I had a very long day in the sun, won a few ribbons, and have an early morning ahead. So, this is all you get for a while from me.
And no, I’m not interested in Carol Skelton’s or anyone else’s seat. But thanks for the thought.
And we’ll miss you Carol!
The following is a media piece, not a learned essay; with that proviso I can now report that apparently there is some decent new evidence to the effect that – wait for it – stars produce organic molecules.
The chemistry of space grows more complex
by Robert C. Cowen, 2007-08-02
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0802/p16s01-stgn.html?s=u5
To the degree that this is correct, the old lightening in an aquarium of primordal soup experiment may be out the window. We may have to adjust our models of the metaphysics of the origin of life. Of course, if things like this didn’t happen, epistemology would be much less interesting 😉
N.S. town council votes against raising pride flag:
3w.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070803/against_pride_flag_080803/20070803?hub=TopStories
Pride is the gateway to hubris, the death of man.
This was a hacker conference!!! LOL
…-
Dateline NBC ‘mole’ outed, booted at Defcon 15 (Dinosaur Media™ Humiliation)
In a story of betrayal worthy of an episode of Dateline NBC, undercover producer Michelle Madigan was exposed and forced out of the conference on Friday.
Dateline_mole Dateline NBC Producer Michelle Madigan was publicly outed at the Defcon security conference in Las Vegas Friday after show organizers were tipped off that she was trying to film show attendees with a hidden camera.
…
Madigan ran from the show after organizers publicly threatened to escort her from the event at the beginning of a 4 p.m. conference session by noted hacker HD Moore. “She literally kicked the door open,” said “Priest,” a show official who declined to be identified. “She made the mistake of running. Had she taken it like an adult, she would have been treated with kid gloves, treated with respect.”
…
The Dateline NBC producer continued out to a nearby parking lot, surrounded by a small crowd of show attendees and media, talking briefly on her mobile phone and not saying anything to the gathering crowd.
…
Show organizers had been warning attendees all day of Madigan’s presence and had repeatedly asked her if she would register as press, Priest said.[…]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCvmkxO5hoQ
“If you’d like to wear a press badge, you’re welcome back. Otherwise please go home.”
…-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1876214/posts
Another mole. In Montreal. Mobster$$$$$? In brown envelopes?
…-
RCMP nab alleged mole
Longtime Mountie employee charged with selling police secrets to Montreal mobsters
MONTREAL — An RCMP expert in electronic surveillance has been arrested in Montreal and charged with selling police secrets to organized crime, Sun Media has learned.
Angelo Cecere,…-
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/08/04/4393179-sun.html
I wonder if this guy complained that the Canadian Tire guy made all me look like annoying retarded neighbours that liked to buy crappy merchandise and show it off to the neighbourhood?
3w.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=ebdc324d-f08d-487d-b009-397ffdef085d
Has anyone else noted the absolute hatchet job that turd Craig Oliver has running on CTV against Harper, bemoaning the fact that Harper didn’t kiss up to Danny Williams before checking out storm damage in NFLD? This absolutely crosses the line between “reporting” and “spinning”. He needs to tuck his LIEberal party membership card a little deeper into his pocket; it’s too easy to see.
The real red flag on Bre-X
None of the columnists writing on Bre-X have picked up on a red flag that contributed to the fiasco. The Ontario Securities Commission and the judge may have missed it, too.
Every government that allows exploration for minerals should ensure representative portions (often vertical slices) of drill cores from the exploration are properly boxed at the drill site, transported to a public facility and stored in such a manner that, after the expiry of a confidential period, they may be examined by anybody. During the confidential period, with the permission of the exploration company, they should be capable of being examined by parties interested in buying in to the project. To ensure transparency, government geologists should have ready access to drilling operations and core in the field and in the storage facility…
canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.html?id=27c49e3c-c6b1-4726-bfd7-d11bd40b8e7e
Ok, what I have been saying for over 2 months is now official. Approx 30 % of Ontario’s ciggy biz is going to criminals. 50% or more in eastern Ontario. It is the true reason for all of the bluster from the producers of this product. Shut down our factories, and see what that will get you. Well, enough is enough.
