Top Canadian Blogs and News Sites
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Life In Scarborough: The Building Confronts Kitec Plumbing Problem
Posted June 24, 2017 by bigcitylib
So the condo corp held a big meeting the other night. They rented a room at the local community center. They’d already sent around a letter so everyone knew what it was about; the building has Kitec plumbing. You can look it up but th…
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This Senator Might Control the Future of Healthcare in America
Posted June 24, 2017 by Harry Cheadle
Remember the name Dean Heller.
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Trump’s Jobs Plan Is Cynical BS and Fairy Dust
Posted June 24, 2017 by Mark Hay
Remember ‘Workplace Development Week’? No?
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Three Juries in One Week Failed to Convict Cops for Killing Black Men
Posted June 24, 2017 by Anonymous
Raymond Tensing’s mistrial marks the third time in the past seven days a police officer charged with killing a black man escaped conviction.
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Can a Pride Be Proud with Unethical Corporate Sponsorship?
Posted June 24, 2017 by Anonymous
An increasing bevy of activists say they can’t—a conflict that’s redefining the battleground of LGBTQ rights.
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‘I Got Arrested and Blew a .36 on a Breathalyzer at Noon’
Posted June 24, 2017 by Anonymous
VICE.com’s most memorable lines from the week of June 19, presented with zero context.
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Meth Didn’t Make a Guy Horny for a Crocodile, and Other Fake News
Posted June 24, 2017 by Mike Pearl
This week’s stupidity was extra stupid.
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The Refugee Funding America’s Psychedelic Renaissance
Posted June 24, 2017 by Anonymous
George Sarlo survived the Holocaust and achieved the American dream. Now he wants you to trip—or at least have the option to use drugs as medicine.
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Decline in guitar sales reflects death of the rock star*
Posted June 24, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
In the past decade, electric guitar sales have plummeted, from about 1.5 million sold annually to just over 1 million. The two biggest companies, Gibson and Fender, are in debt, and a third, PRS Guitars, had to cut staff and expand production of cheaper guitars. In April, Moody’s downgraded Guitar Center, the largest chain retailer, as […]
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“Trudeau, Not Trump, Is the Real Demagogue”
Posted June 24, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
Christian Butler at Spiked UK: The same journalists who scoff at the proles for falling for fake news are more than happy to lap up Trudeau’s tweets and videos without question. And yet these viral moments are almost entirely disingenuous. They, too, are fake news, used to prop up the reputation of the shallowest of […]
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In fairness to the black kids, dude does have a kinda punchable face…
Posted June 24, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
(Avoid the comments…) More from my site‘Just think of all the great restaurants’ taken to whole new levelJim Goad provides another reason not to go to New YorkWTF did Joan Jett do to her face?Affirmative action in action! (video)
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Clive James warns: When a house of cards has “finished collapsing, all the cards are still there”
Posted June 24, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
Grab a coffee first, but whatever you do, don’t miss this one. Clive James writes: Although the alarmists might finally have to face that they will not get much more of what they want on a policy level, they will surely, on the level of their own employment, go on wanting their salaries and prestige. […]
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Wow! Mark Steyn’s all-new one-hour interview with Douglas Murray
Posted June 24, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
More here (including how you can support this kind of programming.) More from my siteMark Steyn: “What Douglas Murray calls the ‘twist of logic’ necessary to sustain these contradictions eventually comes under strain”Mark Steyn: “‘We’re not allowed to talk about this,’ as Sullivan says”Mark Steyn’s ‘America Alone’ thesis turns tenMark Steyn on “we’re a nation […]
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Tent for blacks-only U of T grad ceremony is… a white sheet. With… a pointy top…
Posted June 23, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
Dying… More from my siteJim Goad provides another reason not to go to New York‘I don’t care if his passion is something retarded such as being a photographer’Jim Goad: An Evil Virus Called PopulismThese U.S. Colleges and Majors Are the Biggest Waste of Money
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We Met Some of the Students at Canada’s First Black Graduation
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
The University of Toronto hosted what’s believed to be the first black graduation celebration in Canada this week. We asked some of the grads what it means to them.
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Dead Ass: Who Is Consuming Necro Porn?
Posted June 23, 2017 by Mark Hay
The niche genre, it turns out, is about a lot more than having sex with a corpse.
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‘Wholesome Cloud Person,’ Today’s Comic by Valentine Gallardo
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
Our heroine tries to see the silver lining through the depressing funk she’s caught in.
