Tuesday, December 24, 2013

24 Dec - Blogs I'm Following

English: Map: occupation (stabilization) zones...English: Map: occupation (stabilization) zones in Iraq, September 2003 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Memorial in Gastonia, North Carolina, USAMemorial in Gastonia, North Carolina, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
State of Al Qaeda in IraqState of Al Qaeda in Iraq (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
11:26am MST

Happy, Merry, and Peace

Jon Western at Duck of Minerva - 23 minutes ago
The semester is over, the papers are graded, and the departmental meetings are over (for a while). The shopping is done, the house is clean, the presents are wrapped, the relatives are here, and the kids are bouncing off the walls. All that is left to do is relax, reflect, and enjoy. Wishing all of Continue reading

Unemployment Insurance Cut-Off Further Imperils The Fate Of Republican Gary Miller

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 26 minutes ago
Take a look at those poll results above that PPP found when they surveyed CA-31 (the Inland Empire). The very extreme right Republican incumbent, multimillionaire Gary Miller, has one of the most dismal job approval ratings of any incumbent in any district in America-- 27%. If the election were held today-- with no campaigning at all-- he would lose to any Democrat 48-39%. But if there is campaigning and the Democratic candidate lets voters know that Miller backed the Tea Party scheme that shut down the government, he loses by a much bigger margin. His 39% core stays solid but the... more »

The spirit of man . . .

Edstock at The Galloping Beaver - 32 minutes ago
WINTER SOLSTICE, and the cycle of life continues: we celebrate the end of one year and the beginnings of our future and the re-birth of the world around us. That future belongs to the young, and some of them are up to the task.  Consider 19-year-old Zack Kopplin; according to io9's article by George Dvorsky, “How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana's

Binge drinking: A reflection of our debauched culture

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 51 minutes ago
A recent article appearing in *The New York Times* reported on the culture of binge drinking - consuming massive amounts of alcohol in a short period of time - in Britain, and the problems confronting local municipal authorities and police departments as a result of it: It was just after 4 a.m., the last clubs were closing and the police had three young men pinned against a brick wall and a fourth on the ground. The young men, gloriously incoherent, some of them bleeding, could barely stand, let alone answer the questions from the officers, who were responding to a fight. As the sce... more »

Al Qaeda In Iraq’s Excesses That Could Eventually Cost It

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 55 minutes ago
Dr. Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Studies recently testified to a joint committee of the United States House of Representatives that Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) couldn’t help but overstep itself. During the early part of the Iraq War the Islamist organization tried to impose its foreign version of Islam upon Iraq, and intimidated and executed those that disagreed with it. It was actions such as those that eventually turned many Iraqis against it. Today, AQI is making a comeback establishing bases again within the country and carrying out a dizzying array of... more »

Bruce Carson and the tarsands fox - streamlining the henhouse

Alison at Creekside - 1 hour ago
Yesterday the Edmonton Journal reported : More than 75 environment officers who watched over oil industry activities left the provincial environment department this fall, to take higher paying jobs with the new industry-funded *Alberta Energy Regulator*. Another 75-plus are expected to leave in the spring. In mid-November, the department also began handing over to the regulator thousands of files on oil industry activity pertaining to the Public Lands Act, according to documents obtained by the Journal. This shift in staffing and the moving of years of files out of a government dep... more »

Consecutive translation better but simultaneous acceptable

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 hour ago
R. v. Jesuthasan, 2013 ONCA 779: [8] The additional time required for consecutive interpretation, particularly in the context of a jury trial, the difficulty of finding qualified interpreters to meet the needs of the courts, and the difficulty of creating a record of simultaneous interpretation are all factors which could properly bear on this decision. It may be that technological changes would now permit at least provision of an audio digital record of simultaneous interpretation, however the whispered and simultaneous nature of the activity may make even that difficul... more »

OIL CONFLICT IN SOUTH SUDAN

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 hour ago
Conflict in South Sudan over control of oil. Profits from the oil not making their way down to the people. The hand of Mr. Big in this mess is obvious.

