Christmas List Published

My Christmas List is now online. Of course, using these items as "suggestions" is a very good idea.

Some K Gift Ideas -

Skydiggers CDs

Travel Mug

Poncho

BTW, a hard-cooked egg in the shell can be refrigerated up to one week. Out of the shell, they should be used immediately.

Is the Ink Dry Yet? Bush Iraq victory strategy released.

The Bush White House released a declassified document today that it says outlines a strategy for victory in Iraq. The 38-page released document, titled 'Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq,' attempts to define what victory in Iraq means in the short term, the 'medium term' and the long term."

The plan calls for pursuing three tracks: political, security and economic. The tracks are broken down into eight pillars (the 8 pillars of Taoism?), including defeating terrorists and neutralizing the insurgency; helping Iraq strengthen its economy; and increasing international support for Iraq.

January Election Call Imminent.

Paul Martin's Liberal government was finally ousted in a no-confidence vote last night. More than a month after the Gomery report, Canada's three opposition parties united against his Liberal Party. Martin is expected to seek the dissolution of parliament today and set a date for a general election - thought likely to be 16 or 23 January. This will be one of the longest campaigns in recent history.

Recent polls suggest the Liberals will take most votes in the election - but will still not win a majority.

Liverpool Weekend.

Saturday started with a Liverpool win over Man City and in the process ended up with their sixth consecutive clean sheet. Just past the hour of the match (where Peter Crouch missed on several chances) Steven Gerrad cleverly laid the ball into the path of John Arne Riise who rifled the ball home.

In the evening was the Toronto Liverpool Supporters Christmas Party which was a lot of fun. After several nervous weeks about slow ticket sales, in the end the place was packed.

Why didn't they call Dog the Bounty Hunter?

A US company has been given a two-year contract to help fight piracy off the Somalia coast - seen as among the world's most dangerous waters. The $50m contract has been awarded by Somalia's transitional government.

Topcat Marine Security will target the 'mother ship' launching pirate ships from the open sea. Top Cat Marine Security (TCMS) instructors (who are former Navy SEALs and Army Special Forces) are, I presume, going to be responsible for manning the firm's high-speed boats. Funny, I would have thought helicopters or airplanes more efficient interceptors...

Flash News for Today

It's late, but I thought I jot down some comments in the blog today...

1. There's no Federal election yet, although the Conservatives did introduce a non-confidence motion today... probably tomorrow. The Liberals are already making extensive use of another survey conclusion: that voters are extremely skittish about Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. The poll suggests Mr. Harper's personal unpopularity helps sustain the Liberal party; almost 40 per cent of people who said they would vote Liberal cited Mr. Harper as their main motivation.


2. Liverpool has qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League after a scoreless draw at Anfield. Peter "Too Much Crouch, Too Little Tiger" is still without a goal for the Reds despite numerous chances.


3. Had at least 10 centimetres of snow this morning and driving was not good. It's really cold outside (feels like -11'C) and this is the first snow to stay on the ground


4. Hit a milestone in my Weightwatchers program today... I've lost exactly 20lbs in the last 11 weeks.

Irate client pays Visa pennies

A 62-year-old retired city councillor from Kingston, Ont., paid his $230 Visa bill last month in 985 instalments, often pennies at a time, to protest against the fact that his bank outsourced some of its credit card processing to a U.S. company. Mr. Rogers said he asked Vancouver-based Citizens Bank of Canada several times to end the practice, because U.S. authorities could potentially gain access to his personal information under the wide-ranging Patriot Act, a piece of legislation designed to crack down on terrorism.

When the bank refused to take action, he decided to employ what he describes as his "creative solution" -- paying down his Visa in tiny increments over the Internet and generating a statement that was 35 pages long and a half-inch thick.

'Us retired guys are the most dangerous, because we have time on our hands. You have to look for the weaknesses in their system, and I think I found it.'

Grocery Store Wars | Join the Organic Rebellion

Watch the adventures of Cuke Skywalker and Ham Solo. Be counseled by Obi Wan Cannoli. May the farm be with you - always.

The Beer Hunter

Now here's a !hick! useful reference site - it's even mapped to show when locations are closed!

Kansas university plans creationism course

Creationism and intelligent design are going to be studied at the University of Kansas, but not in the way advocated by opponents of the theory of evolution.

