Scientist To Sue Warmocaust Collusionist?

Did Inhofe's flack Marc Morano slime the wrong Climate Scientist?

Mr. Steig, go through with this and a $5.00 donation (Canadian) to you legal fund is waiting.

A Forgotten Poll?

I don't know why this effort from Angus Reid hasn't recieved more coverage, other than that the result is the same-old same-old:

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The governing Conservative party remains ahead in Canada, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies released by the Toronto Star. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next federal election, while 29 per cent would support the opposition Liberal party.

To me this just says that despite the fact that Liberal activists seem more comfortable with Iggy than Dion, the change in leadership hasn't moved the numbers much. Mind you, AR's analysis of the raw data indicates a somewhat rosier picture:

Exactly two months after the ill-advised economic statement that almost doomed the Conservative government, the political map finds the five federal parties—with the exception of the Liberals—very close to their level of support in the last federal election.

The Liberals have managed to sustain positive numbers in Quebec (where they are second to the Bloc) and British Columbia (where they trail the Tories). In these two provinces, the Grits are doing better than they did in the 2008 election. Ignatieff is clearly outperforming his predecessor in head-to-head match-ups against Harper, but many respondents remain unaware or uncertain.

AR's analysis of the Conservative Base and its response to last week's budget (they're "satisfied" with it) seems absurd given the response in the blogosphere, but on the other hand the poll does confirm a certain angst among NDP voters that appears evident on the anecdotal level.

The NDP, in stark contrast to Tories and Grits, is only holding on to 64 per cent of its 2008 voters. Three out of every ten NDP supporters are now backing either of the two main federal parties.

Anyway, I am sure Steve V will be along to explain things for us.

PS. This is another online survey, but since AR's recent results have fallen in line with all the other major Canadian pollsters, I guess the time has come to stop complaining about their methodology.

And You Will Also Have To Share A Desk With A Stinky Journalist

Further to this story about CanWest's desperate attempts to cut costs:

CanWest Gobal has asked federal regulators for a ruling that will reduce diversity of news coverage and “gut newsrooms,” says a representative of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP), the union that represents many CanWest employees.

CanWest's plan is collapse their newspaper and television staff into one homogeneous blob of scribbling humanity, and thus save money by having journalists prepare stories for several media. Of course, even if this goes through there will be culture clashes within the newly merged units. For example, because tv journalists perform before an audience of millions, they are required to bathe. Some of the print reporters at the National Post...well, lets just say that you can smell them over the phone. And you don' t want the camera inadvertently catching one of your print guys chugging a mickey behind his desk at 7:00 AM. Care will have to be taken.

There's also a rumor going around that the National Post has made all of its bathrooms unisex, and is leasing out the freed-up space to a group of mycologists who are attempting to raise Shitake mushrooms in these dark, dank holes. But that's more a rumour I'm trying to start than one I am trying to spread.

Macleans Should Pull Steyn's Column On The "Hacked Wifi" Conspiracy

In it, Steyn accuses CHRC employee Dean Steacy by name of criminal wrong-doing. Accusations which have since been proven false.

Kenneth Whyte, Paul, Kady et al. It isn't about where you stand on Canada's various speech codes. Its about showing a little bit of class when one of your writers screws up and, indeed, in this case Steyn was suckered by the owner of Stormfront, America's premier Neo-Nazi website.
The post in question should be disappeared and, frankly, apologized for.

Meanwhile, 12 hours later and still no sign of class from the Steynosaur himself.

Ooooh! Pretty!

Writing about Global Warming? Need a pretty graphic to illustrate? There's tons of them at Global Warming Art, and all nicely explained too.

For example, the one above illustrates nicely this story about receding glaciers.

h/t Michael Tobis.

The Death Of Student Journalism?

Probably not, as college papers tend to be subsidized by the parent institution, but:

As the newspaper industry has struggled with declining revenue, some analysts predicted that college newspapers would weather the storms of the changing media environment better than their peers in the wider industry. (See also this Chronicle of Higher Education article.)

Now the national economy indicates that the future might not be quite so rosy: The widespread economic pains in the media environment are finally hitting college news outlets, and many college newspapers are scrambling to deal with the squeeze.

The issues--declining ad revenue, increasing print costs--are similar to those faced by your typical MSM paper. Interestingly enough, though, going on-line has been even more of a challenge:

Online advertising doesn't yet make up a significant part of college media advertising. As I wrote earlier this year, it's an estimated 1-2 percent of total revenue for many college media outlets -- if that.

The reliance on local businesses may be part of the reason. "Web ads are a very tough sell to local businesses," Waack said.

[...]

"Students read the print edition, not the online edition anyway," he told me. "Online is for parents, alumni, sports fans not in our distribution area for the most part, so they would not be reading the print edition."

Vindication for Bourrie, perhaps, who has argued that "go local" is the best way forward for a print publication.

The Last Piece To The CHRC Puzzle

...can be found at the website of the Office of the Privacy Commisioner of Canada:

In this case, personal information was introduced, as a result of a subpoena issued to an Internet Service Provider, during the course of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal public hearing. The subject of the subpoena was an IP address allegedly accessed by the CHRC during the course of its investigations. In response to the subpoena, the Internet Service Provider disclosed the name, address and telephone number of the Internet subscriber it associated with that IP address, namely the complainant. It is the view of this Office that the IP address, in this instance, does constitute personal information as defined in section 3 of the Act.

The second issue to consider is whether the CHRC collected the complainant’s personal information and then subsequently used it during the course of its investigations.

The investigation found no evidence that the CHRC ever collected any personal information about the complainant or in fact that the CHRC had any knowledge about the complainant prior to the allegations made in the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal public hearing.

There is no evidence that the CHRC ever collected or improperly used, disclosed or retained the complainant’s personal information.

Technological experts have indicated that, most likely, but without certainty, the association of the complainant’s IP address to the CHRC was simply a mismatch on the part of a third party, which could have occurred in a variety of ways not involving the CHRC.

What is certain is that there is no evidence of the CHRC having ever collected or improperly used, disclosed or retained any personal information about the complainant.

Now, what does this bit mean?

Technological experts have indicated that, most likely, but without certainty, the association of the complainant’s IP address to the CHRC was simply a mismatch on the part of a third party, which could have occurred in a variety of ways not involving the CHRC.

It means that, as per usual, Buckets was right. The For Dummies version of his research is here.

It also means that you can't trust them Nazi Computer Experts.

PS. As Dawg helpfully points out, Mark Steyn of MaCleans basically accused CHRC investigator Dean Steacy of committing a criminal act, and his charge has now been shown to be baseless before the whole world. Mark seems big on apologies when others make mistakes in regards to his work. I have emailed him and suggested that he apologize to Mr. Steacy. Lets see what he does when the shoe is on the other foot. Lets see how much class our boy has.

Update: Hansen Rebuked By NASA Underling!

The smaller the number the higher you are. Code 610 is the head of the Earth Sciences Division. Jim Hansen is head of code 611. Theon was head of 613.2. Not only was he not even 'in line' with Hansen he's lower in the hierarchy. Supervisor, not. Theon apparently spent his entire career on TRMM while Hansen became the premier expert on climate change. A Google Scholar search finds no recent papers.

