Red Herring reports that a Seattle-based biotech firm has just had their AIDS vaccine pass safety testing.

Money quote:

“But there is hope. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is tracking the progress of 32 clinical trials on its website, www.iavi.org. Dr. Seth Berkley, who heads the global nonprofit, said at a recent news conference. “An AIDS vaccine is the only tool that can end the pandemic and all evidence suggests that a vaccine is possible.”

The candidates furthest down the path to approval are a combination live recombinant vaccine prime from Aventis Pasteur with a boost of VaxGen’s AIDSVAX vaccine and an adenovirus vaccine from Merck. Dr. Berkley expects the results of Merck’s vaccine trial in 2008.

Meanwhile, China is fast advancing its AIDS vaccine. On August 22, the Chinese government announced its first human trial showed efficacy in protecting the 49 trial participants against the HIV-1 virus and did not produce any serious side effects.”

Included in that money quote is a great website that allows people who are interested to really see the progress that is being made in the fight against AIDS. This is really great news, imo.

…..1337hax0r…..

Money quote:

“Benedict quoted the saint as advising pontiffs to “watch out for the dangers of an excessive activity, whatever … the job that you hold, because many jobs often lead to the ‘hardening of the heart,’ as well as ’suffering of the spirit, loss of intelligence.’”"

I agree completely, people need to chill and relax more these days.

…..1337hax0r…..

(note: I know this is an old article, but it was saved and I still think it’s cute. )

I was reading over this press release by the NDP today, and I am lost as to what the heck Layton is even trying to accomplish with it. Especially this quote:

“That’s why I’m announcing that as a first step, New Democrats are calling for the withdrawal of Canadian troops from the combat mission in southern Afghanistan. Withdrawal should begin as soon as possible - working with our international partners to ensure a safe and smooth transition - but with a view to having it complete by February 2007.

Canada can then focus on building a made-in-Canada foreign policy that moves us toward reclaiming Canada’s place in the world. One that is clear, comprehensive, and balanced.”

To me this seems like the absolute worst thing to do, just as the Conservative’s plan to pull out of Kyoto and build a “made-in-Canada” environmental policy is a bad idea. The argument behind this is that the current strategy is not working so we should stop everything and rethink it and then implement a new strategy entirely, but when it comes to war (or most real world problems) this is just plain absurd. As it would be absurd if a dyke was leaking and your initial strategy was to put your finger in the holes you see to keep the water from flooding everywhere, and then you realized that strategy doesn’t work, so instead of coming up with a new strategy and transitioning to it after you have come up with it (ie. trying to get filling plaster to fill the holes so they don’t leak anymore and you can stop more holes while still holding the ones you have blocked up) you take your fingers out of the holes, let the place flood while you try to think up a new “made-in-canada” strategy to deal with the problem.

We are in Afghanistan, and pulling out without any plan other than to pull out is going to cause a lot more trouble there than it is going to help. However, trying to resolve the situation so we are not dealing with a civil war/counter-insurgency problem and remaining there until the new solution is implemented is the best way to deal with the problem. There is a very huge list of problems with the Afghanistan situation, however I do not believe that packing up and leaving is really going to make matters much better. Especially if you leave without some form of reasonable exit plan, all you are going to create is a power-vacuum.

We can debate the ins and outs of whether or not being in Afghanistan is good for Canada until we are blue in the face. The problem is that we are there, and now we need to do our best to resolve the situation without causing more problems. Leaving so suddenly does not seem like the best way to do it, and that press release definitely did not convince me otherwise.

If Layton can present me with a reasonable exit plan that will provide a way for Afghanis to deal with the current crisis in their country on their own and allow Canadians to leave without causing more problems, then I will agree with it. But just telling me that the troops should be back in Canada by some arbitrary deadline is not going to help. I understand the desire to bring them home, but at the same time it needs to be done in a rational and safe manner.

…..1337hax0r…..

Some further input on Steve’s softwood.

Money quote:

“… Michael Hart, the Simon Reisman Professor of Trade Policy at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Relations, suggested that Feldman was being naive in suggesting that politics should not play a role in how the funding will be handed out.

…“If it means that the low-cost housing is going to be in Republican Congressional districts, that’s politics. It’s still low-cost housing.”"

…..1337hax0r…..

You know the story:

• A party (P) subverts the riding party election process by promising a candidate (let’s say A), a sum of money (k) to keep him from running, so they can give a star candidate (C) (or someone they owe something to, or a long list of reasons) the riding by acclamation.
• Candidate A reveals publicly he was paid off to keep from running for that riding.
• P acknowledges their efforts to subvert party democracy but refused to pay A the money on the basis that A was not supposed to tell anyone about it.
• A files a lawsuit for his money, and P tries to expel A from the party.

