May 9, 2008
How about 8 things he hates about you?
Rachel Lucas unloads on a high maintenance girlfriend writing about her relationship in Men's Health magazine:
I’m not even going to blockquote it; you really gotta read it to get the full punch. I’m just going to write a helpful very-slightly-altered version to balance out the evil karma resulting every time one of these articles is published. I’m compelled to go after other women like this for one primary reason: they embarrass me and bring shame upon my gender with their superficial double standards. Someone’s gotta fight back and guys can’t do it lest they be accused of piggery and sexism.And we thank you for this important service, Rachel.
The proliferation of garbage degrees, explained
A commenter at Captain Capitalism explains why garbage degrees in modern academia have become so common:
The tuition is the same for an engineering major and a femminist studies major... but what does it cost the school to "educate" the femminist studies major? Assistant Professor sallary and "domestic partner benefits" for a couple of otherwise unemployable ex-activists, a handful of subscriptions to obscure journals for the library, the sunk cost of power and heat for a couple of classrooms, the coffee machine, and some food for the department's cats.It all makes sense now.
AGW Bunk Meter
Carl Sagan used to say, that when there are a number of equally compelling theories, start with the simplest one, because it usually proves to be true:
That is why, despite hugely different environmental conditions in the past, including far higher CO2 levels, there has never been a ‘tipping’ point that changed the pattern of glaciations and interglacials that have occurred with clockwork precision based on astronomical movements throughout the historical record.Nor need we fear any man made addition to solar warming because the proportion of the warming which we would be responsible for would be insignificant against the scale of the solar induced portion.
In any event, since cooling is worse than warming for humanity and most life on the planet, our production of CO2, however large in our puny terms, would be wholly beneficial for life on Earth.
Here is a paraphrased version of the Carl Sagan bunkometer taken from Demon Haunted World:
1. Whenever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts”2. Encourage substantive debate on the “evidence” by knowledgable proponents of all points of view.
3. Arguments from authority carry little weight as “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that there are no authorities; at most; there are “experts”.
4. Spin a variety of hypotheses. If there’s something to be explained, think of all the different ways in which it could be explained. Then think of tests by which you might systematically disprove each. The ones that survive are the ones to do in depth study on.
5.Do not become attached to any hypothesis just because it’s yours. Find reasons for rejecting all, including your own, hypothesis.
6. Quantify. If whatever you are explaining has a measure, quantify it so that measurement is more possible. Vague hypothesis, or those difficult to quantify will be the most difficult to prove or disprove. Ie: There is a Sasquatch.
7. If there is a chain argument, then each and every link must work, including the premise.
8. Use Occam’s Razor; which is to choose the hypothesis that explains the data in the simplest terms.
9. Ask: is the Hypothesis testable and falsifiable. Hypothesis that are not testable are not worth much. Could you duplicate accurately, at least theoretically, the hypothesis?
Related post @ Celestial Junk
Always look on the dark side of life...
CP and CTV looked at the Auditor General's report "Support for Overseas Deployments - National Defence" (pdf) and came up with this headline: "Supply lines to Afghanistan rife with problems: AG."
I looked at the same report at The Torch, and found that on Page 1 of the document, the AG specifically gave the following pat on the back to DND support staff:
National Defence has been able to deliver to troops its equipment and supplies that they need to do the job in Afghanistan. While we did note that commanders have expressed concerns over some supply chain shortcomings, we found no reports of supply chain problems that had significantly affected operations. This is largely because the high level of dedication and hard work of Canadian Forces personnel enabled them to deliver the needed support.
For those who don't speak governmental bureaucratese, that's pretty high praise for the men and women on the ground doing the grunt work of getting people and materiel into the hands of the troops at the tip of the spear.
If you're interested in the never-ending military logistics balance between improving the system, and going outside of it in situations that require "effects-based initiative", you can read the rest of my analysis here.
Reader Tips
It's Friday, a Friday in May . . . the weekend is coming. So, given that, I'd like you to think about:
The pond that needs to be removed, the fence that needs to be built, the shingles that need replacing, the fire-pit that needs to be moved, the Saskatoon's that need to be replanted, the groceries that need to be bought...sigh, the hockey that needs to be watched?
and don't what-ever you do, don't think about our favourite friend1,
ensuring a Liberal defeat,
or worrying about old school reactionaries who aren't happy unless everyone toes their line. As an aside, there is a difference between "editorial", "journalism", and "reporting".
Please bear w/ me, I'm not nearly as diligent as Kate when it comes to checking scheduled (meaning written in advance and published at a time in the future) posts. Apparently, they have to be rebuilt before accepting comments. Many of you are in time-zones that really don't jive with mine (hello, computer geek!). Don't be surprised if you have issues commenting on this post until 9 or so CST.