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 hour ago
*2 top officials leave BP oil spill claims office ~WDSU* *Levee around 26-acre Texas Brine Sinkhole cracking again ~AP* *Vaccaro out for rest of season ~The Advocate * *St. James Parish preps for Christmas Eve bonfires ~Ellen Couvillion* *Audit: UL lacked controls to prevent, promptly detect misappropriated assets ~Megan Wyatt, The Advertiser*

Have Yourself a Creepy Little Christmas

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 2 hours ago
It's bad enough that there's a Grinch who steals all your Christmas presents when you're not looking. But how about a character who steals your very soul because he is constantly looking? Welcome to Christmas in the United Stasi. With an unacceptable 40 percent of us still rebelling against Big Brother, the murketers of the Surveillance State realize that if they're to gain total control, they have to get to us early in our lives, when our psyches are still malleable. I just hadn't realized the depth of the indoctrination until I came across this blurb in my local rag: *It’s De... more »

Letter 44 update

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 2 hours ago
You can read issue one on line here. I just finished issue two. This is the first true graphic novel that I have read, or maybe its just me buying comic books for the first time in decades. My primary motivation was a little bit of speculative fun. A excellent copy of issue one Walking Dead goes for about $2000. Letter 44 is already selling for $15, and has already been optioned for TV. IMHO the premise is far more interesting than another dystopia. The President (read GWB) leaves a letter not written in crayon for his successor. He explains away all his bonehead moves with the thr... more »

IMPACT scores in DCPS show errors. Is this not evidence enough for its immediate overhaul?

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 2 hours ago
This from the Washington Post. But an interesting choice of words at the end there: In October, researchers from the University of Virginia and Stanford University who have examined IMPACT reported that its rewards and punishments were shaping the school system workforce, affecting retention and performance. The study found that two groups of teachers were inspired to […]

JOIN US AT VANDENBERG

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 2 hours ago
*Global Network 22ndAnnual Conference* *March 14-16, 2014* * Santa Barbara, California* The 2014 Global Network space organizing conference will be held near Vandenberg AFB, California on March 14-16. We will meet at the La Casa de Maria Retreat and Conference Center in Santa Barbara. On Friday, *March 14 *we’ll organize a 4:00 pm *vigil at the front gate of Vandenberg* and on the evening of *March 15* we will hold a *public event* at Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara. Speakers at the March 15 event will include: David Krieger (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), Dave Webb... more »

Income Inequality in Global Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 2 hours ago
In the *Financial Times* today, John Gapper analyzes changes in global income in recent decades. It concludes: [T]he rise of China and India – two poor but populous countries – has made global inequality (measured by the disparity in individual incomes, regardless of where people live) less pronounced. The world’s Gini index of inequality fell between 2002 and 2008 – perhaps for the first time since the Industrial Revolution – and the growth of Indonesia and Brazil is pushing in the same direction. “China is like a sumo wrestler who is fighting against global inequality,” says Bra... more »

The Euro Crisis explained by Al Murray

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 2 hours ago
Pure Genius... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBVTDLtTLtE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

"Dogs Don't Vote "

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 3 hours ago
*"Dogs Don't Vote"* *by *Bill Bonner "As many as 50,000 stray dogs roam the streets and vacant homes of bankrupt Detroit, replacing residents, menacing humans who remain and overwhelming the city's ability to find them homes or peaceful deaths. They are among the victims of a historic financial and political collapse. Detroit, a former auto-manufacturing powerhouse, declared the largest US municipal bankruptcy on July 18 after years of decline. The city had more than $18 billion in long-term debt and had piled up an operating deficit of close to $400 million. Falling revenue force... more »

Vacuity and Celebrity

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 3 hours ago
In Orwell's *Nineteen Eighty-Four*, Eurasia's grand project is to replace English with Newspeak, a language so carefully constructed that it is completely incapable of articulating critical thought. Far-fetched perhaps, but between the hours of 21:00 and 23:50 last night Channel 5 screened a close approximation of it - the *50 Most Shocking Celebrity Moments of 2015*. Of course, we don't live in the dystopic world of Winston Smith and Big Brother. I wasn't forced to watch, but I do so every year. Is there a part of me that likes it? If this blog exists to promote one thing, that is... more »

Merry Christmas

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 3 hours ago

QQ: Why would it cost a low-income school in SE DC to host student teachers? @urbanteacherctr #DCPS

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 3 hours ago
When I was a professor and teacher educator for four years, we did NOT cost our placement schools anything. In fact, we offered mentor teachers a modest stipend. And by modest, I really do mean modest. In any case, why would a school be charged with the privilege of hosting student teachers? And how much […]

Wikipedia...sigh

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 3 hours ago
For better or worse, Wikipedia is a go-to site for information. Often it is quite good. Sometimes it is not. I happened to notice over my Wikipedia entry this sentence about the student walkout several years ago: "Mankiw published his class attendance at the end, and it showed more students showed up to class that day than on average class day, as many counter-protested by coming." This is false. In fact, I do not even take attendance in ec 10 lectures. I know anecdotally that some counter-protestors did come to that class (as I noted in this article, the only thing I published... more »

Merry Christmas

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 3 hours ago
It seems to me that Dickens had it right. We live in a bipolar world. Your life and the lives of your children depend on good fortune and the world in which you live. It is either the best of times or the worst of times: It is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness, it is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity, it is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness, it is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair. And that is why, at Christmas, my thoughts always return to *A Christmas Carol*. Scrooge was the arch-typical Neo -Conservative. Dickens ... more »

Al Murray - Australia & Spain NSFW language...

