To Be Continued Brass Band 

music, New Orleans | 1 Comment »

Came across this in a post from a very depressed New Orleanian.  The site wonders what would become of the earth after we leave it.  This infographic shows a timeline which is beautiful, and somehow peaceful, of exactly when the different things we do will be erased without our constant maintenance.  In the end, our final remnant will be the light of our broadcasts humming through space.  Fitting.

science | No Comments »

In response to Toronto’s ludicrous budget shortfall, our illustrious mayor has requested that the TTC cut its budget down to the bone. The TTC commissioner - boy wonder Adam Giambrone - has determined that these cuts would require the TTC to reduce its coverage. The whole thing is a game of chicken which is being played upon the backs of the bent over poor of Toronto.

There was one fly in the ointment, however. Smart, left-leaning people from our past knew this day would come. To prevent against Toronto transit’s evisceration, they wrote into the TTC bylaws that any service reduction would have to be a result of public consultation.

Oops! So what now? Easy, Giambrone and co. trump up a sham questionnaire and conduct “public consultation” in several dark corners of the TTC system. Unfortunately, in addition to the low profile, the survey is vague, incomplete, and biased. I for one was unable to complete the survey: questions 4 and 5 did not have a response category which I could select without being VERY misleading and the web page would not let me submit without answering.

To the rescue is the Torontoist. They have reworked the original survey, providing expanded versions of the original questions as well as an in-depth second page of targeted questions. I was able to complete it quickly, and every question was answerable. By the end, I actually felt like I had a document which pretty well represented my feelings on the matter.

So please take the new survey. Please write the city demanding they use it. Please lets not see sustainable transportation in Toronto take such a miserable and unnecessary backwards slide.

Update: Yay!  BoingBoing’s picked this story up 

TTC, toronto | No Comments »

The Boy Scouts have long been on my shit-list thanks to their anti-gay stance. Which makes this latest news even funnier…or more depressing. Recent documents obtained as part of ongoing litigation show that in the past 60 years, 5,100 scout leaders have been axed due to charges of sexual abuse. Before 1991 the rate was about one every 3 days. In the last 16 years the rate has jumped to one removal every 2 days. I can’t say I’m surprised about the basic facts of the matter - it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to imagine what sort of person is drawn to leading “packs” of fit, impressionable boys. But the enormous rate and the fact that they kept it quiet - even through the Catholic church’s similar problems - certainly caught me off guard.

link

boy scouts | 1 Comment »

Two years ago today, Katrina made landfall. The levees broke, and my home town was destroyed. President Bush spent the morning thumbing around on a guitar with some country music star who’s name I forget…or never knew.

Today Bush is in New Orleans again for his picture taking and empty promises. There is nothing I can say to express my rage and disappointment.

Shelley Midura, a New Orleans councilwoman, sent an open letter to Bush yesterday, which I hope everyone will read. It incredibly captures the bitterness and frustration of the current situation without descending into the dark pit of fury and anger. She’s well spoken and reasonable, and displays the kind of leadership which New Orleans has sorely lacked. So I’ll let her words speak for themselves.

katrina, New Orleans | 2 Comments »

This reads a bit like an article in The Onion, but I’m pretty sure it’s real.  In an attempt to gain control of who will be the next Dalai Lama, China has passed legislation requiring all reincarnations to be approved by the state.  The new regulations cover both domestic and international reincarnations, so exiled monks definitely must apply.

link 

china | 1 Comment »

Here’s a cute analysis which shows just how large Wikipedia has become.  The authors made some simple assumptions about volume size and figured out how many volumes it would take to print out the entire English Wikipedia.  The answer is 750, which is quite a lot as you can see in the image above.

link

wikipedia | No Comments »

It’s almost mean to post this, but I laughed so hard.  I wanted to share.

link

united states | 4 Comments »

Yay.  According to this message on their site, allofmp3 will soon resume their tasty service.  Seems a Russian court has recently decided that, as they always charmingly pointed out, allofmp3 does not violate any Russian copyright laws.  To my knowledge, they do not violate any Canadian ones either.  Umm, there might be a bit of problem with US copyright law though….but I’m no expert.

copyright, music | 1 Comment »

Jer pointed out to me that CNN removed the Gonzales resignation as its top story.  In its place is the true news of the day….Michael Vick’s guilty plea.  I’ll save you the time: Vick is sorry for his “immature behaviour” (raising canine death machines, executing the underperformers by slamming them into the ground, and repeatedly playing for the Atlanta Falcons).  He has also “found Jesus”, who as we found out last week, was actually lost.

media | No Comments »