How Europe sees Europe
More here
Friday, September 24, 2010
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
Considering the weather outside I thought this song appropriate, check out the smile on the drummer.
Ocean Falls in pictures
An absolutely stunning collection of hundreds of photographs of both the old and present Ocean Falls. The viewing album on the link is well done and easy to use, grab a coffee and spend an hour looking at this piece of BC History and hopefully a place of future opportunities. The dam still provides power for the locals and for Bella Bella many miles away.
Approximately 480 km north of Vancouver, 170 km northeast of Port Hardy and 88 km west of Bella Coola. Ocean Falls is perched beside the deep waters of Cousins Inlet, 24 km from the open Pacific.
Our community of 35 fulltime residents and 100 addtional seasonal residents is divided into two neighbourhoods. Ocean Falls Townsite is on the right and Martin Valley is on the left. The road between them is approximately 1.5 km. You can just see a bit of water above the townsite, this is Link Lake which is 19km long and has great fresh water fishing. There is a hydroelectric dam and waterfall just above the townsite.
Pictures at this link
A Canadian Icarus
HPO The Snowbird from U of T Engineering on Vimeo.
Canadian student Todd Reichert, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Aerospace Studies, has made aviation history by becoming the first person to ever fly a human-powered flapping-wing aircraft continuously.
The world-record flight took place Aug. 2 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ont. and was witnessed by the vice-president (Canada) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – the world body governing air sports and aeronautical world records.
More
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Human cost of gun control
From: http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/deathgc.htm
Gun control measures are alway part of any recent history oppression of a population.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
When Geeks make guns
Pretty impressive, at his young age I am sure he has forgotten more about electrical engineering than I know.
The countdown has begun
Will the gun Registry be voted down today? I am not sure, I would like to believe that it will, but powerful forces are at work, the Liberals and NDP have pulled out all of the stops and people who have talked to NDP M.P.’s who have switched their votes were given the distinct impression that the Party leadership told them; “the vote is not whipped but you shall be whipped if you don’t vote the way we tell you”.
The Libs and NDP are spending a lot of political capital to stop this vote and that will likely come back to haunt them. A lot of gun registry supporters made a lot of claims, if the vote fails and this becomes an election issue you can bet those claims will be dissected and any flaws widely exposed, the blogosphere is merciless. If it fails the CPC can tell their supporters they did everything a minority government could do and the only way forward for gun owners is a CPC majority. So for the CPC it would mean more money, votes and volunteers.
The NDP has been forced to finally show it’s true colours, the old party is dead, the new party does not represent the average Canadian and that will be the price they pay at election time.
If by chance the vote goes through by some Lib suddenly “feeling ill” or a NDPer finds a backbone, then the work of dismantling the registry begins. It will need to be killed dead and stake driven through it’s heart so it may not rise again.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
North Korean traffic Jam
No doubt the Dear leader would be happy to tell us how he solved their traffic problems.
You ever noticed the Dear Leader and his father are the only people smiling? check out the rest here and see if you can find anyone else smiling.
A criminal perspective on the long-gun registry
A criminal perspective on the long-gun registry
By Les MacPherson, The StarPhoenixSeptember 21, 2010
There is no point at this late stage rehashing the debate over the long-gun registry. Except for a few dithering New Democrats, the positions are clearly defined. We have heard from the politicians. We have heard from farmers and duck hunters and from law enforcement authorities. We have heard from the Starbucks crowd and the gopher derby crowd. They all are saying pretty much exactly what they said 15 years ago when the registry was created.
The only group we have not heard from, oddly enough, is the one group the registry is meant to control, namely criminals. The whole idea was to reduce violent crime, although the registry probably has done more to reduce hunting. Since it came into effect, the sale of hunting licences in Saskatchewan, for example, has dropped by about 25 per cent, while violent crime has declined not at all. If hunters were a species, they would qualify as endangered. Meanwhile, the criminal species is flourishing.
This might explain why we've heard no complaints from the criminal element about the long-gun registry. It doesn't seem to bother them. Or if it does bother them, they're not making a big deal of it. We can't be sure what they think because no one has asked.
For the criminal perspective on the registry, I tracked down Larry Lowlife, a serial violent offender who is between convictions and briefly out of jail. Here is the transcript of our interview:
SP: Before we talk about the long-gun registry, can you establish your credentials as a violent career criminal?
LL: Sure. (Produces a sawed-off shotgun from under his coat.) Stick 'em up
SP: (Nervous laugh) I'm convinced. Do you mind if I ask if your firearm is registered?
LL: Not to me, but it probably was registered by the previous owner. I stole it during a residential break-in.
SP: You stole it? Was the gun not secured under lock and key, as required by law?
LL: Sure, it was in a locked cabinet. The house was locked, too. Anything worth stealing is locked up. That's one of the first things we learn in crime school.
SP: I notice you have sawed off the barrel. Did you know that's illegal?
LL: That's why it was under my coat.
SP: Have you been following the national debate over the long-gun registry?
LL: Not really. It has nothing to do with me.
SP: But you could be convicted for having an unregistered firearm.
LL: Not if I agree to plead out on the armed robberies.
SP: What armed robberies?
LL: The ones where I use this gun.
SP: Are you saying the registry does not deter crime?
LL: I think I answered that earlier when I said, 'Stick 'em up.'
SP: Were you aware that the registry has cost taxpayers more than $2 billion?
LL: Two billion dollars? And they call me a criminal?
SP: So you think that's too expensive?
LL: Not at all. I wish it cost more.
SP: More?
