Thursday, November 30, 2006
Something you might expect for Leno...
When will those crazy Iraqi secretaries realize that violence isn't the answer?
Sadly, this error has been fixed since getting the screen shot.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Something you'd expect from The Onion...
Scientists say pollution may combat global warming
Updated Thu. Nov. 16 2006 2:49 PM ETAssociated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya -- If the sun warms the Earth too dangerously, the time may come to draw the shade. The "shade" would be a layer of pollution deliberately spewed into the atmosphere to help cool the planet. This over-the-top idea comes from prominent scientists, among them a Nobel laureate.The reaction here at the UN conference on climate change is a mix of caution, curiosity and some resignation to such "massive and drastic" operations, as the chief UN climatologist describes them.
The Nobel Prize-winning scientist who first made the proposal is himself "not enthusiastic about it.".....
The Dutch climatologist, awarded a 1995 Nobel in chemistry for his work uncovering the threat to Earth's atmospheric ozone layer, suggested that balloons bearing heavy guns be used to carry sulfates high aloft and fire them into the stratosphere.
While carbon dioxide keeps heat from escaping Earth, substances such as sulfur dioxide, a common air pollutant, reflect solar radiation, helping cool the planet.
Tom Wigley, a senior U.S. government climatologist, followed Crutzen's article with a paper of his own on Oct. 20 in the leading U.S. journal Science. Like Crutzen, Wigley cited the precedent of the huge volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991.
Pinatubo shot so much sulfurous debris into the stratosphere that it is believed it cooled the Earth by .9 degrees for about a year....
A massive dissemination of pollutants would be needed every year or two, as the sulfates precipitate from the atmosphere in acid rain.
Wigley said a temporary shield would give political leaders more time to reduce human dependence on fossil fuels -- the main source of greenhouse gases. He said experts must more closely study the feasibility of the idea and its possible effects on stratospheric chemistry.
Nairobi conference participants agreed.
"Yes, by all means, do all the research," Indian climatologist Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the 2,000-scientist UN network on climate change, told The Associated Press.
But "if human beings take it upon themselves to carry out something as massive and drastic as this, we need to be absolutely sure there are no side effects," Pachauri said...
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
What a wonderful world.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Cuba's New Leader?
At 75, he is Fidel's younger brother by five years and for probably all but that time he has been by his side — at school, in jail, in their guerrilla hideaways leading up to the 1959 revolution, and in power. But throughout his life, he has always been taunted: "You're too little to be a dictator Rudy". And so, while the big boys get to play dictator, poor old Rudy Castro will have to settle for memories of playing a few lousy minutes for Notre Dame and then having an affair with Elijah Wood several years later.
An interesting game idea...
http://www.peacemakergame.com/
Monday, July 17, 2006
UFC
Liddell vs. "Babalu" 2. I hoping and predicting that Liddell will take this one. Rumour has it that if Liddell wins he'll defend against Wanderlei Silva next. Silva has been pretty dominating in Pride FC and he wants to fight the UFC light heavyweight champ. I'd rather see him fight Liddell than Babalu.
Griffin vs. Bonnar 2: It was such a close fight the first time around. I think Griffin will more decisively than last time.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Finals
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Semi-finals
Imagine if people flew half the number of Canadian flags year-round as we've seen flags of other countries these past few weeks.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Quarter finals
Germany - they played impressively in the round of 16 and I've yet to see Argentina really shine, although it'll be close. (honestly, that was my prediction)
Italy - no brainer
Portugal - England hasn't played all that well yet. Portugal will take this one and lose in the semi-finals.
France finally had a good game, but can they keep it up. Like Argentina, Brazil hasn't really played at their best. I think France might edge their way into the semi-finals.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Stars and Dogs
Stars: Podolski for his 2 quick goals & Sweden's Keeper for several key saves to keep Sweden's hope alive.
Dogs: The German Keeper for 2 terrible plays that could have cost Germany the game.
Netherlands vs. Portugal
Stars: none, maybe vad der Sar for a few key saves that kept hope alive.
