Another Canadian monopoly, clinging on for dear life.
Ontario convenience stores won't be selling booze any time soon, despite a survey that suggests they are better at policing the sale of restricted products to minors than alcohol retailers.
Attorney General Chris Bentley recently loosened liquor laws in the province, but he said Monday those changes won't go so far as to allow corner stores to sell liquor or beer.
The Convenience Stores Association, which commissioned the survey, simply "wants something that they don't currently the right to have," said Bentley. "I'm not convinced by the survey that's been produced, given what it was produced to do."
Read more here.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Canada's parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page: Idiot of the Day
These people have no idea how awful they come across...or do they?
The bill for security at last summer's G8 and G20 summits could have been much lower if the government had used more military personnel instead of police officers, Canada's parliamentary budget officer says.
Kevin Page's comments on Monday came in response to a CBC/Radio-Canada report that revealed the RCMP contracted hundreds of police officers from across the country to travel to Ontario for the two summits, and paid millions in premiums to them for working on days off or during vacations.
They really do have a "us vs. them" mentality.
And it's not just confined to those in *power*, as this commentator shows:
James in Kanata
There's a lot of ways to save money. One way would have been to lock up all the known "peaceful" protesters beforehand. A trip to NDP headquarters would have taken care of that. It just so happens to be illegal.
Using soldiers is fine but the left wing wackos that infest this country have a problem with "soldiers in the streets with guns". So be it. Police on overtime it is.
The Harper Era is bringing out the ugly.
Read more here.
The bill for security at last summer's G8 and G20 summits could have been much lower if the government had used more military personnel instead of police officers, Canada's parliamentary budget officer says.
Kevin Page's comments on Monday came in response to a CBC/Radio-Canada report that revealed the RCMP contracted hundreds of police officers from across the country to travel to Ontario for the two summits, and paid millions in premiums to them for working on days off or during vacations.
They really do have a "us vs. them" mentality.
And it's not just confined to those in *power*, as this commentator shows:
James in Kanata
There's a lot of ways to save money. One way would have been to lock up all the known "peaceful" protesters beforehand. A trip to NDP headquarters would have taken care of that. It just so happens to be illegal.
Using soldiers is fine but the left wing wackos that infest this country have a problem with "soldiers in the streets with guns". So be it. Police on overtime it is.
The Harper Era is bringing out the ugly.
Read more here.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Stunning claim of irregularities in the 2022 World Cup decision process...anyone surprised?...anyone?
Suspended Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has made public an e-mail that claims Mohamed Bin Hammam "bought" the 2022 World Cup finals for Qatar.
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke admitted he sent the e-mail, which also questioned why Asian football boss Bin Hammam was running for Fifa president.
Valcke wrote: "[Hammam] thought you can buy Fifa as they bought the World Cup."
The Qatar 2022 World Cup bid team has issued a statement "categorically denying any wrong-doing" over the bid.
Read more here.
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke admitted he sent the e-mail, which also questioned why Asian football boss Bin Hammam was running for Fifa president.
Valcke wrote: "[Hammam] thought you can buy Fifa as they bought the World Cup."
The Qatar 2022 World Cup bid team has issued a statement "categorically denying any wrong-doing" over the bid.
Read more here.
Sarah Palin continues to horrify thinking people everywhere
In a posting on her political action committee website, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate said Rolling Thunder, through the roar of tens of thousands of bike engines, keeps alive the Memorial Day spirit of honoring veterans.
“I love that smell of emissions,” Palin told Fox News at yesterday’s rally.
Like Jabba the Hutt, these people revel in their awfulness.
Curse you John McCain for unleashing this horror upon us...and thank you for preventing your win...
Read more here.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is extremely arrogant
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who recently decided against a run for president, said he could have beat President Barack Obama in 2012.
"Yes, I think so," Daniels said Sunday on ABC's "This Week," adding, "I mean, no one can know."
So humble.
I feel you would have lost Mr. Daniels. A gym door could even get the best of you...
Read more here.
"Yes, I think so," Daniels said Sunday on ABC's "This Week," adding, "I mean, no one can know."
So humble.
I feel you would have lost Mr. Daniels. A gym door could even get the best of you...
Read more here.
Vandals let loose on Toronto's graffiti
Citizen expresson=bad More billboards=good
BrickWash.com and Goodbye Graffiti are just two of about 30 to 40 GTA companies scrambling to rid the city’s exposed surfaces of both gang tags (which often contain the encoded street prices for drugs) and larger swaths of graffiti that may or may not have artistic merit, depending on one’s point of view.
Read more here.
BrickWash.com and Goodbye Graffiti are just two of about 30 to 40 GTA companies scrambling to rid the city’s exposed surfaces of both gang tags (which often contain the encoded street prices for drugs) and larger swaths of graffiti that may or may not have artistic merit, depending on one’s point of view.
Read more here.
Jeff Pollack defends the record labels without acknowledging reason 1 for declining sales: the music sucks
If you're one of those that feels that major labels are the root of all evil, you may want to skip this post altogether because this time I'm sticking up for the majors. Well, if not stick up for them, at least show that this time around they might actually have the artists' interest (as well as their own) at heart.
It's one big long love letter...enjoy...except for the threat at the end...
So whether it is artist-to-consumer or label-to-cloud service, the deal needs to work for everyone.
Think about it.
Read more here.
It's one big long love letter...enjoy...except for the threat at the end...
So whether it is artist-to-consumer or label-to-cloud service, the deal needs to work for everyone.
Think about it.
Read more here.
Conservative George Lepp: The Dick ain't mine
We want proof I tell you, proof!
As a good Conservative he should stand up, drop 'em and let us all know this is just some terrible misunderstanding. Then the conservatives can get back to the job of making life that much nastier for those who aren't like them.
Isn't that why some vote for them?
They don't mind *being* a dick, just a little camera shy is all.
The Ontario Progressive Conservatives are denying a media report that a candidate took a phone picture of his privates that was later tweeted from his account.
Alan Sakach says George Lepp's BlackBerry was stolen Saturday night and that he only found out Sunday morning after a tweet was posted with a link to a pornographic picture.
Sakach says Lepp has no idea where the picture came from, and is extremely upset that something was tweeted in his name.
and if you'll just step this way we have the Brooklyn Bridge for sale today...
Read more here.
PS - in an equally disturbing development, scores are searching this blog and the Net in general for a copy of said photo.
It is a conservative dick people, don't bother. It will be exceedingly tiny and is only big in the owner's mind.
As a good Conservative he should stand up, drop 'em and let us all know this is just some terrible misunderstanding. Then the conservatives can get back to the job of making life that much nastier for those who aren't like them.
Isn't that why some vote for them?
They don't mind *being* a dick, just a little camera shy is all.
The Ontario Progressive Conservatives are denying a media report that a candidate took a phone picture of his privates that was later tweeted from his account.
Alan Sakach says George Lepp's BlackBerry was stolen Saturday night and that he only found out Sunday morning after a tweet was posted with a link to a pornographic picture.
Sakach says Lepp has no idea where the picture came from, and is extremely upset that something was tweeted in his name.
and if you'll just step this way we have the Brooklyn Bridge for sale today...
Read more here.
PS - in an equally disturbing development, scores are searching this blog and the Net in general for a copy of said photo.
It is a conservative dick people, don't bother. It will be exceedingly tiny and is only big in the owner's mind.
Oh so *that's* why the G20 cost 1 billion
We're in the money, the skies are sunny
Police officers from forces outside the Greater Toronto Area brought in to work at last summer's G8 and G20 summits made millions of dollars through lucrative contracts paying them overtime and vacation rates, according to newly released RCMP documents.
CBC/Radio-Canada has obtained copies of RCMP contracts totalling $7 million for the hiring of 657 officers from 17 different local forces from coast to coast. The invoices detail how over the course of a week or two in June 2010, more than half of all the work performed by those officers was paid for at premium rates of 1½ or two times an officer's usual wages.
One of the most costly examples involves Montreal's police force, which submitted an invoice to the RCMP for 278 officers paid at "double time" for all the work they performed around the Toronto and Huntsville summit sites between June 19 and June 29, at a total cost of $3,342,578.
And here I thought the one billion went towards the Harper "I'm so embarrassed of Toronto" Memorial Fake Lake, and paying for Officer Bubble's lawsuits.
Read more here.
Police officers from forces outside the Greater Toronto Area brought in to work at last summer's G8 and G20 summits made millions of dollars through lucrative contracts paying them overtime and vacation rates, according to newly released RCMP documents.
CBC/Radio-Canada has obtained copies of RCMP contracts totalling $7 million for the hiring of 657 officers from 17 different local forces from coast to coast. The invoices detail how over the course of a week or two in June 2010, more than half of all the work performed by those officers was paid for at premium rates of 1½ or two times an officer's usual wages.
One of the most costly examples involves Montreal's police force, which submitted an invoice to the RCMP for 278 officers paid at "double time" for all the work they performed around the Toronto and Huntsville summit sites between June 19 and June 29, at a total cost of $3,342,578.
And here I thought the one billion went towards the Harper "I'm so embarrassed of Toronto" Memorial Fake Lake, and paying for Officer Bubble's lawsuits.
Read more here.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Woman claims Telus and CRTC f*cked her over...shocking I know
A telecom acting illegally in Canada?....rings a Bell...
Newcastle objects to its more moronic citizens
MTV reality show Geordie Shore, which follows a group of party-loving friends in Newcastle, has come under fire for the way it portrays the city.
Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah said it was "bordering on pornographic".
"It's exploiting those young people and exploiting our city," she told the Evening Chronicle newspaper.
Please, these people will be in government in 15 years.
Read more here.
Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah said it was "bordering on pornographic".
"It's exploiting those young people and exploiting our city," she told the Evening Chronicle newspaper.
Please, these people will be in government in 15 years.
Read more here.
Twitter caves to some sniveling little town council in South Tyneside
Never ever trust your data to any organization online.
For the first time, the American social networking site has bowed to a court action brought by a British group complaining that they were libelled in messages.
The individuals who brought the legal action were councillors and officials at a local authority, South Tyneside.
They launched the case in an attempt to unmask an anonymous whistle-blower who calls himself Mr Monkey.
Read more here.
For the first time, the American social networking site has bowed to a court action brought by a British group complaining that they were libelled in messages.
The individuals who brought the legal action were councillors and officials at a local authority, South Tyneside.
They launched the case in an attempt to unmask an anonymous whistle-blower who calls himself Mr Monkey.
Read more here.
Progressive Conservative Tim Hudak hopes Ontario voters are as self centered and mean spirited as Canadian ones
Hey, they voted in Harper, they'll vote in anyone.
A Progressive Conservative government would throw people in jail for using a friend or relative's health card, cancel the debt retirement charge on Ontario electricity bills and outlaw tax hikes that don't have popular support, provincial Opposition Leader Tim Hudak pledged Saturday in a speech in Toronto.
Disclosing policies from his party's election platform called Changebook — to be released in full on Sunday — Hudak promised an extra $8 billion in spending on health care and education, as well as tax cuts for corporations, but did not say how he would pay for them.
A tax on Pinkos, duh.
Read more here.
A Progressive Conservative government would throw people in jail for using a friend or relative's health card, cancel the debt retirement charge on Ontario electricity bills and outlaw tax hikes that don't have popular support, provincial Opposition Leader Tim Hudak pledged Saturday in a speech in Toronto.
Disclosing policies from his party's election platform called Changebook — to be released in full on Sunday — Hudak promised an extra $8 billion in spending on health care and education, as well as tax cuts for corporations, but did not say how he would pay for them.
A tax on Pinkos, duh.
Read more here.
David Brooks gives sage advice on how to f*ck grandma out of her healthcare money
And so I think a lesson for the Republicans has to be, do something more crafty
Saturday, May 28, 2011
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego should tell China to go f*ck itself
Chinese authorities seem to be trying to force the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego to return to China artwork by Ai Weiwei that MCASD recently added to its collection, MCASD officials have told MAN. The works at issue are two sculptures from Ai’s Marble Chair series (2010, at right).
“The Chinese have contacted us through the shipping company that delivered the chairs and has demanded their return,” MCASD director Hugh Davies told me. “We’re in a bit of a dilemma trying to work around that. Needless to say, until compelled by the authorities to return the chairs, we have no intention of doing so. The situation is complicated because we don’t want to get Ai in trouble. He’s accused of economic crimes.”
Read more here.
“The Chinese have contacted us through the shipping company that delivered the chairs and has demanded their return,” MCASD director Hugh Davies told me. “We’re in a bit of a dilemma trying to work around that. Needless to say, until compelled by the authorities to return the chairs, we have no intention of doing so. The situation is complicated because we don’t want to get Ai in trouble. He’s accused of economic crimes.”
Read more here.
Entertainment industry moves yet again to prove they run the Net
The Motion Picture Association of America asked a federal judge on Thursday to grant a preliminary injunction to stop Zediva, an online movie rental outlet, from operating.
Zediva is the latest in a long line of upstarts to look at how Hollywood does business with release windows and bifurcated rights and think there must be a simpler way.
In Zediva's case, the company saw that on one hand, brick-and-mortar DVD rental stores are allowed to rent its users the latest DVD releases, and on the other hand, online streaming services like Netflix can't because of a perceived need to get permission from Hollywood studios.
