Tuesday, September 09, 2014

For A Tuesday

An enormous discovery has been made:

The key to unlocking the mystery of the missing Franklin Expedition came just days ago when a coast guard helicopter pilot spotted a dark U-shaped object in the Arctic snow the size of a man's forearm.

The time-ravaged, orange-brown hunk of metal, vaguely in the shape of a tuning fork, bore the markings of the Royal Navy. It was a davit — part of a lifting mechanism, likely for a lifeboat, for one of the two lost Franklin ships.

On Tuesday, the davit sat on display in Parks Canada's Ottawa laboratory, the only tangible link to one of the most enduring mysteries in both Arctic and Canadian history.

"That's the clue that tells you: look here. That's the flag," said John Geiger, president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Geiger was with the search team that finally confirmed the discovery of one of two lost ships from Sir John Franklin's doomed Arctic expedition.

The remarkable find completes one half of a puzzle that long ago captured the Victorian imagination and gave rise to many searches throughout the 19th century for Franklin and his crew.


I think any ad the Tories put out will be a positive one (if someone is upset that a former substitute drama teacher's feelings are hurt, they should address their concerns to someone who cares). Has anyone ever heard Justin Trudeau speak? He's an idiot and a vote troll. Even when the Fils is coherent, he blames Stephen Harper for everything. That might appeal to Liberal voters who clearly have no conscience or knowledge of the everyday workings of a country but to the regular taxpayer, that's a problem.

It's time for the average voter to step up his or her game. When a prospective voter claims Trudeau can balance the budget, point out how Trudeau claimed that budgets balance themselves. When it is claimed that Trudeau unites, ask then why he believes Quebec is better than the rest of Canada or why he trolls for votes in mosques with known links to terrorism.

Otherwise, Liberals will inflict this man on the rest of a country that stands on the global forefront and what a mess that will be!


There is a legal system in Canada, not a justice system:




Yep:

By now, parents in British Columbia are well-versed in what’s on the negotiating table in that province’s ongoing teachers’ strike. 

They know that the union and the employers association are far apart on salaries, benefits, signing bonuses, class size and composition. 

One thing that’s not on the table is incentive pay for teachers.

According to a new Fraser Institute report, maybe it should be. 

In their report, released on Monday, the free-market think tank argues that tying teacher pay to student success would improve overall academic outcomes. 

The comprehensive report looks at 10 global cases where teachers’ pay is based primarily or solely based on improved student achievement.

One example offered by the authors is a pilot project in Little Rock Arkansas school district. In 2004/2005 and 2006/2007, teachers were given monthly bonuses based on a child’s level of improvement in given set of subject areas.  If a student improved by 4 per cent, for example, the teacher would received a bonus of US$50 for that one child. If a student improved by 15 per cent, the teacher would get a bonus of US$400. 

According to the report, student performance improved significantly in all three subjects assessed. 

"In Canada, close to three-fourths of private sector employees currently receive performance-based or variable pay, and 43% of those who do not receive this kind of compensation report they would be more productive if their pay were linked to performance goals. Yet there is a common misconception that incentive pay is simply unworkable in the teaching profession, in spite of its prevalence in the private school sector," notes Vicki Alger, the report’s author. 

"The evidence suggests that incentive pay programs, when properly designed and implemented, improve student performance even among the most disadvantaged student populations, and are more cost-effective than across-the-board pay raises and class-size reductions."

Canada’s teachers are paid strictly on their level of education and their seniority.


News on Malaysia Airlines flight 17:

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke apart over Ukraine due to impact from a large number of fragments, the Dutch Safety Board said on Tuesday, in a report that Malaysia's prime minister and several experts said suggested it was shot down from the ground.

The crash over pro-Russian rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17 killed 298 people, two thirds of them from the Netherlands.


And now, know your groceries about Beatnik slang.


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