Magic Statistics

Green Party leader Elizabeth May has rejected Stephen Harper’s criticism of her comparison of the world’s responses to global warming and to the threat posed by Adolph Hitler.  On what grounds?  She was just repeating what Al Gore said, so it must be all right.

"Why Al Gore got no trouble is because the remarks were not controversial. Mr. Harper seized on my remarks in a way that was blown out of proportion by headline writers," said May in an interview. "I don't expect to see anyone, anywhere else in the world to be abused for making these comparisons."

The CanWest news story soon cites evidence that, in fact, Al Gore’s remarks are very controversial indeed.

[A] representative of an umbrella group of Canadian Jewish organizations said that it's "obscene and absolutely unnecessary" for anyone, including Gore, to compare the "demonic evil" of Adolf Hitler to another key issue that the world is struggling with because it belittles and lessens the evil.

This is not the first time Ms May has applied the ill-advised Nazi analogy to her pet issue of climate change.  Last spring she generated a similar uproar when she compared world leaders who do not accept man-made climate change with Nazi appeaser Neville Chamberlain.

Doesn't she get the message? Nazi comparisons only distract attention from the point she’s trying to make.  She’d be better off dropping them altogether.

h/t: Greenie Watch

Previous related posts:

• Elizabeth May had no money, so she decided to become an Anglican priest
• Greenliness is next to godliness

The Federal Court of Appeals has struck down a proposed fee that would assume every Canadian purchasing an iPod or other digital music player is an outlaw.

A proposed levy on digital storage devices, known as the "iPod tax," has been quashed by the Federal Court of Appeal after opponents argued it assumed illegal behaviour on the part of Canadian consumers.

Following hearings on Jan.9, the court ruled that the Canadian Copyright Board did not have the right to impose new taxes on digital music players and storage devices. The taxes were to be introduced later this year.

The proposed levies included a $2 tax on 1 GB removable electronic memory cards, $5 tax on digital audio players no more than 1 GB and an extra $75 on digital audio players more than 30 GBs.

An extra $75 for an iPod?  Outrageous.  It is appalling that the Copyright Board would allow itself to be co-opted in an attempt by the industry to sponge off the success of a company that still believes in innovative product development.

Kudos to the Retail Council of Canada for leading the fight against this odious fee.

Previous related posts:

• Get a free Bible for your iPod
• Physicists win iPrize

A coroner has ruled the death of Shafilea Ahmed, the Muslim teenager who disappeared after refusing a marriage arranged by her parents, a homicide.  Her decomposed body was found next to a river in February 2004, five months after she went missing from her family home.

A coroner this morning returned a verdict of unlawful killing on a Muslim teenager who vanished from home after refusing an arranged marriage, saying she was the victim of a "very vile" murder.

Ian Smith, East and South Cumbria coroner, said the way Shafilea Ahmed's body had been hidden in a riverbank miles from home convinced him she was murdered, and said she probably died shortly after going missing.
. . .
Miss Ahmed, 17, disappeared four months after being taken to Pakistan by her parents to meet a potential husband. She refused to go ahead with the ceremony and even drank bleach in protest.

Mr Smith said that the possibility of an arranged marriage was “central” to the circumstances surrounding her death. He also criticised Shafilea’s mother Farzana Ahmed for saying that the police investigation had been inadequate.

Mrs Ahmed told the hearing in Kendal that she was not happy with Cheshire Police's handling of the case.

She said: "It is more than four years. What have they been doing? Is it not the police's job to find out what has happened to my child?

The coroner pointed out the police were informed of Shafilea’s disappearance, not by her parents, but by a school teacher—seven days after she went missing.

Mr Smith cast doubt on the veracity of testimony from Mian Khan, a family member who claimed to be Shafilea’s grandfather.

Mian Khan said in evidence on the second day of the inquest that Shafilea's father, Iftikhar, was his son, but his claim was questioned by a police solicitor.

Mr Khan declined to reply when asked if he had told the truth about Iftikhar Ahmed being his son.

He also declined to answer when it was suggested by John Bassett, solicitor acting for Cheshire and Cumbria Police, if he had taken an affirmation rather than an oath on the Koran because "you are not prepared to lie about your relationship with Iftikhar Ahmed after taking the oath on the Koran?"

Coroner Ian Smith said today: "I have to say there is some justification for that accusation."

A police superintendent stated his belief that Mian Khan is in fact Shafilea’s uncle.

Following the coroner’s decision, police vowed to pursue their investigation and apprehend Shafilea’s killer(s).

A timeline of her life and death is posted here.

Previous related posts:

• Muslim teen sought help before she was killed
• Inquest into death of Muslim girl who refused arranged marriage

Theft of vodka was ‘stupid,’ man admits — Whitehorse Star, 10 January

Since the full story is behind a subscriber firewall, here’s a synopsis.

A Whitehorse man was caught trying to steal a bottle of vodka at the local liquor store.  At the time, he was intoxicated and on probation for assault, and one of the conditions of his probation was that he refrain from drinking.

Despite all that, he was only fined $435, largely because the judge took his admission of stupidity as remorse.

Previous related posts:

• Stupid criminal tries to cash cheque from God
• Gun shop stick-up nets $25
• Stupid criminals running amok