The breaking of the DVD Dam

Article = none , personal experiance


I bought some movies the other day.

• Spider Man 3
  
• Ghost Rider
  
• Pirates of the Carribean 3
  

And..just today , I also bought some movies.

• Live Free or Die Hard (Bruce Willis)
  
• Urban Justice (Steven Segal)
  

Why am I writing a blog article about my taste in movies , you may ask. Well, I'll be happy to tell you.

The one that jumps out most is Pirates of the Carribean 3. Why ? Because I distinctly remember it being advertised as being on Blue Ray only , and it would never ever ever be realeased on regular DVD you have to buy a blue ray player and then the movie and then you are locked into the blue ray format forever more ha ha arn't we so clever you putz !

Ahem. I bought it on regular dvd format.
The kind that plays on my old ancient non-blue ray player.
Ahem. I bought them ALL on regular old , we aint making movies for that anymore , ancient , regular dvd format. All of them.

The HD / blue ray dvd dam is broken now. No one can afford a 500$ + mistake , so no one bought into either format. They just waited, accept for one or two percent of the population who are rich enough to buy both players and then purchase movies from both formats and they don't care if one or both goes belly up because they're stinking rich.

But two percent of the viewing audience does not keep a big movie company afloat. And they have wages to pay , but the viewing public it costs nothing , heck it SAVES them money , to just keep their money in their pocket and wait. And wait. And wait. And we can out wait you.

And now both formats are dead. Because now that we see that you're releasing movies in the old dvd format and we don't have to blow no 500$ on a new player , we're not going to.

We win.

Blue ray AND HD formats are dead. They're just going to thrash a little bit and make a little more noise before they die. But really ...new movies on the old format ? Why upgrade.

Goodbye Blue Ray (or HD) . *sniff* we hardly knew you.

Bell to administer telemarketer do-not-call list

Article

You're going to have a private corperation like the Phone company administer this list ? Wow..like... how amazingly stupid !


The CRTC has picked Bell Canada to operate the National Do Not Call List, giving the company a five-year mandate to block calls from telemarketers for customers who request the service.

Bell will be responsible for registering numbers, providing telemarketers with up-to-date versions of the list and receiving customer complaints about telemarketing calls. The CRTC said it has not yet been decided how those complaints will be resolved, but that should be determined early in the new year.


Wow..you're going to give away lists of valid phone numbers to telemarketers ? Cheap ?


Certain organizations are exempt from the list. They include charities, political parties, opinion-polling firms, newspapers and organizations that have an existing relationship with the customer.


Wow... like .. every charity organization in the world is going to get YOUR NUMBER if you subscribe to this list ... wow. And existing relationships...umm...you have a phone right ? It's through Bell , the only provider in canada right ? I guess Bell gets to harrass you too ! . And of course their subsiduaries and affiliates. An nifty catch phrase that I have recently learned means "everyone and the dog who cares to pay them a little bit of money "...

Why are newspapers allowed to spam you ?

Yeah , we run a great newspaper ? It's called Debters Not So Anonymous , we're wondering if you'd like a copy because your name is prominently mentioned in it ? No ..well , while we have you on the phone lets talk about that 200$ you owe for your engagnement that didn't happen ... you still have to pay it back you know ...

Yeah , yo ubought groceries at the grocery store...so they can spam you ... oh you bought a CD at the record store , now they can spam you too ....

Oh ! You had the phone company change your phone number because you were getting all these calls... they updated the list with your new number and you STILL get those calls...

Anyone who signs up for this list is a victem waiting to be fleeced, and these guys are more than willing to do it.

Surgeons Actually Consider health first, money second

Surgeons fail to discuss reconstruction with breast cancer patients: study


Surgeons frequently fail to discuss breast reconstruction options with women who have undergone surgery for breast cancer, a new U.S. study suggests.


Let me respond to this in the words of my surgeon.

ITS AN EXTRA OPERATION , STUPID !!!!

And an unneeded one for the survival of the patient. Especially one with cancer who's probably going to have way too many operations in the first place ! (reads rest of article)

Pardon me. IT'S TWO EXTRA UNNECCESARY OPERATIONS ! First they rip skin off your butt to rebuild the breast, later on they come back to rebuild a cosmetic but non functioning nipple.

The only real use of such an operation is to transfer money from the patients wallet to the doctors at the expense of the patients health !

Only in the USA could such a study even be bothered with !

Your Private Credit Card Info = Non-Existant

Article

Retailers Face an Ominous Holiday Sign

Sales of women’s clothing, a traditional pillar of the holiday shopping season, are unusually weak so far this year, according to a major credit card company, an ominous sign for the retail industry.


And how did a major credit card company determine this ? Surely not by violating your privacy
and running all your purchases through a computer to look for trends , did they ? Nah , they
wouldn't do that , that would be a violation of privacy !


In contrast, sales of men’s clothing rose 4.5 percent during the first 20 days of the season, MasterCard Advisors said.


So ... how do you know what women and men are purchasing ? Why arn't you getting the two
mixed up ? Well..you see... they put a little tic mark beside either Mr. or Mrs. when they
fill out the credit card application ....


The credit card company issued on Sunday a midseason snapshot of the crucial holiday season, compiled between Nov. 23, known as Black Friday, and Dec. 12. The numbers in its SpendingPulse report are based on the purchases of its 300 million American cardholders, plus estimates of broader consumer spending through cash and checks.


You see son , you have to understand how the industry works. We do whatever you please, and
you have to lump it. Because you work for a living and don't have time for "eternal vigilance"
anymore , and we work for a living too , only our working for a living is to constantly
find new ways of chisling you. And we get well paid for it too. You do understand statistics like this are like gold, everyone wants a copy and is willing to pay lots for it.

It's MasterCard by the way. The information was buried deep in the article , but it was mentioned eventually.

So , how many white male computer techies living within a four block radius of this zip code have purchased computer related equipment in the last three months ? Can I have their names and addresses so I can send them "Promotional Materials" ? (spam ! ) I'll pay yah well !

((after DELL sold me down the river to Sympatico with all my personal information and everything , I no longer trust even big name companies. I don't doubt any company would hesitate at doing this , no matter how large))

Canadian Digital Rights Management

The Canadian Parliment recently withdrew a digital rights bill to rethink it , after a massive face book oriented protest with 20 000 + people signing up in a rather short period of time.

I suppose I should put in my oar , though it's far too late the crowd is way ahead of me.

DONT BAN COPYING DVD's !

Disagree. Those things are good for 30 years. you really have no need to copy them.

DON'T BAN COPYING MP3'S !

Agreed. In order to get an mp3 to my mp3 player , I have to first "rip" it from the cd , making one copy , and then making a second copy on the mp3 player itself. The copy on the mp3 player eventually gets tossed and replaced after I've listened to it too many times , but you get the idea. This is "Fair Use" and the canadian DRM bill didn't have that in it.

MAKE BREAKING THIS COMPANIES ENCRYPTION ILLEGAL !

Disagree. This basically lets the company deny you fair use. Some of the stunts that can be pulled with encryption are ...

• No copying of MP3's , even if it's legal to do so
  
• We can't guarentee the quality of your movie after two years, so it will stop working then !
  
• You can only play these songs on our one player and no other. Oh , and only on your copy if your player dies you gotta buy another player AND all those songs / movies / etc all over again !
  

I'm sure you can use your immagination to see how this particular clause can be used to impose any limitation the corporation in question likes, circumnavigating any fair use clauses or even common sense usage that the government would otherwise approve of.

COPY RIGHT THIS WORK FOREVER !!!!

Medicines are only copyrighted for 17 years, even in the united states. Why is the copyright on a song or movie forever ? I mean Stairway to Heaven was a nice song, but you do know that 1971 was over 35 years ago ? 35 years is way excessive for a copyrigth if you ask me.

NO MOVIES OVER THE INTERNET

Agreed. Give the ISP providers the right to block the transfer of movies across their network. They won't block their own services (rent our movie and no late fees ! it self destructs in 3 days anyways !) But this will block that insane file sharing that really has no justification

NO MP3'S OVER THE INTERNET !

Same argument as movies, I agree it should be blocked.

NOTHING SHOULD BE COPYRIGHTED , EVER !

I don't know what yammer head has been spreading this around, but it's nonsense. Companies do not blow 50 million dollars making a movie like star wars and then give it away for free. Not a happening thing. You want your nice stream of high quality movies (and MP3's and what not ) to continue , they have to get their money somehow.

But by the same token they shouldn't be allowed to gouge your lungs out. I think a limited copyright of 15 or 20 years is the way to go. Just like medical drugs.

AECL head resigns amid isotope controversy

The head of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) quit Friday, one day after the forced restart of a nuclear reactor responsible for producing more than half of the world's medical isotopes.


"I don't want to be the one in charge when that thing blows !"


The reactor was closed on Nov. 18 for repairs. That's when federal nuclear inspectors discovered that the facility had been operating without emergency power backup for its cooling pumps and insisted on upgrades before it could be reopened.


