Magic Statistics

Russia claims to have developed the world’s most effective vacuum bomb.  It’s said to be as deadly as a nuclear bomb but, unlike nukes, it causes minimal damage to the environment.

From the second item in today’s Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline Russia:

Colonel General Aleksandr Rukshin, the deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, said in Moscow on September 11 that Russia has created the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, as lethal as a nuclear weapon, Russian state-run television reported. Rukshin said the bomb causes widespread devastation but does not contaminate the environment. He described it as "environmentally friendly, compared to a nuclear bomb.”

Wow!  A bomb that Al Gore can love.  Isn’t modern technology wonderful?

Actually, the claims of environmental righteousness seem deluded a tad overblown in view of this:

[T]he bomb's main destructive effects are inflicted by a second stage after the initial explosion, which ultimately results in "an ultrasonic shockwave and incredibly high temperatures. All that is alive merely evaporates.”

How green can you get?  Way to go, Russia.

Previous related posts:

• New arms race? Experts say no, Russia says yes
• Putin: Russia not a “monster”
• The Gospel according to Saint Al

It’s northern Canadian political scandals day here at Magic Statistics.  First, the Yukon premier’s Wikipedia entry has been sanitised by a person or persons using government computers.  Now it’s over to our neighbour Northwest Territories (NWT), where felons and a fugitive are candidates for elective office.

A general election for the NWT Legislative Assembly has been called for 1 October, and the candidates are off and running.  Several of the candidates have some experience in running—from the police.  Four have police records and, according to court files, at least one is still wanted.

• Hay River South hopeful Greg McMeekin has been convicted of assault, resisting arrest and making death threats. He's currently wanted by police for failing to meet the terms of his probation.
• Nahendeh district candidate Arnold Hope was convicted in 2006 of possessing marijuana and unsafe storage of a firearm.
• Yellowknife Great Slave hopeful Marc Bogan was found guilty in 2005 of mischief after releasing live crickets in the Yellowknife courthouse.
• Monfwi candidate Henry Zoe is running for a seat he resigned two years ago after being convicted of resisting arrest.

Criminal convictions do not disqualify someone from a seat in the NWT Leg, unless you’ve been convicted under the Elections Act.  In fact, convicted felons have a track record of electoral success in NWT: Mr Zoe was elected after being convicted twice of spousal assault.

In related news, the slate of candidates includes fewer women than in the previous election held in 2003.  Women say it’s ”difficult to get elected”.  Four years ago, eleven women ran for office, and two won their seats.  This time, only ten women are up for election.

NWT voters elect a twice-convicted wife abuser, and women claim they get a rough ride from the electorate.  Hmmmm.

No word yet on whether the RCMP have caught up with candidate McMeekin.

Follow the election race action at CBC’s NWT Votes 2007.  Click here for a map of the 19 electoral districts.

Previous related post: Premier’s Wikipedia entry whitewashed

One or more determined individuals with access to Yukon Territorial Government (YTG) computers have been hard at work erasing unpleasant information about Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie (photo at right) from Mr Fentie's Wikipedia entry.

The user of a Yukon government computer with the IP address 199.247.128.35 had an obsession with Premier Dennis Fentie’s criminal past.

Or, rather, a pigheaded determination with making sure no one reading Wikipedia knows about it.

Last year, several edits from one government computer were made to Fentie’s entry on the popular online encyclopedia, removing all mentions of his 1974 prison sentence for trafficking heroin.

The anonymous user replaced the personal history with information about his economic record as premier.

Instead of the first sentence — “Fentie was under attack when it was revealed that he had been convicted and spent time in prison for heroin trafficking in 1974 when he was 24 years old” — people reading the entry discovered: “In his duties as Premier he has passed two record-setting budgets and has brought Yukon population and economic factors to record levels.”

Not only is a YTG computer user covering up the premier's nefarious past youthful indiscretions, some of the substituted information is wrong.  Although the economy is doing well since Fentie was elected to power in November 2003, the population is another story.  The number of Yukon residents has been growing recently, but it has not recovered to the peak of 33,911 recorded in December 1997.  (Population figure from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.)

The Yukon News reporter is to be commended for uncovering this little scandal, but I think it's misleading to refer to "a Yukon government computer with the IP address 199.247.128.35" because, inasmuch as that's the IP address of the government network's firewall, it is not associated with any particular YTG computer.  The culprit cannot be identified that easily, unfortunately.  (In fact, it's possible that more than one person was involved, although that seems doubtful.)

Each time someone else changed Fetnie’s [sic] entry to include the information about his legal troubles — four different registered and well-established users did so — an anonymous person using the same Yukon government computer deleted the information.

Again, we can't be sure if the same computer was used every time.

Read the whole thing for more examples for YTG computers being used for political or frivolous Wikipedia edits.

Previous related posts:

• Yukon Party re-elected; StatGuy wins big
• Globe and Mail finally notices Yukon election—and gets it wrong

The collect for today, the Feast Day of Saint Cyprian (c. 200-258), Bishop of Carthage, Martyr (source):

Almighty God, who didst give to thy servant Cyprian boldness to Confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of the same our Lord Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle 1 St Peter 5:1-4, 10-11
The Gospel: St John 10:11-16