first principles

Up, Down.

I grew up at the very tail end of it ... we got Latin & Geometry in Grade 9, more Latin & Trigonometry & Algebra in Grade 10, after that things were optional, including Ancient Greek if you wanted it tho this had to be by special arrangement, like i said, it was the tail end of quality public education in Canada, the only reason I know about it is that someone in my Grade 10 class wanted Ancient Greek, wanted to go to UofT & study literature if I remember right ... anyway, no wonder that people of my generation can hardly speak with their children

on the other hand, when I got to university, there were possibilities like Rochdale in Toronto ... maybe this is why I can still speak with my children :-)

now according to the Internet, this Judge, Nova Scotia Provincial Court Judge Anne S. Derrick, graduated from Dartmouth (the university) in 1980 and got to be a Judge some 30 years later (no date on the announcement eh? but it looks like this year or last), two pictures, she definitely has an air about her, stands out among her colleagues, not so surprising that many or even most of them are black, Dartmouth (the city) used to be, and probably still is, home to the Maritimes' black community, almost a ghetto, not quite maybe ...

so she is part of another generation, maybe they were still teaching Geometry & Latin in the Maritimes when she came through, who knows? I doubt it ... so all of this leaves me still wondering about her decision not to release the video? looks to me like either:
1. some kind of twisted ideology of entitlement; or,
2. a relatively new and un-exercised slide to the right which I imagine comes with being a Judge; or,
3. someone from the powers that be, the RCMP say, or an old friend, called her up and said, "Shut this the fuck up!"

read the article, the sycophants are all rubbing their hands in glee - no unseemly revelations at this end of the country, no sirree!

the G8 have decided that we will stop Global Warming at 2 degrees, feels like a King Canute story eh? ... "Well, that's settled then, let's get back to 'stimulus' and such things which benefit our friends."



I posted the Moscow Greenpeace stunt yesterday, a good one, interesting, well delivered, all good except the men and women of the power elite do not even see this shit, and thanks to PETA such things are categorized in the same part of the brain -- T&A, Tits & Ass, too bad they coundn't get together, but still -- and I do applaud them (each for different reasons), and more especially The Yes Men for carrying on, fight the good fight -- but I don't see any change and with my few remaining years I would rather go south and get regular and enthusiastic blow jobs, and I want my Rhinocerous Horn Poweder from the very last Rhino ... but that's just me, lay on a beach and watch the water rise, it won't be that dramatic of course (unfortunately!), and by the time it gets here our granchildren will see it all as ho hum ... normal.

Ban Ki-moon has spoken up, good for him but it won't change these maggots, not a bit, they will all pat each other on the back and go home to their dinners,

what about Obama? I guess he fights where he thinks he can win, Nuclear Arsenal, Stimulus Plans, is that being a good Bhuddist? can't say, I will reserve judgement until we see what the Americans do at Copenhagen

Swine Flu is picking up ... a few months ago when the bureaucrats were all in a tizzy, my reaction was, "Good! bring it on!" ... still is

one of my fathers-in-law once tried to sucker me into a fight, in his yard y'unnerstan, and after having already taken the precaution of calling the cops, he came out his door and spit on me but it's hard to really get me mad and anyway he was an old man even then, so I climbed into my van and locked the door and he was jerking to pull the door open as I drove away

passed the cops a hundred yards down the road and thanked my lucky stars (and an early education in Geometry and Latin) for my character, such as it is, the cops took a good look but let me through

another time, I went to Court with no lawyer (and slightly drunk on a half dozen Guinness), ran afoul of it all naturally and the Judge started threatening me with Contempt charges, after having taken the precaution of pushing the little button under his desk, so I said, "Contempt? You don't know the half of it asshole!" and split, as I was striding out the door (not running of course and in a three-piece suit in those days) the two thugs coming in had a good look but decided that I couldn't the guy, and by the time the Judge set them straight I was out of the building

so I spit on your Swine Flu Pandemic, and if it gets me, all good.


Nobody puts up with Zé Renato
A masochist maid?
I love the costume!

I work here, asshole.

And I still haven't moved on to the hard stuff eh?
Pull up your pants and come with me to the exit sir.


Malvados explains the internet
ON THE INTERNET NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS
I'm an astronaut, and you?
I'm an athlete.
THERE, THE SUFFERING SEEK SATISFACTION
Do you like to suffer, slave?
My master does it better.
AND THE DEGENERATES AMUSE THEMSELVES
Thanks Nestor.
Later I'll send you the pictures by email.


THE SECRET DIARIES OF ANDRÉ DAHMER, BOOK 3, SOCIETY
A blow job goes for twenty and the works for thirty five.

My son has been through some hard times and the truth is he needs some tenderness. Do you sell tenderness?

I can sell it, if you explain to me what it is.

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Appendices:
1. Taser video can't be posted online, judge rules, Oliver Moore, July 8 2009.
2. Ban criticises G8 climate efforts, BBC, Thursday 9 July 2009.
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Taser video can't be posted online, judge rules, Oliver Moore, July 8 2009.

Family of mentally ill man who died after being tasered by police disappointed they can't disseminate video

Surveillance videos of a mentally ill man being tasered by police and dying 30 hours later in a struggle with jail guards - images described as "disturbing" by a lawyer for his relatives - need to be understood in context and can't be posted online, a judge ruled yesterday.