So what are you saying here , if someone cuts the power to the reactor it goes into some kind of China Syndrom because it has no cooling pumps anymore ? And you want to run this reactor in this condition ?


Harper announced Friday that Burns will be replaced on Dec. 31 by Glenna Carr, a former Ontario bureaucrat. Carr has served as the deputy minister of three Ontario ministries.


And the new person in charge of this faulty reactor with no battery back ups for it's cooling pumps is.... you guessed it ... a politician with no scientific knowledge at all !


Harper had previously laid the blame for the isotope crisis on the CNSC.

He said the "Liberal-appointed" commission put lives at risk by insisting the reactor remain offline until safety measures were installed.


"People are dying out there ! Turn the dang thing on , it won't blow I promise ! I'm a politician I know these things, don't listen to those technical people ! "




Article

MPs pass bill to restart urgent isotope production

Article


The House of Commons passed emergency legislation late Tuesday night to reopen an Ontario nuclear reactor that produces most of the world's supply of critical medical isotopes, even though the site has been shut down for safety maintenance.


Damb the Torpedoe's ! Full speed ahead !


"There will be no nuclear accident, " Harper answered him in the Commons.


Really ? You promise ?


The operator of the Chalk River reactor, Atomic Energy of Canada Lt., had said it expected the plant to be up and running by the middle of this month, but the safety commission was refusing to allow it to restart production until it resolved a host of safety issues.


So what does this legislation do ?


The Conservatives, facing pressure to solve the shortfall, introduced Tuesday's bill to get Chalk River back online by circumventing the Liberal-appointed CNSC.


Why do i get the horrible feeling CNSC stands for Canadian Nuclear Safty Council ?
Lemme get this straight. The world ran out of medical isotopes ,or is running low , and your only nuclear plant to make them is down for safety issues.

You're solution ? Disolve the saftey board , start the reactor anyways.

I have only one thing to say about decisions like this.

Schreiber allegations cut intoTory support

Article


The Mulroney-Schreiber affair is dragging down support for the Harper government -- especially in Quebec and Ontario--but doing little to boost the Liberals, a new national poll reveals.


And thats the whole purpose of it all.
It doesn't matter that Schreiber has been caught lying a few times.
It doesn't matter that these are all unsubstantiated accusations by a man who spent his life making a very good living lying his pants off.
It doesn't matter that when all is said and done Mulroney will be found innocent and the canadian government will have to cover his court costs ... again ! ... to the tune of a few more million dollars.

All that matters is that the smear campaign is working, and so the Liberal Opposition is very happy to let this two faced liar continue this public charade for as long as they possibly can drag it out.

Map that named America is a puzzle for researchers

Article

Ummm...thats an awful skinny america there off beside africa.
And it's shape isn't something I recognize as having much to do with any map I ever saw.
And why woudln't they stick an ocean on the other side ? Every other continent on the map is surrounded on all sides by water why not this new one ?

Impressed they got a few details right ... but it aint THAT close ! No need to dust off the old psychic ball excuses yet !

Why I love Bush So Much

Hmm... interesting Question

Lets Compare Bush with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , the Iranian President , and see why I might prefer one over the other.

• Bush : Christian fundimentalist, but willing to let you believe your own religion.
  
• Ahmadinejad : Death to all Infidel Dogs !!!!!
  
• Bush : Bought off by a bunch of Texas Oil Tycoons
  
• Ahmadinejad : Pushed into power by a bunch of Imans who like to shout "Death to all Infidel Dogs !!!!!"
  
• Bush : Doesn't like Iran much , but is willing to negotiate.
  
• Ahmadinejad : "We're going to wipe Israel off the map."
  
• Bush : Against Health Care. Gotta have insurance, even if you're a kid. And if you have diabetes or some other childhood ailment you are Type 1 Uninsurable for the rest of your (short) life 'cause no one wants to touch you.
  
• Ahmadinejad : Thinks strapping explosive vests on 10 year old children and sending them off to blow up soldiers is a wonderful idea !
  

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Bush is a fairly corrupt , bought and paid for American president trying to secure oil for a country that believes it to be their life blood. I am not blind to this , or to his other crimes (Telling Canada to take a hike when the free trade agreement didn't go Bush's way didn't win any kudo's from me , let me tell you !)

But the fact is , we can live with him. We can work around him , and you can only be Prez for 8 years ...soon he'll be gone. And the american congress curbs his excesses, as they do any american presidents.

We really can't live or come to an accommidation with someone who wants to convert us to his religion. (Oops... you converted to the wrong type of our religion , we're going to go to war with you anyways now ! Don't you know there's two kinds of Islam , and if you pick one side the other side hates you forever and wants to kill you ? )

We don't really have a choice.

Iranian president declares victory over U.S.

Article


Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," is able to refocus his fiery rhetoric on the United States at a time when he has faced growing criticism among Iran's political elite.

"This report tried to extract America from its impasse, but it is also a declaration of the Iranian people's victory against the great powers," he said in a rally in the western province of Illam.


Translation : Yes, thank you for clearing our good name , sorry about those remarks about wiping Israel off the map , and No , you still don't get to inspect our nuclear reactors to see if we're really making weapons or not , you'll have to continue guessing and issuing reports like this , never knowing if they're accurate or not.

US report: Iran weapons program halted since 2003

Article


In its latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Iran: Nuclear intentions and capabilities, the US National Intelligence Council judges "with high confidence" ...

Translation : We think. Maybe.


...that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons programme in the third quarter of 2003 and is also confident that it has not to date restarted it. The halt appears to have been in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure,

Translation : They stopped because the US started talking nasty and MADE them stop. The rest of the international community could'nt fight a war against Canada without US help.

but the country appears to be keeping the nuclear option open, the authors conclude.

Translation : But they're still trying to get something nuclear started.

Acknowledging that it is not known whether Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons in the future,

But you do know. He's publically announcing "DEATH TO THE ISRAELI'S" at every opportunity, and how they will be cleansed by fire. From the lips of the president of Iran himself , on the news and everything. Or does that not count ?


the report assesses it as possible, but unlikely, that Iran could be
technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium (HEU) for a weapon by late 2009, although a date after 2013 would be probably be more realistic.


Translation : Making Nukes are hard, they're gonna need more time.


Difficulty One :
It took me half an hour to find quotes from the intelligence estimate. Who buried it all so deep ? I don't like to talk about conspiracy theories, but those articles vanished really really quickly and none of the new ones actually have any quotes in them, they all just make Bush out to be a liar.

Difficutly Two :
Every yammer head and the dog is announcing what a great victory this is for Iran over Bush. Not america , but president Bush. Excuse me ? These idiots are not capable of making nukes BECAUSE Bush has been putting pressure on them since the beginning. And instead of congradulating him for a job well done you're hounding him for harrassing these "innocent" (DEATH TO ALL ISRAELI PIG DOG MONKEYS !) Iranians ?

Supreme Court a rough ride for Gitmo detainees' lawyer

Article


In a case that could determine the future of the controversial military prison, a lawyer representing 37 detainees argued "the time for experimentation is over" and the prisoners should immediately be granted habeas corpus rights denied them at Guantanamo.


I have a wonderful idea !

You can't take prisoners anymore if you go to war. Why ? Because you have to give them all the rights due to an american citizen. You need proof they actually did something wrong , and lots of witnesses , and no your own soldiers don't count because they're obviously prejudiced...oh ..your own soldiers and the enemey soldiers were the only people around ? Guess you have to let all prisoners go then. Too bad.

Oh ... since you're not allowed to take prisoners you're just going to shoot them all ? That's murder ! We're gonna put all your soldiers in your own jails and try them under your own courts.. and maybe get a few enemey soldiers who want to kill you to testify what bad people your soldiers are so they can all get executed.

Oh ..you're not allowed to defend yourselves anymore ? Oh thats really too bad now the world will be safe for liberals like me , no more war .. .hey ... who the hell are you ? Why are you pointing that gun at me ? We are peace loving people that don't hurt anyone !

*bang bang* *body falls to floor*
"Death to the Infidels ! " Runs off and starts shooting random innocent american citizens since the americans no longer defend themselves.

------------------------------------------------


Canadian terrorism suspect Omar Khadr is a party to the Supreme Court case, but his legal situation is more complicated than the other detainees because he faces charges before the U.S. war crimes tribunals.

"It's an important case for assessing the propriety of the administration's over-arching legal position -- that the judiciary has no role to play in the war on terror," said Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, Mr. Khadr's lead military attorney.

"Our position continues to be that Canada can't rely on the American courts to protect the rights of Omar Khadr. The Canadian government is going to have to do that itself."

Maybe We don't want to.
Omar Khadr ? An obvious Middle Eastener immigrant found in Afghanistan shooting at american troops ? If he ever fell into Canadian hands they'd strip him of his Canadian citizenship and send him packing , what do you mean defend him ? Shoot him , maybe , defend him , not a chance ! We're on the other side of the war , those could have been Canadian troops that he was shooting at ! And you think we're gonna do squat for him ????

