Suspicions that City Hall staff are spying on bloggers who criticize City managers were supported by statements made at a Carnegie Center Board meeting on Thursday evening in Vancouver. One such statement was made by Margaret Prevost, Carnegie Center Association President, when announcing that the issue of Carnegie staff being criticized on the Downtown Eastside [...]

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There is an exciting new weapon in the arsenal against global warming: The lowly garlic clove. Despite all the demonization against CO2 emissions, the dirty little secret is that a much more potent gas attributing to global warming is methane, and one of the major sources of methan emission is…cow flatulence. Yes, that wonderful smell [...]

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The Philippines recently passed an anti terror law that includes the ability of police to hold a terror suspect for several days without charge. This is good, since often in the past suspects could not be picked up without evidence until they actually had proof of terror intent. The UN is worried about this ability [...]

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One of the most misquoted comments of the past 30 years has to be ‘Houston we have a problem”. I have no idea how many times it has been used, but I’ll guarantee its in the many billions. Regardless of the issue, this has been the response when things go bad. The quote is wrong, [...]

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In this the third Edition of Borderstrike!, the passage of time and consequent release of previously classified information has allowed the author to expand considerably on the content of the first version of this book.

Steenkamp’s own career as the defence reporter on the staff of the Cape Times during this period as well as the fact that he was also an active Citizen Force officer and was therefore called up for service during this conflict, makes him a most suitable author. His background and experience in both of these fields has also allowed him to give a clear picture of all of the major operations conducted by the then SADF in the period 1975 to 1980.

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Completely Serious, a DVD of Daniel Tosh’s October 2006 special, is undoubtedly funny, but will most likely leave many viewers confused and a little offended between their giggles.  At first Tosh is offensive due to his apparent arrogance.  The first thing he says after coming on stage is, “Thank you, Thank you.  I deserve that.  [...]

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Just released out on DVD by Acorn Media (http://acornonline.com) is the North American debut of Chancer, Series 1 starring international movie star, Clive Owens. In this English series from the 1990s, Stephen Crane (played brilliantly by Clive Owen) is a young London business analyst/con-man who calls in a favor for an old friend to save [...]

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While testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, the former surgeon general for the Bush administration Dr. Richard Carmona painted a picture of an administration where ideology and politics came before the nation’s medical concerns.

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[One could see this one coming a way off. Ratzinger, former Nazi youth and supporter of Opus Dei (right wing organization similarly disposed), has been signaling his attack on the ecumenical outreach supported by John Paul II. Ratzinger schemed his way into the papacy and is now following the party line of the first Christian [...]

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After years of peaceful, hermit-like existence in the woods of the Mosel Valley, a rare American Waldmensch (forest dweller) has been captured and sentenced by a German court to a 14 month suspended jail sentence for drug possession and not having his papers in order. It seems his Waldaufenthaltserlaubnis (forest dweller’s dwelling permission certificate) had [...]

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Milwaukee Brewers star first baseman Prince Fielder, 23, will start in the All-Star game tonight, and is leading the National League in homeruns. There are inevitable comparisons between Prince Fielder and his father Cecil (both pictured), who led the majors in RBI three seasons in a row for the Detroit Tigers during the 1990s. Both [...]

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While the Democrats work on the Department of Defense’s $649 billion spending bill for next year, they are also expected to debate amendments which would withdraw the troops from Iraq.

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“I’ll beat up Blake when I’m drunk…If he says one thing I don’t like then I’ll chin him.”–U.K. singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse, speaking about her relationship with her new husband I’ve noted on many occasions that research shows that domestic violence by women against men is a significant problem, and the “woman as victim/man as perp” [...]

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“I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats…I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires…”–from Carrie Underwood’s hit single “Before He Cheats.” One of the ways the double standard about domestic violence manifests [...]

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(London, UK) Autism campaigners are caling on the British Prime Minister to reach out to autistic children and support them in the wake of a Cambridge University study suggesting a dramatic increase in numbers. According to the latest research, yet unpublished, as many as one in 58 British children may have autism. Seven academics at [...]

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According to those who did it, window cleaners have “adventurous jobs.” Others would call it dangerous. These people hang out over the sides of buildings on wooden platforms and safety ropes, keeping clean the numerous windows found on everything from skyscrapers to low-rise office buildings and shops. The people who undertake this task must not [...]

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It’s amazing how much good news comes from the world every day.  I can make housing into a lullaby in my mind just by reorienting my thoughts from the word slump to the word normal.  Granted that there have and will be losses here, the business will go on adding value even though the gains [...]

