unrepentant old hippie: Happy Pi Day

Pie for everyone!  It’s Pi Day: Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. Pi = 3.1415926535… With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal. Pi is an irrational and transcendental number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating. The symbol for pi was first used in 1706 by William Jones, but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737. Even Teh GOogles are... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: Can anyone even doubt it?

It’s like the Great George Carlin said:  Pre-born you’re fine;  pre-school, you’re fucked: Two Republican members of Kentucky’s House are attaching antiabortion-rights amendments to several unrelated bills that are awaiting a chamber vote, a move that is threatening to derail changes related to children’s Medicaid coverage, among other things, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The amendments — sponsored by Reps. David Floyd and Tim Moore — would require abortion providers to conduct an ultrasound and show the woman the image. The amendments... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: Don’t forget

Yahoo yahoo yahoo woohoo woot!  My favourite day of the year. Read More From unrepentant old hippie Click Here →

unrepentant old hippie: One step forward

…two steps back, you’re doing the Ratzi Rhumba! Just when it looked like they might finally be getting into that “consenting adults” thing, along comes one more in a gathering dung heap of Catholic church child sex abuse scandals — and this one travels a long and perverse road that ends on the doorstep of Pope Sieggy himself: Pope Benedict XVI was directly implicated in a deepening Catholic Church sex abuse scandal for the first time late yesterday following disclosures that he unwittingly approved the transfer a priest who forced an 11-year-old boy to... Click Here

Creekside: Laurie Hawn’s “gold standard”

On CBC radio’s The House this morning, Laurie Hawn, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and the lead government MP on the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan, said that his government had fixed the faulty Afghan detainee agreement they had inherited from the Liberals and then made the following statement about the current treatment of Afghan detainees : “Our detainee arrangement is the new gold standard. Taliban prisoners are treated like gold.” Well so much for the U.S. State Department’s 2009 report on Afghan human rights then... Click Here

Antigone Magazine: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do”

What are your dreams for women? Antigone Magazine C/O WILLA Box 61 – 6138 SUB Blvd Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1 OR antigonemagazine(at)hotmail.com Filed under: Dreams for women Read More From Antigone Magazine Click Here →

Politics'n'Poetry: Canadian Nuke Company Connected to Kazakh Investigation

Oops!  A nuker lost his job as head honcho at Kazatomprom, a state-owned nuke company in Kazakhstan.  And there’s a Canuckian connection: Dzhakishev went on trial in January, charged with stealing 99.8 million tenge (about $679,000) during the opening of the Kazatomprom’s representative office in Vienna. He was ousted as head of the company [...] Read More From Politics'n'Poetry Click Here →

Antigone Magazine: Some Leaders are Born Women, Generosity Edition

I think that aside from just being born as leaders, there are a number of feminists who are also born with an incredible generosity of spirit. I could tell you countless stories of the support and help and mentorship that I have received from fabulous feminist women that has made such a difference in my life and the work that I do. One great story is a recent one. When I announced my book project on a national feminist listserv (Par-L for those who are curious), the generosity of the replies that I got truly humbled and touched me! Within a couple of hours, the President of the Canadian YWCA had... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: Fun with Harper’s YouTube channel

Someone’s about ready to spring a leak: Oh yeah? I’m always amazed to encounter people who have drunk so deeply of the Authoritarian Koolaid that they think the “will of the public” should have any bearing whatsoever on personal decisions and rights.  Does the phrase “tyranny of the majority” mean anything to these halfwits?  But I digress.  On to Stephen Harper’s Youtube channel, enter “abortion” in the search field and let the Mighty Gizoogle do its magic.  Shazzam!  Eight(8) feverish questions, including: Really Harpoonie, why doesn’t... Click Here

Creekside: BC Greenwash and Wear

Environmental activist Tzeporah Berman of Forest Ethics presents BC Premier Gordon Campbell with a “green award” at the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009. The previous month Campbell hired Berman on to his “Green Energy Advisory Task Force”. Last May Berman actively supported Campbell’s re-election citing his “environmental leadership”. This is the same Gordon Campbell who supports the Grizzly bear hunt and open-cage fish farms, the Gateway Pacific and twin Enbridge pipelines running from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat, the proposed revoking... Click Here