Calgary man loses $20K after eBay sale hijacked

Article


When Duraj complained to eBay, the company wrote him a letter saying someone had temporarily taken over, or hijacked, the seller's page, and that he would have to contact police and the FBI.
.
.
.
(RCMP Cpl. Louis)Robertson said he believes eBay is ignoring police and customers because it doesn't want people to know criminals have figured out how to abuse the site.




Online sites are for advertising. Nothing more. Don't buy jack from those guys if you can afford it, show up at the store in person. The prettiest, most wonderful sites are the ones most likely to be fraudulent , you understand.

Nice of eBay to say "tough luck buddy , we aint re-imbursing you a dime."

The Road to Ubuntu (or Leopard) - screw the OS, move your apps online with Google

Article


I've been trying to bend Gutsy Gibbon and Leopard to my will so I can abandon Windows, but most of my problems can be solved by embracing online applications like Google Apps


I cannot describe what a bad idea this is.

Google Apps , by the way , is a spread sheet and a word processor online that you can just get to by browsing to google.

The difficulty is Microsoft's nasty habit of issuing a patch , and then their competiters software stops working, and then they say "We didn't write it , we're not responsible for it, talk to them. " Deliberate sabatage , don't you know ?

You can't just forget about the OS , forget about windows, when you're using a competing product. They will sabatage you. And quite deliberately so. And so Google will sue, and it will drag out for YEARS , just as it did in previous cases of this. And then they will only barely comply with the courts verdict, so they'll be sued again , and that will drag out for more YEARS. And your great idea of using a competing product will probably sink down the toilet and go all swirly by then. Because you can't wait years and years and years to do whatever it is you're doing.

Cast off your microsoft chains, the only thing windows is good for is running games on. Switch to Linux of some kind (Stay away from Red Hat , Microsoft purchased those guys) and live free of your operating system deliberately sabataging you in order to make a sale.

Police president angered by Taser comments

Article


"It is unfortunate that you have chosen to venture outside of your mandate as Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, to comment on matters which are apparently, from your comments, beyond your area of expertise and understanding," wrote Cannavino.


People are dying , you yammer head ! And Taser's only excuse is "he lived for two whole minutes ! He was thrasing and screaming in agony for those two minutes, but he lived ! so it can't possibly be our device ! "

Can we fire this idiot ?
It is fully within the domain of an elected official to protect the general public.
It is not within the domain of an unelected union boss to say "lets keep on killing members of the general public and hope it's not our fault !"

Idiots ! Why don't you just start singing "Money Talks !" and make it obvious to everyone ?

UK In (Slow) Motion

Talks over teddy row sentence


High-level diplomatic negotiations are set to continue over the 15-day prison sentence given to a British teacher for naming a teddy bear Mohammed.

Awwww...isn't that cute. You let some child name his teddy bear Mohammed.... and then the religious fanatics decided it was an insult to a religion you're not even a part of , so you're going to jail , not the child .. nice !


What I like most about this article is the Brits getting involved in negotiations to free this woman. You do know that these negotiations take months , right ? But it's only a 15 day sentence ? She'll be home before they finish clearning their throats and even get well started in on this issue.

But ... that probably won't interrupt them in their chosen path.

Sometimes I wonder....

The Schreiber Show

Article



Schreiber, who was brought to Parliament Hill in handcuffs, initially refused to answer any questions. But he eventually began to selectively answer some inquiries.

Schreiber offered few details on what was involved in the cash payments, saying the money which was given to Mulroney shortly after he left office was "for future services."


Today , Karlheinz Schreiber was brought to Parliament Hill in handcuffs by the current government, filled with the knowledge that it had no intention of blocking his extradition to germany for corruption and fraud. All crimes ,you will note, that hinge on his ability to lie. He was here to report on his activities with attempts to bribe a previous prime minister, another crime that hinges on his ability to lie profusely.

He then proceeded to take the opportunity to say things that made the previous prime minister look even worse than he already did ,and to paint a horrible picture of corruption and political abuse. The only evidence supporting these accusations ? Schreiber's word and nothing else.

And the opposition loves it, because it makes the current prime minister look bad. And they want to extend Schreiber's show as long as they possibly can , to keep it in the public eye what awful evil people run this country and you should never even think about voting for them again , vote for us instead !

It's all politics. It's all mud smearing. And it doesn't have a wit to do with justice or fair play or finding out what really happens. The opposition doesn't care about what really happened, they only care about slinging mud.

And why is this bad ?

Because once upon a time , a long time ago , there was this thing called democracy. And part of democracy was the opposition party who lost the election being used as watch dogs to look for corruption. They gave you a fair shake if you were honest ,and they screamed bloody murder if you were not.

And now they scream bloody murder no matter what, honest or not. And no one listens to them anymore, because they've been screaming for so long we've tuned them out. They ALWAYS say bad things about the current government , it's their job to do this , we say to ourselves.

And so an intigral part of democracy is now permitted to decay and fall into disuse. Like the boy who cried wolf too often , no one listens to him anymore.

Dziekanski's death not caused by Taser, says device maker

Article


Taser International Inc. lashes out a media in statement released late Friday, sends 60 legal letters demanding corrections to 'false and misleading headlines'


"Legal Letters" means they're gonna sue if you don't. Doesn't actually say in this article, but in a paper version of the Ottawa Sun I was reading at work (it was a paper newspaper and I don't have it so I can't quote it) it say's that Taser is sueing everyone and the dog who claims their weapons kill people.


An amateur video of the incident that was released earlier this week has received sensational coverage from the media with many reports drawing an unsubstantiated and uninformed conclusion as to the cause of Mr. Dziekanski's death.


They tasered him. Twice. Then he died. Yes...that would be unsubstantiated and uninformed yeah right ....


Specifically in Canada, while previous incidents were widely reported in the media as 'TASER deaths,' the role of the TASER device has been cleared in every case to date


You have very good lawyers.


Cardiac arrest caused by electrical current is immediate. The video of the incident at the Vancouver airport indicates that the subject was continuing to fight well after the TASER application. This continuing struggle could not be possible if the subject died as a result of the TASER device electrical current causing cardiac arrest


I believe he was actually thrashing in agony , not fighting...but hey , you be the judge.




Further, the video clearly shows symptoms of excited delirium, a potentially fatal condition marked by symptoms of exhaustion and mania such as heavy breathing, profuse sweating, confusion, disorientation and violence toward inanimate objects.


Umm...the video clearly states they performed an autopsy. No drugs or alchohol. And he was stuck in that baggage place for 10 hours. You'd be tired too , and hungry , and thirsty , after ten hours of waiting to be picked up in a strange country and no one had come. And pissed off.


We are taken aback by the number of media outlets that have irresponsibly published conclusive headlines blaming the TASER device and/or the law enforcement officers involved as the cause of death before completion of the investigation.


He was alive and well before they taserd him. 2 minutes later he was dead. I'd say "You do the math" , but obviously that is beyond your capabilities.


TASER International is transmitting over 60 legal demand letters requiring correction of these false and misleading headlines and will take other actions as appropriate. These unsubstantiated, false headlines mislead the public and could adversely influence public policy in ways which could place the lives of both law enforcement and the public at greater risk.


Translation : THEY MIGHT STOP BUYING OUR PRODUCT !!!!

If this was a bottle of aspirin you were selling and even one person in a million was killed using it there would be a massive recall ...but no , it's a big company with the governments favor...so damb the public and hide the bodies and sue everyone in sight !!!! If you actually gave a rats behind about the public saftey you'd have volintarily recalled those tasers long ago.

But you don't. You're a company. Money is your first , last and only concearn.
And so you will sue while the bodies keep piling up.

As for "correcting" the headlines...I would be happy to change the headline "TASER DEATH" to "MAN TASERED TWICE, DIES TWO MINUTES LATER". But I don't think that would get you anywhere. Might make me immune to being sued by you though . :)

PS: Never sue poor people like me. We'll show up in court , make you spend a fortune on lawyers while we represent ourselves..drag out the case, and then when you win , we'll just declare we're bankrupt and you won't get a dime. :)

Found on bottom right of every cnn article

Stories you may be interested in based on past browsing

And then a list of stories.

So...thanks for admitting you're tracking every where I go.
Not that I didn't know that already , but its good to have confirmation.
Just ratchetting up that pressure are we ? Filching one little
piece here, one there, until you've taken rights to
everything and the dog and hey ! We got all the expensive
lawyers what is John Q. Public going to do to stop us ? Its
all his fault for letting us do it in the first place !
Yeah , thats like saying it's the rape victems fault for
getting raped.

Schreiber may testify before ethics committee....or maybe not

Article



A motion to be voted on Thursday will also call for Karlheinz Schreiber to appear before the committee as soon as possible, according to an MP who sits on the committee.


Oh kay !
You're going to allow Schreiber to talk before the commitee.
But Schreiber already has permission from the government to do that. He's the one running around saying "Not one f@#%^ word ! " if he gets shippped back to germany to face his countless fraud and corruption charges.

