Stephen said he'd pull out, Tony stayed in , Kyoto2 had a baby : that's hardly a sin

No good day, not a good day at all, for the beleaguered climate denier, Stephen Harper ....

Rob leForte and DSU runs bold with Town Hall on "Who is SHAPING your Digital Future?"

When Chebucto Community Net came to Rob LeForte, External VP at the Dalhousie Student Union in Halifax, and suggested the DSU consider sponsoring an alternative Town Hall on citizen concerns over just where in the h-ll the internet mavens were taking our private data and personal freedoms, he could have easily begged off.

But to his credit, he took it up right away as something the DSU owed not just to its students and university students across Canada, but as part of Dal's obligation to serve the greater Atlantic Canadian population.

(These alternative Town Halls had been making their way across Canada and the East Coast was overdue for one.)

Atlantic Canadians need so badly to be part of the national and global conversation on the direction of where the internet is going.

"Who is SHAPING your Digital Future?"

October 26 - 7:00-9:30pm.

Its a Monday evening and there is only 600 seats - max - at McInnes Room, Dal SUB - so plan to get there early.

Thanks ,Rob & DSU Executive for having the vision....!

A rare PhD sees Internet copyright from two unusual angles at "Who is SHAPING your Digital Future?"

Darren Abramson is an unusual sort of philosopher , even for the twenty first century.

And I've met a few.

Michael Marshall is my partner, as many of you may know.

His father, Rowland (Rollie) Marshall, is a retired philosophy professor at SMU (St Mary's University) here in Halifax.

Rowland always insisted that philosophers have to climb down from their ivory seminar rooms and 'go public'.

On his retirement, he donated sufficient money to convince SMU to set up an annual public lecture where prominent philosophers are brought in to deliver a public-oriented lecture on a matter of pressing public concern.

So I am sure that Rowland is proud that a philosopher was invited to add his two cents to one of the most pressing issues of our day : where in the heck are the big boys of the internet heading with our personal information and personal freedoms ?

("Who is SHAPING your Digital Future?" Oct 26 Mcinnes Room, Dal SUB, 7-9:30 pm, free - only 600 seats so plan to get there early.)

Doctor Abramson, who teaches at Dalhousie university, has an unusual educational background for a philosopher .

He has a joint Ph.D. in the philosophy of mind & cognitive science ( and he's not just winging it in the tech department, either : he also has a M.Sc. in Computer Science.)

He has his own views on how copyright is working out out there on the digital pipeline - and how it should be working.

It won't be the usual spin, that is for sure.

Be there !