Slashdot Mirror

Don't forget that Boeing's CEO was canned a couple of years ago over a consensual interoffice affair (CBC Story).

I'd say it probably wasn't a use of funds issue, but interoffice romance, sexual harassment, or browsing porn at work could possibly do it.

Toboggan Hill has a great feel and user created levels:

http://www.cbc.ca/kids/games/tobogganhill/

Scoops makes you wish you could walk and chew gum at the same time:

http://www.cbc.ca/kids/games/scoops/

Toboggan Hill has a great feel and user created levels:

http://www.cbc.ca/kids/games/tobogganhill/

Scoops makes you wish you could walk and chew gum at the same time:

http://www.cbc.ca/kids/games/scoops/

To taser or not to taser. That is the question.

Yes... in the eye.

Nowadays with such tools available to the common man, it is no surprise that the method of accomplishment would be considered to carry more gravity that the act itself. Think criminal empowerment i.e. he/she used (leveraged) the infrastructure against itself and/or the powers that be.

Who is the usual juror that will decide the case? More likely than not, said person will be someone who will be scared into convicting by the prosecution and the media. Said person will be made to think and/or believe that not convicting the defendant would put all for which they have worked so hard in jeopardy. Remember how so many prosecutors were playing the Osama card since 9-11-01?

WiLAN did make actual gear - very expensive IIRC - but the company's board decided being a patent troll was more profitable.

The "damages" aspect likely comes from being squeezed out of the high end market or something.

WiLAN wasn't born a patent troll, but has definitely become one.

Soko

That's where the danger lies: a few mistakes by the wrong people too interested in CYA, and off to Syria or Egypt you go.

You know what? I won't cry if you do. You apparently don't care if anyone else goes.

CBC Radio Live Streams

Initially all Windows, but when geeks complained they threw us a bone of two ogg streams from Ontario. It has been that way for some time, with no sign of other regions being offered in ogg. Another reason to hate Toronto, I guess.

deported to Syria for failing to produce a Canadian passport

First Google result for "Maher Arar canadian passport".

2nd paragraph:
"even though he was carrying a Canadian passport."

It's hardly the US's or Canada's fault that the Syrian government tortured him
Except that it was known at the time he was being deported that he would be tortured.

But I guess I agree with you. If you're a dual citizen - even in a country where that's legal - you should be deported and tortured. You obviously have it coming.

That's what I was thinking. They must be doing something wrong. Using machines doesn't make the voting process any faster. The only way to move the line along faster would be to have more polling stations. Just as a reference point to any Americans, the average Canadian polling station only handles 352 people. The voting moves along rather quickly. And although it is possible to use ballot stuffing to rig the vote, it is very hard to do that for a large scale election, because the number of boxes you would have to rig would make it very likely you would get caught. Contrast that with electronic voting, where a couple bits changed in a computer chip can change the entire outcome of the election.

"Peace activist is a misleading term. Often they are the exact opposite of "peace" in the name of peace."

Up North here, the unruly part of the 'peaceful protesters' sometime turn out to be Cops who stir things up in order to lay a beatdown on protesters.

You think I'm kidding?

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/08/23/police-montebello.html?ref=rss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St1-WTc1kow

"Canada seems to be a country that will not let you in for a drug conviction when it is practically legal to use the same stuff over there."

Once again, you don't know what you are talking about (think I forgot our last discussion?). It is illegal to posess certain drugs in Canada. Because in some provinces, the punishment for small amounts is a 'fine' does not make it legal. There is no such thing as 'practically legal'. Or 'a little pregnant'.

If you are convicted of possession on ether side of the border, it's grounds to bar entry.

I read this on the CBC earlier today. I had a neighbour from Cape Breton, Ken. One of the best I ever had. When I saw the headline on CBC, it said "Cape Breton", but the headline here on Slashdot says "Nova Scotia".

This reminded me when Ken always insisted that Cape Breton is not the same as Nova Scotia, despite being the same province. Maybe regional independence, or identity.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/09/19/tech-cellphones.html

And yes, the money will go to the individual users. If this works, I should be getting about $1200 in another 5 years (because that's how long it will take to go through the courts, appleas, etc).

And those are Canadian dollars to boot !!! w00t!

Seems like the link you provided has issues (I.E. bad rendering, video link bad, etc.) because of the forward slash after it. Just remove the slash, and your good :)

CBC just did a program on this last night:

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/hurricane.html/

The linked page includes a program excerpt.

