(no subject)

I cheered (quietly) reading the comments of the judge who sentenced Ahmed Ressam:

Judge John Coughenor called the sentencing of Mr. Ressam, a failed claimant for refugee status in Canada who used a Vancouver motel as his base for assembling explosives to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, the most difficult decision in his 24 years on the bench.

But he pointed out that all proceedings took place "in the sunlight of a public trial" without the indefinite detention of Mr. Ressam, subjecting him to a secret tribunal or denying him the right to a lawyer -- procedures U.S. authorities regularly employed against suspected terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"Unfortunately, some believe that the tragedy of Sept. 11 renders our Constitution obsolete. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won," Judge Coughenor declared, his voice heavy with emotion.

Indeed. Let that be a lesson to all our governments (Canada, with its "security certificates", is hardly innocent of these kinds of tactics either).

Actually, the last part made me giggle, too.

(BTW, the Globe's Insider Edition really gets up my nose. I am already a subscriber to your paper edition. NOW you want me to pay MORE to get "exclusive web content"? Fuck you. No. And I had to Google to get this story -- it wasn't visible from their home page or their Ressam page, which is just bizarre.)

I'm not normal

Judging by the response I got (befuddlement), I don't think very many people phone AstraZeneca's 1-800 number to inform them that there are inconsistencies in their Pulmicort Turbulhaler 200 mcg package labelling and they should really do something about that. (The nice call centre employee said "Um... well... there may be a reason for that... would you like me to put you through to a pharmacist?" I said no. I would lay you odds that the reason is a rushed production deadline coupled with one too many trips past the same editor. I didn't tell her that, but as a medical writer I encouraged her to pass the information along and see that someone fixed it.)

Veronica Mars

To pester CTV's Toronto station: 416-332-5000

Really, if they are planning to show something completely different instead of Veronica Mars tonight, they should at least mention it on their VM page, with perhaps an indication of when it's coming back.

Still no response to any of our emails, either... programming@ctv.ca, if you wish to raise a fuss.

um.

There was a bomb threat on the TTC?

meep.

More details here. Back to normal, apparently.

bomb threat update

Apparently someone called in the threat to the Sun. Classy! Don't they know the Star has the highest circulation in Canada? Can't wait for tomorrow's headlines...

better late than never...

CTV has updated its Veronica Mars page with the new showtime.

My enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that they managed to get the right day, but the wrong date -- Sunday is the 31st. Half a cheer, no brownie points.

House report: Thursday

Hello, all,

Fed the hooligans Canadian chilli (i.e. with tomatoes and beans) on toast and an avocado and cucumber salad.

John went out to get one of the drills fixed. He has to pick it up and it's near Lee Valley Tools; so if anyone has an order, please inform. John also took back the stapler to Rona, who gave him cash no problem, and bought an air stapler which will be handy for vapour barrier and upholstery.

Dan and David finished the frame for the 1st floor bay window. If the duct man wants the duct in front of the bay window, may be a problem, but the lads seem to have figured out a fix. (When David heard about this at first, he grabbed knife and pointed at his wrist, but my new stainless isn't good enough to cause serious damage.)

Hooligans finished furring the 3rd floor room, and are moving the door of the second floor bathroom.

Have attached plan to date. Please put in comments, etc. wherever, but put your initials after them so that we all know where we're coming from.

Cheers to all. I'm going to have a nap--and you're not! H

As long as there are house reports, all is well with the world.

Went over for Indian food and accounting last night. My role was to take any bills where there was personal stuff for my uncle and subtract the personal stuff (plus tax) from the total.* We are just so exciting! J tells me we have spent perfectly hideous sums of money in the last month. It's all worth it though... right? Right?

*I did this in my head, partly for the practice and partly because my uncle's calculator is just weird and uses Polish notation, or possibly reverse Polish notation, which he was kind enough to assume I knew all about, but which just makes my head go 'splodey.

(no subject)

crankygrrl, meet briasoleil. briasoleil, crankygrrl. Seriously, you two were meant to meet.

(no subject)

Oh dear. I think it was a bad idea to subscribe to the Equestrian Vacations mailing list, because every time I get an email I just whimper a lot and want to do ALL the trips.

And then they taunt me with special offers.

*whimper*

(no subject)

Now that the debate has collapsed crankygrrl's comments page, perhaps it's time to take the discussion public.

[Poll #541542]

Have at it, my friends!