Coalition steadily gaining in the polls

Far and Wide: Coalition Supporters, Here's Your Poll

Polls conducted late last year showed a high level of opposition, especially outside Quebec, to a proposed Liberal-NDP coalition in the event the minority Harper government is defeated in the House. The new poll suggests Canadians' feelings have evolved, with 50 per cent of respondents favouring a coalition government, while 43 per cent are happier with the current Conservative government.

“This is a huge change from the period right after the coalition agreement was struck in Stéphane Dion's last days as Liberal leader, when the Tories took an apparently unassailable 20-point lead,” Mr. Graves said. “Clearly much of the recoil against the idea of a coalition really had to do with alarm at the idea of Stéphane Dion becoming prime minister so quickly after having been rejected so decisively at the polls.”

Israel Threatens to Shoot Unarmed Civilians aboard Mercy Ship

Freegaza - Israel Threatens to Shoot Unarmed Civilians aboard Mercy Ship

 At roughly 3am UST (1am GMT), in international waters 100 miles off
the coast of Gaza, at least five Israeli gunboats surrounded the SPIRIT
OF HUMANITY and began recklessly cutting in front of the slow-moving
civilian craft. The Israeli warships radioed the SPIRIT, demanding that
the ship turn around or they would open fire and "shoot." When asked if
the Israeli navy was acknowledging that they intended to commit a war
crime by deliberately firing on unarmed civilians, the warships replied
that they were prepared to use "any means" to stop the ship.

Ancient chemical warfare

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Ancient Persians 'gassed Romans' <read me

A UK researcher said he found evidence that the Persian Empire used
poisonous gases on the Roman city of Dura, Eastern Syria, in the 3rd
Century AD.

The theory is based on the discovery of remains of about 20 Roman soldiers found at the base of the city wall.

Dollhouse - 3 minute teaser/interviews

YouTube - 'Dollhouse' explained in under three minutes Eliza Dushku

Bionic Woman to be the new Doctor Who's assistant?

Doctor Who: The Doctor's New Assistant May Be Bionic

New Harry Potter Trailer

Harry Potter: New Potter Trailer Proves Kids With Wands Still Cooler Than Twilight

And don't watch the 2nd video farther down the page unless you have read the book already (there is a MAJOR spoiler in it)! It's funny though.

James Marster - new tv series

James Marsters: First Look At James Marsters As Outlaw Alien Fighter

Everyone's favorite vampire has saddled up for the role of outlaw in the new Sci Fi Channel original movie Alien Western. Lucky us — we've stumbled upon some set photos of Marsters all dirty-cowboyed up.

Cute-as-a-button co-star Sanny van Heteren posted a few pics from the set showing a dirty Marsters ready to kill some alien-bug scum. The plot of Alien Western is centered around a little town that gets attacked by giant alien bugs. Marsters plays Sam Danville, an outlaw who's supposed to be executed when the aliens land.

If Movie Posters Were Honest

Facebook | If Movie Posters Were Honest < check it out for the whole bunch.

Brilliant!
(thanks Eyesore, & Adam !)

Ehud Olmert: Torturing the Whole World

LeDaro: Ehud Olmert: Torturing the Whole World < read me

Can you imagine a guy caught on the street after killing few dozen people, the police come to arrest him he says, "I have ceased to shoot unilaterally." Olmert is doing exactly that. Now he wants the world to know that he has ceased fire unilaterally. IDF is occupying most of the Northern Gaza, shooting at will and bombing. That is ceasefire? Olmert then blames Hamas that they are still firing rockets.

Leave their homes and their land Olmert you idiot and accept the punishment for your crimes, as a person would do in a civilized society. Oh yes, your buddies in that crime must be included too.

Bacon Cupcakes!

ABC News

"Israel was born out of Jewish Terrorism"

Stop Canadian Complicity in Torture: Jewish MP denounces ISRAEL as War Criminals , "ISRAEL WAS BORN OUT OF JEWISH TERRORISM" < watch the video.

He also talks about who is Tzipi Livni- Israel's FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER:

SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF Eitan Livni - CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IRGUN, that bombed the King David Hotel, which housed the Mandate Secretariat and the British military headquarters.

THE TERRORIST BOMBING COORDENATED BY ISRAEL'S CURRENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER TZIPI LIVNI' FATHER , killed 91 people including 17 Jews.Most of the people killed were staff of the hotel or Secretariat: 21 were first-rank government officials; 49 were second-rank clerks, typists and messengers, junior members of the Secretariat, employees of the hotel and canteen workers; 13 were soldiers; 3 policemen; and 5 were members of the public.