Let me lay this out so that even a leftard can understand it:
1. The product is pure poison. It is the poor and the young who are consuming the product.
2. The product is being distributed mainly by criminals. Said youth is now coming into contact with criminals who also sell crack, meth, etc.
3. There are no controls, regulations, enforcement or taxation on this product.
As this is a provincial matter, and with an election on the horizon, somebody has to politicize this issue. Chimpy Mcliar and his merry band of pseudo socialists at Queen’s Park have let this matter fester out of control. It is time for both levels of government to drop the price of a lage pack of smokes to under $5.00. As well, time to crack down on the criminals. If action is not taken soon, the health care costs alone will be staggering. As the father of 3 children, it enrages me that the provincial government has allowed a situation like this, which puts an unacceptable number of our youth at risk, to run amok in Ontario. It may not be PC taking on the natives, but for f#$% sakes, enough is enough!
Hey Mommie! 18th child born and more to come.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/03/17.kids.ap/index.html
Poster family for Family Planning.
All of Jennifer’s siblings also have names that start with J. They are: Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2
Gadzooks! Can you imagine what it must be when Mom’s yelling for you? Pick a name…
…sorry should be 17th child. I’m so excited I’ve already counting the next one…
In other news…
ZIT City. Radioactive Boy Scout with smoke detectors. Dirty bomb coming to your neighbourhood.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292111,00.html
DETROIT — A man who became the subject of a book called “The Radioactive Boy Scout” after trying to build a nuclear reactor in a shed as a teenager has been charged with stealing 16 smoke detectors. Police say it was a possible effort to experiment with radioactive materials.
Vitruvius: Talking about the origin of life is more interesting when mixed with other organic molecules.
Best,
John
This suggest, vitruvius, the sensible and logical conclusion that the origin of life isn’t accidental, isn’t deistic or theistic (and zeus, after all, sometimes appears as a lightning bolt), but is a self-organized and natural evolution of complexity.
SENATE POISED TO ALLOW THE UN TO TAX SEAS AND SEA BED
http://www.jbs.org/node/4944
“” It’s not surprising that the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) would support the Law of the Sea Treaty. After all, the CFR has always believed that promoting world government is a good idea.
(…)
Back in the 1970s, the United Nations launched its plan for a global program of taxation. The objective was the transfer of wealth and technology from the developed world to the Third World, under the direction of the UN. A cornerstone of this international wealth transfer scheme was the so-called “Law of the Sea Treaty” (LOST).
(…)
LOST would give the UN power to tax businesses that wanted to develop the oceans’ resources, which has been a long-time dream of the global government enthusiasts. LOST also would establish an international court system to enforce its provisions and rulings.
The treaty attempts to conceal the power to levy international taxes by labeling the taxes with such euphemisms as “assessments,” “fees,” “permits,” “payments,” or “contributions.””
GENTES/CHRC WITHDRAW “HATE” COMPLAINT AGAINST FREE DOMINION
http://tinyurl.com/3cmgqn
” It is said that the best victory is in the battle you don’t have to fight. This show of strength by people from across Canada – and from beyond our borders – has stopped this battle before it had to be fought. Because all things with the CHRC are political, either Ms. Gentes or the Commission, or both, have decided that an attack at this time on Free Dominion is a political bridge too far.
We have all won an important battle here today and we should take what we can from the lessons we have learned.
These above-the-law organizations are not omnipotent.
The glaring light of public exposure is toxic to these groups.
The internet gives people a means of defense because it can be used as a source of light. ”
Here’s a part of today’s article (I couldn’t get a link) by the estimable Rory Leishman, also the author of the book, Against Judicial Activism, a pithy critique of the Charter and judge made law–arbitrary power grabbing–in Canada.
