Libs nuke one-member, one-vote

No vote for Joe Lunchbucket, say Liberals.

MONTREAL -- Liberals have voted to cling to the format of delegated conventions to elect their leaders by narrowly rejecting the one-member, one-vote formula.

The convention is expected to attract as many as 5,500 delegates by the time voting starts Friday. Each delegate had to pay a $1,000 registration fee, plus hotel and travel expenses.

LAST WORD: Belinda sent to doghouse

The vote marked a repudiation of sorts for MP Belinda Stronach.

Stronach, a Conservative leadership candidate in 2004, declined to run in the Liberal race, saying she was committed instead to reforming her new party's leadership process.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Leadership convention, one-member, one-vote, Belinda Stronach

Speaking of Antikythera...

Move over Einstein, that Hipparchos was one heckuva guy...

Another profound question is how this extraordinary technology was lost when the Roman Empire came to dominate the Mediterranean.

"In terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa," he added.

Technorati Tags: Hipparchos, Antikythera Mechanism, ancient Greeks

NFL in Toronto?

Hmmmm...

It has also been widely speculated that Toronto could get a team through franchise relocation, with the Buffalo Bills the most obvious possibility, because of an aging owner and its small market.

Technorati Tags: NFL, Buffalo Bills, Toronto

Dope & Sodomy

Hey... we're gonna have a party.

A very Liberal Party apparently.

Lowering the age of consent for anal sex between teens and legalizing marijuana may be good ideas, but not high priorities, delegates indicated Wednesday at the opening of the Liberal convention.

Well, that pretty much locks up the homosexual, adolescent party animal vote... for the 2011 elections anyway.

File this one under, "Things that won't be on Stephen Harper's agenda anytime soon."

**********

LIB LEADER UPDATE: Tote that bale... sling that mud

A more direct “Stop Iggy” leaflet was also in circulation, reminding delegates of Ignatieff’s campaign gaffes and his previous support for the Iraq war and aggressive counter-terrorism tactics, such as coercive interrogation and targeted assassination.

In a bit of tit-for-tat, the Ignatieff team held a party for journalists at which they handed out, among other things, copies of a 1994 book entitled “Rae Days, The Rise and Follies of the NDP.” The back cover touts the book as a `damning account” of Rae’s single term as Ontario premier in the 1990s.

**********

UPDATE: 30 Nov 2006 - But we're all still good on that "teenage boy anal sex thing"... right guys?

Meanwhile, the workshops where Liberals were meant to hammer out 135 or so policy resolutions were all but deserted. The 18 resolutions before the international affairs workshop were summarily dealt with in 30 minutes, with minimal debate. Along the corridor in the social justice workshop, delegates voted to lower the age of consent for anal sex and legalize marijuana.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Leadership convention, sodomy, legalizing marijuana

Shameless

*** The Auditor-General highlights your Liberal Party. ***

Here's a good one.

Treaty negotiations with First Nations in British Columbia badly bogged down, with not a single treaty signed as costs skyrocket to $426-million since 1993.

Remember that number the next time you think about all the Liberal majority governments since, well, whaddaya know... 1993.

Not recommended reading on a full stomach.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin

It's not just Human Rights

*** Never mind human rights. ***

China has a problem providing clean drinking water to its citizens.

Everybody is talking about what an industrial juggernaut China is becoming... but there's a price to be paid.

BEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Water from a reservoir that serves as Beijing's fourth-biggest source of drinking water is unfit even for irrigation, state media reported on Tuesday, underlining the gravity of China's water pollution problem.

The official Xinhua news agency cited a report by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau as saying that water in the Guanting reservoir fell short of standards for level five on the country's scale of water quality.

Let's bear in mind that this is a nation that usually underplays any news that makes them look bad, so this problem is likely much worse than what they're saying.

Technorati Tags: China, pollution, human rights

They will be remembered

Two more Canadian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice.

Sgt. Major Bobby Girouard, 46, had been a soldier for 29 years before his latest stint in Afghanistan, said his brother Peter Girouard from the soldier's hometown of Bathurst.

Girouard and Chief Warrant Officer Albert Storm were in an armoured personnel carrier when a civilian vehicle drove alongside and detonated explosives.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Islam, religion of peace

Smart, funny and legs that go all the way down to the ground

Sorry... this post isn't about scantily clad babes on so-called 'reality tv'... it's about "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".

