A tail dragging romp through the swamps of the world
A new gopher-killing tool called the Rodenator is behind a massive grass fire that threatened several homes just west of Calgary on the Easter weekend.Oddly, I had first heard of this device just a couple of days ago on a CBC radio program discussing the problems encountered by prairie residents with gophers and the various means to control them. When the Rodenator was being described a passing thought went through my mind that this had the potential to create a massive grass fire.In his 25 years of firefighting, assistant deputy fire Chief Jim Pendergast of the Municipal District of Rocky View said he's never encountered a fire sparked during a gopher hunt.
The Saturday blaze spread rapidly through tinder-dry prairie grasses. Several residents fled their homes as fire crews managed to stop the flames from devouring houses, although some out buildings were lost.
A group of people who were using the Rodenator - which pumps propane and oxygen into a rodent hole and then ignites the mixture to create an underground shock wave or concussion that instantly kills gophers and collapses the tunnel system - could now face a bill for the incident or bylaw charges, including ignoring a fire ban and burning without a permit.I've never lived in the prairies, but in my occasional forays into the area I've heard short but descriptive stories of the damage gophers can and have done to crops and livestock. And, several years ago I managed to step into a gopher hole in the dark, but that was minor compared to what farmers and ranchers are dealing with. Apparently now, the population is so out-of-control that desperate measures are required.
It might be of some interest that Montana State University Extension Service has some information on gopher control. Whether it's up-to-date or not I would not know, but one line in the information suggests that things like the Rodenator have been tried before and MSU recommends against it.
Fumigation of pocket gopher holes with gasoline, propane or exhaust from an automobile has been reported but is NOT RECOMMENDED because of safety hazards. These methods could result in serious explosions or the placement of toxic fumes in undesirable areas.It looks like the Rodenator has demonstrated that clearly enough.
The wife of a soldier faces deportation as her husband prepares to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.Oh... fucking, OOPS!
Canadian-born Samantha Crozier, 23, has been given notice by the Home Office to leave the country by April 30, when her temporary visa expires after her application for British citizenship was refused.That, apparently was one of the newest in famous lies.Mrs Crozier, who has a British mother, Antoinette, claims their children, Ethan, two, and Celeb, one, will have to be put into care while her husband, Lance Corporal Andrew Crozier, is sent on a tour of duty after he completes training. Mrs Crozier says she has spoken to 15 other Army wives facing deportation.
Mrs Crozier moved to England with her husband, also 23, in October last year. She said MoD officials failed to tell her of the complicated procedure to become a British citizen.
Ethan and Celeb, who were born while her husband was posted to Osnabruck, Germany, were awarded full British citizenship and Mrs Crozier applied for a Status Stamp at the British embassy in Dusseldorf. The stamp allowed her to stay in Germany at the UK base for five years. She was stopped at Newcastle ferry port by Customs and Excise and advised to apply for citizenship. She said she was told that because she her husband was born in Northumberland her application would be successful.
However, Mrs Crozier received a letter last month, the day after her birthday, from the Home Office rejecting her application.Oh, how have I wanted to quote from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and now I can.It read: "You have applied for leave to remain in the United Kingdom on the basis of your marriage to Andrew Douglas Crozier.
"However, the immigration rules direct that a person seeking such leave is to be refused if they do not meet the requirements set out in the immigration rules.
"This includes that the applicant has limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom other than where that leave is of six months duration or less. On 30 October 2007 you were granted limited leave to enter as a visitor for a period of six months from 30 October 2007 until 30 April 2008 therefore you do not meet the requirements.
"You are not entitled to appeal this decision."
Mrs Crozier, living in Bordon, near Petersfield, Hants, said: "We rang the MoD to tell them we were coming over and they gave us no advice other then to tell us to have a nice journey.
"I think it is disgraceful. I came here to start a new life with my husband and my two wonderful little boys. My husband is very patriotic and would gladly fight for his country but it seems his country won't fight for him."
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'Ah, yes. Those days when the nation was at war, but, well, not really. The army was in a far off distant land fighting, dying, living with the great blunders. Oh well. There was tea to be sipped and thick cream on cakes at High Tea.
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
What has changed?