Now in this case, let A = Alan Ridell, C=Alan Cutler, k = $150,000, and P=the Conservatives. And what do you get?

Business as usual in Ottawa for the Conservatives.

…..1337hax0r…..

Sadly, this same story could be done with the Liberal party as well historically. (with some minor modifications.)

The poor guy can never seem to get his story straight. Apparently now he is going to run regardless of who is elected.

Why does the idea of a poltically inept, ultra-elite educated politician who barely lived in Canada most of his adult life and has almost zero real poltical experience seem like the best thing that could possibly happen for Steve.

I guess if the Liberals want Steve to win a majority they should definitely support this guy. Then we can enjoy the fun of the 2004 elections in Canada all over again, especially the enjoyment of having a Conservative majority for the next 4 years.

Or maybe the Libs will elect a leader that actually inspires confidence in the electorate? Rather than an academic who just comes across as a bumbling elitist fool.
…..1337hax0r…..

edit: You know it’s pretty sad when Brison is the voice of reason in the Liberal party.

“However, Brison said that in nine years in politics he hasn’t made as many “retractions and clarifications” as Ignatieff has made in just nine months.

Brison compared Ignatieff to Stockwell Day, who jumped from provincial politics to become leader of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance without any experience at the federal level.

Day’s tenure at the helm of the Alliance, which eventually merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative party, was short-lived and disastrous.

Brison said Ignatieff is “smarter than Stockwell,” now Harper’s minister of public safety. But he added Ignatieff faces an even steeper learning curve, having spent almost 30 years out of the country as an academic and journalist.”

Perhaps it is time that we all start to Boycott Planes and take trains and stuff when Airport staff say stuff like:

One official told him, “Going to an airport with a T-shirt in Arabic script is like going to a bank and wearing a T-shirt that says, ‘I’m a robber,”’ he said.

Yes, because everyone who writes and reads Arabic is a terrorist, right? It is pretty sad when racism has degenerated to this point where having Arabic on your shirt makes you a terrorist.

It is too bad the official did not think straight, when he should have realized that a real bank robber would not walk into a bank with a shirt saying “I am a robber”, just as a real terrorist would never even consider looking the slightest bit Arabic if they actually were planning on getting away with it. It is just plain simple logic, not this stupid bullsh*t prejudice.

…..1337hax0r…..

Iggy basically is saying that if he does not run the show (Ie. is the head of the Liberal party), he’s going to refuse to run again.

“Toronto MP Michael Ignatieff won’t commit to running in the next election if he loses his bid to become leader of the federal Liberal party.

“Depends who’s leader,” Ignatieff said yesterday when asked at a meeting with the Toronto Star editorial board if he would run for the party in the next election if he loses the leadership vote in early December.However, Ignatieff, 59, considered by many to be the frontrunner in the race, denied having indicated that there are some leadership hopefuls for whom he would not run.”No. It really is that I have to look what I am looking at,” he said.However, he said, nobody should “doubt my devotion” to the party, adding he’s been a committed Liberal since he was 17.”

So, basically if the party does not like you, you are going to more or less ditch it. Well, at least he isn’t pulling a Lieberman and running as some sort of independent because he does not like the results. That sure does not seem like much devotion to your party at all, in fact it seems as if the only reason you ran in the last election was because you may be able to take over the party. Otherwise, you would have just tossed it.
Why does that seem like a really shady motive to me? Would it not be in the party’s best interest to continue to use your momentum from the leadership debate and show some real unity among the Liberals, rather than blantant opportunism?
I guess not.

…..1337hax0r…..

From Pharyngula.

…..1337hax0r……

Just read over this.

For those who don’t have enough time, here’s the money quote:

“So, here we have the government of Canada requiring that Canadian private parties sign over $450 million to an escrow fund slated to be conveyed to the White House. The agreement does not mention Congress, and the Bush administration says that Congress will not be involved in any way with this agreement. The government of Canada thus is making a gift of $450 million to be spent by the president. That was more than a belt buckle, even more than a stetson, on July 6th. There is only one date certain in the deal: that the planned expenditure of the $450 million must be determined by September 1.

Political blowback?

Curious, that date, which traditionally is the kick-off for campaigns in the United States in election years. Yes, it’s an election year, and the Republican control of Congress is considered in trouble. The entire Republican campaign war chest is less than $300 million. Canada will add to it by 150 per cent in funds to be expended for “meritorious initiatives.” It does not require much imagination to foresee the strategic places where this money will be spent.”

…..1337hax0r…..