#alberta
RARE #BLUE #AURORAS CAUSED BY RESONANT SCATTERING: The severe geomagnetic storm of Sept. 16-17 produced something that even longtime #aurora watchers rarely see: Blue Auroras. "I photographed them at dawn on Sept. 17th," says Alan Dyer, who sends this picture from Gleichen, #Alberta:
Auroras are usually green and red. Blue is very unusual. It takes a strong geomagnetic storm to produce them -- plus one extra ingredient. "High altitude sunlight was hitting the blue rays," explains Dyer.
The process is called "resonant scattering." At the top of the aurora zone, ionized nitrogen molecules (N2+) naturally produce blue light. The blue glow is usually too faint to see. However, when these ions get hit by morning sunlight, they capture and re-emit photons from the sun, amplifying the blue color
DIVINE SKIES. I’m excited to see the increase of aurora activity as we are getting closer to the peak of the 11 year solar cycle. We are having amazing aurora shows. Don’t forget to report at, Canada, pic by @YEGHugo http://aurorasaurus.org #aurora #northernlights #canada #alberta #edmonton #albertaskies
“The government is now bragging about expanding treatment spaces, but all they have actually done is shut down a public treatment centre, laid off all the workers, and now turned the infrastructure over to a private company to run the centre instead,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of #Medicare. #Alberta #healthcare #privatization
https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/government_continues_privatization_of_addictions_care_in_alberta?utm_campaign=pr_privatize_addictions_care&utm_medium=email&utm_source=friendsofmedicare
#Alberta #HealthCare Using public funds for #privatization
EDMONTON — Earlier this year, the government informed the Airdrie Health Foundation that the long-overdue expansion and renovation of the Airdrie Community Health Centre had been paused in order for them to consider a proposal to add a private partner to the public facility. Following much outcry from Albertans, the government announced the public project was back under way.
“Allowing a for-profit operator of an Urgent Care Centre in Alberta would be a massive, unprecedented shift to privatized acute care delivery,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “We were relieved when we heard the public project was back underway as originally planned. But we’ve since learned that behind closed doors, the government was providing public funds to the for-profit entity to develop a new proposal for yet another privatization scheme for Airdrie’s health care.”
A statement from the Health Minister revealed that the provincial government provided One Health with an $85,000 grant to “develop a business case for its integrated primary care centre and urgent care facility.” In late July, One Health held community meetings to discuss their proposal for an entirely new private health facility, which would include another urgent care centre for Airdrie, in addition to the existing public urgent care centre which is currently being renovated and expanded. All of this has been done without a Request for Proposal or any of the usual public processes for procurement.
“The community meetings left local residents with more questions than answers. Building a second urgent care centre for Airdrie is not based on any sort of community health needs assessment, and is not something that residents or advocates have been asking for,” said Gallaway. “Airdrie is the largest city in Alberta still without a hospital, something that the Airdrie Health Foundation has been calling for. Instead of addressing real patient care needs as this community continues to rapidly grow, the government is looking at a privatization scheme that duplicates services and is based on for-profit delivery.”
Throughout all this, the government has made no formal announcement, or shown any transparency as to why a proposal was being considered for a project already underway, or why they then provided public funds to a for-profit business to develop the new proposal to pitch back to the government. Significant questions about what private delivery is being considered for Airdrie’s health care, how much this endeavor will cost our public health care system, and who would operate what facilities and services, still remain unanswered.
“Is this the start of privatization of hospital services in Alberta? Is Airdrie being used as the test case of a new for-profit model of acute care? Albertans deserve to know that decisions about our public health care are being made based on evidence, not backroom deals,” said Gallaway. “We are calling on the Health Minister to speak up and tell the public what is really happening behind closed doors when it comes to Airdrie's health care.”
I remember first hearing this hero doctor speak in #Athabasca in the 2000’s. A little Irish guy like a leprechaun. He didn’t set out to be an activist doctor, but he couldn’t ignore what was happening to his patients. #oilsands #environmentalhealth #Alberta
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/08/09/news/oilsands-whistleblower-says-federal-pledge-bittersweet
The Aurora this evening were spectacular. It was so special to watch them with my daughter. Alberta, Canada, 11.8.2024, pic by @hein_daniel
#aurora #northernlights #whitecourt #alberta
“Alberta was the home to 75 per cent of all new renewable deployments in the country,” Wilson said. “We were in the midst of a real golden age of investments. People were setting their sights on the province of Alberta to build and operate projects.”
One of the #renewable energy projects cancelled by the #Alberta UCP government was the Peace Energy Cooperative
https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/08/29/Unplugging-Alberta-Solar-Project
Locals to have #carbonCapture #pipeline pass by their homes are not happy #Alberta
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/beyond-local/some-northern-alberta-residents-dont-like-how-close-carbon-capture-project-pipelines-come-to-their-homes-9232962
“Alberta’s provincial government has been doing everything they can to expand the role of private providers in our public health care system, and Albertans are the ones suffering the consequences,” says Friends of Medicare’s executive director, Chris Gallaway.
https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/new_poll_shows_albertans_want_premier_to_support_public_health_care
#Alberta #medicare
The recent #Alberta Auditor General’s Surface Water Management report highlighted the lack of #water use data, which revealed a complete lack of verification of oil sands industry water use. This fact and other hard-to-access data motivated Keepers of the Water to begin their own water monitoring and data collection program on the lower #Athabasca river and Lesser Slave Lake watershed.
https://www.keepersofthewater.ca/news/07-16-2024-kow-statement
Painting the sky. Having some fun with the aurora. Alberta, Canada, pic by @YEGHugo
#aurora #northernlights #canada #fun #photoshop #selfportrait #elkisland #fog #alberta
#Indigenous Peoples in #Alberta say they should be co-managers of the province's #water
https://www.keepersofthewater.ca/news/july-11-2024-statement
Senior Alberta official — who pushed back on #renewables pause — out as CEO of electricity grid operator. In an announcement Friday, the #Alberta Electric System Operator said CEO Michael Law would 'leave the organization' after 15 years and a new leader would oversee the grid operator's progress 'in parallel with government policy' #electricity
No dissent is tolerated in Queen Danielle's Alberta
https://thenarwhal.ca/aeso-ceo-michael-law-departure/
A WTF moment Today I learned, in #Alberta, #bison are designated livestock not wildlife.
https://albertawilderness.ca/write-your-own-email-free-roaming-bison-should-be-wildlife/
"While the province continues to approve new habitat disturbance, it also supports the most intensive wolf cull program in the country as an artificial way of boosting caribou populations." #Alberta #Caribou
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/beyond-local/eco-groups-say-conservation-agreements-failing-albertas-caribou-9147825
We thought the #Alberta Energy Regulator was bad (oh, it is). But how about this?
"Millions of litres spilled and not a single fine" #Manitoba #oil
https://thenarwhal.ca/manitoba-pipeline-spills-fines/
Danielle Smith is denying Albertans access to the new national #dental care plan. This woman is just evil. #Alberta
https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/danielle_smith_s_opposition_to_dental_care_unconscionable