Updated from here.

H/t Daily Kos.

In Which I Am Suddenly A Lot Poorer

My RRSP statement came in the mail yesterday and I am out nearly $30,000. I've always just let my funds sit while many of my colleagues at work call for portfolio adjustments on a monthly or even weekly basis. I'm wondering if I should be more active in this regard, or whether I should just cash the whole thing and invest it in freeze dried noodles. I could build a whole extra room out of boxes of freeze-dried noodles, board up the windows to my apartment, and hang tight until the recession is over and, presumably, I've eaten my way out of the room.

Gilles Duceppe: Liberals Have Abused My Ass...AGAIN!

Sometimes a picture says a 1,000 words.

Oh, And Jack Layton is apparently "Livid". Spank his ass again, Iggy!! Spank his ass again!!

PS. Here's the first time Que. Separatist asses got abused.

John S. Theon: New Elderly Denier On The Block

The lead:

James Hansen’s Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic

Washington DC: NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice-President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

Read on, however, and you can quickly see which way this one is going to break:

1) I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man made,” Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009. “I was, in effect, Hansen's supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation...

Read the last bit closely. Being "in effect" Hansen's supervisor is here contrasted with being "in reality" Hansen's supervisor--being the guy who gives Hansen his annual performance appraisal, in other words--which, frankly, does linguistic violence to the term.

So, in short, Theon was never Hansen's "supervisor" in any accepted sense of the word.

2) “Hansen was never muzzled even though he violated NASA's official agency position on climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast climate change or mankind's effect on it). Hansen thus embarrassed NASA by coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress,” Theon wrote.

The "muzzling" of James Hansen occurred during the (2nd) Bush Administration, not during the 1980s. Having retired from NASA in 1994, Theon has no personal knowledge of the time period in question. Furthermore...

3) He's a geezer, and therefore fits the standard profile of a climate change denier.

...and he's a geezer that seems to have had some kind of conversion to AGW skepticism well after his retirement. In 1991 he seemed to be entirely comfortable with the line of Hansen's thinking as well as the use of climate models in general:

Undoubtedly, humankind is affecting the environment. Inadvertent climate system changes
brought about by mass loadings of carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane, etc., have thrust global change into the limelight. Radiative budget effects (i.e., greenhouse gases and global warming) and ozone depletion in the stratosphere certainly have heightened public awareness; however, climate change goes far beyond these fashionable concerns. The scientific community has to confront the myriad pieces that make up the climate puzzle. Scientists must discern the difference between natural and human-induced change, and decision makers must place the pieces in a manner that balances scientific recommendation against the demands of a higher population and an improved standard of living, which are heavily taxing the Earth's resources. be quantified and incorporated into climate models.

4) He's being working the climate skeptic "rubber chicken" circuit for about a year now, performing before such audiences as the Republican Women’s Club and the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance.

h/t to Steve from Brisbane, who did much of the legwork in the comments here.

And an update here!

When Norman Spector Offers Liberals Advice

...they should start running hard in the opposite direction:

Perusing this morning's press and punditry, the overriding message is that the Conservatives presented a Liberal, or a Liberal-coalition budget. With the odds of an economic recovery in the next 12-18 months being slim to none, that's not a message I'd want to have congeal in the minds of Canadians if I were a Liberal strategist.

[...]

If Mr. Ignatieff is bold, he would seize on the endorsement he's been given by the other opposition parties and play it for all it's worth on the campaign trail after bringing down the government. Nor would he give Mr. Harper a chance to get up from the mat.

This one's a giggler from start to finish, and you know Spector is too smart to believe his own con. Its either an elaborate head-fake or Spector has adopted well to the "open bullshit valves to 10 and leave them there" ethos of the blogosphere.

Budget 2009: So Far, So Good

Making it easier for municipalities to access Federal funding seems an obvious amendment, since the cities are already starting to bitch:

Canada's municipalities have complained that billions of dollars already allocated from Ottawa's existing seven-year, $33-billion infrastructure program have not been spent because of delays in negotiating program details with the provinces, and red tape in approving projects.

Meanwhile, the only "green money" in the budget seems a pittance ($750 mill) earmarked to support nuclear energy and carbon sequestration. That's pathetic, given that car sales-men are getting $12,000,000,000. Why not propose that certain strings be attached to the home reno tax credit, or sweeten the pot a little for improvements that can be demonstrated to enhance energy efficiency?

The point will be, I think, to offer a smorgasbord of amendments and not commit to any of them in particular. Thus, if any are accepted--and I think there is a good chance some will be (see Impolitical's post through first link)--the Libs can claim victory and go home.

Not that there isn't a lot of bad stuff in there. I have read (though haven't got the details yet) that the document attempts to weaken pay equity laws.

But is there anything that can't be killed in committee?

Meanwhile, headlines like Government's fate now rests with Ignatieff and Government's fate now rests with Ignatieff are good news in that they raise Iggy's profile. Interesting how Layton and Duceppe have essentially written themselves off the front page by showing their hand too soon.

Canadians Want Green Budget

I have never heard of the company (Multi Réso), and the timing is suspect, but the message seems consistent with earlier surveys:

The findings also suggest that Canadians do not want their governments to ignore health and the environment in efforts to jump start the economy. Health is one of the top two priorities for 42% of Canadians, followed closely by the environment, with 38%.

The most interesting material lies in the regional breakdowns:

The findings suggest that a good part of the population is not feeling the impact of the economic crisis or is not worried about the impacts at this time. About a third of Canadians (31%) and half of Quebecers (47%) do not rank the economy and jobs as either their first or second concern.

Of course that doesn't apply to Ontario, where 70% say the latter two are the most important concerns.

Comets Over Canada...or Not [Again]

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2009) — New data disproves the recent theory that a large comet exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, causing a shock wave that travelled across North America at hundreds of kilometres per hour and triggering continent-wide wildfires.

Dr Sandy Harrison from the University of Bristol and colleagues tested the theory by examining charcoal and pollen records to assess how fire regimes in North America changed between 15 and 10,000 years ago, a time of large and rapid climate changes.

Their results provide no evidence for continental-scale fires[*]...

[*] This being one of the predictions made by the Younger Dryas impact theory.

Ah well, Pre-History just got a bit more boring.

Linda Leatherdale Lands On Feet

Congrats to Linda Leatherdale, the Toronto Sun's booted business editor, for finding a new radio voice on Bill Carroll's morning show on CFRB 1010.

As I've mentioned previously, I've had the pleasure of talking with Linda on 100s of occasions over the years. She even helped me get started in this whole "wannabe journalist" thing way back in the 1990s when I discovered that Toronto's new property assessment regime was going to screw over renters. All you could do back then was write letters to the Ed and call your local business reporter! Primitive times!

Anyway, its nice to see her still able to put food on the table.

Stockwell Day Flogging Reactors To India

From yesterday's column:

Canada's nuclear industry, respected as among the best in the world, also has billion dollar opportunities right now. This includes long term high tech jobs. India's huge economic growth has expanded their energy demands. Their government wants to build over 30 clean nuclear energy plants to reduce greenhouse gases. Some of my meetings therefore involved working on a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with India. Meetings with India's Prime Minister Singh, his key Ministers and advisers and others helped to clarify a larger role which could be played by Canadian companies in this and other areas.