1 I've been deleting comments related to that person as per Kate's ban. I don't know enough about MT to set up a more elegant system. Please refrain from responding to that person until I can viciously and gleefully "restrict his right to free speech". (That would be lance at catprint dot ca, Mr. Johnny DownInTheDumps.)
Cheers,
lance
From Beijing
Greetings all. Not much to report so far, other than it appears that the Brazilians were here before us, and taught the Chinese everything they know about driving.
Plus, my hosts took me to a market where I was able to purchase enough Kraft Dinner to last me for the week.
May 8, 2008
Little Wieners
The following vid is utterly ridiculous ... but I just couldn't resist.
And yes, I know ... I know ... Godwin's Law and all ... but a target rich environment is just too juicy to pass up:
A great vacation idea
It's too bad I've already planned my summer vacation, this sounds like a great idea.
Bakken
Strange, don't you think, that it took an American to once and for all put an end to Ontario's dominance of the federation:
A few years ago, a Billings petroleum geologist by the name of Dick Findley was working out of his basement - searching for oil in an area that had been barren for over 20 years. Things were rough and he was struggling to get by.He even flirted with the idea of getting a second job as a restaurant cook. On a diet of nothing but Ramen noodles and hard-boiled eggs - how could you blame the guy?
But one thing kept Dick going - an unprecedented suspicion that this area, known as the Bakken Basin, contained more oil than Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran combined.
The Bakken Basin, located in Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan - was at one point coined "one of the largest disappointments in the oil industry."
During this period, technology lacked the efficiency to make drilling worthwhile. And when oil hit all time lows in the late 90's - the Bakken Basin was basically abandoned.
But Findley kept digging around.
And through sheer luck, he and his partner stumbled upon a porous layer of dolomite, 9000 feet below the ground of a ranch just outside Sidney, Montana.
This stumble turned out to be the largest on-shore oil discovery in decades. Little did he know, but Findley discovered enough oil to fuel the U.S. for 41 years.
Sure ... it's a promo, but the flood of oil money pouring into South Eastern Saskatchewan isn't a fantasy.
Update: From Spike 1 in the comments:
The Bakken field can be developed because of a company and a gentleman that was from Arcola,Sask named mark Langfield.He introduced horizontal drilling to the Sask. oil patch and the rest is history.It was'nt "big oil" that brought in the Bakken,it was inovative individuals.The mud motor made it feasable.
What is ... A Moral Compass
“Progressives” are apparently all about helping the down-trodden of this world … yet, for the life of them, they can’t grasp the nobility of what our Canadian men and women in uniform are doing in Afghanistan. "Progressives" can't move themselves to feel pride ... least of all gratitude, for our soldiers. They spew shameful rhetoric, like, "I support our troops ... so bring'em home", without ever considering that our soldiers WANT to be there and they WANT to hold back the barbarins. The mere thought of such heroism, is beyond the "progressive" mind.
... Keep Reading.
Reader Tips
Drop them in here for everyone to enjoy.
For the technological inclined,
I'm currently rebuilding a Radius server to authenticate a Cisco PIX VPN tunnel over OpenLDAP.
OpenOffice 3.0 Beta is available for testing.
DOE Pumps $126.6 Million Into Carbon Sequestration.
Cheers,
lance
May 7, 2008
Things You'll Never See on Television in 2008
For those who love Deano ... an old standard:
Lebanon burns again
I know, unrest in Lebanon doesn't really count as news but the government is showing signs of finally standing up to Hizbullah now that they've closed the airport:
Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat told The Daily Star that the Lebanese Army and security forces would not hesitate to open the airport road in a timely manner.I'd have more sympathy for Lebanon if they'd realize that Hizbullah is probably a bigger threat to them than it is to the west or Israel. But they don't seem to mind much as long as Hizbullah sticks to kidnapping and blowing up westerners or firing rockets at Israel."Hizbullah's actions are an open attack against the state," he said. "What Hizbullah is doing reminds the Lebanese people of what Israel did to the airport in the summer 2006 war," he added, referring to the Jewish state's bombing of runways and fuel tanks.
From Kuwait to Afghanistan to Cuba to Iraq
The road to hell is paved with lawyers' invoices, and liberal intentions.
March Of The Penguins
(edit: Patience/virtue waiting for the video.)
A Defeat For Extremism
... was to attack Boris [Johnson] as an Islamophobe; swing Muslim voters unanimously behind Livingstone; deliver the election for him; emerge, thereby, as a leading force in British Islam, and thus send an uncompromising message to the main political parties – follow our line, or there’ll be electoral consequences.Its first shots were fired in January, when it was claimed that over fifty Islamic organisations in London had written to the Guardian endorsing Livingstone. (It later emerged that some of the letter’s signatories had written only in a “personal capacity”.) Its final salvo was the desperate advert, placed recently in the London Bengali paper “Janomot”, implying that Boris, as Mayor, would ban the Koran.
