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So what?

Hosting the Olympics is estimated to have cost Russia $51 billion.
Building a Moon Colony is estimated to cost $35 billion with an extra cost of $7.35 billion/year to keep it running.
The cost of annexing Crimea have been estimated to be in the ballpark of $5 billion, and as the statement from Alfa Bank goes “For Russia’s budget this is not a big deal, Even if you spend $5 billion or $10 billion, this is not money that dramatically changes things.”

Russia has already shown that it is willing to spend the money needed to build a permanent Moon Base on other prestige projects.
Sure, a moon base is a costly project without clear ROI, but it won't be the worst offender in the Russian economy.

Because they almost certainly don't? Objective polling before the election put only 41% of Crimeans in favour of becoming part of Russia. Russia invaded, installed a puppet Crimean government (kicking the democratically elected one out) took over the airwaves, spread propaganda everywhere, refused to allow impartial international observers in and then called an election which they "won" with 97% support - the jump from 41% to 97% isn't within any sane margin of error.

It's less than 41% actually. In 2011 it was 33% and in 2013 it was 23%

http://www.ibtimes.com/gallup-...

Also the leader of the puppet government - a Russian gangster nick named Goblin - was from a party which got 4% of the vote in the last elections. And it's not even clear that the votes in Parliament making him PM and organising the referendum were quorate. Also Parliament was surrounded by gunmen who only let in MPs who would vote the right way

http://time.com/19097/putin-cr...

So far, the most revealing aspect of his time in power has been the way he came to possess it. Before dawn on Feb. 27, at least two dozen heavily armed men stormed the Crimean parliament building and the nearby headquarters of the regional government, bringing with them a cache of assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. A few hours later, Aksyonov walked into the parliament and, after a brief round of talks with the gunmen, began to gather a quorum of the chamber's lawmakers.

It is not clear whether the parliament was seized that day on his orders. On the one hand, the masked gunmen identified themselves as members of Crimea's "self-defense forces," all of which are, according to Aksyonov, directly under his control. On the other, he claims the seizure of the buildings was done "spontaneously" by a mysterious group of fighters. "We only knew that these were Russian nationalist forces," he tells TIME in an interview Sunday. "These were people who share our Russian ideology. So if they wanted to kill someone, they would have killed the nightwatchmen who were inside."

Instead, they let the guards go, sealed the doors and only allowed the lawmakers whom Aksyonov invited to enter the building. Various media accounts have disputed whether he was able to gather a quorum of 50 of his peers before the session convened that day, and some Crimean legislators who were registered as present have said they did not come near the building. In any case, those who did arrive could hardly have voted their conscience while pro-Russian gunmen stood in the wings with rocket launchers. Both of the votes held that day were unanimous. The first appointed Aksyonov, a rookie statesman with less than four years experience as a local parliamentarian, as the new Prime Minister of Crimea. The second vote called for a referendum on the peninsula's secession from Ukraine.

Oh and the referendum offered people a choice between independence (and joining Russia later) or joining Russia immediately - "yes, now" or "yes, later". There was no way to vote for the status quo of staying inside the Ukraine.

https://www.kyivpost.com/conte...

The ballot for March 16 Crimean referendum gives two choices, to join Russia or become independent.

Voters in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea who vote in the March 16 referendum have two choices - join Russia immediately or declare independence and then join Russia.

So the choices are "yes, now" or "yes, later."

The referendum took place only two weeks later dur

Up north we are going back to voluntary segregation.

my car is parked near where I catch the train

Ah, the "auto parts store".

Sure, and apparently Toronto also has trouble with snow and ice and traffic and commuter rail being shutdown.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2...

http://www.cp24.com/weather/cr...

http://www.thestar.com/opinion...

Clearly there is a lot of smoke and hot air being generated, not sure if there is really much of a fire.

That’s no way to treat a library, scientists say

Their internationally renowned collections have been transferred to the two federal aquatic libraries that remain, in Sidney, B.C., and in Dartmouth, N.S. ...

Gail Shea, minister of fisheries and oceans, accuses critics of spreading “serious misinformation.” Her department insists there will be “no changes to the size or scope of the collection.”

