Terahertz

24Dec/081

Calgary Herald Christmas Eve FAIL

Oh being home for the holidays... it means I get to read the Calgary Herald again. If you remember back, in Easter I wrote how the Herald (but not Edmonton Journal) took the holiday to bash atheists and non-Christians, well they're at it again.

This article provides a fun diatribe about how atheists are trying to rid the word Christmas from our lexicon (we're not, I just don't want the state enforcing any one worldview over another) and denying our history (which will lead to some untold consequences).

New immigrants are not to blame for this denial of our history. (That would be atheists from the dominant culture, who use official multiculturalism as their excuse to quell Christianity.)

If that's not enough, they also choose to print the story of Jesus' birth from the Gospel of Luke and use the front page to say "Merry Christmas" and link to all the religious services going on over the holidays.

One promising irony, however, is their poll (poll is on bottom right and may be gone after Christmas) which asks if readers are planning on attending a religious service over the holidays has a whopping 67% saying No.

I did forward this poll to Pharyngula for crashing nonetheless, but it does redeem me a little to see the Herald's religious overtones fall on somewhat deaf ears.

And a Merry Santamas, Christmas, Squidmas, Solstice, or whatever you choose (or choose not to) celebrate, and I'll be back in the New Year!

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19Dec/080

Coming soon: Nanosize Me

In early 2009, the Engineering Physics club presents: Nanosize Me.

This is the mockumentary of a first year engineer who decides to try out EngPhys for a month to document the health effects.

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18Dec/081

Holidays break

I'm going to be in Calgary, then Pine Lake, then Vancouver for the next two weeks. I can't promise to publish often, or at all, but something may go up eventually.

I'll be back on Jan. 2 though and try to get into a regular groove then.

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Filed under: Personal, Site 1 Comment
17Dec/081

Not having a plan in March is starting to show

Remember months ago when Albertans didn't vote and we got far too many seats for the incumbent Conservatives (to me they lost the title "Progressive" a long time ago)? Remember how "Steady-Eddie" Stelmach ran with no plan?

Seems it's caught up to him.

Stelmach said the provincial treasury is being depleted by crashing commodity markets and loss of tax revenue, which could see spending outstrip revenues for the fiscal year -- technically producing a deficit that is illegal under provincial law.

I'm sure he was later heard to say, "what, bubbles burst?"

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17Dec/083

Now penguins have more rights than gays

(Via Challenging the Commonplace)

This is something of a news story.

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17Dec/081

A new way to piss away money

I like music. Now, thanks to a special girl, I own this:

Only with the bottom in retro green and the top in a beige-yellow colour.

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16Dec/080

How serious is your atheism?

(From Friendly Atheist)

How serious do you take your atheism?

Let’s find out.

Copy and paste the list below on your own site, boldfacing the things you’ve done. (Feel free to add your own elaboration and commentary to each item!)

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14Dec/081

Failure, thy name is Harper

Canadian democracy is failing and the blame solely rests on Stephen Harper and his cronies.

Paul Wells identifies it perfectly in a Macleans.ca blog, "Canada’s Parliament has not functioned as a legislative body since May, and is not likely to start working any time soon."

Here's how the blame falls:

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11Dec/082

The numbers don’t work like that

A few days ago, the Ottawa Citizen's Glen McGregor bragged that "an analysis" showed that a Liberal-NDP coalition wouldn't win based on the last election and people's second choice ballots. Of course this "analysis" has no source, and seems to fall nicely into the trash bin that's become Canadian journalism.

However, the analysis forgot that the Green Party wholly supports the coalition.

Going off raw electoral data, I found that if all votes (from Libs, NDP and Greens) were pooled against the Conservatives in each riding, we find that this coalition could win upwards of 174 seats! This includes 2 for the Greens (Central Nova and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound). The raw data is available below for a riding-by-riding comparison. In my system, in any riding where the Greens plus Liberals plus NDP win, they get a seat.

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11Dec/080

A line-up of news briefs

There was a lot in the news today. Most of this is political, but I'll start with the science end and move toward politics.

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