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Any ides why the WEATHER Network does stories on the Haiti EARTHQUAKE tragedy? I don't care what Danny Glover says, this has nothing to do with WEATHER.

My, what a beautiful violin ... ist! If I had a Mutter like that I wouldn't have left home.

Great version of that ... watched the rest on YouTube; wonderful performance. I prefer when it's done in this non-traditional style ... much better than the way it would've sounded in Vivaldi's day.

Global has a great documentary about the boxer Sean O'Sullivan on presently. A bit sad, but he tells it the way it was, as it is, for many boxers. He's 47 years old. That can't be! I mean, how old would that make me?

Nice article in the National Post by Lawrence Sullivan - comparing Google to Bing - and the censorship that Google uses - eg not highlighting Climategate. Lots of other nice examples

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2010/01/16/lawrence-solomon-better-off-with-bing.aspx

Don't know about you, but I used to have Google as my homepage, not anymore after reading this article!

A formal complaint against www.faithfreedom.org has been made in India. ... The story is covered by Pamela Geller as well as at the original site.

http://www.faithfreedom.org/islam/for4mal-complaint-against-ffi

Faithfreedom.org echoes the voice of ex-Muslims who want to stop the spread of Islam, expose its violent nature, and help Muslims to understand it and leave it. We believe in the oneness of humanity and oppose Islam for inciting hatred against non Muslims. Muhammad instructed his follower to conquer the world by the sword and to rule it with terror. We are determined to not let that happen.

In their defense, faithfreedom authors state, "Can you defend Islam? Can you prove that what we allege against your faith and its monstrous prophet are untrue? No you cannot. When it comes to logic you are helpless. You cannot defend your evil belief with logic. There is nothing you can do, but to bring legal charges to stop us from revealing the truth about your cherished faith.
You can’t. There is no law that can stop us from telling the truth about any faith, at least not where I live. Here we practice freedom of speech and criticizing religions, including Islam is our birth right".

Something tells me those folks at the Dutch Ministry of Truth prosecuting Geert Wilders haven't heard of these guys ...

Hummmm. Is it just me, or is it kind of creepy that Obama is pushing health care legislation in a church today?

CKNW: "Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirms a rescue mission is underway to evacuate 17 British Columbian high school students from Haiti. A military helicopter has been dispatched,,"
-Please consider that as little as 3 years ago, this mission would not have been possible. We had no heavy lift aircraft and no suitable helicopters.

Gunney99:

Add to that the Haiti mission would still be waiting for rented aircraft to deploy the DART, like the Asian tsunami...nothing like your own C17 Globemasters to get in theatre PDQ.

Judging by the reports so far, it looks like Port au Prince is more or less a heap of rubble...

It will be some time before they are 'out of the woods'

You can pray hard and donate to your favorite charity...

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North"

When the Tsunami disaster happened I asked the Sally Ann Captain whether they would be helping out. He told me that they were working within minutes of the water going away. I dug deep. They're working hard in Haiti right now, were on the ground working within minutes of the initial shake and I don't think there is any question that the best bang for the buck is from the Sally Ann. Time to dig deep is here again.

Appeal to support a real charity over.

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief & Gunney99:
Right on!!

Isn't it nice to see our country able to respond as a mature and responsible country, rather than some hitch-hike to the city limits and beg a ride into town country. Not only that, when our guys arrive, they're good at what they do. Makes a fella proud!!

Erik said "Don't know about you, but I used to have Google as my homepage, not anymore after reading this article!"

Ditto. I used Google constantly in my job so it was tough to switch. I can't trust a site that would give out bad information or withhold information.

A BRITISH VIEW OF SAUDI ARABIA's view of human rights. Only a Brit can say it so gracefully - what a great video:

http://www.dotsub.com/films/moredemands/index.php?autostart=true&language_setting=en_1618

http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2010/01/islamic-sects-plan-to-build-mega-mosque.html

Some sanity prevails on the mega-mosque

Shocking AP Headline: 'After Year, Hope Turns Into Disappointment'

Given the love affair media had with presidential candidate Barack Obama, this is a headline I'm sure few people could have imagined they'd see as the first anniversary of his inauguration approached:

After Year, Hope Turns Into Disappointment

Maybe even more surprising, the contents of this Associated Press piece were just as pessimistic about the man so-called journalists once gushed and fawned over like teenyboppers in the presence of a rock star (h/t Glenn Reynolds):

Forget "can," "change" and, above all, "hope." The new word echoing in the blogosphere and beyond as Obama enters Year Two: disappointment."

