SpankyMcFarland

The underlying rate of warming in this current interglacial period has been about 1C per 1000 years or 0.01C per decade. Over the last forty years it has been more like 0.2C per decade, twenty times as much. That difference needs to be explained by those who dispute AGW.

One would hope this was just an error. Apparently, Spain may not be able to extradite this guy now or may not want to and the whole thing could take years. He is clearly dangerous. Apparently the Spanish govt were involved in these negotiations. Did they speak up? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/ex-marine-released-prisoner-swap-deal

As I understand it, the US sent 252 Venezuelans detained under the Alien Enemies Act to Venezuela via El Salvador. In return the Venezuelans sent ten prisoners to the US. The other nine were convicted of less serious offences and were considered to be wrongfully detained by the US or political detainees by a local NGO that advocates for prisoners. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/ex-marine-released-prisoner-swap-deal

You think a fire ban in response to our provincial crisis is government overreach?

He fled Spain before any trial there. He was serving a prison sentence for those offences in Venezuela after being sentenced there in 2024. He had 29 years left on that sentence when he was released.

We have a fire ban here which I support. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nl-fire-aug-8-1.7604038

Given that he was part of a prisoner swap I don’t think they did have to take him back. The Biden administration opted not to take him. From the NYT. The families of the victims in Spain are angry and alarmed, particularly the man Ortiz meant to kill when he went on his rampage there.

Global warming was at about 6 times the natural post-glacial rate from 1850-1982 and is at about twenty times that rate since then. Given how things are looking all around us this summer I think it’s way past time to get alarmed.

34C in Newfoundland, guys. You read that right. A wildfire is approaching St. John’s.

I’m guessing he came to America from Venezuela and became an American citizen. Venezuela does not extradite its citizens so that’s probably why he fled there from Spain via Germany after his crimes. I think Venezuela is agnostic on the matter of dual or multiple citizenship as long as Venezuelan citizens travel to and from the country on their Venezuelan passports.

In normal times the Avalon peninsula is a notoriously damp and foggy place. Not now. I can’t recall too many fire seasons as bad as this. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6863462

Mate, you need help.

There’s no doubt wildfires in Canada are causing more destruction these days.

Here’s an example of America bringing somebody home who is certainly not one of her best: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/ex-marine-released-prisoner-swap-deal FYI Mr. Ortiz has apparently been spotted in Orlando, Florida. One way out would be to tell the lads in Spain that an extradition request ASAP would be viewed most favourably in this case.

More controlled burns might be a good idea. Politically fraught, of course.

In my neck of the woods in NL, I’d say most people would accept almost any measure that might reduce the risk of our town going up in smoke. The forests are like a tinderbox out there and we’ve had several wildfires in our region already.

There are also mechanical devices that assist a failing heart, working beside it. One uses the maglev technology of the implant I mentioned above. A clinical trial will compare it to another device: https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/multicenter-trial-launched-to-evaluate-new-lvad-option-for-advanced-heart-failure

There is a family of powerful synthetic opioids in the UK, the nitazines, but the annual fatality rate from them in England, less than 200, is tiny compared to our fentanyl numbers in Canada: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deaths-linked-to-potent-synthetic-opioids/deaths-linked-to-potent-synthetic-opioids I think our problem is cultural. People in Britain are better at living in misery; by contrast, we believe there is a drug for all that ails us.

Summer time is fire season in Canada. Period.

Here’s a dog that didn’t bark: the spread of fentanyl in Europe. Despite illegal labs and the drug itself being a Belgian product originally, its recreational (!) use has mercifully never exploded to North American proportions. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-fentanyl-opioids-drugs-europe-north-america/ https://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(14)00905-5/pdf Causes for this curious discrepancy can be debated, eg more medical use outside hospitals here, more heroin there and the proximity of Mexican labs, but the difference remains startling.

So you think the measures taken during Covid are comparable to military rule imposed by a foreign country, eg the overthrow of our entire political system? He would be an authoritarian in Canada. I think that should count for something. How many recent examples of unprovoked conquest of a neighbouring democracy lack an authoritarian element?

People complain here about immigrants suppressing wages but something tells me they are willing to enjoy the inexpensive fruits of those labours and also insist we take some of the milk produced this way.

Trump’s policies in his own country are not what we are talking about here. If he carried through and took over our country he would be an authoritarian by definition unless we voted for it.

The cure for the fascism you claim to have seen during Covid is hardly a full fascist takeover by another country. Call Trump what you like, just don’t call him our friend.

Is/are the EU plural or singular? Take your pick but try and stick with it in the same sentence. Regarding the matter at hand, the significance of these events will take years to be fully understood. The West is tearing itself apart again.