Progressive Quebeckers Should Vote PQ

Has the PQ erred by not having an English version of their website? Yes, obviously. Is the premier of Alberta and the the Republican USA candidate more bilingual than Pauline Marois, head of the PQ? Yup.

But the fact is, if you believe in social democracy, pro-French nationalism notwithstanding, the PQ is the party for you. 

Skip to s'entraider. There is no other political party in Canada that represents the dreams and aspirations of progressives as does the Parti Québécois. The PQ is a North American progressive's wet dream. 

I urge you Quebeckers to give generously to the PQ and, at the very least, vote for them. I think that we can all agree that the English language is here to stay in the Island of Montreal, the Eastern Townships and in the Pontiac. But healthcare and education?

Vote PQ. Please. 

Proof Mitt Romney is Racist

The ultimate proof Mitt Romney is a xenophobe:

One Last Step For Neil Armstrong

The first human on the moon is now dead. He died at 82, so I think we can rule out space travel as a the cause of death.




In case you are wondering, the second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, is still alive (82).

Asma Al-Assad: a Murderer's Wife

Asma Al-Assad just turned 37. She has impecible English. And yet she is the wife of evil.

The Female Body has Ways to Try to Shut That Whole Thing Down (Todd Akin)

 "The female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down [the ability to get pregnant] when you are legitimately raped." (Todd Akin). That is some serious truthiness. I mean it sounds plausible. In fact, he probably believes it. I read somewhere that women that climax at the same time as their partner increase their chances of conception. And since rape is such a horrible experience, it is nice to think women don't climax when raped, and therefor are less likely to get pregnant.

Of course, there are plenty of women who have gotten pregnant as a result of rape. Often young women, who are exponentially more likely to get pregnant during unprotected intercourse than older women. I haven't seen the stats on this, but I'm assuming 14 year olds are also more likely to get raped than 41 year olds. Just a hunch.

Todd Akin also thinks:

-Abortion is now worse than was American racist slavery.

-That abortion doctors are more likely to cheat on their taxes.

-That abortion doctors often preform fake abortions on women who aren't pregnant.

And guess what party put him on the Science committee? Yup, the Republicans (to be fair, according to Wikipedia, he does have a degree in Management Engineering).

Its not just Todd Akin that has fallen into that science thruthiness trap. You believe in the effects of the full moon on the psyche? Keep that to yourself, because the rest of us think of you as one big science fail. Nothing wrong with being curious about stuff, but when you repeat nonsense, people think you are nonsensical and will question your judgement on everything.

By the way, did you know that people who make frequent spelling mistakes are more rational and logical than the rest of us? Source.

Update:
"I checked the facts and that is wrong" (Todd Akin on the reduction of the chances of getting pregnent when raped).

Well, at least he isn't sticking to his guns.

Update 2: Akin didn't make this nonsense up, he really did hear it somewhere.

-

'God's Little Shield': A Short History Of The False No-Pregnancy ...
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The Official Guide to Legitimate Rape
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Global News | Akin isn't the first to present the theory women can't ...
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Daily Kos: Republican voodoo vaginomics bears little resemblance ...

I love Dynamic View... When It Works

Dynamic View, Google's newest templates (11 months old) simply don't work all the time. Imagine having cool new light-bulbs that didn't always turn on. Sometimes the pages load correctly, sometimes they don't load at all. And who knows why.

After a Summer of impressive page views, I've given up. No way that many people have switched to Google Chrome. The fact is, Dynamic Views exclude a giant chunk of Internet users. And I'm not cool with that (even though Dynamic Views are cool).

So I've had to admit defeat and revert to one of the non-dynamic views. For the dynamic view lovers out there, I've made it easy to view this blog in the seven dynamic view options (my favourites are Mosaic and Snapshot). This compromise isn't perfect, but they never are, are they?

On the plus side, I now can obsess about Sitemetre stats again. I can also use my beloved gadgets like the sunlight one. The down side is you can't link to specific articles in Dynamic view, or view any of the gadgets when in Dynamic view. Oh well. 

It is About the Language, Dummy

Should speak English Or French to work here

This is an open letter to Jason Kenny, Canada's federal minister of immigration.

"Skill labour" Immigrants need to understand and speak English or French. I don't care about their success in Canada. They need to understand me when they call my call centre for help.

