Sunday, November 30, 2008
Layton's smart politics
Jack Layton, foreseeing a time when a progressive coalition of opposition parties would be a go, smooths the way with the Bloc Québécois beforehand. Here's a transcript of a conference call (possibly obtained criminally by the Conservatives) that lays it out.
Meanwhile in Kandahar...
The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes. Kandahar
is in Taliban hands — all but a square mile at the centre of the city —
and the first Taliban checkpoints are scarcely 15 miles from Kabul.
Hamid Karzai’s deeply corrupted government is almost as powerless as
the Iraqi cabinet in Baghdad’s “Green Zone”; lorry drivers in the
country now carry business permits issued by the Taliban which operate
their own courts in remote areas of the country.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Harper - a PM who delays votes is rapidly losing moral authority to govern
I think they are just signing their own death warrant. This is the kind of behaviour a government does when it is scared to death of the electorate.
When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid assent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern. - Stephen Harper April 2005
The New Conservative Non-Alcoholic Drinking Game
Of course, you could drink alcohol for this, but after watching and reading the news throught the coming week, you would be comatose by next weekend.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Rick Mercer on Harper's plan to destroy democracy in Canada
Well we almost found out. Because if Stephen Harper got his way on this, democracy would have changed forever. And not a single citizen will have gotten to vote on the matter.
email to cell phone txt msg
Want to send a short email to a friend and get it delivered to his/her
cell phone as SMS? If you know your friends’ phone numbers and the
carrier they are on then you can easily send emails to their cell
phones directly from your email program.
Hungry in America
More than 36 million Americans, including 12.4 million children, are food insecure, officials of a U.S. non-profit group said.
Feeding America, a U.S. hunger-relief organization, said the actual
number of Americans forced to skip meals and survive without adequate
nutrition is even greater than the report indicates because it is based
on statistics from 2007.
"It is important to note that the U.S. Department of Agriculture
numbers released today are 2007 figures and do not take into account
the unprecedented economic crisis that our country is currently
facing," Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America said in a
statement.
Oldest dope stash found - 2,700 years later.
OTTAWA – Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.
The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly ``cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.
The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.
Harpocrite Backroom Dealer whining about backroom deals
Actually, it’s worse than even that: MacKay and Harper were making “backroom deals” (the PC/Alliance talks) on top of “backroom deals” (the MacKay/Orchard Pact), the latter of which actually forbade the very existence of negotiations or — you guessed it — “backroom deals” between the former PCs and Canadian Alliance.
I don’t seem to remember Harper thinking “backroom deals” were so bad when he was the chief beneficiary of them.
CTV/Conservative manipulations
Call it anti-reality animus or just the result of staff cuts. But take a look at who's actually behind CTV's report which breathlessly claims that "experts" don't think a coalition government can work.
More on the Coaltion Government
As it now appears, we could be heading for a Liberal-NDP coalition government with the Bloc providing support in Parliament. These three parties hold the majority of seats in the House and they won the majority of votes in the recent election. In forming a new government, they will be acting in the best interest of Canadians and will be taking a crucial step in the revitalization of democracy in this country.
Coalition of the majority - a step closer to happening
If these combined reports are the least bit true, it really looks like the pieces are falling into place. Will it happen??? I won't say until I see it with my own two eyes, but it's looking all the more likely. It's taken some amazing events to get us to this point and I can't help but think that it will take some even more amazing events to stop this coalition from happening. The way that things are going this week, anything sure is possible and nothing seems outside of the realm of possibility.
Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (the series that True Blood is based on)
Because so many people have become aware of these books as a result of
the TV series, a word about the differences between the two is in
order. There are both definite similarities and some sharp differences
between the two. The books focus much more on Sookie and less on the
lives of the supporting characters, not surprising given that Sookie is
the narrator in the novels. Sookie's narrative voice is for me one of
the joys of the books and I miss that very personal perspective when I
watch the TV series. The books are also far less sexual than the
series, though there are several sex scenes (though it never descends
to the pure porn found in the Anita Blake books). The series differs
sharply from the books when it deals with characters other than Sookie.
For instance, Tara in the books is a minor (and white) character. Jason
plays a far smaller role. Just about everything touching Tara and Jason
cannot be found in the novels. Sam and Tara are not involved. Without
giving spoilers, Lafayette cannot be regarded as an important character
in the books. On the other hand, Eric is as important as the other
three main characters in the books, Sookie, Bill, and Sam. Still, based
on all but the last 2 or 3 episodes of Season One of the TV show,
Sookie's story there is pretty close to that is the first novel in the
sequence.
