Slashdot Mirror

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

"Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps are thickening. The temperature at the South Pole has declined by more than one degree C since 1950. And the area of sea ice around the continent has increased over the last 20 years." -- Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
- - -
"From data published by the Canadian Ice Service, there has been no precipitous drop-off in the amount or thickness of the ice cap since 1970 when reliable overall coverage became available for the Canadian Arctic." -- Dr./Cdr. M.R. Morgan, FRMS, formerly advisor to the World Meteorological Organization/climatology research scientist at University of Exeter, U.K.
- - -


How old are these quotes?

Up here in Canada we're very concerned (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/08/environ ment-poll.html) with global warming despite the fact that the ruling Conservative minority government is falling in line with George Bush's views(http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/061019/n101958 .html). There have been alarming recent reports on the warming trends in the Arctic (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st ory/2006/11/17/tech-arctic.html,http://www.cbc.ca/ canada/manitoba/story/2004/11/09/mb_arctic20041108 .html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2004/06 /14/nun-Ivorygulls06142004.html) and the thinning of the ice (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2005/07/29/a rctic-ice-29072005.html,http://www.cbc.ca/canada/n orth/story/2003/09/23/sep23wardhuntice23092003.htm l) and it is causing great concern.

Either your sources are inaccurate or woefully out of date.

You know, there was another console launched this weekend.

It's even selling out, in spite of its very healthy retail supply (10x the number of units as PS3).

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/11/20/tech -wii.html
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7278/52/

Isn't Slashdot going to mention it?

I knew to avoid jumping in front of buses unlike this guy...

It's not uncommon when I drive home from work to have stupid 14 yr olds jump in the middle of the road, or walk like 9 across down a road...

Kids are stupider today than yesterday because we fear forcing them to learn shit all. Can't discipline them, can't fail them, etc, etc, etc...

Not that kids my age weren't stupid when we were teens, just that teens today are STUPIDERERER.

Tom

Kind of reminds me of this....

And on the political front, the only major ally for Pres. Bush's stand on global warming, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, is now willing to look at carbon trading.

Not true. Stephen Harper has also taken Bush's stance of ignoring the problem, bringing shame and ridicule on Canada.

What about an elected politician referring to his ex-girlfriend as a dog? Ah, Canada leads the way :)

One winter back in the 1990s in Manitoba, there were some cops who picked up a local teenager, drove him to the outskirts of town, and left him there. It's important to note at this point that during a Manitoba winter, the temperature gets down to -30 celsius and the wind chill can easily bring it further down to -50. Unsurprisingly, the kid froze to death and died. Guess who covered it up? Every single cop in the entire city. No heroes, no whistleblowers, just a blue wall of evil, evil people.

Then it turned out that they did this regularly with anyone who was homeless, perceived as a troublemaker, or "First Nations". It took an extensive public inquiry to determine what happened and collect enough evidence to make a case. A good, decent, honourable cop would have spearheaded the investigation and crucified his colleagues for committing such a heinous act in inhumanity. A shitty evil cop would avoid doing an investigation because he doesn't give even the slightest thought to justice, the law, or even Human life.

Stonechild Scandal.

So what was the final outcome? The officers responsible were suspended WITH PAY, and the family got an apology from the current police chief. That's what a Human life is worth to the police: early retirement and some hollow words from someone who has nothing to do with the situation whatsoever.

Good timing for this.. I actually just saw this on The Hour (last night's full show), but boingboing also covered it: Dell gets presidential product placement?. There's a youtube link there.

Good timing for this.. I actually just saw this on The Hour (last night's full show), but boingboing also covered it: Dell gets presidential product placement?. There's a youtube link there.

we have freeks up in the north. Edible Ballot Society

1. obtain your ballot
2. eat your ballot in protest!
3. profit.

this plan is 100% guarantee of profit!

Well, they've recently found life 3 KM down in the ROCK, where no light can reach it. There's no sunlight, no thermal vents, but it is pretty warm, due to being so deep. So we don't necessarily need sunlight for life. I suggest you listen to the audio files linked to in the page above. It's pretty interesting stuff.

...what's funny is the interactions he has with americans. ... To me at least, the talking about backwater Kazakhstan, it's amusing... but the real gold is when he talks about it to other people and they show their ignorance

Here's the timeline: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/katrina/katrina_ timeline.html

I don't think the radio is good for finding music anymore. It's just the internet is so much easier and better for that.

