the blog quebecois

Must ease back into blogging. Hurry these things, you could pull a muscle or something.

In that spirit, I present a dog. Not just any dog, mind you. This dog hails from Lasi, Romania. Hence the title. I have no idea if his name is "Lassie" or not. Let him sue if it isn't.

You know what would have been really cool? If "Lassie" from Lasi was a Lhasa Apso.

What the hell. He's a Lhasa Apso. With a haircut, maybe.

Bring on your lawyers, "Lassie."

Which, now that I think of it, is a pretty girly name for a boy dog.

Now that's entertainment! And this, and this.

Warning: Sounds. Also, judging by the comment threads at YouTube, some people seem to find it disturbing:

jaathan

This was suppose to be a fun toy for kids. You retards. Go get a life.

xcountryflyer

Utterly horrible!

Twis7ed

How was this funny at all? Are you all immature boys that didn't mature?

An amusing juxtaposition of stories on National Newswatch earlier today.

A man finds what he thinks are archeological treasures in his backyard and forwards them to the Smithsonian for analysis. To his discovery of a "hominid skull" the Smithsonian responds:

1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are typically fossilized bone.

2. The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic centimeters, well below the threshold of even the earliest identified proto-hominids.

3. The dentition pattern evident on the "skull" is more consistent with the common domesticated dog than it is with the "ravenous man-eating Pliocene clams" you speculate roamed the wetlands during that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this institution, but the evidence seems to weigh rather heavily against it. Without going into too much detail, let us say that:

A. The specimen looks like the head of a Barbie doll that a dog has chewed on.

B. Clams don't have teeth.

Alas, it's just an urban legend, albeit a minor comic masterpiece. The full letter and some background details are here.

A New Year's reveler in South Queensferry, Scotland, participates in the Loony Dook plunge, an annual New Year's Day event in which swimmers often wear fancy clothes in lieu of swimsuits.

The Texas Scribbler:

Minnesota Muslim congressman Keith Ellison's use of Thomas Jefferson's two-volume copy of the Koran to take his oath of office was a pretty slick idea, until you consider that Mr. E. probably didn't take the time to turn a few of its pages and read what was written there. If he had, according to the Austin-based community Web site Altmuslim.com, he would have discovered that the translator, George Sale, "calls the Prophet Muhammad a 'criminal... imposing a false religion.'" Oops.

Via Simply Jews

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Al Gore's shock troops are on the march:

Those selected to gather at the Hilton Nashville Downtown last week included teachers, doctors, a meteorologist, ministers, Wal-Mart employees, actress Cameron Diaz, architects, retirees, veterans and financiers.

This is Gore's Climate Project, training 1,000 "presenters," who shall disperse among the population to spread the gospel. So expect a couple of Wal-Mart employees on your doorstep any day now.

Less likely to appear is Cameron Diaz. This is just one of her many interests. Here's some of what she had to say to Oprah Winfrey before the 2004 presidential election:

We have a voice now, and we’re not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies if you think that rape should be legal, then don’t vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote . . .

I had no idea that Bill Clinton was running, but there you go.

So you see that she's not one of those one-dimensional Hollywood bimbos. There are at least two dimensions there. Who knows how many other wondrous thoughts bubble through the mind of Ms. Diaz?

CBC:

Jury selection began Tuesday in the case against I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, a former Bush adviser and chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters about CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Like the readers of the Soviet-era Pravda, CBC-watchers have learned to evaluate the news by what isn't reported.

Watching Newsworld today at noon, after the near-rapturous coverage of Barack Obama's taking the initial steps to run in 2008, Henry Champ weighed in on the upcoming trial of Libby.

If you'd just dropped by from another planet, you would have thought that the trial was about the (as it turns out, apparently not-so-illegal) leaking of Valerie Plame's status at the CIA. Champ went through his entire spiel without mentioning the fact that the leaker has been well-known to the Special Prosecutor, from the beginning of the case. And to the public for months:

On September 7th [former Deputy Secretary of State Richard] Armitage admitted to being the source in the CIA leak. [15] Armitage claims that [prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald had originally asked him not to discuss publicly his role in the matter, but that on September 5 Armitage asked Fitzgerald if he could reveal his role to the public, and Fitzgerald consented.

What Libby will be on trial for are flimsy perjury and obstruction of justice charges, in what is increasingly looking like a vindictive prosecution; if convicted he will be a prime candidate for a pardon from President Bush before he leaves office.

The notion that Libby, a lawyer by profession, would lie to the FBI and subsequently a grand jury over trivial, half-remembered conversations about a non-criminal act is laughable. (True, it didn't stop Clinton, but . . . that's our Bill!)

Champ neglects to mention any of this, but darkly hinted that "it is like Watergate where the coverup becomes more important than the original story." (Paraphrase mine. If you don't like it, CBC, release a transcript.)

About the only place this case is going is into the toilet. If there were true Justice, the careers of Fitzgerald and Champ would shortly follow it.

There seems to be a minor cottage industry developing in David Beckham jokes. Here are a couple I've recently run across.

