All I can say is it's about time, in some ways I still think it's not enough.

I would like to see sex offenders and those who commit violent crimes put away for a long time, with no chances to come back out into society so they can hurt more people, and their friends and family's.

That have to deal with the aftermath, that these criminals create in their wake.


Ottawa to introduce dangerous offender bill


The federal government is expected to introduce on Tuesday a bill that would make it easier to have criminals designated as dangerous offenders.

The proposed legislation would call for tougher sentences and stricter conditions on repeat offenders — those convicted of a third sexual or violent offence.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the proposed legislation last week in Toronto, saying: "We will work to ensure that those who are truly dangerous will be put in jail for an indefinite period of time."

The onus would be put on offenders instead of the Crown to prove they should not be declared dangerous offenders. Failing to do so means they would be designated as dangerous and be given an indeterminate jail sentence, with no eligibility for parole for seven years.

Currently, the Crown must show at a hearing why an individual should be declared a dangerous offender.

Under the proposed legislation, the person would not be given the benefit of the doubt and would have to prove why the designation should not apply.

It would also increase the maximum duration of peace bonds from 12 to 24 months, allowing additional restrictions and conditions to be placed on released criminals.



At the news conference announcing the proposed legislation, Harper said: "By putting criminals on a tighter leash after release, we hope to better facilitate their reintegration into the community."

Merged Worlds

I found this interesting, it seems our worlds are merging more everyday, from our cyberspace persona to our real world ones, it gives a somewhat newer meaning of Freuds and Jung's ideas of Innerlife.

By Eric Auchard and Kenneth Li

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reuters Group Plc is opening a news bureau in the simulation game Second Life this week, joining a race by corporate name brands to take part in the hottest virtual world on the Internet.

Starting on Wednesday, Reuters plans to begin publishing text, photo and video news from the outside world for Second Life members and news of Second Life for real world readers who visit a Reuters news site at: http://secondlife.reuters.com/

Created by Linden Lab in San Francisco, Second Life is the closest thing to a parallel universe existing on the Internet. Akin to the original city-building game SimCity, Second Life is a virtual, three-dimensional world where users create and dress up characters, buy property and interact with other players.

http://secondlife.com/

Lorraine ( Music)

Lorraine Biography

Lorraine are Ole Gundersen (24, vocals), Anders Winsents (24, guitar) and Paal Myran-Haaland (23, keyboards, programming). Their drummer is a little black box which does exactly what it's told. Between them the members' personal influences range from New Order, Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode to Kasabian, The Smiths and The Stone Roses, so it's no surprise that Lorraine's own music sounds like it should come with 'Your new favourite band' stamped across every CD.

Melodically breathtaking with a lyrical touch that recalls the flamboyant nervousness of Neil Tennant at his most miserably optimistic, Lorraine's songs are finished off with a unique modern twist. After a brief period knocking about with friends in a Prodigy-influenced electro metal outfit, Anders and Ole set their sights elsewhere and, on their way back from a jam session in a local pizza parlour, chanced upon Paal.

He was at a bus stop, drunk and shouting. It was not long before he became Lorraine's third member, his (oddly immaculate) bedroom doubling as the band’s first recording studio.In the summer of 2000 the band, now in their late teens, decided not to go back to school. Paal's bedroom was traded for a work space, 45 minutes outside Bergen, in a decaying factory building. The units surrounding Lorraine's studio were filled with either crackheads or car mechanics. The heating didn’t work.

It's cold anyway in Norway, but in this ice-pocket it was often so cold that floppy discs would freeze in the band's sampler. Then, one day, everything clicked. "Our songs mix reality and unreality," Paal explains. Many of Lorraine's songs are based on dreams; Ole believes that only in dreams are we completely honest and unfettered by often unfairly imposed moral and social codes. "It's about articulating the thoughts in your head," Ole adds. "Thoughts which wouldn’t come out in conversation. Hopes, dreams, a dark positivity. I don't know if our songs are happy or sad – we can be quite melancholic. ." He thinks for a little while. "There is happiness, but it might only be temporary.""We've had some kind of trip into another world making this album," Paal smiles. "We're all about big atmosphere, big sounds, big songs. We always wanted everything to be very big." It's hard to believe these particular dreams won't become a reality in 2006. It is, after all, about defining your own destiny.

George V (6 May 1910 - 20 January 1936) Coinage and History

This is a Crown for George V it's from his Jubilee year of 1935 and the device of St George was done in an art deco style that was popular at the time. I have also posted above a picture of a George V Farthing from 1932.

HOUSE OF WINDSOR



George V (6 May 1910 - 20 January 1936) - born 3rd June 1865 - one marriage with five offspring

Second son of Edward VII, George Duke of York was a fine naval officer and pushed his career until the death of his elder brother Albert made him heir to the throne. He married Mary of Teck in 1893 who bore him four sons and one daughter. George saw Britain through the crises of World War I and even visited the front, one occasion at which he broke his pelvis after falling from his horse, the injury would pain him for the rest of his life.

George suffered badly from Bronchitis in the early thirties and spent a lot of time in Bognor on the south coast of Britain to take in the good air, and henceforth the town has been known as Bognor Regis. The King was still in ill health by the time of his Silver Jubilee in 1935, and it was bronchitis that eventually killed him in January 1936 aged 70.

Zero Day

Here is an article about even more security flaws in XP. I really don't understand how Microsoft can come out with operating systems that are so prone to problems like this.

Microsoft releases 6 patches for flaws

October 12, 2006 - 12:16PM

Microsoft has released six patches to fix software flaws that carry its highest threat rating, including three for defects that attackers were already trying to exploit.
The company said all six of the critical flaws could allow an attacker to obtain some access to other people's computers.

The software maker also released four other patches to fix vulnerabilities that the company deemed less severe.
Customers can download all the patches for free on Microsoft's security website and also can sign up to have them automatically delivered to their computers. The automatic update system went down for several hours on Tuesday, but the problem was later resolved.
Microsoft said last month that it knew attackers were already trying to take advantage of defects in its Windows operating system, Microsoft Word software and PowerPoint presentation program.

Christopher Budd, a program manager with the Microsoft Security Resource Centre, said that the company had seen limited attacks exploiting the flaws, but were nevertheless recommending that users apply those and other patches immediately.
Such vulnerabilities are rare. In most cases, security experts quietly provide Microsoft evidence of a security flaw, allowing the company to fix the problem in secret and release a patch before attackers can take advantage of it.
But recently, the company has been hit with a number of so-called "zero-day" attacks, in which flaws are targeted before Microsoft is aware of them or can release patches.
Such attacks have prompted some security researchers to release their own interim fixes. Microsoft also has occasionally taken the unusual step of releasing patches outside of its normal monthly fix schedule, so users can be safeguarded more quickly.

Budd said Microsoft isn't seeing any specific pattern to the burst of zero-day attacks. But he said the company is seeing more focus on attackers trying to infiltrate computers through applications - such as Word or PowerPoint - rather than the Windows operating system.
Microsoft software is a constant target of internet attackers, in part because the company's products are so widely used.
Microsoft has yet to release a patch for one other publicly known flaw - one affecting the Internet Explorer browser that is part of its Windows operating system. Budd said the company was seeing very few attacks as a result of the flaw.

AP