Iran Reports Big Advance in Enrichment of Uranium - New York Times

So Iran has the ability to build The Bomb, or so some would have us believe. Myself, I'm not sure. It is possible they have as their ultimate goal the manufacturing of a nuclear weapon and of course, the first target will be the nation Israel, but more on that later.

I did some digging and discovered that enriched uranium is required for power generation. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation

.

It is possible this is part of the reason. The other could be simply as a means of to quote from Shakespeare, biting their thumb at the USA and the world. After all, you can't push around Iran, not that anyone has been doing just that, but when you have a crazy running the country...

By the way, the biting of the thumb was an insult and I quote from Romeo and Juliet:

Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them;
which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.

So there you go.

Now what about Israel? Certainly they would feel like they are first on the list of nations to be nuked if and when Iran develops the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead. Well I have one simple word that is both a comfort for Israel and a warning to Iran, Zecharaih 2:8. Let me quote it:

"Come, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!" 8 For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye- 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. [a] Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.

To sum it up God is saying to the world, you mess with Israel, you mess with me. For some reason I don't think it would be to Iran's long term health prospects to try anything against Israel. I don't know if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a reader of my blog but I do want to give him some free advice, don't develop the bomb. Period. If you do and if you try it against Israel it will not be very good for you.

By the way, I decided to do a word search on Persia and discern what prophecies were written concerning that land. The only one of reference is Ezekiel 38:5; here they are part of an alliance that invades Israel. If you read the rest of Ezekiel 38 and then chapter 39 you will discover the invasion failed miserably.

Just some sage words for the President of Iran.

My daughter Stephanie had a blog about baseball, actually she had two. She beat me to the punch. Rather then I waxing eloquent about the Game, let me share with you some Baseball Quotes:

Baseball is Heaven's gift to mortals."

George Wills

A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.

-Humphrey Bogart

I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.

-Walt Whitman

Strikeouts are boring - besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. More democratic.

-"Crash"Davis, from the movie Bull Durham

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

-A. Bartlett Giamatti

I love baseball. You know, it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just very beautiful to watch.

-Leonard Zelig( Woody Allen) from the move Zelig

Hating the New York Yankees is as American as apple pie, unwed mothers and cheating on your income tax.

~Mike Royko

Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball.

-Jim Murray

The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again."

-James Earl Jones from Field of Dreams

One more thing- Tigers are 5-0 as of this day.

At Last, Movies to Keep Arrive on the Internet - New York Times

At least its a Start

Usually I spend my blogging time bad mouthing Big Entertainment but for this I will change my tune. I want to commend the major Studios for at least starting to get with the plan. Over the years people have been complaining about the reticience of Big Entertainment to release media onto the Internet. Not that it ultimately mattered since it found its way there anyways, thank you ripping software. Now six major studios want to devise a plan to make their movies available for download over the Internet.

As I read the article it mentioned that one online company will have 300 movies and another 75 but I don't think the amount is that important today, its that it's there for the downloading. Some are complaining about the price, but I think there will be fluctuation of that and a proper amount will be forthcoming. Read the article. It is a step in the right direction and hopefully we will see more of this sort of thing happening. So to the major studios, good on you for entering the 21st Century.

Of course, after this good news comes this article. Yes the major recording companies are complaining about the standard $0.99 price per download that Apple charges through the Apple iTunes music store. Here's what it comes down to:

Jobs has argued that recording companies already make more profit by selling a song through iTunes than on a CD, which carries extra marketing and manufacturing costs.

“So if they want to raise the prices, it just means they’re getting a little greedy,” Jobs said at the Apple Expo in Paris in September.

The push by labels reflects an industrywide scramble to reap the most from a business model that only three years ago seemed unlikely to survive amid overwhelming online piracy.

Before we forget why this all works is the fact that consumers aren't feeling ripped off by it. There is a feeling that the price asked for is a good one and no one is complaining. You know the music industry likes to throw around the word 'pirate' a great deal but at this time they forget it. Steve Jobs is right, they are making a good deal of money off iTunes and will continue as long as the consumers are kept happy. Make them angry again and hello the next Napster, or LimeWire or Kazaa. These stand ready in the wing, all that's required is consumers who feel they are getting ripped off and they won't pay the outrageous sums. It happened before and it will happen again.

Suggestion: keep it to a maximum of $0.99 a download and perhaps lower. Keep your customers happy and watch the money continue to roll in. Make them angry and watch the p2p networks explode again.

eMachines Desktops: T6532 Product Details

After five years with a Pentium 1.0Gig machine, we decided to get a new one. This is it.

Now for the story. The family has been complaining about the speed of the old machine and the fact it was freezing and crashing. So we went to Best Buy, although not for the reasons of buying a new machine. We looked around and saw some emachines. By the way BestBuy had one of those

24 months equal payment

option.

The first machine we looked at was the T6528. It had double the memory and double the hard drive space. It was a package and came with a flat screen monitor. We thought it was a good deal and agreed. Just as we got ready to make the purchase the sales representative looked and noticed they were all out, he said he could issue a rain cheque but then went to talk to his supervisor. He came back a few minutes later and ask if we would take a better machine for the same price.

After some deliberation we agreed and so we ended up with the T6532 which has 1 Gig of RAM, 200 Gig HD and is screaming fast. Now playing "Need for Speed" is really speed and I should imagine such things as Sims and Tiger Woods will be equally impressive.

The old machine has been retired and is down in the basement, we have some things to take off it and we will. We haven't decided what to do yet but we will. The girls are fighting over taking it to University, although I think it would be better for them to buy new machines for themselves.

By the way, the 9-in-1 card reader is a very interesting feature.

Later

Sudoku

Yes, I will admit it. I've become interested in Sudoku. One article I read suggests this is the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century. I was visiting someone and saw a small book of Sudoku and became interested. The local paper has been running sudoku puzzles every day, but I didn't take the time to read the rules. However, this person told me I could pick up a book for $0.99 at a local bargain store and so today I did.

Let me tell you, this is interesting and what's even more interesting is the availability of the game on the internet. One site offers daily sudoku puzzles for printing.

The rules are straightforward enough:

Fill in the grid so that every row,
every column, and every 3x3 box
contains the digits 1 through 9.

Of course that's where the fun comes in. Trying to figure out where the numbers go, not only in the small grid, but both horizontal and vertical.


There are all sorts of tips and strategy pages out there, so discover this fascinating game.

If you are at all concerned about the issue of child poverty in Canada I want to encourage you to get involved in the Hands Off! campaign that has been underway for some time. The basis of this campaign is the disgraceful practice of provinces, with the approval of the federal government, to clawback the child tax benefit from the cheques of people who receive social assistance. In other words, the provinces tax the families of people who receive CTB. For every dollar they get, a dollar is taken off their social assistance cheque.

To understand the logic behind such action is probably impossible because if you approach the issue logically you would say this is illogical and it is.

If you read the front page of the link you will find this line:

The money that is saved by clawing back the NCBS is used to fund "reinvestment programs" for low-income families, but not necessarily for families on social assistance.

If you believe that governments are doing just that please email me, because I own a bridge in New York City I am interested in selling.

The greatest 'reinvestment program' one can have to end child poverty is giving families money so they can buy food, shelter, clothes and school supplies for their children.

As you know in 1989 members of the House of Commons passed a resolution:

this house seeks to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty amoung Canadian children by the year 2000

. Well, we're six years past the deadline and its about time we tell politicians of all parties, of all levels that its about time they keep their word.

Peace

Diggnation Nation

Here I am showing off my Diggnation T Shirt. I got it for Christmas from Jeremy. As you can well imagine, it's one of my favourite tshirts right now.

The Browser: Nokia aims to kill iPods, camcorders - Mar. 22, 2006

The cellular phone industry has to be one of the more fascinating ones existing right now. After making it so that everyone has to have one, they've now diversified. Nokia, a phone maker made more cameras then any other company, with the fact it made 100 million camera phones.

