Could Be

Fewer kids, longer life?

I only had two kids, so here's hoping.

Oh, but I do love them.

Once Again...

...I'm predicting cloud cover:

April Meteor Showers

Oh, The Irony

Russian Scientists Name Fossil Reptile After Lenin

So what do we call all those infantile leftists still running around today? Newts?

Never Mind The Easter Eggs...

Logan can say "hockey". All is right with the world.

RIP King Ralph

Getting Old Is Bad

How bad, you ask? Well----

Hmmmmmm.

Don't know what to make of this, but it sounds to me like the Harper government has detected another UN scam and is, once again, showing leadership:

Canada only UN member to pull out of droughts and deserts convention

And maybe, just maybe, they are signalling their intentions about the UN in general and their beliefs about the whole climate hysteria propagated by leftards and greenies. (Oh, I forgot. Leftards and greenies? That's the same thing.)

(More about the Sahel region.)

In the meantime, we're bracing for another big one.

"Four Saskatchewan cabinet ministers are going to oversee the province's preparations for and response to any spring flooding.

Government Relations Minister Jim Reiter, who is also responsible for the disaster assistance program, will chair the committee.

Reiter says preparations to deal with the spring melt and potential flooding problems are well underway.

The Ministry of Highways already has emergency flood trailers, signs, barricades and other equipment on standby.

The Water Security Agency also announced that it is releasing more water from the Boundary, Rafferty and Alameda reservoirs to make more space for spring runoff.

The agency has warned of above-normal or well-above-normal spring runoff in almost all of the southern half of the province and very high runoff in areas between Indian Head and Moose Jaw and between Saskatoon and Prince Albert."[Emphasis mine.]

There's nothing 'global' about this.

Science

No question goes unasked:

How did dinosaurs have sex?

Quebec comedians have a bit of fun with Pastagate:

Drop the English dictionary! Quebec comedians parody language police | CTV Montreal News

English Muffins! Fish and Chips!

Arrrrrrrrggghhhh!

They say nothing is certain but death and taxes, but they've go it the wrong way around. Taxes always come first. They might kill you, but they're inescapable.

Got a notice the other day that my property taxes are going up - 60 freakin' percent!!!!

We need a Tea Party, but what are we going to call it? We don't have an equivalent to the Boston Tea Party.

I've been thinking that we might be able to borrow a word from Newfie-Speak and call it a Schreech Party. That's more in line with Canadian sensibilities, I think. Beats sitting around drinking tea, with our pinkies sticking out. Could be a lot of fun. And unlike the tea, the stuff won't be wasted.

Cute. Cute. Cute.

Those little fellows can barely skate.

Good For A Few...

...chuckles, among other things:

Leftards In Toronto...

...are having such a hard time. Such a hard time:

Reports of drinking problem ‘nonsense’, says Toronto Mayor Rob Ford

I wonder what it's like to have to continually be scraping the dregs off the bottom of a barrel, in order to get your kicks.

Sore losers. All of them.

Too Funny!!

Time For Some Smelly Music

Got nothing else to do.

Verrrry Interesting!

This guy deals with reality, unlike many of his compatriots:

Is French Still Vulnerable in Quebec?

I wonder what will happen to him?

Related: Montreal police arrest 294 on anniversary of student protest

Perhaps the whining has just about run its course.

Maybe This Will Convince 'em...

...Nah. I know it won't.

What products are made from oil and gas?

The only thing I'm sure of is, beyond fuel, they have never thought about any such list.

A Confession...

...that we really didn't need:

Global Warming was never about climate change!

"Opening remarks offered by Maurice Strong, who organized the first U.N. Earth Climate Summit (1992) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, revealed the real goal: “We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrialized civilization to collapse. Isn’t it our responsibility to bring this about?”

Former U.S. Senator Timothy Wirth (D-CO), then representing the Clinton-Gore administration as U.S Undersecretary of State for global issues, addressing the same Rio Climate Summit audience, agreed: “We have got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.” (Wirth now heads the UN Foundation which lobbies for hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to help underdeveloped countries fight climate change.)

