Thinking Aboot

GAME OF THRONES

2012-03-05T11:57:00.001-08:00

The Game of Thrones will be a cultural phenomena bigger than Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Twilight combined. This thread will collect tribute to its greatness.

First lets start with the Simpsons.

Trailer new March 5, 2012

Whats Going On

2012-03-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

The problem is most governments have forgotten they serve the greater good, not their own self interests. Best practices, science, indisputable analytics, census, are all enemy's to be discredited. The means has become the ends.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/economics-in-the-crisis/

Ready for the Future

2012-02-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hiding in Child Porn

2012-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

The conservatives tried to enact a very bad law. No civil society allows the police, spy’s and sure not the commercial ministry to invade a citizens privacy without Judicial oversight. This only happens in a police state. Why would the conservatives even contemplate such action? It’s not a complex issue, the government lies about its true effect, and hides behind child pornography, this has nothing to do with child porn, the police already know about and have identified more users than they can arrest. If this is not stopped our children will be living in a country best described as a merger of Orwell and Kafka.

Sign here while you still can. http://www.stopspying.ca/

THE MAN

2012-02-06T16:39:00.001-08:00

The MAN is only there to fuck with your head and make you think things you would never have believed if you thought about them.

NUKE PIRATES FROM ORBIT

2012-01-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

Crazy American Government wants to kill the internet to save it from Pirates. See how long it lasts without me.

2011 will look great in 2012

2012-01-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

Thats Entertainment

2012-01-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

What to do?

Most of us are fortunate enough to look for things to occupy our time. Increasingly it’s a problem to find enough effortless time sponges. Sure anyone could scrub away at a 6 pack or even a musical instrument. Hobbies are another great outlet for some; I appreciate the effort but can find little passion beyond acknowledgement of time well spent. Therefore I am limited to computer games, books and visual storytelling. I loved playing Fallout, but after 200 hours of Fallout New Vegas I was bagged, I still have not finished the game and have not touched it in a couple of months. It was a RPG/FPS and I just grew tired of completing tasks. The best FPS of late is Homefront, but, but, what about, I don’t play games until they go on sale. Reading the Game of Thrones books, five volumes totally close to 5000 pages was a revelation re igniting my lifelong passion for both Sci Fi and reading. This is the Lord of the Rings for Adults, many of the themes and observations are similar, but much more focused and much more torn from today’s headlines. What I really liked about many of Tom Clancy’s works was the way he dissected the story revealing the real event. Game of Thrones is all about how live is lived and how most people are pawns, and how dangerous it is to move up. Picking from this list should provide another 5000 pages of prime reading real estate. (Especially the Stephenson)

All my favorite TV over the last year I watched here. its one of the few sites to escape the copyright holders pogrom. Now I hate the comparison to genocide and ethnic cleansing as much as most, but in the case of copyright enforcement it is the same mentality if not the same consequence. Every study says pirate activity actually boosts legitimate sales. Why does the industry keep shooting holes in their own boat?

Top ten TV shows of 2011

1) Game of Thrones

2) Walking Dead

3) American Horror Story

4) Fringe

5) Breaking Bad

6) Dexter

7) Merlin

8) NCIS

9) Burn Notice

10) Sanctuary

Top ten Movies (I saw) in 2011 (nothing stands out)Watch here

1) The Lincoln Lawyer

2) Dark Knight

3) Killer Elite

4) Horrible Bosses

5) The Ides of March

6) Source Code

7) Limitless

8) Hana

9) Unknown

10) Kill the Irishman

11) Special mention Inception, Hostel 3 is out, Hostel 1 was a great movie in every respect, number 3 is a great time waster

Hot Landing

2012-01-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Flying into Kai Tak

I experienced the thrill dozens of times. Sitting on the right hand passenger side you could read the brand on the shoes of people playing tennis on the ground. I always wanted to climb up on top of the checkerboard and make a video of the planes coming right at you.

Steve does Paris

2011-12-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a sales meeting at my companies Paris HQ. It was really exciting and we are launching some new products that will be game changers. Though it seems impossible I can see myself working even harder in 2012. Although it rained most days it was warm enough for a t shirt at times and nothing more than a sweatshirt. If you want to do Paris on the cheap without the crowds don’t hesitate to go at this time of year. Now Paris on the cheap is an oxymoron. I changed $100 at the airport and got Euro 58 back, which is not enough money for a taxi down town. That will buy you 6.6 pints of draft at a pedestrian pub. The company program went from early morning to late, late at night, so I never got to go to the Moose Bar. One of my French colleagues was a Canadian who moved to Paris at age 11, talk about an independent child. Anyway, according to him the Moose is the only place to watch hockey in Paris. The company put on two teambuilding exercise, one had us do a Hells Kitchen like episode and cook dinner for 42 people. It took place on a boat floating on the Siene under the supervision of 3 chefs, it was fantastic and the meal was superb. The other was skating at a hockey rink, it was the only time in my life anyone in any way suggested I was a phenomenal skater. They don’t believe in Zamboni’s or flooding the rink in France. It was like skating on bamboo stalks. At least they did have hockey skates instead of figure skates like most skate rental places in Europe. I had to try on 3 pair to get a set with the blades aligned at 90 degrees to the boot. Sharpening is also another skill the French have failed to master. Basically I spent an hour picking people up off the ice. The French believe hockey is a violent and dangerous game, well most of the people at this event injured themselves worse than being on the wrong end of a Pronger two hander. Air travel continues to decline from the sublime to the ridiculous, but what are you going to do it’s a big world out there.

Mean Mr Mars

2011-11-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

A Very exciting development that could have a huge psychological effect upon humanity. Imagine knowing there was life on other planets, imagine all those words from directly from GOD that did not take that important information into account.

X Prize takes the Prize

2011-10-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

Motivation is a multifaceted wonder, and the X Prize is a jewel in this field. The latest victory is the $1million dollar prize for oil clean up, advanced the art more in a few months than the Oil Industry had done in two decades since Exxon Valdez. One million dollars is less than Exxon spends on coffee each month, shame on them. How much better could oil refineries be, how much cleaner could gasoline and diesel be.

Not a survivalist

2011-10-25T08:35:00.003-07:00

I am not a survivalist. I believe the media over amps violence and fear, and governments of all stripes echo this because it makes them seem more useful and relevant. Now Canadians are under attack from a government that is pushing a law and order agenda that has been proven to create the opposite. Surely this is the goal. In relatively crime free Canada it’s hard to get the population to fear for its safety, so the Government is going to bring us an American style nihilistic underclass, as a foil to extend its ideological grip indefinitely. Therefore I have been projecting that in my future situations that exist in the USA and worse places will come to Canada. I spent a couple of weeks on business in Buenos Aries before the economic collapse. My hosts kept me constantly occupied continually exposing me to all aspects of life in Argentina. I left with nothing but platitudes for that country. I have lived on continental Europe for most of a decade and spent years in most Asian countries. At that time if I had to choose to live elsewhere Argentina would be a top consideration along with Australia and New Zealand. Recently I came across the blog surviving Argentina. It was shocking to read about the dystopian reality of todays Argentina. It was more shocking to read the authors conclusions and evidence that America was deep into the precursor events that changed Argentina.

