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But the thing is, the people that made those decisions won't be punished, its the tax payers that will be punished because now the defecit due to the lawsuit has to be made up for.

The law does not apply to the police and the politicians. On paper, maybe, but not in practice. Rogue cops and corrupt politicians are seldom charged and when they do, they get laughable sentences. They can literally get away with murder.

I am sorry it came to this but we no longer have any choice and have to adopt tactics that I find abhorrent.

We should start a systematic smear campaign against the people involved. Whenever somebody proposes, supports or applies a law such as this one, they should be portrayed as out to corrupt "our fine police force", obviously due to being on the organized crime payroll. Because no honest and upstanding cop will protest the recording of the "good work they do to protect our community".

Call radio stations, write to papers, put up fliers, raise the issue at meetings. Appeal to basic emotions, erect strawmen, use any logical fallacy in the book. Drag them and their associates through the mud. Make sure that the public will associate their names with everything that is vile and rotten in our society, ESPECIALLY NEAR ELECTION TIME (Remember: both the educated person and the uneducated one have exactly one vote each, and the uneducated outnumber the educated.) Make sure they are viewed as a liability.

I don't have any idealism left. Crowd manipulation seems to be the only thing that works nowadays: tar, feathers and lynch mobs.

I'm also wondering what people would consider something they'd pay for. For me, a physical paper is not about the convenience (lugging a folded wad of paper with me is not convenient), it's about the ritual in the morning. But I'm only willing to go through that ritual, the act of sitting down with a paper and a cup of coffee, on mornings where I can enjoy it.

So, is the other side, the electronic side, something we'd pay for if it had a difference convenience factor? Are people less included to subscribe to whole electronic papers, but perhaps more inclined to pay for specific columnists, photographers, or sections of papers? For example, as someone who lives in Eastern Canada, I'm not really interested in the fact that the Globe and Mail does restaurant reviews of places in Toronto. But, if there was customizable content, maybe I'd pay for that instead.

Then again, I can get decent local coverage via the CBC's New Brunswick section, and that's free.

Like the parent, I agree that journalists and photographers need to get paid by someone. But even if you lived off of freely submitted content, you'd have to pay to maintain the infrastructure for your electronic version. As a FOSS developer, I'd love to be able to ask my grocery store to let me eat for free because I give away what I do :)

How about we a kill a good majority of the dang things instead?

A University of Manitoba researcher appears to be close to a solution that involves releasing sterilized male mosquitoes into the population.

Because one of these is already being used, and is more than sufficient for tracking slicks at a reasonable cost.

The introduction of this blimp is probably to [ test out new equipment | reduce cost slightly (or at least keep them within the US) | generate PR for the navy / US Gov.] (pick the one that best suits your level of cynicism)

Man, this is a big deal. It's a tragedy that we haven't heard about this in the news before. It seems like the kind of thing Slashdot would have reported on years ago.

Not true. It still costs money. That is the problem with the Canadian medical system (and most Canadian's unrealistic understanding of it). People think it is free. Or that it only requires the money you pay in your monthly premium (yes we pay up to $100 per month for individuals in most provinces). In 2009, spending for health care in Canada was over $180B for the year, or around $5400 per person. That is not free. Maybe we wouldn't be raped blind by high taxes if people got their heads out of their asses and realized this and allowed the system to be changed to a two tiered system like many European countries (which have far better systems than ours).

Moore has definitely taken a more combative approach.

In fact, in a recent speech, Moore decried copyright "radical extremists" with a "babyish" attitude toward copyright.

Notice the same phrase?

Same phrase, same PR firm's that organize all the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) sounds bites, talking points, strategies for lobbyists and bought politicians alike. All extremely well crafted to incite emotional response (in this case, Balanced Copyright Proponent == Extremist, associates with Terrorists) in the minds of listeners, against any balanced copyright point of view. Unfortunately the label loving public will most probably lap it up and believe it.

No, that wasn't a misquote from the NMPA, that's a quote from Canada's Heritage Minister James Moore in response to reasoned opposition to his Bill C-32, which introduces DMCA-style IP laws, labelling any opposed to it or in favour of a more balanced approach, like Michael Geist, as "radical extremists."

Unsurprisingly, these inflammatory words come from the ruling party which takes as many pages from the neo-conservative playbook as they can.

The phrasing is so similar that Moore should sue the NMPA for willful copyright infringement.