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 4 hours ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wu6_oXpRHY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Al Murray - Scots, Scousers and Geordies

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 4 hours ago
A treat for Christmas Eve... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX98LGnvc1E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Scientific American Beyond the Pale

Charles Barton at The Nuclear Green Revolution - 4 hours ago
*This is the second of two reposts, which I wish to refer to in defense of my work as a pro-nuclear, pro Molten Salt Reactor blogger. I have taken an extended vacation from my blogging in Nuclear Green, although I continue to use my face book page as a blog. The topic of the post is my sorrow because one of my teenage loves, Scientific American had betrayed my love, but selling out the the anti-scientific enemies of nuclear power.* As a teenager I use to walk to the Oak Ridge Public Library to read the magazines. Scientific American was always one of my favorites. I regarded SA as... more »

Christmas Eve in Florida

Capt. Fogg at The Impolitic - 4 hours ago
By Capt. Fogg We can forget the Norse Gods here -- their trees and fires. The Winter nights aren't all that cold or long and we don't need their help. The inns don't have room in tourist season if you don't have reservations, and there aren't many of them. But if you have to sleep outdoors in the balmy night behind the dumpster at the Winn-Dixie or even on the beach it's not so bad. Not hard to find an old cooler to put the baby in. Hey, I know an abandoned car if it rains. No shepherds in Florida. Thank God. But watch for the cops and no worries, any wise men from the east won't ge... more »

War watch Update - December 24 , 2013 - Afghanistan and Israel seek to take advantage of US foreign policies weaknesses , indecision and the burning desire to reach a deal ( any deal ) ...... Syria and Iran related items of note ....... Obama nuclear plan to cost a staggering 355 billion ( scheme 150 over budget ) - tell me again about fighting deficits ?

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 4 hours ago
Afghanistan and Israel plot to seize opportunities to maximize US foreign policy weaknesses , foibles , incoherencies and backtrackisms ..... http://news.antiwar.com/2013/12/23/as-afghan-deadline-nears-us-backtracks-on-ultimatum/ As Afghan ‘Deadline’ Nears, US Backtracks on UltimatumLeaving Afghanistan 'Still Possible,' Says US by Jason Ditz, December 23, 2013 Print This | Share This The Obama Administration miscalculated badly with the December 31 ultimatum on Afghanistan. They threatened to withdraw outright from the country if President Hamid Karzai didn’t sign the Bilateral ... more »

Top Posts of 2013, and Thank You

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 4 hours ago
Top Posts of 2013, and Thank You. via Top Posts of 2013, and Thank You.

What Gets Chris Christie Sauced? And What Gets Him Flambéed, Poached Or Grilled?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 4 hours ago
The best thing that could happen for America in the 2016 presidential race would be for the GOP to give the far right extremists and crazed teabaggers exactly what they want to happen in the Republican Party primary: a win by Ted Cruz. Cruz is a smart, well-educated guy and he will be able to make a cogent and articulate case for right-wing extremism. When Romney lost to Obama last year, the true believers of the right fringe said it was because Romney wouldn't or couldn't make the case effectively. When Cruz gets crushed by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election… they'll ha... more »

Dr. Sidney Gottlieb (of MK-Ultra), Mobutu and the The AIDS Crisis

Paul Coker at News Spike - 4 hours ago
“Bill Close … had come to Congo just before Independence as a missionary worker, though he was a trained physician. Somehow he became President Mobutu’s personal physician as well as director of the biggest hospital in the country. “But this didn’t fully explain the extent of his power and influence in Zaire. He was a mysterious man, thoroughly likable, with an unmatched knowledge of Zaire and connections at all levels in society." "By the early 1960s Gottlieb's techniques and potions were being fully deployed in the field. Well-known is Gottlieb's journey to the Congo, where h... more »

Make new Boat People

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 4 hours ago
Fukushima is getting worse. Every day hidden in the back pages are horror stories. The latest Japanese children in large numbers getting thyroid cancer. I have said from day one, lets bring hundreds of thousands of Japanese to Canada. Like the Vietnamese boat people these are nation building immigrants. There are lots of factories in the death zone, lets make a deal these move to Canada as well.