Posh Spice and David Beckham are sitting in front of the TV watching the six o'clock news. The headline feature is a man who is threatening to jump off a suspension bridge onto the busy road below.

Posh turns to Beckham and says "Dave, I bet you $10,000 that he jumps." He replies "$10,000! You're on!" The pair shake on it and continue watching the commotion on the TV. Sure enough, the man jumps and hits the road below with a loud thud.

Beckham takes 10 grand out of his pocket and gives it to Posh. "I can't take that from you, Dave," she says. "I was cheating. I saw the five o'clock news earlier so I knew what was going to happen. I can't accept that money."

Beckham replies, "No, babe. The money is yours fair and square. I was cheating too. I just didn't think he would do it again."

-----------------------------------------

David runs into the living room, very excited. He's finally completed the jigsaw puzzle that he started 40 days ago. Posh asks him if that's a good time. David says, "Absolutely! The cover of the box says 3-6 years!"

From the few interviews I've seen of him, he doesn't strike me as unintelligent; these are probably driven more by fiscal and social envy.

This could be a tough one, because they share similar sadistic tendencies. Serial killer or operating language programmer?

Warning: Sound effects.

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one. -- Charles MacKay

Toronto Sun:

Here's what's happened so far in the two years the [European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme] ETS has been up and running.

- There's been "megatonnes" of profits, all right, mainly pocketed by some of Europe's largest energy companies -- the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.

- The spot wholesale price of electricity in some jurisdictions, which will eventually be passed on to consumers, has jumped by up to 66%.

- The ETS has created an instant new industry of carbon trading consultants, brokers and speculators, many making big profits.

- By contrast, some hospitals and schools have been forced to spend millions buying emission credits, instead of hiring nurses and teachers.

- While ETS supporters argue overall greenhouse gas emissions will go down, all that's gone down so far are projections of future emissions. Real emissions are up.

It isn't only European power companies and brokers looking to profit: Note this:

The chief executives of 10 major corporations, on the eve of the State of the Union address, urged President Bush on Monday to support mandatory reductions in climate-changing pollution and establish reductions targets.

"We can and must take prompt action to establish a coordinated, economy-wide market-driven approach to climate protection," the executives from a broad range of industries said in a letter to the president.

In case you were thinking that this springs from tender solicitude for Mommy Nature, guess again. They're simply following the path of another noted player:

With a payoff worth tens of billions of dollars at stake, Enron Corporation laid out millions in campaign contributions in the 1990s apparently in part to persuade the Clinton Administration and the U.S. Senate to support the Kyoto global warming treaty.

Enron hoped to cash in on the Kyoto treaty by masterminding a worldwide trading network in which major industries could buy and sell credits to emit carbon dioxide - the inert gas that some scientists and most environmentalists believe contributes to global warming.

Yes, that would be the Enron of Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, those pillars of probity.

I've got no objection to companies making money. What I do object to is them raking in profit from gaming a phony market that won't do a damned thing to correct the problems it's purported to solve. It's often been said that there is only one taxpayer -- well, there is only one consumer, too, and it's from his hide that this money will be extracted.

I'll make a prediction. In 200 years, the Earth will still be here; the weather will be as varied and unpredictable as ever; our descendants will be as mystified by this hysteria as we are today, looking back at the Dutch Tulip Craze.

A great little timewaster. You get a certain amount of gold (and sometimes other "currencies") that you use on each turn to buy towers to defeat the waves of enemies trying to make their way through the maze. For hints on strategy, you can visit the game forum here.

Warning: Sounds, which you can turn off with a button at the top left. However, hearing the shrieks of the attackers as your cannon mow them down lends a certain je ne sais quoi to the battle.

The Globe and Mail:

To come up with ideas and encourage caucus participation, [Liberal platform co-chairman Bob] Rae had MPs and senators break up into small groups of about five that were asked to develop themes, in bite-size phrases, for the platform.

One MP said that marrying the economy with environmental action was a dominant theme -- "some form of 'It's the environmental economy, stupid.' " Some came up with slogans such as, "The environment is wealth" or "The environment is health," MPs said.

But there were other slogans -- from "Hope and opportunity" to "Leading edge" -- designed to portray the party as more innovative and progressive than the Conservatives.

Let's put our differences aside for the moment and help the Liberals out. They're welcome to any of these:

The Mo is Strong

Now With 30% Less Corruption

We Have Our Convictions

Pay No Attention To The Men Behind The Curtain

There was a leader who had a dog
And Kyoto was his name-o
K-Y-O-T-O
K-Y-O-T-O
K-Y-O-T-O
And Kyoto was his name-o

No charge!

. . . the Grand Imperial Whee!-zard is turning green. A light green, he hastens to add. Though those hats would seem admirably suited for transporting vomit and/or cotton candy.

The photo was taken in Cañon City, Colorado, circa 1926.

Via we make money not art

Update: I'm being deluged with hits from Flickr on this post. I'll open up the comments -- if anybody wants to let me know where they saw the link, I'd appreciate it.