The London Free Press
Saturday, August 4, 2007
By Rory Leishman
“Compared to the people of the United States, we Canadians are far more generous in supporting the poor, the sick, the needy and other worthy causes, right?
“Actually, that assumption is completely false. In a recent study of generosity in Canada and the United States, the Fraser Institute found that charitable donations amount to 1.67 per cent of aggregate income in the United States as compared to just 0.72 per cent in Canada.
“This is not to suggest that Canadians are unusually stingy. In Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, reports that the people of the United States also give more than twice as much of their income to charity as the British and Dutch, almost three times as much as the French, more than five times as much as the Germans, and more than 10 times as much as the Italians . . .
“Why is that? Why are the peoples of Canada and Western Europe so much less generous than the people of the United States? . . .
“One prime factor is the extraordinarily high percentage of committed Christians in the United States . . .
“Brooks has found that there is a strong and specific correlation between religious faith and support for charity . . .
“Moreover, religious Americans do not just give to their churches: They are also significantly more likely than secular Americans to donate money and time to non-religious charities such as the United Way . . .
“Brooks persuasively argues that the combination of relatively small government and high rates of charitable givings has contributed to the extraordinary economic prosperity and relatively high living standards for all income classes in the United States . . .
“Canadians might well meditate upon Brooks’ findings: Perhaps, with more religious conviction and less reliance on big government, we, too, might also become more generous, more prosperous and less reliant on massive levels of immigration to sustain the population.”
In relation to the thesis of this article, a question to keep in mind is, “Could the fact that God has been banned from our schools, while the doors have been flung wide open to ‘equality’–read, favouritism for only certain ideas and groups–extreme rights (selfishness), gay pride, explicit sex ed. etc., have anything to do with the fact that the schools are unleashing a toxic flood of non-citizens far more damaging to the fabric of society than Hurricane Katrina?”
“LA GRITA, VENEZUELA — Aboard the presidential jet, a grinning Hugo Chavez put a hand on Sean Penn’s shoulder, praised his acting and added ‘And he’s anti-Bush!’
“The Venezuelan president reveled in his role as host to the Hollywood star as they flew across the country Friday and traveled through the countryside in a military jeep with Cheavez at the wheel, stopping to greet cheering supporters.
“While Chavez made a speech…Penn stood at a distance alongside the audience, occasionally jotting down notes. He spoke only when Chavez asked the actor to say a few words.
“‘I came here looking for a great country. I found a great country,’ Penn told the crowd.”
http://forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/04/as3987558.html
Sometimes I don’t know why I do it but I saw an article today on National Newswatch’s site that started with “Handguns are effectively banned in Canada, the federal government insists. Yet there are 582,000 of them in existence and legally registered…”. Quel surprise! It was the Toronto (Red) Star. It looks like Ontario’s Lieberals are trying to milk the gun control thing again for the election. Doesn’t matter that a legal registered hand gun owner has to jump through hoops just to own and heaven forbid, shoot the damn thing; it it takes just one more gun off the streets the world will be safer, or so they preach.
Kingstonlad had interesting figures on illegal smokes. Perhaps they should ban cigarettes and handguns outright. (Although, working in the cancer field, I must admit that cigs have no “safe” use)
I wonder how many weapons I’ll be bringing back when I return to Canada if the government bans them? Probably more than if big brother kept his cakehole shut about it. We all know how prohibition turned out.
I knew Penn was a drug addled idiot, but I did not think he was that stupid. A great country? With armed guards on the beaches? With massive poverty?
With no infrastructure? Compared to what country? Cuba? Zimbabwe? Is this the model that moonbats/dippers aspire to? Sean Penn is a idiot!
lookout – I’m not sure if it’s the religious aspect that prompts Americans to be extremely generous.
I wonder if it’s their basic ideology, a basic axiom with which they began their nation and have continued with – the axiom of individual freedom and individual enterprise.
