Admin update
Sorry for the broken page display over the last half hour or so . . . I’d miscoded a URL and it broke the sidebar template, so that the sidebar appeared in place of the main blog body at the point of...
View ArticleUS tariff on Chinese tires “a colossal blunder”
I don’t read The Economist regularly these days, having given up my 20-year subscription about five years back. Their steady drift away from free markets towards statist models made the publication...
View ArticleWe’ve gone far past the “let the punishment fit the crime” stage
A very disturbing post at Classically Liberal that I urge you to read: What was once considering a normal rite of passage, typical curiosity that the newly sexualized young have about themselves, their...
View ArticleMagicians by night, detectives by day?
My favourite magicians, Penn and Teller, are set to star in a new ABC comedy: Comedy/illusionist duo Penn and Teller have signed on to star in a project for ABC loosely based on their own lives. Also...
View ArticleI didn’t think this was legal
Linked from The Agitator, a little bit of legal trivia . . . even if the jury finds you not guilty, the judge can still sentence you to prison anyway: Indeed, my friends, welcome to our world. Not only...
View ArticleLight blogging today
Just got back from the first half of Victor’s soccer tournament weekend. His team’s record so far, a win (4-0), a tie (2-2), and a loss (2-1). They’ll need to win both of tomorrow’s games to have a...
View ArticleHate the president: it’s a hallowed tradition
Steve Chapman looks at the long, long, long history of President Derangement Syndrome: A new president, pursuing policies well within the political mainstream, evokes weirdly angry and intense...
View ArticleVikings go to 2-0 with win over Detroit
Every team that plays Detroit has a nagging fear that they’re going to be the ones to end the Lions’ losing streak. Detroit played the Vikings well in the first half, getting to a 10-0 lead during the...
View ArticleSir Humphrey is about to be proven correct again
The American government is trying to exhort artists to support its goals . . . and doing more than just exhorting: If you’ve ever wondered–and worried–about where government support of the arts leads,...
View ArticleCome on, Microsoft!
I’ve discovered the guaranteed no-fail, works-every-time method to lock up your Vista laptop. It’s kind of complicated, so follow along carefully with these intricate and...
View ArticleOver-broad laws can be useful to silence critics
Richard Dawkins contrasts the scientific way of resolving disputes with the British libel laws: It is a lamentable observation that because of the way our laws are skewed toward the plaintiff, London...
View ArticleCloning
Gregg Easterbrook takes a quick look at the objections to cloning: Human clones, it is widely assumed, would be monstrous perversions of nature. Yet chances are, you already know one. Indeed, you may...
View ArticleAccording to the Danish tourist agency, Danish women are easy
The Economist reports on a badly thought-out (and recently withdrawn) tourism-boosting campaign by VisitDenmark: The film, shot in video-diary style, purports to be the work of a Danish woman with a...
View ArticleRetirement planning
Dark Water Muse had a post a few days ago about the troubles with retirement planning (he’s just gone through the process). I guess what only just in recent days became DWM’s “trailer park” retirement...
View ArticleMore on the ABM decision
Following up from last week’s post on cancelling ABM systems for Poland and the Czech Republic, Jon sent the following comment: I was wondering about this sort of thing when the announcements were...
View ArticleTruth in advertising?
Jim Davidson watches the new GM television ad . . . and pukes: They used to advertise “that great GM feeling.” Nowadays it seems more like “that sinking GM feeling.” Case in point, car-neophyte Ed...
View ArticleThe Guild, Season 3 Episode 4
Video: Season 3 – Episode 4: Get it back! And try to imagine the horror . . . or just go to http://finnsmulders.com/. If you can’t get enough, here are some bloopers. Related posts: The Guild, Season 3...
View ArticleCondescending Brits on CanLit
The feathers are well-ruffled in yesterday’s post on In Other Words, as a British judge for the Scotiabank-Giller Prize tries to describe CanLit: It seems in Canada that you only have to write a novel...
View ArticleWatch the collector value of M1 rifles drop now
The South Korean government is planning to sell off its large holdings of M-1 rifles and carbines, according to this BBC News report: South Korea has come up with a novel way to boost its defence...
View ArticleInformation is data, but data is not information
Wired obtained several hundred pages of information through a Freedom of Information Act query relating to internal surveillance of Americans by the FBI — including information from hotels, car rental...
View ArticleSwedish military bust-out
Sweden is having some problems with essential parts of their military equipment, specifically the bras issued to female troops: Flimsy military brassieres are unable to stand up to the strains imposed...
View ArticleQotD: King’s Ransom
I didn’t want to go into detailed technical criticisms of a VERY rough cut of the documentary, but the footage of Gretzky playing is somewhat disappointing. Which is fine; it’s always a little...
View ArticleA few random links
Nick Packwood on a reason to be proud of Canada: “Canada’s entire delegation is set to walk out of the United Nations General Assembly chamber when Persian tyrant, Twelver whack job and Holocaust...
View ArticleBiggest Anglo-Saxon treasure find since Sutton Hoo
Amateur “metal detectorist” Terry Herbert is the discoverer of an Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard in a field in Staffordshire: The collection contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far...
View ArticlePolls and the 25% nutty fringe
Over at The Crossed Pond, Brad put together an interesting statistical post contrasting the “Birthers” with the “Truthers”: Generally, I out-of-hand dismiss poll results under, say, 25% meant to imply...