Although I have real fears the US will descend into madness, I am hopeful Canada will not change much and repelled by events in America will soundly reject our current Conservative government. Nevertheless I was both a Boy Scout (always be prepared) and an avid consumer of speculative fiction. Therefore I will use this post to gather materials and methods to survive the potential collapse.

Location, location, location, geography is going to be the biggest factor in any scheme. In my scenario I rule out tropical islands, and moving to New Zealand. I am not independently wealthy and billionaires are going to be the first to fall unless they are extremely clever. Assume I have a couple of million, but anyone can take something from the coping solutions I follow.

City or country: its counter intuitive but in a simple economic collapse the city is safer than the country. It is far too easy to plan an attack on an isolated location. There will be organized gangs who make it their business to forage upon the remote defenders. Furthermore, isolation means little hope of reinforcements. So I am choosing a suburban environment.

Picking a location that has temperate climate, good soil, water and sustainable population narrows the field considerably. Then one must consider the three secrets to success. 1) Education 2) Effort 3) Native cunning. With native cunning predominate in a society in flux. Therefore pick someplace you understand. Pick someplace you’re going to have allies you can gauge for trust and reliability. In conclusion moving someplace you have never lived is a huge risk. Don’t even consider places where you are not a fluent speaker.

I have selected a 50 acre farm in Niagara on the lake. This is relatively densely populated area, with wind, sun, water, good soil and a temperate wine growing climate. Creating a compound of three shipping container basedQuik will provide sustainable security. The houses would feature armored shutters, external fires suppression, and air exchange from a hidden source. Two of the homes would be for families sharing my survival dream. With electronic sentinels, remote firearms and a network of blinds, defense of the realm against gangs is accomplished.

Firearms

In Canada the selection of legal firearms is relatively restricted. Handguns are not legal accept under very very tough terms.

The Remington R-25 semi-automatic is a beauty, .308 caliber bullets will punch through armor and be deadly at long range.

Remington R-15 recoilless .22 semi-auto. Perfect for women and children.

The Black Special is a civilian version of the Swiss Army Rifle.

Crossbows like the Excalibur can’t live without them.

Swords but you have to practice. Good knives Gerber gear featured on the Walking Dead. and Ontario Tactical Knives, official wet work weapons.

Zombie Fighter

Basic prep is playing Fallout, and picking locks, an invaluable skill.
http://www.bussecombat.com/knives/index.shtml

Fantastic blog by a real survivalist, he has lived our nightmares.

Are Direct Injection Gasoline Engines ready for prime time?

2011-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

I love Honda, and admire Toyota. Unless I was independently wealthy I would need a lot of convincing to purchase anything else. My top 5 criteria for choosing a car are:

1. Reliability (life cycle cost)

2. Fuel Economy

3. Interior comfort

4. Exterior Styling

5. Safety

While GDI engines were invented in 1925, it was not until 1996 there potential became mainstream. In 2011 most Brands have a version except for Honda and Toyota. Now I know why. Despite a 10 to 15% boost in both power and fuel economy, two big liabilities. First the high pressure pumps needed are expensive and complex (repair Kaching$). Secondly there are burn issues that lead to oil burning and carbon build up. Therefore I now know why Honda and Toyota have been cautious, and if you’re buying a car with GDI, beware.

Thank God for Breaking Bad

2011-09-27T10:13:00.001-07:00

I am rapidly outgrowing TV, both Network and Cable offerings. This season of True Blood was brutal; I hope we are not seeing a repeat of the slow death of 6 ft under. Burn Notice has plot disbelief problems but still entertaining Boardwalk Empire is also engaging but no masterpiece. The sole remains champion of the idiot box remains: Breaking Bad.

Blow him out of the sky Dano

2011-09-27T08:30:00.001-07:00

When ideology rules the police have air to air destructive capability. Despite spend close to $1 trillion a year (on defense) the NYC Cops can still justify air to air combat redundancy. Why not just put shoulder mounted SAMS in the police car trunk?

No way to sugarcoat Nazi's emerging from the South Pole

2011-09-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

Even reading the sanitized version of Operation Highjump raises doubts. Then ponder how Admiral Forrestal died weeks after Operation Highjump. Lots of Highjump links, here, here, and lets not forget the tie in to Operation Paperclip, here. Rosewell has cover from Occams Razer, Operation Highjump is the truth shaved.

Wikileaks may be poised to(video for hardcore only) blow the lid off these mysteries. Ironically I could not find any rational links to the Wikileak UFO story, who would have guessed it? Will history fundamentally change in October? No matter what the facts, highly unlikely. However, what if the current finance crisis is a front for a Nazi takeover? The Nazi’s after 60 years of living in Hollow earth choosing this time to emerge would explain everything.

People still Read?

2011-09-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Like most fans I love to wear the colour.

Some of my favorite T shirts are brands, products, or places from fictional worlds. HBO got me hooked on Game of Thrones and I am slowly reading the series. I think about reading like I think about listening to the Beatles. I know I like the sound but I just cant get thrilled about the idea any more. Then a song comes on the I pod and I am hooked all over again.

One of the most underrated contemporary future history authors has to be Australian John Birmingham. If you liked the movie The Philadelphia Experiment , this 3 book series will be a real treat. The premise is the same but instead of a single ship going forward to the present, a whole fleet of 2020 NATO ships goes back to WWII. Great stuff and please make the movie.
http://www.disclose.tv/action/music/596/THE_PHILADELPHIA_EXPERIMENT/

Dreaming of the Future in a 787

2011-09-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Boeing in order to spite the unions almost destroyed the company with its bungles on the 787 development. However, now the first plane has been delivered and all will be forgotten.
http://gizmodo.com/5852073/could-boeings-miracle-plane-make-flying-suck-less

Rambling again

2011-09-26T07:12:00.001-07:00

It’s been a few weeks since I posted, mostly nothing new to discuss or worthy subjects already well-reviewed with better prose and more passion.

What is it with Conservatives and Jets, why do they love toys more than their country? First we have too many private government jets, likely because every time the Bombardier salesman needs a sale he calls daddy. However, its time to cut this fat. The bigger issue is why does our PM fly private when the British PM fly commercial?

Glad to see Ford Nation chewing off its leg to get out of self-made traps. Is it too late to save transit city?

The Ontario provincial election is a mess. Liberals should win, but Tim Hudak is not challenged even by his stupidest policies. Number one, power, if he gets rid of the Smart Meters your power bill will go up 44% on 69% of your FAMLIES consumption.

I join the chorus of those who are writing off Obama, Washington a place where hope and change go to die.

My beloved Canadians are shaping up for a cup run, but it all depends on the big M to make it a lock.

Conrad Black never disappoints. In essences he is now in jail for obstruction of justice. The evidence of this is the video of him removing boxes. In his defense he claims he installed the cameras to make it easy for the Justice Department to catch him. Thus totally innocent, and its not a crime in Canada, pity!

Quaddaffi Duck and GWB

2011-09-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

They were having a torture bromance, how sweet. In 2004 CIA kidnapped off the streets of Bangkok the guy who is now leading the Libyan Rebels and delivered him to Tripoli. Next time some pol talks about freedom, your money and your sons and daughters remember this.