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Some people have become professional students, furthering their education, hoping that it will lead to bigger and better jobs. However, it is being shown that aside from recent graduates, education takes a backseat to professional experience. In saying this, an abundance of degrees will not place job seekers ahead of those who have done more [...]

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After his last few films flopped at the box office and the very public firing of his agent, it seemed like Jim Carrey would be taking a break from Hollywood for awhile. However, it appears that the opposite will happen with Carrey being offered several roles to choose from. Apparently, the 45-year-old actor/comedian is not [...]

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NASA has been studying the presence of a unique type of cloud called “night shining” or “noctilucent” clouds. Since their discovery 120 years ago, these formations have been moving toward the equator from the polar regions for some unknown reason. Researchers believe they are a result of global warming. NASA’s “Aeronomy of Ice in the [...]

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Snow in Buenos Aires for first time since 1918 see “Cold snap kills three people in Argentina and Chile” http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070709220200.0lbsxdw6&cat=null and “The Unbelievable Day” (Word Document) http://www.metsul.com/__editor/filemanager/files/2007a/the_unbelievable_day.doc Al Gore, call your office! Yes, I am as aware as anyone about the pitfalls of using short term data points to prove or disprove a long-term trend. [...]

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From The Gathering Storm Blog Artillery Shell: $1500 AK-47: $2500 Plastic Explosives: $1000 Buying These Anonymously: Priceless! Where do discriminating terrorists go for weapons and bomb making material? Like any good western capitalist pig – they shop online! Pajamas Media reports that the Iranian government is maintaining an online store where one can apparently obtain [...]

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Pakistan’s AAJ TV is reporting that “Paramilitary forces killed Rashid Ghazi and more than 50 of his militants on Tuesday after 15 hours of fighting in Lal Masjid compound at the climax of a week-long siege.” Ghazi is the brother of the mosque leader who tried to sneak out in women’s clothes a few days [...]

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One of the saddest of human events is that of a parent burying its child. By all that is fair and just, this should never happen. Yet it happens all the time. In particular, it happened to Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed serving in the Iraq War in 2004. She has since become [...]

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Let’s Stroll on Keppel Road by Kristin Battestella    I was fortunate enough to get this DVD in the universal Region 0 format.  My honey ordered it from somewhere in South America, Brazil I think.  The cover and menus are in Spanish, but hey I can read it.  Even if one couldn’t, the Gibby treats [...]

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After 11 years and 199 episodes, Mystery Science Theater 3000 officially closed their theater doors and ceased their disparaging commentary of disparage-worthy old films. But apparently, you can take the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 out of their title, but you can’t take the… whatever, the MST3K guys (that’s a hip acronym as all hip things need [...]

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I am just compelled to review Magnet, naturally.       Robin Gibb’s 2003 solo album still isn’t available in the United States.   And after hearing it, I don’t understand why.  Then again, I am also a bit mystified by this album.  All my reviews up until now have been relatively positive, but Magnet begs the question: Where’s [...]

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My first Andy Gibb review, of his first album, from a record, of which this is my first review! Did that make sense?  1977’s Flowing Rivers is my favorite Andy album, and in my opinion his best.  He looks the hottest on this cover, too! Unfortunately, in hindsight we can see Andy started at the [...]

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There are two kinds of war, when you get right down to it, and the USA has had a little of both. First is the idealistic kind, evinced in that of the American Revolution and WWII, which were both fights to free a continent from despotism. Even Korea and Vietnam can be fitted into the [...]

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Jim Geraghty over at National Review Online is reporting on an interesting thing concerning this story that the L.A.Times printed last weekend claiming that some abortion advocates hired Fred Thompson to lobby the White House for them over a pro-abortion issue in 1991 (Original Publius’ Forum story here). It seems that the story as originally [...]

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In America when there are a group of bullies in a middle school, do we decide it is best to just blow up parts of the school where the bullies might be, accept the casualties along the way and move onto the next school? If you dissect a microcosm scenario of terrorists as bullies, our [...]

