, have been omitted from the version of the film posted here, but are available upon request).

Forgive my curiosity, but if martrydom is incumbent upon every Muslim, and Al-Zawahiri is a Muslim, then isn't martrydom incumbent on him? And on Osama as well, for that matter?

Do you think any of the martyr wannabe's are asking how come the old goats are still hanging around if martyrdom is incumbent upon all Muslims? Do you think the Islamic left is bitch-slapping Osama and Al-Zawahiri with the ChickenMartyr smear?

The Leopard's Spots

For those with short memories of Rae's gross mismanagement of Ontario, here's a reminder: The (Red) Star:

Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae says drivers will have to pay higher parking fees and congestion charges if Canada is to reduce gridlock and pollution.

I've watched Ontario waste it's productivity in its inadequate road system for 30 years. The daily cost to the economy of people and resources sitting in traffic around GTA is incalculable. Bob Rae's answer? Tax them. Stick, not carrot. Heavens no, don't build a road (or if you do, give it to your Teacher's Union to support their fully indexed pensions while the rest of us suffer wage deflation). Don't establish conditions for effective and efficient rapid transit; no, protect the unions that hobble our rapid transit systems.

And, what's good for Bombardier is good for Canada, no?

Would Rae have us ride bicycles the 30 miles to work? Wind powered bicycles?

How often do you think Bob Rae uses the GTA rapid transit system. Apparently Bob Rae's wrecking ball isn't finished with Ontario.

Only Right Wing Pregnant Teenagers Do This

The Telegraph:

Pregnant teenagers are deliberately smoking in the hope of giving birth to smaller babies, making labour less painful, a Government minister claimed yesterday.

So, my question is how do the moonbats parse this one? It's fine if you want to abort (kill) the fetus, but not fine if you just want to poison it? As long as you don't do it in a pub or restaurant or at the office or at the bus stop? Is another skirt or T-shirt needed?

Civic Duty is Forever

other recent motivational posters available here

Print, Frame, and Hang at Work

Finally, the antidote to those cloying motivational posters that are displayed in proportion to how lousy a place is to work.

This is going to be way too much fun. We'll all overdo it and burn out.

See what I mean?

We Can Only Hope

The Australian:

"Many concerned friends have called me, (saying) that because I said 'devil' over there (at the UN), they have sentenced me to die. They will not kill me, I have much faith in life"

Let's hope this one is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Simple Argument Escalates to 10 Church Burnings in Nigeria

It started like a typical exhange in the comments of a blog, but escalated rather seriously.

Joseph Hayab, of the Christian Association of Nigeria, told Reuters that the woman's comment was a tit-for-tat remark after a derogatory comment was made about Christianity.

"Her comment was in retaliation to uncomplimentary remarks made by her colleague about Jesus," he told the news service. The woman was detained briefly by police, then released, and that's what triggered the rioting, he said.

Barnabas Fund:

On 19th September in the city of Dutse, in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa, a mob of Muslim youths set upon the Christian minority in the city. St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral was burnt to the ground and the Bishop’s office destroyed. Initial reports speak of between 4 and 10 other churches as well as shops, vehicles and homes belonging to Christians having been set ablaze. There are believed to be 15 churches locally, so 10 would amount to two-thirds of all the churches in the area. Several people were injured. According to some reports the state governor was himself attacked when he tried to calm the mob and was hurriedly taken away from the area. The mob was only quelled when hundreds of heavily armed police began belatedly began to patrol the city.

OBL Dead of Typhoid? Disinformation?

Yahoo News:

PARIS - The French defense ministry on Saturday called for an internal investigation of the leak of an intelligence document that raises the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid in Pakistan a month ago but said the report of the death remained unverified.

LCI

Il aurait contracté le 23 août "une très forte crise de typhoïde" alors qu'il se trouvait au Pakistan, et y aurait succombé.

.

No Option But Theocracy

The Times:

AI: You have misunderstood the reality. As a Muslim I believe Allah…created whole universe; he created the UK. It doesn’t belong to you, it doesn’t belong to the Queen, it doesn’t belong to the Anglo-Saxons…Allah has put us on the planet earth to live wherever we want and implement the Sharia rules.

JH: You want Sharia law in this country? ….If you want to change the way this country functions, why can you not do it in a democratic way…?

AI: Democracy means sovereignty for man; and as a Muslim, we believe sovereignty for the Sharia, therefore I would never take part in democratic principles. Rather I will work to change society in accordance with Islamic methodology.

JH: You will not observe the democratic process?

AI: We observe Islamic rules wherever we are.

JH: The Islamic process but not the democratic process?

AI: That’s right, yes.

Taliban Jack wants us to negotiate with these people.

Religion of Peace Reaches Out To Catholics

Sign on right reads, "Let's crucify the Pope".