Over at Marginal Revolution we find that the US Supreme Court is continuing on its statist way:

This is just awful:

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private economic development.

As a result, cities have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes to generate tax revenue.

Read more here.

"Don't worry about the Chinese taking over the world. They can't get their own shit together."

Have you ever heard of the expression "...like a chinese fire drill"?

"“If the court were to grant the appellants' claim it would be huge,"” said Martha Jackman, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa. "“It really would be the commodification of health care."

Dr. Jackman represented pro-medicare groups when arguments in the case were heard last year. She said she believes much of the pressure to strike down the rules for medicare comes from health-care companies that want new market opportunities.

"“There's so much money to be made and the pressure is unrelenting."

She said she was puzzled that the Supreme Court would even agree to hear the case after it was struck down by two Quebec courts. The year-long delay in rendering a verdict has added to the suspense.

"Clearly, it means the court is struggling,"” said Ms. Maioni.

Study shows heat and smog are killers

Last Updated Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:34:28 EDT

CBC News

Smog is responsible for more than 800 deaths a year in Toronto, and extreme heat makes the problem even worse, a new government study has found.

• INDEPTH: The dirt on smog

The issue appears to be just as bad, in relative terms, in three smaller cities – Montreal, Ottawa and Windsor, Ont. – that were studied by a team of scientists from Toronto's public health department, the federal government and McMaster University in Hamilton.

Data from the study were released in Toronto on Monday, which happened also to be the first day this year that that city announced a heat alert, advising residents to:

• Keep cool.
• Take rests.
• Drink lots of water, whether they are thirsty or not.
• Check on elderly or frail neighbours, relatives and friends who live alone.
• Take advantage of air conditioning in public places such as malls, community centres and libraries.

Monday was also the 14th day this year that Ontario's environment department issued a smog alert for Toronto. That matches the total number of smog warnings that were issued in all of 2004 – and this year's summer has not yet officially started.

The study measured the impact of extreme cold, extreme heat and air pollution on premature deaths in the four cities over a 46-year period.

It concluded that extreme heat was killing an average of 120 people a year in Toronto, 121 in Montreal, 41 in Ottawa and 37 in Windsor.

Extreme cold was responsible for an average of 105 deaths a year in Toronto, 143 in Montreal, 54 in Ottawa and 32 in Windsor.

The air pollution that causes smog was found to be the cause of 822 deaths a year in Toronto, 818 in Montreal, 368 in Ottawa and 258 in Windsor.

The study predicted that heat-related deaths will double by 2050 and triple by 2080 because of global warming.

Increased air pollution will cause a 20 per cent increase in smog-related deaths by 2050 and a 25 per cent increase by 2080, the study estimated.

The scientists recommended the federal government introduce a national heat warning system such as Toronto's.

And they urged the federal government to focus on mandatory, rather than voluntary measures to meet Canada's targets under the Kyoto Protocol for reducing smog and greenhouse gases.

• INDEPTH: Kyoto Protocol

The price of airline tickets between Canadian cities could go up if the United States implements an anti-terrorist strategy that would force domestic airlines to fly new routes far north of the U.S. border, Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said Wednesday.

The minister said he is fighting hard to keep Washington from getting its hands on Canadian passenger lists for domestic flights that stray into U.S. airspace.

But if he fails, Canadian carriers might have to take pains to avoid conventional routes that cross over northern U.S. states, he added.

Calling it a “very hot issue,” Mr. Lapierre said Washington hasn't finalized its proposed new rules but he's already lobbying to protect Canadians' privacy.

June 7, 2005

China orders all websites, blogs to register with government or face shutdown

By ELAINE KURTENBACH

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Authorities have ordered all China-based websites and blogs to register or be closed down, in the latest effort by the communist government to police the unruly world of cyberspace.

Commercial publishers and advertisers can face fines of up to one million yuan, or the equivalent of about $120,000 US, for failing to register, according to documents posted on the website of the Ministry of Information Industry.

Private, noncommercial bloggers or websites must register the complete identity of the person responsible for the site, it said. The ministry, which has set a June 30 deadline for compliance, said 74 per cent of all sites had already registered.

"The Internet has profited many people but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence and feudal superstitions and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people's spirits," the MII website said in explaining the new rules.

All media in China is controlled by the state, though limits on the Internet have tended to lag behind as advances in technology outstripped Beijing's ability to keep tabs on users and service providers.

The government has long required all major commercial websites to register and take responsibility for Internet content. But blogs, web forums, chat rooms and other virtual venues have been harder to police.

Now, however, the government has developed a new system to track down and close those caught violating the rules, the ministry said.

"There's a 'Net Crawler System' that will monitor the sites in real time and search each web address for its registration number," said one document listing questions and answers about the new rules. "It will report back to the MII if it finds a site thought to be unregistered."

The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders protested the new rules, saying they would force people with dissenting opinions to shift websites overseas, where mainland Chinese users might be unable to access them due to government censorship filters.

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Given to me by my elementary school librarian when I was in the 3rd or 4th Grade, it is the first book that made me really think. I give it as a gift all the time.
   
2. 1984 by George Orwell. It was meant as a warning and it became a guide book.
3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Income tax is indeed theft.
   
4. The Dagger of Islam by John Laffin. I read it while the cold war was just ending. It convinced me that the new threat to freedom would come from the ideology of Islam.
   
5. The Old Man and the Sea, by Hemingway. I have read it 50 times and can read it another 50.

• Coyne
  
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• Boondockers
  
• RedSox Podcast
  
• Cosh

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