Goddamn! The lot of the British soldier has always been a bad one, but to deny him his hearth, home and a loving wife, because she's Canadian and hasn't followed Queen's regulations for having conjugal relations with a loyal trooper?
Apparently nothing has changed.
Cannon fodder is cannon fodder. At least that's the way the British Home Office sees it.
Notwithstanding that the delightfully attractive Samantha will do much to elevate the the level of the British gene-pool, rules are, after all, rules. It's in the book!
Given that the British army is now begging for troops, it is perhaps a good time to make a few introductions.
Left hand meet the right hand.
This must be one of those "world stage" moments.
The mayor of a small Oregon town who came under fire for racy pictures of her posted on the Internet was recalled in a close vote Monday.Ummm. You folks in Arlington are a bunch of amateurs. Really.According to the person who spearheaded the recall drive, Ron Miller, the vote was 142 in favor and 139 against the recall of Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist.
She came under fire after she posted photos of herself posed in lingerie on a fire truck on her MySpace page.
A naked couple have been arrested after allegedly having sex in a moving car.You might note that rather than take the story from the local Victoria newspaper, the link is to a British news site. Global coverage. Better than the Olympics.Their highway hi-jinks startled motorists in [Victoria] British Columbia, Canada - who called police to expose the bizarre traffic violation.
A second nude woman was spotted, but appeared to have been dropped off at her own home before officers could swoop.
After hearing about the romp on the Trans Canada Highway, police in Victoria traced the car's owner through reports of his licence plate.
When they arrived at his home, they arrested a man and a woman in their twenties - but were told the second woman had been taken home already.
Victoria Police Constable Kris Rice said: "There were some reports that they seemed to be wanting attention from other drivers as they engaged in sexual acts.
"Both were determined to be in the nude."
The woman was taken to a hospital for psychiatric assessment, while the driver will likely only face such charges as driving without due care and attention, because police did not witness any sexual acts.
... the only candidates still in the race challenging St. John are Mike Huckabee, whose refusal to state that taxes are a tool of Satan and refusal to state that women aren't tools of Satan makes him a less-than-attractive candidate; Ron Paul, who's so deeply unpopular among rank-and-file Republicans that he could well lose his seat in the House in next Tuesday's Texas primary; and Alan Keyes, who is Alan Keyes.That leaves... Mitt! The ASPCA's dog delivery guru.
Josh Romney, one of former Gov. Mitt Romney's five sons, says it's "possible" his father may rejoin the race for the White House, as a vice presidential candidate or as the Republican Party's standard-bearer if the campaign of Sen. John McCain falters.Josh, being none other than one of the five brothers Romney who
Pretzel owner Michael Fleming told KVAL that he found the pretzel in a bag of Rold Gold three years ago. "People seemed generally moved by these images," says Fleming. "And they really seem to believe that the Virgin Mary is before them."Fleming has been hanging onto the pretzel for three years, presumably to get as much quality time with it as possible before he.... released it to the world.
DJ Tanner Haney could not be reached for comment. He told KVAL TV in Eugene "we're kind of capitalizing on the stupidity of eBay and that people will buy anything." He hosts the Donkey Show from 2 to 6 p.m.Really?
Internet services in Qatar have been seriously disrupted because of damage to an undersea telecoms cable linking the Gulf state to the UAE, the fourth such incident in less than a week. Qatar Telecom (Qtel) said on Sunday the cable was damaged between the Qatari island of Haloul and the UAE island of Das on Friday. The cause of damage is not yet known, but ArabianBusiness.com has been told unofficially the problem is related to the power system and not the result of a ship's anchor cutting the cable, as is thought to be the case in the other three incidents.Well actually, there is no evidence that ships anchors did anything of the sort. In fact, Egypt says ships did not sever the fiber-optic cables.
Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia.Those cables are about the width of a normal human thumb. And a ship's anchor would indeed rip right through one. But four? In three different locations in under a week? Run that little coincidence by any police detective and ask what she/he thinks.A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said.
Egypt's transport ministry said footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged.
"The ministry's maritime transport committee reviewed footage covering the period of 12 hours before and 12 hours after the cables were cut and no ships sailed the area," a statement said.