Huh? So what's the back story?

Back in the 1970s, India used Canadian technology to build their "Smiling Budda" nuclear device, and they've been working outside the strictures of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ever since. However, the nation has become something of an economic power-house over the past decade and, since they're committed to Nukes as an energy source anyhow, the international community has decided to let by-gones be by-gones and start selling them technology for their civilian program. For Canada, that means another market for our Candu Reactors. The uranium will apparently come from Kazakhstan, France, and maybe Canada as well.

Of course, when India uses Canadian parts and tech for its civilian program, they free up local scientists to build bigger and better bombs, which may well trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.

On the up-side, the deal is potentially worth $1,000,000,000s.

Jon Jenkins: Another Denier With Credibility Problems

He wrote against global warming, and his university revoked his status. Or they sacked him for misrepresenting his status in what he wrote against global warming.

Its starting to sound like the latter. Where have I heard that before?

Harper Arctic Policy = Zip

The tender call for the 12 mid-shore Arctic patrol ships Mr. Harper promised has been cancelled, and a promised icebreaker will not be brought into service until 2017.

From Embassy Magazine, some rather critical commentary re the Tory Government's response, or lack thereof, to Canada's Number 1 Security Issue: how do we exert sovereignty in our Arctic regions in the face of U.S., Russian, and other national interests?

One of the few areas where I actually support the stated Conservative policy, and they're bungling the file.

97 Stations To Go

...before Anthony Watts starts analysing his data from Surface Stations.

He's got 819 done now (67% of network), and will begin work when he hits 916 or 75% of the total. Not that we don't know what an honest assessment of the station data will reveal. An analysis has already been done on the 1st 1/4 or so of the stations back in 2007, and it basically validated the GISSTEMP data. Its significant that Steve McIntyre seems to have given up on the project:

surfacestations.org has made a concerted effort to identify high-quality stations within the USHCN network (CRN1-2 stations) and preliminary indications are that the GISS U.S. estimate will not differ greatly from results from the "best" stations (though there will probably be a little bias.)

What's Up At The WTBA?

Well, they're still looking for bodies to fill out their executive council:

*** Please note*** We are still searching for members to fill the positions of President, Urban Membership Chair, Fundraising Chair, Alberta Chair, British Columbia Chair and Maintoba Chair. If you are interested in serving on the volunteer council of the WBTA doing so executivedirector@itstimetogo.ca.

Long-time separatist Bruce Hutton has stepped into the Alberta Chair slot. I wonder if the Separation Party of Alberta will be a recipient of any funds the WTBA raises?

And they've removed the Calgary flag from their "Capital of the New Country" Page. Smart move, that.

The Bums Go West

In which Edmonton columnist Neil Waugh tells PM Harper to cough up some of that federal deficit dough for Alberta or face the consequences.

Speaking of which, what's the WTBA up to? Stayed tuned!

Denialist Machine At Work

A short excerpt from Christopher Booker's Telegraph article on an important new paper re the the warming of Antarctica gives us a glimpse as to how such research gets treated by the Denialist movement:

One of the first to express astonishment was Dr Kenneth Trenberth, a senior scientist with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a convinced believer in global warming, who wryly observed 'it is hard to make data where none exists'. A disbelieving Ross Hayes, an atmospheric scientist who has often visited the Antarctic for Nasa, sent Professor Steig a caustic email ending: 'with statistics you can make numbers go to any conclusion you want. It saddens me to see members of the scientific community do this for media coverage.

1) Inflate the credentials of skeptics. Mr. Hayes appears to have visited the area exactly twice, within the past five years, though when he writes

...In the late 1980s helicopters were used to take our personnel to Williams Field from McMurdo Station due to the annual receding of the Ross Ice Shelf...

...it suggests a knowledge of the place extending back decades.

Furthermore, his brief email contains at least one demonstrably false claim:

One climate note to pass along is December 2006 was the coldest December ever for McMurdo Station.

Not so.

2) Inflate the differences among real scientists. While generally characterizing the new paper as "good work", what I think Kenneth Trenberth is objecting too is (from "Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year"):

...we use statistical climate-field-reconstruction techniques to obtain a 50-year-long, spatially complete estimate of monthly Antarctic temperature anomalies. In essence, we use the spatial covariance structure of the surface temperature field to guide interpolation of the sparse but reliable 50-year-long records of 2-m temperature from occupied weather stations. Although it has been suggested that such interpolation is unreliable owing to the distances involved1, large spatial scales are not inherently problematic if there is high spatial coherence, as is the case in continental Antarctica4.

Trenberth is one of those leery of this kind of statistical interpolation. The paper's authors think it works under the circumstances. A real, scientific exchange will perhaps ensue, and Booker will undoubtedly ignore it.

(Note: Trenberth expresses other objections, and the paper's authors answer as best they may, here.)

I See Dead Liberals

...they don't even know they support me.

I'm sorry, but what the fuck is Joe Volpe doing in anybody's shadow cabinet?

Secret CanWest Memo: No More Meeting Munchies!

And lay off your damn cellphones and blackberries! And put on a sweater, start burning old copies of the National Post for heat! And lay off the fucking copier machines! And no more magazines in the lobby! Burn the back copies for heat! And any travel shall proceed via the company bicycle! If everyone can save a little money, we can all make it through this! Sell your old Conrad Black paraphernalia! That picture of him strangling a hippy oughtta be worth a few bucks!

And so on, and so forth.

Anthony Watts Knows How To Pick 'Em

The world's greatest science blogger has found a Meteorologist straight outta Antarctica to "refute" the latest climate science research on that area of the planet (basically, the research indicates its warming just like everywhere else).

NASA weatherman Ross Hays argues that:

There are very few stations in Antarctica to begin with and only a hand full with 50 years of data. Satellite data is just approaching thirty years of available information. In my experience as a day to day forecaster that has to travel and do field work in Antarctica the summer seasons have been getting colder.

In other words, those damn climatologists are out there embracing their models instead of the facts on the ground, which on the contrary normal gawd-fearing data guys like Ross Hays have been embracing, apparently for "seasons". So we should really be listening to them rather than global warming hoaxers like Fat Al and the Lib-Left Scientific community.

Except that, thanks to Simon Evans, we know that Mr. Hays has talked about his time in the Antarctic on other occasions, in other forums. There is, for example, this post dated Dec. 3rd, 2008:

After 19 years with CNN and over 200 job applications I was given a job with the NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility.

[...]

My new job is almost an adventure. I never though I would be going to Antarctica or the Arctic for that matter. Last year [2007 presumably] I spend the southern summer in Antarctica. This year I will be spending the holidays at home with the family in East Texas after spending six weeks in New Mexico. Next month I have to return to Esrange, Sweden for an international campaign studying the polar vortex. The days have only 56 minutes of daylight during early January with temperatures of -35 to freeze a beer on the window sill in 18 minutes. I will return to Esrange in the early summer, then next November it will be my turn to return to Antarctica.