Israel's (theocratic state) Parliament bans Christmas tree display

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 4 hours ago
Isn't it ironic? As zionist christians fall all over themselves to cater to followers of Judaism. *A Christmas tree cannot be displayed in Israel*: *Israel's parliament bans Christmas tree display* *It seems Israelis are unconcerned with catering to Christians? * The office of the speaker of Israel's parliament says he has rejected a Christian lawmaker's request to publically display a Christmas tree in the building. Eran Sidis, a spokesman for Yuli Edelstein, said Monday that the speaker rejected yesterday's request, but said the parliamentarian could display a Christmas tree i... more »

Christmas is not complete without kittehs...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 4 hours ago
*says no dog ever. *

How Two Bushes Sold Out America

Len Hart at The Existentialist Cowboy - 5 hours ago
*Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy* China is a leech in more ways than one. By way of Wal-Mart, it has destroyed decent wages and productive job creation in the U.S. See the CIA'S own list: China is No 1 with the world's LARGEST POSITIVE Current Account Balance; the U.S. (thanks to Wal-Mart) is DEAD LAST with the World's largest NEGATIVE Current Account Balance. (formerly called the Balance of Trade Deficit We don't have far to look for culprits. They are not hiding behind bushes. They ARE the 'Bushes". Let's take a look at the history before it gets re-written: 1. Any Democ... more »

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Chanukah, Gong Xi Fatt Chai

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 5 hours ago
May you start every day on top of the grass and be a take fiber to heaven while the Devil is still searching for you on dial up. Looking forward to a great 2014. Thanks for all your support. Jones Spaceman AKA Steve

Shattered cover by Julie Andrews

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 5 hours ago
They should remake the sound of music with Rock and Roll covers. H/T Four Habs Fans

An Easy Like Heaven mashup for Christmas Eve

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 5 hours ago
The Commodores' Easy meets The Cure's Just Like Heaven... gorgeous

Paul Craig Roberts celebrates Christmas while recalling that "people were able to fight for liberty because Christianity empowered the individual" and lamenting that "we now have a police state." He notes that "Liberty is a human achievement. We have it, or had it, because those who believed in it fought to achieve it." And he concludes that "There is not much that we can do about [the current] assaults [on our Constintutional rights], but we should not through ignorance enable the assaults," and finally wonders if "[a]s the West sinks into tyranny, will Western peoples defend their liberty and their souls, or will they sink into the tyranny, which again has raised its ugly and all devouring head?"

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 6 hours ago
------------------------------ *The Greatest Gift for All — Paul Craig Roberts* ------------------------------ December 23, 2013 | Original Here Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter Dear Readers, thank you for your support in 2013. Although you have kept me working past retirement age, I find it encouraging that there are some Americans who can think independently and who want to know. As Margaret Mead said, it only takes a few determined people to change the world. Perhaps some of you will be those people. My tra... more »

Will China Attack Taiwan? Yes, of course, if it wants to

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 6 hours ago
*An egret lands.* This week Beijing called for an exchange of media offices with Taipei. This means that a bunch of reporters, many pro-Beijing, will go to Beijing from Taiwan, and a bunch of espionage agents, political warfare specialists, and propaganda experts will come to Taiwan from China. The always hilarious propagandists of Beijing piously observed: Zhang Zhijun, the director of Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, told a forum organized by Beijing's CCTV for Chinese and Taiwanese media that Beijing is more than willing to speed such exchanges, adding that he ho... more »

The world's BIGGEST blog - day 2

Roobin at THROUGH THE SCARY DOOR - 7 hours ago
[image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VY_Canis_Majoris]VY Canoris Major, very volatile, the largest star in the known universe, this is it venting gas and plasma. If it was dropped into the solar system its surface would reach the orbit of Saturn.

THE FILM HATED BY THE RICH ELITE

Anon at aangirfan - 7 hours ago
*It's a Wonderful Life.* The 1946 film *It’s a Wonderful Life *was hated by the rich elite. In this film, a banker called Henry Potter is portrayed as a greedy and evil thief. The rich elite, and the FBI, labeled the film as possible 'communist' propaganda. *It’s a Wonderful Life’ alleged Communist propaganda: the FBI files and HUAC hearings* *Banker Henry Potter (seated)* Among the most powerful people who tried to present the film as 'communist' was the American fascist friend of the elite known as *Ayn Rand*. Ayn Rand did not believe in the Christian idea of sacrificing ones... more »

The Scottish Threat Environment: Insecurity, Fears and Independence

Brandon Valeriano at Duck of Minerva - 8 hours ago
This article is cross posted from the Scottish Global Forum. In this form it is slightly modified and hyperlinked. The Nature of Threats to Scotland In March of 2015, a cry goes out in the town centre, everyone reacts quickly. Valuables are hidden underground; women and children are stored in hideaways to be kept safe Continue reading

The #ChristmasMyths #7: Why December 25?

