It's just that, after a brief flurry of appointing actual Ministers of Sport, the feds are back to their old habit of giving Sport short shrift. It's less than 16 months before the Winter Olympics at Vancouver and Whistler – a Games where Canada is expected to stand first in the medals table, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee -- and a junior secretary is in charge of sport. She's the third person responsible for the portfolio since 2006.

Michael Chong had the title of Minister for Sport in 2006 but quit the Cabinet because he couldn't stomach Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bestowing the handle of 'nation' for the province of Quebec. When Chong quit, the portfolio got lateralled to Peter Van Loan for two months. Van Loan was still a Minister of the Crown, but one is hard pressed to recalled Peter Van Loan's greatest moments in Sport.

Liquid Ledger 2

It also lacks the kind of detailed reporting tools found in similar personal finance programs like Quicken ( ) or Moneydance ( ).

Setting up a new file in Liquid Ledger is a snap. You can create a blank file with a default set of accounts and categories, or you can import a data file that you've downloaded from your bank. Liquid Ledger is capable of importing four data formats: Quicken Interchange Format (QIF), Open Financial Exchange (OFX), and comma- or tab-delimited text. It handled the import of my QIF files with ease. But when I attempted to import text files in comma-seperated (CSV) format, the program didn't import the data at all. Also, when I entered new transactions manually, I found that the program didn't work the way I expected. By default, the program uses a batch entry mode.

Australian dollar set to strike US95c soon

THE Australian dollar hit a fresh 24-year high over US94 cents today on the release of strong economic data and analysts say it could hit US95 cents in offshore trade tonight.

The Australian dollar hit $US0.9451 at 12 noon AEDT after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today new private capital expenditure rose 5.1 per cent in real terms, seasonally adjusted, in the December quarter. The data was stronger than expected.The peak of $US94.51 cents is its highest level against the US currency since March 27, 1984, when it reached $US0.9475. At 4.06pm AEDT, the currency was quoted at US94.10 cents, holding much of its gains. The dollar is up from yesterday's close of $US0.9361/63. The market had forecast a rise in new private capital expenditure of 3.1 per cent and Citigroup director of economics Stephen Halmarick said the strong data would help maintain the Australian dollar at these high levels.

Charter amendments issue looms

It's true that much progress has been made. It is true we are ready for change.It is true that much done by this panel is aimed toward Metro. You can see the results of the last election by the handling of the proposals. In another day, all would have been presented as a package, with NEPOTISM as the firebrand so as to incite the voters to a feeding frenzie and pass all others with out sound reasoning and study of the real motives. If the DEVELOPERS have ALL this panel in their hand, I can't detect it. DEVELOPERS are VERY good, but looks like we have made some progress. Proposals should be pared down to four. BTJ is correct, too much, too soon. Remember, if you lay with dogs you will get fleas.

Taxpayers face a £94,000 bill to cover cost of MSPs' laptops

12 Sorry, you'll have to do better than that.I was talking about implementing an international standard which protects our public data from proprietary lock-in. Nothing to do with MS hating.If you disagree, you'll need to explain why you think it is better for our data to be beholden to a single, massive multinational company rather than open and accessible from any computer. .

Running on Blade Runner

Mystery Pollster vs. Kos: On bogus charges of Lieberman "push polls." 12:50 A.M.

2. Wright discounts the short-term costs --in terms of frustrated aspirations and resentment--of delaying the introduction of democracy while we wait for its inevitable natural triumph in the wake of free markets and free trade.

Initial unemployment claims rise

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Initial claims for unemployment benefits increased to 375,000 for the week ending Jan. 26, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted figure was an increase of 69,000 compared with the week ending Jan 19. The 4-week average of initial claims also increased, hitting an average of 325,750, an increase of 10,250.

The number of actual initial claims under state programs for the week ending Jan. 26 totaled 366,891, a decrease of 48,258 from the previous week, but up from the 359,959 claims filed under state jobless programs in the fourth week of January 2006.

New claims filed by former federal civilian employees for the week ending Jan. 19 dropped to 1,540, which was 710 less than the previous week, the department said.

May 2006

We are democrats and progressives. We propose here a fresh political alignment. Many of us belong to the Left, but the principles that we set out are not exclusive. We reach out, rather, beyond the socialist Left towards egalitarian liberals and others of unambiguous democratic commitment. Indeed, the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between the forces of the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values. It involves making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not.

The present initiative has its roots in and has found a constituency through the Internet, especially the "blogosphere". It is our perception, however, that this constituency is under-represented elsewhere — in much of the media and the other forums of contemporary political life.

Cargill puts off plans for new ethanol plant

In a sign of continued slowdown in the ethanol industry, Cargill subsidiary Emerald Renewable Energy Tuesday announced plans to suspend construction of a new plant in Topeka, Kan.

Early last year the company announced plans to build four 100-million-gallon ethanol plants, one each in Topeka, Kan., Rockport, Mo., and Tuscola, Ill., and a fourth location to be determined. Corn futures at the time were selling near $4 a bushel. Brady said there was no news about the other three plants.

Researchers solve decade-old mystery of hydrogen storage material

Environmentally friendly hydrogen gas fueled vehicles can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lessen the countrys dependence on sources of fossil fuel. Though several hydrogen vehicles exist on the market today, there is still much room for improvement in the way that hydrogen is stored on-board the vehicle. With current technologies, hydrogen gas storage tanks have to be as large as or larger than the trunk of a car to carry enough gas to travel only one to two hundred miles. .