So Zediva cut through the red tape by splitting the middle: The company believes it operates a DVD rental store. The only difference here is that its customers rent both DVDs and DVD players and remotely control each over the Internet. By doing it this way, Zediva claims that it doesn't need Hollywood approval. The studios, unsurprisingly, are challenging that assessment.
Read more here.
Zediva is the latest in a long line of upstarts to look at how Hollywood does business with release windows and bifurcated rights and think there must be a simpler way.
In Zediva's case, the company saw that on one hand, brick-and-mortar DVD rental stores are allowed to rent its users the latest DVD releases, and on the other hand, online streaming services like Netflix can't because of a perceived need to get permission from Hollywood studios.
So Zediva cut through the red tape by splitting the middle: The company believes it operates a DVD rental store. The only difference here is that its customers rent both DVDs and DVD players and remotely control each over the Internet. By doing it this way, Zediva claims that it doesn't need Hollywood approval. The studios, unsurprisingly, are challenging that assessment.
Read more here.
Sen. Judd Gregg gets his reward from Goldman Sachs
With Goldman Sachs' latest high-profile hire, the Wall Street giant is unlikely to shake its Government Sachs nickname or the reputation for exerting undue influence in Washington that it implies.
Goldman announced Friday that it had named three-term Sen. Judd Gregg an international adviser to the bank. The New Hampshire Republican will "provide strategic advice to the firm and its clients, and assist in business development initiatives across our global franchise," Goldman said in a statement.
"Judd Gregg's experience and insight will contribute significantly to our firm and our continuing focus on supporting economic growth," said Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's chairman and CEO.
Read more here.
Goldman announced Friday that it had named three-term Sen. Judd Gregg an international adviser to the bank. The New Hampshire Republican will "provide strategic advice to the firm and its clients, and assist in business development initiatives across our global franchise," Goldman said in a statement.
"Judd Gregg's experience and insight will contribute significantly to our firm and our continuing focus on supporting economic growth," said Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's chairman and CEO.
Read more here.
True to form, conservative Mayor Ford and Co. are going to make sure you don't have fun...ever
The city is considering a ban on dangerous kite flying from city parks.
A report going to the Parks and Environment Committee next week recommends a ban on kites with strings made of hazardous materials including fishing line or piano wire.
The report also recommends a permit process for competitive kite flying and a ban on kites in parks that have "significant bird activity."
City staff are calling for a $300 fine for any infraction.
Read more here.
A report going to the Parks and Environment Committee next week recommends a ban on kites with strings made of hazardous materials including fishing line or piano wire.
The report also recommends a permit process for competitive kite flying and a ban on kites in parks that have "significant bird activity."
City staff are calling for a $300 fine for any infraction.
Read more here.
Harper begins spinning the bullsh*t on Libya
Who are you trying to kid asshole, you have a majority...you can have all the war you want.
Better get used to this Canada. You decided you wanted this awful person as your PM..now deal with it.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is hoping for unanimous consent when Parliament is asked next month to approve a "reasonable" extension of Canada's military mission in Libya.
In an interview airing on CBC Radio’s The House on Saturday, Harper said there are encouraging signs of success in Libya, but added the reasons Canada intervened there in the first place haven't changed and warrant the military’s continued involvement.
Read more here.
Better get used to this Canada. You decided you wanted this awful person as your PM..now deal with it.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is hoping for unanimous consent when Parliament is asked next month to approve a "reasonable" extension of Canada's military mission in Libya.
In an interview airing on CBC Radio’s The House on Saturday, Harper said there are encouraging signs of success in Libya, but added the reasons Canada intervened there in the first place haven't changed and warrant the military’s continued involvement.
Read more here.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Canada gets what it asked for: Harper wants Libyan war extended
A majority seemed to have wanted Canada to take a turn for the ugly.
Voila, you got your wish.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning to extend the Canadian military mission in Libya, saying that although progress has been made against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, more needs to be done.
As the G8 summit wrapped on Friday in Deauville, France, Harper said he would ask Parliament in June to agree to an extension of the mission.
Read more here.
Voila, you got your wish.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning to extend the Canadian military mission in Libya, saying that although progress has been made against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, more needs to be done.
As the G8 summit wrapped on Friday in Deauville, France, Harper said he would ask Parliament in June to agree to an extension of the mission.
Read more here.
Dangerously insane US judge gives corporations even more power
A U.S. judge has ruled that the campaign finance law banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates is unconstitutional, saying that a recent Supreme Court decision gives companies the same right to donate as individual citizens enjoy*.
In a ruling issued late Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris tossed out part of an indictment against two people charged with illegally reimbursing donors to Hillary Clinton's 2006 Senate and 2008 presidential campaigns.
Cacheris says that under the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision last year, corporations have the right to give to federal candidates.
The ruling from the federal judge in Virginia is the first of its kind.
* this seems to mean that because there is one very fucked up decision out there, all sorts of equally fucked up ones can flow from it unhindered...
Read more here.
In a ruling issued late Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris tossed out part of an indictment against two people charged with illegally reimbursing donors to Hillary Clinton's 2006 Senate and 2008 presidential campaigns.
Cacheris says that under the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision last year, corporations have the right to give to federal candidates.
The ruling from the federal judge in Virginia is the first of its kind.
* this seems to mean that because there is one very fucked up decision out there, all sorts of equally fucked up ones can flow from it unhindered...
Read more here.
The Financial Post kisses Arianna Huffington's ass
Now there's a mental image...
Of course, not everything went smoothly for The Huffington Post on its first international launch.
The site took some heat from Canadian readers who tried to access the U.S. version of the site on Thursday, only to be re-directed to the Huffington Post Canada site.
Although Ms. Huffington said Huffington Post Canada had already fixed it so that Canadians could read either the U.S. or Canadian edition of the site, as of 7:00 p.m. ET, Canadians were still being redirected away from the U.S. site.
Still, she said the feedback Huffington Post Canada received from readers on Thursday, which prompted the decision to allow Canadian readers to access either site, is emblematic of the nimbleness that is unique to online media properties. An advantage she believes will allow The Huffington Post‘s Canadian edition to thrive North of the border.
That is bullshit, there was no "nimbleness" involved. The Huffington Post got caught trying to pull a fast one on the Canadian public, got their ass kicked and made changes before someone took them to court.
I ain't buyin' your spin...
Read more here.
Of course, not everything went smoothly for The Huffington Post on its first international launch.
The site took some heat from Canadian readers who tried to access the U.S. version of the site on Thursday, only to be re-directed to the Huffington Post Canada site.
Although Ms. Huffington said Huffington Post Canada had already fixed it so that Canadians could read either the U.S. or Canadian edition of the site, as of 7:00 p.m. ET, Canadians were still being redirected away from the U.S. site.
Still, she said the feedback Huffington Post Canada received from readers on Thursday, which prompted the decision to allow Canadian readers to access either site, is emblematic of the nimbleness that is unique to online media properties. An advantage she believes will allow The Huffington Post‘s Canadian edition to thrive North of the border.
That is bullshit, there was no "nimbleness" involved. The Huffington Post got caught trying to pull a fast one on the Canadian public, got their ass kicked and made changes before someone took them to court.
I ain't buyin' your spin...
Read more here.
Mark Zuckerberg keeps getting stranger and stranger
When he's not too busy connecting people across the universe, Mark Zuckerberg is pursuing a new "personal challenge," as he calls it. "The only meat I'm eating is from animals I've killed myself," says the Facebook founder and CEO.
It's an odd dietary direction for the 27-year-old Internet billionaire, but since he has taken to killing goats, pigs and chickens, "I'm eating a lot healthier foods. And I've learned a lot about sustainable farming and raising of animals," he says. "It's easy to take the food we eat for granted when we can eat good things every day."
Zuckerberg's new goal came to light, not surprisingly, on Facebook. On May 4, Zuckerberg posted a note to the 847 friends on his private page: "I just killed a pig and a goat."
Read more here.
It's an odd dietary direction for the 27-year-old Internet billionaire, but since he has taken to killing goats, pigs and chickens, "I'm eating a lot healthier foods. And I've learned a lot about sustainable farming and raising of animals," he says. "It's easy to take the food we eat for granted when we can eat good things every day."
Zuckerberg's new goal came to light, not surprisingly, on Facebook. On May 4, Zuckerberg posted a note to the 847 friends on his private page: "I just killed a pig and a goat."
Read more here.
Americans better get used to the fact that the Patriot Act is permanent
Governments never ever give up power voluntarily.
The US Congress has voted to renew three expiring provisions of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act which increase surveillance powers.
The four-year extension was approved in the Senate just hours before the deadline at midnight (0400 GMT).
The bill was then sent to the House of Representatives, where it passed by a 250-153 vote.
The Patriot Act was brought in under President George W Bush in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks.
US President Barack Obama is now due to ratify the bill, officials said.
Read more here.
The US Congress has voted to renew three expiring provisions of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act which increase surveillance powers.
The four-year extension was approved in the Senate just hours before the deadline at midnight (0400 GMT).
The bill was then sent to the House of Representatives, where it passed by a 250-153 vote.
The Patriot Act was brought in under President George W Bush in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks.
US President Barack Obama is now due to ratify the bill, officials said.
Read more here.
Arizona police kill former Marine in pot raid
On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers from at least four different police agencies armed with SWAT gear and an armored personnel carrier raided at least four homes as part of what at the time was described as an investigation into alleged marijuana trafficking. One of those homes belonged to 26-year-old Jose Guerena and his wife, Vanessa Guerena. The couple's 4-year-old son was also in the house at the time. Their 6-year-old son was at school.
As the SWAT team forced its way into his home, Guerena, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, armed himself with his AR-15 rifle and told his wife and son to hide in a closet. As the officers entered, Guerena confronted them from the far end of a long, dark hallway. The police opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in about 7 seconds, at least 60 of which struck Guerena. He was pronounced dead a little over an hour later.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department initially claimed (PDF) Guerena fired his weapon at the SWAT team. They now acknowledge that not only did he not fire, the safety on his gun was still activated when he was killed. Guerena had no prior criminal record, and the police found nothing illegal in his home. After ushering out his wife and son, the police refused to allow paramedics to access Guerena for more than hour, leaving the young father to bleed to death, alone, in his own home.
I can now report a number of new details that further call into question the police account of what happened that morning. But first some context:
Read more here.
As the SWAT team forced its way into his home, Guerena, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, armed himself with his AR-15 rifle and told his wife and son to hide in a closet. As the officers entered, Guerena confronted them from the far end of a long, dark hallway. The police opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in about 7 seconds, at least 60 of which struck Guerena. He was pronounced dead a little over an hour later.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department initially claimed (PDF) Guerena fired his weapon at the SWAT team. They now acknowledge that not only did he not fire, the safety on his gun was still activated when he was killed. Guerena had no prior criminal record, and the police found nothing illegal in his home. After ushering out his wife and son, the police refused to allow paramedics to access Guerena for more than hour, leaving the young father to bleed to death, alone, in his own home.
I can now report a number of new details that further call into question the police account of what happened that morning. But first some context:
Read more here.
Global commodities trader Glencore doesn't want you prying into their business...so let's pry shall we?
A few days after it was announced that the global commodities trader Glencore was to mount the biggest stock exchange float in British history, every major news organisation in the UK received a terse letter from a London law firm.
The letter was from Schillings, which is no ordinary corporate law firm: its lawyers describe themselves as reputation management experts, people who help clients "manage what is published and broadcast about them". They are particularly proud of their own reputation as the country's leading superinjunction specialists.
Glencore executives, the letter said, "are extremely private individuals", who expected scrutiny of their business activities, but not their personal lives. A warning followed about the "security risk" that could be posed by any reports about their homes or private lives.
Read more here.
The letter was from Schillings, which is no ordinary corporate law firm: its lawyers describe themselves as reputation management experts, people who help clients "manage what is published and broadcast about them". They are particularly proud of their own reputation as the country's leading superinjunction specialists.
Glencore executives, the letter said, "are extremely private individuals", who expected scrutiny of their business activities, but not their personal lives. A warning followed about the "security risk" that could be posed by any reports about their homes or private lives.
Read more here.
Harper: One Billion for G20, fine. Any money for developing Middle East democracies, not a dime
Canada will not be contributing any new funds to an overall G8 pledge to support countries transitioning to democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.
A summit official tells The Canadian Press that overall, G8 leaders will agree to contribute $20 billion to flow through multilateral banks, including the European Investment Bank.
Read more here.
A summit official tells The Canadian Press that overall, G8 leaders will agree to contribute $20 billion to flow through multilateral banks, including the European Investment Bank.
Read more here.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
How to avoid the Huffington Post Canada redirect
From AnnoyedCanuck:
How to get back to the flagship .com version of Huffpo:
Google "the Huffington Post".
From the Google search result page, click on 'Cashed' (right next to the Huffingtonpost.com site address).
This will take you to the latest updated version of the US Huffpo page. Click Refresh to update the page.
Bookmark the address for this search, and you can bypass the redirect to the Canadian site anytime you want.
orrrr from Chapstikk:
(for those who have not found it...mouse-over the words FRONT PAGE at the top of the page, and a drop-down gives a choice of country).