How Mr. Hays justifies an assertion about the summer seasons in Antarctica based on what appears to be an experience of exactly one Antarctic summer season is beyond me. Perhaps Anthony can inquire.

Update: There is some possibility that Mr. Hays has spent two summers in the area, his first being in late 2005. Presumably the 2nd summer was colder than the first.

A Suggestion For The Upcoming Budget

Looking for stuff to cut, Mr Harper?

STOP FUNDING DANGEROUS NONSENSE,
HEALTH EXPERTS TELL HARPER

The Canadian government is funding censorship and perversion of scientific information, charge a number of health experts in a strongly worded letter sent today to Prime Minister Harper.

The experts, from the Université de Laval and other universities across Canada, ask the Prime Minister to stop funding the Chrysotile Institute (formerly the Asbestos Institute) in his government’s January 27 budget.

“The Institute censors information from the world’s leading health authorities, distorts their views and puts forward nonsensical claims, for example that chrysotile asbestos disappears when it is mixed with cement and becomes harmless,” says Dr Colin Soskolne, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Alberta. “This is not science; this is dangerous nonsense.”

“It is a slur on the reputation of the scientific community and people of Canada for the government to be funding such distortion of scientific information,” says Dr Tim Takaro, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, SFU. “But, more importantly, this misinformation puts people’s lives at risk. This is completely unethical and must stop.”

“Over the past 25 years, the government has given more than $20 million to support the dying asbestos industry in Quebec. Over 90% of the workers have lost their jobs; the remaining approximately 550 workers have had their wages slashed and work part-time; and in 2007, the asbestos mining company filed for bankruptcy protection,” said Kathleen Ruff, senior human rights advisor to the Rideau Institute. “It is time to stop this wasteful and unethical use of government funds. Instead, the government should help the remaining asbestos workers and the community with just transition assistance.”

Please contact Kathleen Ruff, kruff@bulkley.net for a copy of the letter.

- 30 -


CONTACTS:

- Dr Colin Soskolne (780) 492-6013; Colin.Soskolne@ualberta.ca

- Dr Tim Takaro (778) 782-7186; ttakaro@sfu.ca

- Kathleen Ruff (250) 847-1848; kruff@bulkley.net
-----

I remember when my dad was posted to base Gagetown in Oromocto, New Brunswick. Myself and a bunch of other kids found these fabric containers of something or other --shaped roughly like small pillows--lying in a field behind the PMQs. We had great fun with them, whacking each other over the head, throwing them back and forth. The next day, I felt a terrible itching sensation. Bits of glass fibre embed in the skin and can't be removed by showering. It lasted for several days without let-up.

FreeD's Defense: Heez Igrant, But So Iz Whee!

Mark and Connie are, of course, trying to protect the 8 pseuds caught up in Warman's law-suit against FreeD (these 8 "John Does" apparently fight for Freedom by defaming people anonymously, by the way). M&C are refusing to turn over sign-up and forum posting details that might lead to the 8's identification. Warman is trying to compel them via a court motion. M&C argue:

One of the notable aspects of Richard Warman's motion was its obvious lack of technical expertise. In a nutshell, they don't know what they are talking about. They don't understand the software, they don't understand what information is captured and stored and they don't have a clue about what IP addresses actually are.

[...]

Second, what little data we do have, IP’s from the posts in question, is quite literally useless because the website’s clock has been wrong for years and we have never been able to figure out how to fix it.

Think about that a moment.

Also, though we all know, or should know, the difficulties inherent in tying an IP address to a particular forum participant, this post makes clear that Connie and Mark could collect such information if they chose. For example, when I tricked Padraigh (one of the anonymous 8) into commenting several weeks ago, his IP became available for the harvesting by the forum administrator. Apparently, this was not done. On the other hand, they didn't have any trouble finding (and bandying about) my IP address way back when...

Most if not all common bulletin board systems have the ability to store IP addresses and match them to user-names. Certainly phpBB, the one FreeD is using, does. In fact, I would suspect that all the IPS employed by all the FreeD pseuds are sitting in the data-base.

A Buncha Lawyers In Support Of The Coalition

And they've sent a letter to the GG and cranked out a news release on CNW!

OTTAWA, Jan. 23 /CNW Telbec/ - Academic constitutional experts are publicly advising the Governor General to call on the leader of the opposition to attempt to form a government if the Conservatives are defeated on anon-confidence vote.

The list can be found here, as well as a dummied down explanation of how the Canadian government models works aimed at our bovine public. My favorite bit:

While, in our parliamentary system, as it is the case in the Commonwealth in general, the Governor General (or the person fulfilling a similar role in other jurisdictions) may offer the opposition leader the opportunity to form the government in such circumstances, other parliamentary systems give the opposition the right to form a new government (i.e. Spain's and Belgium's constitutions) and, in the case of Germany, the constitution even makes it an obligation in certain circumstances.

Such rules are meant to avoid creating an incentive for minority government Prime Ministers to make successive calls for elections until one party gathers sufficient support to form a majority government. Successive elections can be quite disruptive, if only because without a functioning Parliament to vote on matters of supply, unelected officials are forced to adopt special measures to pay for the operations of government.

As for the list of "constitutional experts" cited, while they come from all over the nation, their numbers seem fairly heavily weighted towards Que. and Ontario law schools. I don't know if that is a worrying sign or not.

And as for me, even though one recent poll shows the country more receptive to the idea of a coalition government, I am hoping that the mere threat drives the Tories to produce a budget that Ignatieff and crew can support. For non-political reasons, because whatever the details of the stimulus package, the country needs one now and not after either another election or at the end of a no doubt long and painful series of negotiations among the various coalition partners. And for political reasons, because I fear that even with these most recent poll numbers, if the bid for a coalition fails and we are all tossed into another election campaign, the result will be another Tory victory, perhaps a Majority. The populace will opt for "stability" and the Coalition partners will be labelled "troublemakers".

Doug Christie: Free Speech Don't Feed The Bulldog!

While Doug (Lawyer to The Far Right) Christie is big on Free Speech rights, he doesn't work for free. This week he's earning his lawyerly pittance helping Ian Verner Macdonald pursue a defamation suit against Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella.

But you have to wonder if his heart is still really in it. Yesterday, court insiders tell us, Christie could be clearly heard berating Macdonald--whose hearing is poor--over "the cheque, the cheque". Presumably, he meant the "pay" cheque, the money Christie needs if he wants to get out of our nation's capital and fly home to Victoria, British Columbia.

Apparently, he wanted the damn thing certified, and Macdonald was forced to assure him that he had a $500 overdraft.

So if you see a dejected looking fellow hitch-hiking Westward near Ottawa, it might be Doug. That's a shot of him above if you feel like offering a ride.

Oops! My bad! This is the Doug Christie you might run into!

Ontario Takes Another Tiny Step

TORONTO — Ontario Power Generation is looking into replacing coal with biomass at power-generating plants in a move the province's energy minister says could keep such plants from being torn down.

Not a panacea, but when used in power generation, bio mass is apparently (and I know because wiki told me)

... considered carbon neutral, or a net reducer of greenhouse gasses because of the offset of methane that would have otherwise entered the atmosphere.