Now they want to rule the mp3 player and camcorder market.

They will be able to flood the market with devises equpped with mp3 playing ability and video capture.

I'm sure they will do a good job of making phones equipped with that and hopefully they will be good phones. Howver to say they will end the market of both products is a stretch. From where I live you can still buy cameras and by that I mean stand alone cameras. They have not disappeared and likely there are not. People want to take pictures with good equipment. This is not to say camera phones are good, they are and certainly they are convenient but still people still want cameras. As well, why should a person 'pay' to take and save a photograph, which cellular companies are notorious in charging you for everything you do with a cell phone. Yes I know they have children who need food and shoes, but still.

Now consider mp3 players, right now there are a few but they all have tended to not warm the market. The reason may be this, too many restrictions. With an mp3 player you plug it into your computer and download your music. With cellular phones, you download on their network, what they want you to download and they charge you a rather generous sum. I suppose you can plug in your phone, after you purchase accessories at extra costs. So not too convenient.

I was going to say 'battery life', but I notice they are working on that.

Hey another thing, that 32Gig flash drive. Got to be nice.

So going back, will cell phones take over everything, probably not. The underlying reason, why pay through the nose for the convenience?

Geek Entertainment TV

I have to report about this website. I learned about it from a comment made at Kevin Rose's website. Geek Entertainment is a videoblog, or vid cast that covers all sorts of interesting topic. Read the "About GETV" on their page.

I'm thinking of buying one of those t-shirts.

Boing Boing: Marvel Comics: stealing our language

Just one more reason to go to the wall against MainStream Media is this article. So Marvel Comics and DC Comics want to trademark a word that has been in the 'public doman' for all these many years. Another example of somebody wanting to control and harass people who are trying to do something creative. As you read the article you will note the reason is to stop independent cartoonists from using the word to describe their work.

The problem is whenever someone seeks to confisgate and imprison an idea behind 'copyright' you make it difficult for people to use it to develop new ideas and cultures. Sure it's only one word, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Amazon.ca: Touring the Universe through Binoculars: A Complete Astronomer's Guidebook: Books

I just purchased a pair of binoculars, a Vivetar 7x50 if you please. I thought I'd use them for birdwatching and of course a little astronomy. Living in a small town does afford an environment where there isn't that much light pollution, although its still there.

I got the above book out of the local library and have spent some time star gazing. It's quite something to see some of the wonders of the universe.

V for Vendetta

I just got back from seeing the new Wachowski Brothers' movie "V for Vendetta". With the pedigree of actors making up the ensemble, as well as the producers, screenwriters and directors you would assume this could be a good movie. It is a good movie. It is a political action/thriller/fantasy movie that deals with a Great Britain of the future, a future where democracy doesn't exist and fascism is in full control, or so it thinks.

You have the ingredients, meglomaniac leader, a docile media more willing to instill fear into the populace then report the truth and things seem to be going well, or is it. Seems there this one figure and you've probably got the gist of it, dresses up as Guy Fawkes, the infamous 17th century terrorist, who desired to blow up the Parliament Buildings. As an aside, Guy Fawkes was actually attempting to destroy democracy rather then protesting any sort of oppression, although I suppose a Catholic in Protestant Britain might have some feelings the other way.

The question is however, is V a terrorists, a patriot or a hero? His aims which were the overthrow of a very oppressive regime are laudable but what was his motivation?

It is a fascinating movie; the political intrigue, the work of the police attempting to find this man, although they get sidetracked as they learn the truth about the story behind the story. However that is as much the story as the story line. The idea of the movie is the power of ideas. What can destroy the hold of a government based on fear, it is the people losing that fear. V makes the comment, "people should not fear their government, governments should fear their people", while it may be a bit strong, however, in this day and age in which fear is as much an instrument of control as arms, it is a good statement.


It is a like taking the red pill and learning just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Go see it.

Apple OS X update plugs 20 security holes - vnunet.com

I have to wonder if this is the shape of things to come for owners of Apple Computer. After all those years of hearing how bad Microsoft is and how many security flaws are in the average system, I wonder if the hackers are now turning their attention to the OS X system and to the Apple Computer.

For years people have been telling us how secure Apple is but I wonder if now it's simply a matter of not being really tested. I mean what hacker in their right mind would tamper with anything made by Steve Jobs. That plus the fact all those Apple fanatics would probably hunt down the hackers and shoot them.

But now, Apple is getting a mite big for its britches. You have these bogus announcements like what happened this past week. What was it, that Apple is making its own iPod stereo system. Wow, like no one has thought of that before. I have to agree with someone like John C. Dvorak becoming unimpressed with these 'announcements' from Apple. I promise, Steve Jobs could call a press conference bring all the Apple accolates together and belch into a microphone and he would get a standing ovation. Well perhaps not, most of the Apple fanatics would be lying prostrate before him worshipping his black t shirt and Levis 501 jeans.

Now, Apple is in the gunsites of the hackers, let see how many holes are exposed.

Wireless iPod would make sense: Qualcomm CEO - Yahoo! News

I was going to write a blog about my iPod Mini, something along the lines of "what I'm listening too" and then I came across this article.

The idea of a wireless iPod would be a great one, I can imagine a day when all I have to do is go online wirelessly and through a version of iTunes that fits my ipod I can download tunes and podcasts to my hearts content. Right now I have to plug the unit into my laptop, which is also how I charge it up as well.

With the number of retailers now selling iPods; Sears, Wal-Mart and the proliferation of home wireless networks, such as devise is just begging to be created.

Okay, and now for some of the songs I've recently downloaded onto my iPod:

1) The Proclaimer- I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
2) Johnny Clegg- Scatterlings of Africa
3) ABC -When Smokey Sings
4) Johnny Cash- Hurt
5) Garbage- I Think I'm Paranoid
6) Cheap Trick- I want you to want me
7) Garbage- Only Happy when it Rains
8) Christine Fellows Paper Anniversary (Album)
9) REO Speedwagon- Ridin' the Storm Out
10)We Are Scientists- Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt

By the way, during the Women's 3000M speedskate, did you notice Irene Wust, the Gold Medalists from the Netherlands was listening to her iPod Mini as she waited for the end of the event?

The End of An Era

When I went to my local Shopper's Drug to purchase a chocolate bar ( aMr. Big if you're keeping score). As I went to the candy section, I passed the magazine rack and there it was, the March issue of Wired Magazine. When I got home I pulled out the chocolate bar, got myself a cup of tea and sat down to read the issue. I noticed there was something wrong with it, it simply did not feel right. So I got up and found a previous issue of the magazine, and I was right, it was smaller. Considerably smaller. What was going on? I began to read, hoping for an explanation to this blasphemy and I found this comment: "The Magazine you are holding is a smudge smaller than previous issues-we took an inch off the side, to be exact. Our new shape conforms to industry standards, which means the magazine fits in more newstand racks and is less likely to get damaged in the mail. It also allows for more efficient production which helps us to keep costs down. Traditionalist, take heart: we are committed, as always, to provocative stories...", and so on and so forth.

Okay, I've been a reader of Wired since Issue 1.04. I've even had a subscription for a few years, until Rogers dropped it from its list of magazine subscriptions and I've seen a lot of changes, from the dropping of the reference of Marshall McLuhan as the mag's patron saint, to the end of putting emails with the names of letter writers. I also saw the ending of the 'Microwave O' the Month' feature, when they would write about what CD they put in the microwave that month, sort of a worst of column. Then again, with the state of music over the last number of years, they probably simply went through too many microwaves. I saw the magazine grow in size and heft during the dot.com bubble to shrink. I even saw the covers change, from the bright colours to todays covers of more pictures. I read excerpts of Microserfs by Douglas Coupland and immediately bought the book. I read about HAL and Mp3's as well as the movie Johnny Mnemonic. Wired was my information. It could be great, as in the article from August 2005, We Are the Web, or it could be mundane, as with the spate of cover stories on the latest Hollywood 'blockbuster'. Still through all this, there was the unique size of each issue. It was fun to hold and read, now they simply made it a regular sized magazine.

