EnCana Corporation is proposing to drill up to 1275 new shallow sweet gas wells within the Canadian Forces Base Suffield National Wildlife Area (NWA) over a three-year period, essentially doubling the existing 1154 gas wells installed over the past 30 years. The NWA was designated to ensure critical habitat protection for species at risk and reverse habitat loss and fragmentation trends by increasing protected habitat outside National Parks.

so, my question is this: how much is too much? (or conversely, how much is acceptable)? I mean, they already have 1154 gas wells there, plus it's a bloody air force base (which means the area is likely used for mock combat and may have live ammo etc in it.) so even without the extra wells, can this area, one of the few remaining large blocks of unaltered Dry Mixed-grass Prairie, actually be all that serviceable as a wildlife habitat? I realise that the NWA will stop existing as such with such terrible habitat loss and fragmentation from the additional wells, but how successful was it to begin with?

I hate Alberta some times. Here we are in this supposedly vast and wild landscape, and instead of it actually being untouched, virtually every square kilometre of our province has been surveyed, drilled or driven over. When they show maps of Canada's remaining intact forest, there is this lovely Alberta-shaped gap in the vegetation. We have literally reached into every last piece of it.

I guess what sickens me the most is that here I get an e-mail action alert like this (above) that purports to save a large block of "unaltered" habitat and it already has 1154 gas wells on it. How on Earth is that unaltered? And if that's what we're using as our base for determining "unaltered," what does the rest of the province look like?

Now, not to defend aspartame, I can't stand the taste of it. It's not a very good sugar substitute. However, that story makes absolutely no sense. How can over-exposure to aspartame make you allergic to anything synthetic? That's like saying you were stung by too many bees and now you're allergic to anything yellow. There's no connection between cause and effect.

totally true, Beck... it's just the story she gave me. I think there's something more to it than she told me, but whatever, if the initial cause happened to be aspartame, so be it... perhaps it was just the straw that broke the camel's back so-to-speak... though your comments did make me laugh. I realise how far-fetched it seems, but there likely is a shred of truth in it somewhere, even though its very nonsensicalness (?) screams out. whatever... in the end, she developed a hypersensitivity to all things synthetic, and likely it was as a result of overexposure to everything (no idea what sort of career she has), and perhaps aspartame helped to push her over the edge... I dunno.

Post # 10000!!!

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dammit, didn't refresh...

10001! w00t!

Thanks Par and Beck, you guys rock!

on another note, fucking aspartame...
I have a friend whose mother developed an allergy to all things synthetic as a result of her over-use of aspartame... and I mean anything synthetic, vinyl chair lining, her bed, new car smell... she broke out in hives for over a year, nearly killed herself and now has to carry a piece of leather around with her just so that she can sit on other peoples' furniture.

Now, not to defend aspartame, I can't stand the taste of it. It's not a very good sugar substitute. However, that story makes absolutely no sense. How can over-exposure to aspartame make you allergic to anything synthetic? That's like saying you were stung by too many bees and now you're allergic to anything yellow. There's no connection between cause and effect.

have a gooder Leo!

Leo/Andy - Sorry I couldn't make it out! Happy Birthday and Happy Medicine Hat!

Does anyone have Andy's phone number? Andy I need to get a hold of you! I'm going to email, but if anyone could send me the number, and doesn't want to post it on this board for privacy issues, please email it to me on my work email:
peter.haggard@su.ualberta.ca

Thanks so much!

Sorry I couldn't make it out last night, it's been too long since I've seen most of you. Oddly, I also ended up at the same Art Auction as Eric as part of my night class (I get to write a journal entry about it, ya!) and then my ride home did not get me home until late.

um... yes.

good to be back, I think. it's interesting what happens, though, when you're not paying attention. or when you're not around to pay attention... I think I shall commend Paras on his statements and leave it at that... because doing any more would be, um, inappropriate.

on another note, fucking aspartame...
I have a friend whose mother developed an allergy to all things synthetic as a result of her over-use of aspartame... and I mean anything synthetic, vinyl chair lining, her bed, new car smell... she broke out in hives for over a year, nearly killed herself and now has to carry a piece of leather around with her just so that she can sit on other peoples' furniture.

plus, I discovered that the Swiss don't leave anything to the blissfully ignorant imagination, if you want artificial sweetener in your tea, instead of a sugar cube, you drop in a pill. They don't even attempt to disguise the stuff as a sugar-like substance, it's a bloody, fucking pill, and personally I just don't like the idea of dropping additional chemicals (blatantly obvious or not) into my hot beverage of choice.

well, I apologize for the unnecessary expletives, I guess I missed out on expressing myself a bit over the past two months. HAVE A SAFE TRIP LEO!! and North America is weird. I don't know how much I like it any more, but I don't know how much I like the other alternatives either. perhaps it's time to start a revolution.