[...]

"Yes -- this really is an AP piece.

How times have changed.

Is this indicative of the kind of media reports we'll be seeing this week, or is this an outlier?

Stay tuned."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/01/17/shocking-ap-headline-after-year-hope-turns-disappointment

Choo-Choo Pachauri's Voodoo Economic$.
...-

"Taxpayers' millions paid to Indian institute run by UN climate chief

Millions of pounds of British taxpayers' money is being paid to an organisation in India run by Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the controversial chairman of the UN climate change panel, despite growing concern over its accounts.

A research institute headed by Dr Pachauri will receive up to £10 million funding over the next five years from the Department for International Development (DfID).

The grant comes amid question marks over the finances of The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) London operation. Last week its UK head called in independent accountants after admitting 'anomalies' – described as 'unintentional' – in its accounts that have prompted demands for the Charity Commission to investigate."

"Because Dr Pachauri's role at the IPCC is unpaid – although he does receive tens of thousands of pounds in travel expenses – he is exempt along with other panel members from declaring outside interests with the UN.

But he is paid an undisclosed salary by TERI while the institute has also received payments from a number of organisations and businesses he has advised in recent years including 100,000 euros (£88,400) from Deutcshe bank, $80,000 (£49,000) from Toyota Motors and $580,000 (£357,000) from Yale University, where he serves as head of its new Climate and Energy Institute."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7005963/Taxpayers-millions-paid-to-Indian-institute-run-by-UN-climate-chief.html

Re: The evacuation of high school students from Haiti. I first heard that parents were "demanding" that the Canadian government get their children out of there. My first question is why anyone would let a bunch of school kids, under the direction of some goofy teacher or minister travel to a country like Haiti in the first place. This is, at all times, a very dangerous country. When I went to school, the only place we travelled was to the local toboggan hill. Let's get real here folks, don't send a kid to do a man's job.

"What do Tiger Woods and Phil Jones of East Anglia University in Britain have in common?
They both got hit in the head by a model."

Climategate: The Truth Hurts When It Hits You in the Head
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/01/climategate_the_truth_hurts_wh.html
An investigator should start by working from the known to the unknown, from the simple to the complex, and always bend the theory to fit the facts -- not the other way around. This is exactly how the four scholars led by Professor Douglass conducted their investigation into the accuracy of the GCMs

But they are not alone in getting hit on the head by a model!
http://www.insuranceerm.com/analysis/the-modellers-not-the-models-failed.html

I'm am very proud of our Canadian response towards Haiti and your right, a few years ago we would be "hitch hiking", to even get to shores of Haiti.

The US military is run by crazy people. Here's Ralph Peters on the report on the Fort Hood terrorist. Here's Bill Bennett.

Lt. Col. J.J. Malevich, What FM 3-24 Left Out: Fighting the Root Cause

The case in point is the Salifist call for a global jihad to establish an Islamic worldwide caliphate. Clearly this is a root cause or an insurgent goal that cannot and should not be addressed, but should be fought vigorously and without compromise in the same fashion that we fought communism during the Cold War. Unfortunately, we are not fighting it with all of the tools that we have at our disposal and this is prolonging an illegitimate call to arms that should have died off long ago.

The fact is that the underwear bomber, the Fort Hood shooter, the shoe bomber, the Toronto 18 and 7/7 bombers from the UK illustrate that al-Qaeda and its call to a worldwide jihad for Muslims has failed. Whereas the hallmark of al-Qaeda, well planned well executed attacks professionally executed, has been replaced by amateurish attempts which are executed by home-grown losers, malcontents and misfits who gravitate to the message of global jihad not from an injustice that has been inflicted on themselves or their diasporas living in the west, but rather in order to make up for their own social inadequacies and personal failures.