The videos, which are central to an inquiry into Howard Hyde's death in a Dartmouth jail late in 2007, can be screened in court. And they will be shown fleetingly to the public as proceedings are streamed online at http://www.hydeinquiry.ca, with the tasering expected to be seen today. But they can't otherwise be displayed, Provincial Court Judge Anne Derrick decided.

The ruling was a blow to family members of the 45-year-old paranoid schizophrenic - they had wanted to be able to disseminate the video images.

But whether the decision will be enough to squelch the spread of this material remains to be seen.

"It's difficult to put the toothpaste back in the tube," said Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor who holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law.

"Once it's streamed, it's relatively trivial for someone to capture that stream and go ahead and post it."

Prof. Geist also noted, though, that courts can issue specific rulings against using material streamed online, which would be enough to prevent its appearance in law-abiding venues.

The power of images to sway public opinion was highlighted after the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who was tasered five times by Mounties at the Vancouver airport only weeks before the Hyde incident.

Police initially confiscated amateur video of Mr. Dziekanski's death. Paul Pritchard went to court to get his property back and then sold it to the media. His video undermined police descriptions of the incident, and caused an uproar that reverberated beyond Canada's shores and helped spur a judicial inquiry. At the time, an RCMP spokesman said that the Dziekanski video did not tell the whole story.

Judge Derrick made a similar point while reading her nearly hour-long decision yesterday.

"Filming of the inquiry proceedings will capture the witnesses' testimony about the video surveillance and any submissions that will be made on what inferences should be drawn from it," she said.

"[Posting] of the images will not. Directly [posting] the video surveillance will send images to the Internet without any context. Context is crucial."

The decision pleased Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, who worries people won't understand the footage unless it is explained to them.

"They're left to assume what it means, rather than knowing and hearing the evidence from the people that were involved," she said. "And they will be the correctional officers that will be called on to testify. It's better to be seen in the right context than to assume what it means."

But a lawyer for Mr. Hyde's sister and brother-in-law said the decision means members of the public could miss key nuances in the videos.

"In essence, they'll be taking a picture of a picture, so there'll be some viewing of it ... but the quality will not be as sharp," Kevin MacDonald said. "It's difficult, you know, to view the subtleties. There are some subtleties on this video that you really have to focus on to catch. I think that will be lost."

Mr. Hyde, a musician whose history of mental illness was known to the authorities, had been involved in earlier encounters with the police and reportedly was afraid of them. He was arrested after allegations of a domestic assault and taken to police headquarters. A fracas broke out there and police tasered him twice.

Mr. Hyde was taken to hospital and then to a Dartmouth correctional facility. He died 30 hours after his arrest.

His death was ruled accidental last year by Nova Scotia's chief medical officer, who blamed excited delirium due to his paranoid schizophrenia. Judge Derrick's inquiry, aimed at delving more deeply into the situation, began in February. It will not make findings of guilt.


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Ban criticises G8 climate efforts, BBC, Thursday 9 July 2009.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has criticised leaders of the G8 industrial nations for failing to make deeper commitments to combat climate change.

On Wednesday, the leaders, meeting in Italy, agreed to cut emissions by 80% by 2050, but Mr Ban said big cuts were needed sooner rather than later.

The leaders are set to meet their counterparts from emerging economies to discuss a new deal on global warming.

US President Barack Obama will chair the session, in the city of L'Aquila.

The second day of the summit has begun, opening up its discussions to take in the so-called G5 nations - Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Egypt is a special invitee.

The G8 leaders said on Wednesday they had agreed to try to limit global warming to just 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels.
See how global temperatures have risen

That is the level above which, the United Nations says, the Earth's climate system would become dangerously unstable.

The G8 leaders also said rich nations should cut emissions by 80% by 2050 while the world overall should reduce them 50% by 2050.

But correspondents say emerging nations appear reluctant to sign up and tough negotiations lie ahead.

'Moral imperative'

Mr Ban said Wednesday's agreement was welcome, but the leaders needed to establish a strong and ambitious mid-term target for emissions cuts by 2020.

"This is politically and morally imperative and a historic responsibility for the leaders... for the future of humanity, even for the future of Planet Earth," he told the BBC.

Mr Ban said the leaders also had to come up with financial incentives for poorer countries to reduce pollution and aid to help them mitigate the effects of climate change.

President Obama will chair the Major Economies Forum meeting on Thursday afternoon.

The countries represented there account for some 80% of the emissions of gases that are blamed for global warming.

'Still time'

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins, in L'Aquila, says the talks with India and China will be difficult.

China's president has headed home to deal with the ethnic violence in Xinjiang, so there are now questions whether his delegation will be more cautious.

Our correspondent adds that India is already complaining that the G8's long-term targets for 2050 are too long-term and that G8 countries are ducking interim targets for 2020 which would make their 40-year ambitions more credible.

But in a meeting with Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Mr Obama said there was still time to close the gap between developed and developing nations before UN talks on a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen in December.

The summit host, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has said a deal should be all-inclusive.

"It would not be productive if European countries, Japan, the United States and Canada accepted cuts that are economically damaging while more than five billion people in other countries carried on as before," he said.

The G8 summit began in L'Aquila on Wednesday, with the first day largely taken up with discussion of the fragile state of the global economy.

The leaders also issued a statement reaffirming that they were "deeply concerned" by Iran's nuclear programme and condemning North Korea's recent nuclear test and missile launches.

African leaders will join the summit on Friday to push for a new initiative to fund farming in the developing world and tackle global hunger.





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Down.