If you enjoy bang-bang dialogue and plot that actually has a point, you'll like this show... if not, just keep it tuned to "tv lite".

Wes: We're eating worms for money. "Who Wants To Screw My Sister?" Guys are getting killed in a war that's got theme music and a logo? That remote in your hand is a crack pipe.

Jack: The remark about worm eating and "Who Wants To Screw My Sister"? He was talking about our shows?

Michael: We don't know.

Jordan chuckles.

Jack: Is there something funny about this, Jordan?

Jordan: Oh God, Jack, there's like seven things funny about this.
We're not even sure which sister-pimping show he was talking about.

Technorati Tags: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, reality tv, madness of political correctness

Less babies... more lap dances

Remember former Liberal Immigration Minister Judy Sgro?

Well, she's continuing her campaign for 'Women's Rights' from the Opposition ranks.

“I think Harper and his Conservative government, based on their policies, would clearly prefer women would stay barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen and move us backwards 40 years,” she said.

Of course, this is the same woman who was hip-deep in the dodgy business of sneaking foreign strippers under the Canadian immigration radar.

OTTAWA -- Immigration Minister Judy Sgro is defending the government's policy of admitting foreign exotic dancers to work in Canada, saying the strip club business is "a strong industry" with "lots of customers."

Yesterday, for a third day, Sgro faced Opposition questions about her chief of staff's involvement in a Romanian stripper's visa troubles and in a controversial program that sees foreign peelers getting special work visas.

I can hear women all across Canada, cheering for Judy Sgro's ambitions for their daughters.

**********

SIDENOTE: More good news, the Libs also have plans for your sons

Technorati Tags: Judy Sgro, Strippergate, madness of political correctness

Never mind that stupid Darfur thing

*** That's only about people. ***

After an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu at a farm in South Korea, authorities say they plan to cull cats, dogs and pigs to stem the spread of the virus.

I can imagine the swell of international outrage after this thing hits the 6 o'clock news. Don't get me wrong... I'm not a dog hater. I just think human life should take some sort of priority.

Let's not even get into the billions of dollars people spend on pet food, pet toys and vet bills... while genocide and hunger kill millions of people all around this screwed up planet.

The real priority is new, chemically beefier milkbones for Rover.

Technorati Tags: H5N1, South Korea, madness of political correctness

Will 'Lifers' get pensions?

*** So does this mean Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo get pensions? ***

Someone needs to get their head read.

In his annual report to Correctional Services of Canada, Howard Sapers claims Canada's inmates are underpaid, saying compensation for their work and participation in programs hasn't increased in nearly 20 years.

The Prisoners' Rights Committee is asking that inmates get paid at least minimum wage.

Technorati Tags: Correctional Services Canada, Howard Sapers, Canada

Religion of Peace Update

Chalk up three more for Allah.

A suicide car bomber blew attacked a convoy of foreign troops in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing two Canadian soldiers and an Afghan civilian, police said.

Hmmmm... what's that sound I don't hear?

Yeah... that's it. The sound of Canadian Muslims speaking up about the mass murder in Iraq & Afghanistan these last couple of days.

I guess after the six Sunni Muslims were burned alive the other day... by their Shiite brothers incidentally... this is really small potatoes.

**********
UPDATE: Were there really crispy critters?

It's possible the story of 6 Sunni Muslims burned alive was a clever propaganda operation... designed to make Sunnis insane with rage, mind you, so that they would go out and murder some more Shiites. The MSM apparently relies on Iraqi stringers & sources for a lot of their "news".

As you see in FA’s last update,Centcom tells FA that they’re investigating who the hell Jamil Hussein is…if there even is a Jamil Hussein. For all we know this could be Ayman Al-Zawahiri calling up the AP to give his version of events.

The rest of the report, about two of our soldiers, was unfortunately, very real.

h/t Kate

Technorati Tags: Religion of Peace, Islam, Canada

Sign of the times

Probably your first reaction here, will be to write me off as some sort of 'Y2K type nutjob'. If so, you'd better be prepared to expand this category to include your elected representatives.