In a statement emailed to the Star by her spokesperson, Shea said no more than a dozen nonemployees visited each library annually. And more than 95 per cent of documents provided to users were done so over the Internet.

“It’s not fair to taxpayers to make them pay for libraries that so few people actually used,” Shea says, explaining the government’s main reason for consolidating the collections. The closings will save $443,000 in 2014-2015, according to government estimates. .....

The research, Ayles argues, “is effectively lost because it’s no longer accessible. It’s like stuff in your grandfather’s basement.”

So the data hasn't disappeared, it's now in another library where it is less convenient to access.

Well, unless you have an autistic kid and are trying to immigrate to said country, which will mean that you're fucked.

It seems that the "high efficiency incandescent" effort died in 2008. Why the brightest idea needs tinkering

A few years ago, I saw some stupid bitch reading while driving. She was actually tailgating the vehicle in front.

That's all right, bus drivers do it in Toronto as does everyone's favorite mayor

A quick google search of turns up plenty of fires caused by road debris, some of which is much more minor than what the Teslas hit.

Car hits trash and catches on fire: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25850334
Patrol car bursts into flames after hitting road debris: http://seguingazette.com/news/article_b24f9222-b0fb-11e1-bdef-0019bb2963f4.html
Car catches fire after running over mattress: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30315-2004Sep17.html
Car leaking gasoline catches fire likely due to road debris: http://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/bakersfield-woman-helps-another-escape-vehicle-fire-on-coffee-road

Or it could be worse.

Metal road debris impales car, barely misses driver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUWXRWK4xs
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/09/14/unknown_to_driver_her_suv_is_impaled_on_metal_bar.html

Maybe it's the fault of libertarians that seem to make up a significant percentage of the tech demographic; wanting to kill the Affordable Healthcare Act. Or tea party programmers wanting the same thing who managed to get on the project. Come on man! Think of some more conspiracies!! Lovin' it.

Of course it couldn't be the incompetence of contracting companies that seem to make a living because they have or aim to have some sort of inside track in Washington rather than the chops to do the actual thing that needs doing. Of course that would never happen in Washington or any other political capital. I'm not saying the way the primary contractor, Quebec company CGI, does business in any way follows recent Quebec business practices. They are probably a well above board and good honest corporate citizen (although according to the Washington Post article above they did screw up another medical system based project). I'm just saying that if Quebec ever did separate from Canada, as it is now, they'd have to think up some other adjective to describe it. It's too cold to grow bananas there.

Frankly (and personally) though, I wouldn't trust any company to government contracts with stated aims published in their profiles like: "The ultimate aim is to establish relations so intimate with the client that decoupling becomes almost impossible," (see Washington Post article). Especially not from Quebec.

Fun science fact: that figure may soon be below minimum wage in Ontario.

If you are deliberately killing innocent people with drones, you aren't doing it right. That is why they don't deliberately target innocent people.

That's the point: they don't deliberately target innocent people. Drones seem to still kill a fuckton of civilians, though.

Former US drone pilot quits, regretting bombing innocents, including children

U.S. Accused of Using Drones to Target Rescue Workers and Funerals in Pakistan

Living Under Drones: Stanford International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic"

Way ahead of you. From 2008.

"Air Canada's Jazz tosses life jackets"
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2008/08/23/air_canadas_jazz_tosses_life_jackets.html

The story of the optometrist is a little crazier than that, but I agree, optometry and dentistry are both propped up and over priced because of insurance, there is no competition or will to fair prices. And yes, it is exactly that situation in the USA.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/11/25/unlicensed_optician_jailed_for_flouting_court_orders.html

It cost $63 million (CAD) to develop the satellite, and SpaceX offered a discounted rate of $10 million (USD) -- it'd cost $50 million (USD) for a regular non-experimental Falcon 9 launch. If the odds were really 50/50, they could have bought insurance for $35 million (or whatever the going rate for satellite insurance is) and still come out ahead.