Google "the Huffington Post".
From the Google search result page, click on 'Cashed' (right next to the Huffingtonpost.com site address).
This will take you to the latest updated version of the US Huffpo page. Click Refresh to update the page.
Bookmark the address for this search, and you can bypass the redirect to the Canadian site anytime you want.
orrrr from Chapstikk:
(for those who have not found it...mouse-over the words FRONT PAGE at the top of the page, and a drop-down gives a choice of country).
Peter Fonda: Idiot of the Day
Lars von Trier, who was banned from Cannes for praising Hitler, was not the only one making unsavoury comments at the film festival.
Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider, suggested to Mandrake that he was encouraging his grandchildren to shoot President Barack Obama.
“I’m training my grandchildren to use long-range rifles,” said the actor, 71. “For what purpose? Well, I’m not going to say the words 'Barack Obama’, but …”
Read more here.
Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider, suggested to Mandrake that he was encouraging his grandchildren to shoot President Barack Obama.
“I’m training my grandchildren to use long-range rifles,” said the actor, 71. “For what purpose? Well, I’m not going to say the words 'Barack Obama’, but …”
Read more here.
The Huffington Post, AOL and ScotiaBank are breaking Net Neutrality in Canada
The Huffington Post have launched a Canadian version.
That's great. I'll check it out sometime.
You don't have a choice.
What?
You can no longer access the .com from Canada.
They can't do that.
They just did.
Read more here.
That's great. I'll check it out sometime.
You don't have a choice.
What?
You can no longer access the .com from Canada.
They can't do that.
They just did.
Read more here.
Mickey Mouse gets bitten in Seal hunt
A corporation finds there are limits to its arrogance. Who knew.
Faced with a public relations firestorm, Walt Disney Co. said it had withdrawn its application to trademark the moniker "SEAL Team 6" for use on games, snow globes and TV shows.
Two days after the Navy's elite SEAL Team 6 swooped into Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, killing the Al Qaeda leader, an attorney for the Burbank-based entertainment giant filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for use of the term "SEAL Team 6."
Last week, the Navy countered by filing two trademark applications of its own for the names "Navy SEALS" and "SEAL Team."
On Wednesday, Disney deferred to the Navy.
"Out of deference to the Navy's application for these trademarks, we have withdrawn ours," a Disney spokesman said.
Read more here.
Faced with a public relations firestorm, Walt Disney Co. said it had withdrawn its application to trademark the moniker "SEAL Team 6" for use on games, snow globes and TV shows.
Two days after the Navy's elite SEAL Team 6 swooped into Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, killing the Al Qaeda leader, an attorney for the Burbank-based entertainment giant filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for use of the term "SEAL Team 6."
Last week, the Navy countered by filing two trademark applications of its own for the names "Navy SEALS" and "SEAL Team."
On Wednesday, Disney deferred to the Navy.
"Out of deference to the Navy's application for these trademarks, we have withdrawn ours," a Disney spokesman said.
Read more here.
F*ck You Huffington Post Canada
Thank goodness there's no offensive stereotyping here*...
If I want to be force redirected to a "Canadian" version of your homepage, I'll ask for it.
This is not the net, it is you making me view a page. If I type in ".com" it means that where I want to go, not to be redirected to some ghetto'd page you think I want.
Fuck you.
Why would they do such an arrogent thing you ask?
Arianna Huffington: When we announced our merger with AOL, I said that one of the things that most excited me about the deal was how it would allow us to reach our goals -- including the launch of international editions of HuffPost -- much, much faster. Three months later, I'm delighted to be in Toronto for today's launch of our first international version
Yup, her corporate minders have commanded: Take readers choice away, they're only Canadians. They're a simple folk who know nothing of the Interwebs and will react with *joy* at our decision...well, just look at the graphic!
I'd like to see her try something like this on a US audience.
I suggest writing THP and tell them of your displeasure. They might just get the message...but don't bet on it.
Also, leave a message in the comment section in this story on the Canadian version, conveniently called "HuffPost Canada Readers, Speak Up"
* to our non Canadian readers: notwithstanding the Huffington Post's excellent journalism skills, Canadian beavers are still unable to read or even manipulate an iPad (although given Huffington's opinion of Canada, that well may be an Etch a Sketch).
This is not the fault of the Canadian education system, which has tried for years to teach the beaver the basics of literary knowledge...to no avail.
It is accurate in the depiction of the hockey player however. They have been able to read for over a decade now.
Oh look, the supply ship from France has arrived! Gotta go!
Super Injunctions, Twitter, and another big f*ck you from the rich to you
A senior executive from Twitter yesterday admitted for the first time that the website would turn over information to authorities if it was "legally required" to do so.
Experts had previously assumed that people who breached gagging orders on Twitter were protected from legal reprisals because the website is outside the jurisdiction of British courts.
The admission came after Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, warned earlier this week that people who breached injunctions online were in for a "rude shock".
Translation: we have money and lawyers. Don't fuck with us.
Response: The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
Read more here.
Experts had previously assumed that people who breached gagging orders on Twitter were protected from legal reprisals because the website is outside the jurisdiction of British courts.
The admission came after Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, warned earlier this week that people who breached injunctions online were in for a "rude shock".
Translation: we have money and lawyers. Don't fuck with us.
Response: The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
Read more here.
Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay are cold hearted bastards
Can't send the military to help Canadians, it's too busy killing brown people. Priorities people, priorities.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay visited Quebec's flood zone along the Richelieu River on Wednesday, as residents brace for a long cleanup, which they will have to do without any help from the military.
Wearing hip waders, MacKay spent some time in one of the hardest-hit towns – Saint-Blaise-sur-Richelieu – as residents in the flood region vented their frustration at the federal government's handling of the crisis.
Passionate conservatism at work.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the military would not help with the cleanup.
Toews suggested that the military's role includes placing sandbags to protect property, but not picking up sandbags to clean up.
Toews also explained that the military should not stay behind because, if it performed any cleanup work, it would be competing with the private sector.
There's not enough *fuck you*'s in the world for that kind of attitude.
Read more here.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay visited Quebec's flood zone along the Richelieu River on Wednesday, as residents brace for a long cleanup, which they will have to do without any help from the military.
Wearing hip waders, MacKay spent some time in one of the hardest-hit towns – Saint-Blaise-sur-Richelieu – as residents in the flood region vented their frustration at the federal government's handling of the crisis.
Passionate conservatism at work.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the military would not help with the cleanup.
Toews suggested that the military's role includes placing sandbags to protect property, but not picking up sandbags to clean up.
Toews also explained that the military should not stay behind because, if it performed any cleanup work, it would be competing with the private sector.
There's not enough *fuck you*'s in the world for that kind of attitude.
Read more here.
Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn moves to "plush" new house..without maid service
Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn moved Wednesday from a temporary space in a high-rise to a plush, four-bedroom brick town house in Manhattan where he will remain under house arrest as he awaits trial on charges he tried to rape a hotel maid, officials said.
The one-time French presidential contender was seen smiling as he got into a grey sport utility vehicle under tight security. He was moved about two kilometres away to the stately red brick town home in Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood
Read more here.
The one-time French presidential contender was seen smiling as he got into a grey sport utility vehicle under tight security. He was moved about two kilometres away to the stately red brick town home in Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood
Read more here.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Paris Match and Le Monde: Vile Journalism of the Day
French press publishes Strauss-Kahn accuser’s name and “photos”...
...the French press is blatantly committing what American journalists regard as a cardinal sin of rape coverage: violating the anonymity of the alleged victim.
Paris Match — a major society magazine positioned somewhere between People Magazine and Vanity Fair — has published her name, in a banner headline that translates as "[name withheld], the one who caused DSK's downfall."
Read more here.
...the French press is blatantly committing what American journalists regard as a cardinal sin of rape coverage: violating the anonymity of the alleged victim.
Paris Match — a major society magazine positioned somewhere between People Magazine and Vanity Fair — has published her name, in a banner headline that translates as "[name withheld], the one who caused DSK's downfall."
Read more here.
The Smurfs or Hollywood has no shame
It's a bit too intellectual for modern audiences, but you never know.
The most distant single object yet seen
A cataclysmic explosion of a huge star near the edge of the observable Universe may be the most distant single object yet spied by a telescope.
Scientists believe the blast, which was detected by Nasa's Swift space observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.
This means its light has taken a staggering 13.14 billion years to reach Earth.
Read more here.
Scientists believe the blast, which was detected by Nasa's Swift space observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.
This means its light has taken a staggering 13.14 billion years to reach Earth.
Read more here.
Toronto's Dutil Denim, or there's one born every minute
"We wanted our jeans to be natural, simple, and well-constructed," Darrin says. So, thankfully, there are no rhinestone apples or any other sort of decals found here. The Quintessential Series is the signature collection sold here, right now offering two styles of men's ($258) and two styles of women's ($238), which includes the "Quintessential Slim-Straight" for men and the "Quintessential Skinny" for women, designed in Vancouver and constructed in L.A.
Hey, if you're dumb enough to drop that kind of coin on jeans, who am I to stop you...
I may chuckle a bit...
Read more here.
Hey, if you're dumb enough to drop that kind of coin on jeans, who am I to stop you...
I may chuckle a bit...
Read more here.
Minnesota's Governor Mark Dayton tries to apologize for the heartless, spiteful people in his government
The ability of a governor to take charge of a state’s political conversation — particularly when legislators are not in session — was never more clear than this morning.
Gov. Mark Dayton stepped up to his bully pulpit and talked about his “symbolic” veto of the controversial constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage...
...Dayton seemed surprised that a legislative bill, mirroring the amendment, even would cross his desk. His veto of the bill, he admitted, would do nothing to prevent the proposed amendment from going on the ballot in November 2012.
“Symbolic as it may be, without question, I’m vetoing it,” Dayton said.
Nice try governor, but these people are motivated by religious driven hatred. They are blind.
Read more here.
Gov. Mark Dayton stepped up to his bully pulpit and talked about his “symbolic” veto of the controversial constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage...
...Dayton seemed surprised that a legislative bill, mirroring the amendment, even would cross his desk. His veto of the bill, he admitted, would do nothing to prevent the proposed amendment from going on the ballot in November 2012.
“Symbolic as it may be, without question, I’m vetoing it,” Dayton said.
Nice try governor, but these people are motivated by religious driven hatred. They are blind.
Read more here.
Money and War top G8 agenda
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Europe on Wednesday on his first foreign trip since winning a majority this month.
As was the case on much of the campaign trail, economic issues will feature prominently at the meeting, which begins Thursday in Deauville, France.
Indeed, Harper has asked to be one of the first leaders to speak on the issue.
Money and war, he'll be like a pig in shit.
Read more here.
As was the case on much of the campaign trail, economic issues will feature prominently at the meeting, which begins Thursday in Deauville, France.
Indeed, Harper has asked to be one of the first leaders to speak on the issue.
Money and war, he'll be like a pig in shit.
Read more here.
Even the Catholic Church tells Republicans to lighten up on the kicking grandma thing
“We congratulate you [House Speaker John Boehner] on the occasion of your commencement address to The Catholic University of America,” they [a group of Catholic academics, including some leading members of the Catholic University faculty] wrote. “It is good for Catholic universities to host and engage the thoughts of powerful public figures, even Catholics such as yourself who fail to recognize (whether out of a lack of awareness or dissent) important aspects of Catholic teaching.”
The rest of the letter was tough. “From the apostles to the present,” the professors wrote, “the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor.” They added: “Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress.”
The letter specifically condemned the House-passed Ryan budget, arguing that it “guts long-established protections for the most vulnerable members of society.”
Read more here.
The rest of the letter was tough. “From the apostles to the present,” the professors wrote, “the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor.” They added: “Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress.”
The letter specifically condemned the House-passed Ryan budget, arguing that it “guts long-established protections for the most vulnerable members of society.”
Read more here.
Mayor Ford and City approve Pride funding
Good for you Robbie, there's hope yet.
A key council committee has approved the unconditional allocation of city funds to Toronto's Pride Festival after an impassioned debate over whether the organizers of the event were in compliance with the city's anti-discrimination policy.
The executive committee voted unanimously Thursday night in favour of funding the festival after hearing from more than 50 citizens.
Read more here.
A key council committee has approved the unconditional allocation of city funds to Toronto's Pride Festival after an impassioned debate over whether the organizers of the event were in compliance with the city's anti-discrimination policy.
The executive committee voted unanimously Thursday night in favour of funding the festival after hearing from more than 50 citizens.
Read more here.
Paul Ryan explains, ever so gently, how to f*ck grandma out of her healthcare money
They've got this little weasel out front cause he sounds so reasonable.
Iron fist in the velvet glove.
New Zealand trucker...omg
A New Zealand truck driver who fell on a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock has survived being blown up like a balloon.
Steven McCormack had fallen between the cab and the trailer of his truck, breaking the air hose.
The nozzle pierced his buttock and began pumping air into his body, which expanded dramatically.
As he screamed, Mr McCormack's colleagues turned the air off and laid him on his side, saving his life.
The accident happened at Opotiki on the North Island on Saturday.