So who was behind this advert, and the campaign as a whole? It was produced by a group called the British Muslim Initiative (BMI). BMI’s website contains a section headed “About Us”. Readers who click on it will learn that the organisation was “formed by justice, peace and human rights campaigners”.
So who was behind this advert, and the campaign as a whole? It was produced by a group called the British Muslim Initiative (BMI). BMI’s website contains a section headed “About Us”. Readers who click on it will learn that the organisation was “formed by justice, peace and human rights campaigners”.
These campaigners presumably include Azzam Tamimi and Anas Tikriti, whose Guardian columns are prominently advertised on the site. Also advertised on the site is “Muslims 4 Ken”, whose leading lights, according to the Evening Standard, are…Anas Tikriti and Azzam Tamini.
Tikriti is a former President of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) – which is, in effect, the British branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and which, therefore, has links to Hamas. It’s been claimed that Tamini issued communiques on behalf of Hamas during the 1990s. He’s certainly on record as supporting suicide bombings against civilians in Israel.
h/t
Reader Tips
Play nice, don't soil the bed and stop worrying, hockey resumes in two more days.
What to do with a Sudanese rapist?
Saskatchewan Liberals1 moving right? That might be interesting. Split vote, anyone?
Vote Liberal, because a carbon tax on $1.32 gas is win-win! Isn't something like half the cost at the pump due to tax already? I'm expecting the next brilliant display of Liberal politics to be Dion charging a carbon-tax at their BBQ circuit this summer...probably during the Stampede.
1 No, honestly, we're not with those federal pseudo-Liberals, please believe us, we hate those Liberals too!
Cheers,
lance
The Tiger In Elections Canada?
Anyone else check that little box on their tax return authorizing Revenue Canada to share your data with Elections Canada?
"Most disturbingly, investigators have found sets of voters lists issued by Elections Canada that held the names of persons residing on given streets in various areas of Scarborough," reads the affidavit. "Furthermore the lists had yellow highlighter placed on names of Tamil heritages. These lists were confirmed to be periodic lists distributed to candidates and Ministers during elections years."
Cheers,
lance
May 6, 2008
A sinister conspiracy
We were trying to keep this plot secret, but the Wall Street Journal has figured it out:
Think about it. Canadian officials send women across the border, smuggling in "anchor babies" cleverly disguised as clumps of tissue. The women give birth inside the U.S., which means their Canadian offspring are entitled to U.S. citizenship. As these "children" grow and mature, they receive instructions from their masters in Ottawa about how to undermine American culture.Okay, so now they know. But do they dare stop us? They seem to leave the Mexicans alone, why pick on us?Before you know it, your kids are stuffing themselves with litres of back bacon, downing kilogram after kilogram of Crown Royal and Labatt Blue, and belting out "God Save the Queen" as they watch hockey on TV.
He Was Right About Losing 10 Floors Off The UN, Too.
Mr Bolton said that striking Iran
... would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq. While he acknowledged that the risk of a hostile Iranian response harming American’s overseas interests existed, he said the damage inflicted by Tehran would be “far higher” if Washington took no action.“This is a case where the use of military force against a training camp to show the Iranians we’re not going to tolerate this is really the most prudent thing to do,” he said. “Then the ball would be in Iran’s court to draw the appropriate lesson to stop harming our troops.”
*
"The enemies of Israel"
There's an interesting article by Daniel Pipes in the National Post's series on Israel's 60th anniversary that includes this observation:
The enemies of Israel divide into two main camps: the left and the Muslims, with the far right a minor third element. The left includes a rabid edge (International ANSWER, Noam Chomsky) and a more polite centre (United Nations General Assembly, Canada's Liberal party, the mainstream media, mainline churches, school textbooks).I'm sure many Liberals would angrily dispute being labeled an enemy of Israel, but I think the observation is spot on.
The rest of his article is full of interesting insights, as well.
Y2Kyoto: Fan Of Green Gables
CBC;
Six of 10 turbines at P.E.I.'s East Point Wind Plant have been shut down to avoid further damage after problems with their gearboxes were discovered during routine inspections.The three-megawatt, 90-metre turbines are the largest wind turbines in commercial operation in North America, said Vestas Americas, suppliers of the turbines, in a news release Tuesday.
Well, I Was On My Way To Beijing
Until someone left the lights on in the plane.
I kid you not. We arrived at our gate in Saskatoon to learn that the battery on the plane was dead as a result, and that departure would be delayed just over an hour... so long as they could find the mechanic to supervise the recharge, who, though he works in Calgary, lives in Saskatoon.
