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Month: October 2008

The Canadian Dollar is a Petrodollar

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This is a chart of the value of the Canadian Loonie Versus the US Dollar

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This chart illustrates the price of oil in the same basic period.

Can you see the shape of these two charts.  The Value of the Loonie is tied directly to the price of Oil, it’s our most valuable resource in terms of trading power and currency value.  It’s about time that the Government took a hard look at whether it is a smart idea to let the Oil Companies continue to control a resource that truly sets Canada’s place in the world market.

Daily Digest for 2008-10-16

Yesterday

digg (feed #3) 7:23am Dugg a link on Digg.

facebook (feed #6) 7:31am Updated status on Facebook.

Kevin Anyone notice how little we’ve seen of Robert Novak since he nearly killed that guy?
lastfm (feed #4) 9:57am Scrobbled 2 songs on Last.fm. (Show Details)

blog (feed #8) 12:31pm Published 12 blog posts. (Show Details)

Short Story: Lights Out Part 2

Frank James spent all of his day at work navigating Facebook looking for his ex-girlfriends.  He only had three to look for, but they never seemed to pop up.  Today he was looking for variations on Trudy or Trudelle or Trish, his first serious Girlfriend in High School.  They had dated right until Graduation, when she dumped him the day after Graduation, Frank had been crushed.  He had expected to Marry her during College and have kids before he turned 25.

Now Trudy and Frank were both in their 30s and unknown to Frank, Trudy was single and pining for him after years of failed relationships.  She didn’t use Facebook and rarely used a computer except when demanded by work and even then she left it to an assistant if possible.  Miles away, Frank toiled away at his keyboard, oblivious to the world, save Facebook.

CLICK

The Lights went out and Frank’s laptop dimmed, he tapped on, but when people started to move towards the exists, he started to get ready to leave.  The PA crackled and hissed then a voice came out:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Security Chief Mike Pendegrass, please remain in your offices and keep the stairs clear at this time.  I repeat please keep the stairs clear at this time.” The PA hissed a bit then everything was quiet.

““Aww, what the hell!?” Frank coughed in exasperation.  He plopped down in his chair and began to unplug his laptop from the wall, planning to pack up his crap except for his Laptop and leave as soon as the all clear came down.  The “official” downtime would give him a chance to catch up on his real work and since the power was down, so was the ‘net.  No reason to search.

Frank looked up when Janice from the next cube had rolled her chair down the aisle to the window and then got back to filling out spreadsheets and poking tracking information into different databases inside the building.  In about 20 minutes, he had finished his real work for the day when the light in the office came back on.  No, it hadn’t, it was brighter though.

“Oh My GOD!” someone yelled from the other side of the Office, “Holy Shit, Look outside!”

Frank looked out of the window and squinted, there, on the horizon above the buildings were two massive lights, two suns.  The Sky was yellow and there were two suns!  Frank snatched his camera from his carrier bag and snapped some pictures through the glass.  The lights dimmed and went orange as the suns began to sink towards the horizon.

Down in the street, people were panicking and running between the cars.  Frank could just make them out in the dimming lights.

Janice joined him at the window.

“Hey, did you know we were bombed”  she drank from a coffee cup, “like, today?”

Frank stepped back and looked at her, “what?  What?”

“Yeah, I got a call a little while back from a friend in Moorehead, he told me that Saint Paul was bombed, most of it is gone”

“You seem healthy for a bombing victim Janice.  You have to tell me your secret” Frank jibed, nervous.

“It’s this double sun, you know?  It does wonders for the wounds.  Fuck. This is fucked up.  What the hell is going on?” suddenly serious, Janice flopped back into her chair and looked around the office, people were gathering in groups and talking on their cell phones.

Frank took his cell phone from his pocket and called his mother, no answer. He called one of his friends in another office, no answer.  Then, no service.

All around the office people started getting angry, yelling about service.  Somewhere an argument had blossomed into a fight which was getting louder.

Frank grabbed his chair and wheeled it over next to Janice, they sat in silence and watched the suns set in the distance, noting for the first time that they were setting in the north.

Twitter Updates for 2008-10-16

  • Oh God, It’s Late, Gotta head to bed. #
  • Anyone notice how little we’ve seen of Robert Novak since he nearly killed that guy? #
  • OMG, was that a cat on a con call? #
  • @somerled Brunch AND Meetings all day? Sweet! in reply to somerled #
  • Australia, are you leading the way into China? http://tinyurl.com/5ydsu8 #
  • Radiohead might not be great for the start of the day; but the DHCP crisis is over and I’ve already closed a ticket today. Check Plus! #
  • What is smilling? Oh, Smiling! Jen’s friends can’t spell at all. #
  • Inspired by xkcd wet guitar players http://www.wetriffs.com #
  • OMG this Con Call is going off the rails with this crazy train. #
  • Oh yeah, I spent the Debates last night flaming people and blocking people on the live feed here on twitter. #
  • Looks like a Fun craft for Hallowe’en http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/fakesnot.htm #
  • Digg: Go ahead America, choose the lesser of two weevils #
  • What!?!? “Potential for snow Tues” BASTARDS!!!! #
  • Shoot Idea, “Misery” based around the Stations of the Cross. Anyone wanna be Jesus? #
  • I gotta set one of these up! http://tinyurl.com/4vxxoq #
  • @markwilson12 Yes, Grandpa Simpson. Is that an onion on your belt? in reply to markwilson12 #
  • @DVDQuotes Poltergeist in reply to DVDQuotes #
  • @almightygod I think it already is sir, Pride and Sloth are both moral sins, which Willful Ignorance is an expression of. in reply to almightygod #
  • @AlmightyGod Also, MORTAL SINS TOO in reply to almightygod #
  • Misery… Misery… Misery… #
  • Listening to Time of the Season again… #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-10-15