Read more here.
Steven McCormack had fallen between the cab and the trailer of his truck, breaking the air hose.
The nozzle pierced his buttock and began pumping air into his body, which expanded dramatically.
As he screamed, Mr McCormack's colleagues turned the air off and laid him on his side, saving his life.
The accident happened at Opotiki on the North Island on Saturday.
Read more here.
New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie: Education? We don't need no stinkin' education
It's a wonder Republicans educate at all and not just throw kids directly into the work force...
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that $500 million must be restored to the state's poorest school districts after it found part of Gov. Chris Christie's controversial 2011 budget to be unconstitutional.
"Today's ruling by the state Supreme Court is disappointing, but not unexpected," Christie responded in a press conference. "There are several reasons why I believe this decision represents everything wrong with how Trenton has historically operated and everything that I'm here fighting to change."
According to court documents, Christie's budget fails to meet the funding requirements set forth by the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, a spending formula that guarantees financial support for all New Jersey public school districts.
Read more here.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that $500 million must be restored to the state's poorest school districts after it found part of Gov. Chris Christie's controversial 2011 budget to be unconstitutional.
"Today's ruling by the state Supreme Court is disappointing, but not unexpected," Christie responded in a press conference. "There are several reasons why I believe this decision represents everything wrong with how Trenton has historically operated and everything that I'm here fighting to change."
According to court documents, Christie's budget fails to meet the funding requirements set forth by the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, a spending formula that guarantees financial support for all New Jersey public school districts.
Read more here.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Cold hearted Republicans loose in 26th Congressional District
Seems taking away grandma's health care *still* isn't popular.
Democrats picked off a heavily Republican upstate New York congressional seat Tuesday night in a special election that became a referendum on Medicare.
Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul edged past Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin to win the seat in the 26th Congressional District.
Read more here.
Democrats picked off a heavily Republican upstate New York congressional seat Tuesday night in a special election that became a referendum on Medicare.
Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul edged past Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin to win the seat in the 26th Congressional District.
Read more here.
NASA gives up, reuses old ships kept in garage
NASA plans a return to yesteryear by developing a space capsule that will carry humans into deep space, it announced Tuesday.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
The new spacecraft, to be built by Lockheed Martin, will be known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV. It will carry four astronauts and be based on designs originally planned for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, whose development was canceled by President Barack Obama.
Read more here.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
The new spacecraft, to be built by Lockheed Martin, will be known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV. It will carry four astronauts and be based on designs originally planned for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, whose development was canceled by President Barack Obama.
Read more here.
Lady Gaga's Born This Way: A bloated mess
Yeah, I know, I'm not her target audience..
Only two songs stand out for me: "Government Hooker" and "Schiße", only because they don't sound like 80's power ballads or everything else she's ever put out.
From Slider to Tanx...
More proof The History Channel is run by people who don't actually like know nothing of history
The History Channel has been a joke for some time now among those who really enjoy history ...
The History Channel: not just for documentaries about Hitler anymore. In an effort to appeal to those millions of Americans who would rather watch contestants eat dung in a jungle with Jeff Probst egging them on than watch another documentary about something that happened before they were born, the channel has brought in reality show producer Mark Burnett to create a 12-hour scripted drama about the Bible. Previously, Burnett's biggest shows to date have been "Survivor," "The Apprentice" and "The Voice"... all of which sound like Sunday school stories themselves when you stop to think about it.
But just in case putting Bible stories on the History Channel makes you feel a little icky, don't worry. The series will be entirely free of historical context, according the network's president.
Read more here.
The History Channel: not just for documentaries about Hitler anymore. In an effort to appeal to those millions of Americans who would rather watch contestants eat dung in a jungle with Jeff Probst egging them on than watch another documentary about something that happened before they were born, the channel has brought in reality show producer Mark Burnett to create a 12-hour scripted drama about the Bible. Previously, Burnett's biggest shows to date have been "Survivor," "The Apprentice" and "The Voice"... all of which sound like Sunday school stories themselves when you stop to think about it.
But just in case putting Bible stories on the History Channel makes you feel a little icky, don't worry. The series will be entirely free of historical context, according the network's president.
Read more here.
Yet another government attempts to control the Net. Today, France
For some time, French Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy has talked about his dream of a “civilized” Internet, but this dream has long been a nightmare for those who worry that “civilization” is really a code for “regulations favorable to big business and the national security state.” To make his vision a reality, Sarkozy helped to create this week's e-G8 meeting currently underway in the Tuileries Gardens next door to the Louvre—and the critics are fuming.
"I was invited to the e-G8 and declined," said author and activist Cory Doctorow recently. "I believe it's a whitewash, an attempt to get people who care about the Internet to lend credibility to regimes that are in all-out war with the free, open 'Net. On the other hand, I now have a dandy handwriting sample from Sarkozy should I ever need to establish a graphological baseline for narcissistic sociopathy."
The core of what he's getting at:
President Sarkozy claimed that countries could not remain neutral and allow completely unchecked internet use.
Tell him to go fuck himself...while you still can.
Read more here and here.
"I was invited to the e-G8 and declined," said author and activist Cory Doctorow recently. "I believe it's a whitewash, an attempt to get people who care about the Internet to lend credibility to regimes that are in all-out war with the free, open 'Net. On the other hand, I now have a dandy handwriting sample from Sarkozy should I ever need to establish a graphological baseline for narcissistic sociopathy."
The core of what he's getting at:
President Sarkozy claimed that countries could not remain neutral and allow completely unchecked internet use.
Tell him to go fuck himself...while you still can.
Read more here and here.
Harper and Co. beam with pride as Canada excels at corruption
Canada is lagging behind all other G7 countries in enforcing anti-bribery measures against its businesses operating abroad, an international anti-corruption watchdog says.
For the seventh year in a row, Transparency International ranked Canada as having "little or no enforcement" of foreign bribery standards set out in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Anti-Bribery Convention, which was signed by Canada and came into effect in 1999.
The Berlin-based watchdog, in a report released Tuesday, lamented a "lack of progress" by Canada and called on the Canadian government to show "more visible public commitment" to enforcement.
Please, they will win the Stephen Harper Award For Underhanded Corporate Influence.
Read more here.
For the seventh year in a row, Transparency International ranked Canada as having "little or no enforcement" of foreign bribery standards set out in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Anti-Bribery Convention, which was signed by Canada and came into effect in 1999.
The Berlin-based watchdog, in a report released Tuesday, lamented a "lack of progress" by Canada and called on the Canadian government to show "more visible public commitment" to enforcement.
Please, they will win the Stephen Harper Award For Underhanded Corporate Influence.
Read more here.
Lawsuit contents Cisco aided China in repression
Senior executives at Cisco Systems worked closely with Chinese government security agents to tailor hardware and software they knew would be used to track, detain and torture followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, according to a U.S. federal lawsuit filed last week.
The suit accuses the networking company’s chief executive John Chambers and leaders of Cisco’s China business of close collaboration with Beijing, citing statements on company websites, at trade shows and in internal documents.
Read more here.
The suit accuses the networking company’s chief executive John Chambers and leaders of Cisco’s China business of close collaboration with Beijing, citing statements on company websites, at trade shows and in internal documents.
Read more here.
Toronto Police Association makes the move to stand up comedy
The head of the Toronto Police Association says it is "absolutely absurd" to suggest officers conspired to protect colleagues accused of breaking a man's shoulder at a G20 protest.
Haahahahahahah funny!
Ok, I got one. A priest, a rabbi and Officer Bubbles walk into a bar...
Read more here.
Haahahahahahah funny!
Ok, I got one. A priest, a rabbi and Officer Bubbles walk into a bar...
Read more here.
Mark Zuckerberg pushes to make Facebook just that much creepier
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he wants the social networking site to let children under the age of 13 use it.
At the moment that age limit is dictated by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act which was made Federal Law in America in 1998.
But Zuckerberg says he's willing to fight to change the law.
He says it's a battle worth taking on because of the educational benefits of using the site.
Who the fuck is he kidding?
Read more here.
At the moment that age limit is dictated by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act which was made Federal Law in America in 1998.
But Zuckerberg says he's willing to fight to change the law.
He says it's a battle worth taking on because of the educational benefits of using the site.
Who the fuck is he kidding?
Read more here.
Minnesota now the most repulsive place in North America
Religious bigotry gets its day in the sun.
Enjoy it while you can.
Brett Popplewell: Let's make Toronto even blander than it is now
Is that even possible?
I can't tell from Mr. Popplewell's article whether he is advocating Casa Loma's destruction or not, it is that vaguely written...
Atop Spadina Rd. there stands a house like no other in the city, country or continent.
A neglected heritage site that attracts tourists, yes, but that remains, like most other heritage sites in town, of little consequence to Torontonians who have neither time nor interest to visit its oak-trimmed halls and Roman stone walls.
So why are we trying to save it when we could just tear it down?
Yes, tear it down.
That is, after all, the Toronto way.
That is too fucking true.
Read more here.
I can't tell from Mr. Popplewell's article whether he is advocating Casa Loma's destruction or not, it is that vaguely written...
Atop Spadina Rd. there stands a house like no other in the city, country or continent.
A neglected heritage site that attracts tourists, yes, but that remains, like most other heritage sites in town, of little consequence to Torontonians who have neither time nor interest to visit its oak-trimmed halls and Roman stone walls.
So why are we trying to save it when we could just tear it down?
Yes, tear it down.
That is, after all, the Toronto way.
That is too fucking true.
Read more here.
World awaits to see who will fall for this charlatan Christian yet again
Harold Camping is sticking to his apocalyptic guns.
In his first radio broadcast since his doomsday prediction failed to pan out in a spectacularly public fashion, the California preacher insisted his was an error of interpretation, not fact.
What's more, he has another calculation for the day the world will end - October 21, 2011.
FYI, STFU
Read more here.
In his first radio broadcast since his doomsday prediction failed to pan out in a spectacularly public fashion, the California preacher insisted his was an error of interpretation, not fact.
What's more, he has another calculation for the day the world will end - October 21, 2011.
FYI, STFU
Read more here.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Paul Ryan thinks the voters will just love taking away grandma's healthcare
Whenever a politician uses the word "serious", you know they plan to fuck somebody over.
If there's one thing conservatives excel at, it's getting the public to do the most awful things in the belief it's for their own good.
The way they are pushing this (it won't affect *you*, just old people and they don't matter anyway) is just cynical enough to work. People can be such scum when it doesn't directly affect them.
Of course, when they *are* old enough...well too late and tough luck. Now shut up and die.
Minnesota chooses to let the bigots vote on the rights of others
Yet another place that thinks voting on the rights of others is AOK....
Minnesota has a long and potentially polarizing campaign in store after state lawmakers agreed to allow voters to decide whether to limit civil marriage to heterosexual couples – a prohibition that already exists in state law.
The House voted 70-63 just before midnight Saturday after nearly six hours of emotional debate that raised many of the issues likely to resonate in the coming campaign.
Critics of the amendment said it would divide families and neighbors and harm the dignity of gay people, while its supporters said the definition of marriage is important enough that voters alone – not judges or legislators – should decide how it's addressed in the constitution.
Read more here.
Minnesota has a long and potentially polarizing campaign in store after state lawmakers agreed to allow voters to decide whether to limit civil marriage to heterosexual couples – a prohibition that already exists in state law.
The House voted 70-63 just before midnight Saturday after nearly six hours of emotional debate that raised many of the issues likely to resonate in the coming campaign.
Critics of the amendment said it would divide families and neighbors and harm the dignity of gay people, while its supporters said the definition of marriage is important enough that voters alone – not judges or legislators – should decide how it's addressed in the constitution.
Read more here.
Hoard of Roman coins unearthed in Colchester
A collection of Roman coins has been unearthed by archaeologists excavating a former barracks in Colchester.
Two pots, one of them containing 1,247 coins, were discovered on the site of the former Hyderabad and Meeanee barracks, which are being redeveloped.
The coins, known as antoniniani, date back to between 251 and 271 AD.
Read more here.
Two pots, one of them containing 1,247 coins, were discovered on the site of the former Hyderabad and Meeanee barracks, which are being redeveloped.
The coins, known as antoniniani, date back to between 251 and 271 AD.
Read more here.
There will always be money for war
As governments scream how broke they are, they still can find coins down the couch for war...
Britain's involvement in the Libya conflict will cost the taxpayer as much as £1bn if it continues into the autumn as expected, according to expert analysis and data gathered by the Guardian.
Two months after western powers began bombing Libyan targets to protect civilians in Operation Unified Protector, the cost to Britain so far of the dozens of bombs dropped, hundreds of sorties flown and more than 1,000 service personnel deployed is estimated at more than £100m, according to British defence officials.
But defence economists have told the Guardian the costings are conservative. Francis Tusa, editor of the Defence Analysis newsletter, estimates that by the end of April Libyan operations had already cost the UK about £300m and that the bill was increasing by up to £38m a week.
Read more here.
Britain's involvement in the Libya conflict will cost the taxpayer as much as £1bn if it continues into the autumn as expected, according to expert analysis and data gathered by the Guardian.