You spend a day of the publics time and money accomplishing diddley squat.
very efficient. I'm impressed.

Palistinians Run Out of Bullets , Arab League ships them more

Arab League meets before Mideast summit


Arab League states yesterday announced a mini-summit to discuss strategy at next week's Middle East peace talks in the United States as Israel made further moves to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The sweeteners -- immediately condemned by Israel's political right -- include an ammunition shipment to the Palestinian government and 25 used Russian armoured trucks.



Hmmm..... how can I best express this chain of events ....

USA : We would like to meet and discuss peace with Israel
ARABS : Ok. But we want more bullets for the palistinians to shoot at Israel.
USA : Deal.



(edit) yeah I know it says they're trying to bolster this "tame" Palestinian government...but it ain that tame, and the rocket attacks on Israeli continue despite their "pet" being in power. You gotta know where those bullets are headed already.

Taser manufacturer wants role in review process

Article


An executive with Taser International says his company wants to participate in any Canadian review of the stun gun and is confident the product would be found safe.


WE WANT IN ON THIS PUBLIC INQUIREY !
And by the way , there's no need to inquire about anything , tasers are perfectly safe. YOU HERE ME ? PERFECTLY SAFE !! (pay no attention to the 17 canadian and 280 USA deaths by tasering, they don't count)

Buy Taser products. The safe stun guns.

Canadian-sponsored human rights resolution against Iran passes

Article

The resolution expresses its "very serious concern" of the "confirmed instances" of torture, stoning as a method of execution and punishment such as flogging and amputations. The resolution is expected to pass when it reaches the General Assembly in early December.
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But CBC's Neil Herland, reporting from UN Headquarters in New York, said it came close to being defeated because Iran has since built support among nations like India, South Africa and Afghanistan.

Herland said those countries have become fed up with being criticized for their human rights policies by the West.


Frankly , we're quite annoyed with you Infidels trying to push your evil ways upon us. You do understand you're all going to Islamic Hell where you will burn forever , don't you ? How dare you interfere with our wife battering gang raping terrorist ways ? Don't you understand that Infidel means Evil One ? You are EVIL ! and we are getting so tired of you trying to push your godless ways on our pure goodness and light wife beating ways.

You should stop it.
Really.

LET THE WIFE BEATING CONTINUE !!!!

Kindle

Four hundred bucks.
Plus 10 bucks per book.
And where are these books kept ? How many can it hold ? And what happens when you dump a book to make space..is it lost and you need another ten bucks to buy it back ? What about pictures ?

And why is it ten cents to convert "free" web pages and blogger articles to something the Kindle can read ?

This e-book is an iPhone wannabe. Only it has no popularity to get away with the constant money-money-give-me-more !

Build something useful for a change , not an obvious rip off.

(edit: added) 400 bucks for the priviledge of buying from Amazon only and no one else. I'll pass thanks (ps: You can only download amazon approved blogs, and they get money for it , amazon books only , amazon articles only , etc etc you get the pciture. 256 megs ram by default put it can be expanded... everything is in some special Kindle format so how big is a book ? No idea, nor about offloading to a computer or anything. )

MPs' tempers flare at House ethics committee meeting

Article



Martin had wanted the parliamentary committee to debate a motion to summon former Tory prime minister Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber to state their cases in advance of the probe into the corruption charges opens.


Ah...the Schreiber thing...this is actually quite amusing you know.

Schreiber is fighting extradition to germany for various crimes , weapons deals, etc, all of which relate to him lying his butt off at every opportunity. He will be happy to testify at this inquirey into the former prime minister... but only if the extradition is permanetly halted (Can you say "get out of jail free" ? )

The opposition want him to testify no matter what because they think his testimony will make the current government look bad. And if it doesn't , then they can rag on the government for getting this criminal scum bag off the hook.

If Schreiber says something that favors the government, he'll be acused of feeling thanks toward them for getting him off the hook in a bad situation.

If he says something against the government , he'll be acused of being a two faced liar who wouldn't know the truth if it bit him in the butt, and the government will probably ship him off to germany anyways.

If you ignore the deal and just ship him home, he'll be happy to testify, but you're guarenteed he'll say something or other to make the current government look as bad as his immagination can possibly dream up.


My vote ?

Let the opposition yap , and ship this criminal back home. You have spin control , use it. Let the scum bag fry and blame the opposition for trying to get him out of jail free. It will even out in the end.

How Pickpockets Work

Article

Why thank you ever so much Mr. howstuffworks website for providing training materials for a new generation of pick pockets all over the world. I'm sure every criminal about thanks you deeply ....


HEY ! SOMEONE STOLE MY WALLET !!!!

Phone Spam

Article = none, personal experiance

I was feeling sick today , so I stayed home in bed. But ... I had the phone.
When people call , we get one regular ring if it's local , and one long two short if they're long distance. Guess what ? All the telemarketers are long distance, usually based out of toronto.

One call completely empty, I just hung up.

One from my doctor (local call , didn't answer)

and one interesting one. I picked it up and for a moment I heard nothing but blank static, said hello a time or two ... and it connected me to some woman babbling something about blind atheletes. (I hung up).

I can see it now. A dozen sales agents sitting in cubicals , a computer doing the phoning, oops ! this is a live one , direct to an agent... keep on phoning the next number. Doesn't even ask you to press one anymore... it just dumps an agent on you.

From the companys perspective , it's probably very efficient, since the agents are talking to people all the time , not blindly dialing number after number and hoping someone pickes up.

From my perspectve...now I know why the phone rings off the hook during the day.

I love that one long two short ring ... it's always a spammer, and we never pick it up.

Alarming UN report on climate change is too rosy, many say

Article



"It's extremely clear and is very explicit that the cost of inaction will be huge compared to the cost of action," said Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University's Earth Institute. "We can't afford to wait for some perfect accord to replace Kyoto, for some grand agreement. We can't afford to spend years bickering about it. We need to start acting now."


We of the United states have a plan !

• First, get everyone to sign this new agreement ... except us !
  
• Second ... manufacture all sorts of low cost goods that don't have to pay for pollution controls and therefore are cheaper than anyone elses.
  
• Third , use our political and financial and military influence (military aid, they never attack anyone) to force open the doors of trade and push our low price highly polluting to produce stuff on the world.
  
• Fourth ..bank rupt all our competiters , world wide.
  
• Fifth .. enjoy a world conquered and made safe for american business. Especially gas mask manufacturing businesses.
  

Thats our plan ! What do you think of it ?

(( Brought to you from the very same people who broke the North American Free Trade Agreement , and who frequently put insurenceless hospital patients off to the side and just wait for them to finish dying ))

Ford launches national Bluetooth campaign

Article


How does the high-tech innovation work? Whenever consumers are within range of the program's Bluetooth transmitters - which are leveraging the Zoom Media network - they will receive a message on their cell phones stating that it's being sent from Ford SYNC. Those who choose to accept what comes next will then receive a 20-second Ford SYNC video or a Ford SYNC branded mobile wallpaper, free of charge


Innovation , yes. You're on a Ford , and your cell phone rings (while you're driving !) and you answer it , and it's a commercial. From ford.

Ford = Found On Road , Dead.

or , if you spell it backwards..

DROF = Driver Returned On Foot.

Why such acrimony for one company ?

They don't make spare parts.
Think about it. Your brakes go. You need new ones...
no we don't make spare parts. But ...but ... the rear axel ...no we don't make spare parts, hey I desperately need a new bumber this one got crunched up by some stupid old lady who didn't wear her glasses her insurance will pay , no we don't make spare parts....

I hate ford. Everyone should hate ford. Nothing but a rip off. What do you mean you don't make spare parts ? Gawd those people are just plain Evil !!!!

Open-source Java could result in port to iPhone

Article


Apple has not made Java capable of running on the popular device. But Sun's Terrence Barr, technical evangelist for Java ME (Micro Edition), believes Apple's plans to release a software developer's kit for iPhone in early 2008 may result in the open-source phoneME version of Java ME winding up on iPhone.

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But Apple has been dismissive of having Java on the iPhone. Apple could not be reached for comment last week.


Who writes this nonsense ?

Apple owns the iPhone , and it is a Mac. Only apple writes software for it , only apple sells software for it , anyone else is sued for copywrite violation , and thats the way Apple likes it , and with the amazing popularity (stupidly if you ask me, but me and my fellow man often do not see eye to eye on these things) there is absolutely no reason for them to blow open the door and let the free software guys in and start giving stuff away for free that they're making a fortune off of charging iPhone users up the wazoo for.

The iPhone is as closed as it gets, and the only way it's going to change is when its popularity eventually plumets , as it does with all new toys. Only then will they open it up to squeeze that last few bucks out of it.

Any one who puts a java engine on the iPhone without Apples permission risks a repeat of the iPhone Brick debacle (thats where the phone was hacked to work on any phone network... then apple issued a new patch , and voila ! All those hacked phones suddenly stopped working, becoming nothing more than a brick. )

I applaude the notion of free software for the iphone (for any phone or computer actually) , but I just do not see them doing that. Not now when everyone is clamering for it and they can milk billions out of it yet.