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 8 hours ago
*Part of a continuing series looking at the pagan origins of the Christmas Myths,1 one day at a time. Today, the reason we celebrate on December 25 …* As every child knows, Christmas falls on December 25th every year. Every year. But is it because it says so in the Bible? Hell no! The early Christian churches who did observe the Nativity2 celebrated it sometimes in May, sometimes in April, occasionally in January. So clearly they had no clue when legend had it their Saviour was born. Nor did they know even *which year* he was supposed to have been born, the celebrated census cau... more »

Quantum gravity and afterlife

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 9 hours ago
Afterlife in quantum gravity might be a natural topic for this year's Christmas Eve, a blog post that follows one on the elixir of youth. ;-) Even though the combination of the quantum gravity and afterlife keywords returns over 350,000 Google hits, it's a topic that hasn't been discussed on the part of the blogosphere we know, not even by the "most audacious" commenters. *This guy (just another Jew, as I was taught by my PhD adviser) was or wasn't resurrected 1980 or 1983 years ago. Just to be sure, he was born during Christmas – exactly 2014-2019 years ago – and died during East... more »

On June 13 , 2013 , 6-foot tsunami that hit near New Jersey nuclear plant may be first of its kind in U.S. — People injured, swept out to sea by wave detected as far as Puerto Rico — NOAA said continental shelf may have slumped, now suspects ‘atmospheric event’ ....... Note this was completely uncovered by major media , just getting some coverage in science related newsletters and science meeting during late Fall 2013 !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 10 hours ago
http://enenews.com/6-foot-tsunami-that-hit-near-new-jersey-nuclear-plant-may-be-first-of-its-kind-in-u-s-people-injured-swept-out-to-sea-by-wave-detected-as-far-as-puerto-rico-noaa-said-continental-shelf-may-hav 2014 Ocean Sciences Meeting — CODAR Ocean Sensors & Rutgers University, Dec. 14, 2013: Tsunamis are generally thought of as low-frequency waves that are generated by an underwater disturbance be it an earthquake or landslide. A tsunami can also be generated by an atmospheric disturbance such as a rapid pressure change. These tsunamis are referred to as meteotsunamis because ... more »

The Christmas Truce of 1914

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 12 hours ago
A moment of sanity amidst the infinite stupidity of war. In the end, we have more in common with the furthest flung foreign common man than the closest corporate-fascists that presume dominion over our lives. If only the British & Germans realized it was the greed of their own banking houses that had them in the trenches and not some irreconcilable difference amongst themselves... Knowledge is power, ignorance literally can mean death. When will we start being leaders in our homes, communities, counties, and provinces - driving our own destiny rather than being driven? ....

Time For A Joni Mitchell-Morrissey Story

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 13 hours ago
Like Obama's, this was a tough year for Morrissey. When his band wasn't being food poisoned at gigs, he was in the hospital with serious health problems. He was forced to cancel so many concerts that he lost the ability to get tour insurance. On the other hand his book, *Autobiography* entered the British charts at #1 and sold more copies its first week than Keith Richards' did. The year started with Morrissey stepping into a political controversy, telling an interviewer he had toyed with the idea of voting for England's version of the Tea Party, UKIP. "I nearly voted for Ukip. I ... more »

Mistaken Gender: 5-Alpha Reductase Hermaphroditism and Biological Reductionism in Sexual Identity Reconsidered

Zoe Brain at A.E.Brain - 13 hours ago
Another for the reference library. Also.. a bit too close to home, the way some were treated. Mistaken Gender: 5-Alpha Reductase Hermaphroditism and Biological Reductionism in Sexual Identity Reconsidered Gilbert Herdt, Academic Room 2012 Hermaphroditic infants are sex-assigned as *kwolu-aatmwol*, not as male. Those assigned as female are mistaken as normal females. Hermaphrodism is regarded as a sad and mysterious quirk. The *kwolu-aatmwol*, unless distinguished as a shaman or war leader, is quietly disparaged. Yet several *kwolu-aatmwol* are well known in local history, and one... more »

The Boy

Way Way Up at Fort McMurray Adventures - 14 hours ago
When he's not occupied by his fascination for trains or ride-on lawn mowers, charming the ladies with his deep blue eyes or playing the part of a GQ junior model, the boy just loves to relax of course. Merry Christmas, son. Daddy loves you.

