Segacs’s World I Know

Wait, am I reading this right? Georges Laraque is now the deputy leader of the Green Party?

The same Georges Laraque who, after two woeful seasons in a Habs’ jersey, thought this would be a logical career move?

And to think people were taking the Greens seriously last election, even predicting that they would win seats. How far they have fallen…

The Independent reports how the Pink Floyd classic has gotten a new life as a theme song of the Iranian protest movement:

(Via Lisa Goldman).

Statisticians as a group have always kind of flown under the radar, perceived as boring number-crunchers even geekier than accountants who are constantly going on about confidence intervals and accuracy within plus or minus three percentage points.

That is, until the Tory government dropped its inexplicable bombshell decision this month to abolish the mandatory long-form census in favour of a voluntary version.

The public outcry over this move, fuelled in large part by the angry resignation of the head of StatsCan, has all of a sudden made the statistician into a folk hero, a lone crusader for level-headed facts in the face of a government that seems to think that listening to the people is, well, voluntary.

Kevin Liban in the National Post hits the nail on the head on the Harper government’s failures:

But after four and half years of governing Canada, the Prime Minister still doesn’t know how, or maybe, care to, go through the tactful political efforts it takes to win friends and influence people. This is, and appears destined to remain, his weakness, believes Tom Flanagan, the University of Calgary political scientist and Mr. Harper’s former chief of staff and organizer. There was the sudden, surprise announcement to cancel taxpayer funding to parties — which almost brought down the government; the sudden, surprise announcement to cancel subsidies to Quebec artists, that may have cost him a majority government; the sudden, surprise announcement to prorogue Parliament. All without warning; all without consultation; all without properly preparing the ground in advance with notice, persuasion and rationale.

In this case, the government doesn’t seem to have any rationale – at least not any rationale that makes sense or that stands up to the smallest amount of scrutiny. And this decision, which comes out of nowhere and will have ramifications for years to come, has made us a laughingstock in the world and has sparked angry protests from all sides of the political spectrum.

It’s not even a budgetary move. The government wants to send out an additional 10,000 forms to compensate for less people filling them out. In addition to clearly never having taken a statistics class, Tony Clement must have failed basic arithmetic, because sending out all those extra forms will cost more money, not less.

Here are links to an online petition and a Facebook page that have set up to protest the Harper government’s decision.

And, for the West Wing fans, see Sam explain the (U.S.) census to CJ in a classic episode here:

Update 8/4: The new census policy is being challenged in court:

A French-Canadian group has launched a legal attack on multiple fronts against the federal government’s move to scrap the mandatory long-form census.The group has not only asked Federal Court to void the Harper government’s new policy, but also wants an injunction that would keep the new type of census from being distributed this year.

It is also asking the court to fast-track its case so that it can be heard by mid-October, before the government distributes the 2011 census.

Plus, a whole bunch of other wars, conflicts, armed skirmishes, and general disputes: The Power of Ridiculous Reasons:

I mention these examples because I think the world needs another ridiculous rule to solve some big problems. And it’s no fair saying my new rule is ridiculous because that’s exactly the point. The new rule would be this: Any land controlled by a country for 50 years straight is legitimately theirs. It’s like a statute of limitations for armed resistance.

Is it too soon to suggest that Dilbert be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?

Some of you may remember this list, which I created at the start of the year as the mother-of-all resolution lists.

Well, it’s July, which means half of 2010 is gone. So I thought it would be useful to do a quick update, to see what kind of progress I’m making.

1. Go to Morocco. – Made it there, thanks to volcano, almost didn’t make it back
   
2. Go camping at least twice next summer. – does camping out on a couch count?
3. Find my dream apartment and move into it. – still looking
4. Get my own washer/dryer and finally stop dragging my laundry around like a friggin’ nomad. – see #3 above
5. Get a dishwasher. – see #3 above
6. Replace my 12-year-old car with something newer and zippier. – zoom zoom 🙂
7. …or else get rid of it and join CommunAuto. – opted for the new car instead
8. Successfully fight that unfair, BS speeding ticket. – still waiting for a court date notice; they can take their time as far as I’m concerned
9. Complete and edit my NaNoWriMo 2009 project. – um, not so much
10. Participate in NaNoWriMo 2010. – we’ll see
11. …and win. – well, duh
12. Buy those new dishes I was eyeing at the Ottawa kitchen store. – not yet, but hoping to shortly
    
