"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!"
-Homer J. Simpson

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Can a busy female politician give reliable evidence? A judge says no

From the Globe:


Lisa MacLeod is a young female politician who commutes to her job at Queen's Park from Ottawa and leaves her husband, Joe, and four-year-old daughter, Victoria, at home. Mr. Justice Douglas Cunningham of Ontario Superior Court said this is a big distraction for the 34-year-old woman and as a result he felt he could not accept her evidence as corroboration of the Crown's key witness in the recent high-profile, influence-peddling trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien.


Does anyone think that this would EVER be mentioned by a judge about a male politician? Of course not.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Here's an Idea, don't film your crimes and put them on Youtube

Idiots:


Three young Saskatchewan men were arrested Saturday in connection with a recent YouTube video that showed three males using rifles to shoot ducks on a prairie pond, footage that has caused widespread public outrage.
...
Brian Petrar, operations manager for Environment Canada's wildlife division, said while charges haven't yet been formally laid, officials will likely charge the individuals with offences under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Act.
...
But Petrar did say that information from tipsters and the fact there was a sign in the video and images of a blooming canola field in the background also helped officials track down the suspects.
...
The overwhelming number of tips in this case shows that the public understands the value of the wildlife resources in Canada and isn't willing to put up with animals being slaughtered, he said.
...

The video sparked widespread public anger and prompted the Toronto-based Humane Society of Canada to post a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of those shown in the Internet posting.

Society executive director Michael O'Sullivan said the organization also got calls from people who wanted to help and they were directed to tip lines in both western provinces. O'Sullivan said he is pleased to hear of the arrests.

"I would like to commend all the members of the public who provided information. Canadians take cruelty to animals very seriously and they want to help out as best as they can," he said.


Saturday, August 08, 2009

Sure, Blame it on Minimum Wage

Tim Horton's is the latest business to pull the whole "minimum wage increases hurt us so much" card.


Don Schroeder said yesterday price increases could be implemented in certain regions to offset cost pressures from both higher food prices and rising minimum wages.
Yep, that increase in the minimum wage must have really affected the bottom line of the company, right? They must be losing money hand over fist, right?


Yesterday, Hortons reported its net earnings rose to $77.8 million, or 43 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 28. That's an increase from $75 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier.
...
Growth was more modest in Canada at 1.7 per cent, as the company faced a variety of challenges including the economic slowdown

So you grew by 1.7% during the worst recession in decades and your profits were a measly $80 million? Wow, those provinces that have the nerve to insist you pay your staff dollars per hour should be ashamed of themselves!

Friday, August 07, 2009

Saskatchewan Isotope Reactor Schizophrenia

Richard Florizone is the vice-president of finance at the University of Saskatchewan and is heavily involved in the nuclear file. He thinks we should get an isotope reactor.


The accelerators offer a good solution that could come online faster and for less cost, but they don't have the volume,” said Richard Florizone, a nuclear physicist and vice-president of finance at the University of Saskatchewan, which will partner with the province on the reactor. “Together they would offer a diversified supply, so that if one facility went down, you would have others that could back it up.”

The Saskatchewan bid is already one of the early favourites. It promises a low-enriched uranium research reactor capable of half the isotope volume of the Chalk River facility for between $500-million and $750-million.



Sounds good, except the government's Uranium Development Partnership says this:

Key Recommendation NN: "The economics of a standalone isotope reactor are not attractive." (Page 97 of the UDP Final Report).
In other words one of the key recommendation of the UDP report is that a isotope reactor is not a good idea. But really, what does this UDP working group know anyway? It was chaired by some crackpot named Richard Florizone, who is a nuclear physicist and vice-president of finance at the University of Saskatchewan.

Heh.

(I'm back.)

Update: The Jurist has some good numbers that point out the lunacy of this whole argument.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Hiatus

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have not been keeping up this blog very well for the last couple of months.

I am going to go away for a bit and not think about blogging for a while.

I will return.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Priorities

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

SNDP Leadership List is now at 4

From the paper:


The NDP leadership is gaining speed, going four on the floor as of Thursday.

Saskatoon family doctor and community activist Ryan Meili has a morning event scheduled at a local restaurant where he will announce his candidacy to succeed Lorne Calvert.

He will join former deputy premier Dwain Lingenfelter, Moose Jaw Wakamow MLA Deb Higgins and former party president Yens Pedersen in seeking the leadership.



So the list is now as follows:

** Dr. Ryan Meili **
** Deb Higgins **
** Yens Pedersen **
** Dwain Lingenfelter **

?? Len Taylor

Cam Broten
Andrew Thomson
Nettie Wiebe
Dion Tchorzewski
Frank Quennell
Pat Atkinson


Hopefully Taylor announces soon so we can start the comparison engines.