Is it just me, or is this somewhat fishy? First, the company posts an almost billion-dollar loss on Friday then botches the BBM to iOS/Android rollout. And then once the share price is driven down to almost $8, sells itself for $9 / share.

And of course there is this: http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/08/16/blackberry_ceo_thorsten_heins_could_get_556_million_if_ousted_after_sale.html

Nortel?

Another of Canada's former world leading tech giants bites the dust. I wonder what would have happened if RIM hadn't been blocked from buying Nortel assets. Would they have been diversified enough to weather this storm, or would RIM/BB have still cratered themselves.

Doesn't one have to love science for its inquiry nature.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-when-introduce-child-smartphone-tablet.html

http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2012/11/29/smartphone_addicts_start_early_in_south_korea.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/kids-using-gadgets-earlier-age-being-exposed-risks-study-20130605

And as you also brought the TV into the mix, of course, that too.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130505/education/Effects-of-TV-computer-games-and-smartphones-on-children.468339

You know, it is 10 years now I do not watch TV, I don't have a TV set at home. I watch the occasional when I go to visit my parents or some friend, but that is because the TV is on all the time everywhere I go and I can not shut my eyes. I read a lot, and I do mean a lot. Everyday two hours at least, the time one would spend in front of the TV. I do not want to seem arrogant, but I am considered the guy with lots and lots of imagination among my friends. I think there could be a correlation with my aTV-ism, it, but I will say there is not, thus making you happy and easier to move along.

For the smuggling, everyone knows where the "problem" is, but they are exempt and so they crack down on who they can. Did you ever read the report where they took a sample of butts from the government buildings years ago?

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2010/05/17/government_employees_big_buyers_of_illegal_cigarettes.html

I've always wondered what things would look like if they spent less on enforcement and more on addressing the problems. I don't drink or smoke but a lot of people who do use to ask me to bring stuff back when I lived in the US and travelled between the two countries.. it was shameful buying a product "made in Toronto" for around 1/2 the price in Stamford, CT vs Toronto, ON.

I understand the kidnapping thing, but i have traveled with the kids and no mother for years and was stopped once?

That was a very interesting comment. I have not been following this case other than what has seeped in by osmosis, but what you are saying sounds both plausible and very different from the picture the media are painting. I'm trying to track down some of your sources, so I can read more about it (it would have been helpful if you had included URLs in your post).

1. Obama's red line.
2. I can't find the cat video in question on youtube, it seems to drown in videos of the more recent gassing episodes.
3. I think I found a source for the leaked emails, though the paste referred to in that article had been deleted.
4. I found this source for the Feburary home-made Sarin usage by the FSA
5. I this this is the FSA Sarin transport episode. I also did found other similar news from the same source: FSA chemical weapon factory discovered.
6. I found plenty of sources for the kidnapping indicent, including this

I have wondered over the last few years why more big-name general news sites around the world don't just shut down their comment systems. The comments attached to virtually any major TV news network site or newspaper site tend to be filled with content that does little if anything to actually further any sort of discussion or dissemination of knowledge about the topic at hand.

I have noticed recently some of the sites I follow daily have started to only selectively permit commenting on stories. Stories which are likely to bring out the trolls and bigots seem to have commenting disabled more and more. However, I'm not sure why these news sites don't just bite the bullet and dismantle the comments attached to stories. Nobody seems to ever benefit from them.

(Obviously, something like /. which is centred around discussion and commenting is a somewhat different beast. I am specifically talking about general news outlets like CBC News, The Toronto Star, or CNN.com, and others like them. /. naturally also has the benefit of community-driven moderation to limit trolling, flamebait, and spam).

Yaz

Heh. This is LITERALLY what happened in Toronto over the last few months.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/08/04/toronto_mayor_rob_ford_remains_shadowed_by_crack_video_scandal_editorial.html (most recent news on it is 2 days old it seems - he had the guy who had proof killed)

Really. Seriously. Crack dealer turned the mayor in. Canada. Who knew?

This is like a crack dealer turning in the mayor for smoking crack (hey, I live in DC, it's the first metaphor that came to mind).