Well, I'll probably buy next month's issue, anyway.

EFF: DeepLinks

Here we go again, the RIAA is trying to take something totally legal, such as copying a CD you own, onto an iPod you own and making it illegal. Understand this, just because the RIAA says its illegal does not make it illegal. It is similar to the time when you would take an LP and copy it to a cassette tape and use it to play on the car stereo. You are simply making a copy for yourself. No where does it say that the copy is going to be used for file sharing or making illegal copies you will sell off an old bedsheet on some street corner.

I wonder if this is a bit of revenge against Steve Jobs for his refusal to allow the music industry to dictate the price of downloads over iTunes.

Ultimately this will be exposed as the sham it is and we will continue to take our CD's and burn them onto our iPods.

RIAA aims to ban CD ripping - vnunet.com

Two words: Fair Use.

It's the Middle of February
and I haven't posted anything to my blog yet. What happen to the edge and all that stuff. Nothing actually. I've been thinking about doing a blog about some of the things I've been listening to and watching. For example last week I rented the DVD of Doom the unrated, widescreen version. I paid three dollars for the privilege to rent it at the local computer and video store. To sum up the movie, three dollars is about the right price for renting this movie. I don't mean to say it was bad after all it featured The Rock as Sarge a tough as nails Marine Corps officer. How tough? He has Semper Fidelus tatooed on his back. Now that's tough. He is ordered to take a squad of Marines to a base on Mars and do three things, one, rescue all the surviving scientist, two contain whatever the cause of the problem and three, retrieve data. His squad lands on Mars and proceeds to the place of quarentine. They arrive with attitude and really big guns, so you know it's going to be a movie with a rather large body count. If you've played Doom you know the strategy, if it moves shoot it, or blow it up or cut it up with a chainsaw. The movie has the same premise and the attitude is very dark. It even has, near the end the first person feeling of the game, where you see through the eyes of the hero, who is not The Rock at this point and that is my only spoiler. You see the guns, the chainsaws, the plasma weapons and all that good stuff.

What can be said about the movie? It's a movie based upon a video game, what do expect Peter Jackson? It's a time waster. Something to watch while you eat popcorn. The special features are interesting, one is a documentary of the Doom phenomenum and it features Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb from X-Play and Kevin Pereira of "Attack of the Show". They give some interesting insight into the game, plus there is interviews with the people from Id Software.

Rent it. Sure why not.

What Stephen needs to Do

As I do love to give free advice to people, I want to give some suggestions to our Prime Minister designate, Stephen Harper. You can thank me later Stephen. Here we go.

1) Pass the Federal Accountability Act. This should be done immediately. Do it before the corruption that is Ottawa begins to infect you and the Party. If you get it passed and make it as ironclad as you say, you will change the face of Canadian politics. Imagine a day when the PM and the PMO don't call all the shots and appoint everybody. Clean up Ottawa, immediately.

2) Appoint Jim Flaherty as your finance minister. The guy is smart, he understands the role and responsibility of being a finance minister. He will straighten things up.

3) Cut the GST. You promised this and do it. Fail and you'll be the next Jean Chretien.

4) Ignore Toronto.

and last, but not least

5) appoint me to the Senate. I promise I will attend meetings. Honest.

A Eulogy

Brothers and Sisters will you stand for a moment of silence
(pause)
Thank you, you may be seated. I would like to call upon Brother Paul to say a few words on behalf of the deceased.

Thank you Pastor Paul

Brothers and Sisters, we are gathered here to pay our respects to the political memory of Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, a man who desired and dedicated his life to one goal and that was to be what his father, the late and loved Paul Martin Sr couldn't.

Brother Martin was born and raised in the little city of Windsor Ontario, a place he called home, unless he was in Quebec, where he would never admit to being raised in Ontario. But I digress, Mr. Martin revealed a great acumen for business, and following graduation from the University of Toronto, he entered the legal and business profession. One of his prides was that of the Liberian, no sorry, Bahamian, again, my apology the Canada Steamship Lines. But all his success in business did not take away from his desire to remove the shame of his family. His secret desire was to have a Martin become both the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister, a post his father attempted to attain thrice but never succeeded. To a family such as the Martin's this was a blot that had to be erased.

When the time came, Paul was able to win a seat in Montreal, which was the headquarters of the CSL. There he prepared for the day, the day he would be Prime Minister. Opportunity came in 1990 when a leadership convention was called to replace John Turner, a good man who proved to be totally inept as a leader. He challenged Jean Chretien for the position. The two men struggled against each other and used questionable tactics against each other. The result was a victory for Jean Chretien but the legacy was animosity bordering on hatred by both men for each other.

Still they worked together and in 1993, the Liberals, on the non-promise of scrapping the GST won the election and formed the government. However it was Jean Chretien who was the Prime Minister and Paul Martin felt the same sting of bitterness that had plagued his father.

For all the animosity, M. Chretien did recognize Mr. Martin's ability as a businessman, something he was not. He appointed Paul as Minister of Finance and allowed him the authority to tackle the economic problems of Canada. The task was daunting but Brother Paul took them on. He slashed the deficit and culled back the debt. He did by raising taxes and slashing federal transfer payments and gutting the Canadian Healthcare system. In other words, he attacked the deficit by cutting back on services that people depended on. He directed an army of the poor, the sick and the economically dependent

Brother Paul could you speed it up a bit.

Sorry Pastor Paul; needless to say his work won the plaudits and applause of business. He was considered one of the best Finance Ministers ever in Canada. he was so beloved that when a joke article appeared stating Mr. Martin had resigned, the markets sank. It was an April Fool's Day joke and the effect was a loss of value in the stock market.

Beneath all the applause was two things, hatred for Chretien and a lusting after the job of Prime Minister. Things came to a head in 2002 when M. Chretien fired Mr. Martin. The gloves were off and Mr. Martin became blatant in his desire for the job. Free of his cabinet responsibility, Mr. Martin toured the country drumming up support for his run at the top job and also gathering forces for a direct attack against M. Chretien. Chretien, perhaps seeing the handwriting on the wall, decided to retire as leader of the Liberal Party. A leadership convention was called, and as expected, Paul Martin won the job as leader of the Liberal Party.

It was then that tragedy struck the life of Paul Martin. His tragedy was not a death of a close loved one, or a debilitating disease, his was the greatest of all tragedies, he achieved his desire. All his life he wanted to be Prime Minister and finally it was his. He at last could remove the shame of his family and yet in that very fact, he added to the shame.

To say Martin was a bust as Prime Minister is to say the sun will rise in the east and that the atomic weight of cobalt is 58.9332 Amu. Within the space of 12 months, he went from the greatest finance minister to being referred to, by Clyde Sanger, the Ottawa correspondant of the Economist Magazine as Mr. Dither. His first challenge was to face the electorate. Af first it looked like a cake walk, but then people quickly cooled to the vision of Mr. Martin and quickly a sure win was turning into a sure loss. It was only after Mr. Martin reminded the people of Ontario that his opponent Stephen Harper was an Albertan and therefore evil did he manage to pull off a minority win. For the next 18 months, Prime Minister Martin danced and ducked and tried to stave off the inevitable. Also at the same time, the Gomery Report was released pointing out the corruption of the Liberal Party of Canada. The Liberal government, the report found had diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from federal coffers into the hands of Liberal friendly advertising firms, who would turn around and donate the money to the Liberal Party of Canada. The news shocked and angered Canadians, and Paul Martin, was left to explain it all. His defense was that as Finance Minister, the man whose job was to protect the public purse didn't have a clue what was going on. Needless to say this defence impressed no one. It did however energize the opposition and eventually the three parties gathered together and brought down the government.

