This TV spot, part of their "If you're high, you can't drive" campaign, is brilliant. No browbeating anti-pot message; instead, a clever stoner in-joke.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 2:39 PM on October 12, 2006

Yes, I believe Canada did compensate Bayer.

The mechanism involved is called "compulsory licensing", included in the relevant international treaties, which allows a country to, in effect, force the patent-holder to license their intellectual property to them for a fee set by the country. It *is* supposed to involve payment, albeit payment at a level less than the patent-holder's normal price.

The most disgusting example of first-world... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 7:50 AM on October 23, 2005

Whoop, I added nothing skeptic hasn't already said. Sorry.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 7:51 AM on October 23, 2005

mosch: It won't take long for "blame everyone but the federal government" to turn into "blame only the federal government" but not specific officials and not for lack of preparedness; rather, for the hubristic notion that "the" federal government can get anything right. So many of these states' righters and conservatives are just waiting to use hearings and other venues to demonstrate that the federal government failed not because of leadership, but becaue the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 9:37 AM on September 7, 2005

I don't really understand why people don't vote NDP (he seems pretty cool for an old guy) but they don't so I wont either or else I'd just be throwing my vote away.

That's exactly why, sadly. Of course, every vote for a local candidate who doesn't win is equally wasted, but it doesn't "feel" that way when your party wins a bunch of seats elsewhere.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 7:47 PM on April 20, 2005

nightchrome - I'll presume your point relates to the gag order, and not the actual allegations of police wrongdoing (which are the subject of inquiry precisely because they are contrary to law, as opposed to being allowed by law). IANAL, but let's see if I can make sense. Are you asking this as a Canadian ignorant of American law, or an American ignorant of Canadian law? Being a Canadian, I'll presume the latter.

What do you mean by "enshrined with the same force?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:56 PM on April 15, 2005

I should add that I am uncomfortable with the idea of court order allowing seizure of something apparently based on the expression of dissent, especially when it happens under a publication ban, but past experience mitigates against paranoia here because (and here's the allegedly quintessential Canadian deference creeping in) past experience suggests that if the judge allowed it, it probably has merit, and that assessment can be made when the details do emerge.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 11:35 PM on April 15, 2005

327: "Relative to our total population, this event claimed more lives than 911."

That is true. However, the Air India bombing was an act of terrorism directed at India and which incidentally killed many Canadians. Thus many Canadians not directly involved will not share the same sense of shock, horror, and personal involvement that Americans associate with 9/11. It was not an attack on our institutions, our culture, or in any real... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 9:01 AM on March 17, 2005

The bright side of CSIS/police incompetence (if that's what it is, I'm no professional) in Canada is the primary reason for it: lack of practice. And thank heaven for that.

In the region I grew up, for example, the police don't even have a homicide division; instead, it's called 'Major Crimes'. Outside of the very largest cities, one wonders how effectively homicides are investigated when they do happen given how rare they are.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:46 PM on April 13, 2005

Would it not have been possible to demonstrate the effects of a nuclear bomb on an non- or less-populated area? Over the ocean, just off the coast of Tokyo perhaps? I am not an expert -- was this ever considered? Did otherwise normally sensitive folks, like Oppenhiemer, consider this?

I hope I'm not the only person disturbed by posts in this thread that essentially 'I won't shed a tear for those civilians' because either their 'culture' is unworthy or their... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 12:03 PM on April 13, 2005

I don't think the U.S. started "that small matter in Vietnam," Skeptic. Do you?
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 1:33 AM on April 3, 2005

Freestanding, scheptech... this tower generator dealie appears to be supported by wires. The CN Tower stands on its own.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 12:35 AM on February 25, 2005

I'll second the view that the family's offer, pre-lawsuit, to pay the $900 makes the suit's outcome more plausible. And, at the same time, considering this made me less outraged at the suit... they had already agreed to pay, the poor paranoid (and vindictive?) woman just wanted to shame them publicly rather than privately.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:43 PM on February 4, 2005

You can always tell when a bag has been bitten open and cut open.

I wasn't allowed to use scissors unsupervised, but we had a little plastic widget with sharp edge, purpose-built for milk bag opening, stuck to the fridge with a magnet. I wonder if those have a proper name... rather like this letter opener.

Ahh, the memories! Now that I've moved away from home, and don't drink milk, all my fond milk bag memories had... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 2:06 AM on January 31, 2005

Aha! A 'clip it' milk bag opener rests on top of a milk bag (surrounded by other paraphernalia) in this image.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 2:09 AM on January 31, 2005

The diagram is of "romantic and sexual relationships", presumably encompassing activities other than intercourse.

