Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

Here’s an interesting idea worth participating in. Jon Swift is (was?) a popular blogger from the United States, who has been missing since the Ides of March (approximately). Prior to his disappearance from the blogosphere (and possibly this earth) he co-ordinated a liberal blogrolling event to counteract Blogroll Amnesty Day started by some hotshots without respect for blogging’s grassroots.

If you’re interested in trying to encourage Swift to confirm his location/safety, please also post a link to Simon’s search and maybe Swift’s blog as well..

These police officers are nuts. If they can’t at least understand the optics of what they did, they are idiots too. I think it’s the quote he accuses them of, which cinches the deal: those officers made the wrong choice due to impatience. Old people who are that sick can easily become confused. Until police use TASERS only in cases where they have exhausted other means, and see an immediate threat to life, they will be abusing their power.

I was considering leaving this mostly unfounded jab fall by the wayside, but I see Dr. Dawg has responded eloquently to it already. I just would like to point out though, that one week we’re “self-centered bigots” for not knowing something took place, and the next week we’re supporters of “fringe anarchists” and “paranoid fabulists” because what we should have known according to Robert, actually didn’t happen (again according to Robert) because the person who recently pointed it out is Mr. Annett, “and we can’t let him make a mockery of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

So Robert, which is it? You can’t cut both ways, just to suck up to Kate’s crowd. Because that’s how this comes across, at least as much as your probably sincere worry that further investigations will somehow delay the compensation already settled upon. Seems easy enough to pay the settlements due, and if there’s further injury proved, then to pay again to the families further injured. Bring on an investigation.

This story almost stunned me, and what’s even more surprising is that it’s about 150 years old!
Imaging a solar flare so bright, that you could SEE the sun getting brighter. Would you be a little concerned? Well, how about if your [telegraph] started to power itself?! These are things that happened in 1859, and could happen again at any time [assuming you have a telegraph or enjoy cell phones, TV, radio, computers…], with as little predictability as an earthquake. Quebec Hydro got a taste of what could happen in 1989.

And how would you like to lose 8 LINES of pixels on your digital camera? Imagine if it’s in space and there’s no way to fix it except with fancy image editing? Not many weeks after that happened, these aurora were photographed by me. Imagine most of the world’s satellites being disabled in a day?

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Now, on to something NotSafeForWork fun(ny). Imagine designing a logo, and not having someone giving you a hand with it? OGC in the UK did that apparently, and almost copied the ‘hand not connected, yet still phallic’ OGC in B.C.
If you don’t get it, turn your head to the side when viewing the logo, and pretend you see a penis somewhere.

The jokes about government employees being wankers, are perhaps appropriate at least in this case.

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And did you know cavemen used Powerpoint? Me neither. How me plug in projector? Me not know F7 + Fn keys.

I’m not talking about Rambo or even CC. I’m talking about the cyclone that has killed tens of thousands, and left possibly millions homeless (according to the radio reports I heard Tuesday morning).

Does the death toll now, indicate that the toll for the Boxing Day Tsunami was possibly grossly distorted (as I had always suspected) for political reasons?

UPDATE:
Here is a suggestion by MoveOn on how you can help, without helping the corrupt Myanmar government who allowed the disaster to unfold in a way worse than how Katrina hit New Orleans.
(more…)

Pat Martin got burrrrned.

What’s up with that title though? “NDPers are wimps”? The lesson didn’t last past Robert noticing Martin’s swampy high ground. I’m not saying Robert’s a wimp, but wouldn’t it be amusing if now someone discovered an instance of Robert acting like one? Perhaps he’ll be a good sport and offer up an example to complete the joke.

This is a subject of great importance — political party donations. Do they belong in a democratic society? Probably. Who and what should be able to give, and how much?

“The NDP also received about $586,000 from corporations, $165,000 from trade unions,…”
As a member of a union, I find that to be a big misuse of dues. There are few exceptions that I’d personally agree to allowing money to be spent in that manner.

Also problematic, and more offensive, are non-democratic businesses giving money to the Sask Party.

This year, some of the biggest corporate contributors to the Saskatchewan Party include:

* The Concorde Group Corp., a Saskatoon commercial property company that gave about $52,000.
* Alberta-based property company Millennium III, which contributed about $79,000.
* Calgary-based oil company EnCana, which contributed about $26,000.
* Companies connected to the Rawlco radio station companies and the Rawlinson family, which contributed about $102,000.

If businesses are to be allowed to give, I think there ought to be a cap at around $1000. Money spent on campaigns are inherently dangerous to democracy. It allows for the new golden rule to take effect: Those with the gold, make the rules.

Missing from the CBC and Mandryks columns were the money raised by other parties such as the Sask. Liberal Association, and the Green Party of Saskatchewan.

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Hat tip to gfr.

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Meanwhile, the Conservatives make it harder for journalists to do their job…

Calgary Grit and Nose Hill demonstrates just how crooked the Conservative Party has been, using the Nigerian scam letters we get in our inboxes every day to illustrate it.

From: Conservative Headquarters
To: Conservative Candidates
Date: December 2, 2005
Subject: Urgent Request

Dearest Candidate,

Good morning, how are you and your family? I hope fine. Please, I am sorry to bother you with our problem.

Please know that it’s not by mistake I am contacting you but by the special grace of God. Let my start by introducing myself. I am writing from Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party with this urgent request from Party Headquarters.
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