Two months after western powers began bombing Libyan targets to protect civilians in Operation Unified Protector, the cost to Britain so far of the dozens of bombs dropped, hundreds of sorties flown and more than 1,000 service personnel deployed is estimated at more than £100m, according to British defence officials.
But defence economists have told the Guardian the costings are conservative. Francis Tusa, editor of the Defence Analysis newsletter, estimates that by the end of April Libyan operations had already cost the UK about £300m and that the bill was increasing by up to £38m a week.
Read more here.
World disappointed bubble headed Rapture Christians still here
Followers of an evangelical broadcaster who declared that Saturday would be Judgement Day are trying to make sense of the failed prediction.
Some believers expressed bewilderment or said it was a test from God of their faith, after the day passed without event.
Meanwhile, the evangelist at the centre of the claim, Harold Camping, has not been seen since before the deadline.
He had predicted that Jesus Christ would return to earth on Saturday.
True believers would then be swept up, or "raptured", to heaven, he had pronounced.
The 89-year-old has used broadcasts on a Christian network and billboards to publicise his ideas as part of a campaign that went global.
He said biblical texts indicated that a giant earthquake on Saturday - which he said would begin at 1800 at various time zones around the world - would mark the start of the world's destruction, and that by 21 October all non-believers will be dead.
Read more here.
Some believers expressed bewilderment or said it was a test from God of their faith, after the day passed without event.
Meanwhile, the evangelist at the centre of the claim, Harold Camping, has not been seen since before the deadline.
He had predicted that Jesus Christ would return to earth on Saturday.
True believers would then be swept up, or "raptured", to heaven, he had pronounced.
The 89-year-old has used broadcasts on a Christian network and billboards to publicise his ideas as part of a campaign that went global.
He said biblical texts indicated that a giant earthquake on Saturday - which he said would begin at 1800 at various time zones around the world - would mark the start of the world's destruction, and that by 21 October all non-believers will be dead.
Read more here.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Beyoncé presents the worst video you will see today
Beyoncé - Run The World (Girls)
Bad song, bad costumes, bad dancing. Who could ask for more?
Of course it can not compete with the single worst video ever made, Helix's Rock You.
Bronze Age battle site found in Germany
Fractured human remains found on a German river bank could provide the first compelling evidence of a major Bronze Age battle.
Archaeological excavations of the Tollense Valley in northern Germany unearthed fractured skulls, wooden clubs and horse remains dating from around 1200 BC.
The injuries to the skulls suggest face-to-face combat in a battle perhaps fought between warring tribes, say the researchers.
Read more here.
Archaeological excavations of the Tollense Valley in northern Germany unearthed fractured skulls, wooden clubs and horse remains dating from around 1200 BC.
The injuries to the skulls suggest face-to-face combat in a battle perhaps fought between warring tribes, say the researchers.
Read more here.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tennessee politicians get their childish way
Hate and ignorance drive some to do the most childish things...
A bill passed Friday by the Tennessee Senate would forbid public school teachers and students in grades kindergarten through eight from discussing the fact that some people are gay.
Opponents deride the measure as the "don't say gay bill." They say it's unfair to the children of gay parents and could lead to more bullying. Supporters say it is intended to give teachers clear guidance for dealing with younger children on a potentially explosive topic.
Read more here.
A bill passed Friday by the Tennessee Senate would forbid public school teachers and students in grades kindergarten through eight from discussing the fact that some people are gay.
Opponents deride the measure as the "don't say gay bill." They say it's unfair to the children of gay parents and could lead to more bullying. Supporters say it is intended to give teachers clear guidance for dealing with younger children on a potentially explosive topic.
Read more here.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Kirsten Powers: Idiot of the Day
Kirsten "I've completely missed the point" Powers says:
By marching in fishnets and bras with the word “slut” scrawled on their bodies, the organizers of the “Slut Walk” movement insist they’re feminists standing up for their rights. But Kirsten Powers says they may actually be hurting their cause.
I don't think you hurt your cause, but you have caused poor Ms. Powers to become confused...publicly.
Read more here.
By marching in fishnets and bras with the word “slut” scrawled on their bodies, the organizers of the “Slut Walk” movement insist they’re feminists standing up for their rights. But Kirsten Powers says they may actually be hurting their cause.
I don't think you hurt your cause, but you have caused poor Ms. Powers to become confused...publicly.
Read more here.
Raleigh North Carolina police defend the homophobes
Check out the hateful spew coming from that woman on the stage...
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Rick Santorum: Idiot of the Day
Rick Santorum, torture lover and all around sick fuck, is at it again...
Former Sen. Rick Santorum said Tuesday that Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years enduring brutal treatment at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors, doesn't know how effective waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques can be. The Republican presidential contender insisted the tactics led the United States to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Btw, don't Google Rick's name...ever.
Read more here.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum said Tuesday that Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years enduring brutal treatment at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors, doesn't know how effective waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques can be. The Republican presidential contender insisted the tactics led the United States to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Btw, don't Google Rick's name...ever.
Read more here.
Corporate Arrogance: Disney Moves To Claim Trademark to “Seal Team Six”
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has applied for a trademark on the name "Seal Team 6," the name of the unit of specially trained Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan earlier this month.
Three applications filed May 3 — the day after the raid — with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office by Disney Enterprises state an intention to use the mark for a range of products, including entertainment and education services, clothing, toys, games and Christmas stockings.
Companies have tried to trademark combat-related terms before. A day after U.S. allied forces entered Iraq in 2003, Sony applied to trademark the war's catchphrase, "shock and awe," for use as the title of a video game. The application was later abandoned.
Three applications filed May 3 — the day after the raid — with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office by Disney Enterprises state an intention to use the mark for a range of products, including entertainment and education services, clothing, toys, games and Christmas stockings.
Companies have tried to trademark combat-related terms before. A day after U.S. allied forces entered Iraq in 2003, Sony applied to trademark the war's catchphrase, "shock and awe," for use as the title of a video game. The application was later abandoned.
The Entertainment Industry suffers setback after French hack
The Entertainment Industry's efforts to turn the Net into their own revenue generation vehicle has suffered a teeny setback.
The French government’s “three strikes” approach to online copyright infringement relies on a private company that scans file sharing networks and gathers the IP addresses of alleged Gallic content pirates. But that company, TMG, suffered an embarrassing security breach last week, and the French government has “temporarily suspended” its acquisition of new TMG data while an investigation is underway.
The embarrassing episode began last week when a French writer found a highly insecure TMG server on the internet and managed to extract internal TMG executables and scripts, along with a cache of IP addresses. According to the initial report, the security on the server was so bad that “one wonders if TMG recently became a Sony subsidiary” — or if the server was a honeypot.
Read more here.
The French government’s “three strikes” approach to online copyright infringement relies on a private company that scans file sharing networks and gathers the IP addresses of alleged Gallic content pirates. But that company, TMG, suffered an embarrassing security breach last week, and the French government has “temporarily suspended” its acquisition of new TMG data while an investigation is underway.
The embarrassing episode began last week when a French writer found a highly insecure TMG server on the internet and managed to extract internal TMG executables and scripts, along with a cache of IP addresses. According to the initial report, the security on the server was so bad that “one wonders if TMG recently became a Sony subsidiary” — or if the server was a honeypot.
Read more here.
WikiLeaks: Canadians secretly added to U.S. security list
More reasons to distrust Lord Harper, the Moron's Choice™
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada's principal intelligence agency, routinely transmits to U.S. authorities the names and personal details of Canadian citizens who are suspected of, but not charged with, what the agency refers to as "terrorist-related activity."
The criteria used to turn over the names are secret, as is the process itself.
But a new cache of WikiLeaks documents pertaining to Canada lays bare the practice. It contains not only frank assessments by U.S. officials of Canadian co-operation, but the names of 27 Canadian citizens turned over by their own government as possible threats, along with 14 other names of foreign nationals living in Canada.
In at least some cases, the people in the cables appear to have been named as potential terrorists solely based on their associations with other suspects, rather than any actions or hard evidence.
Read more here.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada's principal intelligence agency, routinely transmits to U.S. authorities the names and personal details of Canadian citizens who are suspected of, but not charged with, what the agency refers to as "terrorist-related activity."
The criteria used to turn over the names are secret, as is the process itself.
But a new cache of WikiLeaks documents pertaining to Canada lays bare the practice. It contains not only frank assessments by U.S. officials of Canadian co-operation, but the names of 27 Canadian citizens turned over by their own government as possible threats, along with 14 other names of foreign nationals living in Canada.
In at least some cases, the people in the cables appear to have been named as potential terrorists solely based on their associations with other suspects, rather than any actions or hard evidence.
Read more here.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin aims to become the most disgusting man in North America
What kind of fucked up mind would do something like this?
Gov. Scott Walker believes a new law that gives gay couples hospital visitation rights violates the state constitution and has asked a judge to allow the state to stop defending it.
The comments cover the intellectual ground from "I love my dog, but I can't marry it! That's UNFAIR!" to "I don't see why your choice of lifestyle should entitle you to special privileges."
But nothing beats the old favorite: We put this to a vote and the people have spoken. "THAT Is What Democracy Looks Like!"
Read more here.
Gov. Scott Walker believes a new law that gives gay couples hospital visitation rights violates the state constitution and has asked a judge to allow the state to stop defending it.
The comments cover the intellectual ground from "I love my dog, but I can't marry it! That's UNFAIR!" to "I don't see why your choice of lifestyle should entitle you to special privileges."
But nothing beats the old favorite: We put this to a vote and the people have spoken. "THAT Is What Democracy Looks Like!"
Read more here.
Huge lines form at Starbucks
Men who drink six cups of coffee a day showed a lower risk of developing a deadly type of prostate cancer compared with nondrinkers, a large U.S. study suggests.
The study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health compared risk of aggressive prostate cancer among 47,911 U.S. men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants reported their coffee consumption every four years from 1986 to 2008.
Read more here.
The study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health compared risk of aggressive prostate cancer among 47,911 U.S. men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants reported their coffee consumption every four years from 1986 to 2008.
Read more here.
Lady Gaga pisses off the press ahead of her terrible new CD
Good PR there genius.
Lady Gaga is now demanding that photographers surrender the copyright of photos taken at her concerts – and photographers are incensed.
Washington, D.C. website TBD.com made this practice public on Friday when they published the release form given to their photographer Jay Westcott. In addition to standard release restrictions regarding the use of images shot at her concerts, the document states that any photos taken at the show become the property of Lady Gaga. This an especially bold demand as the government has established that copyright exists the moment when a work is created, which in this case is the moment when a photographer clicks their shutter button.
Read more here.
Lady Gaga is now demanding that photographers surrender the copyright of photos taken at her concerts – and photographers are incensed.
Washington, D.C. website TBD.com made this practice public on Friday when they published the release form given to their photographer Jay Westcott. In addition to standard release restrictions regarding the use of images shot at her concerts, the document states that any photos taken at the show become the property of Lady Gaga. This an especially bold demand as the government has established that copyright exists the moment when a work is created, which in this case is the moment when a photographer clicks their shutter button.
Read more here.
Mayor Ford learns a new word from the conservative attack book: Socialists
Ooooooooo BOOOOOOO Socialists!!!
Mayor Rob Ford lashed out at opponents of garbage privatization plans on Tuesday as he announced a conciliatory move that now gives council the final say on garbage contract bids.
Blah blah blah, the Mayor stamps his feet when he want something....
Time to throw a bone to the Ford Nation, filled with tasty buzz words to feed the hungry...
"We're going to have the other side of people that are going to have respect for taxpayers' money, that want to bring accountability to City Hall, that are sick and tired of the tax-and-spend socialists down in this city. That's where it's going to come down to. So we're going to have the left or you're going to have the right."
You're either for me, or against me.
What a dim little man.
Read more here.
Mayor Rob Ford lashed out at opponents of garbage privatization plans on Tuesday as he announced a conciliatory move that now gives council the final say on garbage contract bids.
Blah blah blah, the Mayor stamps his feet when he want something....
Time to throw a bone to the Ford Nation, filled with tasty buzz words to feed the hungry...
"We're going to have the other side of people that are going to have respect for taxpayers' money, that want to bring accountability to City Hall, that are sick and tired of the tax-and-spend socialists down in this city. That's where it's going to come down to. So we're going to have the left or you're going to have the right."
You're either for me, or against me.
What a dim little man.
Read more here.
His Lord Mayor Ford now has his own castle
After three-quarters of a century, the Kiwanis Club is ready to let someone else worry about polishing the armour and sweeping the stables at Toronto’s Casa Loma. It has agreed to hand over operations of the city-owned tourist attraction in return for more than $1.4-million for the paintings, furniture and other artifacts and trademarks it will leave behind...
“It’s just got to be a place where Torontopays plays”
Read more here.
“It’s just got to be a place where Toronto
Read more here.
Israeli couple really don't Like their child
Let's inflict a lifetime of scorn on our child, because...because...we're clueless....weeeeeeeeeee!
First there was baby "Facebook" and now this: An Israeli couple has named their kid "Like."
Let the Valley Girl jokes ensue.
The Israeli news source Galgalatz reports that Lior and Vardit Adler are the proud parents of a bouncing baby girl named after the Facebook Like button, which recently celebrated its first birthday.