Ont. should bail out cash-strapped TTC: Giambrone

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20071114/ttc_budget_071114/20071114?hub=TorontoHome



toronto.ctv.ca

The province should pony up more cash to avoid another TTC fare hike, the commission's chairman said on Wednesday.


Toronto can't afford it's own transit system ! Therefore ...we believe...
someone else should pay for it ! yeah yeah ...thats the ticket ! Let the province
pay for our service to our one city ! Otherwise, we might have to hike fares.

And if the province won't do it ..maybe the federal government. Yeah ..someone...
anyone ...anyone but us ..should pay for this ..yeah ... thats a good idea , I
like it !

So ..did I mention Ottawa gets fare hikes on our transit system every year ? Sometimes twice a year ? We just got some new , uglier , higher priced bus tickets, going from 90 cents to 95 cents a ticket , and we still need two to go anywhere ...

We gotta pony up more , why should toronto be an exception ?

Iran bans latest Gabriel Garcia Marquez book

Article

Wow..you're banning this guys book.
You know..I never even heard of this guy , but now I have. Or his book title.
What was it called again ?

Memories of My Melancholy Whores

Say...thats a catchy title.

I wonder...I'm trying to write a novel. If I put in something about being anti-muslim in it , can you ban my book too ? Then everyone in the whole world will hear about it.
Yeah , that would be cool.

Now I just need a catchy title. Hmmm.....

Buck Teeth

This clip is from Youtube.com , it's the phantom of the opera song.



The woman's name is apparently sara brightman.
Her voice is like liquid silk , I will admit.
She herself is a bit on the chunky side.

But , when the song hits the climax , with all those high notes... there is only one
thought in my mind.

Wow...look at the size of those Buck Teeth ...

I'm going to hell , arn't I ?

(edit : mistyped youtube.com ..forgot the "e" on the end ..clutzy me)

Your Cell Phone = My Profit

Who needs GPS? Cellphones provide traffic map


When cellular phones are searching for reception, they send "pings" or electronic signals that can be picked up by as many as six cellphone towers. The company said the new technology records these pings and uses them to create a three-dimensional map of where the signals originated.

It then discards those signals — based on speed and movement patterns — that appear to be coming from pedestrians and stationary mobile users.


Congradulations.
Big brother is watching you. Wherever you go, your cell phone is being tracked. And that information is being sold to any fool with a few coins in his pocket that thinks he can turn a profit from it.

So what do I have out there that they're selling without my permission ?
My email Address.
My credit card number and bank information. (Dell Sold it to Sympatico)
The location and ip address of my wireless router.
The location of my cell phone.
Anything you purchase that has a mail in rebate (You never get the rebate, but they keep all the information on file and sell it !)
Where ever you surf on the internet (google desk top)
Anytime you buy something online .. all that info is sold. Credit card too.

So when does it stop you ask ?
It doesn't. The sales people are very happy about this situation, and in fact they want more and more and more. They fully intend to increase their surveillence of you , ratchetting up the pressure paying of MP's to weaken privacy laws etc etc, so that they can make more money from you. Targetting sales, they like to call it.

Oh Oh , Here Come the Biggies

Article



Warner Bros entered video games in earnest in 2004 when it acquired Monolith Productions, giving it an in-house development department for the first time.

Last year the group also took a 10 per cent stake in SCi.

It also forged a US distribution deal with Codemasters.


Oh oh . Here come the biggies.
Big Business getting into online games ?
There was a CNN survey last week about how the writers strike would affect YOU the TV watching audience. About a third of the respondants reported "We gave up watching TV years ago...so no change".

They're following us online, to our online game worlds. How long until World of Warcraft will have beautiful Adidas running shoes as items for sale in the stores ? In Matrix Online a T-Shirt manufacturer convinced the game to include it's t-shirts so the charactars could try them out before actually buying them and see how they worked. And of course Matrix Online has bill boards all over the place, the last time I played (some time ago , I admit , that game sucks) there were chewing gum ads all over the place. And a lot of empty "this space for rent" signs, the game was deliberately built to include advertising.

I can see it becoming as bad as Cable TV. You paid upto a hundred bucks a month for Cable TV , did't you ? Did that give you ad free viewing ? No. But it did give you lots and lots of watered down shows that would only fascinate a 10 year old , everything else being restricted by the censors. And 18 minutes of ads every half hour but only 11 minutes of show. (including openning and closing credits)

"Son , you have to understand how the business works" piped in one wag when I attempted to complain about this. Yeah , I don't have to understand , i understand perfectly. Your product sucks and I don't want it.

Omar Khadr military trial to begin Thursday

Article


Human rights groups argue that the Guantanamo military courts are illegal because they do not offer the same protections as U.S. courts.


Ok. We cought you in a foreign nation. Doing your best to kill either that nations soliders , or us soliders.

Human rights groups argue ... you need protection from base accusations...like you wer trying to kill US Soldiers or something.

In the mean time , you are trying to over throw the US , impose islamic law on the entier world, and by the way those very same human rights groups that are defending you ? They're also complainging about your wife beating activities in Iraq pre-us invasion , so all the imans and islamic priests want them lined up against the wall and shot.

Mr. Prisoner in the US prison in guatamala..go piss up a rope I don't care about you.

Mr. and Mrs. America watching this on the tele and wondering at the glory of it all... how does it feel to know that these human rights groups that are trying to protect these prisoners ? The prisoners fight for a cause that would see all these human rights people lined up against the wall and shot. Because they believe human rights to be an evil thing. God is great, and he doesn't think much of us , and if you disagree with that we have to kill you now, so sorry where's my gun bang bang shut the heck up now please !

That always so amuses me . We let you explain your case to us. You do not let us explain our case to your people. Your people are slaves, they might believe us , y9ou cannot allow that ... anyone who might believe us you have to kill them ...

ITS ALL ABOUT THE OIL ! NOTHING ELSE IS IMPORTANT !

yes, thats the usual liberal refrain isn't it ? We don't talk about evil , or keeping people slaves or randomly kiling people in the population that we puport to protect. That may be well known , but we choose to sweep that under the rug , and then scream at the top of our lungs OIL OIL OIL its all abou the OIL NOTHING ELSE IS IMPORTANT UBT OIL ...

Burglar uses New York state church phone to call sex hot line

Article


CLARKSTOWN, New York - A homeless man has been charged with breaking into an upstate New York church by picking a lock so he could dial up some sex chat.


Will you guys just arrest me already ? It's November don't you know and it's real cold out there and I need some place to spend the winter or I'll freeze to death !


He admitted he had sinned before, breaking into the Elim Alliance church days earlier for the same reason.

Police say a church treasurer found Macnair on the phone both times.

The first time, when he was in an office, she told him to leave but the second time, when he was in a basement area used as a nursery for children, she called police.


Stupid witch wouldn't call the cops the first time ! Of course I did it again. And you notice there's nothing in the article about resisting arrest or anything ? Yeah ... I found a seat , took a load of my heels , and waited while she dialed the number and everything.

Finally , a nice warm bed and some food that didn't come out of the bottom of a dumpster to eat. I can see me doing this until spring ..no problem.

Facebook Eats Its Own

Can Facebook feed its ad brains?


Next week in New York, Facebook is expected to unveil its new advertising strategy on the heels of an expanded advertising partnership and $240 million investment from Microsoft...
...
There's no question Facebook is sitting on a data goldmine, with an exhaustive amount of information on people's preferences, backgrounds, and social histories--all given voluntarily by members. Facebook has profiles that include people's favorite music, television shows, books, and hobbies; their job history, education, birth date, and marital status; as well as daily activities, social networks, and interest groups. Traditional ad networks would kill for all that information in one place.



Umm...ok.

First , you put up a web site that gives away all your peronal information so THEY CAN SPAM YOU TO DEATH with it.

Second, everyone has on , right ? (I don't) So you go for a job, the interview goes so well, and then suddenly you lose the job the next day. What happened ? Your employer plugged your name into google and turned up your facebook page with those cute pictures of you being tossed out of a bar one saturday evening that you thought were so funny you just had to share with all your friends.

Think it doesn't happen ?

There's some guy in michigan , in the states , with my name, who plays an electric guitar and wants to start a rock band. And yes, my boss walked up to me one day and asked if I played a guitar, if I was thinking about chucking in my career and starting a rock band. And admitted he'd done a google search on my name.

You're doubly stupid if you do the face book thing, or anything similar to it. You self incriminate yourself , and your boss fires you / doesn't promote / doesn't hire in the first place , and you get spammed all over the place.

Facebook like sites ... eat their own clients. It's just that simple. You're sacrificed to the wolves of advertising , and to any casual searcher like your (potential) boss.

Linux is Mission Critical for Me

Article = none , personal experiance

So ,I'm trying to change the songs in my phones, because after you've listenned to the same set over and over and over it' gets boring.