One of a series of interesting if small-bore initiatives from the McGuinty government. Very quietly, they've been running up some decent green credentials.

Liberal Environmental Policy: The Next Step

Liberal infrastructure critic Martha Hall Findlay lays it out:

New infrastructure investment can and should be 'green' - to enhance conservation and energy-efficiency; to ensure cleaner air and water; to increase training, education and investment with regard to green technologies. We can spend now, for immediate stimulus, in ways that can ensure a better, cleaner environment, and at the same time create the jobs of the future.

Pretty obvious stuff. Not that it will necessarily get listened to. I wonder though if this signifies a different approach on the part of the Libs. Under Dion they proposed a grand scheme; under Iggy, they oppose Tory plans by offering greener alternatives on an issue-by-issue basis.

And, oh yeah, the Green Shift is "now burdened with political baggage". Nice way of saying "dead", I suppose.

Gerry Nicholls To CPoC Base: Let's Self-Immolate!

Or better yet, maybe it’s time for old-time Reformers to start demanding their voices be heard within the party.

To be blunter, the Reformers should take back their party.

So far, Gerry is most ticked-off about the "Quebec Nation" resolution, but underneath I sense a longing for a return to the Imperial System of measurement. Go for it, Gerry! Down with Metric! And burn a couple of witches for good measure. Above all, be sure to get in touch with this guy and get working on "Plan B"!!!

As the Libs come together, the CPoC comes apart.

Surveys? We Got Global Warming Surveys!

On the downside, a couple of hard La Nina powered winters have driven some Americans into the denier camp:

The percentage of Americans who think global warming is just another planetary trend has increased, though Democrats and more likely than Republicans to blame human activity for environmental change a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds.

Forty-four percent of voters polled said global warming is the result of long-term planetary trends, according to the survey. In 2006, 35 percent agreed.

On the other hand, a survey of 3146 Earth Scientists conducted by Peter Doran and Maggie Kendall Zimmerman reveals that 97% of real dyed-in-the-wool climate scientists (as opposed to the broader catagory of Earth scientists) agree that human activity is causing global warming. In real numbers, that means that only two of the scientists surveyed do not agree. Tim Lambert suggests the two holdouts were Fred Singer and Lindzen.

A couple of interesting sub-results:

Petroleum geologists and meteorologists were among the biggest doubters, with only 47 and 64 percent respectively believing in human involvement.

Finally, some unkind words on the Doran survey from Planet Gore. Unfortunately, the author steps on his own rebuttal by offering this quote from Chris Horner re an earlier survey by Klaus-Martin Schulte:

The alarmists even go so far as to insert themselves in the process when researchers seek to publish data that would reflect poorly on their own alarmism but otherwise has nothing to do with them. Their fight over the claim of consensus seems as if they are protecting their queen bee, fully aware that once it falls their entire colony goes with it. So when Dr. Klaus-Martin Schulte, a surgeon and researcher at King’s College Hospital in London affirmed as absurd the notion of scientific agreement on global warming, its causes, and impacts, the alarmists had to make sure he couldn’t get published.

Schulte assessed what the current literature was saying on the matter by reviewing 528 papers addressing climate change—not just obscurely referencing the phrase, as did Oreskes—published from 2004 to February 2007. This covered the period since May 2005 when the IPCC closed the Fourth Assessment Report’s window for research eligible, for complete and open consideration by authors and reviewers alike.

Schulte found that “a mere 38, or 7%, explicitly support the consensus. Daily Tech, an online magazine, says the ratio goes to 45% ‘if one considers “implicit” endorsement (accepting the consensus without explicit statement).’ While only 32, or 6%, of the papers reject the consensus outright, Daily Tech blogger Michael Asher reports that the ‘largest category (48%) are neutral papers, refusing to either accept or reject the hypothesis.’” Hardly consensus.

Well, no, "the alarmists" didn't suppress Schulte's paper. In fact, it was rejected by Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, editor of Energy and Environment. For those unaware of E&E's reputation, if you're a sceptic and E&E refuses your paper--that's like having a pig reject your garbage.

Update: John Mashey notes in the comments that E&E eventually did publish the Schulte paper.

Kinsella Cracks Wise

From WK's defamation hearing:

The court heard the travel for the 1987 conference was provided through the Manara Travel Agency in Ottawa and funded by the government of Libya. The court heard the owner of the agency, Mousa Hawamda, a former business partner of Mr. Macdonald, was subsequently investigated and indicted by the FBI for breaching a U.S. trade and travel embargo in relation to the conference.

In cross-examination, Mr. Christie questioned Mr. Kinsella about the indictment.

"Is there any reference to Ian Macdonald in the indictment?" he asked.

"No," Mr. Kinsella replied.

Mr. Christie noted that an illegal act in the U.S was not necessarily an illegal act in Canada.

"Conrad Black would disagree," Mr. Kinsella said.

"Oh, that's very funny." Mr. Christie shot back.

Actually, very funny. Working white supremacists and Conrad Black into a single wise crack is the equivalent of sinking a trick shot in pool or, at the end of a long concert, playing the final guitar solo with your teeth.

I remember I told a joke once that managed to be insulting to Italians, Lesbians, and midgets. Proudest moment of my life. Can't remember the joke, however.

Iggy Dumps Carbon Tax

This doesn't surprise me. While considered the most efficient means of tackling the AGW by economists, the last election proved it (at least in the flawed version offered by Dion) too damn easy to demagogue. And after that miserable experience, the idea is going to be dead in the Canadian federal context for awhile now.

Expect a version of a C&T system to appear in Iggy's policy manual sometime soon. Iggy:

'We want to do the right thing environmentally but this isn't working for us, think again'," he said.

"And I'm saying to you, we need to think again. You can't lead this country unless you listen, and we're listening."

You know he's been humping this line for several months now. Can we move past the thinking and listening stage to floating an idea or two?

The Incredible Lightness Of Being Jack Layton

He ain't seen the budget, but he's agin' it.

Does anyone really believe Layton wants to topple the gov. over the upcoming budget, or that he really expects to be part of a coalition in three weeks? No, its just about positioning--about diverting blame to the Libs when the budget passes. But the ploy is so transparent even some in his own party are questioning its usefulness.

This is the kind of silly posturing that makes people think: Ah well, its the NDP, they'll say anything because they know they will never come close to power and can never get called on it.

Print Publication Publishes Long, Boring, Irrelevant Article On How Print Media Is Relevant And Will Survive

...Or at least I think they did. The author lost me after his first mention of Horace Walpole and the discussion of postage stamps. If anyone is willing to read this sucker to the end, I'll send you 1$.

Argentinian Lake Monster!

A new image of the head and neck of Nahuelito, an alleged Lake Monster of Argentina.

And here is why I really want to learn Photoshop. Are there versions floating around out there on the P2P networks?