Has anybody else seen the television commercials the government has put out recently on dealing with some nebulous emergency situation?

They won't put a face to it, but it could be something like...

(a) the hydro grid blows a fuse again

(b) a nuke plant, Parliament, financial network... gets dusted by (from a broad spectrum of society, of course) terrorists

(c) avian flu, ebola, fill in your worst nightmare here

I saw one again tonight, directing me to go to...

IS YOUR FAMILY PREPARED?

For a major emergency – like a blackout or severe storm – you need to be prepared. Ready for at least 72 hours while emergency workers help those in urgent need.

The implication here, is that if you can only get through the first 72 hours of any of the above cataclysmic events... the government will be able to step in and give you a soft landing.

Which is unfortunately, a calculated and deliberate lie.

If, in fact, there is a bio-terrorist event, or an outbreak of ebola or avian flu, the members of government will initially be scrambling to...

First... protect members of government and their families.

Second... attempt to ensure that some of the first level emergency services, ie: doctors & nurses and police, firefighters and paramedics, remain at their duties... rather than rushing home and attempting to ensure the safety of their own families first.

We got the slightest taste of this when Ontario Hydro went kaflooey a little while ago. We aren't likely to be so lucky next time.

If the 'event' lasts more than the arbitrary '72 hours', it will be a desperate situation, as just-in-time transportation of foodstuffs and medical supplies grind to a halt. When drinking water runs out, you'll be draining your hot water heater, or finding the nearest creek.

It will be a nightmare. And the government just wants to be able to say... well, it's not like we didn't warn you chuckleheads.

So, unless you're quite content to permanently live in 'Lib & Dipper Fuzzybunny Land'... you might want to take heed and have some emergency supplies on hand.

And it had better be more than 72 hours worth... trust me.

SIDENOTE: Don't take my word for this... if you know a Paramedic, ask them what the relatively quickly contained, mostly non-fatal SARS scare did to the Toronto medical infrastructure.

Technorati Tags: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, Government of Canada, excrement hits the air-conditioning

Benny's Big Balls

I should preface this entry by admitting that once upon a time... I was a reasonable facsimile of a Catholic. These days I'd say I'm more of a P.J. O'Rourkian, as in... "show me the logic AND the lab equipment."

Regardless of my religious non-affiliation... say what you will about the Pope, he sure don't scare easy.

An army of snipers, riot police, secret agents and bomb disposal experts has been mobilised for the Pope's four-day visit to Turkey.

Naval units will patrol the Bosphorus armed with machine guns after warnings to police and security services that the life of Benedict XVI may be threatened by Islamic extremists after he arrives on Tuesday.

Never mind the usual assortment of nutbag religious extremists... Pope Benedict had pretty much already pissed off every Tom, Dick and Kemal by telling the whole country they weren't good enough to come to; and here's the good part... somebody else's party.

The visit has put the Turkish government in a awkward position. Two years ago, before he was elected to lead the Catholic Church, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told Le Figaro magazine that he opposed Turkey's entry into the European Union.

If it was me, I'd have had second, third and fourth thoughts about this one... even if my bodyguards didn't look like awkward contestants at a gay jousting match.

Technorati Tags: Pope Benedict XVI, Islam, Turkey

Next book on my reading list

Hugh Segal's... The Long Road Back: The Conservative Journey, 1993-2006.

Segal on Stephen Harper...

"Even when I disagree with him on issues -- which, as you can imagine, will happen -- here's a guy who sends his kids to public school, probably the first prime minister in decades to do that; who didn't think there was anything inappropriate in him wandering in to the Ottawa Civic Hospital and waiting like everybody else when he had an asthma attack after the election that made him prime minister designate."

"His view of the relationship between public office and private benefit is that there shouldn't be any. He's a very Everyman Conservative."

Technorati Tags: Hugh Segal, Stephen Harper, Conservative Party

A resister without a war

Here's a riddle for you... "How can you be a conscientious objector, if you were never in line for a combat post?"

I guess you could try asking Francisco Juarez.

"What is a war resister?" he asks. "How do we define a war resister? Certainly some people say you have to be in a situation where you are going to be sent and then you refuse.

Yeah, that'd be the way normal people see it, but apparently it's a minority opinion in whatever parallel universe Francisco currently resides.