View ArticleAnother reason why there’s still debate over Climate Change/Global Warming
True believers treat skeptics on the Climate Change/Global Warming question as heretics because “the proof is right there” . . . except the data supporting the case is not available to study: . . . the...
View ArticleQotD: Return of the revenge of the subprime mortgage apocalypse
Put it all together, and throw in mainstream media outlets that as recently as June were calling for mortgage haircuts specifically to allow people to keep borrowing against their houses, and you’ve...
View ArticleConsistency on the Middle East
David Harsanyi looks at the consistency (actually, the lack thereof) in President Obama’s proposals for negotiation on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process: The United States does not negotiate with...
View ArticleEvery army has their fair share of REMFs
Over at Castle Argghhh!, Bill remembers the distasteful creatures known as REMFs: In my war, we coined a term to describe the guy who lived in Saigon in an air-conditioned trailer with access to clean...
View ArticleOperation Nanook
You wouldn’t say they go out of their way to glorify the military in this video . . . Related posts: Operation Nanook Visiting HMCS Toronto
View ArticleHonda decides it’s sick of being seen as a cool company
Honda has introduced something to help it shed that coolness factor that’s been bothering it for a while. I guess they figured that Segway shouldn’t be the only company whose name is mocked for...
View ArticleQotD: CanLit
Canadian literature (or CanLit, as some insist) has gradually become a genre of its own- one of books that are bleak, desperate, *meaningful*, and above all, dull. Jesse Brown, “You and the Pirates”,...
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You like paintball? You’ll love this . . .
Armourgeddon: Tank Battles New Special Price: £80 per head, per package The Commander’s Challenge (3 man crew): Take it in turns to negotiate the tricky tank course set in a World War II bombing range....
View ArticleRick Mercer explains voter apathy
Rick Mercer has diagnosed the real reason nobody really wants a fall election in Canada: It may be a myth that the Inuit have 100 different words to describe snow; it is an absolute truth that people...
View ArticleThose confusing/conflicting Arctic ice stories
How can it be that on one day, we’re told that the Arctic is thawing at an unprecedented rate, yet the next day we’re told that the ice is twice as thick as predicted? Lawrence Solomon tries to sort...
View ArticleBritish libraries now afraid to lend scissors to patrons
The staff at the Holborn Library in London are apparently very worried about the risk of being attacked by library patrons, so they won’t even lend scissors: Lorna Watts, 26, a self-employed...
View ArticleYou know the stories about “they built ’em better in the old days”?
Here’s an interesting video from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), pitting a 2009 sedan against a 1959 model at a combined speed of 80 mph: In the 50 years since US insurers organized...
View ArticleRandom links of possible interest
More on the ongoing ammunition shortage in the US, as manufacturers are still unable to produce enough to satisfy demand. Police at G20 take trophy photo including arrested protester handcuffed and...
View ArticleVikings get last-second TD to beat 49ers, 27-24
The Minnesota Vikings moved to a 3-0 record on the season with a squeaked-out victory against the San Francisco 49ers yesterday. I got to watch most of the game, until the two-minute warning, when Fox...
View ArticleQotD: Gambling on CO2 reduction
There is a real and growing prospect of an all-out trade war being waged in the name of climate change. The struggle to generate international agreement on a carbon deal has created a desire to punish...
View ArticleQotD: Confessions
Whew, I’m pooped. Jimmy Carter has got me run ragged with all the hating I’m supposed to do. Jimmy says I’m a racist because I oppose President Obama’s health care reform program. Even Jimmy Carter...
View ArticleThe Guild, Season 3 Episode 5
Video: Season 3 – Episode 5: Application'd Related posts: The Guild, Season 3 Episode 3 The Guild, Season 3 Episode 4 Reducing the NFL pre-season
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A broken hockey stick graph
The red line in the following graph should be familiar to you, if you’ve been following the Global Warming/Climate Change debate: The trick here is the black line: A comparison of Yamal RCS...
View ArticleCalling it “bubbly” is highly appropriate
According to a recent study, the bubbles in Champagne do more than just tickle your nose: Research shows there are up to 30 times more flavour-enhancing chemicals in the bubbles than in the rest of the...
View ArticleIf you like bad drivers, you’ll enjoy this collection
Twelve stupid car crashes, including this one, which illustrates that you don’t need to be travelling fast to flip your vehicle: H/T to Lois McMaster Bujold, “Whom the Internet has lately taught the...
View ArticleA different approach to healthcare reform
“John Galt” has a different suggestion for fixing what ails the American healthcare field: We have some real problems: Bizarre incentives that have led to runaway costs. Rescission. An employer...
View ArticleFelicia Day interview in Wired
Felicia Day, creator of The Guild, interviewed by Gus Mastrapa: Felicia Day’s stardom wasn’t handed down to her from on high by Hollywood. She’s guest-starred on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and House, but...
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More background on that broken hockey stick
I don’t want to sound like a climate crank — there are more than enough of them out there, on both sides of the issue — and I’m still very much of the opinion that the question of anthropogenic global...
View ArticleTesting whether incentive pay for teachers improves student outcomes
A post up at Marginal Revolution summarizes a new paper by Karthik Muralidharan and Venkatesh Sundararaman, examining whether incentive pay for teachers (PDF) improves student performance: 1) Evidence...
View ArticleArtificial skin
Victor is doing some research on artificial skin for a school project, and he found this link, which he sent along to me, writing “Ghost in the Shell: Closer than we think?”. What we’re trying to do is...
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