Dogs: Basically everyone on both teams. Special mention goes to Figo who should be given a hefty fine and be suspended for the rest of the world cup.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Round of 16 predictions
Argentina v. Mexico - Argentina by 2.
Italy v. Australia - Italy
Switzerland v. Ukraine - Neither team is really a powerhouse. It could go either way. Let's say Ukraine, just for fun.
England vs. Ecuador - England should take it by at least 2 or 3 goals.
Portugal vs. Netherlands - On paper, the Dutch should have this one, but they haven't impressed me much so far. It may be close, but I'll still say the Netherlands will win though.
Brazil vs. Ghana - Brazil hasn't been playing their best either, but they should take Ghana easily.
Spain vs. France - Frace has basically tanked since winning the Euro Cup in 2000. Spain should win.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Good News
Last Comic Standing
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
A sad end for Royce Gracie
After the fight, Gracie was toying with the though of another fight, but maybe he should retire. At least his one loss was at the hands of someone who will become almost as big of a legend as Gracie is. If he takes another fight and loses, he'll really be tarnishing his reputation. And let's face it, he's got a good chance of losing: Now that jiu jitsu is such a big part of MMA (because of Gracie's dominance), he's lost his advangtage: People know how to defend against him now.(can you smell the irony?)
Coming up in July: UFC 61: two big matches: Sylvia vs. Arlovski and Ortiz vs. Shamrock.
I think Sylvia will KO or TKO Arlovski with strikes and Ortiz will take out Shamrock. Shamrock is definately over the hill.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The latest idol loser
Taylor is like your half drunk uncle singing at a wedding.
Catherine sings out of tune almost as often as she sings in tune.
And the other guy is pretty average...his performances (like his name) are pretty forgetable. Sure I could look up his name, but he's not worth it.
I hope Chris puts out a record even though he lost, just like when the big KFC eating guy won but the loser got more press.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Federal Budget
1) Income taxes will not be going up for the vast majority of Canadians.
2) Low Income Canadians are not being disadvantaged by the tax measures in the budget.
3) Bill Graham: "Why didn't the prime minister tell the country in his campaign that one of his five priorities would be raising income tax for the poorest of Canadians?": Disproving the lies.
4) what the opposition won't say about the $1200 for beer and popcorn.
1)Let's compare the Liberal Income tax plan with the Conservative income tax plan, both being compared to the old 16%.
Liberal plan: the lowest tax bracket is about $27000 wide (from about 8500 to 35500, according to my 2005 T1 General) If you make more than 35500 you will save 1% on the entire 27000:
1% x 27000 = 270
Conservative plan: if you have a job, the lowest tax bracket is $26000 wide (from 9500 to 35500) If you make more than the 35500 then you will save 0.5% on 26000:
0.5% x 26000 = 130
Plus you will now not pay tax at all on $1000 of your income:
16% x 1000 = 160
Total savings:160+130=290
$20 better than the liberal plan if you earn over 35500.
(put another way, to prove that i'm not fudging the numbers: after liberal cuts you'll pay an extra 0.5% on 26000 (=130) but you'll not pay tax on 1000 at the lib's 15% (=150), so you pay 130 extra, but get back 150, total benefit:$20)
So it's basically the same deal for the average canadian family.
2) Let's look at low income earners, who will apparently pay more tax now, according to the lib's and ndp: (note: this section a.k.a. Bill Graham: Liar or dummy? part 1)
let's take a single working mom making not-so-much money, let's say $15,000. Under liberal plan she'll pay: (excluding all other tax credits, etc.)
15% x (15000-8500) = 975
under conservatives (excluding all other tax credits, etc.)
15.5% on (15000-9500) = 852.5
So enjoy your extra $122.50 single working mother making $15000/year. Plus your $100/month for each child under 6, plus tax credits any sports the kids play, plus tax credits if you use public transit, plus your 1% GST cut.