Bob and Doug Ford do the Waterfront

2011-08-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

After decades of excruciating negotiations planning and getting three levels of government to commit to a plan the vision of a world class waterfront for Toronto has been advancing and all the ducks are a row to finish the project over another 20 years. Doug after watching the Simpsons scribbles on his napkin and comes up with a better plan, a shopping mall with a Monorail and Hotel on the waterfront. I support this urban planning wunderkind, who needs all that education planning and consulting, go Dougie.

Top ten reasons to build shopping mall on the lake

1)No waterfront city in the world including Hong Kong has done it.

2)When the international car thief’s steal your car its way more green to load it directly from the parking lot.

3)All the runoff from rain can do directly into the lake, do you have any idea how much it costs to process all the runoff from other shopping malls.

4)It will be a world class destination for RV drivers. No other city in the world has this kind of infrastructure for them to utilize. Direct access to water, and a place for those who are libertarians to dump organic waste.

5) The wind from the lake will blow away any trash, operating cost for this mall will be world class.

6)The Don Valley Parkway and Gardner expressway are infrastructure treasures, a mall will fully utilize this resource.

7)People shopping don’t care about the noise from the airport, killing two birds with one stone.

8)It will have a monorail, and monorail was the best Simpsons ever.

9)The West Edmonton mall is only on a river.

10)Ford nation will be able to view the waterfront from a drive through.

NPR list of top 100 Sci Fi and Fantasy

2011-08-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Cover art from Peter F Hamilton Reality Dysfunction by Jim Burns

Of the top 100 I have read 49(80finalist). IMHO too much fantasy, but a great list. I would add some Greg Bear, Peter F Hamilton and David Birn and take out some fantasy writers. Margret Atwood’s Ornyx and Crate should have made the list as well.
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/07/138938145/science-fiction-and-fantasy-finalists
John Birmingham has some terrific movie worth works.
http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dca-books-english-tree&field-keywords=+John+Birmingham&x=13&y=15
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/09/sfsignalnpr100flowchart.jpg

RIP Jack Layton

2011-08-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

A great Canadian who will be missed dearly. Condolences to his immediate family and his family of millions of Canadians.

Top Ten Reasons Canadians Should celebrate Castro's Birthday

2011-08-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Photo by (Podknox)

Top ten reasons Canadians should celebrate Castro’s 85^th Birthday

1) Over the years we have made a bundle selling Cuban cigars to Americans

2) Gives Canadians a safe place to go south in the winter.

3) Provides an answer to the question how are Canadians different from Americans?

4) The iconic photo of Che looks great in your dorm or on a T-shirt.

6) Even when he had the chance he did not nuke America

7) Keeps Giorgio Mammoliti busy plotting his overthrow.

8) Gives Canada breathing room otherwise we would be the “socialist menace less than a meter from the border”

9) If not for Cuba, Canada would be the star in every Michael Moore documentary.

10) We can all wear sandals in the summer now because PET wore them once in Cuba.

Controlling the Narrative

2011-08-15T06:01:00.001-07:00

Do you want sulphur with your gas

2011-08-15T05:57:00.001-07:00

Falling over the Falls

2011-08-15T05:56:00.001-07:00

I feel terrible for the family of the young woman who fell off the railing and was swept over the falls. The British call it death by misadventure. I live near the falls and was shocked to learn it is common for people to stand on the stone blocks that make up the barrier. I hope her death revives common sense.

Bicycle

2011-08-11T05:52:00.003-07:00

Chris Hume in the Toronto Star is spot on with his examination of Toronto's dysfunctional culture.

The wars on the bicycle and muddleheaded worship of the car are perfect symbols for Toronto’s ennui with progress.

Cure for Cancer

2011-08-11T05:51:00.001-07:00

A quick google looking for links between HIV virus and cancer cures pulls up this 2005 story from Austraila. The only story linking the University of Pensylania cancer cure to HIV is here.. Is the HIV aspect of this discovery buried because of fears the public will not understand that HIV can cure as well as kill, or is it a fear that many will think it is proof HIV was a man made virus?

Stupid on purpose

2011-08-04T05:38:00.003-07:00

Someday I will add always on appliance to my list of stupid things we used to do. In Europe the boxes have a sleep mode, but in North America, ohh no, I might have to wait a second for it to come on and we can’t have that. So 9 coal fired plants run full time costing $2 Billion in wasted energy to power set top boxes that are not being used. These vampires are using more energy than the refrigerator. If you have one you can save a bundle just by putting them on a power bar and shutting them off when you go to bed.

Littoral Ships Fail

2011-08-04T05:38:00.001-07:00

I support a reasonable military, and weapons to support a supportable strategy. The US has long lost the forest for the trees. The air force is doomed with the F35 and the Navy has lost it with the Littoral ships, a horror story beyond belief.

Atwood Vs. Ford

2011-07-27T05:31:00.001-07:00

Doug Fords attempted beat down on Margaret Atwood reveals a lot. All the early statements are gone, but it maybe he really did not know who she was and did not even take the time to find out before making his statement.

It is incredible that a pint sized pol would insult one of the greatest living Canadians. Shame Shame Shame! Her book Oryx and Crake is one of the finest sci fi ever written by any author of any nation.

Taliban on the ropes

2011-07-27T05:29:00.001-07:00

Picture by(isafmedia)

The mayor of Kandahar was assassinated, and the US ambassador to Afghanistan commented “this is proof we have the Taliban on the run, they are so weak all they can do is assassinate top level targets.” Why do Politian’s continue to flog dead horses insisting they are only resting, and sure to win the race? Maybe its not that they think we are stupid it’s that enough people are stupid enough to accept these spin statements as reassuring. Looking at the debt ceiling battle in the US confirms this assumption.

Also confirmed is that the Karzai government will last about ten minutes after the Americans leave. So why spend another dollar, or lose another life in Afghanistan?

Montreal trip

2011-07-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Just about recovered from a three day trip to Montreal. I got a very cool souvenir from Ikea. I love to read sitting on the lazy boy like chair, but have never found a good light to complement the excellence of the other parts of my mancave. Well the LED from IKEA is fantastic, buy at least one.

I came to Montreal in a fully loaded cargo van in keeping with my parental responsibility to help my offspring move forward from first to second year at McGill. So my question is why did Montreal move against me. Every key intersection, interchange and even the highway was under construction. Traffic moved like Stephen Harper rolling a joint. Then just when the whole city was torn up and covered in orange detour signs the construction union took the annual two week holiday. Sincerely this is what I love about Montreal, the Anglo can go to the beach and the worker will be at his or her side.

Move went great, nice apartment in a very funky neighborhood.

Harry Potter the Progressive Model

2011-07-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the last Harry Potter, and find it wonderful so many young people will enjoy this tale of a progressive turning his back on concentrating power at his center. Republicans will be burning JK Rowlings books very soon.

Why Chinese Canadians do not enlist in Military

2011-07-15T05:54:00.001-07:00

Photo (stevendepolo)

Top Ten reasons Chinese Canadians don’t enlist

1) No German made vehicles to drive, Chinese only drive German made.

2) White guys never serve rice

3) Way to much beer drinking, never see cognac

5) Get very insulted at rife range when instructor says, “you can stop squinting now”

6) Barracks totally lacking Feng Shiu

7) Have way to much combat experience all ready from Team Fortress tournaments

8) No business class on C5A(Transport Planes)

9) Camoes are all generic brand

10) No Armani dress uniforms

11) Jackie Chan always fought without guns

12) No Ninja units in Canadian Forces

13) Know most Ammo comes from China and likely will not work when most needed.