Diverse voices oppose apartheid policies, zionism

An Open Letter From Jewish Youth in Canada: Diverse voices oppose apartheid policies, zionism | The Dominion

Even though there have been approximately 100 Palestinian deaths for every Israeli killed by rocket fire, we recognize that Israeli Apartheid also leads to Israeli casualties. The blame for these deaths lies with Israel – if there were no occupation and no apartheid policies, there would be no rocket fire. If Israel, the world's fourth largest military power, is concerned about its citizens, it would abandon its apartheid policies and seek out justice for the Palestinian people.

It seems that many Jews outside of Israel don't support the Israeli policies and actions against the Palestinian people. It's too bad that most Jews inside Israel feel differently.

Independent Groups Debunk Israeli War Propaganda

Independent Groups Debunk Israeli War Propaganda | ForeignPolicy | AlterNet < read me for the full story!

The situation in Gaza is so abominable that both the U.N. and international human rights organizations have refused to remain silent. Israel has been accused of violating both humanitarian law and the Geneva conventions on military operations.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council Friday, the London-based Amnesty International (AI) called for firm action "to ensure full accountability for war crimes and other serious abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law".

AI also urged the Council to dispatch international human rights monitors to Gaza and southern Israel to investigate and report on the continuing abuses by both warring parties.

Even the Vatican seemed outraged by the unmitigated violence by the Israelis.

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, compared Gaza to a "concentration camp", reminiscent of the horrors of a Nazi era -- provoking anger from the Israelis.

"Look at the conditions in Gaza," the Cardinal was quoted as saying, "more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp."

Death of Free Internet in Canada?

Another Point of View: Reloaded: Death Of Free Internet In Canada? < read me!

The great value of the open Internet is that it allows us to envision and, in fact, produce a more democratic media system.

But the open Internet is under threat by the very companies that bring it into our homes and workplaces, Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These big telecommunication companies want to become the gatekeepers of the Internet, charging hefty fees to reach large audiences, as they do with other mediums.

Big telecom companies are trying to do away with the governing guidelines of the Internet called "net neutrality" (or "common carriage"). Net neutrality requires that Internet service providers not discriminate - including speeding up or slowing down web content - based on its source, ownership or destination. Net neutrality protects our ability to direct our own online activities, and also maintains a level playing field for online innovation and social change.

The activity of limiting or slowing access to specific content and services is referred to as "traffic shaping" or "throttling," and it fundamentally changes how the Internet works. According to Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, ISPs already have a "history of blocking access to contentious content (Telus), limiting bandwidth for alternative content delivery channels (Rogers), and raising the prospect of levying fees for priority content delivery (Bell)."

If we let big ISPs have their way, media producers, online entrepreneurs and social change makers will need to ask Bell, Rogers and other big ISPs for permission and pay large sums of cash to effectively distribute content or innovate.

Israel's shiny new weapons

Montreal Simon: Gaza and Israel's Shiny New Weapons

Nothing better than testing shiny new weapons on a helpless population trapped in a cage like laboratory animals. I bet the Pentagon can't wait to see the results.

And can you imagine what life will be like in one of the poorest little places on earth, with not enough shelter, not enough food or water, not enough medical equipment, and so many traumatized people with no arms or legs .....dragging themselves over the ruins.

Believe me, I have no axe to grind in this conflict. I love the Israeli and Palestinian people like I love all the other people of the world.

But what the Israeli hawks have done in Gaza is a war crime pure and simple.

First must come the ceasefire.

Then must come the RECKONING...

Journalists call Livni "terrorist"

Challenging the Commonplace: Journalists call Livni "terrorist"

One of the more tense moments came when one journalist began to quote at length a Human Rights report on the situation in Gaza, before asking Livni to comment on "the murder of innocent civilians in the Strip."

When the man was asked to finish his question, he yelled "you are letting her speak for an hour, and you aren't allowing us to ask questions. Since when have you hosted terrorists here?"

Atheism is...

DTK: What Atheists Believe In <read me, watch me.

Freedom.
Watch the video at the link.

Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes

90 organizations, mainly French, to prosecute Israel for War Crimes - International Middle East Media Center

Ninety organizations, mainly French, decided to prosecute Israel in the International Court of Justice, in the Hague, for committing War Crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, after the Israeli offensive has thus far left more than 1,033 Palestinians dead, and over 4,580 wounded after 20 days of.