So, at the risk of perpetrating a conspiracy theory, I will state that I am highly suspicious and until someone can point at USS Jimmy Carter snuggly alongside at its berth in Bangor, Washington, the Bush administration becomes as strong a suspect as any other possible perpetrator. There is also the fact that USS Jimmy Carter was due to become operational this year.
The Jimmy Carter, interestingly, is purpose built where its predecessors were regular attack subs modified for specific jobs. USS Parche was equipped with a set of pick-up arms designed to rip an armoured fiber-optic cable from its meter deep trench and tap into it. As a matter of certain knowledge, the USN did exactly that with submarines on Soviet undersea copper cables during the cold-war. They conducted a successful tap on the Soviet navy's Pacific Fleet headquarters when they tapped an undersea cable in the Sea of Okhotsk, which was discovered by the Soviets and another of the Kola Peninsula tapping into the Soviet Northern Fleet headquarters which remained undiscovered.
There have also been leaks which state that the US National Security Agency tapped a fiber-optic undersea cable with some success. The problem was the flood of information which NSA computers were unable to handle at that time.
Former intelligence officials say the agency made its tap with the help of a customized sub. "It's a submarine capable of bringing a length of cable inside a special chamber, where the men then do the work," while the sub hugs the ocean floor, says one former official. The surface ships used by undersea-cable companies to install and repair cables have similar chambers--called jointing rooms--where crews work on the delicate fibers. When repairing a broken cable, cable companies generally lift one end of the rupture to the surface and into the jointing room, splice in a new length of cable, then lift the other end of the rupture and repeat the process.In fact, it is unlikely the Jimmy Carter would actually bring the cable into the submarine. Aside from being a gargantuan pain-in-the-ass it's risky. However, given the dimensions of the Jimmy Carter, it is probably equipped with a lock-out system which would allow operations to occur outside the sub.
That's not proof, however, and it still doesn't explain a total break in the fiber-optic lines. Well, not quite. There is a possible explanation.
Whenever there is a tap on a fiber-optic line, there is a temporary interruption in the information stream. Although short, the operator of the system can detect it. In fact, they would see it instantly because the data-rate would drop immediately raising an alarm. There is also the fact that most cable operators diverge their systems by using two separate lines to stream data. The geographic routes of these lines are far enough apart that any rupture can be handled by rerouting data on the other line.
That's what makes the breaks so suspicious. The last two breaks interfered with the secondary cable routes.
So, what explains the total breaks? Well, the fact that splicing the tap into the fiber-optic cable is detectable. Since the only way to get accurate data is to conduct a full splice, the only way to get accurate data is to alert the cable operator. They're not going to be happy with that at all.
If I were conducting an intercept operation requiring an undersea fiber-optic cable splice which I knew the cable operator would detect, I need a way to prevent that operator from detecting it. Create a diversion.
By disabling the cable, either by severing it underwater or creating a problem ashore, it gives me time to do my splice undetected in a location far away from the diversionary problem. When the cable operator says it will be days before a repair ship can get to it, that gives me plenty of time to get the job done and get out of the area.
So, if I'm right then all we have to do is find USS Jimmy Carter. If I'm wrong, I've just given the NSA a strategy for making undetected taps. On the other hand, it might just be the most concerted attack on the global fiber-optic network by merchant ship anchors in history.
What may have been the most fascinating part of the afternoon was my time in the Government Lobby. Behind the curtains that run along the last row of benches on both sides of the House, are doors to long skinny living room areas. One is called the Opposition Lobby; the other the Government Lobby. In my pre-Green Party leader life, I have spent a lot of time in both. The Government Lobby was a frequent work space when I was Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Minister of Environment back in the mid-1980s. And I frequented both lobbies when I was with Sierra Club of Canada from 1987-2006. It did not strike me until I walked into the Government Lobby to await my turn as Speaker that I had not been in there since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister.And if you think Ms. May is exaggerating, I give you Kady O'Malley:It used to have some paintings on the wall. Past prime ministers, certainly a formal portrait of the Queen. Landscapes. I know there was the occasional photo of current Prime Ministers, but when I walked in this time, I felt chilled to the bone. Every available wall space had a large colour photo of Stephen Harper. Stephen Harper at Alert. Stephen Harper in fire fighter gear. Stephen Harper at his desk. Stephen Harper meeting the Dalai Lama. Even the photo of the Queen showed her in the company of Stephen Harper. None were great photos. None were more than enlarged snapshots in colour. They didn’t feel like art.
