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how's this for a letter to the editor?

3w.eveningsun.com/ci_14293408

no wonder columbines happen every year in the lower 48.

just sharing a thought

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy..." - Alexander Fraser Tytler, Scottish lawyer and writer, 1770

Nervous about the prospect of a man-caused disaster cracking ruining your passenger flight over the Atlantic? Well, turns out a little knowledge could save your life. Here's an excerpt from the Popular Mechanics article How to Survive a 35,000-Foot Fall - Plane Crash Survival Guide:

"Water landings — if you must — require quick decision-making. Studies of bridge-jump survivors indicate that a feet-first, knife-like entry (aka 'the pencil') best optimizes your odds of resurfacing. The famed cliff divers of Acapulco, however, tend to assume a head-down position, with the fingers of each hand locked together, arms outstretched, protecting the head. Whichever you choose, first assume the free-fall position for as long as you can. Then, if a feet-first entry is inevitable, the most important piece of advice, for reasons both unmentionable and easily understood, is to clench your butt.

"No matter the surface, definitely don’t land on your head. In a 1977 'Study of Impact Tolerance Through Free-Fall Investigations,' researchers at the Highway Safety Research Institute found that...."

How CBS and Dan Rather Set Up Elian Gonzalez

http://bigjournalism.com/hfontova/2010/02/03/kenneth-what-is-the-frequency-how-cbs-and-dan-rather-set-up-elian-gonzalez/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BigJournalism+%28Big+Journalism%29&utm_content=Twitter

Just to dip briefly back into context, the Cowboys and the Red Army also do a mean version of "Sweet Home Alabama". No, seriously.

This is what happens when you mix Vodka and brown acid.

Re: Rock and Roll. To each his own!

Add wolverines to the list of things climate change is endangering / causing.

"Dr Brodie cannot be sure why wolverine numbers are falling, but he has his suspicions."

That there is some serious science... This should appear in the next IPCC report for sure eh...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8494000/8494397.stm

Here are the Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir, Sweet Home Alabama

It's real. It's rockin'. It's what I watch when I'm down.

God bless the power of vodka.

This Rock concert is just a "take off" or a joke or something, it's not for real ... right?

Waiting for the opposition to complain about losing their usual spring breaks in 3........2.........1.........

http://tinyurl.com/ygqmrmn

Larben, the Leningrad Cowboys were a fictional band created by a Finnish film director named Aki Kaurismaki, but the band members (actors) were actual Finnish punk musicians. After their film appearances they continued on as, er, musicians. Tonight's concert footage is for real, and yes, that IS the actual Red Army Choir.

Theodore Dalrymple spanks Ayn Rand

http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Ayn-Rand--engineer-of-souls-4385

It seems that Darrell Dexter, Premier of Nova Scotia, (anybody ever heard of this guy?) is being cornered for having a digital camera and two laptop computers in his personal possession, paid for by his employers, the taxpayers of NS.

Gladly he has promised to pay back the taxpayers for this "oversight".

Being from good-ol Saskatchewan I can recall our good buddy Roy Romanow prosecuting the hell out of Conservative MLA, Harold Martens and saddling him with a criminal record for having in his possession a worn-out virtually useless computer from his constituency office when he was voted out of office.

Gee - I wonder what will happen with Dexter. Any guesses?

I'm pretty sure I never imagined this during the long midnight watches at sea, back when I was in the US Navy in the late '80s. As the song says, "I think I like it!"

From the Columbia Journalism Review, "MIA on the IPCC" by Curtis Brainard:

"Almost two weeks ago, the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, 'broke' the story that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had made significant errors in its 2007 report on the impacts of global warming. (Indian journalist Pallava Bagla actually reported this story for the BBC back in December without creating much of a stir.)

(....)

"Unlike 'Climategate,' however, the so-called 'Glaciergate' affair has not received much attention in the American press; nor has subsequent criticism that the panel also overstated the link between global warming and a rise in monetary damages related to natural disasters."