Who is Watching the President...? - Part 3849

Paul Coker at News Spike - 14 hours ago
This is a good one. Bare in mind, the woman on the left is the Commander in Chief of the Arizona National Guard, commanding 5,206 troops and a total of 7,627 men at arms during this conversation. And none of them like him very much. They just had a liberal congresswoman shot in the head over there. *This is not safe.*

Expert evidence

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 14 hours ago
Cinar Corporation v. Robinson 2013 SCC 73: [49] For expert evidence to be admitted at trial, it must (a) be relevant; (b) be necessary to assist the trier of fact; (c) not offend any exclusionary rule; and (d) involve a properly qualified expert (*R. v. Mohan*, [1994] 2 S.C.R. 9). These criteria apply to trials for copyright infringement, as they do in other intellectual property cases:*Masterpiece Inc. v. Alavida Lifestyles Inc.*, 2011 SCC 27, [2011] 2 S.C.R. 387, at para. 75. [50] The Cinar appellants argue that the second crit... more »

Agreement expert qualified to give opinion evidence does not add weight to expert's opinion

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 15 hours ago
R. v. Strickland, 2013 NLCA 65: [18] The issue regarding expert evidence as argued on the appeal did not extend to all aspects of the test for admissibility of expert evidence as set out in *R. v. Mohan*, 1994 CanLII 80 (SCC), [1994] 2 S.C.R. 9 [1994] S.C.J. No. 36 ("*R. v. Mohan*"). *R. v. Mohan* requires the trial judge to consider four criteria: (i) relevance, (ii) necessity in assisting the trier of fact, (iii) the absence of an exclusionary rule, and (iv) a properly qualified expert. It was criterion (iv), whether Constable Emberley was a properly qualified expert, on... more »

Christmas 2013: Christmas and Civil Society

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 15 hours ago
*Merry Christmas friends. Nice weather here, cloudy everyday, brief rain showers sometimes in the afternoon. Wish you nice vacation. Me, have articles to edit, and a PH economic review to submit before the year end. Am not complaining, I like writing. Cheers, and merry Christmas once again.* I posted that message in my fb wall yesterday, thanks to 80+ likes from friends, plus comments. My two girls complained yesterday why I could not join them and their mama in the malls, well I was stuck in the office. But no complains. J I left the office 7pm yesterday, dinner, then I drove the ... more »

I09 picks Upstream Color as top film of 2013

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 15 hours ago
My review is way better eh! However I09 is the leading Sci Fi site on the web and it gives me some satisfaction when their learned opinion agrees with mine. Upstream color was also my runner up for movie of the year. Certainly if I was choosing Sci Fi movie of the year it would be hands down, This year its going to be hard to beat Gravity. Its not a great sci fi movie but its a very well made movie that knows how to tug on the old emotions.

Gail Collins on Chris Christie's Internet gambling vision: "This cannot possibly be a step in the right direction"

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
*"Earlier this year, Governor Christie signed a bill legalizing Internet gambling in New Jersey. The idea was to help resuscitate the Atlantic City economy and raise a projected $150 million in tax revenue. Very few people believe the state will really make that much, but the number did help Christie to run for re-election waving what appeared to be a balanced budget."* *-- Gail Collins, in her NYT column* "Candy Crush and Mr. Christie" *by Ken* Gail Collins, it seems, has some forebodings about the sociopolitical vision of a certain governor of a state tucked between New York and... more »

Phil Robertson Returning To Duck Dynasty as A& E and Cracker Barrel quickly beat a retreat.... Whether you like the Show or Phil Robertson , a message to take away is that the threat of a serious protest directed to corporate interests ( and which the corporate interests deem serious ) , will cause folks to back up and back away ....Whether it's the " Endless War Policies " , NSA spying , Bankster plundering , excessive governmental inrusions such ObamaCare - Americans need to do more than whine - boycotts the corporate and political interests pushing thes policies and they will back away from them if the financial and political pain is substantial enough...

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 16 hours ago
- Phil Robertson Returning To Duck Dynasty - [image: The Alex Jones Channel][image: Alex Jones Show podcast][image: Prison Planet TV][image: Infowars.com Twitter][image: Alex Jones' Facebook][image: Infowars store] *Robert Rich* Microconservative.com December 23, 2013 It has now been revealed that Phil Robertson will be returning to Duck Dynasty on January 15. A&E said they have no plans to fire the star. Image: Phil Robertson (YouTube). It appears as though the war on Phil Robertson and his freedoms of free speech and religions aren’t quite so savage. Although *A&... more »

Wut We's Got's To Do

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 16 hours ago
My point about the lack of a response to the TTC fare increase was that I, who have been told several times that my plans are too grandiose, am pointing out the sheer invisibility of the standard leftist response to problems. If I had my druthers, I'd be organizing a transit-users' strike, or an occupation of City Hall and Queen's Park, until said powers-that-be find the goddamned revenues from out of their tax-cuts for the rich or their general corruption funds, to pay for the existing service levels and to invest the billions more that are needed to restore the system to a state o... more »

Now why would Nick Clegg push that line?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 16 hours ago
It is reported that Nick Clegg has issued a warning that he won't accept any further curbs on immigration from the European Union. How ridiculous, until you remember that his EU pension is, at least, partly dependant on his not going against the EU's interests.