Mumbai - what happened, and more news and views
On November 26, 2008 the city of Mumbai in India came under attack
in at least seven different locations in an unprecedented sort of
terror. A combination of gun fire, blasts, grenade blasts have been
used to attack cinema halls, hotels, hospitals, and other public
places. According to media sources 26 armed terrorists came to Mumbai
in rubber boats and landed at the Gateway of India. They captured
vehicles from the street on gun-point and moved to various targets
which included Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Ramada Hotel,
restaurant Leopold Cafe, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)
railway station, Metro movie hall, Cama Hospital, police headquarters
and other prominent places in the city.
The terrorists so far killed 101 people and injured around 300.
Media reports say that the terrorists searched for British and US
nationals in the hotels and at least 100 people have been held hostage
at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident hotels.
An organization called Deccan Mujahideen has taken responsibility for the attack. The police have seized the boats which carried the terrorists.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The Shield - Interview about the last episode
I haven't watched this yet as I haven't seen the finale and I don't want to see any spoilers, in case there are any.
But I've watched all the episodes leading up to it and from season 7, episode 8, the shit has really hit the fan!
Canada's economic woes are of Harper's making
Unlike Mulroney, who at least could argue that John Turner and Pierre Trudeau loved deficits as much as he did, Harper's problems are of his own making. He inherited a healthy surplus. He inherited a smaller debt than Chretien or Martin. Harper simply chose to make unwarranted cuts and mismanage the surplus, which our Parliamentary Budget Officer informs us is the real reason for the government's current fiscal problems - NOT THE CREDIT CRUNCH. BOLD. UNDERLINE. EXCLAMATION MARK!
Kinky Sci Fi books
Hey, I read some of these (including this one pictured). Fun reading.
I got part way through the Gor series and eventually got bored as you can only go so far with that formula.
Is the Username you want already taken?
This site lets you check a large number of popular sites all at once to see where the username is being used already (it if is).
True Blood - on the red carpet for the season premiere - video
Short interviews with cast members.
Anna Paquin likes the Llama song!
Rolling Stone magazine's Hot Comeback of 2008 - Mickey Rourke
There's still a little man inside me with an ax — but I keep that little fucker quiet.
Conservative government cancels democracy
What better way to hit your opponents than to withdraw their public funding while you have lots of money yourself.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
New Apple toys outfitted for gaming are crashing
Didn't anyone tell the customers that this is a toy, not a computer? Of course it can't play games.
Positive Self-Esteem
I begin today's relationship advice topic with a simple question: Do
you like yourself? Studies show that those who score higher on tests
measuring self-esteem tend to experience healthier, more successful
relationships.
If you want to have a successful
relationship with your partner then you need to have a relationship
with yourself first. You need to love yourself before others can love
you.
24 ways to brighten your morning
Shoot your annoying neighbour who wakes you up before your alarm every day (kidding).
Magnapinna deep sea squid recently caught on video
Called Magnapinna, these relatives of the squid have only been
spotted a handful of times by vehicles like the one that recorded it
here. Four of their bodies have been recovered by researchers, but were
so badly damaged that it was hard for scientists to figure out their
anatomy. What we do know is that they can grow to about 23 feet in
length, about half the size of the biggest giant squid, and they have
10 long legs (instead of the normal squid setup of 8 short legs and 2
big tentacles).
Monday, November 24, 2008
Bacon Chocolate Bar!
The unlikely hit Christmas gift is Mo's Bacon Bar, which contains
chunks of applewood smoked bacon combined with smoked salt and milk
chocolate.
At £5.99 per 3oz bar it is far from a cheap
treat, but Selfridges – the only UK stockist – sold its entire stock of
several hundred within 48 hours at its four stores and has urgently
ordered more.
Richard Dawkins call to all Atheists
Scientists and intellectuals hold very different beliefs about God from
the American public, he says, yet they are cowed by the overall
political environment. Dawkins’ scornful tone drew strongly mixed
reactions from the audience; some stood and applauded his courage.
Others wondered whether his strident approach could do more harm than
good. Dawkins went on to publish The God Delusion and become perhaps the world’s best-known atheist.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
More Underworld movies coming
While the next Underworld installment, Rise of the Lycans, will go Beckinsale-less -- it's a prequel story starring Rhona Mitra and Michael Sheen, Beckinsale's real-life ex -- look for her hugely anticipated return to the vampire lady assassin role in a rumored fourth Underworld film.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Maggot therapy growing
Juvenile larvae are used, because that is the stage of the animal that feeds on dead tissue. The maggots
do not actually eat dead tissue in the way we think of it, nor is it
specifically their "eating" that benefits the wound, Sherman said.