Conclusion: none of the *nine* different methods considered will work on their own.

Used all at the same time, they might make a difference.

Heather Crowe (born April 23, 1945 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, died May 22, 2006 in Ottawa, Ontario) was a former Canadian waitress who became the public face of Canada's anti-smoking campaign. She contracted lung cancer in 2002, allegedly from second-hand smoke encountered at her workplace of over forty years, and later appeared in numerous television public service announcements. The last place she worked was the well-known Newport Restaurant in Ottawa.

She famously claimed to have "never smoked a day in her life". In 2002, she submitted a successful claim relating to second-hand smoke exposure in the workplace to the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board for lost earnings and health care benefits.

Thanks in large part to her lobbying, the province of Ontario passed a tough anti-smoking bill which came into effect four days after her 2006 death of lung cancer at the age of 61.

Crowe was the first person to win a claim with the Ontario Workers Safety and Insurance Board for full compensation because her cancer was caused by occupational exposure to cigarette smoke.

Second-hand smoke is what smokers exhale and what rises from an idle burning cigarette. You can see smoke in the air but what may not be so obvious is that there are 4,000 chemicals in the smoke.

More than 50 of these chemicals are carcinogens: they cause cancer. The chemicals also contribute directly to other diseases, such as asthma, heart disease and emphysema. And that's for smokers and non-smokers alike.

No, that's not what they are doing at all. The purpose of the levies is to ALLOW personal copying. That means the Copyright Board looks at copyright as a "right to copy". If a levy is placed on on-line music downloads that will mean you can copy the songs and play them in your car without having to worry about the copy being illegal. It wouldn't be. All of this is the result of a court ruling a few years ago which made downloading music from Kaza or bittorrent perfectly legal and the levies are a way of dealing with the reality of a digital age. It's enlightened even. Here is the ruling and a backgrounder: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/31/canada/download_court040331 http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/internet/downloading_music.html

No, that's not what they are doing at all. The purpose of the levies is to ALLOW personal copying. That means the Copyright Board looks at copyright as a "right to copy". If a levy is placed on on-line music downloads that will mean you can copy the songs and play them in your car without having to worry about the copy being illegal. It wouldn't be. All of this is the result of a court ruling a few years ago which made downloading music from Kaza or bittorrent perfectly legal and the levies are a way of dealing with the reality of a digital age. It's enlightened even. Here is the ruling and a backgrounder: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/31/canada/download_court040331 http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/internet/downloading_music.html

yeah, because the united states is the only place that has this problem.
 
ownership of firearms makes an obvious difference.

I don't think that would fly here in the U.S.. Chronic speeders here already believe speed limits are artificially low and enforced for the sole reason of increasing revenue without having to raise taxes. Tying fines to income will serve mostly to reinforce this belief.

I think it's time to give up on fines as a means of deterring the most serious violators. I think we should send people to jail if they're caught driving more than 30km/h (20mph) over the limit. Or if they're caught tailgating in an attempt to intimidate other motorists into speeding. Lock them up (in some kind of inexpensive, low-security "traffic camp") for a randomly chosen day or two.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/crime/street-racing.html

Canadian Travel and Airline groups are pissed about those proposals too ( http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/10/12/airtravel-us.html ). Notice that the regulations also specify flights "Flying Over" US Airspace? So flights from Toronto to Cuba (or any other southern non-US destination) would also fall under those criteria. Guess Halifax and Moncton Airports better get cracking on expanding their capacity; all those Southern flights may have to fly from the Maritimes to keep out of US airspace. (That or we'll see more Montreal->Moncton->Caribbean flights so they can use the 'just skirting around the edges' clause of the proposals).

While we depend on the help of other countries, we apply the same rules banning the collection of intelligence on US citizens regardless if we are operating in the UK, or if the UK is acting on our behalf from Germany.

Really? What about the recent demand that Canadian airlines hand over all passenger data to the US, even if that flight is not stopping in the US? http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/10/11/uscanada-flights.html Last I checked the US and Canada were allies, although that might change if the US tries to violate our constitutional rights. They tried somehting similar in the EU http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/05/30/eu-us-passenger-data.html that was shot down by the courts.

If you haven't noticed, the current US government thinks it is above the law and can do whatever it feels like.

While we depend on the help of other countries, we apply the same rules banning the collection of intelligence on US citizens regardless if we are operating in the UK, or if the UK is acting on our behalf from Germany.