13. Buy a spice rack. – maybe when I get a new kitchen
14. Paint my kitchen yellow. (I’ve always wanted a yellow kitchen, for some reason.) – see #3 above
15. Go skiing at least three times. – went twice. so close, yet so far.
16. Go snowshoeing.
17. Visit Cathy. – not yet, but Bluesfest starts soon
18. Visit Andrea and Jim. – yay Mars!
19. Convince Andrea and Jim to come visit more often. – mission accomplished
20. Host Etrek Montreal-fest 2010. – y’all are welcome
21. Eat breakfast (other than coffee) more days than not. – coffee and a granola bar counts, right?
22. Buy a vegetable steamer.
23. Find a new volunteer project.
24. Celebrate Canada Day someplace where people are actually happy to be Canadian. – yay Mars 🙂
25. …with fireworks. – yay Martian neighbours 🙂
26. …and some typically Canadian music like Blue Rodeo or Great Big Sea. – when I’m up I can’t get down
27. Buy new socks and throw out the ones with holes in them.
28. Reprise Buy Nothing Week.
29. Roast marshmellows over a fireplace. – does a backyard fire pit count?
30. Have a board game brunch. – several times over
31. Eat crepes at CDL. – mmm, crepes
32. Host a wine and cheese. – mmm, cheese
33. Host a fondue party.
34. Make homemade sushi.
35. Play poker.
36. …and win.
37. Finish reading Don Quixote. – I gave up
38. …in time for the January book club meet-up. – yeah, not so much
39. Watch the rest of the UK version of Life On Mars. – gotta find season 2 on DVD, anyone have it?
40. Attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade – but of course
41. …and fail to remember much about it later. – wow, I was far too sober this year
42. Turn 30. – kinda inevitable
43. …with minimal freaking out. – 30 actually feels pretty good
44. Go to New York City. (I heart NY). – maybe this fall
45. Go to Quebec City. – maybe this winter
46. Get through the winter without succumbing to the winter blahs. – it was a short winter, so that helped
47. …and weighing less than I do now. – hah!
48. Win tickets to something on the radio. – haven’t really tried
49. Get a letter to the editor published in the newspaper. – haven’t submitted any. Wow, I’m lazy!
50. Attend the Salon Passion Chocolat. – not till the fall
51. …and the Jazz Fest. – yep
52. …and the Comedy Fest. – next week
53. …and Bluesfest Ottawa. – next week
54. …and Nuit Blanche. – it was too bloody cold
55. …and the FrancoFolies. – it rocked
56. …and FantasiaFest. – later this month
57. …and a bunch of other festivals. – Beerfest!
58. Keep walking to work every day, as long as I live within walking distance. – it’s the only way to travel
59. Pack lunches and avoid the takeout trap. – managing on average four out of five days – not too shabby
60. Pay someone an undeserved compliment. – won’t say who
61. Learn to sew well enough to hem my own pant legs and sleeves.
62. Don’t get the flu. – epic FAIL
63. Call my grandfather. – often
64. Learn CSS.
65. …and update the look and feel of this blog so it’s not so ugly.
66. Blog more often. – does this post count?
67. Read the Israeli news headlines more regularly. – in spurts, but I try to keep up
68. …in Hebrew, to keep my language skills from going completely rusty. – I think my reading skills are nearly gone, sadly
69. …and listen to online radio or watch online TV broadcasts in Hebrew, too, for the same reason. – doing better on this score
70. Update my online (Flickr) photo albums. – mostly up to date
71. Update my offline (printed) photo albums. – yeah, not so much
72. Buy fruits and veggies from the farmers’ markets instead of the supermarket. – I heart Marche Jean-Talon
73. Vote. – there haven’t been any elections
74. …in an election where my vote actually makes a difference. – yeah, like that’ll happen
75. Visit the Contemporary Arts Museum on freebie Wednesday.
76. Go to at least one rock concert. – does FrancoFolies count?
77. …by a band that has been around for less than 15 years. – who?
78. Watch the Cannes Lions winning ads.
79. Carry on an entire conversation with a francophone without letting on that I’m anglo. – this works better in Morocco than it does in Montreal
80. Try 10 new restaurants in Montreal. – I’ve lost count but surely it’s been more than 10
81. Find a good answer to the inevitable questions about my name that doesn’t involve exasperation, or a long backstory.
82. Clean the oven.
83. …using baking soda (?) – sorry Urban Green Girl, but it doesn’t work as well as you said it would
84. Organize my DVD collection.
85. Set out to buy clothes and actually end up with clothes. – some of them are even pink
86. …and no shoes. – I think I did this once
87. Master the art of the experience brief. – I didn’t, but Jasmin is working on it
88. Get more (consumer) insightful. – oh, definitely
89. Retrieve my old electric keyboard and actually remind myself how to play it.
90. Reduce the procrastination to a manageable level. – Sporcle is evil
91. Pay my taxes. – they come off my paycheque automatically, so this one has been easy
92. …and put the refund towards travel. – see #1
93. Win my 2009-10 fantasy hockey pool. – I placed second
94. Draft Ovi in the 2010-11 fantasy hockey pool. – not yet, but wait till September
95. Go to at least one Habs’ playoff game – contingent on them actually making the playoffs, of course. – went to three of ’em. Helped that the Habs made it to the conference finals.
96. Keep kosher(ish) for Passover. – um… the less said the better. my mom might read this.
97. Couchsurf. – repeatedly
98. Host couchsurfers. – several of ’em
99. Help at least three friends plan trips. – it’s the next best thing to traveling myself
100. Invent a new smoothie recipe. – bananas and kahlua – surprisingly good together
101. Watch the Olympics on TV. – glued to the set
102. …and see the Canadian team win the hockey gold. (Hey, I can hope, right?) – epic WIN!
103. Improve my Spanish from a 20-word vocabulary to at least a 50-word one. – still on the to-do list
104. Watch Mad Men Season 4. – it starts in two weeks, can’t wait!
105. Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. – on my netbook, but not on my desktop yet
106. …preferably without losing my mind in the process. – TBD
107. Go apple picking in the fall.
108. Sell my old backpacks.
109. Clear out my closets and drawers. – now I have no clothes left
110. …and participate in a clothing swap.
111. …and donate whatever I cannot swap to charity.
112. Drink more green tea instead of coffee. – I heart david’s tea
113. Finish the pile of books that are sitting on my “to read” shelf. – pile keeps growing
114. Get my grandmother’s chicken soup recipe from my mom.
115. …and learn to make it.
116. Convince my mom that the world isn’t going to end in 2012, regardless of what the Mayans said. – I’m still not sure she’s entirely convinced
117. Go karaoking. – we all live in a yellow submafine
118. Go kayaking.
119. Laugh a lot.
120. Spend less time in front of the computer making these lists, and more time actually doing the things on them. – been too busy to blog, does that count?