Brainard quotes the Knight Science Journalism Tracker:

"US media largely have had little in recent days on the troubles at the UN’s climate-watching IPCC – an agency under siege peripherally due to the largely dismissed flap over emails, right in the cross hairs for its Himalaya glacier melt forecast screw-up, and potentially over suggestions of systematic exaggeration of global warming’s signature in specific storms, droughts, or other natural disasters.

"But the fracas continues making headlines in the UK, in Europe generally...and especially in India, home of the IPCC boss and host to those melting glaciers."

Manitoba Moose - I know little about her, not having read any of her books, but have heard her debates, in dribs and drabs. I admire her in certain ways, but have always wondered about her fear of religious faith; which is actually a very Jewish thing in my experience.

Theodore Dalrymple spanks Ayn Rand

http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Ayn-Rand--engineer-of-souls-4385

______________________________________

Not really. More like a diatribe of personal opinions and misrepresentations of her books.

That's not Theodore Dalrymple, Manitoba Moose, it's Anthony Daniels. I do think that it is an interesting read with some insight (I read it a few days ago), yet though the sovietism and Russian character analysis in the referenced essay are interesting, I suspect that the subject is a bit more complicated than that which The New Criterion likes to sell.

Last week the fabulous Ray Condo, and now this. How can it get any better?

Vitruvius: FYI - and I only found out recently - Anthony Daniels is the (a?) pen name of Theodore Dalrymple.

That being said, Manitoba Moose should have referred to the published name - Anthony Daniels in this case - to avoid any confusion.

Cool, EBD, thanks for that information;
sorry 'bout my error, Manitoba Moose.

Further to my comments on Atul Gawande in another thread yesterday:

He appeared on The Daily Show tonight. I didn't know he was a surgeon; I thought he was just a writer. He's written a new book "The Checklist" which shows that just by using a simple checklist before going into surgery ("Do we have enough of the patient's blood type handy?", "Which leg are we operating on?", "Does everybody know each others' name", etc.), there were massive decreases in death and complications. So simple, it's amazing.

I'm in the East, so you can catch on CTV in about 15 minutes (and he's the guest, so he shows up in the last 15 minutes of the show), and at regular times in the West. Probably available at the Comedy Network's site tomorrow.

When they say it really fast, it almost sounds reasonable. You have to pay an "air and tire tax" on new cars, in Alberta. I can understand a tire tax, to cover recycling, but why should we pay a tax on the air they put into it? Was that business manager just pulling my leg? Could I order a car with flat tires, and bring my own air? Have I lost all sense of reality?

There's some more on that here, KevinB. Never let it be said
that policies and procedures are necessarily always useless ;-)

colin from mission,BC,

I can't say I've enjoyed anything as much as reading all the libs over at the Globe with their panties in a knot. Whether or not - them losing their Mar. break is hilarious - since they made such a noise about their present time out.

Don't get mad just get even. One cool guy that PM is.

I think you have it backwards EBD, Theodore Dalrymple is a pen name used by Anthony Daniels.

I think the wiki page is worth a read, especially the Themes section. Not a lot to disagree with.

colin from mission BC - and dolly - that is awesome. Now, let's hear the CBC and others report on it!! No? Surprised?

[Quote]That there is some serious science... This should appear in the next IPCC report for sure eh...[/quote]Tim

The link you posted Re: Wolverine was so called science by "Brodie". He is funded by an AGW group

The David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program: seeks to develop future world leaders and entrepreneurs who are successful at linking conservation science and application. (off web Site)

At least they don't hide thier intent to lead the World.....UN/EU cross funding.. no doubt...

Aha! Thanks, HDS (12:17). I dnats corrected.

Re Colin's 10:37 link, I get a Telus page with all the lovely graphics but no text. Can someone tell me what it's about so I can Google it? Based on Dolly's comment it sounds like something from the G&M.

Thanks in advance.

EBD

"OTTAWA - Faced with mounting criticism over its decision to prorogue Parliament, the Conservative government is moving to cancel week-long breaks once MPs return to the Commons next month."

