Tonight, as we cross December’s threshold, we nudge you ever so gently toward the Christmas season with accordionist Will Glahé’s happy-go-lucky rendition of the Petersburger Schlittenfahrt.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Honey, I Finished The Internet
They Took All The Rights, Put ‘Em In A Rights Museum
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights…
… has placed a gag order on employees that asks them “not to disparage or make negative comments, publicly or privately, oral or written about the [museum], including employees of the [museum]. Any breach of this provision will result in forfeiture of some or all of the settlement proceeds.
More at Black Rod.
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans
Ontario sets record for daily wind production – pays to export it.
John Baird at the UN
Via Legal Insurrection.
Hide The Decline
Oh, Shiny Pony!
Great Moments In Socialism
For hours the leader of the Greek journalists’ social security fund had been chairing a meeting about disastrous losses on retirement savings caused by the country’s economic collapse. “She tried to present herself as the fund’s savior and asked (members) to double contributions to 6 percent of salaries,” said one of those present that night at the Titania hotel. Spanopoulou, 58, did not succeed.
When she rose to leave around midnight, enraged fund members first swore, then waded in punching, kicking and tearing at her clothes, according to witnesses. A bodyguard managed to bustle her out of the room, but another group caught her just outside the hotel and gave her a second beating. She spent the night in hospital.
Reader Tips
Are your friends “cat-friends” or “dog-friends”? It’s not hard to tell…
h/t Kate
The comments are, as always, open for your Reader Tips.
This Is My Brother Mohammed, And This Is My Other Brother Mohammed
Two brothers, Mohammed Shahid and Mohammed Rafiq have already been convicted of killing Mr Assani. A third brother, Mohammed Tariq, is now standing trial, accused of being one of a nine-strong gang that attacked Mr Assani.
The Trap That Arik Built
Under international law, Israel is not just within its rights to defend itself from Hamas. It is required to. International law requires all states to treat Hamas terrorists as criminals and deny them safe haven and financing. But the cease-fire agreement requires both the Israeli policeman and the Hamas criminal to hold their fire.
At worst, the cease-fire places Israel beneath Hamas. The first two clauses require both sides to end hostilities. The third suggests Israel is expected to make further concessions to Hamas after the firing stops.
Another good read – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues to pick up the slack left by an absent American president who has abandoned freedom across the world.
h/t Adrian
Really All Over The Map
Literally too. Foreign Policy’s “100 Top Global Thinkers 2012” (for quite a few of whom the word “thinker” would not first spring to mind). The world did not need more Canada this year–though maybe Mark Carney next.
This Is Awkward
Allison Redford accused of lying in conflict of interest case.
“Hi Barb, can you confirm with Jeff and modify as needed — get the letters to the losers confirmed and ready to go. You can sign for me. Speak to Lorne about the winners and the timing with the letters.”
Oops.
Update: Audio of Redford’s media scrum a few minutes ago here.
Munk Debate on Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
“Be it resolved the
world cannot tolerate an Iran with nuclear weapons capability.”
Featuring Fareed Zakaria and Vali Nasr vs Charles Krauthammer and Amos Yadlin. The video is available until noon Friday, so be sure to view it this evening if you’re interested.
h/t Paul
“Whoa”
Today we heard the “Provincial budget is balanced” but in reality The Province of Saskatchewan Statement of Debt has increased by $1 Billion in 6 months. What is going on here? Huh? What? I thought they said “balanced budget?”
Indeed. Electoral support in Saskatchewan is a function of provincial balance sheets. Rein it in, Sask Party.
Y2Kyoto: The Conservative War On Science
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
Environment Minister Peter Kent, November 2012 – “You don’t have to convince me that climate change is a very real and present danger and we need to address it.”
Steven Goddard, November 2012 – “Both record maximums and record minimums have been on the decline, indicating that the climate is becoming less extreme. The year 1936 was by far the most extreme year in US history”.
Related! Global warming still stalled since 1998, WMO Doha figures show
Free Ethical Oil!
The downside of the U.S. monopoly on Canadian exports is huge. Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources told the B.C. Business Council in a speech Tuesday that the Canadian economy loses out on $18-billion annually – $50-million every day – because Canadian oil is sold into the U.S. market below market value.
For the Canadians on the front lines of environmental conservation initiatives, it’s all about saving the bears, caribou, salmon and so forth. But for the U.S. foundations that fund these initiatives, this is about oil.
The largest environmental initiatives in Canada are the Great Bear Rainforest on the north coast of B.C., the Canadian Boreal Initiative and the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative. In all three, the big funder is an American foundation.
[…]
The main funder of the Presidential Climate Project is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), the same foundation that is behind-the-scenes on the campaign to block the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and ban oil tanker traffic – but only on the strategic coast of British Columbia and in the Canadian arctic. Never mind the dozens of tankers that import oil to the U.S. on a daily basis, the Rockefeller Brothers are only against the tankers that would export Canadian oil to Asia.
Read the whole thing, then forward to your greenie friends. Providing you have any left.
Unenforced Laws are Not Really “Laws”, Are They?
What Would We Do Without Peer Review?
A joint investigation carried out over the course of 2 years by the ORI and the UK found that Eric Smart, who studied the molecular mechanisms behind cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, had falsified or fabricated a total of 45 figures—mostly images of Western blots, a technique used to identify proteins—in seven grant applications, three progress reports, and 10 published papers, some of which were cited more than 100 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge. The notice says that Smart also reported experimental data from knockout mice that did not exist.
Reader Tips
Tonight, Fred Goldstein tells the one about the brown bag lunch.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.