Really? What about the recent demand that Canadian airlines hand over all passenger data to the US, even if that flight is not stopping in the US? http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/10/11/uscanada-flights.html Last I checked the US and Canada were allies, although that might change if the US tries to violate our constitutional rights. They tried somehting similar in the EU http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/05/30/eu-us-passenger-data.html that was shot down by the courts.

If you haven't noticed, the current US government thinks it is above the law and can do whatever it feels like.

That's pretty ironic, especially in light of the fact that we (Canada) are looking into the possibility of getting rid of the penny altogether.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/penny.html

Funny, yes, but insightful?

Whoever modded that has got to lay off the MJ. You might not be able to afford it soon.

I have sulfhemoglobin you insensitive clod!

Just found this news story reporting 1,000s killed: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/10/01/burma.html?ref=rss

If true, then the bravery of these bloggers, protesters, and monks is simply incredible!

Looking forward to seeing you.

Bring your umbrellas.

And raincoats.

And boots.

Just don't plan on seeing the sun for the next four months.

I currently live in Seattle, so I am very well acquainted with weather in the Lower Mainland.

I hear, oddly, that the weather is much nicer on the not-far-away Sunshine Coast.

Oh, and by the way, if you're moving to Vancouver, remember we're in the 12th week of a civil worker strike = No garbage collection, no libraries, no community centers, etc.

I know about the civic strike. I've been following it on CBC Radio one and CBC's BC website

On the "Aren't we great" side though, the city is amazingly clean for 12 weeks of no garbage collection.

It's probably cleaner than most cities with garbage collection.

I'll be up there tomorrow, so I'll see for myself, eh?

J.

But there have even been studies that show that Kansas not only exists but is, in fact, flatter than a pancake.

Unless someone takes 500 ballots from a dozen heavily partisan precincts and sets fire to the votes.

This may seem strange to Americans but, in most 1st world democracies the ballot boxes are closely monitored by ALL parties at ALL times. The accepted American practices of "sleepovers" (California) or even actually removing a ballot box containing uncounted ballots out of public sight (Virginia 2004 iirc) are incompatible with most peoples definition of democracy. In most nations, you could try to grab a ballot box and run but at worst, you will force the people who's ballots are in that box to revote. It's actually a remarkably simple process that anyone who has ever flown understands: "Has this ballot box been out of the public's sight or been outside of the control of the public?" If the answer is no, proceed on the assumption that it has been stuffed full of bongs, bombs and ballots.

Right, the US would never hold people without a trial, spy on its citizens, or deport people to be tortured

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/internet/downloading_music.html
http://www.news.com/2100-1027_3-5182641.html

It's the courts that have decided this, based on current copyright law. The Liberal government tried to pass bill C-60, which would have made it illegal, but it failed, fortunately.

Actually, they do. They just realize they have to move to Canada 6 months later...

http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2007/03/030407_1.html

Maybe we don't need a "pirate party" per se, but we need more people representing the "other side" of the copyright debate. The current Conservative government stated in their platform from the last election that they would eliminate the 'levy" on blank media (look under Section 35 Copyright Legislation). Well, that certainly has not happened, and the music industry is lobbying them hard to extend the tax to other forms of media. Add to that the efforts of industry shills from the US who would like Canada to radify WIPO and enact legislation similar to the DMCA, and I would say we are currently at a serious disadvantage.

An excellent mp3 (19:46) audio interview with Elliot Layton.

Web page: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourinterview/2007/04/anthropologist_and_author_elli.html

mp3: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourinterview/CBC%20News%20Online%20Your%20Interview%20-%20Elliott%20Leyton%20-%20Mass%20murderers.mp3

An excellent mp3 (19:46) audio interview with Elliot Layton.

Web page: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourinterview/2007/04/anthropologist_and_author_elli.html

mp3: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourinterview/CBC%20News%20Online%20Your%20Interview%20-%20Elliott%20Leyton%20-%20Mass%20murderers.mp3

Basically The Treaty mentioned gives Earth Governments total power and control over the entire Universe!

It's a ridiculous and worthless piece of paper written by arrogant power hungry and greedy humans who have the gumption to think that they have sovereign power and control who can go where and when and with whom. Then they tell everyone that they are "free" and we buy it.

Do as the fictional Astronaut Farmer did, ignore them. He tried it there way and they just tried to protect their interest of control over power and freedom of movement. Then he just went.

