Could Someone Bring Down e-Commerce?

Is it possible to prevent technology from running out of control?

Is it already out of control?

It may be that we won't know the answers to those questions before it is too late.

Case in point:

Do a google search for "Accept PP/CreditCard ,One World One Price", in quotes.

This will bring up 100,000s into the millions of results.

Every single result is another page or profile of an extremely dubious (to give the benefit of the doubt) selling site. The sites in question contain thousands of pages of copyrighted material listed for sale without the knowledge of the copyright owners, complete with famous logos, icons and trade names of numerous familiar and reassuring corporations and e-commerce entities. The sites include a mind-boggling array of domain names and sub-domains, some of them, at least, indicating (or appearing) that they utilize a well-known new generation domain name server that is known for secure hosting features. Each individual site contains a number of confidence building features, right down to a phony online chat window that says something like "Mandy Johnson is standing by to answer your questions".

The activities of this site have come to the forefront because of apparent unauthorized use of thousands of pages of material from one high profile e-commerce site in particular, although there could be any number of other transgressions.

The concerning part about this is the apparent automated duplication of the site over massive numbers of domains and sub-domains. It is presumed that, if the site is indeed illegitimate, it will eventually be closed one way or another.

But the question must be asked, what if someone, with access to near-free labour, decided to pull a scam in this same spirit ~ but actually did a better job of it? What if they built it to be really convincing and created a thousand or a million clones simultaneously?

Quebec Total Ban on Fracking as USGS Links it to Earthquakes

Last Tuesday the Quebec environment minister announced an absolute ban on fracking while the process is studied.

That move is looking like a stroke of genius today, as the U.S. Geological Survey is releasing a report showing an unprecedented increase in earthquakes occurring in the U.S. heartland.

The study identifies a six-fold increase of magnitude 3.0 or higher quakes that has occurred since 2001 in the U.S. heartland. Significantly, the scientists say that the cause of the increase in seismic activity is almost certainly manmade.

Quebec has been shown to have significant natural gas reserves in the St. Lawrence Valley that could potentially be accessed using the fracking technique. The process involes horizontal drilling and underground blasting with high pressure mixtures of waste water and chemicals to release gas trapped in shale formations..

There has been a moratorium in effect in Quebec since last March. However the new ban will include even experimental fracking designed to test the process. Testing will now occur only in the lab.

Last month, a series of small earthquakes in Ohio was blamed on fracking.

Wildrose Tainted by Association with Harperism?

Danielle Smith: A wildflower blooming virtuous and free on the Prairie...

or a programed-from-youth apparatchik of big oil corporatocracy and U.S. Republicanism?

A legitimate enough question.

If only it were the only question.

The problem for Wildrose is that the federal Conservatives are not only their ideological "soulmates". The Conservatives also now stand accused of crimes against Canada: perpetrating election fraud in ridings across the country, and deliberately misleading Parliament on the question of procuring billions of dollars worth of fighter jets.

The links, ties and parallels between Wildrose and the federal Conservatives run broad and deep and are well described in yesterday's Globe and Mail article by Gary Mason, even if it only scratches the surface.

University of Calgary political science professor Tom Flanagan, who has served as a mentor for both Danielle Smith and Stephen Harper, is the same guy who called for the assassination of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. (and later "withdrew" the comment)

Flanagan also wrote two books on property rights (Theories of Property: Aristotle to the Present and Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights). Danielle Smith founded the Canadian Property Rights Research Institute and worked as an advocate for Alberta rural landowners.

Flanagan played a major role in Harper's rise to power and is now the campaign manager for Wildrose's provincial election campaign.

So let's get this straight. The same guy who called for Julian Assange's assassination is philosophically somewhere near the heart of the "libertarianism" subscribed to by Danielle Smith. Awesome!

Wildrose's rise in the polls over the past couple of years is beyond remarkable. How does this information react with what we now know about the Harper Conservatives' ethical approach to influencing an electorate?

Harper's Conservatives, who also got their start as a "breath of fresh air" from the Prairies, are now mired in such a quagmire of election fraud, misleading Parliament and misspending of hundreds of millions of dollars, that the mere adventures of a Bruce Carson fly totally under the radar!