It must be said here the election campaign of Paul Martin will be studied and discussed for years. People will write and declare the Liberal campaign of 2005-06 to be the most incompetent campaign of all time. It will go down in history as the Keystone Kops of campaigns. In fact the Martin campaign will probably be the new buzz phrase for unadulterated incompetence. To pull a Martin may be a phrase that will describe such complete ineptitude in future days. From making policy almost on the run without thinking, to RCMP investigations to managing to insult practically everyone in Canada, Martin's re-election seemed doomed. It was, on January 23rd the electorate spoke, and the Liberals were defeated. The fact that it is a minority Conservative government speaks more for the stupidity of the people of Toronto than anything Mr. Martin could have done.

The story ends that night, in front of the television cameras, Prime Minister Martin did the only honourable thing, he resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. This act saved the party from putting on an almost daily public performance of the assassination scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, with Paul Martin playing the title role.

With that we say farewell to the late, the lamented and the loutish Paul Martin.

Amen.

For this Saturday

I'm wearing my "We will Rise Again" t-shirt, so what better way to start the day then with singing...



The Ballad of Joss

Joss, the man they call Joss . . .

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

Our Joss saw the viewers’ hearts breakin’,
He heard the Browncoats’ lament,
He saw the Fox network takin’,
His show in a way that made no sense.
(He said) “You can’t do that to my program,
Can’t grind it under your heel.”
So he took all the cast,
And now at last,
They’ve landed a Big Damn Movie deal!

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

Now here is what separates Whedon,
From writers who slave in the core,
The man they call Joss,
Well, he said to Fox,
“I’m going where no show has gone before.”
He told us about reavers,
He told us about sin,
He took us to the black,
And we ain’t comin’ back,
‘till all those crazy Browncoats rise again!

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

Now, here is what separates Firefly
From other shows you’re likely to see—
It’s meaningful and witty,
And the setting’s really gritty,
And the theme song is about Serenity.
It’s a little like a western,
And a little like X-Files,
It’s better than Trek,
And funnier than Shrek,
And it beats out Andromeda by miles!

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

--James Hazlerig
fithelere@aol.com
www.BedlamBards.com

Straight Goods - Minority preferred - Conservatives' rise in popularity has been driven by Canada's elite, not majority.

I've got a whole lot to say about the election, but that's for an upcoming blog. What you think I wouldn't have any comments about the election???? Come on, I'm a political science major, elections are like my Super Bowl.

Let me say, I enjoy reading Linda McQuaig, I've got a few of her books and usually I find her comments insightful. However, this one I believe is totally out of whack. I am afraid her progressive left leaning conspiracy theories are coming to the fore on this one. Notice her comment it's not the people that voted the Conservatives in, it's the elite that did the dirty job on the Liberals. Notice as well, what sort of people support the Conservatives; " Graves says Harper's sudden rise in the polls reflects his increased support among only a few groups — primarily among affluent, older, predominantly male Canadians". Yes, it's those darn white males that are bringing them Conservatives into power.

What I find so interesting is there is no comment at all about the general disgust people had for the extremes of the Chretien-Martin era; the out of control gun registry, the HRDC boondoogle, the AdScam. None of those events even cast a shadow on those wonderful progressive Liberals, none of those are worthy of bringing down the government and causing the Conservatives to win, its those honkeys that are responsible. In fact have you noticed individuals such as Linda are quite silent over the issue of the scandals of the Liberal party; she was quick to write a book about the alledged scandals of the Mulroney Conservatives, which ultimately proved false, but the Liberal scandals no one seems to want to bring them up.

If someone is suffering from a blind spot, it's unfortunately people like Linda McQuaig. She can't see past her ideology and when people are reticient to follow it, well, it must be those darn rich right guys.

Yes I understand the inability for the Conservatives to win in the major cities. That is cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal; the only ones that count. I examined the top ten cities of Canada and these are cities that have populations over 400,000; Conservatives have representatives in five of them. Those cities are Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Quebec City. I would say that each of those cities are relatively important, most being provincial capitals and one the nation's capital. Then again, I am afraid the popular elite seems to see itself only in the Toronto axis and only when the rest agree with it, are they included in the axis of evil.

In a way, it is sort of sad. I hope Linda enjoys the next two years andn more fulminating about how the country is being ruled by rich white older guys and urban Canadians, and minorities and rural people and francophones....

Peace and out.

Here is my
Election Day Rock n' Roll Fantasy

1) Conservatives garner about 165-170 seats. This is a majority government and a workable majority, none of these 180-210 range majorities that prove to be a disaster. Also it's enough but not large, to keep the party aware that they can't be arrogant about it.

2) NDP as Official Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is two-fold, the first is to criticize the government and show what problems may exist in any piece of legislature and the second is to act as an alternative to the government, a government in waiting if you please. Both the Conservatives and NDP are parties of ideology and policy, there might be some very interesting debate over various issues. As well, there will be a clear difference, rather then one of character. Plus chances are the NDP will be acting as the Official Opposition anyway, see the next two points.

3) the Liberals are going to be busy putting on performances of the assassination scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for the next little while, with P. Martin starring in the title role. They will be tremendously busy sharpening knives. While it will be wildly entertaining, won't provide much policy. Make 'em the third party, that way there won't be that much blood to mop up.

4) the Bloc, reduce them to the Rump. As I mentioned in the point of the NDP, the role of the Opposition is to provide alternatives to the government, hard to do that when you really don't care about the other 9 provinces and 3 territories. Gilles, you a cool guy, but life is passing you by, 4th place for you.

5) Get some Greens in the House. Will make it fun.


Just a couple of thoughts.


Remember to Vote

Study suggests ridding law banning polygamy

It's

Conspiracy Theory Time

Last Monday as you know, PM Paul Martin decided to announce his parties desire to remove the "Notwithstanding" Clause out of the Constitution. Now, enough have been written as to why that's a bad idea so I'm not going to discuss this. What is interesting is a policy paper that was released only a couple days later suggesting that Canada should removed the legal restrictions to polygamy. In other words, make it legal to have more then one spouse.

Let's consider a few things shall we; if politicians thought same-sex marriage was a hot issue imagine if Canada became the first jurisdiction in the Western World to allow for bigamy and polygamy? If there was a court challenge, and while this writer thinks no court would declare that section of the Criminal Code unconstitutional, let's just say that I wouldn't put it past the idiots who make up the Supreme Court of Canada to just that sort of thing.

So, in a case like this, the notwithstanding clause would ensure that marriage be limited to only two people at any one time.

So where does the conspiracy come to play? Consider this, in 1982, the year the constitution was repatriated, the Minister of Justice who also had responsibility for constitutional negotiation was none other then Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien. As the Minister of Justice and the fellow who signed it, he obviously had no problem with the 'Notwithstanding' clause. Even Pierre Trudeau thought the clause was important. So who would be the angriest about this who nonsense, but the man who brought it into being.

He no doubt has a large number of friends who work in the ministry and perhaps a few IOU's were called in.

No doubt they had discussed this, but the timing is suspect. Just one more way to discredit Paul Martin.

I would if he will qualify for EI?


Remember to vote on January 23rd.

Now this is Interesting

I came across this news item:

Martin would use notwithstanding clause to protect churches from gay marriage
18 December 2003
OTTAWA (CP) _ Prime Minister Paul Martin says he would use the notwithstanding clause in the unlikely event that the Supreme Court ruled churches must perform gay weddings.

Under the hypothetical scenario, Martin would be the first prime minister to use the Constitution's controversial veto clause.

``Oh, yes I would,'' Martin replied Thursday when asked during a yearend interview with CBC Radio whether he would ever use the clause.

But he emphasized that he would use it only under an extremely limited set of circumstances.