The student with me said it was the same in Langevin Block, the Prime ministers Office. Photos of Stephen Harper everywhere.
I didn't mention the Wall of Harper in my original post, but not because I didn't think it was worth noting. The government and opposition lobbies have been off limits for the press gallery for years, and I didn't want to get anyone at QMP in trouble for bringing a journalist into the House, even during the parliamentary off-season. But now that someone else has spilled the beans on the Conservative decorating scheme, I'm lifting my self-imposed non-disclosure agreement long enough to confirm her report. And yes, it is a little disconcerting, although I did like the picture of the Prime Minister gazing thoughtfully at a polar bear. Make of that what you will.Remember when we used to call it The Stephen Harper Party and mean it as a joke?
Be afraid. Be very afraid. This kind of behaviour doesn't belong in a parliamentary democracy... anywhere.
Oh yeah. I'm guessing the picture of Harper in the Festus get-up isn't included in the self-admiration display.
Zorpheous and Holly Stick in comments provide this reminder. And I am pleased to prove to you that Harper admiring an array of photos of himself is something of a habit.
Morrow, the counselor, described his regret as sneaking up on him in midlife -- more than a decade after he impregnated three girlfriends (one of them twice) in quick succession in the late 1980s. All four pregnancies ended in abortion.Oh really... ?
Chris Aubert, a Houston lawyer, felt only indifference in 1985 when a girlfriend told him she was pregnant and planned on an abortion. When she asked if he wanted to come to the clinic, he said he couldn't; he played softball on Saturdays. He stuck a check for $200 in her door and never talked to her again.Played softball on Saturdays. Right.
Aubert, 50, was equally untroubled when another girlfriend had an abortion in 1991. "It was a complete irrelevancy," he said. But years later, Aubert felt a rising sense of unease. He and his wife were cooing at an ultrasound of their first baby when it struck him -- "from the depths of my belly," he said -- that abortion was wrong.Hmmm... but then we have Aubert converting to Catholicism and feeling there's something missing in his life.
He might have endured a loveless marriage and, perhaps, a sad divorce. He might have been saddled with child support as he tried to build his legal practice. He might never have met his wife. Their children -- Christine, Kyle, Roch, Paul, Vance -- might not exist.Touching.
Newsnight has discovered that until early days of Blair government the RAF's nuclear bombs were armed by turning a bicycle lock.It's not like there wasn't an effort to bring the nukes up to a safer standard.There was no other security on the Bomb itself.
While American and Russian weapons were protected by tamper-proof combination locks which could only be released if the correct code was transmitted, Britain relied on a simpler technology.
The British military resisted Whitehall proposals to fit bombs with Permissive Action Links - or PALs - which would prevent them being armed unless the right code was sent.You can watch the procedure here.
Alberto Gonzales spent much of 2007 fighting in vain his ouster as US attorney general, but that has earned him a consolation prize: a top law magazine named him on Wednesday its "Lawyer of the Year."We're not done yet.US President George W. Bush's longtime personal legal council and, from February 2005 to September 2007, the nation's top justice official, Gonzales was the year's legal headliner, according to ABA Journal, the magazine of the American Bar Association.
But that was, according to ABA Journal editor Edward Adams, mainly due to his central role in scandals over the Bush administration's secret warrantless wiretap program, its legal justifications for rough interrogation of "war on terror" detainees that critics said permitted torture, and an alleged effort to fire at least eight US attorneys for political reasons.
"George W. Bush appeared to be grooming the man he affectionately calls 'Fredo' for the US Supreme Court," the magazine wrote.
"But after Gonzales appeared veracity-challenged when testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he resigned in August," it said, referring to hearings into the US attorneys firing scandal.
The magazine also cited Gonzales's role as White House counsel and then attorney general in "what now appears to have been a stealth campaign to reinstate pre-Watergate presidential authority."
"His determination to do so is epitomized in a now-infamous hospital-room meeting with an incapacitated John Ashcroft (Gonzales's predecessor as attorney general) in an unsuccessful effort to gain approval for a secret wiretapping program.