Ignore the Treaty, it's worthless. Go to the moon. Do it now. Go to Mars. Do it now.

What will they do? Shoot you down after you launch? There's a good chance of that, but, na, the worst they'll try to do is give you a ticket or want you to slap their silly NASA logo onto YOUR ship. Meanwhile the rest of the world will be cheering you all the way.

Freedom. True Freedom is freedom from the control of others. True Freedom and Power. Of course, with power comes responsibility... as Ben Parker says... and which current world governments and those with power fail to heed.

Do we really want our Sol Solar System run and controlled by the likes of those in power (pick any country in the world)? Not on your life. Most governments on Earth are anti-peace through their actions of killing people via their state sponsored terrorism.

"Even the most vile serial killers have nothing on the deadliest organizations on Earth - governments that encourage war and genocide." - Elliott Leyton.

See the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's excellent two part documentary series "The Man Who Studies Murder", part two is on State sponsored Murder - the largest killer of humans on the planet:
http://www.arts.mun.ca/anthropology/people/scau/leytonE.php
http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=51458
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourinterview/2007/04/anthropologist_and_author_elli.html
http://www.google.ca/search?num=100&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=+%22the+man+who+studies+murder%22&btnG=Search&meta=

"The Man Who Studies Murder, Part 2: The Anthropology of Murder looks at the culture of killing and why some countries produce more killers than others. The murder rate in Canada is 1 in 100,000 while in the United States it is a remarkable 10 murders per 100,000, the highest rate of any western, developed nation. Leyton argues, using Newfoundland as an example, that this can be explained by cultural differences. Killing is rare in that province because the people there developed a peaceful means of preventing conflict and violence using ostracism, gossip and ridicule. In the United States, on the other hand, violence was instrumental in the creation of the country, and, as a result, became socially acceptable. It is an American's constitutional right to bear arms, and the United States is the only western nation to still use capital punishment."

"Leyton also argues that governments are the real serial killers by ordering their soldiers to go to war. While the politicians try to justify wars and make them legitimate with propaganda, they are still murder. Government complicity in mass murder is highlighted using the examples of genocide in Rwanda and the holocaust in Nazi Germany. The tape does not explain the cultural causes of those tragedies."
http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol11/no11/themanwhostudiesmurder.html

One can also point to Iraq

Here's a good graph (cbc.ca).

Compared to other countries with similar economies, Canada's spending is in the ballpark, according to a report from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development. The latest figures on what countries spend on health care come from 2002, when Canada spent 9.6 per cent of GDP on health care:

* France 9.7%.
* Germany 10.9%.
* Denmark 8.8%.
* Sweden 9.2%.

At the high end of the scale is the United States, which spent 14.6 per cent of GDP on health care.

The story is from 2004 and they're quoting statistics from 2002, but I'd imagine those are still pretty close to what they are today. So it looks like you were correct, Canada spent around 9.6% our GDP back in 2002 while the United States spent around 14.6% of their GDP. My question is, does that ~15% of US GDP spent on health care take into account things like prescription costs? I know prescriptions can cost a lot more (sometimes 2-3 times more) in the States then they do here in Canada. Would perscription costs be enough to increase United States health care spending by that much or is there other factors?

Also, I found this Wikipedia entry, Canadian and American health care systems compared. Here's a quote from the "Wait times" section:

Canadians pay 9% of GDP to insure 100% of citizens, compared with 14% of GDP to insure 85% of Americans.

Here's a quote from the "Price of Health Care" section of that wikipedia article:

Health care is one of the most expensive items of both nations' budgets. The U.S. government spends more per capita on health care than the government does in Canada. In 2004, the government of Canada spent $2,120 (in US dollars) per person on health care, while the United States government spent $2,724.[5]

However, U.S. government spending covers less than half of all health care costs. Private spending for health care is also far greater in the U.S. than in Canada. In Canada, an average of $917 was spent annually by individuals or private insurance companies for health care, including dental, eye care, and drugs. In the U.S., this number is $3,372.[5] In 2004, health care consumed 15.4% of U.S. annual GDP. In Canada, only 9.8% of GDP was spent on health care.