Up here in Canada, we've got a new copyright bill coming down the pike. It's been spearheaded by two Cabinet ministers, Tony Clement (Industry) and James Moore (Canadian Heritage). While Clement has been sensitive and seems open to suggestions, Moore has definitely taken a more combative approach.

In fact, in a recent speech, Moore decried copyright "radical extremists" with a "babyish" attitude toward copyright.

Notice the same phrase?

However, the Ministry of Community Safety says all the cabinet did was update the law that governs entry to such places as court houses to include specific areas inside the G20 fences — not outside.

A ministry spokeswoman says the change was about property, not police powers, and did not include any mention of a zone five metres outside the G20 security perimeter.

When asked Tuesday if there actually was a five-metre rule given the ministry's clarification, Chief Bill Blair smiled and said, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/29/g20-chief-fence571.html#ixzz0sKucWn6j

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/04/bc-monty-robinson-rcmp-impaired-driving.html

Here ya go

And it is solved, he is a homeless: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/24/g20-security-threat-car.html

A former Winnipeg police officer was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day Monday for killing a woman in a car accident on the outskirts of the city in 2005.

...

In a deal with prosecutors, Harveymordenzenk pleaded guilty in July to a single charge of dangerous driving causing death in the crash that killed Crystal Ann Taman, a 40-year-old mother of three whose convertible was stopped at a traffic light at the corner of Highway 59 and the Perimeter Highway when it was hit from behind.

Harveymordenzenk was initially charged with refusing a breathalyzer, impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death, but those charges were dropped without explanation when Harveymordenzenk pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

The court heard that Harveymordenzenk had been out at an after-shift party with off-duty colleagues in the hours before the crash, but no evidence was offered in the case about whether the former officer had been drinking.

www.google.ca

or
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article719050.ece
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/12/01/bc-monty-robinson-charged.html
http://www.rcmpwatch.com/rcmp-officer-faces-impaired-driving-charge-in-fatal-bc-crash/

Our government has gone insane..

In other news today.. Our "Heritage Minister" said that people who oppose their new DMCA anti-circumvention legislation are radical extremists.

Any day now, we'll wake up and the Stephen Harper nightmare will be over.

About 3 weeks ago, a guy bought 1.6T of fertilizer. Usual stuff, people went nuts, police went nuts lookin' for the guy. They found out that it was a farmer, going on about his normal farming business. This guy however is an idiot, ever since the mid-90's purchases of fertilizer have been tracked in Canada.

Arrested with 3 gas cans, an axe handle, baseball bat, sticks, a chainsaw, a crossbow, and various other items in his trunk.

Read the article
"But quite clearly if an individual comes down into the area, is engaged in protest activity and is carrying things that could be used as a weapon, that matter's going to be investigated by the police and those items can be removed from that individual in the interests of maintaining a safe environment for everybody."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/24/g20-security-threat-car.html#ixzz0rnuWj3Uq

It was not just the items in the car; he was linked with protest activity. If that guy did use those weapons in a protest after the police found them, security would have be blamed.

RCMP wrong to use Taser on Dziekanski: report

Speaking of car analogies, this afternoon a 57 year old man was arrested for having gasoline, an axe handle, sticks, a baseball bat, and possibly a chainsaw in his car.

link

So the message can be construed as such: if you go camping and return to Toronto, you may be used as an example to justify 1.2 billion dollars of taxpayer money spent on security.

Well, according to the Canadian government, those "experts" are just radical extremists who pretend to care about copyright. If you are against copyright bills, you are a terrorist.

I don't like seeing the big maple leaf on Slashdot. I like Canada to be unnoticed. That's where it's safe.

Canada managed to ride out most of the last wave of economic melt down, (thanks to keeping regulations in place.) It's manage to stay out of the bulk of unnecessary wars. Though, with Harper in power and Canadians descending into "Dumb" too quickly to notice that their voting choices are INSANE, I suppose it was going to be inevitable that things would start to get ugly around here.

Here's how it works. . .

There is no "matter" in the universe; it's all energy right down to the smallest level. Every "particle" breaks down to reveal more vast expanses of empty. Matter truly is an illusion; everything is just energy vibrating in a medium of nothing. So what's the difference between a thought and a brick? They're both made of energetic nothing, but the thought pattern is more alive and dynamic than the brick. Here in the giant dream of reality, consciousness is king.