Also speaking at the Rio conference, Deputy Assistant of State Richard Benedick, who then headed the policy divisions of the U.S. State Department said: “A global warming treaty [Kyoto] must be implemented even if there is no scientific evidence to back the [enhanced] greenhouse effect.”

In 1988, former Canadian Minister of the Environment Christine Stewart told editors and reporters of the Calgary Herald: “No matter if the science of global warming is all phony…climate change [provides] the greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world.”

In 1996, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev emphasized the importance of using climate alarmism to advance socialist Marxist objectives: “The threat of environmental crisis will be the international disaster key to unlock the New World Order.”

Speaking at the 2000 UN Conference on Climate Change in the Hague, former President Jacques Chirac of France explained why the IPCC’s climate initiative supported a key Western European Kyoto Protocol objective: “For the first time, humanity is instituting a genuine instrument of global governance, one that should find a place within the World Environmental Organization which France and the European Union would like to see established.”"

[---]

"For starters, let’s begin with two different views by some of the same researchers that are reported in the same year regarding whether there is a discernible human influence on global climate.

First, taken from a 1996 IPCC report summary written by B.D. Santer, T.M.L Wigley, T.P. Barnett, and E. Anyamba: “…there is evidence of an emerging pattern of climate response to forcings by greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols…from geographical, seasonal and vertical patterns of temperature change…These results point towards human influence on climate.”

Then, a 1996 publication “The Holocene”, by T.P. Barnett, B.D. Santer, P.D. Jones, R.S. Bradley and K.R. Briffa, says this: “Estimates of…natural variability are critical to the problem of detecting an anthropogenic [human] signal…We have estimated the spectrum…from paleo-temperature proxies and compared it with…general [climate] circulation models…none of the three estimates of the natural variability spectrum agree with each other…Until…resolved, it will be hard to say, with confidence, that an anthropogenic climate signal has or has not been detected.”

In other words, these guys, several of whom you will hear from later, can’t say with confidence whether or not humans have had any influence at all…or even if so, whether it has caused warming or cooling!

IPCC official Ottmar Edenhofer, speaking in November 2010, advised that: “…one has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. Instead, climate change policy is about how we redistribute de facto the world’s wealth…”

The late Stephen Schneider, who authored The Genesis Strategy, a 1976 book warning that global cooling risks posed a threat to humanity, later changed that view 180 degrees, serving as a lead author for important parts of three sequential IPCC reports. In a quotation published in Discover, he said: “On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, on the other hand, we are not just scientists, but human beings as well. And like most people, we’d like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change. To do that, we need to get some broad-based support, to capture the public’s imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of the doubts we might have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest.”

Kevin Trenberth, a lead author of 2001 and 2007 IPCC report chapters, writing in a 2007 “Predictions of Climate” blog appearing in the science journalNature.com, admitted: “None of the models used by the IPCC are initialized to the observed state and none of the climate states in the models correspond even remotely to the current observed state.”

Christopher Landsea, a top expert on the subject of cyclones, became astounded and perplexed when he was informed that Trenberth had participated in a 2004 press conference following a deadly 2004 Florida storm season which had announced, “Experts warn that global warming [is] likely to continue spurring more outbreaks of intense activity.” Since IPCC studies released in 1995 and 2001 had found no evidence of a global warming-hurricane link, and there was no new analysis to suggest otherwise, he wrote to leading IPCC officials imploring: “What scientific, refereed publications substantiate these pronouncements? What studies alluded to have shown a connection between observed warming trends on Earth and long-term trends of cyclone activity?”

Receiving no replies, he then requested assurance that the 2007 report would present true science, saying: “[Dr. Trenberth] seems to have come to a conclusion that global warming has altered hurricane activity, and has already stated so. This does not reflect consensus within the hurricane research community.” After that assurance didn’t come, Landsea, an invited author, resigned from the 2007 report activity and issued an open letter presenting his reasons."