The Leningrad Cowboys toured the U.S. sometime in the 90's and Sweet Home Alabama with the Red Army Choir really is sweet. They do the tongue in cheek Spinal Tap thing as well as anyone.

Thanks a lot, Tim, I appreciate it.

That's brilliant. It's got the PM written all over it: "Where brilliant strategy and deadpan humour meet..."

Tim - you are responsible for a big smile on my face. "Where brilliant strategy and deadpan humour meet..." Great one liner, EBD.

Jema: regarding the CP report that the Conservative government, "faced with mounting criticism over its decision to prorogue Parliament...is moving to cancel week long breaks once MPs return to the Commons next month," here's the (mule) kicker:

"The decision, which needs unanimous approval by all parties...

Ah hoo hoo ha ha ha ha.....

Gotta love Stephen Harper.

Alright, so I've read Daniels's / Dalrymple's essay on Ayn Rand. I don't think he's delved into her philosophy enough to understand it to the point where he can give much intelligent criticism (although a couple of points are interesting). Some somewhat random comments:

- "she hardened her ideas into ideology"

An ideology is a consistent, contradiction-free view of the whole of existence. What's the problem with that?

- she was a "passionate hater of religion"

She said she was an an intransigent atheist, not a militant one, because "the opposition is too unworthy".

- she "entirely lacks the literary ability to convey anything admirable, or even minimally attractive, about her heroes"

Their admirable qualities seem to have been conveyed perfectly well to numerous people.

- "her classification [of humanity into heroes, creators, and geniuses on the one hand, and weaklings, parasites, and the feeble-minded on the other] does not provide a very strong rationale for the limited government and free market"

It's not supposed to. Her defense of capitalism is based on man's need for freedom. I too think, however, that she tended to unnecessarily disregard the notion that people can change their ways; personal characteristics (other than intelligence) are not set in stone.

- "Either the marketplace is not always the source and proper judge of value, or Roark deserves his failure"

The "marketplace" consists of millions of people making decisions on their own; it's not a single entity. It's true that a Franz Schubert can go unheard in his lifetime whereas numerous vapid pop stars of today get rich. But for the most part, the products that are useful are the ones that get rewarded.

Al Gore's Weather (AGW): Lookin' Pachy for ObaOmahaha.
...-

"Snowstorm Aims for Omaha, Indianapolis to New York City, Washington, D.C.

The mass of rain gathering over Texas is heading to the north and east, where most of the storm will fall in the form of heavy snow during the second half of the week into the first part of the weekend.

Have the snow shovels and the plows ready, as people from the Plains to the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic are the targets of this new big, bad boy.

The storm will hit the High Plains first through Thursday with moderate snow. From Thursday night into Friday, the snow will roll into the Ohio Valley. Friday into Saturday, snow will spread into the southern Great Lakes, the central Appalachians, the mid-Atlantic, and the Interstate-95 corridor.

Schools will close, plans will be foiled, and flights will be canceled. Some roads could close from the Virginias to Maryland, Delaware, northwestern North Carolina, southern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Motorists should be prepared for a slow go due to snow, slush, and icy spots.

Recall that much of this area was slammed by the Christmas week blizzard. However, other areas and cities will join in on the disruptions as well, from Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City and St. Louis to Indianapolis, Dayton and Pittsburgh.

(Excerpt) Read more at accuweather.com"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2444079/posts

IPCC-junk science crooks: Including Canadian sinophile Maurice Strong*, the UNabomber.
...-

"IPCC: International Pack of Climate Crooks

American Thinker ^ | February 04, 2010 | Marc Sheppard

Unquestionably the world’s final authority on the subject, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's findings and recommendations have formed the bedrock of literally every climate-related initiative worldwide for more than a decade. Likewise, virtually all such future endeavors -- be they Kyoto II, domestic cap-and-tax, or EPA carbon regulation, would inexorably be built upon the credibility of the same U.N. panel's "expert" counsel. But a glut of ongoing recent discoveries of systemic fraud has rocked that foundation, and the entire man-made global warming house of cards is now teetering on the verge of complete collapse.

