(*But were afraid to ask)
Related: “It is not every 31-year-old who, in a first government job, finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism. But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.” (h’t Kathryn)
Ugh.

The Conference Board of Canada backs down, admits plagiarism. Great work by Michael Geist.

What the Conference Board does not mention in its defence (nor in the report) is that it actually commissioned a study on the copyright issues from an independent Canadian legal expert.

And then, deep-sixed it.
Previous.

Nice work by Michael Geist; – “The role of the Ontario government obviously raises questions about taxpayer dollars being used to pay for a report that simply recycles the language of a U.S. lobby group paper.”

Lots more at the link.
Update – When in a hole… ($15K? Remind me to up my rates for cut ‘n paste work.)

Is there nothing that Obama can’t do?

President Barack Obama’s new fuel and emission standards for cars and trucks will save billions of barrels of oil but are expected to cost consumers an extra $1,300 per vehicle by the time the plan is complete in 2016. Obama on Tuesday planned to announce the first-ever national emissions limits for vehicles, as well as require an overall or industry average fuel efficiency standard at 35.5 miles per gallon.

Because there’s no such thing as “too low” when you’re bringing the rest of America down to California standards.

“Really, to get an idea of how awful it is, you’d have to sit a dog on a ham slicer.”
h/t TimR

Via Darcey;

[Sandie] Rinaldo: So, you know, here we have Hamed Karzai in Washington talking about hopeful (sic) of peaceful future—how realistic is that given the threat of escalating attacks by the Taliban?
Hillier: Well, first of all I go back to the supposed threat of escalating attacks by the Taliban. It’s kind of interesting we have a report from a supposed Taliban commander who clearly is not going to be identified. And whatever he spouts, people put it on the front page of the newspaper— act as his vehicle to deliver it around the world no matter if there’s any truth or basis to it whatsoever and put him on TV, in fact, and show…
I think it’s actually appalling. I think if it was a Canadian commander or American saying things the dissection that would go on before that report was put out would be incredible. That has not occurred in this case. So on the case of the Taliban, you know, they can feel free to say what they want. They are unconstrained by the Geneva Convention; they are unconstrained by truth. And as a result they can say what they want.
For all we know, the reporters might have been talking to the village idiot.

(The Black Rod provided the transcript.)

h/t Sean

“Biosecure pork production is a good thing.”

“Spend! Spend! Spend!”

More from Delonas…
h/t

(Ignore the “steakandcheese” link advertised unless you’re into XXX sites.)

I say mankind should never intervene to thwart the forces of natural selection in these cases, but that’s just me.

First Pyongyang.
Now, Thunder Bay.

On January 24, 2002, Jacqueline Watt lost her life trying to prevent a man from stabbing his estranged girlfriend and their two-year-old son, in Langham, Saskatchewan. After the boy’s father broke into her friend’s apartment, Ms. Watt instructed the mother to run for help while she stayed behind to stop the knife-wielding father from getting closer to the child. In doing so, she was stabbed by the attacker and fell to her knees, severely injured. She managed to get up in a desperate effort to reach the child, but was stabbed again by her assailant. Sadly, Ms. Watt succumbed to her wounds but, thanks to her valiant efforts, the toddler survived the brutal attack.

While police surrounded the apartment, determining if it was safe to enter.

Why General Motors and Chrysler Need to Declare Bankruptcy Immediately

Hear my prayer.
h/t Carl

Budget shortfall victims at CBC have begun eating corpses to survive.
*