Tue, Sep 30th - 3:54PM
Brazilian Artist Henderson Cisz
Henderson Cisz - L'Arc de Triomph
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Mon, Sep 29th - 11:47AM
Love and Communication
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Mon, Sep 29th - 10:51AM
Bikini Fashion News
The Fashion eZine - Bikini Fashion News
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Mon, Sep 29th - 7:29AM
European banks collapsing despite US bailout
World stocks tumbled further today, as three European banks became the latest casualties of spreading credit woes, and news that Citigroup would purchase rival Wachovia Corp. overshadowed Washington's bailout plan.
The Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments rescued financial firm Fortis over the weekend to prevent a domino-like spread of failure.
The U.K. government said lender Bradford & Bingley's branch network will be sold to Spanish bank Santander and the remainder of the group will be nationalized.
Moreover, Iceland's government bought a 75% stake to take control of Glitnir bank after the bank's funding position deteriorated in recent days, knocking the crown currency to record lows against the euro.
German lender Hypo Real Estate struck a last-minute deal with the government and a consortium of banks to resolve a refinancing squeeze.
In the United States, Citigroup Inc. is acquiring the banking operations of Wachovia Corp. in a deal supported by the U.S. government.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. made the announcement this morning as Wachovia became the latest institution to succumb to anxiety over mounting losses tied to toxic assets.
The money market remained frozen with banks refusing to lend to one another for all but the shortest periods, prompting central banks in Europe and Asia to pump in more cash.
U.S. lawmakers are due to vote today on a $700 billion toxic debt fund after more than a week of negotiations. The $700 billion will be added to the US National Debt and will be paid for by American taxpayers, allowing many of the rich and wealthy working for America's investment banks to keep their jobs.
"One sees now, that not only American but also European banks are affected and that the crisis is after all global," said Carsten Klude, strategist at MM Warburg.
"A rescue plan worth 700 billion is simply not enough to overcome the crisis for the foreseeable future. If anything, all the real economy problems will escalate as a result in the foreseeable future."
The US bailout will help American investment banks (and their upper class employees) in this credit crisis, but the rest of the world's banks will be financially screwed.
If a global recession pulls down the American economy with it, whats the point of a bailout? American banks are only the tip of the iceberg.
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Mon, Sep 29th - 7:11AM
64% of Canadians plan to register for no-call list
Nearly two-thirds of Canadians are tired of
telemarketing calls and plan to register their phone numbers on the
CRTC's new national do-not-call list, which takes effect tomorrow (Sept 30th), a
new poll suggests. Once a number is on the no-call registry,
telemarketers will be barred from dialing that number, or face a hefty
fine if they do. The maximum fines for individuals and companies telemarketing are $1,500 and $15,000,
respectively. The poll, conducted for the Marketing Research and
Intelligence Association, indicates 51 per cent of Canadians are aware
of the no-call list, up from 44 per cent at the same time last year. Once respondents were informed of the list, 64 per cent said they planned to register their phone numbers.
The poll for the association, which represents the majority of the
country's advertising and market research companies, also suggests 61 per cent of
Canadians believe exemptions from the no-call list – which includes
pollsters, researchers and government agencies – will not affect the
list's ability to stop calls from unwanted telemarketers. When
compared with a similar poll conducted last year, Canadians' awareness
of the no-call list is up seven percentage points, a number Wycks
attributes to media coverage and campaigns from advocacy groups. The
polls were conducted as part of the research association's program to
promote the power of public opinion in a democracy, Wycks said. The United States has had a no-call registry since 2003, with similar exemptions for research firms.
The confidence Canadians have in a list's ability to block
telemarketing calls despite the exemptions is justified, Wycks said. A
poll by the American firm Harris Interactive of 2,565 U.S. adults
surveyed online between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15, 2007 indicated 72 per cent
of Americans had registered their telephone numbers for the U.S.
no-call registry, with 18 per cent reporting they received no
telemarketing calls. About 59% said they still received some calls, but far fewer than before they signed on. See also:
Dealing with Telemarketers and their Economics
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Sat, Sep 27th - 12:35PM
MP3 Search
Search for MP3s at the Napster Revolution. Learn how mp3s changed the music industry and the internet.