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Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this post, let me first say (as I’ve often said) that I don’t dislike Barack Obama. Far from it. Anyone who has read my posts over the last several weeks know he stands just about where I do on many issues. I just prefer Hillary Clinton when given [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect Lal Masjid has become Pakistan’s Akal Takht of the 80s, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the Bhindaranwale and the Musharraf campaign to cleanse the mosque, today’s Operation Blue Star. The question is that Operation Blue Star was a well documented event that has many lessons [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect The congress spokesperson Abhisekh Spokesperson, Abhisekh Manu Singhvi seems to have run out of his wits or arguments or both. For, in trying to mount an attack on Bhairon Singh Sekhawat’s candidature for President, he made a patently absurd statement. That in 1942 [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect For years, we have labeled our fellow country men. Post partition, the Muslim has always been the traitor with his body in India and his soul in Pakistan. And if he had a long henna dyed beard; he cut a more sinister figure. [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect In my childhood, we lived in the shadow of the cold war. Today we live in the shadow of terror. In retrospect, the former was better. There was a communist group of countries led by the Soviet Union and there was a Capitalist [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect I recently got a mailer from my bank in a nice sleek envelope. Inside it was an invitation. An interesting kind of invitation. It invited me to register my phone for the “Do not call” option to guard against tele marketing calls, which [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect I recently came across an article by Arindam Chowdhury that talked about the pressure that parents put on their children to get high marks when that is not absolutely necessary. He talks about many students ho performed hopelessly in school and yet went [...]

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When a couple of years ago, Sonia Gandhi became active in Congress Politics a few years ago and it began to look that she might become the future Prime Minister, all kinds of mayhem happened. The Congress split because a few who believed that Indian citizens of foreign origin should not occupy that post walked [...]

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Delhi ’s ex chief minister, Sahib Singh Verma is the latest in a fairly long line politicians who have died in road accidents in recent years. Off hand, I can recall Madhav Rao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot, Lok Sabha Speaker Balayogi, Haryana Minister, O.P.Jindal and former President Giani Zail Singh. Then of course there are many, [...]

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The other day I was in a board meeting of a reputed educational institution which is doing well and has expansion plans in mind. The plans were presented for new buildings and then the time frame. When some members questioned the lengthy time frame, the explanation provided was that that the land being purchased was [...]

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When the Protestant Church of North India Bishop of Delhi, Karam Masih started deciding as the chairman of the St. Stephen’s College’s supreme council, the manner in which the college should be run and deciding on the subject of quotas and Dalit Christians, it got me thinking about the power that religious leaders wield and [...]

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In all this debate about St. Stephen’s College and its decision to go and have a Dalit Christian reservation, we have not taken time to unpack the concept of the minority institution. When the constitution guaranteed the minorities the right to start and manage their own institutions, they were not handing out freebies. The liberal [...]

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The Internet has complicated life for many politicians. In the past, if an article critical of a political leader was published supporters would barge into the office of the newspaper or magazine, burn a few copies and destroy some furniture. But when articles or comments critical of a leader — or historic figure — appear [...]

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There used to be a Hindi film oldie “Bachpan ke Din Bhula na Dena”. It is a haunting, lilting melody eulogizing the carefree and innocent days of childhood. That song of course is of another generation and perhaps a song whose time has gone. For as the latest issue of India Today reveals, children and [...]

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 Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect As over breakfast , I switched on the television for the morning news, the opening headline was about the Symbiosis University in Pune has unilaterally gone ahead and decided to implement an OBC quota in its courses, without waiting for the Supreme Court [...]

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 Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect One was a classmate from college …. A friend….. a sister……. A helpful advisor in my earliest years to find an identity and roots and stability…. Some times the words just aren’t there to describe an equation that seems so immensely valuable. Another [...]

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 Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect Two defense initiatives pertaining to India have become victims of uncertainty. Defense Minister A K Antony recently said there were “problems” in the acquisition of Russian-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy. The matter primarily relates to cost escalations partly because [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect  In the United Kingdom, which has many historical structures, the buildings which are listed or which lie within a conservation area are protected by law. Any repairs, alterations and modifications that are required to be done are meant to be done by firms [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect  What would Jesus do is a popular wristband that many Christian youth wear. It is supposed to remind Christians about how they should behave and act in life’s situations in the light of the example set by Jesus. So it is interesting to [...]

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Attention – Due To Allegations of Plagiarism, This Article Is Highly Suspect  In the Biblical story of creation, after God creates man, He gives to man (and woman) the mandate to be a steward of the creation which they have been privileged to enjoy and to preserve and care for it. Sadly, this has often [...]

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We live in a rural area, but we have had internet cafes and modem internet for over ten years.  It’s nice to email children and grandchildren and keep up with the news. And for the last two years we have had broad band. Actually, unlike most people over 60, I have had a computer since [...]

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I know that conjoining the two terms “IQ” and “black” casts me into the outer darkness as far as most people are concerned but psychometrics is my field of academic specialization so I feel that I have an obligation to tell what is known about the topic concerned. And I often do, because so few [...]

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