In every other city in the world

2011-07-13T16:54:00.001-07:00

Yes in every other city in the world they are spending to increase bike use for obvious reasons, in Toronto they are going to spend half a million dollars to take away bike lanes. Alice you’re probably in Kansas.

Crazy Airport Scheming

2011-07-13T06:00:00.001-07:00

ThePickering airport would not only be a boondoggle it has chum deal written all over it. Looking at the map its clear the biggest beneficiary would be HWY 407 Inc.

Kuala Lumpur’s recent airport cost $4 Billion and has capacity for 25 million passengers each year. Person airport occupies 1972 hectares. The Pickering site is 7350 hectares, I wonder who will get to buy the surplus and at what cost. Hamilton airport has 1852 hectares, so it begs the question why can’t Hamilton be expanded to equal the capacity of Pearson, thus negating the need for a new airport. That is if the exponential passenger projections have any validity. For far less than the cost of the Pickering airport an High Speed Train line from Pickering to Hamilton plus a Terminal could be constructed. This balloon reeks of chum.

Young Ziggy

2011-07-11T12:29:00.001-07:00

I found this over at Dangerous Minds

Ziggy Stardust is one of my all-time favorite albums, and I was lucky enough to see the Bowie Serious Moonlight tour in Montreal at the old forum. In the back of my mind is a novel about a man who discovers an ancient starship and convinces the world he is Ziggy Stardust ruler of Mars. I appoint myself one of the spiders and use the advanced technology to produce a more perfect world.

Paying the Bills

2011-07-11T05:53:00.001-07:00

Picture ( Stephen Oachs)

Looking at a list of countries tax revenues vs expenditures we see the USA has a 13% gap. So cutting spending by 13% would bring it into balance. However it seems every country spends more than it takes in? Even Singapore spends 3% more than income. Obviously this is not the whole picture. What is clear is the US has to close that gap. The question is will it. I predict no. The Republicans are so far out of touch with reality they may actually believe their own nonsense, or maybe they are Fight Club fans. It is the biggest game of political chicken ever played. If Obama thinks he will own the outcome he loses, if the Republicans own the outcome he still loses, if he concedes he loses. I see a trend here.

Stop giving it away

2011-07-08T05:48:00.001-07:00

There is a tectonic shift taking place in the world, supplyis running out and demand is ramping up. For Canada it will be a very good time, but who will get most of the benefits. Under our current rules oil companies pay less in royalties than we gain from the lottery. Our levels are less than in Texas. It is time to follow Australia and put a 30% extraction fee on all natural resources.

Right now a US Hedge fund is plotting to remove resources from a delicate area. Please sign the petition to stop them, if it must be done let’s make sure they pay the full price.

Flying Outhouse's last dump

2011-07-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

Space the final frontier

The long nightmare of space exploration is nearly over. First launched in 1982 the go decider for the Shuttle program was Dick Nixon. It was supposed to be a space pickup, a DC3 for space. It was a brain dead decision from the start. The shuttle weighs some 239,8000 lbs., the biggest cost of exploring space is lifting mass into space. NASA is so concerned about weight that all astronauts must have an enema before launch. The Russian Soyuz capsule that will succeed the Shuttle as the sole means of supplying the space station first flew in 1967. The reusable part weighs 6000lbs. No matter how you run the numbers, every launch is putting 200,000lbs of useless mass into orbit. For comparison the Saturn V had a payload of 262,000 lbs. A shuttle launch costs $1.5 Billion, a Soyuz launch $80 million. The Ariane 5 lifts 39,000lbs for $120 million. There is no doubt the space shuttle program was a mistake if the goal was to lift mass into space. Stage two of this disaster was the mission for the space shuttle. The international space station will be complete in 2012, at a cost of $150 Billion or more. The shuttle was developed to service the space station and the space station exists as a destination for the shuttle. In excesses of $300 Billion has been spent on a project that really has no purpose other than saying we did it. Sure there is some science about living in space, but nothing that MIR could not/did not do. All the experiments could have been done by robots. And that is my bottom line; if the $300 Billion had been better allocated man would be far far farther into the final frontier. NASA has squandered 30 years feeding three dumb decisions; first the Shuttle, second the International Space station, third the manned colony on the moon. Fortunately Obama seems to be putting NASA back on a better glide path. NASA needs better tools to advance and that is where the focus should be in the short term. Without the space station and shuttle sucking up all the oxygen I look forward to big leaps forward.

Tea bag reality

2011-07-07T05:56:00.001-07:00

Rob Ford is a teabagger’s dream. He is an unexamined red neck who more or less inherited both wealth and political credibility. Toronto voters overlooked all of his flaws for his one perceived perfection; he was a tight wad with the public purse. The antithesis of a policy wonk, Rob spent ten years at city hall cultivating a reputation based upon two pillars, never spending any of his expense accounts, and answering calls from not only his own riding but every place a call went unanswered.

Viewed as an organism the city has arteries that bring it water, veins that take away the waste, police that act as the white blood cells: and transportation that is the muscle. Rob Ford has already totally blown the transportation file. He was given a flawed but achievable Transit City, he will leave a transit system in shambles and a first world city with third world transportation effectiveness. The cost to Toronto, Ontario and all Canada will be in the Trillions. So hard to create, so easy to destroy.

For comparison look at a system created by experts and policy wonks. Singapore has a marvelous subway that yikes makes a profit. Geographically and even in shape Singapore is about the same size as the old metro Toronto. Singapore has a population of about 3 million and 129 km of track. In 1994 it had zero. Toronto has 68 Km, what is wrong with this picture.

Rob jumps the Quest for Excellence Shark. The goverment of Toronto does not manufacture a product, it is a service provider, idiot.

Goverment for the Corporation by the Corporation

2011-07-06T05:41:00.001-07:00

Photo (Peter Blanchard)

Take a peek into the mind of madness.. The world food safety organization has mandated that Genetically Modified foods be identified. Canada will make it voluntary. Just a few years ago hydrogenated foods (transfats) were seen as harmless. Now we know they are a fatbomb. Because we are what we eat, it makes total sense to be extremely cautious about food.
Consider these scenarios:
just like antibiotic resistance has been created through agricultural use, insects before resistant to all pesticides and taste bad to natural predators
the food looks good tastes good but has little nutrient value, thus wasting all the energy and land that went into its production.
we become dependent upon these crops and some kind of super blight wipes them out.
So why our government would not even let the consumer make a choice about what they are eating. To add insult to injury the company protected is not even Canadian. As we all know this is just the tip of the iceberg of corporate influence removing choices from Canadians. Ironically it’s the small government types that are always bellowing choice.

Enough of Will and Kate

2011-07-05T05:41:00.003-07:00

Photo (Magnus D)

I refuse to believe the Canadian people are the easily amused buffoons projected by our media. This morning on Canada AM I heard a 5 min discussion on how earnestly Kate and Will look for each other while appearing in public. GEEZ. We don't care, we are unhappy that in these times of restraint, these two genetic lottery winners are taking real millions out of our treasury. This is not our future king, that is Prince Charles, so I sincerely hope we see no more of these freeloaders until Will is actually next in line.