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Sun, Sep 21st - 11:51AM
US National Debt to break $10 Trillion
Bush's plan to bailout America's biggest investment banks involves
buying out $700 billion worth of bad mortgages... this $700 billion
will boost the US National Debt, currently sitting at $9.7 trillion, to the $10.4 trillion mark.
So if you've been keeping track of the US National Debt over the past 8 years you will have noticed something... Bush spends like a drunken liberal.
Furthermore
Bush's plan also involves raising the National Debt ceiling to $11.3
trillion, suggesting Bush has other things he want to buy.
Apparently
Bush doesn't understand the concept of a "ceiling". Its a spending
limitation. You can't spend over it. Instead however he's been spending
like crazy and has raised the debt ceiling every year he's been in the
White House. Its like a welfare case calling the credit card company
every year to ask for a bigger limit.
The United States
is in for a hell of a time paying back this huge debt. Sooner or later
China and Japan (which own 49% of the US National Debt) are going to
stop loaning America money because its evident the Republicans have no
intention of paying back this rather large IOU.
Don’t be surprised if the US defaults on the National Debt.
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Sat, Sep 20th - 1:27PM
Polling Inaccuracy and Delusion
Should we be polling elections to see who people will vote for?
Think about it: How can it be truly democratic to know what other people are voting for, which party supposedly has "momentum" and who has the biggest % of the polls?
If you're voting for the party that has momentum or the biggest % according to the polls then you're not really making a democratic choice are you? You're just following it like a sheep following a herd.
Also, how accurate is polling anyway? The polls typically have a line that says "this poll is accurate within 3%, 19 times out 20"... which essentially means the real numbers could be dramatically different 5% of the time.
But there's a fallacy in that statement, and here's why:
1. Not everyone talks to pollsters on the phone. Some just hang up.
2. Some people use only cellphones and don't get polled.
3. Some people only answer the phone if they recognize the number calling.
4. Some people who do get polled don't vote anyway.
5. People can change their minds about who their voting for (I frequently don't decide until I'm physically in front of the ballot box).
6. Polls don't count the people who are undecided.
7. Some people just plain forget to vote.
And a myriad other reasons that could change the accuracy and validity of polls.
And frankly how does the numbers matter anyway? Shouldn't we be more concerned about the issues? Abortion, education, health care, the environment, the economy, the recession in the United States, wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and a possible war with Iran... these are issues that need to be talked about seriously.
Lets take the upcoming Canadian election as an example:
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Wed, Sep 17th - 1:45PM
Liberals, NDP and Green
Do you think Canada has too many leftwing political parties? So do we.
Learn more at: Uniting the Canadian Left.
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Wed, Sep 17th - 12:13AM
Carbon taxes originally a Conservative idea
Canada is in the midst of a new federal election and the biggest thing on the agenda is a proposed new carbon tax and income tax cut the Liberal Party is pushing for.
But here's the rub: Its not originally a Liberal idea. Its a Conservative one. Stephen Harper's Conservative Party commissioned a Conservative think tank to make a study into what ways the government could cut carbon emissions in Canada and NOT harm the economy. They spent several million dollars on the study and the conclusion was: Tax carbon omissions and there will be no detrimental effect to the Canadian economy.
But the oil industry in Alberta didn't like the report's conclusions, so they have since pressured Stephen Harper to ignore the findings and to simply do nothing about greenhouse gases.
However the Liberal Party saw the report and said "Hey, tax carbon omissions... not a bad idea. Why aren't we doing this?" And it has since become party policy and no doubt will some day pass in parliament.
So if carbon taxes was originally a Conservative idea, why not just run with it? Well the answer is simple. The Alberta oil industry is funding the new Conservative Party and they're not about to bite the hand that feeds them.
The NDP, the Green Party and the BLOC also support the carbon tax. Indeed according to a poll conducted last march 72% of Canadians support taxing greenhouse gases.
Heck, if we held a Referendum on the topic of carbon taxes (and lowering income taxes simultaneously), its pretty much guaranteed to pass.