RTWT

But we knew that, didn't we.

Related: Climate change: This is the worst scientific scandal of our generation

Look at the graph to see the evidence of global warming

"Met Office data show only a tiny change in world temperatures"

I think this thing is dead. The only reason to continue to cling to this scam is to save oneself from having to admit to being conned.

Makes Sense

Researchers find physical evidence of 'bro code' - study shows men's testosterone levels lower around friends' lovers

Guys who didn't exercise that caution would have probably ended up dead, and, as a consequence, their genes didn't make it into the next and subsequent generations. You mess with your bro, you say goodbye. End of story.

Related: A guy just can't win.

Well Sweetheart...

Moderate turnout for Idle No More demonstration

...if you'd quit with the exaggerations (500 years, my ass) and stop pretending you're doing this for the rest of us, then you might actually "overcome" those "obstacles".

I have no patience for people who can't deal with reality.

Anyway, there's a sucker born every minute. I guess you were one of them.

For My Daddy And His Generation

Whew!!

Glad he doesn't live in my house:

Newfoundland man killed roommate in Edmonton over kitchen mess

"...the jury arrived at a guilty verdict on the lesser offence after 10 hours of deliberation."

How much do you wanna bet some of those jurists had messy kitchens, too.

Pouting

Why can't I get a dinosaur named after me? I've been around long enough.

Scientists name flying dinosaur after little girl who discovered it

And BTW, I've come up with a new theory to explain my incapacity to remember stuff. The old theory still stands - that there's a force field in my doorways that erases memory of what I came into this room for. But there's another phenomena at play here, because I don't have to pass through a doorway for that to happen. I figure the gray cells in my brain are pushing up through my skull and lodging in my hair, where they no longer perform their original function. Funny how I can remember things that happened years and years ago, but not stuff that happened five seconds ago. Or was it ten seconds. I forget.

If The Floods Don't Get Ya...

...the aliens will:

UFO hovers over aeroplane in Manitoba

They're out there!!!

I Don't Want To Be....

his dinner:

Great White Sharks Eat More Than Originally Thought

More Questions

The science is definitely not settled on this one:

Big Bang's afterglow, older universe spotted by telescope

Another One From,,,

...the "You can't make this shit up" file:

Sea Shepherd sues Japanese whaler in Netherlands for 'piracy'

Pot - Kettle?

Egypt to detain former Libyan official for 30 days

On corruption charges.

Yes

Spring please.

Now I Know Why...

...I'm allergic to cats:

Ottawa politicians and their caterparts

23 Kitties of Congress

The Twilight Zone

UFO: Glowing orbs travel to Sun

I Wonder How Much...

...we're paying for this?

Federal librarians face new 'behaviour regulation' code

"Staff at Library and Archives Canada are being schooled in "methods of behaviour regulation" as part of the agency's new code of conduct, according to documents obtained by Postmedia News.

Training sessions, which officials say are being given to all employees at the agency to ensure the controversial code "is known and understood by all," start with a primer on values and ethics.

"Values help us establish standards, which allow us to choose our behaviour, make decisions, express our needs, and follow our personal path," says a PowerPoint presentation on the two-hour training sessions.

It says morals and ethics are part of a continuum with "self-regulation" at one end and "heterogulation" at the other."

You Might Want To Wait...

Pakistan to hold historic polls on May 11

...until it actually happens.

Related. I so hope she wins the Nobel Peace Prize, and not just because she deserves it. The prize itself is in desperate need of redemption.

LOL!!

Ain't Parliamentary Democracy Grand!!

This was inspired by a email exchange about recent events in the Ukraine parliament:



Or was it Korea?



Or maybe Taiwan?



No, well maybe it was  Jamaica...



Canada, then?



India, perhaps?



Alabama?



Hmmmm. I wonder if there's a parliamentary assembly that hasn't broken out into a good old fashioned brawl?

Some Creepy Stuff And Some "Oh Dear!!" And "Heavy Sigh" Stuff

Whatever are we going to do?