3) Bill Graham: Liar or dummy? (part 2)
The lowest income Canadians don't pay income tax at all, so a 1% cut in the income tax rate doesn't do squat for them. However, everyone pays GST, including those who don't earn enough to pay income tax. GST cut makes a difference, Income tax cut doesn't. Secondly, The Conservatives were pretty clear that we'd be going back to 16%, which was actually improved by only going back up to 15.5%. Add that to the employment credit, and as it has been shown already: we're better off than the 1% cut the lib's gave anyways.
4) The opposition loves to say that the budget is taking from the poor and giving to the rich. They also love to say that the $1200 isn't so great because it's taxable income. Let's examine that statement in more depth: The lowest income canadians don't pay income tax, so they get to keep the $1200. Higher income candians pay a higher rate of income tax, so they'll pay more tax on it. There is a loop hole for the rich in this one: if one parent makes loads of cash and the other stays home, they'll be able to keep the full $1200 because it is taxable to the lower income partent. All-in-all it's probably more progressive to tax the $1200 than not to tax it.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
TBS sheds a new light on LOTR
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Bush Annouces Plan to Solve America's Obesity Epidemic.
This seems like a top notch plan. Keep up the great work!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Spiderman
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Congratulations!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Home Improvement Returns!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
Obligatory Post: It's been a while.
Monday, January 23, 2006
More on "A woman's right to choose"
I'm also unhappy that the phrase is accepted so readily. If a pro-lifer called it "murdering an unborn child", he/she would be label as an extremist in a heartbeat. Yet, "A woman's right to choose" is just as extreme. Calling it "abortion" is the middle ground. In the same light, I don't like how it's becoming acceptable to say that somebody is pro-choice or anti-choice. Think of how extreme it would be if pro-choicers were called "anti-life". The middle ground here is pro-life/pro-choice. But it seems that more and more, anyone who doesn't fully agree with the social-left is an extremist. If I'm in favour of any sort of restriction on abortion at all, I'm an extremist. In fact, those who believe there should be no restrictions are the extremists (and also those who believe that there should be no abortions whatsoever). The middle view is that there should be some limits placed on abortion. The most obvious one is a time limit (before the end of the first or second trimester for example).
Most would agree that abortions should be allowed in cases of rape or a chance of the mother dying from complications. But I'm not big on irresponsible teens getting abortions so that they won't get in trouble from their parents or getting an abortion because the mother will be unable to care for the child. In the words of Jack Layton "There is a third choice": adoption. However, this kind of thing would likely be difficult to legislate and even more difficult to enforce.
If there were any restrictions ever legislated, it should be a time limit on abortions. That's a balanced approach that should be acceptable for most people who hold a moderate view on the subject.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Martin's day of thinking pays off big!
Then he did an impression of Stephen Harper: "OOoooOOOOooOOoooo. IIII'm Steeephen Haaarper. I'm veeeery scaaaarey. If you vote foooor meeeee or I will haunt yooooooooou foreeeeeeeeeeeever. Beeee afraaaaaaaid."
Good job Paul. If this doesn't turn things around, I don't know what will.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Martin's Day
He's hoping that it'll be easier to come up with an idea if he uses an energy saver bulb.
More of the Sex Club Issue
Last night Paul Martin responded to Layton's attack, reaffirming his support of sex clubs and gay marriage.
In true Paul Martin form, his response didn't actually address the issues raised. You could go on forever with Martin and not get any reasonable answer.
After his announcement and spanking, Martin took some questions:
"If you get rid of the notwithstanding clause, how will you defend our right to go to sex clubs if the courts take it away?"
"Well, first of all, let me say that I believe very much that this is essentially an important problem."
"That's not really an answer to my question, how will you defend our rights to go to sex clubs?"
"We will work very hard to defend the rights of Canadians, whether it's on sex clubs, gay marriage or a woman's right to choose."
"Ok, but HOW will you defend it?"
"We will defend it essentially, by fighting very hard, because this is, in fact, a very very important issue."
"Thanks for clearing that up."
