Magic Statistics

A US court has sentenced three animal rights extremists to jail terms for encouraging terrorism against a British scientific research facility.

The American members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, known as Shac, include one leading activist who trained in Britain. Kevin Kjonaas, who received a six-year sentence, helped to control the movement five years ago while its British leaders were in jail.

He and two others were imprisoned in Trenton, New Jersey. The three will have to contribute towards a $1 million (£525,000) fine imposed on the organisation. A fourth extremist will be sentenced today and two more in the next two weeks.

All six conspired to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences, Britain’s largest animal testing facility. They were convicted in March of using their website to incite threats and harassment against the Cambridgeshire-based company, which has a branch in New Jersey.

Their five-year campaign against the company mirrored that of British activists. Shac USA posted the names, home addresses and private phone numbers of its employees and customers on the internet.

The six were convicted of ”animal-enterprise terrorism” for instigating a vile campaign of intimidation and harassment against company officers and employees that included vandalising homes, publishing personal information, and sending thousands of threatening e-mails.

The three convicted felons refused to apologise and said they will appeal.

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• Animal research benefits medical science and people
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British men’s clothier Thomas Pink recently introduced an iPod nano tie.  Not to be outdone, competitor Bagir is offering a tailored iPod suit.  The company is calling their new suit MusicStyle, but you know that name won’t stick.

With an eye on today´s market trends and technologies, Bagir added a new twist to the classic tailored suit – wearable electronics. Introducing MusicStyle™, the suit especially designed for iPod. MusicStyle™ comes complete with a strategically placed pocket for the iPod and it´s [sic] supporting devices located so as not to budge, discrete loops to hide the earphone wires, and soft-touch command controls on the left sleeve or front breast lapel. With a few presses on the sleeve buttons, the wearer can easily play, pause, and rewind the songs he has on his player, as well as adjust the volume.

Frequent business flyers should be careful playing with the sleeve and lapel controls while on board, or else you might get thrown off the plane and arrested as a suspected terrorist.

h/t: Macworld UK.

Previous related post: Latest iPod accessory: iRobot

As reported here last week, Bishop of Mugabe Harare Nolbert Kunonga ordered all 45 Anglican churches in the city closed so full attention could be given to celebration of his wedding anniversary.  In lieu of worship services, Bp Kunonga arranged “a prayer meeting and a fundraiser at a sports arena to celebrate the occasion”.

On the big day, however, the 5000-seat arena was less than half full.  Despite the conspicuous presence of Robert Mugabe’s goons state security, moreover, many of those in attendance demonstrated their displeasure at the spectacle.  Bp Kunonga did not take their impertinence lying down: He dragged them into court and had them blackballed from the cathedral.

Nineteen Anglican Church wardens and members of the choir have been banned by a Harare court from attending services at the cathedral in the city. This follows an application by Harare Bishop Nolbert Kunonga who accused them of trying to disrupt his wedding anniversary at the weekend.
. . .
Kunonga asserted in court papers that the group did not follow the laid out sermon and procession and that those in the choir refused to provide choral music. The court order states that those banned cannot attend services at the cathedral with effect from next Sunday. But the banned parishioners have said they will challenge the order.

Speaking at the anniversary shindig, Archbishop of Central Africa Bernard Malango sounded a festive note:

“Factionalism has rocked the church and some of the people who are twisting issues in the church are Anglican members, and that makes me sad.

"Their agenda is just to destabilise the church so that it will cease to function. That is not the purpose of the church and people should avoid finger-pointing," he said.

Asked to expand on his claims of factionalism on the sidelines of the anniversary, Archbishop Malango — who was flanked by Bishop Kunonga — said there were three factions in the Anglican Church. Two of them, comprising liberals and homosexuals (both gays and lesbians), were contending against one made up of faithful adherents to the church orthodoxy and doctrine.

Hang on a minute.  I support “church orthodoxy and doctrine” as much as the next fundamentalist zealot Neanderthal Reformed Anglican, but no way I’m in the same faction as props for that totalitarian Mugabe.  Is there some fourth “faction” I can sign on to?

h/t: Thinking Anglicans

Previous related posts:

• Bishop cancels Sunday services for his anniversary
• Primate shielding Mugabe’s bishop getting jammed up
• Renegade Anglican bishop in Zimbabwe

The Alberta economy is now going through the strongest period of sustained economic growth ever seen in any Canadian province, according to a wide-ranging study from Statistics Canada.

[Alberta’s] nominal gross domestic product (GDP) rose 43% between 2002 and 2005, and there is no sign of slowing down so far in 2006. As a result of this unprecedented boom, Alberta has the highest share of its population employed and the lowest unemployment rate of any province or state in North America.

The 12.7% average annual growth of Alberta since 2002 compares favourably with China's 14.8%, the fastest rate among the world's large economies. But, while China's growth was mostly volume, Alberta's was mainly driven by higher export prices. Still, its 4% average increases in real GDP were the fastest in Canada after 2002.

Alberta's per capita GDP reached $66,275 in 2005, nearly double the average income in 1995 and 56% above the national average. This deviation from the national average is the largest ever posted by a Canadian province.