Lululemon recall over see-through material could lead to yoga pants shortage

You know, some people are terrified of bats. I'm not. But show me something like this and I really creep out. I don't care how many bats they eat. I guess I'm an arachnophobe. I mean, that's gotta be irrational, right?

Want your education paid for? Take something useful

"The number of Canadians pursuing useless post-secondary degrees, often on borrowed money, has apparently gotten under the Prime Minister’s skin. Mr. Harper, it is reported, is growing increasingly frustrated that there are hundreds of thousands of job vacancies that Canadian employers need filled, but remain open because Canadians lack the skills or training. This results in Canada needing hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers while youth unemployment languishes at double the national rate. This is putting a real damper on our economic productivity at a time when governments at every level are desperate to boost growth."

[---]

"But if governments, federal or provincial, really want to tackle this problem, it will require some very tough love indeed. Governments provide huge money to students, whether through grants, scholarships or loans. It’s time to only direct that support toward university or college programs that will meet the needs of the economy. Everyone would retain the right to go into Women’s Studies or, as I did, military history, but on your own dime. If you want the government’s help getting educated, you have to do something the national economy needs."

Well said!

A Good Night Salutation

Very, Very Interesting...

...especially since he agrees with me (or I with him):

The Secret to Reviving the Arab Spring's Promise: Property Rights

I don't think it's a lost cause, although postponed it may be.

"Unfortunately for al Qaeda and its allies, much more promising forces are at work, sending positive signals for the West, if only the West will listen.

Research in the region conducted by my organization, the Peruvian-based Institute for Liberty and Democracy, has found strong evidence that the Arab Spring revolution was rooted in a desire for what in the West would be called a market-based economy. Arabs and others may not always use that phrase, but their desire for the economic security that comes with property rights and other rights is a force that the foes of individual freedom will not easily overcome. The challenge is to harness that force by offering people of the region the legal protections and security that are the bedrock of all successful economies.

Recall the catalyst of what became the Arab Spring: the self-immolation in January 2011 of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian fruit vendor protesting the expropriation of his merchandise. According to our estimates, more than 200 million people throughout the Middle East and North Africa depend on income from operating businesses or occupying property in the informal economy—without the protection of the rule of law.

That means the entrepreneurs who want a legal system with property rights like those in the West outnumber al Qaeda membership in the region, often estimated at up to 4,000 core activists, by a ratio of about 50,000 to one.

Some other research highlights:

Mohamed Bouazizi's desperate protest wasn't unique. We found that at least 63 more men and women—in Tunisia and also in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen—followed Bouazizi's example within 60 days of his death. That was the critical period during which governments were toppled or dramatically shaken. Forty percent of these protesters survived, and some of them are contributing to our research on the difficulty of living in societies without property rights or other freedoms.

All 64 of the self-immolation protesters were engaged in extralegal businesses, and they made their dramatic statements for economic rather than political or other reasons. In filmed footage of real-estate owner Fadoua Laroui in Morocco, for instance, she declares that she is protesting "economic exclusion" just before setting herself on fire in front of a municipal building on Feb. 23, 2011. In an on-camera interview, Mohamed Bouazizi's brother, Salem, told me that Mohamed set himself alight because he believed that "the poor also have the right to buy and sell."

The principal reason that self-immolators gave for their acts was "expropriation"—governmental seizure of property. A common view of Bouazizi's death is that he killed himself because a policewoman slapped him and robbed him of his dignity. No slap in the face drives five dozen people to try to burn themselves to death. Every survivor without exception has told us it was about desperation over property."

I've always thought the best comparison, if it's wise to draw comparisons in history, is the Prague Spring. It took a generation following that event before communism fell during an event which has come to be known as the Velvet Revolution.

I certainly don't think Islamists like Morsi have any answers. The real Jasmine revolution awaits another day.

Har, Har, Har!!