What is behind the frenzy, Harper. Distraction, patriotism, are all part of the psych ops toolkit, and Canada is getting a royal going over.

Unbelievable they are riding around in an Airbus capacity 150 people instead of a Challenger. Cost difference thousands per hour.

Bitter Fruit

2011-07-05T05:41:00.001-07:00

Photo(isafmedia)

Ten years after the tragedy of 911 the combat phase of the Canadian punitive mission to Afghanistan ends. We had to go, but we should have left when the farce of Iraq was staged. The Conservatives used it as a battering ram against both the NDP and Liberals. To their credit both parties are now not taunting Harper, with labels like Taliban Steve, or Cut and run Harper. Does anyone think if Harper was in opposition he would forgo the cheap political points?

Vietnam was a gift to the world; it kept the Americans from conquering the globe, and it revealed the truth about government, even so called democratic ones. Similarly the people of Iraq stopped the US from invading the whole Middle East. Afghanistan may prevent deployment to Africa, if it turns out that way it was a relativity inexpensive lesson. The west poured a Trillion dollars into Afghanistan, and what can it show for it? This is what should be in the headlines today, waste not want not.

The cost of everything and the value of nothing

2011-07-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

I used to buy Hockey cards, I have a complete set of 91 upper deck, with about 5 Mats Sundin RC and a host of others, this cost me at that time about $100. The value today about $5.00 if I could find buyers. The only card I have of any value is this Bobby Orr, maybe I could get $50.

I also have Lanny Mcdanny rookie maybe worth a $20 to some Leaf sucker.

And of course Borje Salming

I paid $5.00 for my Saku RC

Same for Pavel Bure

I did not end up with any Habs cards of value, but Serge is my best

Now I am hoping to cash is on the PHucktards latest blunders. I have two English and one French Jagr RC. I paid $15 for the French one.

And maybe this card is worth an Vodka empty

Finally we has the Steve rookie card, never did make the NHL but always loved the Club du Montreal.

We coulda colonized Mars instead of Iraq

2011-06-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

When the last soldier leaves Iraq and the world sees how easy it is to flush $4 Trillion down the toilet, it makes one wonder, what if George Bush had been a fan of Kim Stanley Robinson instead of Tom Clancy.

Could we establish colonies on Mars now? What if instead of invading Iraq those trillions had been targeted at establishing a colony on Mars? If it were a one way trip it would be very doable. I doubt finding colonists would be a challenge.

There have been many books written about colonies on Mars

I honestly can’t remember anything about this book, but Greg Bear is always

terrific.

Poondyke of Mars is one of the first handful of Science Fiction that I read. Instead of all the crap movies out there I don’t understand why more Heinlein has not been adapted. I relish the Philip K Dick adaptations but as an author Heinlein is better. I loved the first Starship Troopers, but like Poondyke it was one of his juvenile targeted novels, he has much better mature ones.

Top of class is Kim Stanley Robinson. Please HBO make it into a Game of Thrones like TV epic. IMHO one of the finest trilogies’s in SF.

Math Who Needs It

2011-06-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

Miss America contestants answers to the question should math be taught in schools. Fear for the future.

Peg Hockey Wives Winnipeg Highlights

2011-06-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Former Peg Hockey wives have gathered some pictures and talking points to welcome the former Thrasher wives and girlfriends, I have copies of both.

Before you buy you can stay at our luxury hotel the Peg Oais, as you can see from the Antenna, there is AM in every room!

For sure on a daily basis you will meet everyone at the Supercenter!

For your intimate wear it does not get better than Victoria's Parkas!

Driving at first will seem impossible, but there is a great public transit system!

This is a typical luxury home, with two snowmobile garage(Leed Certified all natural materials) and guest tents. Oh course fully winterized.

Photo(Apcbg)

As reported in Vancouver Sun, attempts are being made to make Winnipeg seem livable to the former Thrashers. hockey wife who grew up in Winnipeg is collecting a list of highlights and sending it to all the new Peg Wives. I got a copy.

1)It has an airport
2)Airport mostly deserted you never have to wait in line, and your house will practicably be on the runway.
3)It’s a very walk able city, you could go end to end in a few minutes if not for the snowdrifts.
4)Airport offers flights 3 days a week.
5)They keep the road to the airport well plowed, it is closed down less than a week every year.
6)Peg rink very green, they don’t need artificial ice.
7) Biggest population of Icelanders outside Iceland live in Peg, they report back to Iceland, Peg like Florida.
8)Being totally shitfaced in public common in Peg, it stops blood from freezing. In fact its recommended to always keep blood alcohol level over .2. When you’re shitfaced all the time you will forget you are in Winnipeg.
9)No insects in Peg during NHL regular schedule, and likely Peg will not ever go far enough in playoffs to see June 1 outbreak of bird sized mosquito.
10) You will save thousands on wardrobe, really no choice of what to wear.

Think tank gap

2011-06-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

Photo by (OpenMedia) please click and support

Think tank gaps cause Canadians to only get one side of the issues. Case in point: CD Howe Institute puts forward a 3 page, yes 3 page talking point memo about how to best regulate the future of telecom. The startling conclusion, no regulation, let market forces work their magic. There is no countervailing report, so the report is taken as gospel, the press owned by the vertical integrated near monopolies, puts this report on the front pages of their newspapers, and reports it on their radio and television stations. Effectively using industrial propaganda to shape the common wisdom. This happens on a myriad of issues, and based upon the results it’s easy to see it’s very effective. There are no easy solutions, in the US Billionaires like George Soros have stepped forward to try and level the playing field, in Canada, not so much.

Connie gets big time

2011-06-24T08:27:00.001-07:00

Photo( geograph.org.uk)

Conrad gets to 42 months, likely out in half that time. Can Conrad be considered Canada's financial equivilant of OJ? He faced no charges on Massey Ferguson and Dominion, but what goes around comes around. Looks good on you Lord Beaver of Crap Harbour.

Threat to Humanity

2011-06-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Photo: Office of Naval Research

I am a constant critic of military spending. The Euro and Japanese fix of 1% of GDP seems like plenty, and in the case of Japan more than needed. Cuts to the Free Electron Laser and the railgun are definitely a threat to humanity. When the aliens come even though they may be advanced, we all know that its all about energy delivered to the target, and a missile is sure to be low tech to a civilization that can travel light years and still pack a punch.
http://gizmodo.com/5886846/rip-raygun-pentagons-laser-plane-laid-to-rest

Eating OPEC's CAKE

2011-06-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

Picture (treehugger.com)

A huge flare has just been shot into the air. Thirty million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserves are going to be released over the next 30 days. America consumes 21 million barrels of oil a day. The last significant release was after hurricaneKatrina in 2005, and that was only 9.8 million barrels. Releasing oil is a big deal, never taken lightly. So why now and why so much? Has Obama come around to the correct conclusion that the SPR is a “buggy whip”. An estimate of $200 Billion to transform America from an oil based economy to a hydrogen based economy is not a pipedream. At current prices the SPR is worth $73 Billion. That is a pretty good down payment on the future. Furthermore when the world witnessed Obama abandoning his way back to oil, just like Cortez burning his ships the world would understood the US was serious, and the price of oil would drop dramatically. If the G20 agreed to keep the price to consumers at levels that currently exist in Europe and Japan, ie gas tax of $2 per gallon, the world could have its cake and eat it as well. The tax could pay down the US debt, it would provide funds for modern infrastructure and the world economy would boom due to oil priced at going out of business prices. I sure hope this is Obama’s secret agenda. If you know him please ask him if it’s true?