"The highlight: Ashcroft's wife sticking her tongue out at Gonzales and his entourage as they retreated from Ashcroft's bedside."
"We selected the Lawyer of the Year based on who was the most newsworthy lawyer," Adams told AFP, refusing to assess what Gonzales' impact was. "Clearly he was influential, there can be no doubt about that."
But among those named as runners-up is David Addington, a top aide of Vice President Dick Cheney who is also credited in the drive to increase the president's executive powers.And without even the benefit of a New Year's Eve party the ABA has picked next year's lawyer of the year."Addington shares his boss's belief that the president should have unlimited powers in time of war -- and should have carte blanche in dealing with the thorny issues of torture, secret detention and warrantless eavesdropping," it said.
A Gonzales assistant deeply involved in the sacked prosecutors scandal, Monica Goodling, also earned a runner-up nod for her "overly zealous and questionably legal actions" that led to her resignation and then Gonzales's.
Other runners-up included both Cheney aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Patrick Fitzgerald, who prosecuted Libby for perjury in the case over the outing of a CIA agent.
The magazine also took the uncommon step of naming its Lawyer of the Year for 2008, 12 months ahead of time: Michael Mukasey, Gonzales's replacement.What is it with these guys? Did they suddenly decide there was a shortage of lawyer jokes out there?Adams said there was little doubt Mukasey would spend much of the year wrestling with the large legal issues Gonzales left behind -- like those on torture and domestic spying.
You should never have to shop in fear, but yesterday's senseless murders at an Omaha, Nebraska mall remind us that violence can happen almost anywhere. Because it can, it isn't a bad idea to have an exit strategy in the back of your mind.Well now, look. I always shop in fear, and it has nothing to do with some wiener with a .308. But it's worth reading Gomer's "exit strategy" and the comments, led by Uncle Jimbo (presumably from Blackfive) will make you moist with arousal normally only ever experienced at the entrance to the food court.
President Bush accidentally gave out the wrong phone number for the new “Hope Now Hotline” set up by his administration. “And I have a message for every homeowner worried about rising mortgage payments: The best you can do for your family is to call 1-800-995-HOPE. That is 1-800-995-H-O-P-E,” he said. Anyone who dialed 1-800-995-HOPE was greeted by just a busy signal.Well, out of curiosity, I just dialed the number Bush provided all those mortgage-hampered US citizens.
The pets of Palm Beach Community College employees will qualify for discounted group medical insurance beginning in January, but domestic partners are still barred from receiving similar benefits.And it's not like the college's pet insurance scheme is restricted to just dogs and cats.School officials sent a memo last week explaining the new voluntary pet benefit available via payroll deduction through the private company Veterinary Pet Insurance.
Full-time college employees can receive a 5 percent discount on services because of the college's enrollment in the program, which covers dogs and cats, but also hedgehogs, frogs, guinea pigs, geckos, iguanas and sugar gliders - small flying mammals native to Australia.You can buy college sponsored health insurance for a frog. But your adult human partner? Well that's a different story, and it was a conscious decision on the part of the college trustees.
In August, PBCC trustees voted down a proposal to allow the domestic partners of full-time employees to receive insurance benefits. The plan wouldn't have cost the school anything because it pays employee premiums only, not those of dependents.
Now the kicker. (Yes, it gets a little worse). The pet health insurance plan (which insures frogs) was made available a mere 90 days after the trustees rejected the option for insuring domestic partners.
The college trustees apparently had a concern.
[Grace] Truman, [PBCC spokesperson] said trustees weren't concerned about costs to the college, but potential long-term increases for employees because of additional enrollees in the group plan.
That's weird. Maybe it's just me but I have always understood that the more enrollees in a plan, the cheaper it got for each member. Silly me for thinking that way.
Palm Beach Community College now joins the ranks of Home Depot, Sprint, Ecolab and Waste Management, all of whom offered pet health insurance and had to be pressured into providing the same option for domestic partners.
For more on this sick form of disconnect, head on over to Pam's House Blend.
And, oh yes, if Palm Beach Community College had ever seen what my two male terriers liked to do for fun, they probably wouldn't have insured them either.