A course being offered next semester by the university religious studies department is titled "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies."

"The KU faculty has had enough," said Paul Mirecki, department chairman. "Creationism is mythology," Mr. Mirecki said. "Intelligent design is mythology. It's not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not." Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism -- a literal reading of the Bible's story of creation as the handiwork of God -- camouflaged in scientific language as a way to get around court rulings that creationism injects religion into public schools.

John Calvert, an attorney and managing director of the Intelligent Design Network in Johnson County, Kansas, said Mirecki will go down in history as a laughingstock.

Earlier this month, the state Board of Education adopted new science teaching standards that treat evolution as a flawed theory, defying the view of science groups.

Nuclear Power - is it back?

With soaring oil and gas prices, dwindling domestic fossil fuel reserves and pressure to tackle climate change, it is being argued that nuclear power could be coming back on the agenda. Canada gets 14% of its power from atomic energy (in '97 48% of Ontario's power was nuclear) and the UK relies on atomic energy for 20% of its electricity.

Of course the nuclear power's great potential is sharply undermined by the threat of accidents, spiralling decommissioning costs and the unsolved problem of nuclear waste.

It's a difficult option, but if not nuclear power how do we address the world's growing power needs?

Keane leaves his Club!

Roy Keane left Manchester United on Friday, two weeks after he lambasted his teammates in an interview so scathing the club refused to broadcast it.

The cornerstone of the team that dominated English soccer throughout the 1990s, the team's captain had his contract cancelled by mutual consent, United said in a statement on its website.

The 34-year-old former Ireland midfielder is now free to join another club. In 2000, Keane said he wanted to end his career with Celtic - the team he supported as a boy - and has also been linked with the vacant position of Ireland manager, despite having no coaching experience.

It happened today.

The first snowfall of the year in Toronto occurred around 2pm and lasted perhaps 5 minutes. I wasn't all that surprised - this morning I stepped out of my door and then immediately turned around to put on a heavier coat.

White Phosphorus Use? Yes. Wait, NO!

The Pentagon today acknowledged using incendiary white-phosphorus munitions in a 2004 counterinsurgency offensive in the Iraqi city of Falluja, but defended their use as legal. Although used as a diversionary tool, WP can be a particularly nasty weapon for its effects on humans.

Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. military had not used the highly flammable weapons against civilians, contrary to an Italian state television report this month which said the weapons were used against men, women and children in Falluja who were burned to the bone. "We categorically deny that claim," Venable said.

An examination by The Independent of the available evidence suggests the following: that WP shells were fired at insurgents, that reports from the battleground suggest troops firing these WP shells did not always know who they were hitting and that there remain widespread reports of civilians suffering extensive burn injuries. While US commanders insist they always strive to avoid civilian casualties, the story of the battle of Fallujah highlights the intrinsic difficulty of such an endeavour.

Persons struck with the smoke from white phosphorus are burned immediately. The effect is the same, if not worse than napalm. The smoke doesn't effect clothing at all, but will burn the skin underneath. Pictures show persons burned to the bone with their clothes still in tact. Once begun the effects of the burning are irreversible. WP was also once know as Fenian Fire.

Be the Paper.

Here's a little game for all the engineers and physicists out there!

Rick Nash Injury Watch

Hockey Pool News (it's not going well for me) - Karina is again on the Rick Nash injury watch as she hopes that he's out for 10 games (again). Guess she can try picking Jagr or Staal, not that it will help...

Karina Away and a Return to Yoga

Karina is away on business this week having made the trip to Prague for an energy conference. This means I am left to my own devices for the week - and so far I perhaps have fairly squandered them... what with sleeping and taking delivery of fridges and all.

That said, yesterday I returned to taking Ashtanga Yoga classes at Downward Dog. I had forgotten how intensive and relaxing it can be - quite a change of pace compared to that of my boxing classes! Being much out of practice things went pretty well - although I have quite some difficulty lifting myself through some of the ground poses (not that I ever could do them).

Virtual property yields $100,000

Yes, game-playing can pay. But I'm given to think that it's the game owners who win. A Miami resident has bought a virtual space station for $100,000 in the virtual/online world Project Entropia. Like other land areas in the game that has been visited by 300,000 players, the resort grounds will spawn dinosaur-like monsters, which visitors can kill. Jacobs will take a cut of the virtual resources that the carcasses yield, like hides.