As for the total number of nodes, note that the graphic indicates that certain patterns were found multiple times.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 1:24 AM on January 31, 2005

The narrator of this film was pitching for it on Larry King tonight (in a re-run timeslot), and made a lot of hay out of some poorly-articulated statistic about "1 in 10" students engaging in sexual behaviour with students. That number probably includes "flirting" and other lower-grade behaviour that would only require that the student participates (and that the teacher receives but doesn't necessarily do anything to solicit or encourage). But it was discussed as though it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:37 PM on January 25, 2005

Urgh, 1 in 10 students with teachers.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:39 PM on January 25, 2005

jonmc: The value of knowing that most sex offense victims were assaulted by family members means that one ought to be more wary of family members than the strangers living on your block. Of course, developing paranoia that your uncle is a sex offender is difficult for many people -- but working up paranoia about neighbours is much, much easier.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:54 PM on December 17, 2004

Many in this thread have wondered why 'potential' sex offenders don't get psychiatric help rather than committing offenses.

Three thoughts: the cost of psychiatric care can be astronomical, and I would imagine that the fear that confessing pedophilic/rape/whatever-fantasies will result in massive stigmatization, destruction of self-image, and possibly being reported to the police. The same societal outrage that leads to public databases keeps potential offenders who... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 9:10 AM on December 18, 2004

Note how the gun is flat...as though the person was lying on it whilst the xray was taken.

... or stuffed in their waistband, or photochopped.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 11:07 PM on December 17, 2004

...will run you $450/€430 a year.

That's a crazy-high price for a journal, isn't it? All of the ones I've looked into subscribing to in hardcopy (*blush*) were far cheaper for individual subscriptions... only institutional subscriptions ran into the hundreds.

I guess my taste in scholarly work are pretty low-brow?
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 11:04 PM on December 17, 2004

The subtext may very well be wolf-in-sheep's-clothing: crazy ideas coming from seemingly-sane people are still crazy. It sure seems like World thinks he's crazy.

I don't. Singer's philosophy allows for such things as polyamory and euthanasia, but most conservative (and they are mostly conservative) critics tend to portray him as advocating them. Many Bible-related groups have been offended by his use of genocides in the Bible... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 11:54 PM on December 13, 2004

soyjoy: Did Singer 'endorse the raping of animals' or did he construct a hypothetical situation in which 'the raping of animals' would not be impermissible? The distinction is as important as that between the construction of a hypothetical in which abortion is not impermissible and holding the view that abortion ought to be encouraged.

Have you read the work in question? I have, and being involved with animal rights activism I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 11:39 AM on December 14, 2004

Isn't equating the ethical dilemmas involved in producing alcohol or soft-core pornography to those involved in being trained to kill human beings a little bit dismissive?

To suggest that a recruiter talking to a poor person is predation implies that poor people are more easily fooled.

Bugmuncher: it implies that poor people, in that they are desperate, are more likely to swallow a deal they know is raw... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 12:26 AM on December 2, 2004

A friend who works in airport security mentioned to me that the extra 'hoops' actually make their job harder. Insert enough stressful, error-prone, frustrating, confusing steps to the security check process and all travellers begin to get nervous and display the body language signs that well-trained screeners used to use to sniff out threats.

This means increased reliance on technology, less creedence given to the (human) screeners' sense of what's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 9:23 PM on November 30, 2004

All the more reason to resurrect that old 120MHz Pentium I machine in the crawlspace... but what's are the legal implications of sites like these? Are they likely to be ceace-and-desist-ed into oblivion as soon as they make it onto corporate radar screens?
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 7:54 AM on November 30, 2004

See, I was wondering if Thanksgiving was some sort of traditional blood-selling/giving day.... remember the Simpson's episode where Bart "ruins" Thanksgiving by throwing Lisa's feminist centrepiece into the fire, and so runs away, sells his blood, etc? But the rocketing demand thesis seems plausible.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 5:30 AM on November 29, 2004

The incredibles sounded a lot more like John Stuart Mill vs. Marx to me... Mill saying that inequality was not too high a price to pay to allow the exceptional few to excel and thus avoid a tyranny of mediocrity. But that's paraphrasing pretty heavily.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:25 PM on November 28, 2004

What was the point, exactly, not of your post, Postroad, but the video?

Surely most people who watch music video channels today are too young to be well-acquainted with Neil Young or to have heard that song more than a dozen times. The song has probably enjoyed a resurgence in popularity thanks to Moore, and so Warner wants to capitalize on that. As for the images, I don't think it would be possible to show or see them too many times....
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:16 AM on November 28, 2004

Electric Jesus: Maybe not on MTV in the USA, but the worldwide MTV channels, plus locally-based equivalents, may well eat this up like pudding.
posted to MetaFilter by onshi at 10:18 AM on November 28, 2004