1. THUGS IN GLASS HOUSES THROWING STONES: Stockwell Day has called G20 protesters a group of thugs and anarchists and is blaming impending protests for a U.S.-issued travel advisory.
While we’re speaking of thugs, protests and threats of violence, how about a quick trip down memory lane?
In case you can’t be bothered to watch, the video is from the Montebello, Quebec protests in 2007 where three rock-wielding “anarchists” are outed as police officers attempting to incite violence. And if you think it sounds a little far-fetched, the Quebec police later admitted those were their guys. (CTV, CBC)
2. JUST BETWEEN US EVIL CORPORATE OVERLORDS…. Long before the Deepwater Horizon accidentally unleashed The Clusterfuck What Came From The Earth’s Core, the architects of another of the worst global tragedies in recent memory, Halliburton (that tragedy being the Iraq War), warned BP to exercise more caution with a well casing they were installing (the one that eventually ruptured, unleashing said Clusterfuck) and said that if they didn’t, BP would face “a severe gas flow problem.” BP’s response? One of their engineers wrote, “who cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine.” Ooops. So, exactly how callously irresponsible do you have to be acting in the pursuit of profit that you’re getting stern lectures about safety from most-sinister-corporation-on-the-planet Halliburton? Apparently, pretty irresponsibly. (WBZTV)
3. TOUGH ON CRIME IS COSTLY: Harper’s Truth In Sentencing act will likely cost federal and provincial governments an additional $8 billion by 2016, says parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page. (Globe and Mail)
4. GET MAGIC MAN TO CLEAN IT UP: Louisiana lawmakers have proposed prayer as one solution to the BP spill. (CNN)
5. THERE’S NOTHING LIKE IT, NOT AT THIS PRICE: For $1.15 million U.S., you can own the actual Amytiville Horror house. Personally, as much as this sounds fun, I’d rather have the creationism museum. (The Rogues Gallery)
6. PORK VS UNICORN MEAT: Proving once again that high-priced tradmark attorneys have no sense of humor and will launch lawsuits no matter how ridiculous, lawyers for the U.S.’s National Pork Board sent a very angry, 12-page cease-and-desist letter to the ThinkGeek website over their April Fools advert for Unicorn Meat. At issue, ThinkGeek’s use of the phrase “The New White Meat,” which the Pork Board found too similar to their trademarked “The Other White Meat” slogan. (Boing Boing)