Jacobs, 39, plans to hire famous disc jockeys to entertain visitors once a week or so at the space station which he will convert into a resort but still reckons on netting $20,000 a month from the hunting tax and other income. 'I want to operate this thing at the level of a major nightclub in a major city,' Jacobs said. Jacobs bought the property late last month from MindArk PE AB, Project Entropia's Swedish developer. The game, which has no subscription fee, has its own currency but it's convertible at a fixed rate to dollars.

About a quarter of the purchase money came from Jacobs' in-game earnings. Over three years playing Project Entropia, Jacobs accumulated items that later became worth thousands of dollars, like first-aid kits and powerful weapons.
He sold those items last year to try buy an island in Project Entropia, but was outbid -- it sold for $26,500, the previous record sale in that world.

Bush set to defend war decision

Bush is expected to hit back at criticism of his grounds for invading Iraq today, in a speech to mark Veterans' Day.

White House sources suggest he will use the speech in Pennsylvania to deny that intelligence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was misused. National security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters Thursday that the thrust of Bush's speech "is to continue to talk to the American people about the war on terror, the nature of the enemy, what is at stake (and) the importance that we see it through to success."

That'll Show 'Em!

Rail passengers angry at service delays torched at least 26 train carriages near Johannesburg on Wednesday evening. It was the second time in a week that trains have been torched because of poor services. On Tuesday, passengers burnt four coaches after service delays apparently caused by the theft of electric cables.

"Passengers started getting off the train and burning it," said a company spokesperson.

US trade deficit hits record $66bn

The US trade deficit with the rest of the world jumped to a record $66.1bn in September, as oil prices soared following Hurricane Katrina. Overall imports to the US rose by 2.4% during the month to $171.3bn, while US exports fell by 2.6% to $105.2bn.

The soaring US deficit came as China reported a record global trade surplus of its own of $12bn in October - yet again putting pressure on Bush to find a way to have the yuan revalued. But not to worry, Paris Hilton is OK.

Youths use blogs to plan riots

France's government is policing cyberspace as well as the suburbs of Pairs in the battle to end two weeks of rioting.

It is reported that young rioters are using blog messages to incite violence and cell phones to organize attacks in guerrilla-like tactics they have copied from anti-globalization protesters, security experts say.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has diverted resources to monitoring blogs -- short for Web logs -- in an effort to anticipate the movements of the protesters, who have set fire to thousands of cars since the unrest began on October 27. France's government has issued a decree declaring a state of emergency in Paris and more than 30 other towns and cities following a 13th night of rioting. Only Amiens, in the north, has so far imposed an overnight curfew under the new powers - in force since midnight. Job Discrimination against youths of North African origin is thought to be one of the key issues fuelling the riots.

The Tickets are Here!

A Qantas 747 will be flying Karina and I to New Zealand! Guess it's time to start planning to go surfing, hiking, do a winery tour and visit the the brewery. Or should I tell Karina about the casino?

Working on the Weekend

But for some, it's nothing.

Paris riots Spread.

The Riots in Paris are now into their 11th day and are believed to be spreading to other European cities - specifically Brussels and Berlin. Numerous cities within France are also experiencing rioting.

The riots are focused in suburban areas of large African and Arab populations and are said to have started following the deaths of two young Arabs youths fleeing police and subsequent comments by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy when he described urban vandals as "racaille" (translated as "rabble"). Anger grew when a gas grenade hit a mosque.

Nash out again...

Star forward Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets is listed as day to day (again!) with a left knee injury and was scratched from the lineup of Friday's game against the Vancouver Canucks, but he could be out up to six weeks.

Some people around the office are saying that a certain someone is extremely lucky.

Survey: One in five U.S. teens has a blog

Nearly three in five school-age teens with Internet access have created on-line content, including Web pages with artwork, photos and stories and about a fifth have their own blogs, which also allow friends and other readers to create feedback postings.Those are some of the findings from a survey of 12- to 17-year-olds conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Among adults, Pew says about 7 per cent of Internet users have created their own blogs, or on-line diaries. And while 26 per cent of adults say they read blogs, 38 per cent of young people with on-line access said they do so.