Lets pretend for a moment that the Conservatives win a minority government, which could happen. The opposition parties could join together and vote in a referendum on the topic and then let Canadians decide what they want.
At which point Stephen Harper would be wise to flip-flop on this issue again and suddenly remember "Oh yeah, carbon taxes was originally our idea!" just so he can get the credit for it.
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Tue, Sep 16th - 11:29AM
Lilith News Headlines
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Sun, Sep 14th - 11:05AM
Sarah Palin, America's right-wing sweetheart
Twelve years before she became America's right-wing sweetheart, Sarah Palin rode another wave of "change" to power.
John McCain's Republican presidential running mate arrived as mayor already facing allegations she had introduced conservative social issues – including her anti-abortion position – into the mayoral campaign. She even questioned why the incumbent mayor's wife still used her maiden name.
As mayor, she fired administrators, gagged others and tried to move a museum out of the downtown.
She mused about banning books, was accused of being in the pocket of the National Rifle Association, dissolved a commission seeking ways to improve the city's problem with drinking and driving, and faced charges she had tried to break laws to put her supporters on council. On Day 120 of her administration, the first day such a move was allowed by law, she faced an incipient recall movement.
One by one, city officials who had backed defeated incumbent mayor John Stein felt the wrath of "Sarah Barracuda" as she began to fire department heads.
When the Wasilla newspaper accused newly minted Mayor Palin of trying to break laws to stack council with her supporters she called it "brilliant manoeuvering" on her part, before backing down.
Four months later, The Frontiersman editorialized that she thought her election was a coronation.
"Welcome to Kingdom Palin," it wrote, "the land of no accountability."
She stared down her opponents and brazened her way through her first mayoral year, an early performance that foreshadowed this week's interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson in which she fixed her steely gaze on her interlocutor and told him she "never blinked" when McCain asked her to be his running mate.
"I have never cared for Sarah's style of campaigning, but she has always had a dedicated base behind her and I find that worrisome," said Darlene Langill, who served on city council during the first year of the Palin administration. Langill, a fiscal conservative, butted heads with Palin on financial and administrative issues.
"She and her backers are borderline extreme conservatives," Langill said. "They think only their way is the right way and if you question that, you will feel the backlash... I define extremists as those who push their agenda on others."
Linda Beller, a member of the Wasilla Historical Society, also bucked Palin when she tried to move a museum from the downtown, claiming it was costing Wasilla $16.79 every time a visitor walked through the museum door.
Three days after her election as mayor she dissolved the city's Liquor Task Force and won plaudits and campaign contributions from The Wasilla Bar and The Mug Shot who were allowed to stay open later – even though drunken patrons were driving home to nearby Anchorage where bars closed earlier.
Under Palin, Wasilla was the only community in Alaska which forced rape victims to pay for their own medical exams, former Governor Tony Knowles told reporters. Knowles signed a bill outlawing the practice eight years ago as a direct response to Palin's policy.
Palin twice inquired about banning books in Wasilla, something she said she had raised only "rhetorically."
Nobody would discuss which books Palin wanted to ban.
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Sat, Sep 13th - 4:33PM
Interracial Relationships
Interracial Relationships is a big no-no for some people, however there's a lot of information out there showing that such relationships are becoming normal and natural.
One of our favourite websites on the topic was "Angry Black Cat", which no longer exists. The site was run by ABC and her beau JeffG. Unfortunately the site has been removed and there's been no word on when or whether ABC or JeffG will ever repost all their articles again, or their podcasts which was also quite entertaining.
Apparently they were getting a lot of hatemail from people opposed to interracial relationships, and that may have been a factor in why the website was eventually removed. They also had a house they were renovating, so perhaps that is now keeping them busy. (If ABC and JeffG read this, please contact us!)
HOWEVER, thanks to the miracle of the Wayback Machine we've been able to go back and find a lot of their old articles and repost them to a blog we created today called In My Hair
Our hope is that ABC and JeffG will come back someday. In the meantime here is some of their articles of interest:
By JeffG
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Fri, Sep 12th - 10:41AM
Gas prices still high while oil hovers around $102
Today gas prices in Toronto soared 13 cents to $1.37 per litre (a little over $5 US/gallon). Similar prices are posted across Canada.