As such, I see everything which happens in the physical realm as being a metaphor little different than the objects and events which show up in dreams. So. . , earthquakes in Canada, eh?

Well, on the 26th, the G20 is landing in Toronto, and the government has spent approximately a BILLION dollars on security, including controversial sound cannons.

Yay. The problem with big ticket government purchases which keep thousands of people employed is that such expenses need to be justified. None of those thousands of employed people are going to want to have to go looking for work. Even in Canada's only slightly singed economic environment people fear losing their jobs. So. . , what keeps a billion dollars worth of security goons employed?

My guts are tied up in some knots over this because it seems very reasonable to expect violence at this clown show.

At least the earthquake didn't knock any buildings down or kill anybody.

-FL

Born in Haiti, her family fled the country when she was 11 after her father was arrested and tortured. For most of the 80s, she went to university and volunteered at womens shelters. She co-ordinated major studies on violence against women in domestic settings. She moved into journalism in the late 80s, winning several awards for her coverage. She speaks 5 languages fluently. She has started womens shelters across the country.

What has William Fucking Shatner done?

source

This is a retarded story. The only mention of Shatner in the whole FA is this:

One of the more controversial names being thrown out there on Facebook is that of Captain Kirk, actor William Shatner.

"It's time for Canada to boldly go where no country has gone before," notes a nearly 10,000-strong Facebook fan page that supports the idea.

There might have been another submission that could have been rejected that included this link, but, again, basically right off the bat, you see:

The Facebook fan page "Help Nominate William Shatner for Governor General" launched on March 22, 2010.

The OP is an asshole for submitting this as a serious story and writing the summary as if it were legit, and Taco, representative of all the editors I suppose, is being irresponsible for posting such a bullshit story like this on the front page.

Many people have been lamenting that the quality of stories have been going down in Slashdot. I don't really have that much of a gripe about that. I don't come to Slashdot for breaking news or the like. But when you start to post flat out falsehoods (there is no shortlist, there's not even a rumour, it's just a god damn Facebook group), that's when you cross the line into tabloidism. Horrible.

In related news, Apple plans to sell iPhones unlocked in Canada. The Canadian cell-phone market has started becoming competitive this year, with Bell/Telus deploying HSPA networks compatible with the Rogers/Fido network. (They wanted to cash in on roaming visitors during the Olympics and the iPhone fad, no doubt.) Factory-unlocked iPhones are also available in Belgium, France, Italy, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand. We laugh at you Americans who are stuck with AT&T, and who keep wishing for a Verizon iPhone. You don't seem to realize that Apple doesn't care to produce a special CDMA model just for one carrier in one country, when it is already selling one GSM phone worldwide faster than it can make them.

It's not bowing to pressure, it's ensuring their survival by making damn sure that some lunatic with deep pockets doesn't put a million dollar death sentence bounty on their head. Salman Rushdie still can't come out of hiding to this day...

Sure he can. In fact I can supply a list of his upcoming public appearances if you like.
http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/salmanrushdie/appearances.html

He was here in Toronto a couple of weeks back, http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/01/rushdie-wiesel-toronto.html

Ted, however, is against it on the grounds that it's totally bogus.

Dude. Ted died 2 years ago. So he, like, didn't say anything.

For more information about advertising in the modern age look up Age of Persuasion. I attempt to listen in whenever I remember its on, because this program offers an amusing and informative perspective of advertising. And as the programs slogan states, we live in the Age of Persuasion.

OK this is either a helpful suggestion from a person with a shared interest, or an insidious ploy by a cynical marketing person...

For more information about advertising in the modern age look up Age of Persuasion. I attempt to listen in whenever I remember its on, because this program offers an amusing and informative perspective of advertising. And as the programs slogan states, we live in the Age of Persuasion.

Meanwhile here in Canada our government is spending money trying to change the national anthem, updating copyright laws (that no one wants), and spending over a billion dollars on infrastructure for the G8 summit. All of this while there's massive unemployment and layoffs, soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, and many more pressing issues which are being overlooked.

Meanwhile here in Canada our government is spending money trying to change the national anthem, updating copyright laws (that no one wants), and spending over a billion dollars on infrastructure for the G8 summit. All of this while there's massive unemployment and layoffs, soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, and many more pressing issues which are being overlooked.

Meanwhile here in Canada our government is spending money trying to change the national anthem, updating copyright laws (that no one wants), and spending over a billion dollars on infrastructure for the G8 summit. All of this while there's massive unemployment and layoffs, soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, and many more pressing issues which are being overlooked.