Israelis jailed for protesting the war

Middle East Online

PACIFICA – About 700 Israelis have been arrested for protesting against the war on Gaza since the beginning of the deadly offensive, said Neve Gordon, chair of the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel on Monday.

"700 Israelis have been arrested since this war began, because they protested this war. This has not made it to an international media, and it’s an act of intimidation by the state against those who protest the war," Gordon told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!.

On the number of Israeli deaths, Gordon said: "between ten and twenty people, Israelis, have died from rockets in the eight years that rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel. During the same amount of time, 4,000 Israelis have died from car accidents."

But Israel still used that as an excuse to bomb Gaza.

Nebula Within a Cluster

HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Snaps Images of a Nebula Within a Cluster (01/15/2009) - Release Images

"Israel's killings of Palestinians in Gaza amounted to "genocide"."

Al Jazeera English - Americas - Israel 'breaking law' with Gaza war

D'Escoto noted that the Security Council last week had called for a Gaza ceasefire leading to the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

"Prime Minister Olmert's recent statement disavowing the authority of Resolution 1860 [the Security Council resolution] clearly places Israel as a state in contempt of international law and the United Nations," d'Escoto added.

He urged the assembly to agree its own non-binding assembly resolution reflecting "the urgency of our commitment to end this slaughter" in Gaza.

Israel has continued its offensive regardless of the resolution which was also rejected by Hamas.

D'Escoto, a former Nicaraguan foreign minister, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Israel's killings of Palestinians in Gaza amounted to "genocide".

Israel - a nation of terrorists

Overwhelming Israeli support of Gaza op | Confronting Hamas | Jerusalem Post

A whopping 94% of the public support or strongly support the operation while 92% think it benefits Israel's security, according to the Tel Aviv University survey.

The poll found that 92% of Israeli Jews justify the air force's attacks in Gaza despite the suffering of the civilian population in the Strip and the damage they cause to infrastructure.

Other kids are the biggest threat to kids online

Report: biggest online threat to kids is other kids

Overall, the report generally concludes that the general public may have an impression that the Internet is awash in predatory pedophiles, but that picture is simply unsupported by the research that's available. Those risks that do exist don't appear to be specific to the online world, as the report suggests, "the risks minors face online are complex and multifaceted and are in most cases not significantly different than those they face offline." As one of the participants stated, "the truth is that there is no 'Internet safety,' there is simply 'safety.'"

So, for example, when it comes to pornography and nudity, the majority of the exposure occurs offline, through traditional media such as TV and movies. A number of younger individuals do get exposed to images they find disturbing online, but the majority of those who view porn online are older adolescent boys who have actively sought it out. In a significant number of these cases, the images that disturb adolescents the most are the ones produced by their fellow adolescents; as the report notes, "there are also concerns about other content, including child pornography and the violent, pornographic, and other problematic content that youth themselves generate."

The task force also examined bullying and harassment online, but came to the same conclusion as other recent studies: it happens, but it's generally happening as an extension of the child's offline social world, rather than as a distinct Internet phenomenon.

Linda Hamilton may do voice-overs in the upcoming Terminator movie

Terminator Salvation: Sarah Connor Will Haunt Terminator Salvation

"We're in the business of doing that right now," McG said. "So we'll
see what happens. She seems to be very supportive of the film. I look
forward to showing it to her in about a week or so." He added: "The
tapes that she left for her son to be aware of what it was going to
take to win the war, those are the tapes that are going to bring us in
and out of the picture."

More news about Push, which comes out Feb. 6th

Exclusive: Paul McGuigan Talks Push — And Deathlok

Free film about the mainstream media in North America and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

PEACE, PROPAGANDA & THE PROMISED LAND | U.S. Media & The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites -- oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others -- work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

Read the synopsis, watch or download the video.

Israel becoming its own worst enemy

TheStar.com | Opinion | Israel becoming its own worst enemy < read me

Israelis 'shot at fleeing Gazans'

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israelis 'shot at fleeing Gazans' <read me!

War of Choice: How Israel Manufactured the Gaza Escalation

Foreign Policy In Focus | War of Choice: How Israel Manufactured the Gaza Escalation < read me!

The Palestinians: Everybodies Favourite Human Shield

stageleft:. life on the left side : The Palestinians: Everybodies Favorite Human Shield < read me.