US-Arm???

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) is sold its space missions and satellite business, including the division that built the Canadarm on the space shuttle, to U.S. defence contractor Alliant Techsystems (ATK) for $1.325 billion in cash

so the question is... will the Canadarm become the US-Arm? can they change the name?



The other question is... will the tax payers get back all their money that went into the Canada Arm, Radarsat 1 and Radarsat 2?

RADARSAT-2 is/was our new satellite (Launched only on Dec 14, 2007). It can survey the arctic, report on ice conditions, spot unauthorized shipping and detect oil spills. It was built largely with government money ( $450M of the $525M price tag) and was to be wholly owned by MDA in a typical public-private partnership. It will now be wholly owned by the US parent company.

As the CSA website says "RADARSAT-2 demonstrates the Canadian space community's leadership in developing remote sensing technology and applications. With state-of-the-art technology, it is one of the world's most advanced commercially available Earth observation radar image providers and offers users around the world an expanded range of high-quality data products for hundreds of applications."

guess not only were the images commercially available, but the satellite itself was too... for a billion and some dollars.

A solution for the coyote problem

I have discovered a solution to the coyote problem that is wreaking havoc on Greely, Manotick Station and now Barhaven to name a few places...

HAMMOCKS!!!

what? you may ask... how will this solve our problem??? WELL this new website i am now obsessed with (thanks dan! - www.trendhunter.com) had these coyote hammocks the other day. and they are on sale for over 8,000!!!! so not only would we eradicate our coyote infestation, but our city could make some money in the process.

Farts - the good and the bad...

I have some news for everyone about FARTS... yep, for those of you who know me, know very well that i do not like to talk about farts... and i like to pretend they don't exist (even if they do smell like chips). But today i have some information that is very interested.

1. Moose farts contribute to greenhouse gas!!!!
(Researchers at the technical university in Trondheim have discovered that the moose, the country's national symbol, is a major contributor to greenhouse emissions. Annually, one moose produces greenhouse gas equal to 13,000 km of car travel.)

2. Kangaroo farts have no odour!!!!
(Thanks to special bacteria in their stomachs, kangaroo flatulence contains no methane and scientists want to transfer that bacteria to cattle and sheep who emit large quantities of the harmful gas.

3. Horses can't burp!!!!
(Overfeeding grain to a horse can lead to a serious case of gas colic, which is an illness caused by a horse's inability to burp. Gases develop in the horse's digestive tract and cause the horse to suffer from severe abdominal pain.)

Now... that is cool stuff. don't you feel smarter b/c you now know these 3 interesting facts?