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Canada Day Party: Maple Leaf Cookie S’mores
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
Up your s’more game and make these Canada inspired Maple Leaf Cookie S’mores at your next campfire! – – – – – – Here we are at day #5 of Canada Day theme party ideas! If you missed any ideas, you can see them at the bottom of this post. They’re all easy, delicious and quick to make…which is perfect for party planning! It is my hope that you have been inspired to have a fun and tasty Canada day! Today I’m sharing a yummy campfire dessert with a Canadian twist, Maple Leaf Cookie S’mores! These are SO good, and a nice change from regular s’mores. Just swap out graham crackers for maple cookies, and milk chocolate for white chocolate. Delicious. But you will need a glass of milk after. 😉 What you need to make Maple Leaf Cookie S’mores: Maple Leaf Cookies Marshmallows White Chocolate A campfire! That’s it. Sugar overload…but what’s a party without sugar! Enjoy Here are more Canada Day Party Ideas! Make these delicious and fun 5 Minute Dessert Kebabs. Only 2 ingredients. These Maple Leaf Shaped Watermelon pieces are a simple and fun way to serve this summer treat! Aren’t they great? This Strawberry Cloud is a delicious and light dessert, that’s […]
The post Canada Day Party: Maple Leaf Cookie S’mores appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.
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21 Vancouver concerts this weekend, June 23 to 25
Posted June 23, 2017 by Steve Newton
Jazz, jazz, and more jazz: check out some jazz.
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Homeless in Vancouver: Leeward Apartments sells for millions—another 48 affordable rents gone?
Posted June 23, 2017 by Charlie Smith
The 11-storey, 48-unit apartment highrise had been listed for sale since at least May of 2017.
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Journalists! Your moral and intellectual superiors!! (Jonathan “Thanks, now you can shut up” Kay edition)
Posted June 23, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
Jonathan Kay helpfully reveals what we all know already — that not only are these people too stupid to tell us how to live, but that they are craven scum whose professional demise we should hasten and celebrate — but it’s nice to have incontrovertible evidence by an “insider”: A few weeks ago, shortly after […]
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MedievalDeception 1991: Lindzen Hijacks Curve For Western Fuels Video – Early Fake News
Posted June 23, 2017 by John Mashey
“Medieval Warm Period was warmer” is not only irrelevant to future climate, but was known wrong within science by the early 1990s. In 2017, it still repeated by climate deniers. They have long misused some version of an IPCC(1990) curve, whose abuse is the focus of this MedievalDeception series. The first known promoter now seems to be Richard S. Lindzen.
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Western Fuels Association’s Decades Of Dollars For Climate Science Doubt And Denial
Posted June 23, 2017 by John Mashey
Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal and Peabody Energy have filed bankruptcies, incidentially revealing payments to cllimate anti-science groups. The Western Fuels Association (WFA) may be smaller and less known, but its long history of funding climate denial is already better exposed. It was called out by Senator Tom Udall in his #WebOfDenial remarks in July 2016. Its earliest well-known disinformation effort is detailed in MedievalDeception 1991: Lindzen Hijacks Curve For Western Fuels Video – Early Fake News.
Its front Greening Earth Society (GES) claimed “sound information” following the “sound science” theme of The Advancment of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) , started as front for Philip Morris in 1993, but like WFA, also involved Pat Michaels.
Newly-assembled information adds evidence that #WesternFuelsKnew the science was against them, decades ago.
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Podcast Episode #11: Jeff Halevy
Posted June 23, 2017 by deansomerset
Today I was able to sit down and chat with Jeff Halevy, CEO of Halevy Life and media personality (fitness correspondent for NBC’s Today Show, host of Workout from Within, syndicated in over 30 countries), and he was able to chat about a lot of different topics, ranging from his history as a trainer working…… Read More
The post Podcast Episode #11: Jeff Halevy appeared first on DeanSomerset.com.
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“Not Showing Up To Riot Is A Failed Conservative Policy”: World finally catching up with SDA
Posted June 23, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
Kurt Schlichter writes: Well, if conservatism has morphed into a human centipede of onanistic purity-signaling, then you fussy guardians of the word can have it. (…) First, the “If it’s wrong for them to do it to us, then it’s wrong if we do it to them” formulation is less a principle than a tired […]
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Prince Albert II of Monaco explains how his country’s new ocean exploration initiative came to be
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
Floating islands of plastic. Water temperatures rising. Acidification increasing. Rampant overfishing. The world’s oceans are in a dire state. And one of the best-known royals in the world is doing something about it.
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“10 Movie Mistakes Only Smug Nerds Would Ever Notice”
Posted June 23, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
Just when you thought no more could possibly be wrong with the “Johnny B. Goode” scene in Back to the Future… More from my site‘To reach ‘so bad it’s good’ territory, a movie needs to continually escalate its badness’Why Smithers Was Originally Black on ‘The Simpsons’‘It seems pretty clear that the guy behind the War […]
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Like me? Too lazy to watch “Get Out”? I got you, fam:
Posted June 23, 2017 by Kathy Shaidle
More from my siteSo as suspected, Millennials aren’t chronically unemployed — they’re just lazy and spoiledI hate teachers. You’re supposed to hate teachers.‘Brain Scientist Tries to Uncover Why White People Are Prejudiced Against Gypsies’‘A black female friend and I once discussed how our historically unemployed (lazy) relatives often claimed that we were rich simply because […]
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How to survive Canada Day in Ottawa
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
If you haven’t been to Parliament Hill since your eighth-grade civics trip, you’re in for an adventure this year as the annual Canada Day party gets amplified for the country’s sesquicentennial, which, by July 1, you should be able to say five times fast. Here’s a local’s wisdom on navigating the big bash.
