THANKSGIVING!!!

I just thought I'd wish everyone a happy Turkey Day.  Since we had ours yesterday... well, it's back to normal food for me.  But for the rest of you..... this picture:

Toil and Trouble: the Oil Sands debate, and why it is an exercise in futility

"STOP!!!" is the cry. "YOU ARE DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT!"

"Really?" asks the Shell guy. "I thought you people liked electricity?"

Truly, this is the moronic debate that has been raging for the past few years over the Alberta Oil Sands.  The oil industry develops the oil/dirt mixture that takes up about 1/4 of the land area of Alberta--containing a whopping 1.7 trillion barrels of oil--because it is, truthfully, profitable, in spite of the great cost in separating the oil from the soil--that extra "s" is quite the doozie apparently.  In doing so, there have been a few environmental snaffoos, most notably the issue of tailing ponds.

ENVIRONMENTAL BADNESS

I'll start with the negative side, since that is fair, and so I can get it out of the way early.  The "badness" stems from the issue of the "tailings ponds" which are necessary for recycling the contaminated water used in the process of extracting the oil.  This came about because, understandably (and intelligently) the oil people didn't want to keep using fresh water for the process when they could simply keep using the same water over and over.  The issue arose when one such pond grew close proximity to the Athabasca River.  Needless to say, there were issues of the tailings polluting the fresh water in the river.  At the same time, many water-going birds were harmed by the toxic waters, since they landed and swam about in it because of the proximity to the river.  Everyone has seen pictures of poor birds slick with black oil.  Disgusting.  Oddly, the poor ducks got a lot more publicity than any humans who were harmed by the polluted river.  This is only the first indication of why people who protest the oil sands tend to be ignorant at best.  There has been nothing in the media recently about these ponds.  Apparently the oil companies are being far more intelligent about managing/placing the tailing ponds these days.  However, there is still the issue of what to do with this water when they're done.
On top of the environmental cost, the monetary cost is staggering to say the least.  And yet, Alberta is still the richest province in Canada.  What a coincidence.

WHY THE COMPLAINTS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING

Have you ever noticed that when people start spouting off about how the "tar sands" are ruining the environment, everyone who matters stops listening?  This is because as soon as someone uses the phrase "Tar Sands" they're basically proclaiming to the world that they're an idiot.  Or that they're so poorly informed about the issue that their opinion means absolutely nothing.  This is because the term not only applies a needless negative connotation to the problem (Oil has a negative connotation anyway because of its emissions--tar is just an ugly word), but the term is blatantly incorrect.  "Tar" is not the same thing as "Oil".  Tar is a substance processed from wood and coal, and is used in construction (such as paving roads, or weather-proofing roofs).  Oil is derived from petroleum (crude oil) and is used as fuel, rubber, or lubricant (depending on how refined it is).  The term "tar sands" was created by the media (and Toronto) to cause a negative public reaction to the oil sands.  It worked.
Another thing pundits simply refuse to comprehend is that the alternative to developing the oil sands is leaving the oil in the soil.  This isn't any ordinary oil patch we're talking about here, the kind that exists a long way underground and stays there not doing anything or hurting anyone if no one extracts it.  This is a field of nothing.  A vast space of land where the dirt is literally mixed with crude oil.  Do these people think the oil is doing any good just sitting there in the ground?  It's basically one giant permanent oil spill.  The people developing it are essentially the people cleaning it up.  If the oil industry were to explain it to the public like that, they might not have to duck and cover every time the "tar sands" are mentioned.  Considering that these companies are being pressured to allow nature to "reclaim" the land--land it never truly possessed anyway--maybe we're better off if the oil sands are developed.

Flames Game Day: Flames VS Penguins

LINEUPS

Pittsburgh
Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Mark Letestu - Pascal Dupuis
Craig Adams - Joe Vitale - Arron Asham

Kris Letang - Deryk Engelland
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy

Marc-Andre Fleury
Calgary
Alex Tanguay - David Moss - Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross - Olli Jokinen - Lee Stempniak
Niklas Hagman - Roman Horak - Rene Bourque
Tom Kostopoulos - Matt Stajan - Tim Jackman

Mark Giordano - Scott Hannan
Chris Butler - Jay Bouwmeester
Anton Babchuk - Cory Sarich

Miikka Kiprusoff

That's right, no Crosby.  Though he's travelling with the Penguins, there is still no timetable for his return.  Flames fans will be happy to note that Jarome Iginla is playing tonight.

The Flames will be pitting the Jokinen line against the Pens' top unit of Sullivan, Malkin, and Neal.  Sutter has said that he wants Jokinen to play a North-South game without any of his "looping around", and we saw elements of this last season.  Joker is no Langkow or Kesler, but he proved that he can be at least adequate in this role last season.  Now, however, he doesn't have the excuse of being introduced to a new role.  It will be interesting to see how it goes.

THE SORROW

That's right, I'm going to complain about this here.  We as Flames fans were dismayed to hear of the injury to young center Mikael Backlund, whom we were hoping would be the answer to the question "Who is that centering Iginla and Tanguay?  He looks great!"

THE ELATION

On the plus side, Czech center Roman Horak made the Flames roster out of camp.  Who?  Well, he is mostly known as "the guy they got in the Tim Erixon trade" which is true.  He was fellow Flame Ryan Howse's linemate on the Chiliwack Bruins of the WHL last season--and likely the main reason Howse scored 51 goals.  Though Horak didn't get any points in the preseason, he looked like a pro in every game he played; he won faceoffs, controlled the puck well, got a few scoring chances, and made life easy for his linemates (often Rene Bourque and Lee Stempniak).  I don't know of a single person who wasn't surprised by his performance in camp.

Chris Butler figures to start playing alongside Jay Bouwmeester.  There is a lot of speed on that pair, though I'm not confident in Butler playing as a top 4 defenseman full time.  Giordano-Hannan figures to be the shutdown pair, which scares me a little as Giordano has never played against 1st line competition before.

Speaking of Giordano, he was recently named an assistant Captain.

Miikka Kiprusoff  is within one win of a franchise record.

THE OPPONENT

The Penguins looked like the better team in their game against the Vancouver Canucks the other night (a 4-3 shootout win).  Notably, Matt Cooke played a relatively disciplined game, scoring 2 goals in the win.  Malkin had a fairly tough night, as he was fighting the puck for a lot of the game.  Still, being the most talented player on either team has its perks, and he scored the winning goal in the shootout.  Expect him to be the best player on the ice tonight.  I feel sorry for Olli Jokinen.  Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in the win, though he can be much better.

Apparently defenseman Brooks Orpik is out tonight.  Not sure if that matters too much, because the Pens' defense still looks better than the Flames'.

Innaugural post: Welcome to the Stupid Side..

Those who know me well know that I like to complain about the perceived stupidity of others... Or that humanity in general tends to annoy me.  Well, today is their lucky day, because I have decided to move a certain amount of my ranting from cluttering up their Facebook newsfeeds onto this nifty new blog of mine................ huzzah.

I shall also post thoughts on the Calgary Flames, as I am a huge fan (have been getting bigger by the day for the past few years for some reason..) just because I feel like it.  If you don't like it, tough, cuz it's my blog not yours. If you feel like complaining, you should start your own blog... which is kind of how this whole thing started in the first place..