And here I thought you were going to make a crack (shh) about Toronto.. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/08/04/toronto_mayor_rob_ford_remains_shadowed_by_crack_video_scandal_editorial.html

That is incredibly simplistic, there are lots of reasons to setup shop in the U.S. versus China or India especially. How much work are you going to get done with rolling black or brown outs that are common in both countries? How reliable are your workers going to be when infrastructure crumbles from an earthquake. You might not be watching the news but things are a lot more stable in the U.S.

Corruption of government officials in both countries also runs rampant. Finding good people is easy compared to dealing with all of that. There are of course different regulatory problems too, RIM ran into that problem in a big way. Moving to European countries is of course far easier but then you lose savings on labor as they command higher rates just like we do. There is a reason that a network engineer in NYC makes about the same as a network engineer in London.

Econ 101 as you know is far from a complete picture of a state economy much less a country or global economy.

There is also the reality that most people setup shop in the U.S. because they are from the U.S. It would be a very rare occurrence for anyone living in the U.S. to start a company in another country regardless of the talent pool unless they already had a company in the U.S. that proved successful.

I've met a lot of smart people, from all over the globe, no matter where you go you can probably find qualified people as long as you're willing to pay the prevailing wage. You don't go to India and pay a network engineer the same as you pay someone in Somalia.

What exactly is the problem this legislation is trying to solve? I have seen all sorts of weird stuff on the internet in my years (plus had a few friends that *loved* to send me really wacky things) and yet, somehow, I ended up not being some sort of crazy deviant. But wait - One in a hundred thousand million will be! We must protect the children by censoring half of the internet for the entire nation's population!

Hacking is bad. Censoring the internet for the entire population of your country? Much, much, MUCH worse.

Easy. The problem of parents wanting a babysitter that's basically free and keeps them from actually having to parent their children. So they can plop them in front of a computer or tablet and be done with their child rearing duties.

And yes, I blame lazy parents - most of whom probably have children because "it's trendy" and social pressures to well, have kids they don't really have the will to take care of properly.

Oh, and apparently, the idea is infectious. Conservative MP Joy Smith (Manitoba) has said she wants Canada to adopt the same thing.

An influential Tory backbencher who has the ear of Prime Minister Stephen Harper when it comes to child protection issues says she will push for Ottawa to follow what she called the “bold” crackdown on child pornography in the U.K. that would force Internet providers to install automatic safety filters for anyone surfing the web.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday that to fight the “horrendous crime” of child abuse images, he will ask U.K. Internet providers to install a “porn block” that would prevent web users from accessing all kinds of pornography, unless they specifically request not to have the filters set up on their computers.

Read it here.

Gnome does have a slight bias in that there are more hits for other meanings of gnome. Look at the highlight markers. One of them refers to a 3D animation about gnomes

... not seeing it. Even as eye candy she's meh.

Another one just got fired yesterday!

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/06/27/drag_queen_fired_from_pride_for_blackface_performance.html

Yes.

Until relatively recently, 3 large wireless companies completely dominated the market. there are 3rd party offerings in urban areas that have largely been crippled by regulation favouring the large incumbents. Mobilicity (now telus), Wind, and Public Mobile recently Withdrew from their own lobbying organization claiming they were also in the pocket of the big 3.

“It has been evident for quite some time that, rather than being a true industry association which represents the views of all players regardless of size, the CWTA has instead largely been an advocate for Rogers, TELUS and Bell, and often directly contrary to the interests of new entrant wireless carriers” said Bob Boron, General Counsel and Senior Vice-President, Legal & Regulatory Affairs for Public Mobile.

The CEOs of the big 3 mobile companies tell their shareholders proudly that they consistently have the highest revenue per customer in the world. This is not in dispute. However, when pressed to justify such high priced plans, they use the same hackneyed mantras of: sparse geographic distribution, threat of netflix and streaming services, and supposed customer satisfaction, which are largely corporate marketing spin repeated year after year until it's true.

Recently, all 3 new entrants in the urban wireless market became up for sale, and Telus is intending to buy Mobilicity, and Rogers is attempting to purchase the spectrum originally allocated by the CRTC to new entrants to increase market competition.