Plug it into my xp machine, and a little window pops up saying it wants to install the drivers. Close it , why ? There are no drivers, its just plug and play. A little drive apears in my computer and you just delete all the mp3 files and dump in new files.

Hmmm... no little drive.

Ok , give installing the drivers a try.
Windows can't find any drivers.
Check the phone literature. There are no drivers, you just plug and play.
How did I get those 500 megabytes of songs onto my phone in the first place you ask ? Well..I just plugged the wire in and ignored the install drivers window and started dropping files into the little disk drive symbol..the one that wasn't showing up this time.

I really hate windows.

The phone reported "please plug in usb cable"
Tried it again . Same thing. I knew the cable was fine because I heard a ding every time I unplugged it and plugged it in again.
Try the drivers window. Failed. But detected new device. After a minute, failed again . But detected new device ... failed again ... after about five times around this circle I gave up and did a search on google for drivers.

There were some blue tooth and driver manager software for the phone. Which might , or might not be what I wanted (blue tooth definately had nothing to do with sticking a cable between your phone and the computer)

So I download the drivers. And I try to install them. And windows pops up a window saying new hardware found. And the drivers pop up a window saying the device is unplugged, please plug it in again. So I unplug it , wait five seconds, plug it in again. And it continues the install , for about five seconds. Then windows pops up a window saying new hardware found... and the driver program stops and says the phone usb cable isn't plugged in , plug it in again....

Three or four times around this loop , and I'm vowing that if Bill Gates were to pass in front of me at that moment I would happily hop up and strangle him to death , confess everything , and serve my 25 years murder sentence with a smile on my face. It would be worth it !

But it worked the first time !!! how come it doesnt' work now ???

I'm thinking I stupidly installed Internet Explorer 7 , and it came with some "required" patches that broke my system and rendered my phone unable to talk to the computer anymore.

"Please plug in the usb cable" says the phone.

THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH THE STUPID USB CABLE !!! see , I'll prove it to you !

Plug it into my Linux Box, running Ubunto 7.1
Ding. Kodak camera detected, do you want to synchronize pictures now ? (no !)
See , it detects it just fine , the cable works great , Linux just sucks at drivers ... whats that little disk drive symbol on my Linux desktop ?

click on the disk ,and it opens up , just like a windows folder. And low and behold , there are all the songs contained in my phone.

Five minutes later I had erased them and put a new selection of music on my phone. Just plug it in and away it went , no drivers required. Just like windows SHOULD be , but wasn't any more.

My experimental toy of a linux box ? It isn't an experiment anymore. Its now what my office managers would call a "Mission Critical" piece of equipment. I can't use my phone as a music player without it. And I'm a guy. I talk on the phone maybe once a week, for two minutes, if that. Using the phone as a phone... I shoulda got a pay as you go phone if that was my intention.

I like to put down windows for it's "sabatage the competition" attitude all the time , but this is the first time I found an alternative that out manouvers that. Normally you're just stuck. You know they sabataged you , but there's not too much you can do about it. This time there was. Sorry Mr Gates. But I think your time is almost up. Ubuntu is sweeping up behind you.

Police testing gun camera

Article


New York police will soon begin field testing this "pistol cam" that mounts to the barrel of a service revolver pistol.


this is a good idea. You fired your gun ? I wanna see the pics. Oh look , that guy had his back turned to you , no weapon in hand , and was running away ... yer going to jail copper ! Or there's a public protest because you shot a black guy , but your gun snapped this nifty picture of him with a gun in his hand pointed right at you ....



I fear looking at YouTube once the street finds its own use for these things.


Of this I must admit. Bang bang bang, three pics one for each shot , put them up on you tube to display your prowness under a false name ... yeah , thats gonna get groddy. But thats Youtubes problem, I still think cops should have camera's on their guns that go off automatically whenever they're fired. I think thats a great idea.

Officials: Blackwater guards offered limited immunity

Article


However, some kind of limited immunity was apparently offered by State Department investigators when they questioned the Blackwater personnel apparently involved in the shootings, the officials said.
..
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He also said that those limited protections(reference to the limited immunities above) "would not preclude a successful criminal prosecution,"



Thank you for your signed confessions of guilt.
And the deal we made for your immunity is off.
Get ready to go to jail guys !

lol !

Only in America you say ? Pity !


Meanwhile, Iraq's parliament is considering a draft bill that would require security companies operating in the country to obey Iraqi laws with no immunity, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Tuesday.

"All security companies operating in Iraq, those affiliated with them and non-Iraqi parties they have a contract with, are subject to Iraqi civil and penal laws," al-Dabbagh said. "There will be no immunity."


It's a muslim country.
If a muslim accuses a non muslim of something , the non muslim is automatically found guilty , not because anyone thinks he's guilty , but because it is a requirement of Islamic Law to make the life of the non muslim as hard as you possibly can so as to force him to convert.


You take away their immunity , they're leaving.
You give them immunity they shoot innocents.

You just can't win , can you ?
No , you can't. You can't be a civilian and a soldier at the same time. It's a contradiction , and this whole "civilian security agency" is now having that contradiction exposed for all the world to see. You're either a soldier and subject to being shot by your commander for disobedience, or your a civilian and all your commander can do is fire you and ship you back stateside. And civilians not subject to military dicipline have no business in the war zone. Especially not with guns in their hands.

Get under proper military authority and subject to military dicipline (and thus immunity) , or get the hell out of Bagdad ... there really isn't a third option.


The U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure last month that would punish contractors working in a war zone if they committed an act that would be considered a crime under U.S. law.


Hey ! Lets kidnap a few upstandig Iraqi's children and have their parents issue false accusations against the security people ! Yeah , take them hostage and force them to be false witness. Then we can criminally prosecute every single security peron in the whole country , on the cheap , and drive them out !

oohhhh I like this game ! Can we fabricate some evidence too ?

Soliders belong in a war zone.
Civilians belong at home.
Never the twain shall meet.

Retailers may face restrictions on buying lottery tickets

Article


Ontario lottery retailers may soon be prevented from buying and cashing personal tickets in their own stores.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation tried to impose such rule in August, but retailers fought it and the OLG backed off.

Chris Wilcox of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association warns retailers will fight any move to prohibit them from buying or redeeming personal tickets in their stores.


Now why would you care about such a resstriction ? You can just go down the street and buy a ticket from your neibours store ?
I'll tell you why.
Because only in your own store can you take the lottery tickets into the back room and work on them for hours at a time , with no one watching , with any x ray machine or other gizmo your engineer son from university just whipped up.
And that's a very special thing not to be given up on lightly.

CORRUPTION CORRUPTION !

How does it feel , as a customer , to know that the owner of the store you're buying tickets from has already rifled through them with an x-ray machine to give himself first shot at any of those winning scratch and win tickets ?


Proposals for such a rule followed reports that retailers were cashing in winning lottery tickets at a rate far higher than the general public.

Canadian War Protesters

Protesters march against Canada's mission in Afghanistan


In Ottawa, about 100 determined protesters met at the National Gallery of Canada in the early afternoon -part of a collective group of protests - which Canadian Peace Alliance organizers were calling the Pan-Canadian Day of Action Against War in Afghanistan.


Metro Ottawa has a million people , and you could only raise 100 to protest the war? Hang your head in shame !


"War is not the answer," Batsch said. "You don't fight to create peace."


And what is the answer ? Let them grow poppy and sell it to our children ? Let them conquer the world ? These are the people that believe it's their god given right to kidnap people off the street , torture them into converting to Islam , and if they don't believe you're sincere, it's ok to murder you.

Or shall we fall back on the the tired old "The government should do something. I don't know what , but not this. Something ! " Something magical...wave a magic wand or something , yeah , thats the ticket !


His daughter Jamie said the war had gone on far too long and the federal government was not paying attention to the voice of its people.

"They shouldn't be making decisions that not everyone agrees with," she said.


Yeah. We need 100% agreement to do anything ! every last person in canada must agree to the latest tax increase or it shouldn't happen !

Don't think that will work.


"When I think about the lives lost, the devastation and the millions of dollars wasted, I get really angry," said Collette Lemieux, co-chair of the Canadian Peace Alliance, to more than 50 people gathered in downtown Calgary.


Wow. I sent my son off to war .. and he got hurt ! I don't think we should do that anymore. Let the muslims conquer the world , I don't want my son hurt anymore ! Whats that you say ? They conquered the world and now they want my son to be a suicide bomber because one muslim faction hates another ?

lol !

Sympatico : Reloaded

Received the most interesting letter in the mail today (Canada Post, not email)

INSTANT REGISTRATION NOTICE FROM DELL

This notice is to confirm that Dell has signed you up for Bell's Total Internet Service
"The Service" BECAUSE YOU PURCHASED A DELL SYSTEM YOU WILL RECEIVE THREE MONTHS OF THE SERVICE AT NO COST! As you agreed to over the phone ...


I agreed to nothing. I told the dell rep I didn't want it , already had a provider and was very happy with it.


... in order for Dell to register you for the service , you consented to ...