Apparently, the parents were looking to call their daughter something unique. The moniker is not meant to be a gimmick, and they say that they're not shilling for Facebook. They just like (pun intended) the meaning behind the name.
Read more here.
First there was baby "Facebook" and now this: An Israeli couple has named their kid "Like."
Let the Valley Girl jokes ensue.
The Israeli news source Galgalatz reports that Lior and Vardit Adler are the proud parents of a bouncing baby girl named after the Facebook Like button, which recently celebrated its first birthday.
Apparently, the parents were looking to call their daughter something unique. The moniker is not meant to be a gimmick, and they say that they're not shilling for Facebook. They just like (pun intended) the meaning behind the name.
Read more here.
WikiLeaks: The American love them some Harper
All the man thinks of is money and war. No wonder the Americans love him.
One missive from the U.S. Embassy In Ottawa describes Harper as a "strong friend of the U.S."
"[We] believe we are better off with him at the helm in Canada," the cable classified confidential and dated May 7, 2007 says.
It notes a key Harper priority has been to enhance Canada's relationship with the U.S. — and the U.S. Embassy officials note "an improved willingness" to co-operate on bilateral and international issues.
But, the cable notes, polling suggests public concern that the prime minister aligns Canada too closely with the U.S. foreign policy agenda.
They needn't worry. The electorate just gave Harper the go ahead to bend this country over. Come and get it.
Read more here.
One missive from the U.S. Embassy In Ottawa describes Harper as a "strong friend of the U.S."
"[We] believe we are better off with him at the helm in Canada," the cable classified confidential and dated May 7, 2007 says.
It notes a key Harper priority has been to enhance Canada's relationship with the U.S. — and the U.S. Embassy officials note "an improved willingness" to co-operate on bilateral and international issues.
But, the cable notes, polling suggests public concern that the prime minister aligns Canada too closely with the U.S. foreign policy agenda.
They needn't worry. The electorate just gave Harper the go ahead to bend this country over. Come and get it.
Read more here.
The National Hockey League: Idiots of the Day
No no, mustn't have fans show their love of the team...well, not without paying up first...
The lawyers behind this action are idiots of the highest order. Good luck cleaning up this PR disaster.
The National Hockey League is demanding $89,000 from a Montreal restaurant that displayed a Montreal Canadiens sweater and the words "Go Habs Go" on a sign.
The owner of a Basha franchise in downtown Montreal put an image on an outside wall showing the name of the restaurant and a man slicing shawarma while wearing a red Canadiens sweater.
But a lawyer working for the league sent a letter saying the sweater and the slogan are trademarks, and that the owner will have to pay the sum for copyright infringement.
Read more here.
The lawyers behind this action are idiots of the highest order. Good luck cleaning up this PR disaster.
The National Hockey League is demanding $89,000 from a Montreal restaurant that displayed a Montreal Canadiens sweater and the words "Go Habs Go" on a sign.
The owner of a Basha franchise in downtown Montreal put an image on an outside wall showing the name of the restaurant and a man slicing shawarma while wearing a red Canadiens sweater.
But a lawyer working for the league sent a letter saying the sweater and the slogan are trademarks, and that the owner will have to pay the sum for copyright infringement.
Read more here.
RIAA out pirates the pirates
The Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) ruthless pursuit of music pirates was firmly rooted in the belief that it's better to be feared than loved. Last week, defunct peer-to-peer client Limewire agreed pay $105M to the major record labels...
...But with the revelation that none of that money will go to the artists whose music was being stolen, the RIAA's methods stand to draw more contempt, likely without being responsible for the (relatively) declining rates of music piracy.
Read more here.
...But with the revelation that none of that money will go to the artists whose music was being stolen, the RIAA's methods stand to draw more contempt, likely without being responsible for the (relatively) declining rates of music piracy.
Read more here.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Fox and Seth MacFarlane are devoid of originality
I can not express how awful this sounds.
Fred Flintstone is positively intellectual compared to any of Mr. MacFarlane's creations.
Yabba dabba do, Seth MacFarlane will finally achieve his dream! The mastermind behind Family Guy will reboot the classic animated series The Flintstones for Fox.
Fox execs made the announcement at the network’s presentation today in New York. The show will go in production this fall for a 2013 launch.
Read more here.
Fred Flintstone is positively intellectual compared to any of Mr. MacFarlane's creations.
Yabba dabba do, Seth MacFarlane will finally achieve his dream! The mastermind behind Family Guy will reboot the classic animated series The Flintstones for Fox.
Fox execs made the announcement at the network’s presentation today in New York. The show will go in production this fall for a 2013 launch.
Read more here.
Stephen Hawking gets some believers to lash out
Stephen Hawking said in a recent interview:
A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.
In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.
This has caused at least one believer, a one Brad Hirschfield, to get downright huffy:
While nobody should belittle or demean such purist rationalism, like all purists, those who assume that any one way of knowing the world, or of understanding life, tend to miss out on many things. The pure rationalists may find it hard to fall in love, dream big dreams, create/appreciate non-representational art, and, quite ironically, do certain kinds of scientific and philosophical research which demands imagining that what we currently know or even can currently conceive of knowing, should define the limits of what we can do or attempt to do. It's their loss, but hardly makes them foolish.
Meow. Turn the other cheek, let me scratch that one too.
Read more here.
A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.
In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.
This has caused at least one believer, a one Brad Hirschfield, to get downright huffy:
While nobody should belittle or demean such purist rationalism, like all purists, those who assume that any one way of knowing the world, or of understanding life, tend to miss out on many things. The pure rationalists may find it hard to fall in love, dream big dreams, create/appreciate non-representational art, and, quite ironically, do certain kinds of scientific and philosophical research which demands imagining that what we currently know or even can currently conceive of knowing, should define the limits of what we can do or attempt to do. It's their loss, but hardly makes them foolish.
Meow. Turn the other cheek, let me scratch that one too.
Read more here.
The Indiana Supreme Court: Centuries of protection don't matter 'cause we're so special today
We believe however that a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.
Translation: we believe quaint old things like citizens rights don't apply anymore. Sucks I know, but welcome to the Modern World. We've waited long enough to take this right away.
Read more here.
Translation: we believe quaint old things like citizens rights don't apply anymore. Sucks I know, but welcome to the Modern World. We've waited long enough to take this right away.
Read more here.
Pangaea
Aggregating nearly the entire landmass of Earth, Pangaea was a continent the likes our planet has not seen for the last 200 million years. Its size meant there was a lot of space for animals to roam, for there were few geographical barriers, such as mountains or ice caps, to contain them.
Yet, strangely, animals confined themselves...
Read more here.
Yet, strangely, animals confined themselves...
Read more here.
China continues its revolting detention of Ai Weiwei
Why does the world take this bully China seriously..oh right, they're fucking rich.
Ai Weiwei's wife has been able to meet the detained artist and activist for the first time since he went missing 43 days ago, a relative said today.
No one had been able to contact the 53-year-old since officials stopped him at Beijing airport on 3 April.
But his sister, Gao Ge, said police took Ai's wife, Lu Qing, to meet him at an undisclosed location on Sunday night. She was able to see and speak to him briefly and reported that he seemed healthy and was being given access to the medication he needs for diabetes.
Read more here.
Ai Weiwei's wife has been able to meet the detained artist and activist for the first time since he went missing 43 days ago, a relative said today.
No one had been able to contact the 53-year-old since officials stopped him at Beijing airport on 3 April.
But his sister, Gao Ge, said police took Ai's wife, Lu Qing, to meet him at an undisclosed location on Sunday night. She was able to see and speak to him briefly and reported that he seemed healthy and was being given access to the medication he needs for diabetes.
Read more here.
WikiLeaks: Chrétien bullsh*tted us over Iraq
Do we ever get told the truth, ever?
The same day Canada publicly refused to join the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a high-ranking Canadian official was secretly promising the Americans clandestine military support for the fiercely controversial operation.
The revelation that Canadian forces may have secretly participated in the invasion of Iraq is contained in a classified U.S. diplomatic memo obtained exclusively by CBC News from the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
On March 17, 2003, two days before U.S. warplanes launched their attack on Baghdad, prime minister Jean Chrétien told the House of Commons that Canadian forces would not be joining what the administration of then U.S. president George W. Bush dubbed the "coalition of the willing."
Chrétien's apparent refusal to back the Bush administration's invasion, purportedly launched to seize weapons of mass destruction possessed by Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein (which were never found), was hugely popular in Canada, widely hailed as nothing less than a defining moment of national sovereignty.
But even as Chrétien told the Commons that Canada wouldn't participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Canadian diplomats were secretly telling their U.S. counterparts something entirely different.
Read more here.
The same day Canada publicly refused to join the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a high-ranking Canadian official was secretly promising the Americans clandestine military support for the fiercely controversial operation.
The revelation that Canadian forces may have secretly participated in the invasion of Iraq is contained in a classified U.S. diplomatic memo obtained exclusively by CBC News from the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
On March 17, 2003, two days before U.S. warplanes launched their attack on Baghdad, prime minister Jean Chrétien told the House of Commons that Canadian forces would not be joining what the administration of then U.S. president George W. Bush dubbed the "coalition of the willing."
Chrétien's apparent refusal to back the Bush administration's invasion, purportedly launched to seize weapons of mass destruction possessed by Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein (which were never found), was hugely popular in Canada, widely hailed as nothing less than a defining moment of national sovereignty.
But even as Chrétien told the Commons that Canada wouldn't participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Canadian diplomats were secretly telling their U.S. counterparts something entirely different.
Read more here.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Some modern conservatives are such swine, re: Ron Paul
It always seems it's the most wealthy among us advocating for the rest to suffer. These people have no heart, none.
Planking: Darwinism at work
Thus does nature remove the lesser minds from our midst.
Australian police say a man who plunged to his death from a seventh-floor balcony on Sunday was participating in the internet craze of "planking".
Planking involves someone lying flat on their stomach in unusual and sometimes dangerous situations, and posting photographs on social media websites.
Police said the dead man, in his 20s, fell from a balcony railing in Brisbane while a friend photographed him.
Read more here.
Australian police say a man who plunged to his death from a seventh-floor balcony on Sunday was participating in the internet craze of "planking".
Planking involves someone lying flat on their stomach in unusual and sometimes dangerous situations, and posting photographs on social media websites.
Police said the dead man, in his 20s, fell from a balcony railing in Brisbane while a friend photographed him.
Read more here.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Supreme Court sides with politicians and not with you and me
Was this ever in doubt?
The public does not have a right to access all documents in the offices of cabinet ministers or the prime minister, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday in a unanimous decision.
The top court upheld a Federal Court of Appeal decision, and sided with the federal government in a decade-old legal battle with the information commissioner.
Had the federal government lost its case Friday, it could have vastly expanded the scope of Canada's access-to-information law and potentially have allowed Canadians to get a closer look at the inner workings of the Prime Minister's Office and ministers' offices, including who they meet with on a daily basis.
Read more here.
The public does not have a right to access all documents in the offices of cabinet ministers or the prime minister, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday in a unanimous decision.
The top court upheld a Federal Court of Appeal decision, and sided with the federal government in a decade-old legal battle with the information commissioner.
Had the federal government lost its case Friday, it could have vastly expanded the scope of Canada's access-to-information law and potentially have allowed Canadians to get a closer look at the inner workings of the Prime Minister's Office and ministers' offices, including who they meet with on a daily basis.
Read more here.
Scientists who know nothing of art
Yet another attempt by non artists to "get it"
The team of historians plan to use geo-radar equipment to locate the skull of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, who died in Florence in 1542 and is believed to have modeled for Leonardo's celebrated portrait, now hanging in the Louvre.
Once they locate the skull, the team will try and recreate a likeness of what the woman would have looked like, compare her to Leonardo's world-famous portrait and unlock the centuries-old mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa's identity.
The historians will compare the DNA with that of two her children buried in Florence's Santissima Annunziata church to prove her identity, although some experts says Leonardo's final portrait may be a composite of other faces.
Read more here.
The team of historians plan to use geo-radar equipment to locate the skull of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, who died in Florence in 1542 and is believed to have modeled for Leonardo's celebrated portrait, now hanging in the Louvre.
Once they locate the skull, the team will try and recreate a likeness of what the woman would have looked like, compare her to Leonardo's world-famous portrait and unlock the centuries-old mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa's identity.
The historians will compare the DNA with that of two her children buried in Florence's Santissima Annunziata church to prove her identity, although some experts says Leonardo's final portrait may be a composite of other faces.
Read more here.
Stone Age cold case baffles scientists
In Asia’s northern hinterlands not far from the Arctic Circle, Stone Age toolmakers left an evolutionary calling card that’s hard to read...
...The stone implements -- manufactured between 34,000 and 31,000 years ago at Byzovaya, a site in Russia’s Ural Mountains -- resemble scraping and cutting tools associated with 130,000- to 30,000-year-old European Neandertals, Slimak and his colleagues report in the May 13 Science. To complicate matters, groups of Homo sapiens that lived in northern Africa and southwestern Asia between 200,000 and 45,000 years ago made tools like those of Neandertals.