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Historic Ottawa addresses on Sussex Drive now accessible via The Great Trail
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
Ottawa’s ceremonial route, Sussex Drive, is now connected to the rest of Canada via a spur of The Great Trail, making it easier than ever for Canadians to visit some of our country’s most iconic addresses: the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex, the Governor General’s residence at Rideau Hall — and the Centre for Geography and Exploration at 50 Sussex, the new home of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
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Brexit, One Year On: Green Tape, Fossil Fuels, and Climate Science Deniers
Posted June 23, 2017 by Anonymous
On June 23 2016, 46 million voters merrily skipped to the polls to have their say about whether the UK should remain in the European Union. Early the following morning, it was revealed that 52 percent of the population had voted Leave.
Most were shocked, a small majority were joyous, the rest were dismayed — including many who were concerned Brexit would mean the UK’s climate policy and environmental regulation coming under attack.
One year on, the negotiations have formally started and things have progressed… a bit.
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Why don’t whales get the bends?
Posted June 23, 2017 by podcasting@cbc.ca
Whales can dive over 1000 meters and have special adaptations for not getting decompression sickness.
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Mass drownings of wildebeest nourish Serengeti river ecosystem
Posted June 23, 2017 by podcasting@cbc.ca
When migrating wildebeest drown en masse, it enriches an iconic river in the Serengeti.
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Scaredy-cat cougars frightened into killing more prey
Posted June 23, 2017 by podcasting@cbc.ca
Cougars’ fear of humans forces them to kill more deer.
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Iron Man takes his first steps – an exoskeleton that learns to walk
Posted June 23, 2017 by podcasting@cbc.ca
A wearable, personalized robotic exoskeleton makes walking easier.
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When you get your DNA scanned is your genetic privacy safe?
Posted June 23, 2017 by podcasting@cbc.ca
Sharing your genetic data with companies like 23andMe is great for science, but could be risky for your privacy
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Your pancake breakfast could be making you cranky
Posted June 23, 2017 by podcasting@cbc.ca
A high-carb breakfast makes you more likely to punish those who treat you unfairly
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Classic Trek Offers Advice to the Canadian Space Industry on Our Latest Postponed Space Plan
Posted June 22, 2017 by Chuck Black
By Chuck Black
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has gone on record to address the rumours that an expected report from the Federal Space Advisory Board will not be ready in time to meet the government’s self-imposed June 2017 deadline for publication.
As outlined in a June 22nd, 2017 e-mail from ISED media relations officer Hans Parmar, the report is to be updated to become more “action oriented.“
Parmar provided no estimate of when the final report would be completed and refused to answer a question on whether it will be ready for September, when an expected Federal Cabinet shuffle could potentially plop a new Liberal face into Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains‘ current portfolio and cause the entire process to reset to zero.
According to Parmar:
Based on feedback from the Space Advisory Board consultations, the government heard that Canada needs a long term approach that recognizes the strategic importance of space and that is action-oriented.
The Government of Canada continues to work on a space strategy that will support growth in the sector and leverage the benefits of space for all Canadians.
This strategy will set a new approach for space – setting clear directions, promoting partnerships and defining a future role for Canada in space. This comprehensive approach will help to coordinate policies and programs across government, including Canada’s Defence Policy and the Innovation and Skills Plan.
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| An “action oriented” Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet at the 2014 Farnborough International Air Show. There’s nothing like a quick reminder of the great many political fish still to fry on the Innovation Minister’s plate and the June 22nd, 2017 CTV News Post, “Boeing plays down Bombardier dispute, still hopes to sell fighter jets to Canada,” notes two in a single post. Another, as outlined in the April 17th, 2017 post, “‘Massive‘ Review of Federal Science Funding Finally Released; Will Likely Soon ‘Drop Down the Memory Hole‘” also directly affects science funding and the Liberal “Innovation Agenda.” A fourth crisis, the looming purchase of Canadian satellite communications provider Norsat by either an American hedge fund or a Chinese conglomerate is playing out this week in Vancouver. Photo c/o AP/Sang Tan. |
While expected for some time, the delay first surfaced in the June 21st, 2017 SpaceQ post, “New Canadian Space Strategy Delayed,” which didn’t reference any primary sources, but did give two potential reasons for the delay.