Which is really weird, because oil prices have dropped $40 in the last month (currently hovering about $102/barrel), so gasoline prices in Canada SHOULD be down roughly 30 to 40 cents.
The oil/gas industry is blaming supply concerns about Hurricane Ike which is currently rampaging over the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil prices have been going down recently due to less demand in the United States as Americans buy more hybrids and/or smaller cars. Oil demand in the United States dropped by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2008, the steepest volume drop in 26 years.
See Also: Why does gasoline cost so much?
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Tue, Sep 9th - 5:08PM
North Korean Dictator suffers stroke?
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has apparently suffered a health setback, "possibly a stroke," a US intelligence official said today, noting he had not appeared at a 60th anniversary parade.
While it has not been confirmed, it does appear that Kim Jong-Il has had a health setback, possibly a stroke. Kim has not been seen the last couple of weeks in public. US intelligence is "pretty confident" of its assessment of a health setback.
North Korea last week announced that it has stopped work on disabling Yongbyon, and would consider rebuilding the plants, because Washington has failed to drop it from a terrorism blacklist.
The Yongbyon reactor is at the heart of Pyongyang's decades-old nuclear weapons drive and produced the plutonium for its October 2006 atomic test.
Last year North Korea sealed a landmark deal with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to abandon all its nuclear weapons in exchange for badly needed energy and economic aid and security and diplomatic benefits.
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Tue, Sep 9th - 10:59AM
Funny Quotes
George W. Bush's foreign policy in the Middle East is like the Incredible Hulk in a china shop.
I can't for the life of me understand why any non-Caucasian American would vote for the Republicans. Voting for a party that contains the KKK, the Christian Coalition, various anti-immigration groups such as the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps all seems a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.Why doesn't everyone just learn to talk American?I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough.
"I myself have never been able to find out precisely
what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that
differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute." - Rebecca West.
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Mon, Sep 8th - 12:36PM
AIDS/HIV Statistics
The latest statistics on the world epidemic of AIDS & HIV were published by UNAIDS/WHO in July 2008, and refer to the end of 2007.
2 million people died of AIDS in 2007. Another 2.7 million became infected during 2007.
The number of people living with HIV has risen from around 8 million in 1990 to 33 million today, and is still growing. More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.
At the end of 2007, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide, and for 59% in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa has 11.6 million AIDS orphans. Around 67% of people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.
CAUSE?
Disbeliefs about the use of condoms, frequently touted as the tool of the devil by the Catholic Church which preaches abstinence. Abstinence doesn't work. People need a real solution, and that means contraceptives like condoms.
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Sun, Sep 7th - 9:55AM
Proper breakfast prevents snacking and obesity
Breakfast is an effective tool for weight control at every age. The more often you eat breakfast the less likely you are to have an obesity problem, and you are more likely to meet your body's fibre, calcium and B vitamin needs.
A 2006 Statistics Canada report showed that Canadians were getting more calories from snacks than from breakfast. The report also revealed that 10 per cent of Canadians skipped breakfast entirely. Some research suggests the number of people eating breakfast every day is much lower than reported by Statistics Canada, especially among obese youth.
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Sat, Sep 6th - 11:37PM
Tech News
 Automotives & Engineering
The Eco-Car Battleground
Toyota's Hybrid Cars going Full Electric
Carburetor Efficiency
The Bugatti Veyron: 1001 Horsepower
Green Cars by 2020
Ford's Fuel-Cell Hybrid
Is Biofuel the Future
The Hydrogen Equinox
Are SUVs Dangerous?
Biology
Homo Erectus Extinctus?
Canadian Wooly Mammoth
Intercropping for Farmers
Smokeless Cigarettes
Viagra destroys Sex Drive
Breast Implants for Dummies
Silicon goes the Way of the Dodo
Siesta Fever
The New Pill
Bioterrorism and the Future
Chemistry
New Car Smell: Not Toxic
Computers, Games & the Internet
Spammers, Stalkers & Wikipedia
Most Popular Keywords on the Internet
Crackberries Blackberries
Blu Ray Disc Boycott
Tech Savvy Teens Vs. Adults
Chipzilla Tukwila: Next Generation of Computer Processors
Internet Growing: Statistics
Microsoft bids for Yahoo!