We have smashed al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and forced it underground and into a situation where it has to rely on local jihadi cells or rather franchises to keep it going on life support. A cellular structure has been its strength and has kept it alive far longer than it should have, but it has also showed us its weakness. Salafist jihad has stayed alive on life support because we have failed to fight it fully on all fronts...

Did anyone notice the BIG BUCKS spent on Scott Brown smear commercials in prime time and during football games yesterday? They must have broke the bank! I’d love to know how much $$ they did spend yesterday, it must have been epic. I didn’t see that veracity of adds during the Presidential election. Fascinating.

> I used to have Google as my homepage, not anymore after reading this article!

Both Google and Bing are anti-2nd amendment and engage in censorship, so they don't get any ad money from me, even though it might cost me some lost revenue.

There is a pattern here: Google, Ebay/Paypal, now MS/Bing all are anti 2A. Anybody, any ideas?

Pirates will be.....well, Pirates...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100118/ap_on_re_af/piracy

Choo-Choo: AGW's clothes horse.
...-

"The curious case of the expanding environmental group with falling income

When Douglas Alexander travelled to New Delhi last September to announce Britain was presenting £10 million to the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), standing alongside him was an imposing, bearded figure.

Best known for the moment when he stood with Al Gore to collect the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr Pachauri was the mastermind of the IPCC’s latest monumental report on the dangers of global warming in 2007, giving him huge prestige and influence as the world's "top climate official"."

"On Indian television recently he curiously claimed that "nobody in TERI gets any money for anything he or she does as part of his or her job".

But he certainly enjoys a lavish personal lifestyle; his Delhi home is in the Golf Links area, the most expensive stretch of residential real estate in India, and he is famous for his "$1,000 suits".

Ironically, one of Dr Pachauri’s favourite themes is the "unsustainability" of the affluent Western way of life in the face of global warming."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7007891/The-curious-case-of-the-expanding-environmental-group-with-falling-income.html

re: "Pirates will be.....well, Pirates..." Is it just me or is the part where the navy scares off the intruders, retakes the ship and recovers the ransom missing in this story?

kind of like the cops stopping a carjacking of a stolen car...

> kind of like the cops stopping a carjacking of a stolen car...

Sounds like nothing but large money laundering scheme. Why would otherwise so much money be funneled thru this little straight?

Wonder why someone would end up in an emasculated, un-empowered dead end job, punching the clown for 25+ miserable years?

Why of course: it's because they retired when they were hired. They chose to trade upside for the certainty of a defined benefit sinecure.

Too bad the politicians have been lying about the total cost. Oh, wait a minute....they are civil servants too....

"Public servants should be contributing 34% of pay to cover plan"

Federal PS pensions a $58B debt time bomb, think-tank says

By Kathryn May, The Ottawa CitizenJanuary 18, 2010

The federal government's bookkeeping of its pension promises for public servants is out of whack with the real costs, understating Canada's national debt by $58 billion, says a report by a leading think-tank.

A study by C.D. Howe Institute on the "fair-value" costs of the pension liabilities for Canada's public servants, military and RCMP concluded the government's estimates are so understated that most of the surpluses racked up over the past decade should have been deficits.

"Experience in steel, cars, telecoms and other mature industries has shown how understating the cost and volatility of defined benefit obligations can lead plans to run accumulated deficits larger than their sponsors can cover, leaving pensioners short and/or taxpayers picking...."

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Federal+pensions+debt+time+bomb+think+tank+says/2453649/story.html

google hack was possibly an inside job:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/google-probes-possible-inside-help-on-china-attack/article1434662/

Security analysts told Reuters the malicious software (malware) used in the Google attack was a modification of a trojan called Hydraq. A trojan is malware that, once inside a computer, allows someone unauthorized access. The sophistication in the attack was in knowing who to attack, not the malware itself, the analysts said.