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Layton and the Notwithstanding Clause
Layton then entered the Gaslamp Sex Club with these individuals:
Martin and the US
Look at those puppy dog eyes, gazing lovingly at Bush. Isn't it cute? I heard that after this photo was taken, Martin said "He's so dreamy. He makes me feel like a school-girl again." He kept sighing all the time too.
Liberals release more ads
On an unrelated note, it seems that 22 Minutes has stopped sucking. I remember watching the end of it sometimes while waiting for Air Farce to come on and thinking "Who in the blue hell thinks that the Quinton Quints is a funny skit?". It appears as though everyone abandoned ship and the new cast isn't doing so bad (at least not this week). Time to watch Mercer now.
Update: Mercer's commercials were WAY better. Unfortunately they are not available on his website.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Layton pushes the NDP drug.
davidjthuss, I welcome all comments more random than this post (especially those containing unrelated Sandler and Farley quotes).
Saturday, January 14, 2006
"A woman's right to choose"
Friday, January 13, 2006
Slippery Slope Proven to be Pure Myth
It appears as though same-sex marriage has opened the door to a possible Charter challenge for polygamy. It seems some religions allow it, so it's a religious right. What's next? Perhaps the once joked about "same-person" marriage. Or more likely same-family marriage. What about bi-sexual marriage to both a man and a woman. Perhaps inter-species matrimony. And what happens when pedophiles get on the bandwagon? Martin will definately be wishing he won the election so that nobody could use the notwithstanding clause to take away our basic human right to marry many blood related children of both genders, along with the family pet.
Those crazy theorists and their slippery slope. What'll they think of next? Inflation?
I'm thinking that maybe this post is a little too sarcastic. I'll try to tone it down a little next time.
New Liberal Ads
Paul Martin everybody. Give him a hand.
By the way, when Martin would "answer" questions by saying how good a question it was and how important it was and how big a problem it was, I think Peter Mansbridge did a decent job of calling him on it and telling him to answer the question. Mansbridge can get a little bit tougher on politicians than Don Newman. Here's how things go when Don tries to get tough on somebody:
"Aren't the Liberals corrupt, and this is just a way to try to hide it?"
"No, we're not corrupt, we're not trying to hide anything."
"Ok. Let me ask another question: What do you think about being down in the polls?"
That's great Don, just take their word for it immediately. You're doing a great job.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Liberals plan to ban weapons in space.
"Liberals are firmly opposed to the weaponization of space and recognize that the best time to prevent an arms race in space is before one begins," reads a passage from the 84-page document, called Securing Canada's Success.
"While an existing international treaty explicitly forbids the stationing of weapons of mass destruction in space, there is currently no multilateral agreement banning the deployment of handguns in space. A Liberal government will put forward an international ban on handguns in space. Most gun crimes in space are commited with stolen guns from collectors. We're only one break-in away from another murder in earth's orbit."
A very funny post.
It's a great idea.
I think you'll like it.
Add your own parodies.
I did several times.
I think there could be many hilarious updates.
I'm not making this up.
Go there.
See for yourself.
Martin Finally Answers Key Questions
Q: How many criminal investigations of the Liberal Government are currently underway?
A:
Q: Who was really behind the sponsorship scandal?
A:
Q: If you were re-elected as prime minister, how many days would it be before you stole money again?
A:
Q: How many campaign promises are you planning on keeping?
A:
Q: Where's your toupee today?
A: "Oh shit!"
Monday, January 09, 2006
Thank you Mr. Kinsella
January 6, 2006 -
(CP – Special) Unidentified child (top right) reacts to hearing “come Hell or high water,” “transformative change,” “essentially,” “very, very important,” “fundamentally” and – most recently – a sitting Prime Minister actually commenting on the merits of an ongoing RCMP investigation: “offensive.” Another unidentified toddler (top centre) slips into a self-induced coma after reading all two pages of Liberal campaign platform. Scott Feschuk, bottom right, channels Paul Wells for his next English-only blog entry.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Major platform announcements from Liberals and Conservatives
Martin: "If I am elected, I will take over the world, MUHAHAHAHA!"