Canadian wireless service has less choice, higher prices, offering fewer services and typically lower bandwidth caps, thanks to collusion from the large telcos. It's a caricature of the US market.

Yes.

Until relatively recently, 3 large wireless companies completely dominated the market. there are 3rd party offerings in urban areas that have largely been crippled by regulation favouring the large incumbents. Mobilicity (now telus), Wind, and Public Mobile recently Withdrew from their own lobbying organization claiming they were also in the pocket of the big 3.

“It has been evident for quite some time that, rather than being a true industry association which represents the views of all players regardless of size, the CWTA has instead largely been an advocate for Rogers, TELUS and Bell, and often directly contrary to the interests of new entrant wireless carriers” said Bob Boron, General Counsel and Senior Vice-President, Legal & Regulatory Affairs for Public Mobile.

The CEOs of the big 3 mobile companies tell their shareholders proudly that they consistently have the highest revenue per customer in the world. This is not in dispute. However, when pressed to justify such high priced plans, they use the same hackneyed mantras of: sparse geographic distribution, threat of netflix and streaming services, and supposed customer satisfaction, which are largely corporate marketing spin repeated year after year until it's true.

Recently, all 3 new entrants in the urban wireless market became up for sale, and Telus is intending to buy Mobilicity, and Rogers is attempting to purchase the spectrum originally allocated by the CRTC to new entrants to increase market competition.

Canadian wireless service has less choice, higher prices, offering fewer services and typically lower bandwidth caps, thanks to collusion from the large telcos. It's a caricature of the US market.

Obviously nobody sent him the memo where Canadian scientists and public servants have to get approval for talking to the media or even giving evidence to members of Parliament. All these pictures and videos - oh boy is he ever going to get it when he gets back to CSA HQ.

Speaking of traditonal currency, it is not solely electronic at any point, every electronic dollar has to have a physical equivalent, at least in the U.S. Banks periodically move big stacks of cash, bank notes, securities, etc around. Whether it is physically in the possession of the owner or not, each digital dollar has a single specific owner, excepting only the Federal Reserve. When people (at banks or anywhere else) get caught trying to spend dollars they don't have a legitimate ownership of, people go to jail. It is an even bigger deal for banks because they can't even claim ownership falsely without incuring big trouble, where individuals have to make very big claims (Madoff style) to get similar trouble.

"Banks can actually create more money by simply changing a few rows in a database." is true only if you ignore that when caught by the Feds, people go to jail and made up money gets taken away along with hefty fines. The Feds are very, very touchy about that sort of thing. What banks can do is borrow money from the Fed, transfer through the Fed, or transfer to the Fed, but they have to send the money in some physical form to the Fed when they are settling up and can't claim to own money they owe to some other institution when they've allowed the other institution to claim the same ownership.

That may be changing though. Canada is working on it: http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/spending_saving/2013/04/30/digital_cash_replacement_from_royal_canadian_mint_in_the_works.html

Hey, be fair, it's entirely possible that he won't be ambushed. For instance, he could repeatedly miss his target and kill one or more innocent bystanders, like the chuckleheads on Danzig street.

Did you link the wrong thing or are you, to be kind, misreading incredibly badly? That's an article from Canada. Known as one of the anti-rights, gun control, people's utopias. There is effectively no concealed carry. There gun laws out the ass. Canada is frequently pointed out as "the way it should be!"

Yet, you put in a link to a gang shooting with 25 victims, two dead. While trying to say that Concealed Carriers shoot up innocent bystanders. Way to go.

Hey, be fair, it's entirely possible that he won't be ambushed. For instance, he could repeatedly miss his target and kill one or more innocent bystanders, like the chuckleheads on Danzig street.

Seeing as how Wind Mobile is being sold, T-Mo should get into the Canadian market. It's logical, as Wind's towers use the same AWS spectrum as TMo (and largely, the same phone models). We need someone other than Robellus to buy Wind, to keep the market sane(ish).

This is spoken by someone who already lives under them. You have no "freedom of expression," you have limited expression as deemed by the government in a very and exceptionally narrowing scope as deemed by unelected bureaucrats in HRC's(human rights councils) who run tribunals outside the court system.