Local media, citing unnamed sources, reported that some Google China employees were denied access to internal networks after Jan. 13, while some staff were put on leave and others transferred to different offices in Google's Asia Pacific operations. Google said it would not comment on its business operations.

hardboiled - that's an excellent article. I've told many of my friends they can forget retirement - not only will their RRSPs not make a decent return, anything they have in the future will be confiscated to pay for public pension liabilities

Friends of mine living in the Municipality of West Grey, near Durham, Ontario, were just telling me of a movement there of some sort to build windmills. A small notice of the proposal was placed in the local newspaper, they learned, and only heard about it when representatives came around asking them to sign up for a windmills on their farm. When they said they didn't want them, they were told that you may as well get one because everyone else in the area is getting one. Discussing this with their neighbours, they found found out that none of them wanted the windmills.

My friends are wondering if they are being lied to so that they will sign up. Really shady.

""When they're surveyed, 95% of them say they're happy."

"Retirement crisis overblown: Hamilton

Despite dire warnings in the press that Canada's pension plans are set to implode, one of the country's most respected actuaries says the problem isn't really that bad. In fact, Canadians are in an enviable position compared to most other countries.

"It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Canada has one of the best retirement systems in the world," said Malcolm Hamilton, worldwide partner and consulting actuary in Mercer's retirement, risk and finance business.

"If you look below the headlines, there is a lot that we can be proud of," he said, speaking at the 19th annual Mercer Fearless Forecast symposium. "We have virtually no poverty among senior citizens in Canada — virtually none; a big change from 40 years ago when we started to develop the system that we now have."

For the broadly defined middle class — those earning between $25,000 and $125,000 per annum — Statistics Canada reports an income replacement ratio of 50%.

"Is 50% replacement a sign of success or is it a sign of failure? We're mostly taught that at 50% replacement, seniors should be disappointed, disgruntled and will be living miserably. I think that's a wrong conclusion; I think 50% largely suffices."

He points out Canadian seniors are, on average, retiring voluntarily before age 65, indicating they're content with anticipated income levels Interestingly, they continue to save money, despite halving their income.

"When they're surveyed, 95% of them say they're happy. That's a higher percentage than is found among working Canadians," he points out. "When they're asked if their standard of living deteriorated or improved upon retirement, 80% say their standard of living is as good, if not better."

Government programs provide a solid floor for retirement income, but benefits are hardly rich."
http://www.advisor.ca/advisors/news/industrynews/article.jsp?content=20100112_144537_9232

maz2, another excellent article. This again points out that we pay no attention to disasters in the future, as long as we can survive the present. The baby boomer generation is now getting ready to start retirement - who's going to pay for it all? Not just the pension, but the health care costs etc??? I'm fairly resigned to working until I die, no retirement for me.

Bury LibMcGuinty & LibMrIffy in the PET Cemetery.
…-

“Tories wins ‘in-and-out’ campaign ad case

The Conservative party has won an important court victory over the legality of $1.3 million in so-called “in-and-out” advertising purchases from the 2006 election campaign.

The Federal Court of Canada on Monday ordered Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand to allow the campaigns of two Tory candidates to claim expenses for their share of pooled radio and television ads that ran during the election.

The two campaigns were essentially test cases for a larger group of purchases made by 67 Conservative candidates, co-ordinated by the party’s national campaign.

Elections Canada had contended that the Conservatives effectively skated around the party’s $18.3 million spending limit by channeling the cost of the ads through its candidates’ campaigns, which have their own spending limits.

There was no evidence, the electoral agency argued, that the expenses were legitimately incurred by the candidates.”

http://www.canada.com/news/Tories+wins+campaign+case/2455588/story.html

I guess if Scott Brown wins the special Senate election it is "Bush's fault".

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/01/after_obama_ral.php

" I was just about ready to give up...."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT-aEcPgkuA

johnlee:
Thanks for the clip !
Lyrics at http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/lyrics/mary-ellen-carter.html

"And you, to whom adversity has dealt that final blow,
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!"

Al Gore's Weather (AGW): No mention of AGW? Tsktsk

"with substantial snowfall in higher elevations."
...-

"First of 3 Pacific storms hit Southern California; hillside residents prepare for mudslides

The first in a series of powerful Pacific storms began sweeping through Southern California today, causing hazardous driving conditions and high surf and prompting flash-flood warnings for fire-ravaged hillsides.

“It looks like we’re definitely in for a rainy week,” said Bill Patzert, a meteorologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. “It’s going to get heavier and messier.”