The 'average' household uses something around 700-1400 kwh a month.
The 'average' electronic vehicle gets about 5 miles to the kwh, and the average vehicle is driven around 10-15k miles a year.
Don't forget that the average household is 2 cars today.

So, you're looking at probably around a 22% increase in electricity usage if people go to EVs. You just can't reduce energy usage that much via other means, especially when you also have 5% growth in population/households on top of it.

1) Upgrade the power grid (Thankyou Obama)
2) Embrace nuclear (Thankyou Obama)
3) Fund Battery and EV R&D (Thankyou Obama)
4) ...
5) All of the issues you listed are addressed (Thankyou Obama)

This is perfectly within our means, provided big oil and auto makers are unsuccessful at stonewalling these initiatives (which they are desperately trying to do through their mostly Republican congress critters). The auto-industry relies on planned obsolesence, which is much more difficult to hide using simple electric engines that can last for decades.

If Eisenhower could get an interstate system built, there is no reason we can't do this.

"Yes. It worked, for the most part, for Exxon and Union Carbide."

oh really. In the news yesterday. Criminal convictions. Although the sentences seem ... weak. And insanely long in coming.

If the Bhopal disaster is any indication people won't forget, but we'll still be trying to get justice 25 years from now.

More information in English here and also here.

Here is a link to an English article about this:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/03/quebec-microsoft-lawsuit.html

ASnd please digg it:
http://digg.com/business_finance/Quebec_broke_law_in_buying_Microsoft_Software :D

Here is some English reporting on the subject.

Here in BC, the current government was re-voted amongst promises that they would not implement an HST (Harmonized Sales Tax, which combines the Provincial+Federal taxes and overall makes more things taxable at a higher bracket). Hell, no HST was one of their major promises.

Very soon after getting in, they went right away with implementing ... the HST. It's been enough to motivate citizens so that they've collected a petition against it, which required signatures from at least 10% of every riding in the province. Keep in mind this wasn't a formal election or anything of the sort, it was ordinary citizens collecting petition signatures.

Despite this, remarks from MLA's and politicians in general have been to the effect of, "well, people seem upset about the HST right now. But they don't understand it, and I'm sure they'll be happy with it when it actually goes through"

Even with the petition, the current government holds enough of a majority that they can shove the tax through anyway, so as per the linked article that may hopefully lead to recall petitions against the MLA's who supported it.

This is at a provincial level, but the Federal level is much the same thing. The opinion seems to be "those opposed are uninformed, we know best and they'll like it when we force it upon them"

So yes, people do contact their politicians when they're unhappy with something. The politicians just don't give a flying f***. They happily take "donations", have fancy meetings at a cost of billions on fancy meetings with similar-minded world leaders, and happily go hundreds of times over budget estimates for events that only the rich/elite can really afford to attend.

It's a party at capitol hill. Guess whose paying for it?

Here in BC, the current government was re-voted amongst promises that they would not implement an HST (Harmonized Sales Tax, which combines the Provincial+Federal taxes and overall makes more things taxable at a higher bracket). Hell, no HST was one of their major promises.

Very soon after getting in, they went right away with implementing ... the HST. It's been enough to motivate citizens so that they've collected a petition against it, which required signatures from at least 10% of every riding in the province. Keep in mind this wasn't a formal election or anything of the sort, it was ordinary citizens collecting petition signatures.

Despite this, remarks from MLA's and politicians in general have been to the effect of, "well, people seem upset about the HST right now. But they don't understand it, and I'm sure they'll be happy with it when it actually goes through"

Even with the petition, the current government holds enough of a majority that they can shove the tax through anyway, so as per the linked article that may hopefully lead to recall petitions against the MLA's who supported it.

This is at a provincial level, but the Federal level is much the same thing. The opinion seems to be "those opposed are uninformed, we know best and they'll like it when we force it upon them"

So yes, people do contact their politicians when they're unhappy with something. The politicians just don't give a flying f***. They happily take "donations", have fancy meetings at a cost of billions on fancy meetings with similar-minded world leaders, and happily go hundreds of times over budget estimates for events that only the rich/elite can really afford to attend.

It's a party at capitol hill. Guess whose paying for it?

Canada will spend half that amount on a meeting of 20 world leaders next month.

The majority of that sum goes toward security, which illustrates quite well how overpriced Tim Horton doughnuts really are.