If Neandertals held court at Byzovaya, then these stocky members of the human evolutionary family lived near groups of H. sapiens that reached the Russian Arctic by 36,000 years ago. If modern humans made the distinctive Byzovaya tools, “it would imply that Arctic H. sapiens groups preserved an older Stone Age culture after the expansion of modern societies in the rest of Eurasia,” Slimak says.
Read more here.
...The stone implements -- manufactured between 34,000 and 31,000 years ago at Byzovaya, a site in Russia’s Ural Mountains -- resemble scraping and cutting tools associated with 130,000- to 30,000-year-old European Neandertals, Slimak and his colleagues report in the May 13 Science. To complicate matters, groups of Homo sapiens that lived in northern Africa and southwestern Asia between 200,000 and 45,000 years ago made tools like those of Neandertals.
If Neandertals held court at Byzovaya, then these stocky members of the human evolutionary family lived near groups of H. sapiens that reached the Russian Arctic by 36,000 years ago. If modern humans made the distinctive Byzovaya tools, “it would imply that Arctic H. sapiens groups preserved an older Stone Age culture after the expansion of modern societies in the rest of Eurasia,” Slimak says.
Read more here.
Meredith Attwell Baker insists the obvious isn't happening
They don't even try to hide the sleaze anymore.
Federal Communications Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker defended her decision to leave the regulatory agency to take a job at Comcast Corp. just months after voting yes on the cable giant's heavily scrutinized acquisition of General Electric Co.'s NBCUniversal.
In a statement, Baker said, "I have not only complied with the legal and ethical laws, but I also have gone further. I have not participated or voted any item, not just those related to Comcast or NBCUniversal, since entering discussions about an offer of potential employment." She said Comcast approached her about a job last month, which was when Bob Okun, the longtime head of NBC's D.C. lobbying office, announced his departure.
Since her hiring was announced earlier this week, Baker has taken lots of heat from media watchdogs.
Read more here.
Federal Communications Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker defended her decision to leave the regulatory agency to take a job at Comcast Corp. just months after voting yes on the cable giant's heavily scrutinized acquisition of General Electric Co.'s NBCUniversal.
In a statement, Baker said, "I have not only complied with the legal and ethical laws, but I also have gone further. I have not participated or voted any item, not just those related to Comcast or NBCUniversal, since entering discussions about an offer of potential employment." She said Comcast approached her about a job last month, which was when Bob Okun, the longtime head of NBC's D.C. lobbying office, announced his departure.
Since her hiring was announced earlier this week, Baker has taken lots of heat from media watchdogs.
Read more here.
Mayor Ford got some 'xplainin' to do
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will have to have undergo an audit of his campaign spending.
The decision to sift through Ford's expenses was made Friday by the city's compliance and audit committee, which ordered the audit after citizens complained about the mayor's campaign financing.
The complaint was filed by Max Reed, who worked on Coun. Mary Fragedakis's campaign and Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, who is a longtime community activist.
Specifically, they complained that more than $77,000 in expenses paid by Doug Ford Holdings was not in line with election spending laws.
The money was repaid but without any interest or surcharges.
The complainants argued that the money appears to be either a corporate donation or a loan from a private company — neither of which is permitted by law.
Read more here.
A politician that is bad with money, shocking I know. But wait, there's more...
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is being accused of trying to stack public consultations on a review of city services with people sympathetic to his views.
The accusations stem from an email sent this week to people who signed up for a Ford mailing list during last fall's election campaign.
The email, entitled "Mayor Ford needs your help!," urges supporters to register for one of eight public meetings where people can weigh in on which city services should be protected, cut or contracted out.
"This is about respect for taxpayers — watching your tax dollars is what Mayor Ford committed to do," the email reads, adding that space at the roundtable sessions are limited, so "register today."
The email ends with: "Thank you! From your friends in Ford Nation."
Read more here.
The decision to sift through Ford's expenses was made Friday by the city's compliance and audit committee, which ordered the audit after citizens complained about the mayor's campaign financing.
The complaint was filed by Max Reed, who worked on Coun. Mary Fragedakis's campaign and Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, who is a longtime community activist.
Specifically, they complained that more than $77,000 in expenses paid by Doug Ford Holdings was not in line with election spending laws.
The money was repaid but without any interest or surcharges.
The complainants argued that the money appears to be either a corporate donation or a loan from a private company — neither of which is permitted by law.
Read more here.
A politician that is bad with money, shocking I know. But wait, there's more...
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is being accused of trying to stack public consultations on a review of city services with people sympathetic to his views.
The accusations stem from an email sent this week to people who signed up for a Ford mailing list during last fall's election campaign.
The email, entitled "Mayor Ford needs your help!," urges supporters to register for one of eight public meetings where people can weigh in on which city services should be protected, cut or contracted out.
"This is about respect for taxpayers — watching your tax dollars is what Mayor Ford committed to do," the email reads, adding that space at the roundtable sessions are limited, so "register today."
The email ends with: "Thank you! From your friends in Ford Nation."
Read more here.
Friday, May 13, 2011
"Lipstick" by Jedward - Eurovision Song Contest Semi Final 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest never fails to horrify.
Tap tap tap, is this thing on?
Google ran out of hamsters for 2 days...fried all posts since Wednesday evening.
Hope some techie out there got spanked.
Hope some techie out there got spanked.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Is Rome still there?
Thousands of people are reported to be staying out of Rome for the next few days, over fears the city will be hit by a huge earthquake.
The panic was sparked by rumours that seismologist Raffaele Bendandi, who died in 1979, predicted the city would be devastated by a quake on 11 May.
Officials have insisted quakes cannot be predicted and special programmes have run on state TV calling for calm.
Experts also say there is no evidence Bendandi even made the prediction.
But many people said they were leaving the city to be on the safe side.
Read more here.
The panic was sparked by rumours that seismologist Raffaele Bendandi, who died in 1979, predicted the city would be devastated by a quake on 11 May.
Officials have insisted quakes cannot be predicted and special programmes have run on state TV calling for calm.
Experts also say there is no evidence Bendandi even made the prediction.
But many people said they were leaving the city to be on the safe side.
Read more here.
China's human rights record has improved, moving from "absolutely hideous" to "pretty f*cking bad"
China has rejected US criticism over deteriorating human rights saying that China's progress in human rights "is an objective fact".
China and the US are at different stages of development *, and so have different views on human rights, Vice-Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said.
His comments come after US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton described China's record on rights as "deplorable".
Read more here.
* whaskafjsds what??? China has been around for over 2000 years, so that does that mean......?
China and the US are at different stages of development *, and so have different views on human rights, Vice-Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said.
His comments come after US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton described China's record on rights as "deplorable".
Read more here.
* whaskafjsds what??? China has been around for over 2000 years, so that does that mean......?
Elections Canada probing hoax calls to voters
Elections Canada has launched an investigation into an election day telephone hoax designed to prevent voters from reaching the polls in three ridings in Ontario.
CBC News has obtained a copy of a fraudulent automated telephone message reported in Guelph, Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo telling people their polling locations had moved.
"This is an automated message from Elections Canada. Due to a projected increase in voter turnout your poll location has been changed," says one message retrieved from a resident’s telephone voicemail system in Guelph. "Your new voting location is at the old Quebec Street mall at 55 Wyndham Street North, " the message states.
But Elections Canada said it’s a hoax, that the polling locations had not been moved and frustrated voters were left scrambling trying to determine where to vote.
Read more here.
CBC News has obtained a copy of a fraudulent automated telephone message reported in Guelph, Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo telling people their polling locations had moved.
"This is an automated message from Elections Canada. Due to a projected increase in voter turnout your poll location has been changed," says one message retrieved from a resident’s telephone voicemail system in Guelph. "Your new voting location is at the old Quebec Street mall at 55 Wyndham Street North, " the message states.
But Elections Canada said it’s a hoax, that the polling locations had not been moved and frustrated voters were left scrambling trying to determine where to vote.
Read more here.
U.K.'s Super Injunction - a big 'f*ck you* from the rich to you
Yet another rich benefiting law whereby the wealthy can stop embarrassing details getting out to the general public.
Don't these idiots realize that by slapping this kind of restriction of information, they guarantee it *will* get out.
Toronto lamely fights back against high gas prices
The oil companies are laughing at your ineptitude.
Moira McCallum didn’t consider the cost of gas when she bought her Mazda 6 just a year ago.
These days, she’s afraid to fill it up.
She is now looking to swap it for a more fuel-efficient Mazda 3.
“I’ve got to get a new car,” she says. “I’ve got to get a smaller car, because the prices aren’t going back to 80 cents.”
Read more here.
Moira McCallum didn’t consider the cost of gas when she bought her Mazda 6 just a year ago.
These days, she’s afraid to fill it up.
She is now looking to swap it for a more fuel-efficient Mazda 3.
“I’ve got to get a new car,” she says. “I’ve got to get a smaller car, because the prices aren’t going back to 80 cents.”
Read more here.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Some of our so called leaders want to drag us all back to barbarism
I realize this is just Liz Cheney, a woman so sweet even Himmler would have said "Lighten up", but this is the level some in the so called "ruling class" want to drag us to to.
That, and it helps keep Daddy from any pesky war crimes trial.
Guinness passes on Philippino Penis Pruning Party
Guinness World Records officials distanced themselves from an event in the Philippines on May 7 that claimed to set the world record for most circumcisions.
Public health officials claimed that more than 1,500 boys underwent the free surgery in a sports stadium in the city of Marikina. Circumcision is a rite of passage for preteen boys in the Philippines.
But Guinness officials said Monday they wouldn't consider the so-called "circumcision party" for their record book.
Read more here.
Public health officials claimed that more than 1,500 boys underwent the free surgery in a sports stadium in the city of Marikina. Circumcision is a rite of passage for preteen boys in the Philippines.
But Guinness officials said Monday they wouldn't consider the so-called "circumcision party" for their record book.
Read more here.
LZ Granderson: Idiot of the Day
As a nation, either our kids are getting dumber or everyone else's are getting smarter. American 15-year-olds ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math in a study of students in 34 nations and nonnational regions.
The Program for International Student Assessment study, coordinated every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, definitively shows U.S. students are no longer ready to compete against the world's brightest.
Which brings me to this: Why are we still giving them the summer off?
Yup, don't make education better, just longer...
Sounds more like a bitter adult pissed that kids get the summer off.
Read more here.
The Program for International Student Assessment study, coordinated every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, definitively shows U.S. students are no longer ready to compete against the world's brightest.
Which brings me to this: Why are we still giving them the summer off?
Yup, don't make education better, just longer...
Sounds more like a bitter adult pissed that kids get the summer off.
Read more here.
UK Conservatives propose rich get priority to universities
But, but, my money should be able to push others aside. Why else have it?
Teenagers from the wealthiest families would be able to pay for extra places at the most competitive universities under government proposals that could allow institutions to charge some British students the same high fees as overseas undergraduates.
Candidates who take up the extra places would not be eligible for publicly funded loans to pay tuition fees or living costs, limiting this option to all but the most privileged households who could pay fees up front.
Under the plans, the extra students may be charged as much as international undergraduates. At the most competitive universities, these students face fees ranging from £12,000 a year for arts subjects to £18,000 for sciences and more than £28,000 for medicine. Applicants would be required to meet the course entry requirements.
Read more here.
Teenagers from the wealthiest families would be able to pay for extra places at the most competitive universities under government proposals that could allow institutions to charge some British students the same high fees as overseas undergraduates.
Candidates who take up the extra places would not be eligible for publicly funded loans to pay tuition fees or living costs, limiting this option to all but the most privileged households who could pay fees up front.
Under the plans, the extra students may be charged as much as international undergraduates. At the most competitive universities, these students face fees ranging from £12,000 a year for arts subjects to £18,000 for sciences and more than £28,000 for medicine. Applicants would be required to meet the course entry requirements.
Read more here.
Neanderthals may have died out earlier than thought
An improvement in the dating of fossils suggests that the Neanderthals, a heavily muscled, thick-boned human species adapted to living in ice age Europe, perished almost immediately on contact with the modern humans who started to enter Europe from the Near East about 44,000 years ago. Until now bones from several Neanderthal sites have been dated to as young as 29,000 years ago, suggesting there was extensive overlap between the two human species. This raised the question of whether there had been interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals, an issue that is still not resolved.
But researchers report that tests using an improved method of radiocarbon dating, based on a new way to exclude contaminants, show that most, and maybe all, Neanderthal bones in Europe are or will be found to be at least 39,000 years old. Thomas F. G. Higham, a specialist in radiocarbon dating at Oxford University, and Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist at University College Cork in Ireland, have dated the bones of a Neanderthal child less than 2 years old whose remains were found in the Mezmaiskaya Cave in the northern Caucasus Mountains. A second Neanderthal baby, found in a lower layer in the cave, was previously dated back 29,000 years.
The first baby, since its bones were retrieved from a higher layer, must be even younger, but in fact it turns out to be 39,000 years old when an improved version of the radiocarbon dating technique is used, Dr. Higham and Dr. Pinhasi reported Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more here.