  • @happyguy London. in reply to happyguy #
  • Someone, please, bring me socks and my shirt! #
  • #LdnVotes08 Fanshawe | Voter turnout: 41,044 of 74,202 registered electors (55.3%) #
  • Teddybears, The Killers, Metallica Covers, Kerrang magazine mix and Robyn on the playlist this AM #
  • This comment spam “OMG <game name> was the BEST ever! <some privacy thing> ” has got to stop, it’s beyond the joke #
  • Billy Talent sounds like Pop Bobnoxious #
  • @RevNathan Which one? in reply to RevNathan #
  • It’s getting close to “iTunes Genre Cleanup Time” #
  • I suspect someone is going to get their Milkshake Drunk #
  • I need to buy egss, bread and milk (maybe some half & half) and soda. What else? Salami, Rolls… I think that’s it. #
  • My new Compact Camera is “the Dead” I’ll send it to canon for “the fixing” #
  • @katiewest I think the low turnout has more to do with the “Shit Choices” more than anything else. in reply to katiewest #
  • Biden fights for banks and media firms, not the little guy #
  • @crazywater And you know different, because you WEREN’T at Harvard with him (you know, when he was the President of a student org)? in reply to crazywater #
  • @seveneight If you live in an outhouse and someone farts. in reply to seveneight #

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Voter ID "Laws" Disenfranchised my Wife Part 2

Posted by damorris on 10/15/08 at 2:36PM

For all of you who support the efforts of ACORN, Obama and all of their minions (can you say SOS Jennifer Brunner), remember the right to vote is supposed to be something sacred.

Why would anyone with common sense think it is wrong or otherwise an infringement of someones right to verify the registraiton? Because it might unmask them for the frauds that they are.

Men and women have died to give us the right to vote. It isn’t something to just pass out like candy at Halloween. Although the election is starting to look a lot like tricks and treats.

Tricks by the left, with treats for everyone (e.g. healthcare, no new taxes except for the ‘rich people’). All in the name of electing Obama.

God help us all.

My wife could not vote yesterday because she could not produce mail with her name and address on it.  Which means if I went home, printed up a fake letter with her name and address on it, then she could have voted.  How does that make sense?  She had ID proving that she is  citizen and enough federal paperwork to prove she is in good standing, but nothing with her address.  So she couldn’t vote.

Tell me again how Voter ID rules aren’t there to disenfranchise people.

How Voter ID Requirements Disenfranchised my Wife

I’ve lived in London for about 8 months now, I contacted the Federal Government and Service Canada to make sure my address was up to date so that I would show on the Voter Rolls for my local riding (to ensure that I could vote, ya know).  As it turns out, calling and having certified information on hand and then confirming using a special code sent to me registered mail is not enough to update computer records to show my correct address (which is why I used to leave my “Government Address” at my ‘rents house, as it was easier than Navigating the Federal Beauraucracy).  All of that said, I was assured that I could vote as long as I brought along ID confirming I lived in the Riding.

Of course, since my wife doesn’t get mail at the house, she is a non-person in this riding.

So she missed out on her first ever visit to the Polls.

It was painless for me to get going, but I couldn’t affirm my own wife’s address, and since we don’t really know anyone in the Riding.

Yeah.

It sucks.

The lesson here is to make sure that you get mail at home, even if you don’t pay the bills and ensure that you are a person who can vote in Canada.

Oh, yeah, and you need Picture ID with your address on it or accompanying something with your address on it to vote.  Picture ID.

You know, the kind that people rail against in the States, you know what ID works in Ontario though?  Your Government Health Card, that gets you free Health care.

It’s good how that works out, free health care and the right to vote all in one.

Short Story: Lights Out Part 1

Life in a high rise office is alright; at least most of the time.  You sometimes have to deal with recycled air or “sick building” syndrome, but you get great views from the windows and the feeling that you are above it all, down there on the ground.  Some buildings even have mezzanine levels that extend from the building with gardens or cafe’s that let you get outside and look right down on the city below.   The only time a high rise is a real pain is when the power goes out.

Which happens now.