Antigone Magazine: UNCSW 54 final day

This is the final part of a series on the 54th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Click on a link to read further. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 , Part 8 I’m sitting in the couched area outside of the Delegates Dining room as I type on the last day of the 54th Commission on the Status of Women. I’m waiting for a personal address from Hillary Clinton. I haven’t been as good about blogging every day this week because it’s been a whirlwind of information, negotiations, and interactions. Livetweeting through the commission... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: Jason Kenney exposed

Frock of ages, cleft for me… Read More From unrepentant old hippie Click Here →

Politics'n'Poetry: Successful Slovakian No-Nukes Campaign (& More)

The Slovakian Parliament responded favourably to a petition from the people of Slovakia.  Environmentalists organized a petition drive to give local citizens a stronger voice. This week the campaign was victorious when, in a momentous decision, the Slovak parliament agreed on legal changes to geological and mining laws to give more power and control [...] Read More From Politics'n'Poetry Click Here →

Creekside: Steve reaches out to Youtube world

As PMO spokesthingey Dimitri Soudas pitches it somewhat awkwardly on YouTube : Ask Your Questions to Prime Minister Harper Submit your questions for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his response to the Speech from the Throne and the recent budget. The Prime Minister will answer a selection of your top-voted questions in an exclusive YouTube interview next Tuesday March 16, 2010 at 7 p.m. ET. It must have seemed like a pretty good idea at the time when they were kicking it around the PMO – avoiding reporters while controlling the message, getting down with the new social media,... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: We’re waiting

Time’s almost up, Gibbs.  Where’s the jersey?: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs again disappointed the press corps Thursday by showing up for the daily briefing in a suit and tie instead of the Canadian jersey he promised he would wear if Canada bested the U.S. in the Olympic gold medal men’s hockey game. Gibbs defended his apparel, saying he will likely make good on his wager with his Canadian counterpart at Friday’s briefing. “Likely”!? “Don’t worry. We won’t disappoint,” Gibbs said. “The jersey is in the White House.” Is... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: We’re waiting

Time’s almost up, Gibbs.  Where’s the jersey?: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs again disappointed the press corps Thursday by showing up for the daily briefing in a suit and tie instead of the Canadian jersey he promised he would wear if Canada bested the U.S. in the Olympic gold medal men’s hockey game. Gibbs defended his apparel, saying he will likely make good on his wager with his Canadian counterpart at Friday’s briefing. “Likely”!? “Don’t worry. We won’t disappoint,” Gibbs said. “The jersey is in the White House.” Is... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: “Help Wanted” fail

I think everybody’s worked at this place or someplace similar at some point.  I know I have. (More at HuffPo) Read More From unrepentant old hippie Click Here →

unrepentant old hippie: Liberty: ur doin it wrong

I thought it was supposed to be “Innocent til proven Guilty”, not the other way around. How do you like that post-9/11 new normal security blanket now, kids? Read More From unrepentant old hippie Click Here →

Creekside: Security theatre of the absurd

Given that the Cons blocked the Military Police Complaints Commission from receiving documents on the Afghan detainees : “Canada’s former top military police officer, retired navy captain Steve Moore, advised he had documents that he wanted to turn over to the inquiry, however Mr. Moore and his lawyer had to sign a pledge preventing them from passing the documents to the inquiry.” and redacted the docs they did allow : “This is what the Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group sergeant wrote in June 2006 about the Afghan detainee... Click Here

unrepentant old hippie: Two comments that say it all

Following the legalization of equal marriage in Washington DC last week, the Washington Post ran an article on the first weddings, accompanied by a joyous little photo of the very first couple to tie the knot under the “new rules”: …and some were anything but pleased: But wait — what’s this?: Out with the old, in with the new:  I’ve seen the future, and it’s good. Read More From unrepentant old hippie Click Here →

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