Simply stated, we've been swindled. We've been set up as marks by a gang of opportunistic hucksters who have exploited the naïvely altruistic intentions of the environmental movement in an effort to control international energy consumption while redistributing global wealth and (in many cases) greedily lining their own pockets in the process.

[Snip ~ Excessive quote from material © American Thinker 2010 ~ Vitruvius]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2444063/posts
(*Mao Stlong, aka Canadian "Liberal leader" Boob Lae's Uncle Mo.)

Suspicious fire at Conservative MP Bob Dechert's riding office.

Just last week I videotaped Dechert speaking to Toronto's Coptic Christians and days earlier his office was the scene of a proproguing protest

How will the Socialist spin this?

Harper moves to cancel MP's break in March, April
ctv.ca W/vid by fife

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is moving to cancel 2 week-long breaks for MP's, A move seen as a bid to regain political ground lost by his decision to prorogue parliment....

red flag or run of the mill fear mongering?

3w.startribune.com/blogs/83350677.html

dp,

I asked the same question - Have I lost touch with reality? - when I paid $12 'recycling fee' for an LCD monitor lately.

I am paying now to Ontario government, so that a recycling company sends that monitor to China in some 6-7 years and they use its materials to build another thing. Brains anyone?

Here's one you Wont see on the nightly National News!

"Seat projections raise spectre of Liberal-NDP Coalition"
Globe & Mail feb 04/2010

**Maybe all the of backroom Anti-Poroguing talks between Liberals & NDP are just a guise, The coalition is Alive & Well, Can you say Deputy PM Jack Layton!!!

> red flag or run of the mill fear mongering?

curious_george,

Many things that you in the West think are impossible, actually are. It's just that you are not comfortable even thinking about that and are dismissing them as nonsense.

If you were told that government would explode nukes on the ground in the back country for an irrigation project that would later be abandoned, and never tell anyone - would you believe it? Probably not, but it did happen somewhere.

Al Gore's Weather (AGW): Ich bin Ein "storm front".

Al's Bored Game: Hide'n'seek AGW.
...-

"Hiddensee Helicopter Mission
Stranded Tourists Rescued from Ice-Bound Island

Military helicopters have transported dozens of tourists stranded on the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee to safety. The rescue mission also brought supplies to the 1,000 islanders.

Meanwhile storm front "Miriam" has been causing snowy chaos across Germany.

An ice-bound island in the Baltic Sea, isolated after Germany was hit by freezing weather, has been the focus of an extraordinary rescue mission.

Over 100 tourists had been left stranded on Hiddensee and islanders had been without supplies ever since the sea surrounding the idyllic island turned to ice late last week."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,675796,00.html

"That's not Theodore Dalrymple, Manitoba Moose, it's Anthony Daniels"

They are one and the same person.

Peer reviewed: Fakir facked himself with rigourlessness.
...-

"India to 'pull out of IPCC'

India has threatened to pull out of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and set up its on climate change body because it "cannot rely" on the group headed by its own Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr R K Pachauri.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi

Published: 3:47PM GMT 04 Feb 2010

The Indian government's move is a snub to both the IPCC and Dr Pachauri as he battles to defend his reputation following the revelation that his most recent climate change report included false claims that most of the Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035. Scientists believe it could take more than 300 years for the glaciers to disappear.

The body and its chairman have faced growing criticism ever since as questions have been raised on the credibility of their work and the rigour with which climate change claims are assessed.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2444277/posts

*
"Well, this is kind of awkward... I thought you said "blowfish".

*

Thanks for the link EBD which brought back memories from a long time ago. My father had a peculiar (in my opinion) fascination with the Red Army Chorus and I couldn't handle the music when I was a teenager as I found it uniformly depressing. While he was playing the Red Army Chorus LP's I couldn't play my Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd albums. OTOH I really like what the Lenigrad Cowboys have done. I haven't thought about the Red Army Chorus for over 40 years and I still find their usual pieces as depressing as when I last heard them decades ago.