“Click”

Shit! Janice thought, mid sentence in an email to her never-far-enough-away college buddy Burgess, a boy who never grew up and a townie from Moorehead.  Burgess was having some kind of family crisis out there in Moorehead and had wanted Janice to come out and help him deal.  Janice was mid “No fucking way…” when the lights had dimmed then flashed off, along with her monitor.

She stood up and watched the Prairie-Dog city that was the cube farm stand up together and look around, the murmers that never seemed to cease had paused and everyone looked at each other for some kind of idea what happened.  The emergency lights clicked on and some people started to walk for the stairs.  Janice started to pack up her stuff and join them when a voice came over the PA

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Security Chief Mike Pendegrass, please remain in your offices and keep the stairs clear at this time.  I repeat please keep the stairs clear at this time”  the PA hissed, beeped and went silent.

“Aww, what the hell!?” Frank James on Janice’s Left collapsed back into his chair, his dangerous weight nearly collapsing it.  He unplugged his laptop and fired it up, intent on continuing his work.

Janice sat back down. but finished packing up her stuff and then rolled her chair over to the window, where there was enough light to read by.  She took out a collection of short stories she had been carting around with her and began to read, waiting for the power to come back on or for the all-clear to leave.

Around the office, people either returned to what work they could or began to mill around in groups, gossiping or making guesses about what was going on.  Janice tried to concentrate on her book, the story she was reading was about a bunch of guys in an office dealing with some sort of miniature priest outbreak, but she couldn’t get into it.  She leaned her head against the floor to cieling window and looked down into the streets.  Her phone lit up and vibrated at her hip.

“Janice, are you okay?” it was Burgess.

“What do you mean Burg’?  Yeah, I’m cool”  Janice noticed alot of people getting calls, all of them some variation of “I’m Okay” or “What? What do you mean Bombing?”

Janice stood up and pushed her chair to her desk and walked out to the cafe at the end of the office, to get a better view of the streets.

“Janice, Jan.  A bomb went off in Saint Paul, it’s gone, blown up!” Burgess was frantic.

“Burg’ I’m in the office right now looking down at the street, there’s nothing going on down there, all the lights are out, but I can see cars and some lights out there.  It’s just some sort of power out or some…”

Janice looked out at the sky, it had twin Suns set in a sickly green-blue.

“Burgess, I’m gonna have to call you back”

Twitter Updates for 2008-10-14

  • Voting this evening, Not For the Liberals (Local Candidate Blew me Off) Not for the Tories (Why would I) Not for Christian Heritage…. #
  • My ID card is borked… need to get i fixed this AM #
  • I’ll never understand opinion pieces with no byline http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385651698727257.html #
  • I quadrupled the storage on my Compact Camera. 4 times the random pictures. Now I just need a life. LoL #
  • CPRI called my desk number 8 times over the weekend, what’s up with that? They didn’t even leave a message. #
  • Oh, uh, Don’t forget to Vote, it’s your country. #
  • Trying to write a long-form criticism of Political Schisms and coming up empty, might just write a critical piece…. #
  • @Ultramegakungfu One of the Canadian papers that I’ve lauded for it’s fact-based work and it’s opinion bits are anonymous too. Strange. in reply to Ultramegakungfu #
  • It’s hell waiting for important feedback. #
  • BTW, Crossed is a great comic if you are into either “Survivor” Fiction or “Zombie” fiction, avoid please if you are a Care Bears Fan #
  • @RevNathan On that I don’t disagree, that scene with “Look at what you did!” at the end unnerved me. Did you read my review? in reply to RevNathan #
  • For Americans worried about ID requirements for voting, check this out: http://tinyurl.com/4dcum4 (I can’t vote) #
  • I take that back, I CAN vote, phew. #
  • Don’t take my word for it; http://www.100reasons.ca/ Check out #20 #
  • @RevNathan NEEEEEEERRRRRRRRD! in reply to RevNathan #
  • It’s fall, there are leaves and stuff everywhere now, what is the best looking park in the London area for photos? #
  • Oh, I watched “No Heroics” TimeBomb was the only sensible character on the show. I actually cringed through a great deal of it, not 4 kids #
  • Turkey soup for dinner, maybe with grilled cheese? #
  • Cooking the Soup via Remote; Jen is adding stuff to it as I call and think of new stuff to add it it. #
  • I really do believe that some people don’t recognize that divine-right = feudalism :. != Freedom. #
  • I’ll say it again, if some corporate entity wants to pay me for the crazy stuff I write online, I’m always game to sell out for a price. #
  • Awwww CRAP! http://tinyurl.com/45pmfe #
  • Conservatives = Lip Service to your Deeply Held Beliefs | Liberals = Who cares what your beliefs are, take ours or nothin’! |Take your pick! #
  • I wonder how my soup is doing? Does it need more pepper? #
  • Office People; It’s Practically Wednesday already. Don’t forget to vote! #
  • The cooking smells here at the plant make me insanely hungry. #
  • I voted, my wife was disenfranchised, this time #LdnVotes08 #
  • @happyguy There are a few Tories in here, really. in reply to happyguy #

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