Americans, unlike Canadians, don’t expect Big Brother, the gov’t, to take all the initiatives, come up with all the ideas, take all actions, take all responsibility. Americans consider that all of these actions originate in and rest within, the individual. So- they, as individuals, give to those in need. They don’t, unlike Canadians, expect the gov’t to do it all.
And this rejection of individual freedom and enterprise also shows in Canada’s abysmal research and innovation record, in our lack of industrial enterprise, in our reliance on others, such as the US and the UN – to do everything for us.
Hopefully, under Harper, we can get this socialist mindset changed, but it’s not easy changing the ideology of a generation brainwashed by socialism.
Straight talk from a Quebec Van Doo;
[Sgt. Steve Dufour said people are entitled to their opinion but believes the Canadian mission is not understood and is often misinterpreted.
“I spoke to one student who was against the mission,” he said. “I told her ‘In Canada, does anyone prevent you from going to school and getting an education?’ Well, that’s what it’s like here (in Afghanistan).”]
” not understood and is often misinterpreted.”
Could the Canadian media be resposible for that ?? Liable ??
ET, I agree with you on the ideology of the Americans. Since I’ve been down here I have seen millions donated to many causes. However I cannot recall hearing about any Canadian citizen giving $35 million for a research center to a hospital, for an example. Hurricane Katrina relief efforts saw an overwhelming amount of giving. Yes, it is a different attitude here but it was once almost that way in Canada.
ET, I agree with you on the ideology of the Americans. Since I’ve been down here I have seen millions donated to many causes. However I cannot recall hearing about any Canadian citizen giving $35 million for a research center to a hospital, for an example. Hurricane Katrina relief efforts saw an overwhelming amount of giving. Yes, it is a different attitude here but it was once almost that way in Canada.
ET, I agree with you on the ideology of the Americans. Since I’ve been down here I have seen millions donated to many causes. However I cannot recall hearing about any Canadian citizen giving $35 million for a research center to a hospital, for an example. Hurricane Katrina relief efforts saw an overwhelming amount of giving. Yes, it is a different attitude here but it was once almost that way in Canada.
ET, thanks for your response. I agree with some of it.
However, how you can posit, “I’m not sure if it’s the religious aspect that prompts Americans to be extremely generous” is somewhat beyond me.
You wonder “if [rather than Christianity] it’s their basic ideology, a basic axiom with which they began their nation and have continued with – the axiom of individual freedom and individual enterprise” that prompts them to be so much more generous with private contributions than any other nation on earth.
You then conveniently overlook the fact that there is a subset of Americans, who also share in “[this] basic ideology”, but don’t follow through. And what do these less altruistic Americans seem to have in common? They aren’t Christian and don’t go to church.
How does your obfuscation line up with the FACTS that clearly show that it is definitively CHRISTIANS, in the most overtly Christian nation in the world, who are doing the largest part of altruistic giving, not only at home, but throughout the world? (Think of the prompt American response—vs the abysmal one of socialist Canada and the UN—after the tsunami in Asia, just one of countless examples.)
ET, please don’t try to spin the facts. I’m not quite sure where your antipathy and difficulty giving credit where credit’s due to both Christianity—BTW, this IS “[America’s] basic ideology, a basic axiom with which they began their nation”—and Christians comes from. But, it betrays a very unattractive double standard re honouring the facts of the matter to which, otherwise, you seem commendably committed.
And, with Christianity effectively banned from the public square in this country to make room for rampant secularism (a totalitarian creed responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths in the 20th century), what of the appalling lack of altruism—what’s THAT?—now seen among our young people? I’d be interested in your ideas re the question I asked.
Texas Canuck, I think that paragraphs 5 and 7 of my latest post provide at least two reasons for the vast disparity between the levels of Canadian and American altruism.
And, I agree, things–before we became a secular, socialist country–used to be very different.
This is the best reader tip I have ever read. Without a stretch at all, the best analysis I have seen in the last 40 years. It needs repeating — and forwarding, especially to those orgs, individuals that do not allow comments !!
[“And you think bloggers, sitting in their basements, with no education, no training as researchers, no money and no expertise are going to give you factual answers to those questions?”
