Statscan’s gems for today:

Fresh vegetable prices were down 10.8% in January. This situation is unusual for the month of January and represents only the second such reduction in the past 20 years. Lower prices for tomatoes (-33.1%) and “other fresh vegetables” (-2.6%) accounted for most of this decrease. Supply has picked up after the squeeze caused by the hurricanes in the east and the wet weather in the west of the United States.

And also:

Combined ridership on 10 large urban transit systems in Canada was 2.6% higher in 2004 than it was in 2003. Approximately 1.3 billion passenger trips were taken on these transit systems, which account for about 80% of total urban transit in Canada.

Now you know!

The cultural landscape of interplanetary space

Alice Gorman

Division of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, School of Human and Environmental Studies, University of New England, Australia

Abstract: Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, interplanetary space has become filled with human material culture. A ‘spacescape’ now exists including terrestrial space sites like rocket ranges, satellites and space junk in Earth orbit and planetary landing sites. The significance of this material is usually understood within a ‘Space Race’ framework that emphasizes high technology and the Cold War rivalry between the USA and the USSR. However, appropriate management of the cultural heritage of space exploration requires a broader scope and this can be provided by a cultural landscape approach. The heritage significance of space exploration is explored through three cultural landscapes which illustrate complex and conflicting perspectives on space: Peenemünde in Germany, Woomera in South Australia and Tranquility Base on the Moon.

Full-text PDF is here (requires subscription to the journal)

“If the government truly wanted to ‘defend my marriage’ it would
hire us a maid and a cook and prevent another massively
multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) from ever working
on my husband’s computer.”

– Kelly Henley, in a letter to the editor of Salon

(QOTD)