I've been getting a bunch of comment spam the past couple of days. More a nuisance than anything really as I've been deleting them as I find them. The main reason for this post is to tell you all that I've upgraded the software. The newer version of Geeklog, the software that runs this site, is better at dealing with comment spam. If you find something that's not quite right with the site, please contact me as that means I've missed something in a config file.

I have some concerns about the direction our province of Alberta is heading. Though we currently have huge oil revenue surpluses, it would seem that mismanagement of this revenue is robbing our future for short term personal gain. Case in point is the $300 or so “dividend” announced by the premier this past week.

I\'ve been seeing in the news where the United States is revising their nuclear doctrine to make it easier to use their nuclear weapons in a first strike capacity. There are some things that need to be cleared up with this as well as some points for discussion.

don\'t know if it\'s just because I\'ve spent so much time in school as both a student and now as a teacher, but the beginning of September always seems like the real start of the new year. The actual New Year\'s day just seem like an artificial construct by comparison (yes, I know that they both are arbitrary dates).

Well I've been off on vacation, which is why I've not written much here of late. Two trips were on offering for me. The first trip, Mrs. Evil and I went to Halifax, NS. My second trip was a solo backpacking trip in Banff. Both were wonderful trips.

It's happening faster than I thought. The American slide into despotism is well on its way, if the statements of a US Justice Department lawyer are taken into account. The lawyer, arguing in the Maher Arar case, has stated that foreigners on US soil have no rights. No right to due process, no rights under the US constitution and certainly no right to not be tortured by the US or any other country. I can see the US tourism adverts now: Come for a week, stay detained for a lifetime without charge.

I like trains. The reason I bring this up is that the precipitating event that caused me to put finger to keyboard in this instance was the editorial article in a copy of Trains Magazine. Now Trains Magazine is aimed at people who like railroads and railroading, railfanning as it\'s called here in North America. What railfans do is seek out places were trains congregate (easy to find, since the trains leave their tracks behind) and watch the trains go by or take pictures of the trains as they go by.

The editorial was mentioning an incident where local law enforcement in the United States was accosting some railfans who were standing on public property, taking photographs of trains. The police accused them of terrorist activities. When the railfans complained that they (the railfans) were merely engaging in their constitutional rights, the police responded that “new legislation has superseded the constitution”.

From what I\'ve seen in the press, it would appear that telephone and internet provider Telus, has entered the censorship game. A little background, Telus is in the midst of a labour dispute. After four years of contract talks, a strike has broken out, and someone has put up a pro-union web site. What Telus has done, is blocked the website from anyone who uses Telus as an internet provider. This poses several nasty questions about Telus.

You're Jurassic Park!
by Michael Crichton
You combine all the elements of a mad scientist, a brash philosopher, a humble researcher, and a money-hungry attracter of tourists. With all these features, you could build something monumental or get chased around by your own demons. Probably both, in fact. A movie based on your life would make millions, and spawn at least two sequels thatwouldn't be very good. Be very careful around islands.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

I see in the papers where the CHR is putting up an objection to the drilling of some sour gas wells just outside of south east Calgary. This after the company that requested the wells was given a smooth ride through the approval process. It\'s amazing that the CHR would raise such an objection, and here\'s why I think that is.