Whatever It Takes

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 17 hours ago
You would think that Stephen Harper's recent troubles might spur a little self examination. Not so. Jeffrey Simpson writes: Instead of rethinking, the Prime Minister has doubled down on his long-term strategy, which depends on polarizing the electorate and identifying and mobilizing the Conservative vote. He reshuffled his cabinet to add younger ministers of the same type as the more experienced ones: hard-edged communicators and sharp-elbowed partisans. He regrouped people in his office and at party headquarters who are unreserved loyalists. There are no even mildly discordant vo... more »

NOT SO HOLY LAND

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 17 hours ago
Richard Falk, who is a professor Emeritus of international law at Princeton University, was appointed in 2008 to a six-year position as the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories. Falk is catching hell from the Obama administration and other Israeli allies. I say good for Richard Falk for just telling the truth about the current plight of the Palestinian people.

Conniving CONs . . .

Edstock at The Galloping Beaver - 19 hours ago
THE SENATE HOO-HA'S origins, as seen by my friend Scanner, who I believe has created an accurate account of how things came to be. I wish the RCMP every success, good luck and good weasel-hunting. I have written this before but in light of SJH's unequivocal answer to the question whether he was aware at the time of a plan to have the Conservative party reimburse Mike Duffy for his

Pope's Mass: Our souls should not have a 'do not disturb' sign

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 19 hours ago
Video Title: Pope's Mass: Our souls should not have a 'do not disturb' sign. Source: romereports. Date Published: December 23. Description: December 23, 2013. In his daily morning Mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis talked about what it really means to prepare for Christmas. Amid all the parties and celebrations, he said, there must be room for God.

My kind of ice storm ,,,

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 20 hours ago

The #ChristmasMyths #6: The Slaughter of the Innocents

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 20 hours ago
*Part of a continuing series looking at the pagan origins of the Christmas Myths,* one day at a time. Today, the story and pagan origins of the story of King Herod’s slaughter of every child under two…* [image: File:0 Le Massacre des Innocents d'après P.P. Rubens - Musées royaux des beaux-arts de Belgique (2).JPG]*Massacre of the Innocents*, Peter Paul Rubens The story is familiar enough in the telling. The infant is put in danger by the ruler’s fear that the new baby will usurp his reign: A heavenly voice whispered to the foster father … and told him to fly with the child across... more »

Why The Inland Empire Congressional Race Is In The National Spotlight This Year

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 20 hours ago
If you're a Blue America member, you already saw the letter we sent out from Eloise Reyes, the progressive running to win the bluest seat in America held by a Republican, CA-31, the Inland Empire (San Bernardino, Uplands, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Loma Linda, Colton). A typical DCCC misstep-- backing an empty suit who is too conservative for the district, Pete Aguilar-- cost the Democrats this D+5 district in 2012. Aguilar was beaten by *two* Republicans and because of him there was no Democrat on the general election ballot when Obama beat Romney 57-41%. Instead, the district ... more »

Is the real world?

Mike Philbin at PROGNOSIS II - 20 hours ago
...not one book ...not one painting.I don't think it's a coin toss between love or fear, I think it's a myth that we are. We never are, until the moment of our death, happy. Tonight, a dream?

Apocalyptic Planet

What Is Sustainable at What Is Sustainable - 20 hours ago
Craig Childs is a nature writer and globetrotting adventure hog. He’s been thinking a lot about apocalypse lately. It’s hard not to. The jungle drums are pounding out a growing stream of warnings — attention! — big trouble ahead. The Christian currents in our culture encourage us to perceive time as being something like a drag strip. At one end is the starting line (creation), and at the other end is the finish line (judgment day). We’re speeding closer and closer to the end, which some perceive to be the final Game Over for everything everywhere. Childs disagrees. “We are n... more »

Quiz: Radio 4 presenter anagrams

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 20 hours ago
As every website seems to feel the need to do a Christmas quiz, here's one for you tonight. Can you unscramble the following anagrams of BBC Radio 4 presenters? 1. Dire media (5,4) 2. Hoard clerics (7,5) 3. Aha, me using jet! (5,8) 4. A rotund red swot (6,8) 5. I shun Islam? Ha! (6,6) The answers lie in the comments section below.