Finally, I think the section on malpractice litigation is fairly interesting aswell:

Malpractice litigation

The extra cost of malpractice lawsuits accounts for some of the difference in health spending in the two countries. In Canada the total cost of settlements, legal fees, and insurance comes to $4 per person each year, but in the United States it is $16.[68] Average payouts to American plaintiffs were $265,103, while payouts to Canadian plaintiffs were somewhat higher, averaging $309,417[69]. However, malpractice suits are far more common in the U.S., with 350% more suits filed each year per person.[68] While malpractice costs are significantly higher in the U.S., they make up only a small proportion of total medical spending. The total cost of defending and settling malpractice lawsuits in the U.S. in 2001 was approximately $6.5bn, or 0.46% of total health spending.[70] Critics say that defensive medicine consumes up to 9% of American healthcare expenses.[71][72] In the same year in Canada, the total burden of malpractice suits was $237 million, or 0.27% of total health spending.[68]

I had to look up defensive medicine as I've never heard of that term before. That s

Hello Mr Righteous, I'll assume your from the USA :

1- Yes the UN costs money, what a surprise. Nearly all the nations pay for it, though. The US likes not to.

2- Have you never heard of US soldiers raping local women ?

3- China, Cuba, etc on UN councils. Learn how they work, representative from every country get to be in them in turns. That doesn't mean they run them. At the UN, you are bound to find people from nations you disagree with in various commissions. The #1 rule of diplomacy is that you keep talking to these people anyway.

4- The UN suck, have never done anything good, etc. The UN weapons inspectors in Iraq got rid of all the WMDs. You are aware the US troops have found none left, are you? Speak of the devil, this particular engagement really showcases the skill and competence the USA shows in dealing with world matters when unhindered by useless international bodies, doesn't it ?

Given a choice of labeling you hypocrite or ignorant, I'm afraid I'll have to go with the former.

Google and Yahoo can't give you a 30+ year graph.

Trust a canadian news site for that.

------------------
During the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, canadian playoff tickets were sold out and auctioned for as much as $500 for crappy seats. It became cheaper use canadian money to get a flight down to some small market US team, and get watch the canadian team at a playoff game there.

As an Albertan in the middle of Canada's oil country one statistic with regards to the Loonie is how much of our provincial Gov't loses in royalties for a given rise in the Canadian dollar. It is estimated that for every One Cent increase, there is a 100 million decrease in royalties/revenue at the provincial level. Now Alberta faces the Oil Industry to claw back some of that money - a potentially dramatic change in royalty structures - that has CEO's of major oil companies fuming mad that we intend to cut into their bottom line. http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/09/19/royalty-reaxn.html

This graph might be a little more useful, as it goes back 30+ years:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/loonie.html

"Currency trading is an over-the-counter market," a Bank of Canada spokesperson told CBCNews.ca. "It's not like the TSX." So there can be small discrepancies depending on the trades the data source monitors.

"Austria" is a friendly OPEC member.

Actually, Dan Rather is probably not making this up

True, it's not about if Dan Rather made it up or not, it's about if he did proper investigative journalism to determine if the allegations have merit out side of a disgruntled employee trying to stir up some FUD.

Or maybe Dan's just gone of the deep end. Of course, should a jumbo jet fall from the sky and crash, I don't think it's going to matter it it's made of, it's going to be destroyed. Now, in situations such as crashes on the runway, that might has some merit.

Courage.

Cheers,
Fozzy

Hmm, actually from what I've seen, they're happy to let you *talk* about democracy and freedom in the USA, it's just when you start trying to practice it that things start to turn downhill.

Of course, I'm Canadian, and while I'd like to be able to say that things are much better, there's a downhill slide here as well.

For example, the Ian Bush shooting, which has now faded somewhat from the news. We have a cop who insists that - as an act of self-defence - he shot and kill a young man being held in custody. Investigation into blood spatter showed the given account of events was unlikely, and then suddenly the blood-expert finds himself facing disciplinary hearings and investigation. Of course, they wouldn't need an expert if the camera o the holding-room hadn't been turned off at the time...

So yes, if you live in Canada, the USA, Germany, or wherever, have a good laugh at everywhere else in the world, but remember that - for average citizens - justice, freedom, democracy, and many others may end up being more of a concept than a reality. Maybe one day you too, will end up as a provocative but quickly forgotten news article.

For the non-Canucks: note that riding is a Canadian word, and doesn't have anything (directly) to do with horses.

Also, although there is no proportional representation in Canada, Ontarians will be voting on whether to use a mixed member proportional system in their next election, which would let not-quite-mainstream parties such as the Green Party get seats without requiring they win a plurality in any given riding. It would also make the ballot considerably larger, but I'm pretty sure we'd still stick with pencil and paper.