Electricity too cheap to meter coming soon? Maybe...

Scifi buffs will recall the Bussard ramjet. Well, Dr. Bussard is still alive and making stuff.

powerandcontrol.blogspot.com has a posting I spotted thanks to a related link from C.J.G.

//powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2007/08/bussard-reactor-funded.html

Scuttlebutt has it that Dr. Bussard just got his full-sized fusion reactor funded by the US Navy. If this is true, and IF the thing works as advertised, electricity will be really frickin' cheap.

Note that you read this on a Conservative web site. Greenies are not interested in clean, plentiful energy. They are interested in -less- energy.

"Rural US residents don't have the same kind of access to broadband services as those who live in urban or suburban areas. According to the federal government, just 17% of rural U.S. households subscribe to broadband service.

But the problem is more than a conflict between Wall Street and small-town residents wanting to surf the 'Net or play Warcraft — the lack of broadband access prevents many businesses from growing and diversifying rural economies, as it's expensive or impossible to get broadband. From the article:

'Soon after moving to Gilsum, N.H. (population 811), [Kim] Rossey learned that he couldn't get broadband to support his Web programming business, TooCoolWebs. DSL wasn't available, and the local cable service provider wasn't interested in extending the cabling for its broadband service the three-tenths of a mile required to reach Rossey's house — even if he paid the full $7,000 cost. Rossey ended up signing a two-year, $450-per-month contract for a T1 line that delivers 1.44Mbit/sec. of bandwidth. He pays 10 times more than the cable provider would have charged and receives one quarter of the bandwidth.' The author also notes that larger businesses are being crimped, from a national call center to a national retailer which claims 17% of its store locations can't get broadband."

http://slashdot.org/articles/07/08/28/1318225.shtml

In all honesty Andrew that article makes no sense. You'd think an online publication that purports to be "News for Nerds" would know about 2 way high speed satellite internet for only $49.95 per month
virtually everywhere in the contiguous United States.

But what do I know. We've only been using this technology in our northern oil and gas construction sites for at least the last 5 years now.

From a Terrorist Forum: Al Qaeda Strategy in Iraq Is Destroyed, What Can We Do? (We= Terrorists)
August 28 2007 | jveritas

Below is a translated thread posted for discussion on a terrorist forum 3 days ago where an Al Qaeda sympathizer said that the "Islamic State in Iraq" which is led by Al Qaeda has been defeated in the provinces of Anbar and Diyala, and that they were only left with one last bastion which is the city and province of Mosul. He said that Al Qaeda old strategy was defeated and that they are now on the run, and that they must come up with a new strategy.

Beginning of the translation:
[...]
My Brothers I will leave this subject in your hand for constructive discussions and here it is:

Where is the Islamic State in Iraq heading after they left Anbar, after they left Diyala, after many Iraqis gathered around what is called the Alliance of the Tribes, and after the formation of the secret police. They (***Al Qaeda terrorists) left these areas and they are heading toward Mosul which is their last bastion. I swear to allah that they are our brothers (***Al Qaeda terrorists) and they are pieces of our own hearts but I plead with them to put a new strategy because their old strategy was destroyed and it had so many mistakes. Are they now in a state of Fleeing after they were in a state of offense? In this case it is not good news and allah help us. ...-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887690/posts

WiMax. Lease a few T1 lines and wire the whole town while you're at it. One antenna, 10 mile radius.

What's your point Andrew?

If you want to move to the boonies and expect to have all the services you get downtown in Metropolis you're deluded.
If you expect to run a business that requires these services and don't do your homework beforehand your a loser.

I was wondering about that too, Reid, since I know a similar service is available here in Canada. The reviews of this not-exactly-household-name company are mixed, see:

http://www.epinions.com/msg/show_~threads/cat_id_~9/id_~4917/forum_id_~172

One slashdot reader writes:

"Rural folks can get a quasi-Broadband connection from Satellite Internet providers, assuming they can get a shot to the south (and if you're rural enough to not get broadband, you're probably rural enough you can get a satellite to the south...).

But it's expensive ($80 or more a month), slow (I had it for 2 years, best DL speed I ever got was only 5 times faster than a 28.8 modem), unstable (hard rain = No internet), unsupported (well...okay, they have people on the other end of the line, but they aren't very good, and they can't fix your problem), and high latency (1500 ms ping is quick. VPN doesn't work, and forget about gaming)."

...which of course begs the question if rural broadband is so good and so available why do only 17% of rural Americans have it?

Steven Truscott has had his 1959 murder conviction overturned.

I was pretty young in 59 but still recall that there was much controversy in this case.

As it stands now Truscott is no longer a convicted murderer but is not declared innocent.