Hard things to think Aboot

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 21 hours ago
Canadian Voters take note. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-23/former-goldman-banker-head-cmhc-canadas-mortgage-monster If the wolf is not at the door, is it in your bedroom?

The Maned Wolf - a lesson in deductive dentition

George Henderson at The High-fat Hep C Diet - 21 hours ago
This is a South American canid, the Maned Wolf. [image: File:Maned Wolf 11, Beardsley Zoo, 2009-11-06.jpg] This "dog" is a true omnivore, not unlike homo sapiens. It supplements a diet of meat (frogs, fish, lizards and other small game) with fruit, tubers, and sugarcane. These supply up to 51% of its diet. It does not do well in captivity without vegetable foods, In the wild it is susceptible to infestation by the Giant Kidney Worm (*Dioctophyme renale)**, *a potentially lethal roundworm it is exposed to by eating fish. It prefers the fruit of the Wolf Apple (*Solanum lycocarpum*) o... more »

Juventud eterna, ya a la venta?

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 22 hours ago
Conjunto compuesto anti-edad para ensayos en humanos después de dar vuelta el reloj para ratones Profesor Nueva Gales del sur en Estados Unidos revierte los indicadores clave del envejecimiento para hacer two-year-old ratones aparecen seis meses de edad Investigadores australianos y estadounidenses esperan un compuesto anti-ageing podría ser probado en seres humanos tan pronto como el próximo año, tras un avance clave que vio el proceso de envejecimiento invertido en ratones. El estudio, que incluyó la Universidad de Harvard y la Universidad de NSW, descubrió una manera de rest... more »

The Infinite Monkey Cage

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 22 hours ago
I do rather like Radio 4's *The Infinite Monkey Cage*. It's a robustly pro-science programme in the network's overwhelmingly arts-dominated schedule and almost every edition features *bona fide*scientists sharing their insights with the listening public. The results can often be fascinating and informative and the programme has covered a vast range of scientific fields over the course of its nine series. Today's edition, for example, featured immunologist Dr Sheena Cruickshank of Manchester University. She specialises in parasitic worms and shared something that I found very inter... more »

Death of a Gunsmith: Mikhail Kalashnikov 1919 - 2013

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 23 hours ago
What a legacy he has. Kalashnikov often expressed regret at the killing power he had unleashed. However he put the blame squarely on failed leadership not good design. Because of the perfection of the 1946 design who can say how many have been made, but well over 100 million for sure. Sixty eight years later it remains to be the gold standard in assault rifles. "The deadliest weapon in the world is an American Marine and his rifle" -General Black Jack Pershing 1918 It was not until 1962 that US Marines were issued a modern assault r... more »

Duty of disclosure and presiding Justice of the Peace in provincial regulatory matters

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 23 hours ago
R. v. Ul-Rashid, 2013 ONCA 782 grants leave to the Court of Appeal to decide whether the Crown must ensure disclosure have been provided, regardless of request, and the presiding Justice must inquiry as to such delivery, for provincial regulatory matters. Additionally leave is granted to review the scope of assistance required of the presiding Justice for an unrepresented accused. Quaere, should not an unrepresented accused have some burden to investigate the nature of their rights before and during trial? The Court holds: [42] The applicant raises the issue of whether a... more »

Turkey: Halkbank - Role in Iran Gold Transactions Legal

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 day ago
*Ht anonymous commenter!* *UPDATED BELOW * Pertinent background: **Turkish PM Erdogan threatened/challenged by Fethullah Gulen?* **Turkey & Ukraine afflicted with EU/ private banking/business parasites* As usual I will highlight the interesting bits. * Halkbank Says Role in Iran Gold Legal After CEO Arrest* Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS (HALKB),* the state-run bank* that slumped 19 percent since a graft probe implicating four ministers erupted last week, said it has acted lawfully after police arrested its chief executive officer. *Payments made by the bank on behalf of companies ex... more »

And Some Songs, You Just Feel in Your Soul...

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
Gov't Mule, “Forevermore” -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3YFgSwmRww

This Time The Sex Predator Is A Democrat-- Well A Certain Type Of Democrat… Meet Dennis Gabryszak

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Gabryszak-- from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party Poor New York state Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak. Not many people outside of Buffalo (and Albany) ever heard of him until he entangled himself in a sexual harassment scandal that's ending his political career. So now all they know about him is that the 62 year old Democrat from Cheetowaga is that he's married with 2 children and that he was hitting on young female staffers-- at least 5 so far-- to a point behind merely creepy. He brought one woman, in her 20s to a massage parlor within 2 weeks of hiring her and he had a hab... more »
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