One exception is CBC radio 3, which does a program on CBC radio 2 (yea, they really make is simple for us) on saturday nights from like, 7:30pm-12am or something (it's live, so where I'm from it starts at 4:30pm). I just record the stream using this guy (probably linux only) and listen to it at work during the week.

CBC3 also has a chart here with links to a site where you can listen to full sample tracks streaming. Then you can grab torrents from the usual places to see if you really want to get an album, or take your chances and order it from amazon.ca or cdplus.com (which is canadian)

Also last.fm is awesome for finding new music. Just find someone who listens to music you like, and grab torrents of other stuff they're listening to.

My profile is here.

Apologize for the two-post reply, had to look busy at work for few minutes.

Court overtuns levy:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2005/07/28/ipodlevy05 0728.html

Court refuses to require ISP's to turn over names:
http://www.out-law.com/page-5742

I've found a lot of great new Canadian music listening to the local college radio station. They're able to play a huge variety of music, including a lot of underground music, because they're non-profit and funded by listener donations. Much of what I've heard on this station can't even be found on P2P services like Limewire or Bit torrent, and that's fine with me. There's several independant music stores here and I'm happy to support an underground band that actually deserves it.

CBC Radio 3 also does a "New Canadian Music" podcast each week which features some great up and coming Canadian talent.

The bottom line? There's plenty of good quality Canadian music out there, you just won't find it in the mainstream. Especially not with garbage like Nickleback, Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan hogging all the precious airtime. If there's a college radio station in your community I urge you to listen in from time to time.

Heck, they don't even lock their houses!

Yes, I saw that stupid movie too. I certainly lock my door, as do most people I know.

He must have had his eyes closed when he visited Toronto ... if he wants to come back, I volunteer to give him a tour of the real slums. They're not as bad as some American cities, but they sure as hell are not as nice as he portrayed, either. But, as he surely knows, with selective editing you can make anything look good or bad, as you wish.

Also, please tell him to keep his damn opinions to himself. I don't like Harper either, but this is our country, and he has no right to tell us how to vote. Same goes for this guy (ps: Thanks for eight years of George W! Who are you to lecture us on how to vote?)

I think Linus is a good coder and project manager, but we shouldn't expect him to "show the way" in issues of principle/vision. He's an engineer, not a "freedom fighter".

People are being extradited to secret camps. Others are being shot for reporting on corrupt regimes. Some live in house arrest for years on end. Others are tortured for crimes that they have nothing to do with. It is VERY GENEROUS to call someone who fights against the right of software developers to control the distribution of their works a "freedom fighter." Considering the state of the world today, I find it amazing that people really see their ability to tweak their software as a humans rights violation. It is a minor licensing issue. MINOR. LICENSING. ISSUE.

Don't be too quick to chug those carrots.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/10/13/carrot -botulism.html

Of course, if you're paralyzed or dead, you will lose some weight pretty quickly.

(I've been a vegetarian since 2000.)

Give me some good sites where flash really shows what it's good for!

Give me some good sites where flash really shows what it's good for!

Talk all you want, no one is listening.

Very sadly you are wrong. The privacy commissioner of Ontario got suckered into this. Here it is:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/10/18/priv acy-identity.html

And when we see fearless regenerative howling hyper-muscular mice with giant human brains, then we know our world is lost.

Also, I wonder what Fatmouse thinks of all this? Some mice get all the good mutations...

There was a larger deliberate explosion in Canada: the explosion of Ripple Rock, off Vancouver Island in 1958. It used 1,375 tons of explosives.

I have seen the Ripple Rock explosion characterized as the "largest man-made non-nuclear explosion ever" or the "largest peacetime man-made non-nuclear explosion ever."

You can watch the CBC footage here.

YouTube has profit sharing deals in place with CBS, NBC, UMG, Sony BMG and Warner. It seems to me that media companies would rather cooperate than litigate in this particular case.

10,000 longbows ~ hardly!