Scooter is Innocent! (So he says)

Former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the leak of a CIA agent's identity.

Libby, who was chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, faces five counts of perjury, making false statements and obstructing justice.

If the case does go to trial, the White House will have to brace itself for more political damage, says the BBC's Oliver Conway in Washington. Mr Cheney and other top Bush administration officials could be summoned to testify.

Hasn't Buffalo heard about Defence?

The wrong Ottawa players got points yesterday as they crushed Buffalo 10-4. I have dropped further back in the pool as a result. _sigh_

Waiting for Hugh, Blogging

It's definitely Fall now in downtown Toronto as the leaves are rapidly changing colour and falling. This is my favourite time of year and has, of course, the prefect soundtrack in Tom Wait's album "The Black Rider" which includes the suitably named track "November".

Last night Karina and I took the folks to Les Miserables which was playing at the Canon Theatre. It was my first time seeing it performed, while for Karina and the Parents it was old hat as they had all seen it many times before. I really enjoyed the show.

Tonight I'm headed to a workout with Humberto - and I've remembered to bring my handwraps. I think I may have caused myself some future pain when I told the boxing boot camp instructor at my gym that his class looked too easy for me to try.

Liverpool win in Champions Group Play

After yesterday's match, Liverpool has become the only undefeated side in Group G of the Champions League.

Liverpool defeated Anderlecht 3-0 convincingly, while rival Chelsea fell to Real Betis 1-0. With Chelsea's loss, Group G is throw wide open - although Liverpool need just a single point from their final two Group G games to ensure they reach the last 16, with a home match against Betis and an away fixture at Chelsea still to come.

Gomery Inquiry : It all started with a balloon

There is a claim that Ottawa's decision to spend $325,000 to rent a hot-air balloon in the shape of a Mountie on a horse -- in the name of national unity -- started the interest in government misspending on the Unity campaign back in the year 2000.

And even after yesterday's "revelations" in the Gomery Inquiry, not all is over as ex-bureaucrat Chuck Guité and Groupaction Marketing president Jean Brault are set to face a criminal trial in May. More charges against others are expected as police continue their investigation into allegations of fraud. In addition, federal lawyers are trying to get back $40-million in misspent funds, and they are due in civil court in 2008.

Richmond St. Hockey Pool

For a few fleeting moments today I was top of the Hockey Pool. Dan couldn't get his trade in fast enough when I topped at 221 points. Amazingly, we have only 4 of 20 players in common.

Some Days You Just Feel like a Pinata

The question you have to ask yourself is whether you're the pinata or the one hitting it. Today I'm the pinata.

(Note: the above photo was from my trip to the Orange County Market in September).

Liverpool v Anderlecht

Liverpool plays Anderlecht today in Champions League Group Play and for the the Belgians it's a desperate situation as they are yet to win through 3 games in the Group.

For Liverpool, everyone is healthy in the squad and Skipper Steven Gerrard could be handed the right-sided midfield role he filled in the weekend win against West Ham.

If Liverpool win this match and Chelsea beat Real Betis (likely one would think), Liverpool will qualify for the last 16 of this season's Champions League. In addition to their current record, also working against the Belgians is the fact that Liverpool have never lost to a Belgian club in a total of eight matches at all venues.

Gomery Report Released Today.

Former prime minister Jean Chretien will get hit with a finding of blame (surprise, surprise), but Prime Minister Paul Martin will not. That's the early word on the Gomery Sponsorship scandal report that will be released today.

Among those receiving a negative finding alongside Mr. Chretien will be former bureaucrat Chuck Guite, former minister of public works Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal fundraiser and Chretien supporter Jacques Corriveau, and Mr. Chretien's long-time chief of staff, Jean Pelletier.

The explosive report on the sponsorship scandal from Judge Gomery, which will apportion the responsibility for the misspending of tens of millions of dollars in public funds, started making the rounds in the upper reaches of the Martin government last evening. At the heart of the sponsorship scandal is the allegation that senior Liberal officials created a system by which advertising firms were overpaid for their work, with a portion of the excess cash being funnelled back to the Liberal Party. Judge Gomery had to first decide whether there was indeed a kickback scheme and, if so, who was involved.