| Easter not the right time to bring down government, Liberals say
2) The suspense as to whether Dion and the Liberals will abstain this time is more real than, say, the what (???) other 4 or 5 previous examples. Why? - because it was a Liberal member who created this bill whereas in the past every CPC threat to go to an election if they didn't get their way was based on something the Tories tabled.
I dare say this episode will be more dramatic simply because this is a CPC motion to kill a Liberal bill with the threat of an election if it's not. It's a first.
And will be a delicious test of Parliament for us political hacks. Posted 11/03/08 at 4:30 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .
Tax caps draw a third of Hammond Fire Department to Indy
INDIANAPOLIS | A throng of Hammond firefighters descended on the Statehouse on Monday in the hopes of heading off a financial emergency.The city stands to lose nearly a third of its budget, or about $21 million next year, if lawmakers press ahead with property tax caps sought by Gov. Mitch Daniels. So roughly a third of the Hammond Fire Department, or about 60 firefighters, came out to show legislators what's at stake.Dozens more public safety officials from across Indiana, including a handful of East Chicago firefighters and paramedics, formed a dense crowd outside the House Ways and Means Committee. Inside the hearing room, Hammond Fire Chief Dave Hamm warned legislators that the budget cuts triggered by the tax caps would cost lives."One thing that I can assure you is our response time will worsen, and there will be deaths," Hamm said.
Energy conservation: Meter's running
Plug in your toaster, hair dryer or radio and turn it on, and you can see how much power it draws. There also are more elaborate devices that can measure the power consumption of an entire household, using a current sensor that clamps around the electric cable running into the breaker box. The rate of consumption is then sent wirelessly to a portable display unit. By carrying this unit around the house and switching things on and off, you can see how much power each draws. The Owl, available in the United Kingdom, is one device that works this way. Its portable display can be configured to update every six seconds or once a minute, which helps extend the battery life of the transmitting unit next to the meter. Total household consumption can be displayed in a number of ways: in kilowatts or in cost per hour (provided you enter the cost per kilowatt-hour into the device).
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