``I would look at it if it was a question of affirming a (religious) right,'' he said.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule next year on the federal government's controversial same-sex marriage legislation. The bill would allow gays to marry in civil ceremonies and in religious institutions that permit it, but would not force churches to carry out such ceremonies.

A devout Roman Catholic, Martin has repeatedly said he supports the legislation but doesn't want all religious institutions to be bound to it.

Martin has said before that he wouldn't use the notwithstanding clause to block gay marriage, as some critics have urged.



So at one time Paul had no problem invoking the Notwithstanding clause. Now he wants to get rid of it.

By the way the Liberals have this article on their website. Please notice the date, 2003, the same year that Paul also stated he would use the notwithstanding clause. Why do I think that little piece of information won't make it onto the Liberal website.

Martin targets Harper in election debate

Paul's big new promise last night was to amend the Constitution to remove the "Notwithstanding" clause.

Now if you heard that you may be asking yourself, 'self' what does it take to amend the Canadian constitution?

Here is what the Wikipedia writes about amending the Canadian Constitution: "With the Constitution Act, 1982, amendments to the constitution must be done in accordance with Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 which provides for five different amending formulas. Amendments can be brought forward under section 46(1) by any province or either level of the federal government. The general formula is set out in section 38(1), known as the "7/50 formula", requires: (a) assent from both the House of Commons and the Senate; (b) the approval of two-thirds of the provincial legislatures (at least seven provinces), representing at least 50% of the population (effectively, this would include at least Quebec or Ontario, as they are the most populous provinces). This formula specifically applies to amendments related to the proportionate representation in Parliament, powers, selection, and composition of the Senate, the Supreme Court, the addition of provinces or territories. The other amendment formulas are for exceptional cases as provided by in the Act:

* In the case of an amendment related to the Office of the Queen, the number of senators, the use of either official language (subject to section 43), or the composition of the Supreme Court, the amendment must be adopted by unanimous consent of all the provinces in accordance with section 41.
* However, in the case of an amendment related to provincial boundaries or the use of an official language within a province alone, the amendment must be passed by the legislatures affected by the amendment (section 43).
* In the case of an amendment that affects the federal government alone, the amendment does not need approval of the provinces (section 44). The same applies to amendments affecting the provincial government alone (section 45).
". In other words, it isn't happening, especially if no one is interesting in doing this. That quote is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_constitution#Amending_formula.

Why would Paul do this? Because he is desperate that's why. Nothing else has worked for him, so he chooses this issue that no one is interested in, in the hope no one will try to learn what it will take to amend a constitution. The 'notwithstanding' clause is there for a few reason, one is to correct an inbalance caused by a court decision. While it has not been used federally, it stands there poised to protect Canadians from a brain dead Supreme Court.

Nice try Paul. I hope you enjoy your retirement.

TheStar.com - Thugs know they won't be severely punished, says Rondi Adamson

It's the main point of all discussion, if criminals believe they can get away with it, they will. The justice system in Canada is a joke and everybody knows it. We live in a nation where child pornography means staying in your home for about a year watching television.

We live in a nation where embezzlement of government funds means a suspended sentence and being forced to give lectures in universities on the subject of "why you should not steal".

Rondi Anderson gives the right answer for dealing with gun crime: Rather than banning handguns, assuming that were possible, or wasting money on a gun registry (how many of the Boxing Day offenders do you suppose would co-operate with that?), how about a mandatory minimum prison term for gun crimes?.

Let's say that if you commit a crime with a gun you have a n automatic sentence of five years, and this is before the sentence on the particular crime. Let's also say that age is not a problem, if you commit a weapons related offence as a young offender you get five years, with absolutely no parole. Would this help, well, it certainly can't hurt.

The Globe and Mail: Liberal resigns over vulgar blog

Count this as another example of what

The Liberal Party Thinks of You

Okay the last time it was the fact that the Liberal intelligensia think you're incapable of being a good parent. Now we find find another high ranking Liberal decides its okay to use ethnic slurs against candidates of other parties. Yes by now we've all heard how Mike Klander has described Olivia Chow to a chow-chow. Or how Rahim Jaffer is an ethnic. Oh but Liberals will say, Mike is a great guy, he worked on Paul Martin's campaign team. He's a respected leader. I mean he supports diversity. In fact this is what one person said: Mike has been a long-time Liberal and holds the Liberal values of diversity and tolerance and inclusiveness so [making racial remarks] certainly wasn't his intention. His intention was to have a humorous site with some biting humour that he and some fellow Liberals could [read]. He recognized there's a couple of things that crossed the line.

No, let me tell you about the real Mike, he is a racist. He has to be, one doesn't wake up one morning and make racist remarks. Deep down inside him it's obvious he has problems with people of other races and groups running for office.

Another thing, he called people who wear cowboy hats, 'gay'. Oh wow, what a slam. Like you hear that word used as an insult in a lot of SCHOOLYARDS. In other words, besides being racist and homophobic, he's also immature.

Yes a fine outstanding Liberal.

The Globe and Mail: Martin aide apologizes for child-care comment

What the Liberals think about you

Every so often the Liberals will tell you what they think about you, the average Canadian. You'll not read about it in their campaign literature, or their rather dumb television ads, because that's too controlled, but every so often, someone like Scott Reid comes along and shares with you what they, the Liberals, think about us.

The incident in question was a debate on televison, Mr. Reid was criticizing the Conservative plan of giving families $1200 per year for each child under six, rather then developing a national day care program. The Conservatives want flexibility and want to give people the choice. But I digress, what is so fascinating is his comment about the Conservative plan. He said Working families need care," he said. "They need care that is regulated, safe and secure and that's what we're building here. Don't give people $25 a week to blow on beer and popcorn. Give them child-care spaces that work.

In other words, the average Canadian is an idiot and if given a few extra dollars would blow it on a case of 2-4 or microwave popcorn. Notice he didn't say, give families extra money ahd they'll blow it on food, clothing and shoes for their children. Nor did he say, if the children are infants, they'll blow it on formula, diapers or food. No, because in his mindset, the average Canadian can't be trusted to do the right thing. That's why the Liberal party is here, to control us. You see, they leave us just enough money to buy the basics and trust me, if they could get away with it, they'd tax us at 100& and give us all food stamps and coupons to purchase the goods we need.

Now someone might think this is just an isolated statement from somebody speaking before their brain started working, then you get Mr. John Duffy, another high ranking Liberal, who said that he agreed with the statement wholeheartedly. Again, this is the thinking of the Liberals, you are a simpleton. You can't be trusted, it is up to the Liberals to make sure we don't do anything dumb.

There's another thing about this, it's our money. You see governments do not make money, they take money. The return some of it back, but most of the time it stays with them.

Remember this is the same party that had no trouble giving millions to Liberal friendly ad agencies in Quebec. Money that was later siphoned off to the Liberal Party in Quebec by the way. They had no problem with that idea, but giving hard working Canadian parents $1200 a year is a problem.

Let me make a suggestion, let's set aside a special day to bring to the local Liberal campaign office, a bag of microwave popcorn.

Peace

The Issue that dare not Speak its Name

I'm talking about AdScam. The Gomery Inquiry revealed widespread corruption within the Liberal Party of Canada, yet the National Media, or MSM seems silent. Yes you have a few articles here and there, but no one seems to be pressing the issue at all.

I remember writing quite a while ago that if that happened in the States, the Press would have been all over it, in fact journalists would be fighting to break the news. This is because they would know whoever takes credit better rent a tuxedo because the Pulitzer is all but theirs.

As an aside, visit the Gomery Inquiry webpage and go to the section labelled Who is Responsible? Summary it makes for some incredible reading. In fact, make sure your local Liberal candidate sees it too. Why not drop a copy off at their campaign office. Plaster the sign posts nearby with it. If your liberal candidate is an incumbent, when they knock on your door ask them only two questions:

What Did you Know about AdScan?
and
When did you know it?

