Science Notes
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The Election Prediction web site is making AND TRACKING its predictions for federal and provincial elections.
The current predictions are these:
Changed/Les prévisions ont changés: 2:48 PM 08/10/2008
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Conservatives Conservateurs |
119 | |
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Liberal Party Party libéral |
75 | |
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N.D.P. N.P.D. |
29 | |
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Bloc Québécois | 41 | |
| X | Other Autres |
2 | |
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Too Close to call |
42 | |
| Total | 308 |
Free talks on science and skepticism can be found at the Centre for Inquiry near the University of Toronto.
It’s that time of year again. The anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with their horrific toll of civilian deaths, devastating burns, and lingering radiation sickness, are upon us again.
A burned victim of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima
I’m not there. I’m here. This is a long weekend in Ontario.
Cyclon 2007
One thing that bothers me about getting around by bike is the fragility of the vehicle. Drivers don’t often see us; in fact, the other day I saw a driver turn left into the path of a cyclist who had the right of way, strike him amidships and bounce him off the hood. Luckily, the car was going slowly; but the driver had just seen the cyclist and discounted him because “cyclists don’t move that fast.” The cyclist was unhurt and went on his way after a brief lecture on rules of the road and a sarcastic comment. So that’s one car-bike interaction that won’t get into the city’s statistics. This cyclist was in the right, but about 80% of those I see make dangerous and unpredictable moves. I’m amazed that more don’t get hurt.
Still, the nightmare is to be riding along, minding your own business, when a car ploughs into you or your group. It happened a few weeks ago in the U.S. when a deputy “fell asleep at the wheel” and killed someone. He may have been drunk but we won’t know because no one took a blood sample on the scene and secured it. Any blood sample that turns up later is questionable. And it happened the other day in Mexico when a driver, apparently drunk, “fell asleep at the wheel” and slammed into a bicycle race at speed.
On March 26, part of a cliff in Ålesund, Norway, broke loose and slid, demolishing the lower two floors of an apartment building and pushing part of the building into the street. A 3-ton propane tank caught fire and had to burn itself out before rescue workers could go in. Five people were missing.
Geologists said as much as 7,300 tons of stone — some of it in huge slabs — slid down a steep hillside near downtown Ålesund in the early hours of Wednesday. The rocks slammed into the back of the six-story building, causing the lower floors to collapse as the whole structure was jolted up to 23 feet forward.
It seems that geologists had warned that there was a fault in the rock that could let go, but planners and builders assumed it wouldn’t happen soon—like Canadian Prime Minister Harper assuring everyone that we didn’t need a backup power supply for one of our nuclear cooling systems because he guaranteed there wouldn’t be an earthquake in the next three months.
Links:
I stopped updating the STC Toronto Web site in 2004, after my two-year term as Webmaster. Until then, we have meeting descriptions and speaker profiles. That is useful for prospective members.
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Programme Manager, Todd Race
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Programme Manager, Todd Race
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Kara Kuryllowicz shares what she’s learned from assorted clients and editors over more than two decades as a corporate and magazine writer.
Good writing starts before the writer gets anywhere near a keyboard. It all begins with the right attitude. Then you do the appropriate research and ask the right questions. She’ll give you tips on writing the first few lines – the hardest part for many of us.
Kara takes you through a process that produces marketing copy that will help sell your firm’s products and services. She’ll also share:
Kara has kindly provided a copy of her slides on Writing to Sell (opens a PowerPoint file).
Kara is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnic University’s School of Journalism. She worked full-time for Maclean Hunter, Southam Communications and Imperial Life of Canada before striking out on her own.
She’s a member of the Editors Association of Canada, the Periodical Writers Association of Canada, Digital Eve and of course, IABC.
She’s also the author of tourist guides on Ottawa and Chicago and a coffee-table book on the Canadian Rockies.
September meeting: Wayne MacPhail on poor website design, review by Phil Kahn