Said mechanic pronounced the batteries toast, and thus began alternate flight arrangements that resulted in Focus missing his connection in Calgary. As it is me accompanying the dog, and not the other way round, it was a case of "no doggie, no flyee."
So, Air Canada, bless their hearts, put us up in a hotel and we're relaxing in Vancouver until morning. For all the criticism they get, in this case I have no complaints with the airline. Big thanks are due agent "Jaydee" for getting it all rebooked, and to the baggage people who hunted down my delayed dog, and missing bag.
Canuck Marlboro Man
... all in a day's work:
Produced by Cjunk.
Reader Tips
It's been a busy week around here, my apologies for the slow blogging. I spent all day bent over a motorcycle tank and still have a few hours ahead packing and tying up loose ends before I leave for Beijing. No Free Tibet! t-shirt for me. "Free Tibetan Terrier", maybe. I'm delivering a dog to his new home, conducting an informal seminar, and taking in a show while I'm there.
You'll be in the capable hands of our usual guest bloggers until I'm back (around the 15th), but I'd be much appreciative if our regular readers would remember not to respond to trolls or drive by provocateurs. There's a good chance they'll be deleted, anyway.
A few links that were passed along:
An exercise in stupidity.
An exercise In Futility
Futility has company.
Your tips are welcome in the comments, of course. I'll see you on the flip side.
May 5, 2008
Y2Kyoto: Wikipedia's Zealots
As I'm writing this column for the Financial Post, I am simultaneously editing a page on Wikipedia. I am confident that just about everything I write for my column will be available for you to read. I am equally confident that you will be able to read just about nothing that I write for the page on Wikipedia...
Stalled
People are starting to notice;
When will Barack Obama finally decide to throw in the towel? No this is not a typo. Being a native Montrealer the only thing I'm smoking is corned beef. It should be clear by now to anyone who has been watching this race since the end of February that Barack Obama hasn't won anything...
Not Waiting For The Asteroid
The Minneapolis Star Tribune teeters on the edge of bankruptcy.
May 4, 2008
"Those leaflets are hate-mongering"
"We don’t circulate pamphlets with (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper next to an oil derrick or the Husky Tower as if that was a reason to hate a person,” [NDP MP Pat] Martin said.
Mitra Kermani
Remember the good old days, when multiculturalism just meant more pavilions at Folkfest?
I had to hang up on her twice.
Rosie O'Baglow
I have it on fairly good authority that John Baglow was recently spotted purchasing kerosene and chicken wire*...
Dr. Dawg's beclowning himself so bad he's starting to look like John Wayne Gacy.Not long after being spanked by Mark Steyn in the pages of Maclean's for falling for a faked Ernst Zundel photo, Dawg launched a failed blogburst about a mythical "Indian burial ground" hoax.
About that residential school mass graves story that had the leftosphere whipped into a frenzy and the media in curious lockdown mode...
But if you do believe these things, I'm afraid there are quite a few more things you are going to have to believe, because you can't have it both ways. If Kevin Annett really is prize-worthy and courageous, you will also have to believe this:-One of Canada's most respected First Nations' leaders is trafficking in children from Northern British Columbia in a profitable pedophilia ring that's run out of the West Hastings Street premises of the swish Vancouver Club. His clients are Vancouver judges, politicians, and church leaders.
-Back in the 1930s, a team of German doctors arrived at the Kuper Island Indian residential school and began conducting strange medical experiments on the children. Employing large hypodermic needles, they injected some sort of toxin directly into the chests of the school's young inmates, and several were killed as a result.
-As recently as the 1950s and 1960s, aboriginal children at a Vancouver Island medical research facility were tortured with electrodes implanted in their skulls. At least one child was beaten to death with a whip fitted with razors.
OMG! It's like living the ritual abuse in Saskatchewan daycare nightmare all over again!
Duffy, With Mark Steyn
For those who had difficulty with the CTV video, it's now up on Youtube, thanks to the efforts of our readers.
Another version here.
Rusafa
Bill Ardolino's first report for The Long War Journal;
Above all, Hassan and his neighborhood watchmen do not like the Mahdi Army.“Originally, the Jaish al Mahdi [Mahdi Army] in our area used to deceive people by using the name of the religion to do their purposes,” said Dhia, Hassan’s executive officer. “They were all corrupted. They have history in crime, robberies, murders, rapes, and all kinds of bad things. They even reached the level of kidnapping people and demanding ransoms just because they have money. It didn’t matter if he is Shia or Sunni; just because he has money. They gave a bad reputation for Islam.”
American officials assert that the final factor that has improved security is the citizenry’s fatigue with violence and the militias.
“They’re still intimidated by [the Mahdi Army], but they’re tired of them,” said Thornburg.
Reader Tips
For Sunday.
Much on my plate these days, so check out the blogroll!