I consented to jack squat. I said I didn't want it. The operater said "Then when they call just decline" and they never called, they just fired a modem off at me and told me congradulations your service is active !


Dell transfering your name , phone number, address , and pre-authorized payment or credit card number to Bell. As was explained to you , your credit card or pre-authorized payment information is required because you will be automatically charged following your first three months.

You should receive a package by bell ...


Yadda yadda yadda.

You handed them all my personal information despite me saying "No , I don't want it" , including my credit card number ? Is that even legal ?

These people are scoundrals. Absolute scoundrals. I despise them , Dell and Bell. I will never buy another product from either of them ever again.


d

Despite improvements, nurse shortage still predicted, numbers show

Article

Why are we short on nurses ? Why have I been living in this country for my whole life, more than thirty years (a lot more , I don't want to give away my age) and I've been hearing about the nursing shortage the whole time ?

Because Nurses Cost Money !

It's a simple equation. Nurses do not bring money into a hospitle. They cost it money. There were these nurses aides that used to help nurses with their chores, but they got cut too. Why ? They cost money.

What brings money into a hospital ?
Not much. The government doles out a flat some and tells them "don't spend it all in one place !" and thats pretty much it.

Doctors are worse.
You wanna know why there are only 250 new doctors per year permitted to join the medical ranks in ontario , and why thats not gonna change ? I'll give you a hint. It's not because of their 100 000 $/year salary.

It's because doctors put people in hospitals. And that costs money. Lots of money. When you have to wait six hours to see a doctor , you give up and go home , or don't go at all , a lot of the time. If the wait time were to be cut to three hours say ... guess what ? Twice as many people would wind up in the hospital ! And we don't have that much bed space ! Heck , we don't have the bed space for the doctors we do have !

And of course Doctors write perscriptions.
And if you just got sick , you're probably suddenly out of work , and that means the government's paying for your perscription.

And you thought doctors were costing you money before the perscription game ?

The doctor shortage / nurse shortage , etc , isn't really a staff shortage. It's a money shortage. Big time money, not just the salary of a few extra workers, we're talking building new hospitals and paying vast amounts in perscription drugs. The actual salary of these people is microscopic compared to that.

Free medical has it's drawbacks , it seems.
It's much better than what we had before (that would be the "no money , no doctor" system) but it isn't problem free.

Best you can do is set up a team to look for cost savings I guess. Maybe manufacture your own generic drugs that are commonly used that the copyrights have run out on, things like that.

Store owner sweeps up big lotto winnings off ticket from his own business

Article


WINNIPEG - Many store owners dream of making a lot of money with their business.

Blair Knutson did it the unconventional way - he bought a Lotto 6-49 ticket from the grocery store he owns in Gimli, Man.


CORRUPTION !!!

Oh honest we checked his story and double checked it and made sure he wasn't looting the customers tickets looking for a winner and swapping it for his own losing ticket ... honest I don't have an x-ray machine in the back and I'm scanning every ticket that passes through the store waiting for the big strike and foisting the losing tickets off on those suckers ..I mean customers ...


CORRUPTION !!!

Millions of dollars at stake here.

You can't honestly be the owner of a Casino , say , and then sit down at the table for a couple of hands of black jack. It's not illegal , but it rings every alarm bell of corruption there is. It should be illegal.

This is just bogus, and why I don't play the lottery ,and why no one should.

War Unto Bankruptcy

Article = none , personal opinion

What happenned to "lets make a good product at a good price " ? When did we lose sight of that , and the emphasis of business shifted to "kill the competition , then when we're a monopoly triple our prices"

I ask because of a recent event at my work. I take calls for a cell phone company , and we have an ... interesting policy. If a person is a bad credit risk , or they're obnoxious and call a lot and are always asking for insane things , we are to gently edge them out the door and foist them off on our compitition. Other customers we bend over backwards to keep.

The idea is that you stick the competition with the bad customers while you keep the good ones, thus poisoning the well and , well , sinking them.

The more interesting point is that I've seen this policy twice now. Once for internet , where I used to work , now for cell phones. It seems to be an industry wide tactic.

Personally , I think these guys are idiots, and there really arn't very many bad customers. There are instead "deceived" customers that you tricked into your business but really didn't want it , never used it , couldn't afford it ,e tc etc.

This is a text message I received on my phone. Keep in mind I never sent a message to these people and have no idea who they are.

"Got your iPhone ! Bought and paid for ...$700 in your hands...should be here by end of week or early next week at the latest !"

Obviously the idea is I reply to the text message and ask what the heck are you babbling about , and then I get stuck with a fast talking salesman trying to sell me a 700$ iPhone.

When did deciete and trickery become standard sales tactics ? No wonder you have "bad customers" if this is how they became your customer in the first place.

I had a job long long a go , phoneing people up and trying to sell them carpet cleaning. I only had it for four hours and then I quit, but it was very interesting. There was a script they put in front of you, on it it had all the usual responses a customer might give when turning you down , and how you would answer them.As far as the script went , the customer would have to be an unreasonable and stupid idiot to turn down your offer, that part came across pretty clearly even if it wasn't explicitly stated. And if you fell for it , even if you didn't need it , it was considered your fault for being stupid enough to fall for our sales tricks.

Sympatico still takes the cake if you ask me , for just firing off a cable modem at you and then when you ask "what the heck is this ?" you get a salesman on the line and a big long fight.

These people are prepared for you , they have all their tricks lined up, all their lies ready to go, and lots of practice dealing with "difficult sales".

It seems the day of producing an honest product at an honest price are over. Now it's how much can I rip you for.

Bin Laden calls for jihad in Arabia and Sudan: Web

Article




It is the duty of Muslims in Sudan and ... the Arabian Peninsula to wage jihad (holy war) against the crusader invaders," said the speaker, who sounded like the al Qaeda leader.


First , I give this article Kudo's for brevity. Two paragraphs, staight to the point, no political distortion. This guy did this thing , thank you and good nite.

Second , I give Osama himself Kudo's for helping in the war on terrorism.

Have you ever played any kind of military simulations on the computer ? Don't you know that you attack your enemies one by one , with overwhelming force. You don't start a war on five fronts and demand your troops go wild and kill everyone ! This would be how you lose wars.

Oops..you're the enemey commander. We want you to lose this war. Please, keep right on going the way you're going. :)

Status of the war on Terrorism: Lots of attacks inside the middle east. Maybe one attack ,more often useless than not , ever six months, IN ALL OF THE WESTERN NATIONS. Someone on our side of the fence is definately doing his job properly. I have no idea who it is, but I defniately give him kudo's too.

As for the Liberals who want to pull our troops out of afghanistan and thus let the druggies, I mean terrorists , continue to finance their terrorism with the poppy seed unhindered, you I give the Golden Rassberry award. BLLLTTTT ! I hope you rot in hell cause if you ahve your way those terrorists will be hitting right here at home instead of the other side of the world.

Add the Sidewinder Gaming Mouse to your gaming arsenal

Article



In designing its new Sidewinder Gaming Mouse, we imagine Microsoft's product designers going over the features of the Logitech G5 and the Razer DeathAdder and asking "what else can we cram in there?" For a suggested price of $80, the Sidewinder delivers all of the complexity hardcore gamers demand in their mice, plus it goes a few steps farther.


Wow. Microsoft is putting out a mouse for windows.
You know what that means don't you ?
It means soon there will be an update, and the drivers for this mouse will be part of the operating system. You'll just plug it in and this 80$ 10 button gamers delight of a mouse will simply work !

It means other people's mice that they sell that worked fine before the update, now will suddenly stop working , or start being really really glitchy.

It means when you phone microsoft to ask how come your mouse that worked fine for literally years suddenly doesn't work anymore after that last patch , you'll get told "It's not microsoft certified. Contact the manufacturer , and that will be 75$ on your credit card , thanks for giving the credit card number in advance before we let you talk to a live human being. "

It means other mice manufacturers will be run out of business fairly shortly, and microsoft mice will rule the world !

Either that or the trend to switch to Linux will grow slightly stronger and stronger.

How to kill a free version of Linux

Article


On October 4, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told a group attending a presentation in London that Red Hat customers are using Microsoft's intellectually property without permission and suggested they should be required to compensate Microsoft accordingly. O


Step 1 : Buy Red Hat Linux

Step 2 : Now that you control the programmers, "accidently" include some proprietory microsoft code

step 3 : decide you're not going to sue red hat , you're going to sue the red hat user base.

Step 4: Watch as everyone abandon's red hat real quick.

Step 5: Find another annoying version of Linux that you don't like , repeat as required.

Sympatico : The Continuing Saga

A year ago I bought a Dell computer. I've been a pretty good customer, always had money in the bank when they took their 30$ / month , stuff like that.

They phoned me up the other day , informed me Bell Sympatico was going to call and try and be my internet provider , since an icon for it had been on my desktop on the computer.

I said ok and the call ended.