- First of all, “the Space Advisory Board was not announced until mid-April providing it little time to consult with stakeholders and to formulate a report for the government to analyze,” which is true enough as things go, but could also indicate incompetence, since government reviews normally take far longer than the two and a half months the ruling Liberal party allotted. This would have been known in advance.
- Secondly, “there was a greater response to the consultation process than was expected including numerous written submissions. What this all means is the government has a lot of input to digest.” It could also indicate a lack of understanding of the complexity of the issues facing our space industry.
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| Nice, but not “action oriented.” Graphic c/o CSA. |
There is also the possibility that the Space Advisory Board was convened to give the space industry the perception of participation in the process for when the Liberal party rolled out another generic, but mostly useless document in the same vein as the February 7th, 2014 Conservative Party Canada’s Space Policy Framework.
A potential template for this new paper might even have been one of the policy documents which derived from the “1st Canadian Space Policy Symposium,” focused on “Aligning Canada’s Future in Space with Canada’s Innovation Agenda,” an agenda chock full of Liberal party buzzwords, which was held in Ottawa on November 8th, 2016.
As outlined in the November 13th, 2016 post, “Generalists, Data Miners, Lotteries, Comedy, Open Access and the Future of Science in Canada,” the Commercial Space blog mentioned the event in passing, as part of the coverage of the larger 2016 Canadian Science Policy Conference, but was refused admission to the space policy symposium.
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| Talk, but no action. Graphic c/o CSCA. |
It’s interesting to note that many of the people currently active in the Space Advisory Board did attend the 2016 Space Policy Symposium.
If the outline of the current postponed space policy document was known last November, then a three month turn around time becomes understandable, since the Space Advisory Board would be expected to simply “glad handle” and build consensus for an already existing plan, but wouldn’t need to develop anything new.
In retrospect, it seems as if participants in both the 2016 Space Policy Conference and the more recent round table discussions of the Space Advisory Board were sold a bill of goods by the organizers, since people who might possibly disagree with the anticipated policy document were refused admission to the Space Policy Forum, and a reasonable discussion of options relating to Canada’s Future in space, including contrary viewpoints, doesn’t seem to have occurred until the round tables were held.
Now that expectations have been raised, the government will need to spend some time either distilling the round table discussions into a real policy document, or they’ll need to find a way to bury the report.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that a Federal minister has offered up a plan to “revitalize” the Canadian space industry and our space agency.
Back in 2008, then Conservative Industry Minister Jim Prentice, offered up the following mandate to the then new Canadian Space Agency (CSA) president Steve MacLean:
Jim Prentice. Photo c/o Wikipedia I have given Steve a mandate to make sweeping changes at the CSA.
As we stand at this crossroads, he will revitalize the Agency. He will restore its ability to punch above its weight in an international quest. He will develop Canada’s capacity for a new era of prestige and achievement.
And to that end, as one of Steve MacLean’s first acts as new President, the CSA will begin consultations with stakeholders that will lead to a new Long-Term Space Plan.
I expect this plan – the fourth in the series – to be as influential for our generation of exploration and development as any plan that Canada has produced for charting our future in space.
That’s a tall order. I know that Steve is capable of bringing together the stakeholders. Time is of the essence, and I look forward to the plan in the coming months.
But after the 2008 election, Prentice moved on to became Minister of Environment. MacLean wrote his report, but it was never released to the public and, as outlined in the May 8th, 2017 post, “Steve MacLean’s 2010 Long-Term Space Plan Surfaces, CSA Clarifies its Communications Policy & California’s Rocket Tax,” that document eventually became marketing material for the Gordon Group, an Ottawa based marketing company which assisted with its creation.
During the 2016 election, and as outlined in the October 13, 2015 post on “Part 2 of “Abandoning the Emerson Aerospace Review?,” both the Liberals and the NDP wanted a review of the 2012 David Emerson led Aerospace Review (perhaps even culminating in a new “long-term space plan“), but once the Liberals gained power in October 2015, that review fell by the wayside.
The current Liberal government mostly supports the Emerson Review, but would prefer the electorate forgot that Emerson happened under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and currently enjoys wide bipartisan support.
As Mr. Scott, the Chief Engineer in the 1967 Star Trek episode, “Friday’s Child,” once said, “Fool me once, Shame on you. Fool me twice, Shame on me.”
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| Chuck Black. |
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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.
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Homeless in Vancouver: Unexpectedly unhappy car-ffiti in Mount Pleasant
Posted June 22, 2017 by Charlie Smith
It could almost be depressing if it weren’t so difficult to understand.
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"I don’t want you to get shooted"
Posted June 22, 2017 by Dr.Dawg
Not content with murdering a Black man in front of his partner and her young child, the cops who pulled over Philando Castile handcuffed the terrified woman and then confined her in the back seat of a squad car, separating…