Deborah Coyne, Liberal Party leadership candidate and former wife of Pierre Trudeau, shows what's wrong with her party. At about 54 seconds she says "We're felling disconnected." What she is referring to is Canadians feeling disconnected from each other. Hah!! It's the Liberal Party that is disconnected, darlin'. Until you face that fact, you're never coming back. What is it with you Trudeau connected Liberals, anyway. Why can't you move on?

Speaking Of Wimps...

...These men have been fitted with some sort of electrodes that simulate labour. My grandmother used to say that if men and women took turns having the babies, the most there would ever be in any family is three kids. LOL!!

From The...

..."Who Said Men are the Stronger Sex?" file:



Wimps! LOL!!

That's just an excuse, if you ask me. I ain't buying it.

AARRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

I need a dog team! Please, God! Make this be the last of it!

Today's forecast, which is already proving to be true:

"Snow at times heavy. Amount 10 to 15 cm. Local blowing snow early this morning and late this afternoon. Wind southeast 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming light this morning. Wind becoming north 30 this afternoon. High minus 10. Wind chill minus 27 this morning."

That should just about do it, I think. We gotst us a record. Or at least damned close.

Would I be forgiven if I got one of those global warming freaks to shovel snow as it's coming down?

Depression

A few days ago, my niece was involved in a horrific accident. She got creamed by a semi. Miraculously, she survived, but her car was totaled. The worst she got out of it was a couple of big gashes in her scalp.

That put me in mind of another horrific accident. One that I was in when I was a mere 19 year-old. The driver of the other car was skunky drunk and was in the air and rolling. His car hit our car on the front of the drivers' side. He, and one of his passengers were killed instantly. My baby sister spent several weeks in hospital in Regina. All I got was two gashes in my head and lots of bruises. This baby sister is the mother of the niece who miraculously escaped injury a few days ago.

Emails are flying back and forth between the sisterhood and our one and only lonely brother. I was supposed to pick him up in Indian Head that night, and when I never showed he was stinking mad, until he learned what had happened.

The other thing that's depressing is the SNOW. It's still coming down!! All the kidlets in the school yard across the street from my place are in their winter duds. The damned weatherman is predicting snow almost every day for the next several days and there are predictions of big floods in the spring. (Spring? What's that?) I hope my basement doesn't flood.

Oh well. I'm getting lots done around the house. Always look on the bright side of life, and be grateful you have a life:

We're All Gonna Die!!

All because of those pesky Canadians:

Canadian glacier ice melt will push up sea levels: Study

"As much as 20 per cent of glacier ice in the Canadian Arctic could vanish by the end of this century; it would add 3.5 centimetres to sea levels."

3.5 centimetres!!! That's roughly 1 1/4 inches. Say it ain't so!! Better sign up for swimming lessons, right now.

Oh, No. Christians...

...are not being persecuted:

Egyptian Christians describe torture at the hands of Libyan captors

Especially not by The Religion of Peace.

I Never Thought...

...I'd side with a crackpot, but I'm with him on this:

Anti-gay pamphleteer asks for Supreme Court do-over on test of hate-speech laws

On The Ides Of March

Reuters journalist charged with conspiring with hacker group Anonymous

Surprise. Surprise.

No favouritism for Hubich: CUPE shop steward

Oh my. Is Saskatchewan's labour movement falling apart under its chief goon, Larry Hubick? Sure hope so. Mr. Hubick is your garden variety Union goon. Perhaps the gig is up, Larry. What a great legacy you will leave! RTWT.

Knight's remains found in parking lot

Betcha his shining armour ain't so shiny after all these years. Har. Har.

Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby to appeal Rob Ford conflict-of-interest decision

I sure hope this shyster looses. The left is going down and it's costing them a lot of money. They just don't seem to understand that Ford himself in not the issue. The issue is the integrity of free and fair elections, which they have a habit of losing.

Muslim convert from BBC documentary pleads guilty to terrorism charges

"A Muslim convert who featured in a BBC3 documentary in 2011 about Islamism has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges at the Old Bailey."

