Despite his previous attacks on Nelson Mandela and longtime moronic behaviour, Tory MP Rob Anders has been continually protected by the central Tory brass around Stephen Harper from ever being challenged for his free ticket to Parliament from Calgary West, despite numerous attempts over the years to elect somebody qualified
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Pizza May Contain Veggies, Boards Contain Nuts
Once upon a time, Saskboy made a pizza. It was not according to the design of the requester, instead it had nutritious onions on it. Saskboy got the cold shoulder when he delivered it. This short story was brought to you by the makers of pizza. It’s a vegetable on
Continue readingMorton's Musings: A directed verdict is not available if there is any admissible evidence which, if believed by a properly charged jury acting reasonably, would justify a conviction
R.v. Barros, 2011 SCC 51 has some useful language regarding directed verdicts: A directed verdict is not available if there is any admissible evidence, whether direct or circumstantial which, if believed by a properly charged jury acting reasonably, would justify a conviction: R. v. Charemski, [1998] 1 S.C.R. 679, at paras. 1-4; R.
Continue readingViews from the lake - eh?: “Some honourable members: No.”
On Wednesday November 2 Members of the House of Commons stood to mark the start of Veterans Week. As appropriate the Hon. Steve Blainey, Minister of Veterans Affairs, started off with a speech recognizing the contribution of so many men and women who served in the Canadian Forces over the
Continue readingExcerpt from UC Davis 2010-2012 General Catalog: pepper spray
From Jay Rosen: UC Davis course catalog, pepper spray edition Applied Biological Systems Technology (College of Agricultural and Environmental Science) 176. Introduction to Pepper Spray. (3) Lecture— 3 hours. Prerequisite: Crowd Control Through Chemicals 122B. Basic uses of pepper spray in threatening, semi-threatening and completely non-threatening and utterly peaceful situations. Common
Continue readingLinda McQuaig gets it. Occupy signals a new era.
Occupy has been starved for meaningful commentary from the press corps. Most of what has been published varies from haven’t-got-a-clue to total bullshit. Most journalists need to be told what to write. Occupy has kept its beliefs and goals close to the vest. It hasn’t been easy without a roadmap for a
Continue readingThe winter of the #Occupy movement
Camp after camp has now fallen across Canada as the police have moved in, usually at night, to chase Occupiers out of public spaces. The ritual of order restoration has taken place in coordinated fashion across the country. Someone from another planet might wonder about these massive expenditures of state
Continue reading350 or bust: Anti-Science Hackers Recycle Stolen Emails Prior to Durban Climate Talks
It turns out the fossil fuel industry is into recycling (who knew?). The hacked emails from the University of East Anglia’s climate centre have been re-released just prior to COP17, the UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa next week. While ultimately all the climate scientists who were widely vilified
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Invisible Hand Has Failed Canadian Innovation
The Globe and Mail is running an interesting series this week on Canada’s miserable performance in business innovation and productivity. Here is the main page. Barrie McKenna’s long piece on Saturday set the stage. The “infographic” that went with the article included some interesting tidbits: Canada provides by far the
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Terence Corcoran: Disappointed that Climate Change Might Not be Happening Fast Enough?
No sooner was the metaphorical ink drying on my attack on National Post faux-environmentalist Lawrence Solomon’s paranoid conspiracy theory that climate change is being perpetrated by insurance companies as an excuse to jack up their premiums, that I realized I would have to return to the same deposit of BS
Continue readingLinda McQuaig gets it. Occupy signals a new era.
Occupy has been starved for meaningful commentary from the press corps. Most of what has been published varies from haven’t-got-a-clue to total bullshit. Most journalists need to be told what to write. Occupy has kept its beliefs and goals close to the vest. It hasn’t been easy without a roadmap for a
Continue readingcartoon life: The landscape exhibition #19
Sunset Filed under: art, design, digital, painting Tagged: art, collage, digital, iPad, landscape, painting
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Battle For Wetzel County: Short Documentary Chronicles Impacts of Fracking In West Virginia
This short documentary, “Battle for Wetzel County,” chronicles the impacts of the gas fracking rush in West Virginia, focusing on the damages caused by Chesapeake Energy’s drilling activity in the mountains of this rural county. The film features interviews with Wetzel County residents, including Marty Whiteman and his daughter Sarah Wood
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Jim Stanford points out that when it comes to manufacturing, any talk of an “invisible hand” doing much for productivity is based purely on faith rather than evidence: When it comes to Canada’s lousy record in productivity and innovation, the standard prescription of
Continue reading#OCCUPYXMAS kicks off Nov 25/26
Adbusters is at it again. I don’t know how influential this campaign will be. People just like spending money too much.
Continue readingIt’s now unAmerican to eat Thanksgiving turkey
This turkey wants to kill your mama Why? Because Butterball turkeys are the victim of ‘Islamic slaughter’. Well not actually, it’s just that when one of Pam Geller’s readers wrote Butterball asking if its turkeys were halal, the firm replied in the affirmative. So what’s a wild-eyed Islamophobe to do?
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Dalton McGuinty’s Mama Didn’t Raise no Fools
Part of the Ontario Liberal campaign Forward Together was a promised cut to tuition fees for post-secondary education. I’m sure many students thought they’d heard that before, but last week, McGuinty kept his campaign promise and announced that tuition fees would be slashed by 30% for any student whose parents
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