Taken from http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/03/17/supreme_court_reaffirmed_canadian_balance_on_free_speech_siddiqui.html

Anti-hate laws undermine free speech.

No, said the court, they “appropriately balance . . . freedom of expression with competing Charter rights and other values — a commitment to equality and respect for group identity and the inherent dignity owed to all human beings.”

Anti-hate laws breed political correctness, stifle debate.

No, “hate speech legislation is not aimed at discouraging repugnant or offensive ideas. It does not, for example, prohibit expression which debates the merits of reducing the rights of vulnerable groups. It only restricts the use of expression exposing them to hatred.”

Hate speech is hard to define.

The judges have defined it — as that which “a reasonable person, aware of the context and circumstances, would view the expression as likely to expose a person or persons to detestation and vilification on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.” They also provided “a workable approach” to combating it.

Apply the rules “objectively” (their emphasis).

Interpret “hatred and contempt” “as being restricted to those extreme manifestations of the emotion described by the words ‘detestation’ and ‘vilification.’ This filters out expression which, while repugnant and offensive, does not incite the level of abhorrence, delegitimization and rejection that risks causing discrimination or other harmful effects.”

Look to the effect of hate speech on the target. “Is the expression likely to expose the targeted person or group to hatred by others?”

A no-holds-barred debate may hurt but it does not harm anyone.

“Preventive measures do not require proof of actual harm. The discriminatory effects of hate speech are part of the everyday knowledge and experience of Canadians.”

Provocateurs do not mean to malign the group they attack.

Good try, but “allowing the dissemination of hate speech to be excused by a sincerely held belief would, in effect, provide an absolute defence and would gut the prohibition of effectiveness.”

The court could have added that human rights codes are not the only limitation on free speech.

Libel laws don’t allow writers to say whatever they want about, say, Conrad Black. Why is that chill less corrosive of free speech than anti-hate laws? Are minorities less worthy of legal protection?

The Criminal Code, too, limits free speech. I may be marched off to jail for up to two years if convicted of spreading hate. Granted, the bar to prosecute is higher there than under human rights codes. Still, it makes no sense to criminalize speech and jail people for their words, rather than merely imposing a fine on them.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2012/03/30/jim_balsillie_resigns_from_rim_board.html
> Jim Balsillie stepped down from the Research in Motion board of directors on March 2.

Looks like he was pushed out already and now BlackBerry do seem to have a new OS, new model based on numerous modern mobile programming models.

I never bought a BB before but having been a happy Nokia customer for over 12 years, I shall be registering my vote of no confidence in WinPhone8 by selecting a different brand for my contract renewal coming up this year. They seemed to have retained the good stuff they were always good up but made the ecosystem more open and friendly, no more BES lockin and other such ploys.

You'd have thought that if Jim was 100% behind the current new image for RIM we would have stuck around at the recent unveiling to claim some credit. You'd have thought Jim is fully aware of the implication of sell the entire stock holding at this particular time to on lookers.

I can only praise BBs original vision he may have had a hand in, but they did loose their way. I can only praise their current strategy they seem to be the only mobile maker with a strategy right now. If Jim was in the way then it is good for him to find something else to be doing now maybe he can offer his services to a well known Finnish brand that recently picked the wrong Canadian. Call that the final vote of no confidence form him if you will and we might have a 4 horse race to the commodity mobile bottom of the market.

There have been a few announcements about a "cure." I hope one of them sticks. This is another interesting finding using a vaccine.

Why does it seem there is one set of rules for the little people and another set for big business?

"HSBC executives brushed off complaints from other bank employees, so that the problems persisted for eight years, the report says.

In addition, some HSBC bank affiliates skirted U.S. government bans against financial transactions with Iran and other countries, according to the report. And HSBC’s U.S. division provided money and banking services to some banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh believed to have helped fund Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, the report said."