Peace

Christmas Elf Name

This is a bit of fun

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

CBC News: Martin takes aim at handguns

Why do I think this will not work. Sadly this is the typical knee-jerk reaction to a problem that is vaster then rap music. Paul wants to ban handguns in Canada. Yes an outright ban on them.

Now wait a minute, I thought the billion dollar boondoggle called the Gun Registry was supposed to deal with the problem of guns and crime.n Well it did in a way, it threatened to make law abiding citizens criminals if they didn't registered their guns by a certain date. I guess this means the program failed. In fact I think the problem with guns in Canada is most of the guns being used in crime aren't registered.

So why won't the ban not work, simple, criminals don't really care about the law. That's why they are criminals, they tend to break the law. Why Paul thinks the gun play will end because he has said so is beyond me.

Of course this is one of those motherhood issues, if you stand up and say this is idiotic, then you come across as being soft on crime, yadda yadda yadda.

What is needed is one of two things, perhaps even three. One, mandatory jail time for anyone who uses a weapon to commit a crime. Use a handgun, tack on a minimum ten years, no parole, no time out for good behavior. Straight ten years. Second, get a greater police presence in areas of high crime. Of course the problem with this is when you have a soft headed mayor like they have in Toronto who doesn't like the police. The third thing is give people more opportunity to better themselves through education and job training. Let's be honest a person holding down a good job is not likely to commit a crime. I realize this doesn't apply all the time but still.

Notice, nowhere did I say anything about banning guns, rap or Fifty Cents.

By the way, one more thing about Buzz's strategy, it will backfire. People will vote Liberal instead of NDP and that might mean a strong Liberal presence with an almost non-existent NDP. Hope you like that cushy federal appointment Buzz. Oh by the way, ever read Dante's Inferno, there's a special place called Coctyus, it's the place reserved for traitors.

Election 2006

I have to admit this was a shocker at first, after all the President of the CAW endorsing the Liberals. What would be the possible motivation for such a thing. Of course Buzz Hargrove's answer would be along the lines of a Liberal minority government backed by the NDP will ensure a socially sensitive government. It will be the case of the tail wagging the dog, in other words the NDP will be to extort all sorts of policy that would not normally wouldld be there.

Then I realized the awful truth, Buzz Hargrove is interested in only one thing and that is Buzz Hargrove. Why would Buzz support a party that has no interest in any socially enlightened policy, three words Cushy Government Appointment. I'm sure there's some federal agency that Buzz could become the president of. Perhaps some agency that has to do with workers' rights or something. Buzz is getting old and looking for some well paying job with a great pension.

Would Buzz sell out his party for selfish interests?

In a New York Minute.

Peace

Sympatico / MSN Entertainment : Celebs : Gossip : Paris goes pop

Consider with me the failed strategies of the RIAA.

1) Get court injunctions against P2P companies-all this did was foster the development of other less centralized P2P software.

2) Sue everybody who has a computer- slowed down file sharing for a bit, but it's back.

3) install rootkits on CD's- ended up getting everyone mad at Sony. By the way, Sony is now on the receiving end of lawsuits.

All those have failed but now the Recording Industry has produced a plan which will guarantee the end of file sharing- allow no talent gorms to launch music careers. Paris Hilton wants to be a pop star, what wasn't Ashley Simpson painful enough?

Now some may say that I'm being a bit unfair, how do I know Paris Hilton is talentless? Ask yourself this question, has she exhibited any talent with the exception of getting her name into the press?

Oh and a message for Pete Waterman, you're considered a genius, the mark of real genius is to know when to turn down a project that will forever scar your reputation.

Peace

Free Office Suite

Thought I would take a few minutes to talk about my new favourite office suite. As you can see by the title, I've included the word "free".

No, I'm not talking about downloading some illegal copy of Microsoft Office, rather I'm talking about Open Office 2.0. It's available at this website. It features all you want in a suite, a word processor, spreadsheet, database and a presentation program. I've been using it and truly enjoying it. There was a bit of a learning curve just finding the features I require that I was familiar with, once that happened I'm off and running.

I highly recommend this latest manifeatation. Also, because it's open source we can all play a part in its enhancement and improvement.

Support Open Source Software.

Peace

I got this book out of the library and spent the last week reading it. I wasn't sure about it, considering it was written at the end of the 20th century. The premise of the book is that the children of the Baby Boom are the ones ready to take over the Internet. They are so used to it and so comfortable with it that they put their elders to shame. It is a very positive book which is in contrast with much of what the mainstream media still produces about the Internet. The MSM reports that, you can find the formula for Crystal Meth, or there are nothing but predators using the 'Net and all that stuff. The author, Don Tapscott based his book on observation and conversation with members of Generation-N. He has a webpage based upon his book, it's called Growing Up Digital. One point he makes is that this generation is growing up away from Television, in fact he has one part of the book that refers to the Net as being the antithesis of television. Television is states is passive, you sit there and watch absorbing what ever message that is comihng across.

Now we have the Net and what impressed me was his comment on the interactivity of the Internet, which is active. Certainly many thought the Net would be just television on computer, again one way with very little interaction. He says it's the opposite and all this was written before Blogs and before IM really took off.

He mentions the difference in politics between the two, my generation produced the 20 second sound bites and commercials that do not discuss or articulate opinions but rather simple demonize the other side. Certainly with an election coming in Canada, we will see this, Paul Martin will declare Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have a hidden agenda or they are Anti-Canadian, you know the usual stuff. Generation Net on the other hand believes in interaction, they want answers and not fluff.

If this is true, then this may be a very interesting election. I wrote last time an open letter to Bono telling him how things operate in Canada, visualize an election where Paul faces thousands of very angry U2 fans, who believe the same things Bono does, who believes we need to do more for Africa for example.

I wonder, speaking of the election, if this will be the election in Canada where blogs come to their own, like the 2004 election in the States?

My one 17 year old daughter is very disappointed about the election, she turns 18 two days after the election, she so wanted to vote. She is going to vote Green.

By the way, I'm listening to the the Mighty Q, Bill Waters states if the Liberals are returned to power, he will never vote again. I have to agree. Listen if you think that all politicians are crooks so why bother, then you are letting those who are corrupt win.

More about the election later.

Peace

ottawasun.com - Ottawa and Region - He still hasn't found what he's looking for

Dear Bono

Welcome to the cold harsh reality of Canadian politics. I hate to say this my friend, but you were used by Paul Martin.

You see Bono, Mr. Martin cares not a whit for Africa or the needs of that continent. Yes he will say he is concerned, especially if there's an election coming and he needs a famous celebrity for a photo op ( which is a photo opportunity-just in case you didn't know), but otherwise, Africa means nothing to him and his government.

While the name is Liberal, the policy of the government is more monetarist and isolationists. This is a government that would rather squander millions on their friends use government funds on concrete social policy.

I must point out to you that the current and past Liberal governments have a litany of broken promises and while you are 'mystified' by the failure of Paul Martin to come across with more aid, here in Canada, it's just one more broken Liberal promise. Something we have sadly become very accustomed too.

One word of advice, the next time Paul Martin calls you, tell him your very busy.

By the way, the concert you and the band put on in Detroit was incredible.

Your fan

Paul

Aerial by Kate Bush

As you may have heard, Kate Bush has ended her 12 year hiatus with the release of the new CD, Aerial. It is an amazing CD, it has all the uniqueness and warmth one remembers from Kate Bush. It at times, seems a combination of Kate and one of those "Nature Solitude" CD's, equal parts relaxation and nature sounds. However it is better, since it has some incredible lyrics and her voice will simply mesmerize you.

Go ahead, get it. I've already put it on my iPod.