It is a well known fact that during the middle ages and before then, during an attack on a city, the sieging army would catapult into cities corpses with the plague, or dead animals, in attempts to spread disease/plague that would decimate populations.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bioweapons/biowa r_timeline.html
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/xiongmn.h tml
http://www.usmedicine.com/column.cfm?columnID=109& issueID=46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/10/08/korea-ato mic.html

N. Korea tests nuclear weapon
Last Updated: Sunday, October 8, 2006 | 11:42 PM ET
CBC News

North Korea has tested its first nuclear weapon, its official news agency reported on Monday.

The Korean Central News Agency reported that the test was successful and no radiation had leaked from the site.

The test took place at 10:36 a.m. local time (9:36 p.m. ET Sunday) near the city of Kilju, according to South Korean defence sources cited by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

U.S. government officials were trying to assess the report Sunday night.

News of the test followed a demand from China and Japan on Sunday that the communist country shelve the test.

North Korea said Tuesday that it would test an atomic weapon because of "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war."

Following that statement, the UN, U.S. and other countries all asked that it not proceed.

Just a guess that you're Canadian from describing it as the Comedy channel which is Canadian vs. Comedy Central where it airs in the US. The news-trash broadcasts they're beating down in this study are nigh but a wimper compared to The National which is consistently the best damn news show around.

It's so good that even though I can't get it on TV anymore, I grab it online. The only thing it misses regularly is the minutiae of US government (it's CBC, right -- thoguh they do cover the bigger events), which is an easy enough gap to patch over as long as you don't expect the network news to cover it for you.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Forget China -- the USA is certainly protectionist when it chooses to be, even towards nations with which it has free trade agreements (for example, towards Canada on softwood lumber). As for "abject failure", the world's top 20 economies by per capita GDP are all free markets.

Related article:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2005/08/11/arar-laws uit050811.html

Our CBC (Canada Broadcasting Corporation) produced what I thought
was a fascinating documentary on the subject.

"The Secret History of 9/11"
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/secrethistory/

I found it to be a good summary of events before, during and
after.

ThatGuyThere

The steps in the federal legislative process are: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading, referral of the bill to the senate house, passage through the senate house, then royal assent from the Governor General. The last stage signals the bill's passage into law.

If there is not agreement on a bill's contents, amendments are made, discussed and voted upon until there is agreement.
Source: CBC News Indepth: Canadian Government - picked this source because it was the shortest and most concise, you can find details on the Canadian Parlimentary system in many locations.

> "Using the term selection in this way is like suggesting that there is selection against hunger because hungry people die more often."

Well in a manner of speaking there is. Hunger is lack of resource/resources. Which has caused many a species to change. From scaling down or slowing metabolism down, to storing reserves in times of plenty. We already have some adaptation to hunger, that's why we are all getting so fats these days. Our genes are still waiting for the food source to run short. Sugar, fat, salt taste great to us because they would normally be in rare supply. So we stuff our faces with them like the monkeys we are. ;-)

> " natural selection or evolutionary theory to human populations"

I aggree that memes will be doing the real evoling (I was careful not to use the word gene). If something went on long enough though (which it won't) the genes would catch up.

> "The real question is: should ethnic tension and violence be surprising when the politically correct doctrine of multi-culturalism has cast assimilation as a profane practice?"

You think things would work better if there was forced assimilation? No, people from similar backgrounds will always group together. People living away from the lands they feel as home will always try and take some home with them. Of course something are not acceptable, laws must be followed, language learnt. But other then that, things should be left to nature rather the poke around. If you try and interfere with people's customs in the name of assimilation, you will only piss them off.

The riots in France are not the result of a multi-culturalism society. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/paris_riots/

Just last week I heard amazing news.
Bionic Arm.

It's really important that almost anyone could obtain this independence restoring medical device should they need one. Open Source ought to help with that, since I can just see some company trying to own a part and charging $5000 for a chip that you could get for $5 in Hong Kong.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/world/americas/2 1canada.html?ex=1316491200&en=c01819e14cf573a8&ei= 5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

When they do sign it their economy will still be 'fucked' because the US government will not enforce the agreement unless the US benifits. For an example check out the Softwood Lumber dispute between Canada and the US. Canada had to pay the $1 Billion (US), yes one billion dollars, to the the US goverment and their lumber intrests just to get them to drop illigal duties, found illigal by all FTA tribulas, the WTO and the US federal courts. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/softwood_lumber/

You mean like the 2006 Moscow market bombing or the 2006 Badarmude bus explosion?
Just because you're uninformed and choose to have prejudices based on your pitiful lack of knowledge doesn't mean everyone else should start hating on "brown people" because they're "all alike" and are therefore summarily guilty.