'as anyBODy 'ere sEEn mY ol' friEN' JEaN?
CAn oO tELL me WHEre 'Ee's gOnE
E' LeAd a loT of PEoPle
bUT deY t'rOw 'IM ovERboARD
dA wIDdle gUy fROm ShAWiniGAN

It's little known today, but in the early years of rock and roll, Stéphane Dion attempted to parlay his boyish good looks into a career in music. Criticized for seemingly riding the celebrity coattails of the American singer/songwriter Dion DiMucci, citoyen Dion indignantly denied it.

"iT IS nOT tHE SAme tHINg At aLL," he snapped at a press conference. "'E 'AS tHE nAMe 'DIon aND tHE BELmonts.' mE, i aM 'diON aND tHE belMONTS.' aND mY mOTHer, sHE LiKEs iT."

A couple of singles, featuring strangely-familiar melodies were released:

WeLL, I'M tHE TYPE OF guY WHO wiLL nevER setTLE dowN
wHeRE quOTA GiRLs aRE, weLL yOU kNOw thAT i'M ARouND
i cOAX 'eM, thEY're a TOKen, 'cAUSe tO mE thEY'rE aLL tHE sAME
i wOO 'em and i 'cHUte 'eM, i DOn't EVen kNOw tHEir NAMes
ThEY cAll ME tHE pANDerER - yEAh - the pANDerER
I roAm AroUND ArOUnD ArOUnd AROund

And who can forget this poignant ballad:

EAcH nIGHt I aSk the stARs sO cOLd aNd sO duLL
WHy mUst i BE a greENagER iN HuLL?
WHy mUst i BE a greENagER iN HuLL?

Reviews were mixed. Such as:

"This guy couldn't carry a tune in a bucket."; and,

"What the hell is he singing? I can't make out a word of it."; and,

"Good God, is that the crappiest Photoshop ever, or what? No, wait. Photoshop hasn't been invented yet. So it must be legit."

Reduced to playing ratty nightclubs, Dion soon tired of show business and went back to school. Music's gain is politics' loss.

The Times Online:

The world has just 10 years to reverse surging greenhouse gas emissions or risk runaway climate change that could make many parts of the planet uninhabitable.

The stark warning comes from scientists who are working on the final draft of a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The report, due to be published this week, will draw together the work of thousands of scientists from around the world who have been studying changes in the world’s climate and predicting how they might accelerate.

It's kind of amusing how these doomsday scenarios slot neatly into nice round numbers. I recall that noted oceanographer, Ted Danson (link doesn't lead to the quote -- it was made before the Internet turned commercial) predicting the "death of the oceans" by the year 2000 if something (what, precisely, he didn't say) wasn't done.

Even though the death of the oceans made me sad, I've gotten over it by now. I'm resilient that way.

An interesting (trans: I couldn't find anything else to link to, as God is my witness) little toy, something like a Spirograph. You can adjust the lengths and axes of the rotor; or you could go get another beer. Your call.

Via J-Walk Blog

CTV:

U.S. scientists have been pressured to make their writings on global warming fit with the Bush administration's skepticism on the topic, a U.S. Congressional committee has been told.

A survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists found 150 climate scientists had personally experienced political interference in their work over the past five years. The survey had 279 respondents.

At least 435 incidents were recorded, representatives of the watchdog group told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"Nearly half of all respondents perceived or personally experienced pressure to eliminate the words 'climate change,' 'global warming' or other similar terms from a variety of communications," said Francesca Grifo.

We're going to hear a lot about the new Union of Concerned Scientists' report on the so-called Republican War on Science that was unveiled at today's hearing chaired by Henry Waxman. What you won't hear is that the UCS report is undeniably Junk Science, a term I try to avoid but completely apposite in this case. The UCS mailed out over 1600 survey forms to climate scientists and based their assertions of political interference on the 297 that got returned. That's a response rate of just 19 percent. OMB guidelines clearly state that a response rate of less than 80 percent requires an investigation of potential biases and an even closer investigation for a response rate lower than 70 percent. A response rate of lower than twenty percent is clearly vulnerable to the charge of a self-selecting sample, perhaps those with an axe to grind against their bosses, the politically motivated, and so on. In short, it proivides all sorts of legitimate reasons to dismiss the survey as utterly unrepresentative. The fact that these so-called scientists went ahead regardless exposes them for the partisan media manipulators they are.

And who were the dissenters crushed under the iron heel of the Bush Administration? Most of the press that I've seen featured two in particular: Drew Shindell and Rick Piltz, with little-to-no coverage of their claims. Marlo Lewis comments in National Review Online:

Another witness, Drew Shindell of NASA, recounted what happened when he published a paper forecasting a warming trend in Antarctica. The Bush White House did not try to stop him from publishing the paper, nor did it try to stop NASA from putting out a press release on it. So what dastardly deed did Bush operatives commit? White House officials twice rejected the titles he and the NASA press corps proposed for the press release, and eventually told them what title to use. This was, in the apt words of another witness, Roger Pielke Jr., ham-handed communications management, but it hardly qualifies as censorship or persecution.

and further goes on to eviscerate Piltz, whose complaints seem equally trivial. Not that you'd know it from lazy, lazy journalists.