From Cryptomundo:

It’s an interesting picture but I’m about 95% sure it’s a photomanipulation or as the kids would say ’shopped!’. I’m a graphic artist and photo retoucher and as soon as I saw this thing I knew it was altered. If you look at it in Photoshop you can see that the waves don’t line up, there are obvious lines where it’s been altered, obvious places where it’s been smoothed/blurred, obvious darkening and lightening of key areas. My best guess is that this was a close up shot of a small log or a turtle sticking it’s head out of the water that was cut out, altered and placed in the middle of a larger picture of the lake to make the ‘creature’ seem larger.

I uploaded a picture where I point out a couple of the lines where the photo was cut out and moved to another pic of the lake as well as my version of the ‘monster’ and my modification turning it back into a log (these mods took me all of two minutes and aren’t meant to be realistic or pretty but to show how easy it is to manipulate this kind of thing).

Obama Moves To Punish Israel?

The United States administration plans to cut about $1 billion from the balance of its loan guarantees to Israel because of its investments in the settlements. The balance currently stands at $4.6 billion.

[...]

The assessment now is that the Obama administration will weigh the political situation carefully before deciding on a cut to the guarantees and may try to link it with Israeli measures beyond the Green Line.

I don't really understand how these loan guarantee thingies are supposed to work. However, it seems to be that the 1st Bush administration was able to use them as an effective cudgel to move the Israelis on certain issues. A stick to go with the carrot, in other words.

Economic Collapse Frees The East

Environmental activists are relieved by the indefinite shelving of an oil pipeline proposal that they say would make Ontario too dependent on "dirty oil" from Alberta and bring it to Quebec for the first time.

However, activists with Environmental Defence and ForestEthics are concerned the project put on hold by Calgary-based Enbridge could be resurrected in the future.

So they will go ahead Monday with the release of a joint report asserting the project would soon make Ontario totally dependent on Alberta's tarsands for energy security and would undermine the Ontario government's commitments to reduce carbon pollution.

The "Trailbreaker" project would have enslaved Ontario's energy future to Alberta:

Trailbreaker would reverse the flow of a pipeline that now carries crude oil imports from Montreal to refineries in Sarnia, Ont. Instead, Alberta tarsands oil would flow via Sarnia to Montreal and by pipeline to Portland, Maine, where it would be shipped to U.S. refiners by tankers.

"The impact on Ontario would be to force its refineries to rely exclusively on oil from Alberta, since other sources now imported from Montreal would be cut off," the report said. "Given that Alberta is running out of conventional oil, the proposal would mean that Ontario would receive its oil from the tarsands, which produces three times the greenhouse gas emissions as regular oil."

The project's collapse has been put down to current economic conditions. Note that the Gateway Pipeline, which would run West to Kitimat, has also run into trouble, and has been stuck in the "proposal" stage for awhile now. Some in the oilpatch have been hoping that this pipeline would allow the sale of oil to the Chinese, and therefore help Alberta avoid "greening" the tar-sands in response to any environmental initiatives from the Obama administration. With Trailbreaker also in hiatus, it looks like Alberta oil has no way to reach less finicky non-American buyers. Big Oil may have been trapped into acting in a environmentally responsible manner.

From The Website Of The Canadian Coalition For Democracies

...a political action organization of which Peter Kent is a senior member.

The "self hating terror supporter", by the way, is Jeff Halper.

And of course, there appear to be one or two saner voices in the forum where this delightful message appeared:

I don't know about anybody else, but I REALLY don't like seeing the words 'Jewish scum' posted on this site. I wouldn't like to see ANY religion called scum on this site.

...but we all know how a few bad apples can screw up your message, right?

Rural Separatist Has Plan B: An Elected Ontario Senate

Conservative MPP Randy Hillier, who has in earlier times advocated that rural Ontario should separate from the rest of the province, now wants to achieve the same end through a back door:

What we need is a bicameral provincial government with a Senate of 50 elected representatives, one from each county, regional Municipality, and (in the north) district, to lessen this growing urban-rural chasm by tempering urban priorities that cause damage and harm to rural Ontario. Much like the federal Senate, this upper chamber ought to be able to amend or defeat most bills passed by the lower house, but be unable to introduce, alter, or defeat money bills. However, to ensure that they have a greater regard for their communities than for party discipline, provincial Senators ought to be excluded from cabinet posts.

Note that the point of all this is, quite simply, to avoid majority rule, for representation in any elected Ontario Senate is to be "based on communities of interest, not population". This deviation from the "one man, one vote standard" is apparently needed to free Ontario's rural minority from the yoke of the Urban elite, who are apparently responsible for everything that has ever gone wrong in the Province:

The priorities of Ontario's urban politicians and bureaucracy are bans and restrictions, and they are out of sync with the people of rural Ontario. This has resulted in Ontario going from first to worst in economic performance, a painfully dismal record in health care, high taxes, a ballooning bureaucracy, deficits, reduced individual responsibility and freedoms, and have-not status. This dismal performance is a reflection not of coincidence, bad luck, or external factors, but of the wrong priorities. In a democracy, people, politicians, and governments are the authors of their fortunes, good or bad. But institutions matter as well as personalities. An improved bicameral political structure is needed so that the urban drum is not always the loudest.

A bit of an eye-roller of an idea to begin with, as it would require the province to

... give constitutional recognition to the boundaries and legitimate jurisdictions of municipalities, counties and districts, just as the federal government does to the provinces.

And this will not happen.

More importantly, however, outside of a few rabble rousers at the OLA, I don't sense any vast discontent out in Ontario's rural communities, even those that typically vote Conservative.

Another interesting question for Mr. Tory when he's out on the campaign trail. Does he support a bicameral provincial government?

In Which I Achieve Historic Proportions

And of course I said "yes":

Dear M.J. Murphy,

I am contacting you today on behalf of Library and Archives Canada regarding the archiving of your blog, Big City Lib Strikes Back, http://bigcitylib.blogspot.com .

Library and Archives Canada's (LAC's) mandate is to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations. The Library and Archives of Canada Act was assented to on April 22, 2004 and, for the purposes of preservation, it now allows LAC to collect a representative sample of Canadian web sites on the Internet.

During the 2008 Federal Election campaign we took snapshots of the websites of all registered political parties, as well as key Canadian political blogs. With your permission, we would like to incorporate the snapshots we took of your blog into LAC's collections and make them available on our website, http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca.

Thank you for considering this request. I hope you will recognize the historical value of a comprehensive collection of Canadian political party websites and Canadian political blogs and that you agree to have your blog included.

I look forward to your reply,

Karen Krzyzewski

----------------
Karen Krzyzewski
Adjointe à l'acquisition / Acquisitions Assistant
Bureau numérique Internet/ Digital Office - Internet Unit
Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / Library and Archives Canada
Télephone / Telephone 819-934-6785
Facsimile / Télécopieur 819-953-8508
Site Web / Website www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

You hear that? Huh? Huh? I am officially "KEY" to the Canadian Blogosphere!!! A significant playah in the decline of of Canadian--nay!!!---Western civilization!!! Boo-yah!!! Boo-yah!!! Boo-yah!!! Boo-yah!!!

Or I'm being pranked; the emails I received came about 8:30 PM last night. Do they work that late in Ottawa? Anyway, if I was pranked so was Janke.

To celebrate, here's a picture of Michaëlle Jean in a bikini.