Yahoo Rejects Microsoft Bid
Computer News of 2007
Cyberspacology
Google Profits Spike
Wikipedia is Crap
Googlepedia, The Knol Encyclopedia
Facebook Vs MySpace
Canada: A Virtual Country
Second Life Review
Counterstrike Review
The Future of Mobile Gaming
City Sidewalks, Cyber Sidewalks
The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction
The $100 Laptop
The Cultural Netolution
Google Vs Microsoft: Who will buy Yahoo?
Beginners Guide to HTML and Website Design
Education
Radioactive Super Playboy Bunnies
Geology & Geography
Ice Shelf Snaps
Hurricanes in Europe
Global Warming in Russia
Drought in Australia
General Info & Inventions
Blu Ray Disc Boycott
Crackberries Blackberries
Science News of 2007
101 of the Greatest Inventions of All Time
Umbrella TVs
Laser Weapons for the Army
Ethnic Microwaves
Social and Technological Change
Building that Breath
Building Green
The Future of Condos
Branson Prize for Green Tech
Smokeless Cigarettes
Physics
Ontario Goes Nuclear
Solar Power becomes Profitable
Solar Power and Urban Myths
North Korea's Nuclear Test
The Doomsday Clock
Shock Absorbing Sports Bras
Outer Space
Xcor Spaceship Unveiled
Organic Life found on Saturn's Moon
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Sat, Sep 6th - 12:59PM
Environmental Headlines
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Sat, Sep 6th - 1:44AM
Polls suggest Obama will beat McCain 280 to 258
There are a variety of pre-election polls available out there, but the most reliable is the daily Gallup three day poll. Every day Gallup polls hundreds of American voters and after three day tallies the results and posts them online.
As of yesterday Obama and McCain were pretty close, with Obama leading with 48% and McCain trailing close behind at 44% (the remaining 8% of voters are either voting third party or are undecided).
State by state polling shows a different story. According to the state polls Obama will win 280 electoral votes while McCain will win only 258. Obama only needs 270 to win and McCain is barely holding on to several key states.
States that have been hard hit by the American Recession are showing Obama with a 10% to 30% lead in the polls. The failing American economy appears to be the Achilles' heel of the Republicans, and history seems to be repeating itself (in the 1992 election Clinton beat Bush Sr. on the issue of the failing US economy).
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Fri, Sep 5th - 8:13PM
Lilith Gallery Artists
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Fri, Sep 5th - 12:20PM
Lilith Gallery Artists
Eliza Bathory
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Jonathon Earl Bowser
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Alicia DeBrincat
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Stefanie Lynn Evans
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Caroline Folkenroth
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Candice Raquel Lee
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Jennifer Linton
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Jasmine Maddock
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Charles Alexander Moffat
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Annie Naseem
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Emilia Noris
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Rachel Stone
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Victoria Van Dyke
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Judith Weratschnig
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Thu, Sep 4th - 4:15PM
Dawson College Shooting, coroner recommendations
The coroner's report for the Dawson College shooting incident (Kimveer Gill killed Anastasia De Sousa and injured 19 others at Dawson College on September 13th 2006 during a 20 minute shooting frenzy) was released today.
Coroner's recommendations:
• Health and education officials should have access to the federal gun registry, in order to keep track of suicidal/insane people who may have access to firearms.
• Ban weapons where the charger is located behind the trigger.
• Police should immediately liaise with staff at the beginning of operations involving a shooter to maximize information about the shooter's location.
• Police should consider equipping each station with one or two rifles or shotguns to be used by trained officers and kept in patrol car trunks.
• Police should keep track of patrol cars dispersed across its territory with electronic mapping such as GPS to make response more effective.
• Schools and colleges should prepare emergency plans to deal with potential shooters with the assistance of police.
In response to the Dawson College shooting the Quebec government passed a new law earlier this week that bans firearms from schools, school buses and daycare centres, except for authorized personnel such as police.