As I recall the fact that there were NO other suspects played a great part in his arrest and conviction. This was always portrayed as being evidence of police incompetence or wrongdoing however there has never been any proof of this allegation. This acquittal comes from more recent allegations that the original coroners report may have been inaccurate and that there were undisclosed witness report that cast doubt on the investigation.
These suspected questionable accounts were in fact investigated and eliminated at the time so all this really means is that because the coroner's scientific analysis may have a greater margin of error than originally thought then the whole case is inconclusive.

So Truscott and his case remain a thorny question in the records of Canadian justice.

It may well be that he was just a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time and that a brutal rapist and murderer got away.Or NOT!

What is the Conservative Party thinking if they intend to supplant the elected MP of Skeena-Bulkley Valley with an unelected person who has "direct representation to the government"
The story can be found at

http://www.terracedaily.ca/cgi-bin/show_sitemap_article.cgi?ID=954

"Dick Harris MP for Cariboo-Prince George has named Houston Mayor and Conservative candidate Sharon Smith as the person that residents of Skeena-Bulkley Valley can contact when they have concerns or issues with the federal government.

Harris said, “As Chairman of the BC Caucus of Conservative MPs, I am pleased that Sharon has accepted this role, and I know the constituents of Skeena-Bulkley Valley will derive a huge benefit from having direct contact with government, something that they have not had since 2004."

Skeena-Bulkley Valley has an MP by the name of Nathan Cullen.
I sure hope there is a good explanation because on the face of it this is totally unacceptable.
Democratic representation under our current party system is already compromised without setting up to bypass the elected official altogether.

Doug: Go back to garth.ca

Mao is pushing the pedals of a green CCM. Find Comrade Icon Mo Stlong. (Hint: He's wearing a red helmet; a gift from Power Corp, his nephew, Boob, and Citoyen Dion.) Watch yer tongues.
...-

China’s police launch virtual web patrols
BEIJING (AP) — Police in China’s capital said Tuesday they will start patrolling the web using animated beat officers that pop up on a user’s browser and walk, bike or drive across the screen warning them to stay away from illegal Internet content. ...-
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2007/08/28/4452423-ap.html

Speaking of the Mini-garth,how come no updates on the big Lib-a-palooza in Nfld on his site?Anyone else notice the msm has had next to nothing on about this? Could it be,there is just nothing there,but empty suits,empty rhetoric,and oh yeah..Danny Williams.I guess the Lib.party is a no news story!

Oh,sorry,spoke too soon..His Paleness (Dion) just on 30 sec.blurb on ctv..telling the media,he will be with Nfld,'for the long hole"..? think he meant haul,but not sure.

Reid
My question has nothing to do with that doofus.
Try to think about the implications. If it makes it easier for you imagine it was the Liberals under Martin doing this in a riding held by a Conservative.

Animal rights activists continue to target Dalhousie with facebook !
Like the KosKids activists of the juvenile and animal rights sort like to use new media to make their point. Such as it is!

Like posting activist messages on a public bulletin board in the old days .... only having wide spread access. Of course there are the electronic finger prints to identify the slanderers and makers of threats.
Still the monitor at Facebook needs to get his act together before they get their legal just deserts.

So called broken promises seem to get great headlines, if they concern conservatives.
The broken promises of terrorists are ignored. Thankfully, the korean hostages will be released.
Let us pray that these terrorists break all their other promises to kill us infidels.

*
-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. led and Afghan troops battled
suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan on
Tuesday in ground clashes and air strikes that left more than
100 militants dead, the coalition said.

Not too sure when Layton will be giving the "presser".

He's still a little teary-eyed.

*

If you're interested, former astronaut Lisa Nowak plans to go with an insanity defense at her trial: "Defence lawyer Donald Lykkebak has said in papers filed with a Florida court that Nowak suffered from major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia and 'brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors.'..."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070828/nowak_insanitydefence_070828/20070828?hub=TopStories

Those Flower Princes of Peace, Citoyen Dion/Hezbollah Coderre/Taliban Jack, et al, recommend you Follow The Shining Path of Socialism: destinations include: Havana, Pyongyang, Moscow, Beijung, Regina, Windsor, TO.
Peace! they yell. Peace! in our time; but, there is no peace above ground. The only peace in Socialism is the eternal peace of the grave.
...-

"The recipes for peace that flow from such thinking seem designed not only to buttress oppression but to create more of it. For if democracies consistently followed the Peace Racket’s recommendations, what they’d eventually reap would be the kind of peace found today in Havana or Pyongyang."
...-

The Peace Racket
Bruce Bawer

An anti-Western movement touts dictators, advocates appeasement—and gains momentum.