Posted by: Mark Bourrie
Mark – I posted a quote that gave you an explicit example of the information firehose that is available to media, if they only would turn on the valve.
It’s a template developed and proven effective by bloggers – and somehow you still didn’t notice it before you wrote.
In other words, “It’s the readers, stupid.” Bloggers give their audience a voice. They open their pages to instant correction, revision, context, opinion, experience, eyewitness reports and technical expertise.
The audience has always had at their disposal knowledge, information and experience that outstrips the resources of the best funded MSM outlet by several orders of magnitude. Until the internet came along, the ability of that information to poke above the filter was minimal – if you were lucky, a heavily edited letter to the editor might appear. Or a small correction placed deep in the back pages.
Today, that’s no longer the case, and it’s one reason for the collapse of circulation. The people who once read a story and noted glaring errors of fact are now comparing notes with thousands of others, and coming to some pretty basic conclusions: the industry is deeply flawed. It is not a reliable source of information and often willfully devoid of context.
Until mainstream news realizes what has happened and makes the changes necessary to improve the quality of their product, more people will simply drift away and rely less and less on traditional reporting for their information. That’s neither better or worse. It’s a consequence of industry malpractice.
Posted by: Kate at August 2, 2007 12:21 PM]
Organic chemicals being generated in stars… WOW.
Funny thing that – in all the experiments I have ever done I have always come to the conclusion. life is more than a bunch of amino acids bumping together.
There is still that strange thing I call the life force that for the life of me I can not bring back into a dead plant, animal or human.
However I have met Someone Who not only raised the dead but was Himself raised from the dead. But then He is only the Author of Life so I guess I will have to content myself with organic soups and lightning bolts and try to figure out why Americans give more than Canadians.
sigh
Apparently its Ok to breach patient confidentiality and the National Defense Act, for personal gain:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070804.wafghan04/BNStory/National/home
G&M also off base for printing excerpts of final moments of soldier accidently (negligently) shot in chest by fellow soldier, who has since been punished.
Comments mostly criticized this “doctor’s” conduct. One moonbat insisted, with zero evidence, that family consented to gory details written by this idiot. He should be fully prosecuted under NDA, which he is subject to as civilian contractor, and should face sanctions from his provincial medical association. I hope they pull the p***k’s medical license. He was there to help people, not hurt the families or make money for his books.
Some people have no ethics or common sense whatsoever.
The media will always be on the look out for conflict, as that is what sells. Sandra Buckler is no fool, and she knows that the media won’t cut the Tories any slack, just because she cedes to their demands for greater access.
The Liberals seem to think otherwise.
“The Grits also took great delight in sending reporters the schedule for their national caucus retreat that is to take place in Newfoundland at the end of the month. The communications staff made sure to mention that their MPs and senators will mingle freely with the media, and get this: media can even go whale watching with the leader, Stéphane Dion.”
Let’s see how that plays out.
Jim Travers asks where are the Tory policies? You know, the Tories, the government, that has passed more legislation in their short government, than Chretien did in entire mandate.
Hey, Jim, where are the Liberal policies? This guy is a pathetic hypocrite.
Get over it Travers, Giggles and Oliver. Backpackman will not be winning election, period. The Liberal B-team is in, and consulting with strategists of losing leadership candidates (how they lost to this dweeb is right up there with Dubya winning his second term) will not change that, IMO.
Do you think this gang wouldn’t force an election if they thought they could win? Polls between elections tell us nothing. Heck, all but one pollster (SES) wasn’t even close in last election, during an actual campaign.
Sorry, opinion-making push polls aren’t going to get backpackman elected. If Liberals disagree, they should go for and try to force election (good luck, though getting Taliban Jack and Flipper Duceppe to go along with the plan).
TV ad about ‘lazy’ men banned after complaint
Suzanne Wilton and Chris Cobb, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, August 04, 2007
A single dad in Calgary has succeeded in a complaint against home renovation giant Rona about a TV ad for the retailer he said portrayed men as “knuckle-dragging neanderthals.”