[---]

"Richard Dart, 29, admitted plotting a terror attack in Royal Wootton Bassett and planning to target members of the security services including "M15 or M16 heads" after receiving training at terrorism camps in Pakistan." [Emphasis mine]

It's hard to know where to begin on this one. Let's just say, I think this says a lot about disaffected Westerners who defend Islamism and hurl the accusation of Islamofascism around. Civilization and its malcontents!

Hundreds more dead pigs found in Chinese river

"Shanghai locals fear water contamination after more than 7,000 carcasses removed from Huangpu"

[---]

"Shanghai locals fear water contamination after more than 7,000 carcasses removed from Huangpu"

[---]

"The dead pigs are believed to be come from farms upstream in the Jiaxing area in neighbouring Zhejiang province. A surge in pig dumping has followed police campaigns against the sale of pork products made from diseased pigs."

Not quite the same as "Shoot. Shovel. and Shut up!", is it. Yuk. Beware the Ides of March!

Can you imagine China without pork products?

And if that wasn't enough to turn your stomach, lets have a chalice of wine, as we remember old Julius!

And if that still wasn't enough, IT'S STILL SNOWING HERE!! I haven't got to the stage where I want to shoot myself, but an extra chalice or two of whine seems in order. (Pun intended, because I'm so funny.)

Proving There's More...

...than one way to skin a cat:
U.S. senators introduce bill to approve Keystone XL pipeline

"The legislation, introduced by John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, and Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, would give Congress the power to approve the project.

This month the State Department issued an environmental assessment of the line, which said the project would not cause environmental harm. The Obama administration is expected to make a final decision on the project, which has been pending for more than four years, by August or later."

You think the fact that North Dakota and Montana both share a border with Canada has anything to do with this? And between the two states, the border stretches all the way from Manitoba to the Alberta/B.C. border, and takes in the Bakken oil field, too.

Sorry Barack, but "August or later" is just too late. You've already dragged your heels for too long.

I Just Love It...

...when there are two seemingly contradictory stories in the news on the same day, especially when at least one touches on predictions of catastrophic global warming:

Caves Point to Thawing of Siberia: Thaw in Siberia's Permafrost May Accelerate Global Warming

Snow kills 170 domestic animals in Siberia in three days

Ironic, ain't it. Pravda, that old USSR propaganda paper, is finally living up to its name. Pravda means truth.

Meanwhile, also from Russia, a story about a real catastrophe from the past:

Fossil animal horn unearthed in Siberia

"A huge flood may have killed the prehistoric animal about 18,000 years ago when a large lake in the Chui Steppe overflowed its banks, experts said.

"That caused the most massive flood in history, with water moving at a speed of 160 kilometers (99 miles) an hour and covering earth with 490 meters (1,607 feet) of water," the republic's government said in a report on its website."

There was a similar catastrophe that happened in what is now Canada several millennium ago, according to the book, Heaven and Earth, by Ian Plimer.

It's amazing how many flood stories exist in tribal lore from all over the world. Strange that they all happened at the end of the last ice age.

Good Riddance

FLQ leader Paul Rose, major figure in October Crisis, dies at 69

"A convicted terrorist who played a pivotal role in Quebec's 1970 October Crisis, and later remained active in political causes, has died at age 69.

After suffering a stroke, Paul Rose passed away this morning in a Montreal hospital, surrounded by his family.

He was a member of the FLQ cell that kidnapped Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte in 1970.

Rose was convicted of Laporte's murder and sentenced to life in prison, but he was paroled in 1982."

RTWT

If ever there was a sound reason to return the death penalty, those last six words should clinch it.

Oooooo! That's Racist!!

Good Stuff, Er, God Stuff

Debate: Does Science Refute God? from Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates on FORA.tv

Oh Dear!!

Howling and screaming to ensue from all the usual suspects. 4...3...2...1

Canadian Forces quietly get a new, tougher name

"Having already re-inserted “royal” into the names of the Canadian air force and navy, the Harper government is making another change to Canada’s military identity.

It is now quietly working to remind Canadians that their soldiers carry guns by doing away with the Chretien-era “Canadian Forces” to describe the military, and instead returning to former moniker “Canadian Armed Forces.”