Of course none of that matters to the lunatic left.

Since then, he has become a poster boy for peace, applauded in the press for his refusal "to train for the Afghan campaign."

To the military's chagrin, most reports have failed to mention the obvious fact: Juarez was never bound for the war he now claims to resist.

This non-hacking, cowardly impostor was very briefly in the Reserves, which means he would have had to step up & volunteer to be sent to Afghanistan. Not only did he not volunteer, he didn't even finish basic training.

Part-time soldiers cannot be forced to deploy; they must volunteer. Juarez insists he intended to sign up for a tour by 2009... He became so disillusioned that during a training course in New Brunswick he simply refused to participate, citing personal and family reasons. But he never mentioned Afghanistan.

So there you have it.

Another moonbat legend masquerading as "the truth".

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Francisco Juarez, Department of National Defence

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Macleans has a media roundup (Globe, Star & Financial Post) on Jim Flaherty's economic update.

Flaherty's message seems simple enough, and positive to boot: "The economy is strong, government spending is focused, our debt is lower and taxes are coming down."

In other words, all is well. But to some critics, perhaps accustomed to more lofty ambitions during the short-lived Martin era, the 2006 Update is evidence of the federal government's shrinking vision for the country.

Technorati Tags: Jim Flaherty, Stephen Harper, federal debt

Less talk... more rock

In the true spirit of Conservatism, Stephen Harper is providing more funding and less government interference... in the fight against cancer.

“In the cancer community, this is like a new bill of rights,” said Pat Kelly, national program director of the Campaign to Control Cancer, a coalition of 55 of Canada's leading cancer organizations.

The new strategy, which has a $260-million budget for five years, will operate at arm's length from the federal government but report each year to the federal Health Ministry.

This strategy will have significant benefits for a huge number of Canadians.

Cancer's toll is significant: An estimated 153,100 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer this year and 70,400 will die of it, according to Canadian Cancer Society figures.

Technorati Tags: cancer, Stephen Harper, Health Canada

Killing the messenger... and the truth

In case you were in a coma this last month, the Liberal Party's latest sleight-of-hand has been constantly attacking Environment Minister Rona Ambrose over her announcement regarding the Kyoto protocols.

So why exactly is she being pilloried?

How about for... telling the simple truth.

And that's not just my opinion. Ask Jayson Myers, chief economist for the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association. It's what he told the House of Commons environment committee.

"If governments continue to develop policy based on targets that cannot be met, the experience shows that leads to counterproductive policies."

Under Kyoto, Canada agreed to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions to 6% below 1990 levels, which stood at 599 megatonnes, during the 2008-to-2012 period. Canada was 27% above 1990 levels in 2004...

So instead of meeting a target of 6 percent below... Canada in 2004 was 33 percent to the other side of the line.

Hmmm... 2004. What's funny about that date? Oh yeah, that was during a decade of continuous Liberal majority government rule.

Funny that it's only now, when the Liberals are in Opposition, that they can start screaming about the Kyoto targets they ignored for over 10 years.

So if you're one of the Liberal sheeple being sucked into this malicious and totally manufactured campaign to blame this screwup on Stephen Harper and the Conservatives... who have been in a minority government situation for less than a year... I just wanna know, what exactly is it that you're angry about?

Maybe you should actually be a little pissed about being manipulated.

Because if it's about meeting Kyoto targets... you've been duped.

UPDATE: 24 Nov 2006 - Between 1990 and 2004

The 758 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent the study recorded exceeds the greenhouse gas reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol by 35 per cent, or about 200 million tonnes, making Canada one of the world's highest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party, Rona Ambrose, Kyoto protocols

Get Piggy with Iggy

For a while Michael Ignatieff seemed to be bucking that infamous Liberal character flaw.... elasticity of conscience.

He seemed determined to stand on principles, as unpopular as they might prove to be. He took ownership of his ideas.

Of course, as the going gets a little tougher, he panics and starts to thrash around a little.

Early Wednesday afternoon in a round-table discussion with The Canadian Press, Ignatieff was emphatic that a controversial internal Liberal party resolution to recognize Quebec as a nation was not his idea.

"Just so it's clear, for the 20th time, the (Quebec) resolution was not initiated by the Ignatieff camp,'' he said. "It was initiated by people who support a range of candidacies.''