After reviewing Peter Regan’s complaint, a panel of industry experts agreed that the commercial was disparaging to men. Advertising Standards Canada has asked Rona to permanently withdraw the ad.
Full story here
http://tinyurl.com/2q9jc2
If Travers, aka Travesty, Giggles and carrot top Oliver, well former carrot top Oliver, are the best CTV has to offer up as political reportage they’re in deep ruin.
To think the boneheads can even contemplate the Liberals and Dink Dion could govern is all the proof we need of their BLIND partisanship and their hopeless agenda. For gods sake, do they not care about their country?
more from Canadas Openly Liberal National news media –
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/08/04/smitherman.html
even a wedding announcement becomes a swipe at the CPC.
CBCpravda , All Liberal All the Time
I will not miss Carol. She lied to her constituents about the equalization deal for Sask. Even worse she didn’t have the backbone to stand up to PM Harper or Finance minister Flaherty. Carol received her cabinet post and just kept smiling. This is the sign of a person willing to sacrifice her beliefs and morals for a job. We in Sask. will all remember Carol and the Conservatives on this billion dollar promise and screw job for years to come.
[The delta over 100 years is just under 0.7 deg C.]
BINGO !! The science IS settled !!
The 0.7 degree celsius rise over the last century is explained, without a doubt — by the thermometer. Man’s thermometer.
http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=1859#comments
Doesn’t matter that a legal registered hand gun owner has to jump through hoops just to own and heaven forbid, shoot the damn thing
Just what ARE the hoops these days? I recall a long wait, background check and signed forms from two people certifying that the applicant is “not dangerous”. Maybe it’s worse now.
The frivolous charge against “Free Dominion” blog has been withdrawn by the complainant.
And rightly so.
The outrage from across the blogosphere in Canada as well as the USA may well have been the cause of the re-think.
Public outrage that never could nor would have surfaced in MSM.
Chalk one up for the internet blogs.
On another issue, sadly we have a long way to go in order to get conservatism a voice capable of having political influence in Canada.
MSM continues to be hardwired leftist from the core corporate ownership trundled by hordes of “progressive” typists toiling as objective journalists.
Reading Kate’s post declining to enter politics makes eminent sense from my very humble view.
However while SDA is a beacon to the world in Canadian conservative blogging, hopefully Kate might parlay the success of SDA into Radio or better yet a National TV opportunity.
There is a hunger in this country for that conservative voice and particularly a woman’s conservative voice to counter Giggles Taber, Lisa Laflamme, Kate Wheeler, Heather Hicox , Paula Todd, and Judy Rebick et al of MSM.
But is there a leftist corporate MSM outlet in Canada willing to break that ground?
Perhaps Rupert Murdoch may see an opportunity in Canada like he did with Fox Cable in the USA.
One can only hope.
Now Kate, what say you to that?
http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2199193.ece
Islamic infiltration of online worlds?
They’re everywhere!!!!!
Sigh.
theres a bunch on the next block, all deaf, except the kid, bought a fix-er-upper and… fixed it up.
at the present moment one of them is in the backyard with a jackhammer taking out a buried piece of concrete.
its TEN OCLOCK AT NIGHT local time.
theyre all deaf. except the kid. who has no say in the matter.
some people got no consideration.
regarding the different charitable propensity on either side of the 49th, maybe we dont have as much grinding poverty and wealth disparity necessitating the difference.
I dont have stats on this and since Im not an advocate on either side of the issue cant be bothered.
The Flugtag –Vast Right Wing Conspiracy –
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flugtag+vast&search=Search
http://www.redbullflugtagusa.com/Texas2007/event_teams.aspx?id=46&
the only team from Canada .
these guys driving around Calgary with their trailer and http://www.smalldeadanimals.com advertised on the side.
Carol who??? What did she or the other excess bagage that was elected do?? Refresh my memory!!!