Unlike the great fanfare that accompanied the Harper government’s decision to reinstate the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force, this most recent change is much more subtle.

But analysts say it is notable as part of a continuing trend of various Canadian governments rebranding the military in images more to their liking.

“I’m guessing the government wants to re-establish the image that the Canadian Forces is not Boy Scouts, as (former prime minister Jean) Chretien called them,” said Douglas Bland, a retired lieutenant-colonel and now chair of defence management studies at Queen’s University."

Another Moment Of Kleptomania

This one, again, from Facebook, courtesy of my twenty-something niece.

For The Last...

...several years I've been trying to get to the bottom of what makes Americans tick. These two videos have helped a great deal.





I've given up on trying to figure out what makes Canadians tick. I'm not satisfied with the beer and snow explanation, although it does go some way toward explaining our collective psyche. Nor does hockey. We're basically schizo. We imagine ourselves to be peacekeepers, or at least some of us do, yet we tolerate all sorts of violent brawls on the ice in our national sport.

Inneresting

Stonehenge may have been burial site for Stone Age elite, say archaeologists

"Dating cremated bone fragments of men, women and children found at site puts origin of first circle back 500 years to 3,000BC"

[---]

"More than 50,000 cremated bone fragments, of 63 individuals buried at Stonehenge, have been excavated and studied for the first time by a team led by archaeologist Professor Mike Parker Pearson, who has been working at the site and on nearby monuments for decades. He now believes the earliest burials long predate the monument in its current form."

It is very, very interesting - and mysterious. I've been to Stonehenge, back in the days when you could walk right up to it and touch the stones.

Panspermia???!!!

Where do they dig up these names?

Oh yeah. In space:

Astrobiologists Find Ancient Fossils in Fireball Fragments

"Algae-like structures inside a Sri Lankan meteorite are clear evidence of panspermia, the idea that life exists throughout the universe, say astrobiologists"

I cry foul. And sexism. It should be panovum.

Oh Brother!!

There goes the peace and quiet in my life:

Cell phone numbers now in telemarketers’ hands

My last name is very common in India and other parts of Asia. I used to get calls all the freakin' time from people trying to sell me a special long distance plan for calls to India. I'll betcha that will start up again. I don't know a single soul who lives in India, but my name suggests that I should. Cripes!!

Oh My God!!!

My baby, mother of Sydney and Logan, is 33 years old today. Where did the time go? And oh my God, I feel a song coming on - or two:



Dontcha wish you had the smarts when you were 20 something years old (when this song, and the lass that sings it, was popular) that you have when you're sixty something? Whoever said "youth is wasted on the young" had it so right, but why does one have to get old before one realizes the truth of that statement? Oh well, who said life is fair?

Here's another from that era that reminds me of my little girl:



/old fart speak.

My Favourite Subject In University...

...was paleoanthropology, so this naturally piqued my curiosity:

China human fossil discovery gets name

More about Homo erectus.

I know some people who look like and perhaps act like Homo erectus (ie. becoming extinct), but we won't go into that now.

What More Proof Do You Need?

Saskatchewan's NDP are toast. Today, they are choosing a new leader. Does anybody care? A bunch of nobodies and never-heard-of-befores, and this is the best they can come up with????

Saskatchewan NDP calls for rent control

They did that waaaaaay back in the 1970s and the result was a disaster. No new rental properties were constructed (surprise, surprise). The total stock of rental housing gradually sunk. Older buildings fell into ruin, because their owners could not recoup their expenses and make a profit.

Apparently, the NDP have not caught on to the fact that the only way to control escalating rents charges is to foster a glut in rental accommodation. To do that, developers need to be confident the effort and investment they put into constructing new apartment buildings (which will eventually result in the glut) will pay off. When the government decrees what investors can charge, the tenant loses. Will they ever learn?

Pauline Sacrifices A Lamb

Maybe it's because Easter is coming. Ya' think??