Has Ignatieff's Shift To The Right Accomplished Fuck All?

The Conservatives are at 39 per cent support nationally, compared with 30 per cent for the Liberals, 17 per cent for the NDP, 9 per cent for the Bloc and 5 per cent for the Greens. In the Oct. 14 election, the Tories garnered 37.6 per cent of the vote. In Ontario, the Conservatives are at 42 per cent support, just two percentage points ahead of the Liberals. The NDP is at 12 per cent and the Greens at 5 per cent.

Everybody is still trading within their traditional range.

Victoria Cleans Up

From Woman At Mile Zero:

Today we had confirmation of a new sewage treatment plant location for Victoria. It’s probably not a moment too soon either because we continue to receive universal, world-wide condemnation for dumping raw sewage into the ocean. The plant will be built in the Haro Woods at Arbutus and Finnerty only about a block from where I used to live at the University of Victoria.


They've been arguing about building this plant since I lived there in the mid-1980s. You used to hear stories of people living by the water who would come down with jaundice and blame it on bits of human waste that would get blown ashore from the head of the sewage pipe.

About time.

Top Rival To Campaign For John Tory

Tim Hudak is down with The Leader.

With Tory's most likely successor on board, will the intra-party squabbling end?

Can Someone Please Tell Them Not To Burn Any Israeli Flags

Another Demo this Sunday in Montreal. Another opportunity for the Pro-Palestinian forces to appear in the MSM as a whole whack of lunatics because of angry and perhaps criminal behavior on the part of a few.

And yes when an outfit like the CJC points out instances of hate-speech at a "Peace Rally" you can argue that they're just trying to distract from the real issue--the civilian casualty count in Gaza, shelling the U.N.'s Gaza HQ, and etc.

But they've certainly been given a lot of help in creating that distraction, haven't they? And in this as in any propaganda war "fair" doesn't enter the equation.

Juliet O'Neill Now Covering Several Things That Stink

Canwest demotes their environment beat reporter:

...word on the street is that Canwest reporter Juliet O’Neill will now be covering off environment reporting for the CanWest chain, while at the same time covering the goings-on of the two main national political parties, the Liberals and the NDP, as well Heritage Canada and issues affecting Alberta.

And Jonathon Kay is now official coffee-maker. Ezra comes in three times a week to do the toilets.

Blame Canada!!

A US Airways jet crashed landed into the Hudson River near Manhattan this afternoon, plunging its 156 crew and passengers, including one infant, into freezing waters after apparently hitting a flock of [apparently Canadian] geese.

Wonderful to see everyone safe, but if there is any residual anger among my American readers, please feel free to rename them "Freedom Geese". Up here, frankly, we regard them as a bit of an embarrassment.

Ontario Moves To Create Electric Car Infrastructure

California-based Better Place will establish a Canadian head-office in Ontario. They will build an electric car demonstration and education centre in Toronto to lay the groundwork to help get electric vehicles running on Ontario roads. By May 2009, the Ontario government will release a study which will look at ways to speed up theintroduction of electric vehicles including:

- Financial incentives designed to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles
- Preferred access to transportation grid to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles
- Forward looking procurement policies to speed government adoption of electric vehicles into fleet services where appropriate
- Coordinated public education and promotion of electric vehicles as a mode of personal transportation.

Better Place will build

...an open network of battery exchange stations and charge spots in homes, businesses and parking lots.

...which electric car owners will then subscribe to. Places to charge your Zenn, in other words.

You know, without a lot of fan-fare, the McGuinty Libs seem to be taking a lot of interesting if small steps in the right direction.

Curse Them In Their Hunger And Infirmity!

"Wow. Stephen Taylor polled 3000 that showed for the RallyForCanada. Makes me sick that these 'conservatives' put the economy, security, jobs, healthcare ABOVE free speech."

One of those comments that appear on FreeD that you kind of hope is ironic but know is probably not.

The WTBA's New Policy Guy

The Western Business and Taxpayers Association(WTBA), Canada's latest and greatest Western Separatist group, has had some trouble establishing its Executive Committee. Ernie Slump stepped down in December, and Sheldon Johnson's resignation from their Policy Chair Position was confirmed earlier this month.

The WTBA's new Policy Chair, Rob Allen, is an interesting fellow with an interesting CV. For example, he says that he has graduated from "Canterbury University". Where is that exactly? There are 3 possibilities.

There is the University of Canterbury, in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. There is the Canterbury Christ Church University, in Canterbury, Kent, England. And there is Canterbury University, incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles.

In an effort to determine which of these institutions Mr. Allen attended, I contacted the WTBA's always helpful executive director David Crutcher, who informed me that Rob Allen had gone to school in "Cheshire UK", which is where Canterbury University claims to have been established in 1974.

Here's what wiki says about Canterbury University:

Canterbury University has been discussed in the article "Fighting Credential Fraud" in World Education News & Reviews, published by the non-profit World Education Services, as being towards what the article writer calls the "no acceptability" end of a continuum of acceptability and the "illegal" end of the continuum of legitimacy, though it should be emphasized that the institution's operations themselves are not illegal per se within the jurisdiction in which Canterbury University is chartered.[3]

And here's a story in the U.K Guardian that mentions Canterbury University:

It might be thought that "Canterbury University" could be confused with that city's two recognised higher education institutions, the University of Kent at Canterbury and Canterbury Christ Church University College. That doesn't prevent it operating from a mail address in Cheshire.

A call by Guardian Education to the address was answered by a man who said he was "just a retired chap walking down the passage" and was unable to give any information. The establishment issues official-looking transcripts of marks to students who have then been turned down by an accredited university and told their credits would not be recognised.

And here's another one from The Guardian:

Talking of forwarding addresses, did you know that there is a "Canterbury University" with an office at 193 Market Street, Hyde, Cheshire, which also happens to be the address of Mail Accommodation Office Services? "Canterbury University" claims accreditation from "the United Congress of Colleges", whose headquarters are said to be in the Irish Republic.

[...]

But of course these outfits [like Canterbury University] are really nothing to laugh about. The fact that they are able to operate in the UK within the law is deeply worrying. The law needs tightening as a matter of urgency.

The term that comes up a lot in association with Canterbury University is "diploma mill", and even mentioning such unaccredited entities on your CV would be illegal in at least 10 U.S. states.

H/t PJL

Activist On Activist Action! This Time Its Hebraic!

The CJC condemns "excessive rhetoric" at anti-Israel Rallies!

The IJV srikes back, condemns CJC over JDL!!

Battling allegations of hate speech at peace demos! Oh My! Did everyone bring their complaint kits?

Canada: Home Of Cheap Media Labor

Sources tell CBS 2 the paper is taking steps to cut its unionized copy and layout editors.

They include people who handle things like headlines, who check articles for accuracy, and who make the pages the way you see them.

So who would pick up the slack?

The same sources say the Sun-Times might send the work to a firm in Canada or India.

If it wasn't for the thing about checking for accuracy, I'd say use the gang from Can-West. They're definitely going to need an alternative source of income. I saw one of their staffers yesterday licking the NP front page for the calories in its ink.