Yeah, you get less. But, man-oh-man, this seems like very high value. For comparison, here are some expenditures from groups that "can't afford" to go to the moon:

• Canada will spend half that amount on a meeting of 20 world leaders next month.
• South Africa will spend that much and half again on a soccer tournament.
• ThyssenKrupp will spend four times that amount on a steel mill.

It's such a small amount of money, I can't even believe it's true.

Here's on non-embryonic stem cell research: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/04/23/stem-cell-adult-research.html
Plus, here's the current story: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/22/vatican.synthetic.cell/index.html
And as far as genetic engineering goes, the closest thing to official statement from church is this, and you should check that out too (ch3, pnt. 90): http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040723_communion-stewardship_en.html (the thing they're worried about here is the same as the theme of the movie Gattaca - http://news.softpedia.com/news/Vatican-Worried-Over-Gene-Related-Racism-110002.shtml)

So that should show you you're wrong about first few points. Secondly, Church, unlike *some* Protestants in America doesn't condemn evolution, in fact the Church sees it as "one of possible theories". If that still sounds uninlightened, understand that the Church's role isn't to confirm scientific theories (no matter how plausible they are) - but they're not teaching to the contrary of science. I don't know about the global warming, and I don't know what the Church says on the topic (actually I can remember one high ranking bishop saying we should take care of the environment) - but if you do, be sure to tell me. However, I somehow get the feeling youo're wronge about this one too. And finally, same as for evolution undoubtedly goes for the big bang too - we see the Bible as authoritative in matters of faith, not science (and this is true since st. Augustine in 6th ct.), the above mistakes of the past as you can see have been addressed. You've mistaken us for your own special breed of Christians (afaik that would be [some?] Evangelicals).

Any more slanders I should address?

If the cold temperatures and static pressure caused the containment dome's outlet to plug, why not use liquid nitrogen to cool the leaking wellhead to cause it to plug with hydrates? From the CBC website: ... a "large volume of hydrates," material similar to ice crystals, has formed inside the box, Suttles said Saturday. The hydrates — which are formed when gas combines with water under certain pressure and temperatures — have plugged an area at the top of the dome's interior.

Too Late

The three Grade 11 students — who asked to be identified only as Weeman, The Fern and Goggles — told CBC News they made more than $200 in the first week of school by bulk-buying candy and chocolate bars, then selling them at a profit.

hmm, that was the plot to one of the Great Brain books...

or a subplot i should add.

probably this book: The Great Brain At The Academy (1972)

The three Grade 11 students — who asked to be identified only as Weeman, The Fern and Goggles — told CBC News they made more than $200 in the first week of school by bulk-buying candy and chocolate bars, then selling them at a profit.

Dear government: Please allow competition into the Canadian market because the cartel of Rogers, Bell and Telus are getting away with murder. American companies come on up, we could use you... even ATT would do a better job.

Remember trying to go on the internet last year while on vacation, Rogers had been redirecting some 404 pages (and other pages) to their own landing pages where they had advertising... is this legal? Plus they forced people to use their own 'homepage' (which got funneled through results pages similar to ads on proxy sites. Tried getting the computer to use another homepage but no luck....Talk about vendor lock in.

Lets have a quick look at their pricing history: Cell phone charges by the same cartel are already some of the highest in the world . Paying a few hundred a month for some extra channels on cable. Finally convinced everyone to switch over to online media (streaming, downloading, netflix, etc) and now the prices go through the roof with tiered pricing... Wish these cartels would stop pushing back time and grow with the market. It is time to invest in giving customers what they want. Customers want unfiltered, unlimited internet.

CBC Story about software controls for selling on the market: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/05/06/tsx-markets.html

Nuts to fat finger keyboards, there are automated software controls in the industry that caught-on to the sale and snowballed this individual's mistake into something really big. The issue wasn't just in this guy's mistake, but the fact that potentially billions of dollars changed hands because of a trust relationship these systems have with market indicators.

Not that there's anything wrong with that: on a good day this could protect big firms from being the guy caught holding the bill, but I think we've discovered where the next upgrade in broker software might be :)

-Matt

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/casualties/list.html

I coulda sworn I saw this on Slashdot some time ago, but in any case, this "news" is at least two years old...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/04/14/beaver-park.html

On the CBC (including embedded google map)

Canadian beavers: showing the rest of the world how it's done for millions of years.