Other economic indicators are also rising through the roof.  Business investment has grown 37% in the last three years with no sign it will slow down anytime soon.  Consumer spending is expanding at a record-setting pace; if the 17% increase posted so far this year continues, retail sales will have risen by the greatest percentage ever observed in Canada.

Even though Alberta consumers are spending more than ever, the 5.1% personal savings rate is also the highest in Canada.

Despite having the highest rate of population growth in Canada every year since 1996, Alberta has the tightest labour market in the country.  Shortages of both skilled and unskilled labour have sent average hourly earnings up to $20.94, the highest of all the provinces.

Over the last decade, Alberta has consistently had Canada's strongest labour market. When adjusted to a comparable basis with the United States (which excludes 15 year olds), Alberta's 2.9% unemployment rate in June was the lowest of any province or state in North America, while it had the highest employment rate at 71.7%.

The boom is driven mostly by the mining (including oil and gas) industry.  Rising prices and booming exports contributed to a doubling of Alberta's corporate profits in the last three years.  Employment in the industry has risen by one-third, generating large spin-off job gains all across the economy.

The Statistics Canada study also points out the many ways that Alberta’s economic growth has benefited other parts of the country.  In addition to providing jobs for Canadians who have moved there, the value of the province’s imports from the rest of Canada has risen by over one-third since 1999.

Alberta’s exploding economy has at least one worrying downside, however.  About 25% of rural Albertans, enticed by the high wages available in the paid labour market, drop out before completing high school.

Sources:

Cross, Philip, and Geoff Bowley, 2006. “The Alberta economic juggernaut: The boom on the rose”.  Canadian Economic Observer, September 2006. Statistics Canada catalogue no. 11-010. http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/pdf/sep06.pdf  (accessed 14 September 2006).

Statistics Canada, 2006. "Study: The Alberta economic juggernaut." The Daily, 14 September. Statistics Canada catalogue no. 11-001-XIE.
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060914/d060914c.htm (accessed 14 September 2006).

Previous related post: BC and Alberta to form united economic powerhouse

The Globe and Mail reports that the Auditor-General's Office is about to release a critical examination of the former Liberal government's spending on environmental programs.

"The content will be extremely critical of how money and programs were handled," said a non-partisan source familiar with some of the report's findings.

The source said the audit's criticisms include actions at Environment Canada when it was led by former minister Stéphane Dion. Mr. Dion is currently campaigning for the leadership of the Liberal Party and has made environmental policy a central part of his platform. He was environment minister from July of 2004 until the government's defeat Jan. 23, 2006.
. . .
The source said the audit will also criticize environmental programs under the watch of Mr. Dion's predecessor, David Anderson.

One environmental lobbyist is already saying the Liberal program would have worked just fine if more money had been wasted spent and regulations had been more draconian stringent.  Throw money!

John Bennett, an environmentalist with the Climate Action Network, was in Nova Scotia yesterday as part of a cross-country consultation project to hear from Canadians on climate change.

He said he's worried the Conservatives will use the report as an excuse to scrap climate programs.

"We're concerned that action on climate will be collateral damage as the government uses the Auditor-General's report to beat up on the Liberals for partisan purposes," he said. "Fundamentally, everything the Liberals did was a reasonably good idea. The problem with them, in our point of view, was they weren't big enough and weren't supported by regulation so they could actually achieve things rapidly."

Mr Bennett may have a point.  Come on, let's be fair: Look at all the emissions reductions the Liberals bought with our money.

The Conservative government has said it will not meet the target set by the Liberals to reduce greenhouse gases to 6 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.  [Environment Minister] Ms. [Rona] Ambrose has said greenhouse gases rose to 35 per cent above 1990 levels under the Liberals, putting Canada's commitment out of reach.

Never mind.

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Lately it seems that poor old Tony Blair can't do anything right.  His latest faux pas was to leak government labour statistics a day before the official release.  Not only that, he got it wrong.

Tony Blair was last night forced to apologise for an embarrassing gaffe in which he broke the embargo on the official unemployment statistics. His chief civil servant, Sir Gus O'Donnell, wrote a letter of apology to the Office for National Statistics after the Prime Minister let slip to union leaders on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule, that labour market statistics would show a fall in unemployment.

Mr Blair apparently misread the numbers in his favour.  He said the unemployment statistics would be "very, very welcome indeed", but a closer look indicates otherwise.

[E]conomists warned it was misleading to claim that the labour market was improving. In fact, the more comprehensive measure of unemployment - known as the International Labour Organisation series - recorded a slight rise in the jobless number, albeit in July rather than August. This measure has been rising consistently for the past year, and is now increasing at the fastest rate since the tail-end of the 1992 recession. The unemployment rate is now up to 5.5pc between May and July, compared with 4.7pc a year earlier, and the UK is the only major industrialised country with rising unemployment over the past 12 months.

Sir Gus's apology followed a written rebuke from the head of ONS, Karen Dunnell, who said that Mr Blair's disclosure "clearly . . . contravened" the Office's statistical code of practice.

Previous related post: You can believe this