NDP puts Check on Senate Reform

2011-06-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Picture by frankblacknoir

NDP is on the verge of politically pulling down the pants of the great strategizer. With his laser beam focused upon the economy Harper decided to wade into the Constitutional morass of Senate Reform. How much is this costing in legal fees and consultants etc etc? Jack Layton reading the tea leaves brilliantly intends to introduce a bill to cut funding to the Senate, not eviscerating it but reducing the budget by 2/3. Brilliant, NDP creates a Senate that is all most affordable with no constitutional mess. Of course Harper will not take the pork away from his acolytes, but it will be a big win for the NDP in the court of public opinion.

Case study Greece:The Shock Doctrine in action

2011-06-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

Picture by Larry Tomlinson

But even after winning, he faces an even more difficult task: Getting parliament to back €28-billion ($40-billion U.S.) worth of spending cuts and tax hikes as well as an unpopular €50-billion ($71-billion U.S.) privatization program by the end of the month.”

Most of the privatizations are monopolies, and they always serve the customer so well. If you are thinking Greece is the canary in the coal mine, you are correct. There is no way they could agree to have just the spend and tax changes, after all two years later and you don’t need the privatizations! The good news is that if you live in the USA, well nothing will change. If you live in Canada, well welcome to the USA. The Shock Doctrine, followed by elites since the beginning of time, it’s been up, it’s been down but I am afraid it will always be around.

We can all hope the Shock Troopers never saw The 300?

Photo borrowed from Colonel Flick http://www.zerohedge.com/article/postcards-apocalypse

Tax Lemmings (Lemmings are Native to Norway how Ironic)

2011-06-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

What happened to Canada, where are the people who forced Universal Health Care upon the elites? That decision saved us from the disaster of US health care. Not only are 20% of Americans not covered, much of the coverage is only as good as your health, and the overall cost is 30% more per capita than other Nations. Our greatest National mistake was abandoning Pierre Trudeau and his prescient National Energy Policy. In 2009 Canada was producing 330 million barrels per day and Norway 235 million Barrels, Canada is trending up and Norway down. Norway after paying all the other bills in a pure socialist 6 week holiday, 36 hour work week, 3 years maternity leave country has accumulated a Heritage fund of $500 Billion. They have a NEP, if Canada had maintained its NEP we would be in even better shape, but instead we $550 Billion debt and get piddly Royalties of $9 Billion a year, less money than we make from the lottery, and less money EXXON pays Texas per barrel. On top of that we give tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the oil companies for the privilege of having them take our resources at cost and sell them for huge profits to America. Furthermore it wasMulroney who bankrupted the country not Trudeau. In his defense Mulroney recognized the genius of the Value Added Tax. Properly administered it is not regressive and it forces big spenders to support society more than those by choice or circumstance who spend less. Tax what you want less of, consumption, and reward what you want more of income. Dion was totally on with his carbon tax. Accepting taxes are part of civilization, and then why not adopt a tax policy that forces the nation into a best outcome. The amount of tax does not change, what does change is outcome. Get rid of pollution, provide a bully pulpit to bash the laggards on global warming, and make your nation the most efficient in the world. All squandered to follow Harper over a cliff of Drug Wars, Military Bases, F35 lead sleds, and climate denial.

Bigger than a Wiener

2011-06-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

Photo (Daniel Tückmante)

While the world was transfixed by Mr. Wieners Wiener back in the real world Fukushima continues to fume. Who decided this story had no legs, because it just keeps walking to the top of the pile of history. Engineers finally hooked up a filter to try and trap some of the radioactive material running free. The filter was expected to have the capacity to capture a months’ worth of radioactive cesium, it was full in 4 hours, yes they underestimated the amount being released. OH MY GOD! If you live on the West Coast of the USA, take a Geiger counter to the air filter in your car, and ponder the question, does radioactive air help my gas mileage.

It is also puzzling that theFort Calhoun Nuclear reactor is not in the news, especially when the FAA has declared a no fly zone?

The Greenest Warriors

2011-06-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Of all the advances in warfare two are great victories for the planet, and the taxpayers pocketbook. On and under the seas we have nuclear propulsion. Burning through 700,000 barrels of oil or 2% of total consumption for the USA Military, the USS Kitty Hawk was a dirty dirty beast. It retired in 2009 and at today’s prices its appetite was $70 million a year. Multiply that by the roughly 100 Nuclear Subs and the 38 surface ships and the world is burning some 70 million barrels less oil a year thanks to Nukes. That’s enough oil to run the USA for 3.5 days.

In the last four years the US air force has cut fuel consumption nearly 20%, a big part of that is the energy efficiency of drones vs. piloted planes. Another nail in the coffin for the F35. Compare the operational cost of running a fully loaded reaper drone which burns 385 gallons per hour, to a F16 which uses a staggering 7,000 gallons per hour. Sure a reaper cannot do every mission the F35 might be assigned, but Drones are in their infancy, so why are we buying planes for 2020, when the future is already clear. What a fantastic illustration of how being green is not only about sustainability but also fiscal responsibility.

The official Kabuki theater

2011-06-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by (http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiffy/)

A great take on the abdication of the opposition in Ottawa, hey it might shorten the summer, so why rock the boat. It is another look at how Depape matters.

Sinking and Climbing

2011-06-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Rim rockets rearward. I have a blackberry and it’s a perfectly good phone. The problem for Rim is that the Android and Apple phones are more Nintendo than Bell. The next problem for RIM is what I call the ski binding story. Sometime in the 1980’s ski bindings reach perfection, there was really no way to provide a better binding (platforms still use same binding tech). Smartphones have reached this plateau, so what can RIM do. If I was running the company I would build a huge for sale sign. My opinion is heavily influenced by the trashing I took on that orphans and widows champion Nortel.

Airplanes always inspire, there is nothing more fascinating than defying gravity. IMHO the greatest aircraft designer is Burt Rutan and his Starship the most beautiful plane ever, until succeeded by the Italian Piaggio P180which was the best part of the Miami Vice Movie.

There are a couple of very special Canadian plane manufactures. Diamond Aircraft makes the Austrian designed birds in London.

The illustrious legendary Twin Otter has been reborn in Toronto.

Karmanic Adjustment Bureau

2011-06-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

Boston wins the cup, Harper wins the election, and Hudak is in the driver’s seat, a trifecta of misery for Canada. Unfortunately it is very clear that Boston was the better team. Now if the refs were calling penalties and Rome had got two games instead of four, maybe the outcome would have been closer. What do you do if you are Vancouver? If the twins were not injured there is a huge question mark in front of the team’s direction. Luongo, he will be playing in the minors next season. No sane GM is going to put faith in him to go all the way ever again, and at $6 million a year, he is too expensive to sit on the bench. On the very bright side Montreal was a lucky bounce away from beating Boston, and next year if Montreal has a full team, the Cup should return to Canada. All in all the flood of good Karma created with the death of Bin Laden is in equilibrium from all the bad events of the last months.