Meanwhile, Canoe might dump CP:

What it basically comes down to is a phasing out of the wire. We're told now to avoid using Canadian Press as much as possible and I predict in a year or so Sun Media will no longer be associated with CP, or at least at the smaller daily papers. A couple have already cancelled the service in the past year.

The start of a broader trend?

Or Maybe Nobody Will Care

Chantal Hebert outlines the political upside for Harper in picking a brawl with the provinces over setting up a national securities regulator. I, on the other hand, see only a slappy fight amongst the four pundits who worry about such things. I see Andrew Coyne whipping out his spread-sheet, and demonstrating why people call him "the journalist guy that knows math". As for the rest of us, the indifference is palpable.

C'mon, Chantal, its cold out. Bring back Julie Couillard.

Because They Didn't Have Any?

If the Iroquois were Israel, it's doubtful they'd use rubber bullets...

But would they use polythene tomahawks?

Dubble Dumbbbest column to date on the Gaza fighting, courtesy Peter Worthington.

Your Daily Nazi: Nazis For Mid-East Peace?

The folks at Anti-Racist Canada, who spend their days tracking the street-level activity of Canada's various Neo-Nazi groups, weigh in on the Aryan Guard's participation at last weekend's Gaza rally in Calgary:

Neo-conservative blogs that have posted commentaries on the rally have omitted Mr. Devine's comments and have some have claimed that the Aryan Guard's participation is proof that the march was instead anti-Semitic in nature. To be sure the Aryan Guard, and two extremist Muslim men we're aware of who were calling for the killing of Jews, found common cause, but most of the people who attended the rally were there to support the end of the fighting and calling for a long term cease fire, the opening of borders and the distribution of humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, the Aryan Guard took advantage of the good will of, and perhaps inexperience of, the organizers. However, that is absolutely no excuse and the organizers have to know that the participation of the Aryan Guard or any other hate group, be that group Christian, Muslim, atheistic, or other, is absolutely unacceptable.

We at Anti-Racist Canada have one request of organizers of this rally should they organize others.

Please get your shit together next time.

And as for the two men who were calling for the killing of Jews, we hold you and others like you with the same contempt that we have for members of the Aryan Guard and their affiliates. Just as we call out the likes of Ezra Levant and Edward Kennedy when it comes to anti-Muslim rhetoric, we will happily call you... Muslim extremists out on their anti-Semitism. Now, with that said, if you two or any other Muslim man or woman is so naive as to believe that you and the Aryan Guard have found a common cause, here is how the Aryan Guard views your religion and culture:

Since Kevin Libin's NP blog post has been quite heavily referenced in connection with this event, it is passing ironic that National Post staff photographer Brett Gundlock is even now composing a photo-essay on the very same Aryan Guard, and with their cooperation. Now, it is a private initiative and, given the difficulty of penetrating such groups, I'm kind of curious as to what might come out of it. But, given the enthusiasm of Guard members, and in light of the rather flattering picture he is showing on his blog, I have doubts.

One of them being: I doubt the Post is going to want to touch these pictures now. Wait until their writers goes back to referring to them as free-speech heroes, Brett.

Is Iggy's Shift To The Right Paying Off?

Ignore the content of the argument, as it is only Jonathon Kay writing for the national newspaper nobody reads, but the sentiments expressed here are becoming more common on the Right side of the political spectrum: Conservatives are looking for an alternative to the Harper Tories, or at least a reason not to vote, and they are finding hints of it in Ignatieff.

And this is something I am not entirely comfortable with, as I would put myself firmly on the center left of the political spectrum. But you can't argue with success. And as Kinsella is fond of saying, you can't implement any kind of agenda if you don't win.

Is This The Sun's Future?

A TSF reader snapped this gathering of freebee boxes at Yonge and Finch, steps from a TTC entrance. Is this the Sun's future? Free for the taking to pump up circulation figures for the advertising dollar?


There is nothing wrong with free, but don't expect a commitment to competitive local news coverage.

This was posted on January 8th. Tellingly enough, though, on the 9th a commenter wrote that "it was still full today".

Meanwhile, 24, the Sun's free counterpart, which everyone has assumed is making money, appears to be having problems of its own (click on picture left for clarification).

Pravda: Earth On Brink Of Ice Age

...and bad girls prefer low-cut necklines and mini skirts, but drive like lunatics.

Pravda Says Don't Give 'Em Your Car Keys!!!

And of course the folks at the Denialist site Icecap believe.

PS: Pravda also says that Canadian women treat their gigolos very well.

Did "Terror Expert" Plant Radical Comments On Muslim Forum, Sucker U.K. Sun?

A bit of a quick one here, so check out "Leave Amy Alone" for context.

It is starting to look as though freelance U.K. "terror expert" Glen Jarvey placed a story re radical Muslims threatening prominent U.K. Jews in the U.K. Sun by writing up the inflammatory content that he's warning everyone about himself. A nifty bit of on-line research here seems to tell the tale.

This reminds me of something, but I can't think of what...

Note: the fact Mr. Jarvey apparently has links to this guy does not help his credibility.

More here.

Leave Amy Alone

FEARS grew last night that hate-filled Islamic extremists are drawing up a “hit list” of Britain’s leading Jews — bringing the Middle East conflict terrifyingly close to home.

TV’s The Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar and Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson are among prominent names discussed on [ummah.com] a fanatics’ website.

That's from the U.K. Sun. On the other hand, Ummah strikes back in a news release:

The quotes that the article carries are from a thread on Ummah Forums entitled, "Compile a list of those who support Israel". In the very first post, which sets out the theme and purpose of the thread, the user "Saladin1970" encourages other members to aid in compiling a list of British people who support Israel. He writes, "It would bebeneficial to start compiling a list so that we can write polite letters reminding them of the injustices of Israel and to stop supporting Israel." Later in the thread, the user "Abuislam" asks if any names and addresses have been posted up yet in . Further along the discussion still, the original user suggests that rather than contacting those listed directly, it may be a better idea to contact Muslim organizations and individuals involved with them and encourage them to boycott said individuals.

Clearly, most people will realize that this thread is about a peaceful form of campaigning against the state of Israel by writing "polite"letters to well-known and wealthy supporters of the state asking them to withdraw that support and encouraging Muslims not to do business work with them until they do.

And they link to the original thread which, in its current state at least, seems pretty mild stuff, calling at its most furious for demonstrations outside of businesses sympathetic to the Israeli cause, which may be ill considered or not but was legal the last time I looked.

Also, an interesting turn at the end:

This is the Thread which triggered the Headline in The Sun News Paper Today

I can confirm that the User "AbuIslam" who is posing as a Muslim on this forum is in fact a freelance Journalist by the name of "Richard Tims" who registered on this forum to twist what the original Intent of this thread was for and to make Muslims look bad.

Abuislam Deliberated added comments on this thread which made is as if this thread was intended to cause harm to names that were mentioned

This has been confirmed from his IP address and Email addresses has he used on this forum and previous usernames

Whatever, leave Amy out of this stuff. She's got enough problems with her fella'.


PS. Interesting how "Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson" becomes Amy herself in all subsequent news stories. The media must die. It stands in the way of truth.