Harper: "Under a new conservative government, Canadians would be watched by creepy eyes behind paintings, 24 hours a day."
Layton wanted to make a major announcement, but he finally realized that nobody has payed attention to him since the campaign began.
Liberals claim Conservative will create deficit
So, why isn't Martin fessing up to his own deficit creating promises? There are a few possible explanations:
1) While Martin's promises total about $65 billion, he's not planning on keeping most of them anyways, so we'll see even higher surpluses from him.
2) As per usual, Martin is hiding billions of dollars so that when the surplus is suddenly a lot bigger than expected, he can look like a hero. There's actually more than enough surplus funds to cover the promises of both parties.
3) The Liberal version of Tory numbers are incorrect, either on purpose or by accident.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Thank you Funny E-mail. You made my day.
Friday, January 06, 2006
New details for Conservative Child Care Plan
Releasing the details of the plan will finally get some attention a much neglected part of the child care strategy. Liberals and the media have both been ignoring the $250 million/year ever since the announcement was made. Liberals will no longer be able to get away with saying that the Conservative plan to give $1200/year to parents won't create new child care spaces because the voters will be more aware of the rest of the plan.
The plan is also a good solution to the problem of waiting lists. I've been saying for months upon months, that the best solution to the lack of child care spaces is to provide funding for non-profit day cares to expand or start new centres. It is very difficult for non-profit centres to raise the funds needed to expand or start a new centre. As the waiting lists get shorter, parents will have a choice of which day care centre to send their kids to, instead of just sending them to any centre where there is a space. Once parents have this choice, centres that provide a quality program will keep expanding and centres with poor quality, "babysitteresque" programs will decline. This could be a lengthy process without the aid of the government though. Ministry officials, which already visit and inspect child care centres routinely, should be able to vito any funding for poor quality centres to expand or open new locations.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Liberal tuition plan is a dud.
Unfortunately for Martin, no matter what he promises for PSE, he cannot be trusted to follow through on it: In 2004, the Liberals promised billions in funding for PSE. This promise was not kept by the Liberals. It was the NDP that forced the Liberals to include the money in the revised spring budget.
I support reducing interest rates on student loans, which the CPC and the NDP have talked about. However, these two parties are not doing enough to knock down the barriers to post-secondary education for the poorest students.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
National Child Care "Plan" short on details
The Liberals seem to love the Quebec system. They are going to commit $11 billion over 9 years which translates into $1.2 billion per year. However, In Quebec alone, the daycare system costs the government $1.2 billion per year. So basically, each province will get an average of $120 million per year, and end up paying 90% of the cost themselves. Sounds like more "premiums" will be needed in Ontario to pay for all this, since the feds took away so much of the transfer payments to the provinces to create their surpluses. Oh, wait, Ontario won't have to create new premiums to invest more money in the system. In fact, they won't even be forced to use the Liberals' money for child care. Since there will be no legislation involved in this "plan", the provinces could just spend this money on beer and popcorn instead.
Moving on...Let's say that the Liberal idea of "affordable" child care isn't $7/day or $35/week like it is in Quebec. Then let's see how much the plan would save parents. The Liberals say that the $11 billion will create 62500 new day care spaces (and subsidized the cost of using those spaces, apparently). If the money were to go purely to subsidizing the cost of daycare for those 625000 new space, there would be about $1955 per year per space. This makes a discount of about $38 per week to send a kid to daycare. However, that same $11 billion must create the new spaces first, aswell as subsidize current non-profit daycare spaces. So we could be looking at closer to $1 billion per year to subsidize 1 million day care spaces. That means $1000 per space per year, making it about $19.25 cheaper per week to send a kid to day care. Haven't the Liberals been arguing that the Conservatives' $25/week doesn't make day care affordable for Canadians? Seems to me that the National Day Car Program will make about the same difference in the cost to parents.
Either the Liberals don't really have a plan for national day care (beyond giving away money) or they know that the money they are setting aside isn't enough to create truly afordable child care, and they're hiding that fact from voters.