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1227431--hsbc-laundered-billions-of-dollars-for-mexican-drug-cartels-senate-investigation-finds

"The penalty includes a five-year agreement with the US department of justice under which the bank will install an independent monitor to assess reformed internal controls. The bank's top executives will defer part of their bonuses for the whole of the five-year period, while bonuses have been clawed back from a number of former and current executives, including those in the US directly involved at the time."

They now lead the way for 1.6% of the market... Meanwhile an IDC study says that for the first time Apple and Android devices are about to beat RIM in the enterprise.

The dude from Morgan Stanley sums it up: "While some of the new features on BB10 seem innovative, we had a similar reaction to Palm’s WebOS when we saw it at CES in ‘09".
(See http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1293791--rim-tumbles-as-blackberry-s-u-s-market-share-drops-to-1-6-per-cent)

Somehow, I recall George Carlin's words on the topic:
I don't understand why prostitution is illegal. Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why isn't selling fucking legal?
If selling fucking were legal (as in some other jusrisdictions of the world), the criminal in question would not be a criminal, and the perpetrators of the misdemeanor in question would not have committed a misdemeanor.

Actually, crossbow deaths still happen - there are a fair number of crossbow hunters in the US, and they're just as likely as mistakenly shoot a person as hunters using guns. One happened last month, in fact: http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story/Owen-County-Woman-Dies-in-Crossbow-Accident/UzDm7-_IV0Wh7jV5dy_Ydw.cspx

Murder by crossbow happens as well, though it's less common: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bradford-west-yorkshire-10801054 and http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/900745--man-shot-dead-with-crossbow-inside-main-st-library are two murders-by-crossbow from 2010.

You do realize that makes you a socialist? Right? I'll bet you even put Poupon on your burger.

We no longer have groups of people fighting over basic issues, like access to abortion, or the right to vote, because we're all in this together, and we've moved on from that nonsense.

Some people didn't get the memo:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1175265--canada-s-pro-life-movement-gets-a-slick-youthful-rebranding

You describe your opinions as a "we" this and "we" that. Talking about the US your rhetoric becomes polarized: "1%", "living in a fantasy land the like the republicans" [I HATE the GOP FWIW].

Is there something about be a foreigner that makes you prone to self-deception and lying? Or is that you think you speak on behalf of Canada because this is a US-centric site and you are, clearly, Canadian?

FYI, you'll be fighting for healthcare just as surely as you will be fighting for breath when the strangler gets a hold of you. What you have is some minor assurance of not getting a huge-ass overinflated bill and - not needing much care - this relieves you. When you need something badly and it doesn't magically appear, you'll feel differently.

Toronto police Det. Const. Andrew Teixeira and his partner Jamie Clark knocked on doors in Holly's west-Toronto neighbourhood asking men to voluntarily provide a DNA sample.

When they got to the home of 35-year-old Michael Briere – filled with stuffed animals and comic books – they asked Briere if they could swab inside his cheek.

"It was a flat no. He apologized and said he thought it was just a way for the government to track people's movements," Teixeira recalled. Of the 300 men who lived within two blocks of Jones's home and were asked to provide a DNA sample, he was one of only two who said no.

Briere was placed under around-the-clock surveillance. It took a month before police announced his arrest, revealing they had matched his DNA, taken from a discarded pop can, to skin found under Jones's fingernails. Briere was convicted and is serving a life sentence.

Emphasis mine. Now it turns out they got the guy. So it just boils down to a question of whether the ends justifies the mean.

They are not the only ones.

Ah, good 'ol loyalty cards. I prefer disloyalty cards. ;)

Anyway, it's a mix. Yes, they want to motivate you to keep coming back. But these stores also like to know crazy amounts of information about you. Aka, not just what's disappearing in a particular store, but what's being consumed by what demographics, what's bought at the same time, etc, to help determine product positioning, marketing campaigns, and so forth. Here's a crazy article on the lengths some companies go. The first paragraph, as a teaser:

Andrew Pole had just started working as a statistician for Target in 2002, when two colleagues from the marketing department stopped by his desk to ask an odd question: “If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn’t want us to know, can you do that? ”

Hm, According to this article, the judgement you refer to was overturned and the precise argument I am making won out.