An ongoing list of interesting internet stuff
This is going to become a list of cool, interesting stuff which I discover on the internet daily (although, I will be much slower until I get a steady flow of traffic to the site). For some time, I have shared these kinds of things with people at websites such as Reddit and Newsvine... however, I would prefer to give them to folks on my own website. I hope you find them as delicious as I have. Please note that the article links are in the black text below and to the left of each block. The large brown title text will lead you to a page where you can comment on the article, if you feel led to do that.
This was an amazing thing to see tonight. The focus of canadian politicians is very precise, and very earnest.
This is a wmv film which runs 2 hours
Stéphane Dion is jockeying for the position of prime minister in Canada. He is the leader of the Liberal party. I really have become fond of him, after watching and listening to several interviews with him. He's a francophone, and he doesn't speak english very clearly... but I find that actually quite cute. He's very eloquent in French, he's very smart and has a very nurturing kind of personality. His looks remind me of a childhood comic book hero of mine - Tintin.
These are wmv videos which you can download:
Here's an interview of him at a campaign rally at a soup kitchen
Here he speaks to senior citizens in Toronto
He answers questions from the media in Toronto
Speaks to medical students at Algonquin college
An in-depth interview with him
Check it out. I wish politicians in the usa spoke and acted like this.
The difference between political discourse in Canada and in the usa is like looking at day versus night. Canada is also undergoing an election season, and will be voting in a new government on October 14th. This is the first debate of the party leaders (it is in French with english translation).
For those USAers who are not familiar with Canadian politics, Canada has five political parties. The people around this table tonight are:
Stephen Harper - who is the current leader of the Conservative party, and the current Prime Minister of Canada
Stéphane Dion who is the leader of the Liberal party
Jack Layton - the leader of the New Democratic Party
Elizabeth May - leader of the Green Party
Gilles Duceppe - leader of the Bloc Québécois
Watch the film footage at CTV. This is in segments, and in order to get to each segment in sequence, you might have to touch the "up next" hypertext underneath the video.
Or watch the entirety of the film footage from the CBC by downloading the entire 2 hour video (large wmv)
The level of public discourse in Canada is quite a bit higher than it is in the usa, when it comes to political issues, and many other topics. Canada is also in an election season, and this is how those hopeful for the office of prime minister are campaigning:
The Massachusetts institute of technology has been doing research into hydrogen production and storage. Biology is a good tutor - hydrogen is used in cell biology as a power source, and a vehicle for energy. So these scientists studied the process of photosynthesis to come up with this new technology.
They have discovered that they can use cobalt and phosphate which are non-toxic, abundant and cheap materials, to do this stuff. It will work with normal water and at room temperature.
They hope that commercial companies will take this technology and run with it.
There is a low tech way to store electricity that has been around for ages - the mechanical flywheel.
The Green party has gotten far further in Canada than it has in the usa. She is an inspiration to hear. She's has thoroughly thought the issues through... and presents herself as very logical rather than a romantic idealist.
For all of you out there who wished that Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel could have won the democratic nomination... you might be interested in watching the Canadian election which is also taking place this autumn. Here is an interview with Stéphane Dion who is the leader of Canada's liberal party, and is in a position to ascend to the office of Prime Minister up there if his party wins enough seats in the legislature this autumn. Oddly enough Canadians seem to not understand the gem of a person who they have in Dion. The polls currently seem to favor the conservative party, led by a gentleman by the name of Stephen Harper, who is a classic mild mannered conservative who you might otherwise meet in the hardware store down the street.
