In a very real way, Kenneth Mark was exactly the kind of young man police and other players in the Canadian justice system dream of and all too rarely encounter.

Mr. Mark did the right thing, broke the code of silence which governs so much of urban life and came forward, first to Toronto police and then to the courts – twice — to testify about gun violence.

And, prosecutors now allege at the trial of his alleged killer, he paid for that principled stand with his life.

Google to Censor Blogger Blogs on a ‘Per Country Basis’ | Threat Level | Wired.com.

Google has quietly announced changes to its Blogger free-blogging platform that will enable the blocking of content only in countries where censorship is required.

Twitter announced technology last week addressing the same topic. It said it had acquired the ability to censor tweets in the countries only where it was ordered removed, instead of on an internet-wide basis.

Ian Thomson gun trial: Why hang the homeowner for the ‘crime’ of protecting himself? | Full Comment | National Post.

Just when was Ian Thomson guilty of unsafe storage of a firearm? Mr. Thomson is the Port Colborne, Ont., man currently standing trial in a Welland, Ont. courtroom after he and his home were attacked by firebombers in August, 2010. (That’s correct, in the topsy-turvy world of Canadian criminal justice, Mr. Thomson and his home were the ones attacked and yet he is the one on trial.)

Having dropped other more serious charges — such as dangerous use of a firearm — because they concluded there was no reasonable chance of winning a conviction, Crown prosecutors have nonetheless bullied ahead with unsafe storage charges against Mr. Thomson.

Enbridge mulls re-reversal of Canada oil pipeline.

Enbridge Inc is looking at moving oil sands crude to the U.S. Northeast and Eastern Canada by reversing the flow of one of its pipelines or building a new one, its chief executive said on Monday.

Enbridge, whose pipelines carry the lion’s share of Canada’s crude exports to the United States, may construct a new line to Philadelphia from southern Ontario or re-reverse the flow of Line 9 to Montreal from Sarnia, Ontario, Enbridge CEO Pat Daniel said.

California will run out of cash by early March if the state does not take swift action to find $3.3 billion through payment delays and borrowing, according to a letter state Controller John Chiang sent to state lawmakers today.

The announcement is surprising since lawmakers previously believed the state had enough cash to last through the fiscal year that ends in June.
But Chiang said additional cash management solutions are needed because state tax revenues are $2.6 billion less than what Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers assumed in their optimistic budget last year. Meanwhile, Chiang said, the state is spending $2.6 billion more than state leaders planned on.

Some of President Barack Obama’s top donors and fundraising bundlers are partners in Amonix Inc., the latest Solyndra-like corporate crash. The company has announced a layoff of 200 workers — two-thirds of its workforce — despite a federal green-technology tax credit of $5.9 million in 2010.

The investors include John Doerr’s venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Daniel Weiss’ Angeleno Group LLC and Steve Westly’s eponymous Westly Group, according to Amonix’s website.
These three investors have also invested heavily in Obama and other Democrats — and the president’s aides are now trying to minimize the political damage.

Spain Halts Renewable Subsidies to Curb $31 Billion of Debts – Bloomberg.

Spain halted subsidies for renewable energy projects to help curb its budget deficit and rein in power-system borrowings backed by the state that reached 24 billion euros ($31 billion) at the end of 2011.
“What is today an energy problem could become a financial problem,” Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria said in Madrid. The government passed a decree today stopping subsidies for new wind, solar, co-generation or waste incineration plants.

Via SDA

California breaks rank again, demands over 15% of cars sold be non-polluting by 2025.

Less than a year after everyone with any sort of say in the matter seemed to agree that 54.5 miles per gallon by the year 2025 was a properly attainable goal, the California Air Resources Board has decided to change things up a bit.

In addition to CAFE requirements of a 54.5-mpg fleet average (using the government’s formula, not what you see on window stickers), at least 15.4 percent of all cars sold by any major automaker doing business in California will have to be either fully electric, a plug-in hybrid or be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell by 2025. There are questions about the “over-compliance” section of the bill, which we’ll be investigating further.

Since when are coal powered cars non-polluting anyway?

Forget global warming – it’s Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again) | Mail Online.

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.

The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.

Buffett’s Burlington Northern Among Winners From Keystone Denial – Bloomberg.

Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.

With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department.

A pickup truck collided with a moving train at a crossing outside of Oxbow Sunday evening, derailing 22 cars.

Twenty-two railcars ended up in a field on Sunday night, after a 20-year-old man from Manor slammed his red pickup truck into a moving train near Oxbow.

Light crude oil leaked from six of the cars, with Canadian Pacific (CP) officials and environmental crews on scene throughout Monday to assess the damage and start the cleanup.

The accident happened at an uncontrolled rural train crossing near Highway 18, about 265 kilometres southeast of Regina, at 11 p.m.