Slow News Day

2011-06-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Right now history is taking a break, not much new happening. Some great video right out of sci fi of Liberian rebels pimping wacky weapons. Bilderberg assault on the internet continues, no one notices. I just wonder how many hacks are false flags. The great thing about cyber wars is you can spend hundreds of billions on hardware and only need generals to fight. I once worked for a rubber company; the dream of the board was to sell people a black cube of rubber, one size one formulation. Well for the military Cyber War is that perfect product. Enjoy the summer my fellow Canadians come Sept the Harper nightmare goes into full scream mode.

New Nihilism becomes meme

2011-06-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Thenew nihilism is becoming a meme. See 18 signs verifying we are already heavily affected by new nihilism. Full scale civil unrest is only weeks away.

Gold Jerry pure Gold

2011-06-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

There has been a huge inverse valuation between the price of gold and gold mining stocks. The reasons are all over the map, if I had to pick two it would be the large caps are tapping out and the small caps are risky. Without a price of gold around$1400 an ounce gold mining stocks are not going to rise much. Goldbugs are saying this is about to change, you could do worse, like buying Nortel. I have been thinking about gold juniors and made a list of promising penny stocks. Asterisks indicate stocks that would have made my buy list. Seven winners and 9 losers, but of course I was going to put most the money on Klondike Silver.

Stock Ticker	Name	Stock Value aft Jan 26	Stock Value Jun 14	Change
V: NTR **	Northern Tiger	$0.44	$0.48	9.09%
FOR -T	Frontier Gold	$9.29		-100.00%
AVR.TO**		$1.55	$1.64	5.81%
PTQ**		$1.20	$0.66	-45.00%
IPT.TO*	Impact Silver	$1.34	$1.72	28.36%
AMC.TO*	Alexis Minerals	$0.14	$0.09	-35.71%
KDX.TO*	Klondex Mines	$2.82	$2.54	-9.93%
KS.TO*	Klondike Silver	$0.04	$0.28	600.00%
TK	Tinka Resources*	$0.30	$0.43	43.33%
CFO	Clifton*	$4.05	$2.68	-33.83%
KDX	Klondex*	$2.82	$2.54	-9.93%
GLD	Augen Gold	$0.46	$0.22	-52.17%
PNP**	Pinetree Capital	$3.50	$1.97	-43.71%
AGQ	Arian Silver**	$0.74	$0.41	-44.59%
TSX.V:AVC**	American Vandium	$1.53	$1.59	3.92%
TSX.V: NFR**		$0.33	$0.31	-6.06%
SRD**	Strait Resources	$0.17	$0.07	-58.82%
APA**	apella Vandiam	$0.23	$0.17	-26.09%
ATC**	atec	$6.38	$6.75	5.80%
RMX	Rubicon	$4.99	$4.16	-16.63%
GPD	Golden Predators	$0.71	$0.95	33.80%
WLC	Western Lithium	$1.31	$0.77	-41.22%
AVL	Avalon Rare Metals	$5.52	$5.98	8.33%
LGO	Largo Rare Metals	$0.47	$0.41	-12.77%
AAB	Holding Gold	$0.70	$0.77	10.00%
FSH-X	fish farm	$0.42	$0.37	-11.90%
FEB-X	food additive	$0.67	$0.81	20.90%
INT-X	social media	$0.11	$0.35	218.18%
PKL-T	PC Gold	$0.73	$0.71	-2.74%
CSI	Canadian Solar		$9.57
	Rockgate Capital Corp		$1.24
MXY-T	Magma Energy
SGR-T	gold		$3.20

Canada is not back, and do we want to be there anyhow?

2011-06-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Benchmark	Canada	Turkey
Population	35 Million	74 Million
GDP	$1.330 Trillion	$960 Billion
GDP/Capita	$39,000	$13,400
Corruption Perception index	6	56
Growth Rate	.84%	9%

Canada is not really doing all that well. Turkey also spends $15 Billion a year on military, but you do not hear their PM talking tough about sorting out the world. Mr. Harper please stick to your knitting. Canadians do not want our tax dollars spent on your vainglory.

Why cant we build modern infrastructure

2011-06-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

When I see infrastructure projects like this solar paneled covered high speed train line, I wonder how Canada and by extension the USA cannot get their ducks in a row to do anything modern. Dreaming of High Speed Rail in North America, is to get excited about 150km per hour, China is not dreaming they are building a 400Km/hr Maglev system between Shanghai and Hangzhou (194Km). In Canada would it not be less expensive to put a solar canopy over our Superhwy, than to put up with all the accidents, delays and fantastic maintenance costs caused by exposed roads. It would be killing two birds with one stone, clean power where we need it and better highways. Where have we in North America gone wrong? Any politician that can figure that out deserves a good long term in command.
Game on in Japan.
China leaps ahead. Turns out when you take passenger trains off freight lines, there is more capacity for rail freight, which is cheaper than trucks.

What Bridgette (DePage) DePape was Talking about

2011-06-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Waste, waste, waste, that’s what governments deliver far too often. Every time you see a TV commercial, print ad or radio spot from a government it is akin to a payoff to some connected party. The taxpayer pays tens of millions for political support staff and consultants to reelect their boss. Canada rates 6 on thescale of government corruption. So if your head explodes every time waste, fraud and incompetence is spotted just imagine if you were in a worse country, for example the USA, 22nd. Still it is wrong to call for government to be run more like a business; more businesslike is a better goal. Government is all that buttress society from total anarchy, and the effectiveness of government is calculated by measuring the absoluteness of rule of law. A countries position on the corruption scale is linked to a top result in measures of competitiveness, happiness and top rated cities.

That is what is so disturbing about the G20 summit results. Massive corruption, twice the amount purely pilfered than ADSCAM. All the rules put in place after ADSCAM blithely ignored. Through total incompetence in the execution the cost soared from an already extravagant budget of $175 million into the $700 million orbit. The democratic debacle of police kettleing and roaming the streets without badges bashing everything in their path. To add insult to injury investigations into police brutality conducted like a blind man critiquing a Jackson Pollack painting. More in your face messaging, if you protest we will beat the crap out of you and you have a snowballs chance of justice. The blatant disregard for taxpayers dollars continues with plans to buy Faberge jets, create more criminals, build more prisons, commit Canada to more overseas adventures. It is a fast motion train wreck, and as we have seen in the USA, you can ruin a country in record time, but rebuilding may take decades. The General ruling Burma was meeting Lee Quan Yu, Harry said to the General “follow my plans and in 20 years Burma can be just like Singapore( 1^st)”, the General replied “ following my orders my soldiers could make Singapore like Burma (176^th)in 20 minutes”

Bring Hockey into the 21st Century

2011-06-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

I heard on the radio that Gary Bettman has made it clear, “hits to the head are a part of hockey and that will not change”. So I guess that means that a half second sooner the Rome hit would be part of the NHL promo video. I grew up on hits like that and celebrated when my guy made their guy pick himself off the ice and skate like a drunken duck. However like many stupid things that were commonplace in my youth it’s time to move forward. First let’s adopt all of Don Cherry’s suggestions for changing equipment and playing area to make it safer. Second any hit to the head with any part of the arm south of the shoulder is an automatic penalty just like a high stick. Third any hit that causes a player to hit their head on the glass or boards is an automatic penalty. To decide upon suspensions and fines, the degree of recklessness and prior offences should be the overriding consideration. For example Horton was not reckless, Chara was. Finally let’s bring refereeing into the 21^st century. Get rid of the second referee, there is not enough ice as there is and he is just in the way. Viewers look at the replays and vote if a penalty should be assigned on a play. No seriously a panel of retired referees looks at live video and can make a call from the bunker. This would give the message there is no more cheap shots allowed. Players could be suspended for accumulating too many after the whistle face washing etc. The suspension body should consist of three ex-players, majority vote wins.

