I'd like one of these, please

FT: Apple Tablet Coming for Christmas:

Rumors that Apple is planning to release some kind of tablet-type device in the near future have been gaining steam over the past few weeks, and now The Financial Times is on board with reports that it will hit store shelves in time for the holiday buying season. Apparently the device will launch along with new content deals from the entertainment industry, and will also include some type of Internet connectivity -- most likely Wi-Fi.

The entertainment industry seems to be excited about Apple's tablet. "It's a portable entertainment device," an unnamed entertainment executive commented. "It's going to be fabulous for watching movies."

The tablet may also offer interactive booklets and liner notes to go along with electronic album purchases, which is likely a move to help boost CD-length album sales.

Scare tactics unjustified

There's quite an upset back in Canada on the recent advertisements of Shona Holmes, who has made a commercial for an American lobby group in which she claims that she had a brain tumour that threatened her life, that her treatment was delayed in Ontario, and that she had to pay for her own treatment by going to the Mayo clinic in the States. There is plenty of reason to wonder whether her story has not been so exaggerated that the story is essentially false (see Canadian blogger Creative Revolution on the groups who are funding Ms. Holmes other anti-medicare legal cases.

What I want to say now is that every system has cracks, and Ms. Holmes may have fallen through one. But having lived in Canada most of my life and now being in the States, I think I should assure my American neighbours that in my life I've never heard of anything like what Ms. Holmes reports. Yes, people have to wait sometimes for non-life threatening treatment. Sometimes they are suffering to various degrees during the wait. But life-threatening conditions gets quick attention. And most importantly -- everyone in Canada has access. No one goes untreated because they're uninsured.

Man wins rights case against B.C. neo-Nazi.

I just noticed this story from last month.

Man wins rights case against B.C. neo-Nazi:

Richard Warman has settled his federal human rights complaint about Internet hate posted by a Coquitlam man.

As part of a mediated settlement, Ciaran Paul Donnelly of Coquitlam agreed to permanently close his account on Stormfront, a U.S. website through which the hate messages were distributed, and ask to have his earlier postings deleted. He has also agreed to pay $1,000 in damages for making veiled threats against Warman and posting a picture of a sign reading: "The Church of Dead Warman."

Terms of the settlement, which prohibit Donnelly from posting further hate propaganda on the Internet or engaging in additional retaliation against Warman, will be registered with the Federal Court of Canada.

Small world

One of the interesting aspects of being a new blogger is finding friends and acquaintances in the blogging community.

For example, the blog Winters in Israel is written by a fellow from Jersey I happened to meet last year. He describes his experiences being a snowbird (as we Canadians call them) in Israel. In this interesting post, David Stolow describes a plumbing accident and the buckets and mops and other clean-up stuff needed to clean up a plumbing mishap. Elsewhere he gives his views on the Israeli election.