If you want peace, prepare for war.” Thus counseled Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus over 1,600 years ago. Nine centuries before that, Sun Tzu offered essentially the same advice, and it’s to him that Vegetius’s line is attributed at the beginning of a film that I saw recently at Oslo’s Nobel Peace Center. Yet the film cites this ancient wisdom only to reject it. After serving up a perverse potted history of the cold war, the thrust of which is that the peace movement brought down the Berlin Wall, the movie ends with words that turn Vegetius’s insight on its head: “If you want peace, prepare for peace.” ...-
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_peace_racket.html

Tarred, feathered and tied to a lamppost: Justice for a drug dealer on the streets of Ulster

Tied to a lamppost, he stands with his head and upper body covered in tar and feathers. A makeshift placard hung around his neck with a piece of string announces the reason for his treatment.

"IM A DRUG DEALING SCUMBAG"
...-

Daily Mail/MSM is not impressed with citizen justice. In fact, the Daily Mail/MSM calls this "the crude face of justice on the streets of south Belfast." Even gets an Aunty-American jibe into the report:
" The punishment is probably best known, however, from its widespread use in America during the War of Independence in the 1770s, when it was used to punish those accused of loyalty to the British colonial power.
The victim was usually paraded around the streets in a cart as a warning to other would-be traitors."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887938/posts
Pics included.
More crude, please.
...-

Ah. Speaking of Garth look at me I'm smarter than everybody Turner:

I just received addressed mail to my home with no stamp in a Garth Turner House of Commons envelope with the flyer for his Liberals Good/Harper/Flaherty Evil Lost Tory Tour (coming to Edmonton Sept. 11th - how weird is that) propaganda.

My question: How in heaven's name does a back bench opposition MP from Ontario get to use Canada Post for FREE to send partisan mail to a non-constituent's home in Edmonton?

Using House of Commons envelopes instead of Liberal by the way.

Smells funny to me. Does anybody know the rules?

lorraine - to my understanding the MPs get free postage rights - regardless of where it's sent. Equally, if your write to an MP - it's free postage. As long as the letters 'MP' appear - it's free.

Garth Turner, therefore, has the taxpayers pay for his propaganda.

Members of the Senate - those unelected patronage unaccountable dinasaurs - they get the same rights.

Lorraine:

You should post an image of that letter online. Then everyone can see what Garth means by "at no (additional) cost to taxpayers."

I guess to a Librano if it's an entitlement it's free and it's only lost money if you don't use your entitlements.

Convicted drug dealer is Afghanistan's anti-corruption czar:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2157248,00.html

No wonder opium production is up...nice to know that our military is supporting this.

Brian Tobin's son stabbed at teen dance party
... two young offenders were AWOL regarding probabtion.

While I feel for Tobin's son and family , I was disgusted with Global (Toronto) news tonight (28 Aug).

Typical MSM reporting mentioned that Canada's Young Offenders Act has not been corrected , and left the viewer with the impression that Harper is doing nothing , when in fact it is the Liberals and NDP who are stalling judicial reform.

Global also failed to note that Brian Tobin was part of the governing Liberals who have created the young offenders mess !

I wonder how Brian Tobin feels about things now that the result of this Liberal created mess has affected him ?

I see Iberia continues to be an ass............

In other news, Stalin, Mao, Pol pot and yes, our good friend Lavrenti Beria..are still dead..

now the sports..

Yes, I'm an ass because our country supports a criminal regime.

Damn those air-raiding American war-criminals!!!
Like the title says, accurately, "A MUST WATCH"...
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ab7_1188220098

Iberia,partially correct,you are an ass.

lberia's lacky alby39 is quick to support his comrade like the trained seal he is. Bravo, boys.

Why don't you dig up some links on the convicted heroin dealer who is running one of Canada's territories?

Why? Are our soldiers dying in order to keep him in power?

Here's a link to Bush's speech - it's pretty good - almost as good as the one from last week. The problem is is that MSM will only give snippets of what was said - just like the snippets concerning 'Nam in last weeks speech.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070828-2.html

Newfie Premier Snubs French Citizen.
French Citizen retreats; surrenders; cuts'n'runs; eats salty crowfish.

Read the bhjjdkft from the Slop-Pail: "aid and comfort" = cold salty brine.
...-

Newfoundland premier leaves Dion out on a limb

Federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's plan to deliver a joint blast at the Harper government with feisty Conservative Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams fizzled yesterday. MORE...-
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=5a401222-c60e-4378-8727-011e0d68f90d

Dion looks to Newfoundland for help

The Liberal vote is soft, the way forward is unclear, so this week Stéphane Dion has turned to Newfoundland Tory Premier Danny Williams for aid and comfort ...-
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070829.wliberals29/BNStory/National/home

the title alone of this article will make your head spin.

http://www.thelocal.se/8322/20070829/