We used to be Stupid:Boys are stupid throw rocks at them

2011-06-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Stupid things we used to do.

· Drive without seatbelts
· Drink and drive
· Drive stoned
· Put pesticides on our lawns
· Smoke tobacco
· Believe the government
· Use leaded gas
· Leave cars idling
· Discriminate based upon race, color or sexual orientation
· Not allow mothers to choose if they wanted to bring a child to term
· Lock people up for smoking pot
· Not take advantage of the wind and sun to make electricity
· Use Agent Orange to defoliate hydro lines
· Wear wool sweaters and socks to play hockey
· Play hockey without helmets
· Think women were best kept bare foot and pregnant
· Fill the back of the pickup with kids and drive down the highway
· Play with mercury
· Beat children with leather belts or wooden switches
· Burn coal without any scrubbers
· Believe stock prices were based upon underlying value
· Think external inputs could build nations
· Keep physically and mentally challenged people hidden
· Pay $20 for an album
· Allow private enterprises to get to the point where their failure becomes an existential threat to the economy.
· Believe all cultures were equally valid
· Spit on the sidewalk
· Litter
· Not recycle
· Trust institutions
· Boat without life jackets
· Fear communism
· Think socialism was communism
· Not realize sport is more business than sport
· Think bigger was better
· Celebrate sports hits that left a player concussed
· Take boxing seriously
· Wear suits and ties
· Have a wardrobe that mostly needed dry cleaning
· Put raw sewage into the water system
· Build bedroom communities
Manufacture electronic goods with vampire electric use

or inefficient AC/DC converters.

· Believe in simple solutions
· Trust leaders to do the right thing
· Think being green wasted money instead of making money
· Pave everything
Have smoking sections on airplanes, not realizing it was the equivalent of having peeing sections in swimming pools.

Dr Kelly - Still Dead

2011-06-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

Fair Game is a super movie about the Bush Administrations manipulation of intelligence to justify the Iraq war. Dr. David Kelly was the British counterpart to Valiere Plame, he ended up dead. Do you remember Colin Powell’s presentation to the UN? His key evidence was recording of what sounded like Cheech and Chong, and photos of mobile germ factories. In the role of weapons inspector Kelly had been to Iraq and concluded.

“They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were - facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons.[11]”

Kelly leaked to the BBC and was dead days later, parliament never learned of his skepticism and went to war with Iraq. Without the English there would not have been any coalition of the willing, and likely no war. Furthermore Kelly inferred there might have been a deal with the Iraqi to prevent the war. Due to the circumstances an inquiry into his death was performed by Lord Hutton. Some may conclude he would be a perfect pick to ensure the official conclusion would not be in doubt. It is a great thing that in Canada when we have Official Inquires there is not a pool of Barons and Lords to select from. Lord Hutton found everything was above board and sealed the records for 70 years. There have been numerous attempts to reopen the Inquiry, and it looks like the last one was thwartedtoday.

Draw your own conclusions, do we live in a society ruled by law, or is it only a veneer, often and easily circumvented by the rich and powerful.

The other major player in this drama, Tony Blair has received 27 million British Pounds from the government of Kuwait since his retirement. I did not bother to look up all the consulting fees and sources he has collected, but I understand there may be much, much more

Expecting to Fly upon hearing Buffalo Springfield

2011-06-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Photo (musiccourt.wordpress.com)

Buffalo Springfield’s music while similar to CSN&Y and Neil Young’s solo efforts has a kind of ethereal quality that distinguishes it from what followed. Recently they reformed for a concert, and from the review is was magical..

New Nihilism in Chicago

2011-06-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

As my mother would say America is going to hell in a hand basket. Be astounded reading this report about the breakdown of civil society in Chicago. Be alarmed reading this Chicago Cops Blog. Thenew nihilism has given the roaming gangs the great freedom of having nothing left to lose. Being arrested and jailed has become asymmetric warfare against the taxpayer. Why can’t leaders in North America look at northern Europe and see the solutions. In the main train station is Vienna, there is a large table filled with newspapers and magazines. There sits a coffee can full of small bills and change. People take a book and make their own change, most of the time this table is unattended. There is no such thing as a safe gated community; you cannot buy security if your city is insecure. This problem can be addressed rationally, or the rich can buy helicopters and fly to the office from a hundred miles away. My guess is they will buy helicopters instead of schools that perform, sensible drug laws, and industry that is as much about jobs as it is about profit.

One of the biggest differences between the US and Europe is income distribution. Statistics like thishttp://www.zerohedge.com/article/will-banksters-and-corpocracy-eventually-own-it-all
are not Sustainable!

Montreal was Robbed

2011-06-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Horton got nailed with a late open ice hit. He did not obey the first rule of hockey, keep your head up. Rome was in the wrong and if the NHL wants to make this the standard for late hits, I am all for it. Four games in a Stanley cup final are worth at least 20 games during the regular season. Many professional pundits are lamenting that the loss of Horton is a severe blow to Boston’s cup aspirations. Yet these same wise men judged the Chara’s late hit and pole axe to be part of hockey, split second decision, wrong place at wrong time. It was Pacioretty’s fault for making a move in that area. None lamented that Pacioretty’s loss may have cost Montreal a cup. When you consider that 3 games in the Boston series went to overtime, and Pacioretty was a proven gamebreaker, its clear Montreal would have eliminated Boston and now be playing Vancouver. The NHL justice system has been a joke; let’s hope the Rome punishment is the new standard, not just a means to promote Comcast favourites.

Harper helped by US from day one

2011-06-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Over at Creekside they have done some dumpster diving, did they find Karl Rove and Frank Lutz were doing pro bono work for Harper?

Proof NHL hates Montreal

2011-06-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Photo (FHFGG11)

Not Shwarma.

Basha could take a man out with just one lunch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
It's my work he'd say and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the Habs roadgame streams flow
and the beer is ice
And tried shaved apes long for bail
But then they took him in to the pole
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.

Vancouver merchants are encouraged to use NHL trademarks, while they sue a Montreal Deli for displaying the questionable trademark “ Go Habs Go”

Privatization is a Right Wing Plan to capture votes

2011-06-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

Photo (kasamaproject.org)

As Radar O’rielly said “wait for it”. Private prisons are coming to Canada. The problem is Canada does not have enough inmates to require new prisons. Since the old prisons are long paid for there is little incentive for the private sector. However should dozens of new prisons be required the Return on Investment would be there. A risk free investment backed by the government of Canada, a new group of dedicated Conservative voters bought and paid for.