EMI Says Apple's Jobs Will Change ITunes Pricing - Forbes.com

So the President of EMI says Steve Jobs wants to go along with the scheme of introducing multi-tier pricing in the iTunes Music store. This after Mr. Jobs called the Music Industry "greedy". In fact he said that in response to comments made by the Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. He said the industry is being greedy for wanting to introduce the multi-level of costs.

The idea is this, the new stuff, the popular stuff will cost more. The older stuff or the music that really bad will be at the $0.99 level.

You have to wonder if the Music Industry is still familiar with the concept of peer to peer sharing of files? I guess they believe because Kazaa got busted in Australia and Grokster was killed by the US Supreme Court they are back as the 'only game in town'. Well let's not tell them about Bit Torrent shall we?

What makes this interesting is Sony BMG is also backing the effort, what the debacle of the rootkit wasn't enough?? Let's be honest whne the release of CD's shows another decrease, the industry should point to the heavy handed and illegal efforts of the industry to screw with our computers.

Steve Jobs understands computers and the people who use them, he knows that if the users feel they are getting screwed again, they will simply go back to all the methods out there to get music and will tell the industry to get stuffed all over again.

Steve said: ""If they want to raise the prices, it means that they are getting greedy," . "If the price goes up, they (consumers) will go back to piracy and everybody loses."" . I will say it again, the consumer will not lose, they will go back to free.


Peace

DRM this, Sony! - CNET.com

BOYCOTT SONY!!!

Sony Boycott Blog

Boycott Sony

Boycott Sony Petition

BetaNews | Lawsuit Fights Back Against Sony DRM

So one lawsuit has been initiated by Sony by the State of California and soon another one by the State of New York, and when consumers
get into the act it could mean a whole lot of litigatory acts leveled at Sony-BMG Music.

You know, it's funny but Sony, as part of the RIAA has been suing people right left and centre and now, chickens have come home to roost.

Removing Sony's CD 'rootkit' kills Windows | The Register

So not only does the nasty program found on some Sony-BMG Music CD's leave your computer open to all sort of security issues and potential attack from hackers there is also this.

Getting rid of it may cause your computer to not work properly, causing a person to format and re-install windows.

Can anyone say "Lawsuit"???

Editorial: Let Us Pay

I took the time to read this editorial from All the World magazine. It is about international ministry and missions. What got my attention is the editorial dealing with debt relief aid and the Christian response.

It is still an important issue, the third and fourth world is still paying more money in debt payment then in the development of a superstructure or to meet the social needs of the nations. Often as well, as part of debt payments, governments are forced to privatize social services to pay off the debt. For example, in Nicaragua, the government has been forced to privatize parts of its water services. It is done because the IMF and development banks want it done. You can read about it here.

As you can believe, the companies that are established are often part of large multi-national corporations and so the money flows from the poorest to the wealthiest.

All that leaves is further impoverishment.

End the Debt.

One.org
Make Poverty History
debt, AIDS ,Trade, Africa

Annuaire Mondial de la Partition Gratuite - World Wide Directory of Free Sheet Music

If I can add one more comment for tonight: this is a very interesting site. It is as it is, free sheet music, in .pdf file format.

New Scientist SPACE - Breaking News - The World's Best Space Sci-Fi Ever: Your verdict

Another interesting poll of sci-fi fans. This one has books, television and movies as the groups to consider.

What is interesting is the position of "Firefly" and "Serenity". While they are both great in fact I agree with putting "Serenity ahead of the last three Star Wars movies, I don't know if it should have first place over all. To me that honour should go to 2001: A Space Odessy. I would have also placed "Blade Runner" in the top 10, perhaps even the top 5. Also I would have included the first Matrix movie, which was simply astonishing and was far better received then the first Star Wars movie.

What about television? Firefly may be the best sci-fi series, if you consider the fact that it is such a refreshing change. Some more additions, the original "Outer Limits" and "The Twilight Zone" to add a few. Good to see Dr. Who in the top 5.

Now books, good choice overall. Can't argue with this placement.

Last night my daughter and I attended BookFest Windsor a three day event at the Art Gallery of Windsor. It's a relatively new event, this being it's fourth year of existence. I must admit it was quite an event, we attended the The Story Teller's Bash that featured four authors discussing their experience, answering questions and reading from some of their writings. The authors were Caroline Adderson, Austin Clarke, Russell Smith and Leon Rooke.

All shared their stories of growing up in either households were reading and books were an important part to the horrors of touring across Canada. The horrors were the funniest often sharing the theme of showing up at a place and either having no one come fot the reading, or hearing voices from the recently departed ( you had to have been there). The 'failures' sometimes were followed by going to the local Legion and getting nicely plastered.

It was the readings that were a great part of the entertainment and they were entertaining. Each gave their unique voice to some super stories. But certainly the highlight was Leon Rooke reading a chaper and putting all his emphasis into the action of some one chasing a bus. He had the place roaring with laughter and applauding his effort.

Russell Smith mentioned that the men of Windsor must be cool since the audience that night had a strong contingent of men, which was far from the norm. Not having attended one of these before, I cannot vouch, but with his experience, it's probably true.

What makes this interesting is that it is Windsor demonstrating quite a vibrant literary culture. Certainly the image often portrayed of Windsor is that of a dull industrial city that is now inundated with bars, a Casino and all the vices that follow. Yet it is developing a community of culture that is quite impressive, especially when you consider that the city is often not on the cultural map of Canada.

To demonstrating the developing culture, there's also a

film festival. The Windsor International Film Festival is providing the showing of a number of interesting movies at some of the cinema milieus in the city and the county.

Quite impressive events for a place known more for minivans then the arts.

I wanted to encourage all who read this blog to make sure you buy a poppy from a member of the Royal Canadian Legion this week. I'm on the second one. So when you see them standing outside banks, or if you see the cardboard container, toss a loonie or whatever loose change in your pocket and wear it as your way of saying thanks.

As I thought about the reasons for the sacrifice, I recall these men went off to fight against an evil, a darkness and a tyranny that would have instituted a new dark age, if I man quote Winston Churchill. Then I realized there is still darkness in corners of our world today.

Freedom is still not enjoyed and I point you in direction of 'Abd al-Raziq al-Mansuri who is in jail for writing critical things about the Libyan government on his blog. While the government claims he was arrested for possessing firearms, it is likely he was arrested for his comments on his blog.

Remember him and others who are still fighting for freedom.

Chretien's Legacy

With the Gomery report now out, at least the preliminary one, it's time to consider what the legacy of M. Jean Chretien will be. I understand he put on quite a performance when he let off a verbal assault against the findings. But consider with me some of the highlights of his time as PM.

1) His office came under suspicion for violating the civil rights of a number of students at UBC. Seems demonstrators were arrested, pepper sprayed and generally harrassed because the government didn't want the then President of Indonesia, Suharto offended by seeing signs calling him a butcher.

2) While he was walking around the country doing his best Afred E. Neumann imitation, people like Jean Charet were trying to keep Quebec in confederation. When Chretien finally realized he needed to do something, the vote came in and the separatist lost by 51000. Later Chretien had the good idea of using federal funds to enhance the federal government's role in Quebec, as well as 'brand' Canada. So money was poured in and the results was AdScam. The allegation is money was siphoned from this fund and given to the Liberal Party of Canada. Read the highlights as given by the Winnipeg Free Press.

3) He cancelled the helicopter replacement project, thus forcing members of the Canadian Armed Forces to deal with aging and ancient equipment.

4) Kashechewan is now a household word synonymous with all that is wrong with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. This community has been under a boiled water alert for two years and probably more. Chretien was at one time Minister of Indian Affairs and in fact felt one of his great legacies with the new Indian Act and making life better for the First Nations, pity Kashechewan wasn't included. By the way,this is only one of many reserves that have this problem.

5) GST, you still paying it?

6) Voter cynicism. He elevated cynical politics to a fine art, calling elections when none were required.