LL: Well, we criminals don't pay taxes anyway, so the registry costs me, personally, nothing. I'm just glad that $2 billion isn't available to hire more cops to arrest guys like me.
SP: But a lot of police support the registry. They supposedly access it thousands of times every day.
LL: Good for them. When they come to arrest me, they'll check the registry and think I'm unarmed.
SP: Has the registry made it more difficult to obtain a gun for criminal purposes?
LL: Finding an illegal gun is easy. The tricky part is getting rid of it later.
SP: What message do you have for MPs who will vote this week to save or dismantle the long-gun registry?
LL: I'd tell them to put up their hands and give me their wallets and jewelry.
from: The Starphoenix
By Les MacPherson, The StarPhoenixSeptember 21, 2010
There is no point at this late stage rehashing the debate over the long-gun registry. Except for a few dithering New Democrats, the positions are clearly defined. We have heard from the politicians. We have heard from farmers and duck hunters and from law enforcement authorities. We have heard from the Starbucks crowd and the gopher derby crowd. They all are saying pretty much exactly what they said 15 years ago when the registry was created.
The only group we have not heard from, oddly enough, is the one group the registry is meant to control, namely criminals. The whole idea was to reduce violent crime, although the registry probably has done more to reduce hunting. Since it came into effect, the sale of hunting licences in Saskatchewan, for example, has dropped by about 25 per cent, while violent crime has declined not at all. If hunters were a species, they would qualify as endangered. Meanwhile, the criminal species is flourishing.
This might explain why we've heard no complaints from the criminal element about the long-gun registry. It doesn't seem to bother them. Or if it does bother them, they're not making a big deal of it. We can't be sure what they think because no one has asked.
For the criminal perspective on the registry, I tracked down Larry Lowlife, a serial violent offender who is between convictions and briefly out of jail. Here is the transcript of our interview:
SP: Before we talk about the long-gun registry, can you establish your credentials as a violent career criminal?
LL: Sure. (Produces a sawed-off shotgun from under his coat.) Stick 'em up
SP: (Nervous laugh) I'm convinced. Do you mind if I ask if your firearm is registered?
LL: Not to me, but it probably was registered by the previous owner. I stole it during a residential break-in.
SP: You stole it? Was the gun not secured under lock and key, as required by law?
LL: Sure, it was in a locked cabinet. The house was locked, too. Anything worth stealing is locked up. That's one of the first things we learn in crime school.
SP: I notice you have sawed off the barrel. Did you know that's illegal?
LL: That's why it was under my coat.
SP: Have you been following the national debate over the long-gun registry?
LL: Not really. It has nothing to do with me.
SP: But you could be convicted for having an unregistered firearm.
LL: Not if I agree to plead out on the armed robberies.
SP: What armed robberies?
LL: The ones where I use this gun.
SP: Are you saying the registry does not deter crime?
LL: I think I answered that earlier when I said, 'Stick 'em up.'
SP: Were you aware that the registry has cost taxpayers more than $2 billion?
LL: Two billion dollars? And they call me a criminal?
SP: So you think that's too expensive?
LL: Not at all. I wish it cost more.
SP: More?
LL: Well, we criminals don't pay taxes anyway, so the registry costs me, personally, nothing. I'm just glad that $2 billion isn't available to hire more cops to arrest guys like me.
SP: But a lot of police support the registry. They supposedly access it thousands of times every day.
LL: Good for them. When they come to arrest me, they'll check the registry and think I'm unarmed.
SP: Has the registry made it more difficult to obtain a gun for criminal purposes?
LL: Finding an illegal gun is easy. The tricky part is getting rid of it later.
SP: What message do you have for MPs who will vote this week to save or dismantle the long-gun registry?
LL: I'd tell them to put up their hands and give me their wallets and jewelry.
from: The Starphoenix
Monday, September 20, 2010
FUBARed
Below is an apt description of Israel politics, from an Israeli who posted it on a forum I frequent, other Israelis and people familiar with the country felt it was a very good description of how the puzzle palace works over there. For more mundane descriptions go here and here is a somewhat dated but amusing piece on their political parties. As Canadians we have much to learn from them as to how to run a minority government, certainly their political turmoil makes ours a tempest in a tea pot. a thank you to Tezfa for allowing me to quote him.
But Israeli external politics depend a lot on Israeli internal politics, and those are totally FUBARed.
Basically our elected representatives are like a bunch of epileptic monkeys with grenades locked in a cage. The cage in turn is surrounded by drunken spectators. Some of them try to make the monkeys do tricks by offering them free bananas, some try to overturn the cage, and others try to set it on fire.
So what comes out as a result is a balancing act, where any given government, consisting of a bunch of monkeys who manage to climb on top of the pile, spends most of its effort on not letting the other monkeys overwhelm them, while at the same time preforming tricks to get their bananas, and trying to fend off the pyromaniacs.
Occasionally a couple of monkeys will actually throw their grenades and then we get something like the Oslo accords. But most of the time what comes out is a balancing act, and the result of it inevitably is trying to walk the middle ground.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Raheel Raza confronts Tariq Ramadan, Pakistan - United Nations
Via SDA and 5 feet of fury
A little more on Tariq Ramadan's
and
Raheel Raza
I remember discussing freedom of religion with my devout brother inlaw, he said Malaysia was accepting of all Muslims, I asked why their was no Shiite mosques, seems it’s illegal to preach Shiite teaching there. When he did Eid here in Vancouver he was amazed to see many different types of Muslims under the same roof. Something that would not happen in most Muslim countries.
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