"They liquefy or dissolve the dead tissue (by secreting their digestive
enzymes into the wound), so the wound is debrided [cleaned] whether the
liquefied tissue and debris is eaten or simply drains out of the
wound," he said.
More water found on Mars - not at the poles
Hellas Basin region of Mars' southern hemisphere, and scientist said
even larger frozen water reservoirs may exist in Mars' northern
hemisphere.
![[3635.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jydpYqxJGnL2a6XME_J7rTKCeuD2R5OLBzBbz91oLcj-74i_Gv_x6Q55d8Jt0zqFjc4gL4ni2pfy_kK64NqD1AA2tt703eDlb-_3iXGw5xw9uqxXSMq1s-HDTXPpAJn_iTMcq2Hrc-Ul/s1600/3635.jpg)
Travelling beyond the solar system
As of May 22, 2008, Voyager 1 was at a distance of 106.4 AU (approximately 15.92 terameters or 0.0017 light years) from the Sun, which makes it the most distant human-made object from Earth.[8] At this distance, it is more distant from the Sun than any known natural solar system object, including Eris and 90377 Sedna, but excluding long-period comets. Though Sedna has an orbit that takes it 975 AU away from the Sun at aphelion, as of 2006 it is less than 90 AU away from the Sun and approaching its perihelion at 76 AU. [9][10]
I has a flava
The flavor industry is highly secretive. Its leading companies will not divulge the precise formulas of flavor compounds or the identities of clients. The secrecy is deemed essential for protecting the reputations of beloved brands. The fast-food chains, understandably, would like the public to believe that the flavors of the food they sell somehow originate in their restaurant kitchens, not in distant factories run by other firms. A McDonald's french fry is one of countless foods whose flavor is just a component in a complex manufacturing process. The look and the taste of what we eat now are frequently deceiving -- by design.
Brain-based computer - Skynet anyone?
The big idea is to get a machine that can sense, perceive, interact and be
cognitive while saving on energy and space.
If they pull it off, cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that
can integrate and analyse vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of
an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions.
IBM is looking to break the way that computers have been made for the last
half a century. Like the brain, they want it to run on a cup of coffee, and use
nanoscale devices for synapses and neurons.
If it works, and does not think about sex every 30 seconds, like a human
brain, it will bring about entirely new computing architectures and programming
systems.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Internet in space
NASA said a test of DTN software loaded on board the International Space Station would begin next summer.
The Monty Python Channel
Monty Python has it's own YouTube channel now. They have uploaded high-quality videos from the vaults.
Free.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Cracked iPhones
The latest court case against the Cupertino outfit says that, not only did
Jobs' Mob ship shonky phones with 3G reception that cut out, they also came with
hairline cracks that ultimately would lead to the death of the phone.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Canada's largest wind farm construction finished
I travelled through this during the summer. Miles of windmills. A very impressive and beautiful site.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
2012 movie trailer
Big wave, monk, bell. Could be meat, could be cake...
First planets in another solar system seen, as opposed to being inferred
Dust right surrounding the star Fomalhaut.
And for the first time in the history of creation, a creature on a
planet in our solar system was looking at an image of planets orbiting
in another.
Here's a link to the Discover magazine site with an enlargement of the planet in the above pic (taken by the Hubble telescope)
Tin Foil Hat guy sues everyone
A CANADIAN MAN has sued Microsoft, Wal-Mart and a long list
of other defendants for $2 billion in damages over allegations that involve mind
control, satanic rituals and witchcraft.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Major source of spam shutdown
Here's hoping it will actually make a difference.
New HBO fantasy tv series "Thrones"
HBO has given a pilot order to fantasy project "Game of Thrones."
The program is based on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling series of
novels "A Song of Fire & Ice" and executive produced by David
Benioff ("Troy"), D.B. Weiss ("Halo") and Guymon Casady ("Hope &
Faith"). The title “Game of Thrones” is from the first novel in the
series.
If greenlit, “Thrones” would represent the rarest of TV genres: a full-fledged fantasy series.
Though broadcasters have embraced sci-fi-tinged shows in recent
years following the success of ABC’s “Lost” and NBC’s “Heroes,” and
supernatural themes have been given a spin by CW’s “Supernatural” and
HBO’s own “True Blood,” high fantasy is nearly nonexistent in primetime
TV history -- and “Thrones” is an unabashed member of the genre. The
books have swords, dragons, magic, the works.