But researchers report that tests using an improved method of radiocarbon dating, based on a new way to exclude contaminants, show that most, and maybe all, Neanderthal bones in Europe are or will be found to be at least 39,000 years old. Thomas F. G. Higham, a specialist in radiocarbon dating at Oxford University, and Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist at University College Cork in Ireland, have dated the bones of a Neanderthal child less than 2 years old whose remains were found in the Mezmaiskaya Cave in the northern Caucasus Mountains. A second Neanderthal baby, found in a lower layer in the cave, was previously dated back 29,000 years.
The first baby, since its bones were retrieved from a higher layer, must be even younger, but in fact it turns out to be 39,000 years old when an improved version of the radiocarbon dating technique is used, Dr. Higham and Dr. Pinhasi reported Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more here.
WTF made that Woodstock ON apartment building blow up - cont
May 6, 2011
Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office are back on the scene of a fatal Woodstock apartment building explosion.
Soil testing is being conducted to try and determine if there was a gas leak in the building.
The building’s drains are also being checked to determine if any flammable fluid was poured into them.
Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office are back on the scene of a fatal Woodstock apartment building explosion.
Soil testing is being conducted to try and determine if there was a gas leak in the building.
The building’s drains are also being checked to determine if any flammable fluid was poured into them.
Congressman Aaron Schock, Republican and torture lover, is *so* not gay
Washington's interest in physical fitness isn't just limited to First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative; it's in the House, too.Meet Aaron Schock, a second-term representative from Illinois who not only is the youngest member of congress, but just might be the fittest, too. Schock bared his buff bod for the cover of the June issue of Men's Health, which hits newsstands on May 24.
Schock isn't showcasing his chiseled physique out of vanity – he's doing it because he wants you to follow his lead.
Take care not to follow him too closely, as he's a bit of sick fuck:
On December 15, 2009, during a discussion on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Schock stated "I don‘t believe we should—we should limit water-boarding or, quite frankly, any other alternative torture technique if it means saving Americans‘ lives" in a "ticking time bomb" scenario or other critical situation
Ooo girl, you're such a brute.
Read more here.
More proof the fashion world is clueless
Ooooo, let's be edgy! Let's use Laxmi, no one will notice...
These are the same braindead types who think fur should make a comeback.
Images of the Hindu goddess of wealth displayed on swimwear at an Australian fashion show have sparked a legal battle in India.
The Allahabad High Court has issued notices to the Hindustan Times for publishing the photos that show female models wearing the swimwear.
Images of the goddess, Laxmi, were displayed on the garments.
The fashion show attracted worldwide media attention and was held in the Australian city of Sydney last week.
Pictures of the controversial swimwear were published in many newspapers, leading to protests in towns and cities across India.
Read more here.
These are the same braindead types who think fur should make a comeback.
Images of the Hindu goddess of wealth displayed on swimwear at an Australian fashion show have sparked a legal battle in India.
The Allahabad High Court has issued notices to the Hindustan Times for publishing the photos that show female models wearing the swimwear.
Images of the goddess, Laxmi, were displayed on the garments.
The fashion show attracted worldwide media attention and was held in the Australian city of Sydney last week.
Pictures of the controversial swimwear were published in many newspapers, leading to protests in towns and cities across India.
Read more here.
Anish Kapoor condemns China over Ai Weiwei
Sculptor Anish Kapoor has condemned China's "barbaric" detention of artist Ai Weiwei and has called on galleries to close for a day in protest.
Ai - an outspoken critic of China's human rights record - has not been heard from since he was arrested in Beijing at the start of April.
Kapoor has dedicated his monumental Leviathan art installation in Paris, unveiled on Tuesday, to Ai.
Artists must speak with "a communal voice", he told BBC Radio 4's Today.
China says it is investigating Ai, 53 - who was detained at Beijing airport while passing through security checks for a flight to Hong Kong - for as yet unspecified economic crimes.
Read more here.
Ai - an outspoken critic of China's human rights record - has not been heard from since he was arrested in Beijing at the start of April.
Kapoor has dedicated his monumental Leviathan art installation in Paris, unveiled on Tuesday, to Ai.
Artists must speak with "a communal voice", he told BBC Radio 4's Today.
China says it is investigating Ai, 53 - who was detained at Beijing airport while passing through security checks for a flight to Hong Kong - for as yet unspecified economic crimes.
Read more here.
Car smashes into Bixi stand. Mayor Ford whistles innocently
A Lexus sedan jumped a curb and crashed into the three-day-old Bixi bicycle-sharing stand across from City Hall on Monday afternoon, damaging six bikes.
The driver was uninjured.
Bixi spokesman Michel Philibert said the Bay St. stand may have prevented the car from crashing into pedestrians walking on the sidewalk adjacent to the roadside row of bikes.
Read more here.
The driver was uninjured.
Bixi spokesman Michel Philibert said the Bay St. stand may have prevented the car from crashing into pedestrians walking on the sidewalk adjacent to the roadside row of bikes.
Read more here.
Obama admits US at war with Pakistan
Oh good. There hasn't been a good knock out drag out fight between two nuclear powers since...since, well, never...
President Obama insisted that the assault force hunting down Osama bin Laden last week be large enough to fight its way out of Pakistan if confronted by hostile local police officers and troops, senior administration and military officials said Monday.
Newspeak of the Day:
Mr. Obama’s decision to increase the size of the force sent into Pakistan shows that he was willing to risk a military confrontation with a close ally in order to capture or kill the leader of Al Qaeda.
Read more here.
President Obama insisted that the assault force hunting down Osama bin Laden last week be large enough to fight its way out of Pakistan if confronted by hostile local police officers and troops, senior administration and military officials said Monday.
Newspeak of the Day:
Mr. Obama’s decision to increase the size of the force sent into Pakistan shows that he was willing to risk a military confrontation with a close ally in order to capture or kill the leader of Al Qaeda.
Read more here.
Uptown Sports Management: Vile Homophobes of the Day
Uptown Sports Management, an Ontario, Canada-based agency which represents a number of NHL players including Andrew Brunette, Cody McCormick, Chris Neil, Mike Fisher and Carlo Colaiacovo, attacked New York Ranger forward Sean Avery for getting involved with the campaign for marriage equality in New York...
...Wrote the agency in a tweet: "Very sad to read Sean Avery's misguided support of same-gender 'marriage'. Legal or not, it will always be wrong." The tweet was followed up by two more denying anti-gay bigotry, and saying, "This is my personal viewpoint. I Do not hate anyone."
Whatever, no one is buying your* bullshit.
* A one Todd Reynolds "In Canada and the U.S. it’s a hot-button topic right now. I guess maybe it was how I was raised (for an example of that "raising", see below). I believe in voicing your opinion and not being part of the silent majority"
The Silent Majority. Now Nixonian, ah the nostalgia...now where was I? Oh yes. Notice how he assumes he's in the majority?
It's an "issue" in Canada (where marriage has been legal for years, and it's not really an issue) only to bigots like Mr. Reynolds as they didn't get their way to continue centuries of repression.
And all this happened under a conservative government (and even they tried and failed to prevent it). That must be particularly galling to Mr. Reynolds. If you can't count on conservatives to keep a minority down, what has the world come to?
Progress is a bitch, eh Todd? Now we all get to voice our opinion of your droppings of wisdom.
Oh wait, your dad has spoken up:
It’s politically correct on the other side, for people to say, ‘sure, I support gay marriage.’ But the majority, I think, of Canadians would say that they don’t agree with gay marriage – that man and woman were created to be married, not man and man or man and horse, you know?
There's that "majority" word again. If 99/100 people want to act like swine, then it must be ok.
Mr. Reynolds Sr., that level of comment deserves only a heart felt "fuck you".
For those keeping score, the Reynolds are the good guys. They must be, they say they are.
Read more here and here.
...Wrote the agency in a tweet: "Very sad to read Sean Avery's misguided support of same-gender 'marriage'. Legal or not, it will always be wrong." The tweet was followed up by two more denying anti-gay bigotry, and saying, "This is my personal viewpoint. I Do not hate anyone."
Whatever, no one is buying your* bullshit.
* A one Todd Reynolds "In Canada and the U.S. it’s a hot-button topic right now. I guess maybe it was how I was raised (for an example of that "raising", see below). I believe in voicing your opinion and not being part of the silent majority"
The Silent Majority. Now Nixonian, ah the nostalgia...now where was I? Oh yes. Notice how he assumes he's in the majority?
It's an "issue" in Canada (where marriage has been legal for years, and it's not really an issue) only to bigots like Mr. Reynolds as they didn't get their way to continue centuries of repression.
And all this happened under a conservative government (and even they tried and failed to prevent it). That must be particularly galling to Mr. Reynolds. If you can't count on conservatives to keep a minority down, what has the world come to?
Progress is a bitch, eh Todd? Now we all get to voice our opinion of your droppings of wisdom.
Oh wait, your dad has spoken up:
It’s politically correct on the other side, for people to say, ‘sure, I support gay marriage.’ But the majority, I think, of Canadians would say that they don’t agree with gay marriage – that man and woman were created to be married, not man and man or man and horse, you know?
There's that "majority" word again. If 99/100 people want to act like swine, then it must be ok.
Mr. Reynolds Sr., that level of comment deserves only a heart felt "fuck you".
For those keeping score, the Reynolds are the good guys. They must be, they say they are.
Read more here and here.
Gas prices rise yet again, with the knowledge the public are sheep and will do nothing about it
Don't complain, cause you know you plan to do fuck all about it...
The price of gas in the Greater Toronto Area has gone up 6.5 cents overnight to almost $1.40 per litre at most stations.
The average price per litre of unleaded gas in Toronto Tuesday morning was $1.39, up from an average of $1.33 on Monday, according to the website Gasbuddy.com.
Many stations in the city were quiet before the morning rush hour, in stark contrast to Monday evening, when drivers formed long lines after hearing reports that a big spike was coming.
Read more here.
The price of gas in the Greater Toronto Area has gone up 6.5 cents overnight to almost $1.40 per litre at most stations.
The average price per litre of unleaded gas in Toronto Tuesday morning was $1.39, up from an average of $1.33 on Monday, according to the website Gasbuddy.com.
Many stations in the city were quiet before the morning rush hour, in stark contrast to Monday evening, when drivers formed long lines after hearing reports that a big spike was coming.
Read more here.
Microsoft to buy Skype, thus guaranteeing it will never function correctly again
Microsoft will confirm later that it has agreed to buy internet phone service Skype, the BBC has learned.
According to some reports, the deal could be worth as much as $8.5bn (£5.2bn), which would make it Microsoft's largest acquisition.
Both Microsoft and Skype have declined to comment.
Let me do that for you....FUCK!!!
Will Microsoft do its usual arrogant move and cut the Mac version? Time will tell.
IMHO, this move benefits no one but the companies involved.
Read more here.
According to some reports, the deal could be worth as much as $8.5bn (£5.2bn), which would make it Microsoft's largest acquisition.
Both Microsoft and Skype have declined to comment.
Let me do that for you....FUCK!!!
Will Microsoft do its usual arrogant move and cut the Mac version? Time will tell.
IMHO, this move benefits no one but the companies involved.
Read more here.
Monday, May 09, 2011
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Doug Ford pushes Non Pinko priority: Football
No Dougie *, bad! You are supposed to be pleasing your American visitors with lavish expenditures in stadiums, not annoying them...
Yes, Dougie is still pushing that all important Toronto stadium, the one he will build so his visiting American friends will have something to do will in the city.
Dougie is awful at PR...
A Toronto city councillor has outraged NFL fans in New Orleans with comments about the team possibly moving to his city.
Doug Ford, brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, told a sports journalist this week that he was excited about the possibility of an NFL franchise relocating to north of the border. The brothers are known as big football fans — and big fans of the NFL.
Doug Ford told sports network The Score that he believed Toronto is in line for a franchise. But then he said, "Two teams are kind of in play here: Jacksonville’s number one; New Orleans is the other."
To paraphrase Thomas Dolby: "He's an airhead..."
It is good to see he is fighting for the things Toronto needs, like a new stadium. Subways and bike paths, who needs 'em.
* to our non Toronto readers, Dougie is Councilor Doug Ford, brother of the new Mayor Rob. For some reason known only to the brothers and the media, Doug is given overgenerous access to the press to say delightfully silly things (possibly to deflect attention away from his brothers' actions) at regular intervals.
Read more here.
Yes, Dougie is still pushing that all important Toronto stadium, the one he will build so his visiting American friends will have something to do will in the city.
Dougie is awful at PR...
A Toronto city councillor has outraged NFL fans in New Orleans with comments about the team possibly moving to his city.
Doug Ford, brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, told a sports journalist this week that he was excited about the possibility of an NFL franchise relocating to north of the border. The brothers are known as big football fans — and big fans of the NFL.
Doug Ford told sports network The Score that he believed Toronto is in line for a franchise. But then he said, "Two teams are kind of in play here: Jacksonville’s number one; New Orleans is the other."
To paraphrase Thomas Dolby: "He's an airhead..."
It is good to see he is fighting for the things Toronto needs, like a new stadium. Subways and bike paths, who needs 'em.
* to our non Toronto readers, Dougie is Councilor Doug Ford, brother of the new Mayor Rob. For some reason known only to the brothers and the media, Doug is given overgenerous access to the press to say delightfully silly things (possibly to deflect attention away from his brothers' actions) at regular intervals.
Read more here.
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