Then I wondered, why is bell calling me ? Did Dell sell my info to them despite promising only to share it with their own internal agents (And affilliates , and ..a few other things ...which probably amounts to any bum walking down the street with a few coins in his pocket and an interest in my affairs).

I had this big speach about privacy ready to go , and was waiting for Sympatico to call.

Today , they didn't call. Instead the postal delivery man buzzed me from down below to inform me I had a package from Sympatico. Went down , and what do we find ? A Sympatico cable modem , for getting you online. No , they hadn't warned me it was coming or anything.

But yes, my wife had a bell telephone in her name , and they'd pulled this stunt once before. It seems they're firing these modems off without warning to people at random.

I informed the postie I didn't want it , wasn't touching it, and refused to sign for anything. Last I saw of it he was examining the box , probably looking for a return address.

I'm now preparing another speach about underhanded marketting tactics and why I hate dealing with such companies, in case they decide to stick the thing on my cell bill or make some kind of combined bill or something.

Still waiting ... still wondering what's next.

(edit)

Waiting for people to call is a very stressful thing , and I have enough stress in my life. I phoned bell / sympatico and informed them I'd never asked for the service and had refused delivery of the modem. They "say" they cancelled the account (they'd tacked it onto my wife's phone line , ha ha , man she would have been pissed despite her being the one telling me not to phone them) and apologized, and hey , no modem in hand , not much they can do.

I'm still dissapointed I didn't get to use either of my speaches on them.

:(

Taliban: 'We will not negotiate'

The Taliban will never negotiate with the Afghan government in the presence of foreign forces," Ahmadi told The Associated Press. "Even if Karzai gives up his presidency, it's not possible that Mullah Omar would agree to negotiations."


You have to understand. We , the Sacrifical Priests of Islam (call us Iman's, please) enjoy wealth and power beyond anything you westerner's can possibly immagine. We literally have the power of life and death over our followers , and if any of them give us any lip at all , we draft them into the war in afghanistan which is doing an excellent job of getting them all killed off.

And if we can't get at them , we point a gun at their little boy or girl , and tell him to put on an explosive vest and go talk to that american soldier over there.

You do understand , We've been doing this for ages. Ill trained militia with only one gun and a few bullets for every three soldiers, sending them in mass attacks against hardenned positions of our enemies ? The milita of course are loaded with people who we think will cause us trouble , and this is a good way to get them all killed off.

It's the same deal here.
We're getting what we want.
You're killing off our own internal undesirables and dissidents.
Why in the name of Allah the Merciless would we want to stop murdering our own people now ? It's been a great thrill ride so far.

We have the largest drug producing place in the world. It's only a province, but it produces more poppy seed, which gets turned into Heroine ,than any nation in the world. Do you have any concept how filthy stinking rich we are while those stupid Martyr's and True Believers do all the dying for us ?

Fight on. And never surrender ! And throw another basket full of hundred dollar bills on the fire to keep us warm it's getting a little chilly out there.

:)

ory says MPPs will get free vote on faith-based funding

Article


Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory tried to assuage embittered party faithful and win back Ontario voters Monday as he promised caucus members a free vote on his controversial proposal to extend public funding to the province's private religious schools.



So what was it the conservitive leader said that started this "The thing I like about public school is that they're public"

Well, I went to public school for all my youth. My major memories were of bullies beating me up , because I was a smart ass, because I sometimes actually bothered to study , because I made them feel bad because I passed my courses, and they didn't so they were going to beat me up.

Actually , they did me a favor. Because I was so unpopular , the drug dealers who hung around on that one block walk from school to the bus stop never bothered me. I knew they were there , and I knew what they were about, but we had little to do with each other. They were "networking" and they wanted the popular students recruited so they could turn them around into sales men, and some little runt of a brainiac that everyone hated just wasn't any use to them.

so despite living through the 70's and 80's in a public school system rife with druggies, I never smoked a joint or popped a pill the whole time.

I keep hearing from friends and family. The public school system hasn't changed much. The school kids still punish you severely for actually bothering to study, and the druggies still consider it their personal hunting grounds.

It's time to face facts.
Point Blank : The public school system has failed. And it failed a long time ago. No one who has a choice in the matter wants to send their kids to school, because of the drug problem. A problem that has been around since my day , which makes it 30+ years , and hasn't gotten a witt better.

It's time to try out a more diversified system.
In the states they give a certain amount of money per child for education , and that money follows the kid to whatever school he goes to. Such a system would provide too many targets , each too small , for the drug dealers, and would get rid of the problem of bullies who punish you for actually studying while in school, since with a high teacher to student ratio those bullies can't make a move without every teacher knowing whats going on and giving him the boot.

Television is an evil thing you know.
Through out my child hood I lived in ottawa , and I spent more time watching TV than doing home work. Two years though , I lived in the country. No TV out there. Just a radio and not much to do but be bored. My marks went from 60ish % to 90% , just because there wasn't any TV to watch.

TV is an evil thing.
So are public schools , at least in the cities ( the one in the country I was at best luke warm on at the time , but from a parental perspective It would be considered a joy to send your kid there)

Go for the private stuff. The city public schools should be considered nothing but a plague ridden drug fest best avoided.

I know, most politicians would deny it if they read this article, probably point out to various mediocre and meaningless successes the public schools have had. But no one would beleive them. Why ? Because the vast majority of the public who grew up in Canada actually went to the public schools, And so the schools are a victem of their own lack of success. Every canadian graduate knows the true situation , and the politico's arn't doing much but making themselves look like idiots for denying it.

Stupid Linux Hype

Why the Unbundling Windows Sceptics are Wrong


n doing so, the Globalisation Institute draws a distinction between open, free markets, which exist for computer hardware and demonstrate phenomenal innovation and price performance, and laissez-faire markets, dominated by the corporate equivalent of Somali warlords – specifically, operating system platforms.

In response, others have replied with reasons they believe would prevent such an approach from succeeding.

The following are the key arguments they introduce against the unbundling of Microsoft Windows from consumer PCs, along with an explanation as to why these arguments from the 'unbundling sceptics' are invalid:


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The usability and technology world doesn't revolve around Walt Mossberg. Mossberg may have indicated that desktop Linux isn't for the average user, but it's also possible to find many pundits who will say that desktop Windows isn't for the average user either; that doesn't stop most PC makers from bundling Windows with their PCs.

In the end, it's all about what you're used to. Mossberg is used to Windows, so it seems more 'normal' to him. In time, people will, due to the increased uptake of Linux bought about by a liberated market, also find that it too is 'normal'.



I have linux. 7 full reformats to get it installed properly. The world may not revolve around Mossberg, but Linux still needs work.


It would also add complexity for end users, counter to The Institute's claims. People buy operating systems pre-installed with bunch of different applications beyond what comes with the operating system. Office productivity apps, security apps, you name it. An uninstalled OS would force users to find and download or buy those apps. That's an added and inconvenient step that would cost hours.


More than hours. Most of the linux apps are crap. And the Linux office suite isn't ready for the big time yet , not as of Ubuntu 6.10 , though it's been a while since I tested it.

Long and short of it :

Windows is a pirate, and they're ripping you off good.
Most of the alternatives (Apple OS2 , etc) are in fact just as bad. Either they lack the vast selection of windows software, or they make you pay through the nose now that you're stuck with their os.

Linux offers the promise of getting out of this trap. But it is just a promise so far, it has not yet bloomed into the full flower of how great it could be.

And articles like this that make promises that Linux cannot keep , do nothing but stunt the growth of that flower. Linux is getting there, but it isn't ready for main stream yet. And thats the state of the Linux situation at this moment.

U.N. condemns deadly Darfur attack

Article


United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed outrage after rebels killed at least 10 African Union soldiers in an unprecented attack on a peacekeeping base in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur.


Someone should do something about this !

Someone else, not us, police troops are way to expensive and we don't feel like getting into a gurilla war with some rebels right now. Maybe the USA could do someting ? Nope, they're busy right now.

Ok, we'll just pull out all our troops and forget about the place. Just like Canada did. Because, lets face it, if we're not prepared to go to war, if we're not prepared to defend our own troops, then we have no business putting them there in the first place. We're out of here !

I've said it before , and I'll say it again.
The UN is a joke.
It wants the USA to pay for everything (voted themselves a pay raise they did , at US expense) and it want's the USA to do everything, provide all troops for every issue in the world.

No wonder the rebels are happy to kill off a few UN peace keepers, they know they'll get away with it. They know the result will not be a war, it will be the peace keepers leaving them to do their racial cleansing in peace.

The UN is a toothless tiger , used by the USA to cloak it's own political agenda as "world opinion" -- see ? Half the nations in the world are with us on this one ! -- and simply abandoning any other issue that doesn't make their political horizon to a bunch of time wasting thumb twiddlers that refuse to make a move on their own without "the big man of the neibourhood" helping them out.

If the member nations of the UN don't actually get off their collective butt's and do something.... well...I guess we get to continue laughing at them.

And the rebels get to continue killing their troops in perfect saftey , knowing there will never be any repercussions for their actions, except of course, for the UN Troops running away in terror.