So, by my count, that’s 55 items out of 120 that I can cross off the list as having done so far. That adds up to about 46% of the list accomplished, with 50% of the year left. Not too shabby.

Now I gotta start working on finding that apartment. And learning Spanish. (Hmmm, maybe an apartment in Spain?)

Fuck the moronic thugs who decided that setting police cars on fire and smashing store windows was an appropriate Saturday afternoon activity.

Fuck Stephen Harper and the Conservative government for thinking that hosting this summit in a major urban centre was an appropriate use of over a billion dollars of taxpayer money.

Okay, rant over.

The Toronto Star has a photo essay from this weekend. Sometimes, pictures really do say a thousand words.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been hard at work, ensuring that all Americans have the right the own handguns.

Of course, with fifty million potential gunshot wound victims without health insurance, one would think that the Founding Fathers might have anticipated the need for a universal right to healthcare in the Constitution too, no?

The world’s biggest party kicks off today. Nope, it’s not the Stanley Cup, much as we might like to think so (oh, and congrats, Blackhawks) but the cup that only comes around once every four years – and never to the great white north. That’s right, it’s futbol time! Ole, ole…

During the last two world cups, I was in Europe, in the middle of the frenzy. This time  I’m in Montreal, so I imagine it will be somewhat different. As usual, Damian says it best: “For Canadians, the World Cup is like a really awesome house party that we’re longingly watching through the window.” Well, Damian, if we have to press our faces up against the glass, might as well make it the glass of a big-screen TV in a pub, with plenty of beer.

Four years have passed since the last World Cup, and that means four years’ worth of digital technology advances. Some cool tools and toys for this year’s World Cup enthusiasts include:

• Marca.com’s World Cup Wheel (via Sean) – extremely cool interface providing an overview by country, date, city, group and stage.
• BBC Sport’s World Cup Predictor (via Adrien) – make your picks and watch the magical, hypnotizing, colourful lines.
• That Nike commercial that everyone’s been talking about.
• Watching the World Cup for the first time? Never fear, The Onion has you covered. (Via Ken)

And in case you’re wondering where my loyalties lie… Go England!

We’re in the conference finals, baby!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here was the scene in McLean’s Pub with about a minute left in the game:

Penguins are going golfing. Habs are moving on to the conference finals for the first time since 1993. And – say it with me – we all know what happened in 1993.

The whole city is partying right now. Think I’ll go join them.

GO HABS GO!!!