Given the close ties, philosophical similarities, familiar faces, geographical location, shared causes and power bases, etc., between Wildrose and the Harper Conservatives, the question must be asked: Does Wildrose respect ethical standards? Does Wildrose believe in democracy and the Canadian Parliamentary tradition? How far is Wildrose willing to go to win power? What will they really do with that power?

Is this potentially a case of guilt or smear by association? Or is association too loose a term to describe the ties between Wildrose and Harperism?

Election Fraud: This is Where the Ben Johnson Principle Should Kick in.

You Cheat You Lose the Gold Medal

The citizens group the Council of Canadians is filing to overturn election results in seven ridings over election fraud.

The seven ridings across the country all experienced shady live or "robo" phone calls which appeared to have the objective of interfering with people's attempts to vote. All seven ridings were won by the Conservatives and all but one of them by less than 1,000 votes.

While the article discusses ways of "measuring" the impact of the fraudulent calls, that should not be necessary. The fact that illegal and fraudulent means were employed with the intention of affecting the election should be enough to render the result null and void.

This is where the "Ben Johnson" principle should be in effect. No one had to prove how much speed Ben Johnson gained by taking steroids. It was proven that he took them and he lost his gold medal.

Sir, your room in the ice hotel is currently flowing down the St. Lawrence River

A couple of years ago, the biathlon (normally includes cross country skiing) at the B.C. Winter Games had to be replaced by haha the "summer biathlon".

This year, if you had a room booked at the Montreal Ice Hotel during the last two weeks of March, you room is now flowing down the St. Lawrence River!

Just followed a bus that had an ad on the back for the "Village des Neiges" (Snow Village) in Montreal. It said, "...until March 31". Obviously they weren't counting on five straight days of 22+ C (75 F) temperatures in the middle of March. Great for bike riding - but if you had a reservation at the Ice Hotel, your room is now one huge wet bar!

Should Quebec Students' Strike for Lower Tuition be Spread to Rest of Canada?

Students in Quebec have been protesting a 75% tuition increase over five years announced by the provincial government.

there are two sides to this story

In favour of keeping lower tuition

1. many countries, such as Norway, Sweden, Brazil, the Bahamas and Scotland, have free university education, and it is a worthwhile ideal to strive towards

2. Quebeckers pay higher taxes than anyone in Canada

3. Something like $890 Mil of corp. tax breaks have been given away over the past number of years, so the students might presume the gov't has spare cash to fund education

4. tuition is only a small part of the cost of supporting oneself while attending school

5. Increasing the cost of education could cause some to lose their chance for an education

6. The commitment of spending years studying is substantial enough, without forcing students to work in bars or corner stores or ??

7. Poor management, gratuitous buy-outs for admins and execs, and wastage in general, have been "noted" in the academic field as others

In favour of higher tuition

1. Quebec has the lowest tuition fees in Canada by a long shot and exponentially lower than in the U.S.

2. The government is hard-pressed to find areas to save

3. the cost of quality education is increasing and Quebec schools may lose competitive advantage

4. The tuition fees have been raised very little in years

5. Everyone has to pull their own weight at least to some extent

6. Because Quebec has CEGEPs (jr college, approx. equiv to grade 12 + 13), students only have to attend three years of university to obtain a basic undergrad degree

I hate to sit on the fence, but haven't made up my mind on this issue.

In principal, I would favour free education. But having tuition fees drastically lower than the rest of Canada doesn't seem sustainable to me. Perhaps the drive for lower tuition needs to be taken to the rest of the country...

People die for their opinions and here in Canada "we let the bastards get away with everything" -Merlin, 96

A moment of zen at a Toronto Danforth byelection Green Party town hall yesterday with Elizabeth May, Georges Laraque and Green Party candidate Adriana Mugnatto Hamu in the frame.

A woman, identifying herself as "Merlin", 96 years old, steps to the microphone and says,

"I've seen a lot of elections, in England, and during the War..
The main thing about Politiking and elections, is that there's a lot of ground swell.. that people have to hear about you and your policies..
Get the word out, because without people knowing what is going on..
Canadians are well known for their apathy and their indifference..
People in Libya, Somalia, all over the world, are dying for their opinions, they're dying to make their words heard, and we here in Canada just sit here and we let the bastards get away with everything."