Quebec language watchdog resigns in wake of ‘Pastagate’

I Suppose I Should Weigh In

This is an important thing for Roman Catholics, I suppose. As for me? Meh!

Who Saw That Coming? /sarc

Venezuelan VP Maduro readies to lead after Chavez's death

"Hours after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death, Venezuelans and politicians are wondering how the nation will choose Chavez's successor, as Vice-President Nicolas Maduro has been named the nation's interim president — contrary to the constitution.
Venezuela's constitution mandates an election be called within 30 days, but it is currently unclear when an election will be held.

The constitution specifies that the speaker of the National Assembly, currently Diosdado Cabello, should assume the interim presidency if a president can't be sworn in. But Maduro — who will be the governing socialists' candidate in the upcoming election after being named Chavez's successor by the late president — is filling the post instead."

[Emphasis mine throughout]

How much do you want to bet there will be a coup, and maybe a counter-coup, and a coup to counter the counter-coup. It used to be the Latin American tradition. Chavez kept certain thuggery traditions alive and well.

Related: Here and here and here.

Now would be the time for a well placed nuke, straight up Ahmadinejad's ass, while he's attending the funeral, along with all the other adoring thugs of the world.

Here's A Little Something...

...to keep you occupied until the blogging mood hits me again, hopefully tomorrow:

Chin Up...

...stiff upper lip and all that.

Sick Queen rushed to hospital for first time in 10 years after suffering with highly infectious stomach bug

I hope she lives to a ripe old age like her mother did. The last thing we need is Chucky-Pooh sitting on that big chair.

And the Queen gets the runs? Who knew?

Marching On

March came in like a lamb, but the weatherman says we have a big blizzard on the way. Dontcha just love this country. Odds are we'll get a big dump on the 31st.

Mon Dieu!!....

....He can speak French!!!



Previously.

That Wet Finger

You know what I always say about the Liberals. They have a long history of putting their wet fingers into the air to see which way the wind blows, and then changing their tune accordingly, vis:


At least the Dippers stick to their principles, as reprehensible as they may be.

Round Up

Stay away from U.S. border amid spending cuts (Loonie’s sinking, anyway)

"The United States is bracing for tens of billion in spending cuts that would go into effect automatically tonight and, among other things, are expected in time to snarl border traffic."

[---]

"The Canada-U.S. border does business worth about $1-billion a day, and companies are watching closely."

[---]

"“The implications of $85-billion being cut from U.S. spending would see projected U.S. growth fall from 2 per cent to 1.5 per cent, more than enough to derail the fragile recovery that is currently under way in the U.S.,” said market analyst Alastair McCaig of IG in London.

(Canadian cross-border shoppers, who just a few weeks ago were enjoying the buying power of a currency at par with the U.S. dollar, may as well avoid the expected border lineups and stay home, anyway. The loonie, as the dollar is known in Canada, has been falling and was at an eight-month low of under 97 cents this morning.)"

Whatever that means. I should have taken that economics class.

Holy cow! I used to live in Leduc! In fact, I lived in an apartment that sat on the corner of two major streets - Black Gold Drive and 50th Street. Further down on 50th Street was the hospital, the fire department and the cop shop. There was an unending supply of vehicles, with sirens blaring, passing by, night and day

More flash than substance

"Contributor examines why Justin Trudeau may not be the best choice for Liberal leadership

Earlier this month front runner of the Liberal leadership race Justin Trudeau visited Queen’s. Speaking to an unsurprisingly packed audience, supporters young and old eagerly shared words of encouragement and praise.

Yet, despite his popularity, Trudeau has thus far proven himself to be extremely inept both politically and intellectually. So much so that Liberals should take a long, sober second to consider if he’s an appropriate fit, let alone the best contender they have to offer to be Canada’s next Prime Minister."

Shhhhh. Don't tell them that. They might get a clue.

I didn't know you had to thaw out a meteorite.

I'm predicting cloud cover.

"This could be a spectacular year for comets, ending with one that may be the brightest comet in many years appearing in the last 2-3 months of the year."