Experts said the system -- consisting of three major storms -- could be among the most powerful to batter the region since 2005, when record rains drenched the area, causing havoc on roads and hillsides.

The National Weather Service was also predicting high surf and fierce winds gusting up to 75 mph, with substantial snowfall in higher elevations. The risk of flash floods and mudslides is especially severe in communities near burn areas, notably those below the 250-square-mile Station fire zone, where authorities cited a serious threat of mud and debris flows."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2431445/posts

*
so much for the free-flow of ideas... in the liberal party of
toronto, anyway...

"Iggy shuts down the irrepressible Nickel Bagliardi."

*

Hah. Dear environmentalists be careful what you wish for.

CBC has the story up about the terrorists who were slapped on the wrists today. As always,comments are not allowed. Mustn't offend the supporters of those who would kill us.--http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/18/toronto-18-sentence.html-

CBC also has a story buried about the 'in and out' scandal that featured a news crew filming the execution of the search warrant. Anyone want to guess why this story was buried? ===http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/01/cpc-vs-elections-canada-okay-this-time-it-actually-is-a-sweeping-victory.html

Tories win court fight with Elections Canada over $1.2 million in campaign advertising

http://tinyurl.com/yzzzq6n

For some reason, the tinyurl in my previous post comes back as "Bad Request". This one should work.

http://tinyurl.com/yfaggg4

We get the Boston stations for our US feeds here on the right coast and for the last two nights there have been heavy rotation Scott Brown ads during 24.

Guess that 3 or 4 million he raised in the last week is being put to good use!

Al Gore's Weather (AGW "Warm Regards"): "Dear Friends", We are pleased to inform youall: It's O's fault.

>>> "There is simply not a critical mass of receptivity at this time for the kind of "Climate Summit" we have designed, which has emphasized an integral approach to climate change and the need for an “urgency coalition” to come together to take immediate and decisive action to resolve the climate crisis."

Here*, in an amazing few words is the confession:
The AGW liars lied.

>>> "*There is simply not a critical mass of receptivity".

"It should also be noted that civil society in Copenhagen was essentially as disorganized and incoherent as our governments."
...-

"STATE OF THE WORLD FORUM

2020 CLIMATE LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN

"Dear Friends,

I want to inform you that we have decided to postpone indefinitely the Washington conference Feb. 28 - Mar. 3. I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you. There is simply not a critical mass of receptivity at this time for the kind of "Climate Summit" we have designed, which has emphasized an integral approach to climate change and the need for an “urgency coalition” to come together to take immediate and decisive action to resolve the climate crisis

As disappointed as we are that the conference will not take place, the considered opinion of all our conference partners has been that this is simply not the right time to convene a major conference of this kind in the nation’s capitol. It would have virtually no impact on either the thinking or the agenda with which the U.S. Congress and the president are now engaged, such is the paralysis to which Washington has succumbed with regard to any action on global warming. In due course, this situation will no doubt change, probably induced by a sufficiently strong climate related catastrophe, but this is the stark reality we face at the moment. As a result, raising funds and registering sufficient numbers have been extremely challenging.

State of the World Forum will in time convene a Climate Summit in Washington but that time is not now. We need to put our energy elsewhere."

"*Warm Regards,
Jim Garrison
President
State of the World Forum"
http://www.worldforum.org/2009WashingtonDC.htm
...-

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/01/18/climategate-the-crutape-letters-now-online-at-amazon-com/#comments
(H/T Dave Wendt at WUWT)

I like that Anne-Sophie Mutter, but I just wish she'd speak up a bit...

O'tingle me ElmO.
...-

"“Oh my gosh”

A funereal atmosphere at MSNBC.

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

It ain’t over till it’s over. But assuming that Scott Brown wins, how did the Coakley machine get it so wrong? Why is it sometimes inadvisable, in the view of some of the talk show guests, to have special elections? A long-faced Chris Matthews believes that in retrospect “it was a perfect storm” for Coakley. The tamping down of expectations even over the health care bill is evident and the metaphors suggest themselves, but whether the right expression is “a death in the family” or “whistling past the graveyard” is open to debate.

Well, victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."

http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2010/01/18/oh-my-gosh/#comments