What a freaking useless law! That law is the last thing on a gunman's mind when they go on a shooting rampage. Why not pass a real law that will actually make a difference?!
See Also: Gun Control in Canada
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Thu, Sep 4th - 3:32PM
Index spammer abusing WebRing's Blog program
A spammer has been posting crap links on WebRing's blog program, the second time in the last 2 months.
The first a little over a month ago when a person spamming links in other blog users' comment sections. WebRing, immediately aware of the problem, posted a message on July 14th telling users how to remove unwanted comments.
The new spammer, active last night and today, however has been posting crap links under "user index random number"... in otherwords a complete waste of space, time, and when WebRing finally deletes those crap links... effort too.
WebRing has yet to delete the offending "blog-spam", but our guess is that it will done shortly. Abuse of the system has to be dealt with firmly to send a message to spammers that their efforts will be in vain.
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Wed, Sep 3rd - 11:58PM
News Headlines
CANADA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is about to pull the plug on the 39th Parliament and plunge the country into an election because, according to his spokesperson, he could find "no area of common ground" with the opposition that would allow the government to move forward with its agenda.
But just what is the Conservative government's agenda?
Unshackled from the requirements of a minority Parliament to temper their policies, would Harper and the Conservatives return to their Reform roots and implement more tax cuts accompanied by deep reductions in government spending, outsource regulatory oversight, privatize the CBC, create a triple-E Senate and even adopt socially conservative stances against abortion and gay marriage?
In explaining the decision to go to the polls rather than face Parliament this fall, the Prime Minister's spokesperson said on Monday: "We are in uncertain economic times. There are a number of things that the government would like to move forward on."
The public ought to know what those "things" are before voting.
Snipers fired on the motorcade driving to the airport to pick up Pakistan's prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, striking his car's window at least twice.
Neither the prime minister nor his staff were in the vehicles, but the assassination attempt comes as Pakistan's new civilian government – under pressure from Washington – is cracking down on militants along the Afghanistan border.
At least two bullets hit the front window on the driver's side of Yousuf Raza Gilani's limousine on the main highway linking Islamabad with the nearby city of Rawalpindi.
Pakistani political leaders have repeatedly faced the threat of assassination.
At least four attempts were made on the life of former president Pervez Musharraf, recently forced from power by Pakistan's new government. He was despised by militants for allying with Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In December, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto died in a gun-and-bomb attack during an election rally two months after returning from exile.
What the hell is John McCain thinking?
The man is gambling with the Republican nomination like a drunken frat boy in Vegas. He chose Sarah Palin as his running mate at the last possible minute, without checking her background credentials and any controversial dirt on her (like Troopergate and her views on Alaskan Independence).
Traditionally elections are fought on several key battlegrounds: The economy, the environment, education, health care, freedom, family values and war. So yes, they can preach family values because poor Bristol Palin won't be getting an abortion, and she will be forced to marry young Levi Johnston.
But what about freedom? We're talking about forcing a young woman (still very much a child herself) to have a child and get married against her will? Sure, she says she's okay with it now, but what about two years from now when she's getting a divorce, blaming herself and her parents for forcing her into a decision she didn't make?
Sarah Palin has other issues to contend with too, like the fact she's a devout creationist who honestly believes Adam/Eve really existed and were tossed out of Eden for talking to snakes/eating forbidden fruit. The Alaska legislature is probing whether she forced a safety commissioner to quit, whether she tried to fire a state trooper who was divorcing her sister. Sarah Palin also has alleged ties to the Alaskan Independence party, which wants a vote on leaving the United States.
Alaskan Independence? Now that is certainly controversial and way more important than the Palin family's domestic problems.
In choosing Palin, John McCain gambled that her appeal to the Republican base and to women would outweigh her shortcomings. As more questions arise about his judgment and her suitability, McCain must reassure a broader electorate that she is vice-presidential material... because at this point she's more liability than benefit.
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Tue, Sep 2nd - 11:37AM
Sarah Palin has a lot of skeletons coming out of her closet
Its like an undead horde coming out of Sarah Palin's closet, making the movie Evil Dead look pretty minor in comparison.