Immigrants who don't speak the language are a constant annoyance. I'm not completely intolerant, refugees escaping war and persecution obviously don't need to stop en-route to take English classes. But if we ask immigrants for copies of their university degrees, then we should expect them to speak a language that will let them integrate Canadian society with minimal annoyance to Canadians. 

Living in an other country isn't easy. Culture shock can be real. Did you know there are no tax return forms to fill out in the UK or that you can take as many sick days as you want? I learned that by living in England and Northern Ireland. I speak English. It never occurred to me to try out Germany of Italy. I DON'T SPEAK ITALIAN OR GERMAN! 

"Skilled immigrants" who don't speak English or French should be turned down based on bad judgement. They escaped war, are moving here to be close to their grand kids or fell in love? Fine. Everybody else: learn the language or stay the fuck out! 

4 extra points for language is not enough. 

Megaupload

You could argue the use of Black people people in this video is code for "plenty of illegal stuff here". So it is ironic that convicted embezelor  Kim Dotcom wants Americans to vote Republican.


No mention of Kim Dotcom's (formerly Kim Schmitz) criminal past in this interview.


If Black pirates used Megaupload, their gay equivalent used Oron.com. That company was recently sued into oblivion by a gay porn site.

The question is, who will take down Microsoft's Sky Drive? Or is it safe because it is American? Althought Google and their Youtube service is American, and they have had plenty of problems with content producers, including illegal take down requests.

Filesonic is out of the filesharing business. Say what you want about pirates using filesharing services, there clearly is a need for that type of service, as many people still try to send large files via email.

Cuba Now 0.66% Off !

$7 would be a lot of money for the average Cuban living in Cuba...

Hat tip Redflagdeals. 

Nexus Security Line Jumping is Anti-Social

Queue jumping is anti-social behaviour. Yet our federal government
is sanctioning the behaviour by allowing Nexus card holders to jump
the line-up at airport security. No, not just customs and immigration,
airport security!

Unlike at the border, Nexus card holders have the same security
procedures as the rest of us. A Nexus card holder is just as time
consuming at airport security as a traveler using a driver's license.
In other words, because of Nexus security queue jumpers, everybody
else in line has to wait longer!

A Nexus card is $50 and good for 5 years, so for once we can't say
this specifically benefits rich people.

However, the VIP Nexus cards clearly benefit Southern-Ontarians and
Vancouverites. Few rational Albertans would have one. Ditto
Monctonians. The main benefit to having your eyes and finger tips
scanned (in order to get your Nexus card) is driving in those special
lanes at the border. Even better, in Niagara Falls, an entire bridge
is dedicated to Nexus holders.

At the border, Nexus holder zip through customs and immigration. They
actually make the process faster for everybody, as less time is spent
on them. Folks with criminal records and known duty evaders and fruit
exporters are bared from the Nexus program. But at airport security in
Canada, people with a Nexus card (citizens of the US, Canada and some
landed immigrants) are just as likely to bomb a plane as anybody else.

The Air India bomber could have had a Nexus card. Same for that
Quebecker angry at his wife (so he bombed her plane).

In Moncton, if you are unlucky, there might be 5 people waiting in the
fast moving security line. But the federal government says if you are
a jerk from Ontario, you can now use your Nexus card to pass those 5
people and make them wait while you take off your shoes and loosen
your belt buckle.

Even worse, Nexus holders arriving at Moncton from New York City (the
only international flight) can't even jump the queue at customs and
immigration!

(I defy anybody to profitably import anything of interest to Canadian
immigration and customs via Newark).

Obama is the WASP Ticket

Obama was raised by his Agnostic White mother and his Protestant White Grand-Parents (When hid lived in Indonesia, he was also raised by his Asian (probably) Muslim step-father). Obama doesn't talk about religion in his autobiography Dreams of My Father (at least, not in the part I read; the book is quite boring).

Religion in the USA matters. In fact, Americans would prefer a homosexual to an atheist (or at least that is what they say when answering one of those rushed surveys). According to that same survey, 94% would vote for a Catholic.

Note that this does not mean that for 94%, a candidate's religion doesn't matter, just that they would consider voting for a candidate of said religion.

Oddly, the survey doesn't ask if Americans would be willing to vote for a Protestant. 

Anyway, Obama is Protestant, Biden is Catholic. Romney is Mormon, his running mate is Paul Ryan is Catholic.