Nope not at all, being pro-GM food is being short-sighted and completly destroying soils / the environment in order to mass produce in an agricultural system that is non-renewable.

Most if not all GM-foods on the market serve only one purpose, getting rid of weeds or pests convieniently, that's all, none of the GM variety actually promise increased yeilds directly. Better agricultural practices can achieve the same results as these crops.

So in reality GM foods only help corporations make more profits, nothing else. They sell the herbicide and sell the crops that are resistant to said herbicide, not to increase yeilds.

Here's an example of their tactics : http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/genetics_modific ation/percyschmeiser.html/

What's the most disturbing is the proliferation of those genes in nature, especially those for used for pest control like BT Corn. BTk ( Bacillus Thuringiensis var Kurstaki ) is a known biological agent to control moths, but the problem is that it's only selective to the order lepidoptera ( moths and butterflies ) so it's been shown that having a high density of BT crops in an area can affect not only the selected pest ( the corn borer in the case of BT corn ) but also other species of butterflies ( like Monarchs ) or other butterflies that fill a vital role in the pollinisation of certain plants.

At least the Canada doesn't know how to build donkey-bombs.

Yeah, but watch out for our beaver-bombs.

Beaver bombs? Why bother, when we've got the chicken cannon. (Visual aid here.)

We'll save the beaver for, uh, other uses. 8^)

Cathy Fordham showed how it is done, and how the "system" in Ontario is not prepared to reverse itself when its assumptions are wrong.

Even with courts providing "balance", this is a difficult area for the rights of accused to be respected. Hopefully Cathy Fordham's excesses were an exception, but the irreversible fallout from this one person's manipulation demonstrates how carefully the justice system must handle such cases.

As with the death penalty, how many wrongful convictions are we willing to tolerate? What is more important; harsh punishment for the guilty or keeping the innocent free?

Cathy Fordham showed how it is done, and how the "system" in Ontario is not prepared to reverse itself when its assumptions are wrong.

Even with courts providing "balance", this is a difficult area for the rights of accused to be respected. Hopefully Cathy Fordham's excesses were an exception, but the irreversible fallout from this one person's manipulation demonstrates how carefully the justice system must handle such cases.

As with the death penalty, how many wrongful convictions are we willing to tolerate? What is more important; harsh punishment for the guilty or keeping the innocent free?

Since when is slashdot a "Major news site"? Thats news to me. Its a bit TECHNOLOGY related website, and last time i looked, m$ was one of the biggest players in that game. So when they lock in a annoying, and possible very disruptive feature into their OS, i think that is News.

if you want real "news" go to here or here, not here

You assume that business interests are a subset of national interests

I don't assume it but many countries do. Certainly the old Soviet Union did and there is reason to think that China currently does as well.

In times past, people in power in the U.S. assumed an identity between American interest and business interests. Witness U.S. President Coolidge's statement "The business of America is business" and the statement by the president of General Motors thirty years later "What's good for the country is good for General Motors, and vice versa."

This president of GM, Charles Wilson, later became Secretary of Defense. He and President Coolidge may have had their ontologies wrong but they were in a position to act as if they were true.

The Conservative government is in a very precarious position. The wrong move and the victory they let the Liberals screw up so badly for is gone.

Here's how I, an American would-be Canadian and regular CBC Radio One listener sees it:

You are right, Harper was in a precarious position to start. The only reason the Tories came to power was the sponsorship scandal. Now, he has made his "settlement" of the softwood lumber dispute with the U.S. a confidence issue. If enough MPs realize that Harbush folded a winning hand against the U.S. ("Bushie, you're doin' a heckuva job, and you only hafta give back 1/3 of what you stole, eh?"), his government could very easily fall. Plus, the Canadian involvement in Afganistan is unpopular. For these and other reasons, he's on very thin ice (pun intended) and the Liberals and NDP are looking for the first opportunity to take him down. Anyone who doubts this needs only realize that his campaign-promised revisit of gay marriage is now off the table.