First her daughter Bristol is pregnant, and the father is of unknown origins, sparking rumours of incest... and resulting in a shotgun wedding to the unknown father.
But to make matters worse she's also embroiled in a wrongful firing of a police comissioner in Alaska and an abuse of power controversy stemming from a private family feud now known as: Troopergate.
Its like the soap opera All My Children coming to life on the political stage...
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Tue, Sep 2nd - 11:08AM
OPEC discussing minimum price of oil to be $100
Hurricane Gustav scarcely damaged the oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil prices today to fall below $108 for the first time in months.
Oil prices have been going down recently due to less demand in the United States as Americans buy more hybrids and/or smaller cars. Oil demand in the United States dropped by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2008, the steepest volume drop in 26 years.
Iran has said $100 is the lowest acceptable oil price and called for OPEC to cut output by 1.5 million bpd by early next year. Venezuela and several other countries agreed. Other OPEC sources have suggested a price floor closer to $80 a barrel because of concerns about the effects of high fuel costs on large consumer economies such as the United States, which is currently in a recession.
OPEC has apparently gotten used to the new high prices and wants them to stay above $100. Back in June OPEC was predicting oil prices to reach $170.
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Mon, Sep 1st - 10:08PM
Republicans, Pregnancy, Incest and Shotgun Weddings
The Democrats must be having an interesting and amusing night tonight.
Today, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's announced that her 17 year old daughter Bristol is pregnant.
Whats worse, this may not be her first child. Sarah Palin is now being accused of falsifying birth records and claiming that her so-called fifth child, a son named Trig, is hers. Trig was born in April with Down syndrome (sparking rumours of incest in the Palin family and conspiracy to cover up the incest).
Incest in a family usually results in children's protection services showing up and declaring the parents unfit and it would not be the first time parents have pretended the child was their own in order to prevent their children and grandchildren from being taken away.
This time around however they've realized that the media scrutiny won't allow the family to pull such a stunt. Everyone will know Bristol is pregnant.
Who is the father? The family is currently refusing to comment (saying only that his name is Levi), but one can be certain it will be leaked to the press somehow. This will be one of the most watched and hotly debated elections in world history and "family privacy" which is nice and quaint isn't going to deter the determined reporters.
And what could be worse than a lying, fraudulent vice-presidential nominee and her incestuous family secrets?
Its like V.C. Andrews wrote a book about a presidential election and the chapters are unfolding before our very eyes...
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Mon, Sep 1st - 10:28AM
California saves $86 billion in health care costs from anti-smoking campaign
California's large-scale tobacco control campaign has saved $86 billion in health care costs in its first 15 years, U.S. researchers said today. The $86 billion reduction represents about a 50-fold return on the $1.8 billion California spent on the program, they said.
Unlike many programs which center on teens, the California program focuses its tobacco-control efforts on adults through an aggressive media campaign and changes in public policy, such as promoting smoke-free environments.
According to the study, the program prevented the sale of 3.6 billion packs of cigarettes (worth $9.2 billion to the tobacco industry) between 1989 and 2004, which in turn saved California approx. $86 billion in health care costs.
Note: The profits vs. costs of the tobacco industry is a clear indication that economics wise the tobacco industry costs more than its worth.
The report may help persuade other states to step up funding for such large-scale efforts to counteract the tobacco industry's $13 billion annual spending on smoking-related advertising and promotions.
Tobacco accounts for one in 10 adult deaths worldwide and is the leading preventable cause of death in the world, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, smoking kills more than 400,000 people prematurely each year.
To study the effects of California's program, Glantz and colleagues used statistical models that looked at the relationships between per capita spending on cigarettes and health costs between 1980 and 2004.
They compared these with information gathered from 38 states that had no comprehensive tobacco control efforts and that had only increased cigarette taxes by 50 cents per pack within the study period.
The researchers saw a steady rise in cost savings from the start of the program in 1996 until the study ended in 2004, despite major cuts in the program's funding.
Approx. 19% of adults in California smoke actively or socially.
Smokeless Cigarettes
Smoking Bans working in Toronto
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