7) With all that has happened in Quebec, the end result of the sponsorship program has been a resurgence in the Separatist movement in Quebec. It should have died of natural causes but now it has new life.

8) Canada-US relations at historic lows.

9) Used submarines. They still aren't working and one death is attributed to the fact that the UK unloaded junk on us.

Need I say more?

I have just completed the book Darknet: Hollywood's War against the Digital Generation. It is a study how Hollywood and by this the author means the entertainment/culture industry that controls a lot of what we hear, read, listen and watch. It encompasses both music and movies. He examines how Hollywood has reacted to the digital culture that is now the reality of our age.

With the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and almost yearly changes to copyright, the vast majority of people in the US and Canada can now be considered criminals. If you download, sample or watch anything over any P2P network or Bit Torrent, you are now a criminal. In a recent TWITS broadcast (#27), John D. Dvorak mentioned that all this copyright is part of the sovietization of American culture, by that he meant the laws are so draconian it makes anyone a criminal. Therefore the state had the right at any time to arrest anyone, since they were probably criminals anyway. This explains the RIAA's action of lawsuit. They figure since most people are doing it anyway, no matter who they snare, they are guilty of priacy.

what is amazing is how black and white Big Entertain is towards the digital culture, they believe it is the tool of present and future piracy and are bent on using everything in their power to stop it. Even if it means crippling present technology and kneecapping future technology.

The title "Darknet" refers to the underground of the Internet where copying takes place and is the ulitmate source of all things culture. They operate because they can and Hollywood is unable to stop it.

The author describes some of the people who are using the digital culture to enhance their work and life and for the most part what they are doing is considered illegal. Not that these people are going out of their way to do illegal acts, it's just the law makes them that. Normally law abiding citizens are criminals by the definition of groups such as the RIAA and the MPAA. Their spokesmen refuse to concede anything but call all such individuals as pirates.

The author, J.D. Lasica has a website with up to date information on the struggle between creativity and copyright.

One of the optimist chapters is the one I almost missed, he talked about games and how modders have been an asset to the industry. By pushing the envelope of their hardware, gamers have been able to do interesting things, plus the modding of the games and software has led to some fascinating results.

While one review commented on the fact the book is one of many, its worth reading to get you involved in saving your digital rights.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ipods

So I came across this article and website that simply disgusted me. What it featured was a video clip of this person from Toronto (figures) who decided to purchase an Apple iPod. Now understand he didn't have the resources to do it, rather he requested donations for this project. When he gathered enough people, and it was going to cost him $400.00 he proceeded to the nearest Apple store to make the purchase. He bought a 20gig iPod. Upon purchasing the said item, he took it out of the box, in the store, and began to stomp it with his foot. Needless to say the devised was smashed into pieces. Later the video shows him leaving and then taking a hammer to the devise to wreck it even further.

I know some people are going to hate the iPod because of all the hype but really, to smash one into pieces. This is ridiculous. Then again I don't know if it is even more ridiculous that people donated money for him to do just this.

I am not including the website for obvious reasons. This sort of person simply is annoying and after he enjoys his 15 minutes of webfame, should return to his job in the fast food industry.

U2 in Detroit

This past Tuesday I was able to enjoy my birthday present from one of my daughters, two tickets to see U2 in Detroit. It was first time to see the band live and let me say they did not disappoint. I can think of three words that can describe the concert A Maze Ing. I've heard they put on a good show, and they did. It was great, a mixture of both their classic hits, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, Where the Streets have no name and Pride to name a few. Of course this being the Vertigo tour, there were a number of songs from their new CD How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. As well, they played Beautiful Day and Miss Sarajevo which is a very moving song. Some of the unique moments; when Bono asked the crowd to show their cell phones, the place lit up. He asked everyone to text a message to this number. The number was for One.org, it's a group dedicated to AIDS works and debt relief in Africa. You could pick up a silicon bracelet, which I did. It's white and so yes I am now one of the silicon bracelet wearing people you see.

I went to the U2 website, and found the list of songs played. Here it is. We also bought a t-shirt each and I got a couple of buttons.

I also read at the website that the band will be releasing a DVD of the concert. I think I shall buy it, yes I shall.

It was a great night, and I do want to attend another U2 concert.

Peace

What's playing on My iPod

Wired Magazine had a regular article in which people were asked what was playing on their ipods. I mentioned in an earlier blog what sort of podcasts I was listening too. I have to admit it was techie stuff, Techphile and this week in technology or TWITS. As well, Diggnation.

Now I have branched out; I listen now to: UNICEF which gives some good background on third world events, Grace to You, the podcast of the ministry of John MacArthur. He's got a great bible study radio program. Other ones are the CBC Radio3 podcast, which is a compilation of new and undiscovered Canadian talent. Then there is a neat sci-fi one called EscapePod. This gives some interviews and some readings, plus news for sci-fi geeks.

Another one I found, and this is good news for all Browncoats is the Signal a "firefly" podcast.

Understand, you don't need to have a iPod to listen to these, simply download them all to your computer and enjoy listening.

p2pnet.net - the original daily p2p and digital media news site

I think if I did a blog covering the RIAA and their ongoing malfeasance I would never run out of things to comment about on a daily basis.

To give the quick backgroun, the RIAA decided to sue Candy Chan for possessing pirated material and being a distributor. She claims no knowledge and told the court it was her daughter Candy that was the evil-doer. She had the handle. So immediately the RIAA went after the 12 year old girl. Here's some of the documents. They want to appoint a guardian for her during these proceedings. The end result of all this was the plantiff's motion was denied. Good for the courts, at least with Candy Chan. The matter is now, will the RIAA decide to go after Britanny or will they realize how stupid they look and how this will damage what little credibility they have with the public.

One chart for example shows that p2p file sharing has tripled since the start of the lawsuits. Good idea guys and gals, perturb your clienteles even further.

This is an example that the citizens have decided the actions of the RIAA is wrong and should be ignored.

Record labels, satellite radio seen in showdown - Yahoo! News

Another one for the "Music Industry Doesn't Get it" file. Now they want to have a show down with satellite radio. In particular the fact that there is a new radio coming out that will store music. A couple of decades ago, all stereo systems came with tape players. Each one of them had a "record" button.

Now the industry wants the right to veto all technology that they deem may have a negative effect on them. This is ridiculous, no industry should have the power to control and stifle new technology. Which is exactly what they are doing. They should be thankful people still want to listen to anything they produce. Consider the difference in technology; Sony produced a sony walkman minidisc player that could be used to record or download digital music. It's a nice player, good sound, but the software is so clumsy that it's hard to do what you want. Then there is the Apple iPod, a wonderful devise that has iTunes, which is very easy to use and you can download music quickly and easily. Which is more popular? Sony's devise or Apples? Now imagine if the industry gets away with dictating technology, goodbye any improvements to the iPod because after all you can download illegal music to play on it.

Here's a quote from the article "The record industry, led by major labels, such as Vivendi Universal' (EAUG.PA),> Warner Music Group Corp (NYSE:WMG - news), EMI Group Plc (EMI.L) and Sony BMG, believe the recording capability is a clear copyright violation and could take revenue away from paid download music services". Nonsense, the satellite industry is paying for the music, it's all part of the stream, the consumer is paying for the right to listen and if that means listening a little later what is the problem.

Also the increase in contract from 80 million to 1 billion dollars, as you know Steve Jobs called the Recording Industry 'greedy'. and that's what they are. Is the recording industry so bad off that their only revenue stream is through litigation, now that's a healthy industry.

I once read that Google's revenue stream is greater then the worth of all five recording companies. Please Google, buy these clowns out and operate the industry like it is in the 21st century.

Memo to the RIAA, the tar pit is getting closer and closer

Fiona Apple is extraordinary - The Beacon - Life!

Mark the date on your calendar! October 4th.

This is a great CD.

www.shibumi.org/EotI

An interesting page. A good idea.