“Fantasy is the most successful genre in terms of feature films
given the incredible popularity of ‘Lord of the Rings’ and Harry Potter
movies,” Benioff said. “High fantasy has never been done on TV before
and if anybody can do it, it’s HBO. They’ve taken tired genres and
reinvented them -- mobsters in ‘The Sopranos’ and Westerns with
‘Deadwood.’”
Also, the success of “True Blood” may work in “Thrones'” favor. HBO has
always sought to defy any sort of specific genre branding for their
network, emphasizing that each project is judged on its own merits. Yet
given how the vampire drama continues to gain viewers, and how
Showtime’s swords-and-monarchy historical drama “The Tudors” has
performed strongly, it’s not unreasonable to believe the network may
see “Thrones” as a good fit.
Ridley Scott to direct Monopoly movie
Great director, terrible idea for a movie.
Eyesore Cinema Culture video store rises from the ashes of Suspect Video on Queen in Toronto
Eyesore Cinema is located at 801 Queen St. West, 2nd floor.
For more information on the store, including hours and rental prices, visit Eyesore's blog or join the store's Facebook group.
Save the axolotls!
One of the coolest and cutest creatures on earth faces extinction.
American voter turnout not so high after all - relatively speaking
As we look southward for electoral inspiration, it is interesting to
note, that despite the unprecedented enthusiasm, large rallies, GOTV
and compelling figures, turnout for the American election fell short of
expectations.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mac Upgrades - quick and easy
In other Mac news:
I worked on a Mac the other day. The client had just installed the latest OS X update and now her $400 laser printer won't work and she can't undo the update. I found out that the update made it so her operating system no longer recognizes her printer and there is no driver for her updated operating system version. There is a driver for this printer for Windows Vista, Windows XP and previous versions of Windows. But not for the Latest Mac OS.
Time to shell out $ for a new printer.
Mac just works, with only a few things.
Harper wrecking the economy
you would be hard pressed to find a government or a prime minister who has been more inept
Baconnaise!!!!
How about some of that breaded deep-fried bacon in a samich with baconnaise, washed down with some bacon vody!?
Gore urges a full renewable energy goal
But the web's real purpose, he suggested, was "to bring about a higher level of consciousness about our planet and the imminent danger ... we face because of the radical transformation in the relationship between human beings and the earth".
A higher purpose than porn, gossip and jokes?
The Suicide Bomber Game
Recently reported on in the Houston Press.
From the developer himself:
Use your mouse to move left and right. Click to detonate.
By the way, I'm not jewish, I'm not an arab, and I'm not a
terrorist. I have little interest in what goes on in the middle east so
I don't share any extreme views. I just think people who blow
themselves up are stupid. That's all this game is. If you found this
offensive, tell your friends! If you are DEEPLY offended by this game
then you're way too fucking sensitive for my taste and I hope that
you've been scarred for life.
IF YOU'VE SEEN OR READ ANYTHING ABOUT THIS GAME LATELY PLEASE E-MAIL
ME ABOUT IT. MOST OF THE TIME I AM UNAWARE OF WHO'S BITCHING ABOUT IT.
UPDATE: Children were removed because the only .fla file i could
find of this game did not have children incorporated yet and I wanted
to install the Newgrounds API deal. So deal with it.
My highest score was 5 after playing for a few minutes.
Not as exciting as made out to be.
Legal drug deaths increasing
Not surprisingly, there has been a corresponding increase in deaths.
According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, the number of emergency
room visits related to painkillers has increased by 153 percent since
1995. And a 2007 report by the Justice Department National Intelligence
Drug Center found that deaths related to the opioid methadone jumped
from 786 in 1999 to 3,849 in 2004 - an increase of 390 percent.
Many experts attribute the trend to the increasing popularity among
doctors of prescribing painkillers, combined with a leap in
direct-to-consumer marketing by drug companies. For example,
promotional spending on Oxycontin increased threefold between 1996 and
2001, to $30 million per year.
Could flu shots be good for you in other ways?
Flu shots may reduce the risk of blood clots forming in veins by 26
percent, according to research presented at the American Heart
Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Partisan allegiances run ridiculously deep
while Obama's victory is impressive, inspiring, and important, we should not forget that the U.S.'s electoral system is every bit as undemocratic as ours.
Who is Rahm Emmuel?
He supported the Iraq War. Watch the video here for more information.
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