At that point in the day, the concept was clearly dividing the Liberal caucus and was a potential political liability.

Finally though... after trying all day to dog-paddle between the perilous sharks of public opinion, he nails that 180 degree Liberal flip-flop like he's been doing it all his life.

By late Wednesday, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's surprise announcement that he'd introduce a Commons motion to recognize Quebecers as a nation within a united Canada, Ignatieff had begun to change his tune.

By Thursday morning, Ignatieff was firmly planting his flag in the initiative.

"It really did start with us, in the leadership campaign, going into small towns in Quebec, reaching out, listening to Quebecers...," he told CTV's Canada-AM. .''

Good grief.

Technorati Tags: Michael Ignatieff, Liberal Party, politics of self delusion

Use a gun... you're done

While Liberal Leadership convention organisers are busy planning just how to entrench your teenage sons rights to engage in... no word of a lie... anal sexual relations with other men... that scary Stephen Harper has been wasting valuable time targeting violent criminals.

“We made it a priority because Canadians had made it very clear to us that they wanted the scales of justice balanced.”

Under the new legislation, suspects accused of violent crimes will be required to prove to a judge that they're not a danger to society.

The so-called reverse onus bail conditions mean the Crown would no longer have to prove to a judge that an accused should be detained pending trial.

Unlike the 2 billion dollar public relations stunt, also known as the Farmer Bob Rifle Registry... these Conservative proposals go directly to the source of the problem... criminals.

It's about time.

UPDATE: 37% of shooters out on bail

Jeremiah Valentine, charged with second-degree murder in the Boxing Day murder of Toronto teen Jane Creba, was under three gun bans after convictions at the time. Two 17-year-olds charged with manslaughter in the case were released on bail since the shooting.

The Criminal Lawyers' Association opposes this "one-size fits all" legislation, its vice-president, Frank Addario said.

I'm guessing their clients aren't too happy either.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party, Stephen Harper, anal intercourse

Stop it Dalton, you're killin' me

Or to be more precise, killing cancer patients.

In Canada, in fact, no other technology promises cancer patients such inequitable access as PET scanners, and, among provinces that have them, Ontario is the most restrictive of all.

Funny, you don't see anything about this in Dalton McGuinty's health care infomercials on tv. Every time an Ontario hospital does a PET scan, it comes right out of the hospital budget. The drug required to obtain the images costs $1,100 a scan, but the hospital is only reimbursed $725 by the province.

Until recently, the London scanner was screening one patient a week; with the registry, that number has increased to four or five patients a week, said Al Driedger, professor of nuclear medicine at the University of Western Ontario.

“I'm sure that even researchers thought by now we'd have people lined out the doors and onto the street and that's just not been possible,” Dr. Driedger said.

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, Positron Emission Tomography, politics as usual

This can't be a good sign

Turns out the Iranian Islamic bomb thing may dissol.... er, resolve itself.

Maybe it's just me, but if you're foolin' around with nuclear fission, shouldn't you already know how it works?

Tehran & Vienna: Iran said on Thursday it would like technical aid from the UN atomic watchdog for its Arak heavy water reactor but would press ahead even if its request was eventually rejected.

Turns out being a little light on the nuclear physics side of things, isn't going to slow Iran down much at all. Tell me this situation isn't a metaphor for the whole middle-east geopolitical hootenanny.

In a compromise hammered out in negotiations ahead of the IAEA board meeting, Iranian requests for IAEA technical assistance on seven other nuclear energy projects judged not to pose a risk of being diverted to bomb-making were approved by the governors.

UPDATE: A bright, nay... glowing future

"We had just given thanks to Allah for this glorious means to destroy the Great Satan once and for all, when sub-lieutenant Mahmoud Ghassan asked, 'So, what's the next step?'" Akhtar said.

"I was at a loss."

Technorati Tags: Iran, Islamic bomb, will of Allah

Out of the Ashes

It could have been my brush with cyber-oblivion, or perhaps I am simply imbued with the spirit of nascent nationhood... but like Stephen Harper, I too have a somewhat gratuitous, non-binding and largely symbolic announcement of my own.

It is with great pride that I announce to my heretofor fellow Canadian citizens, the formation of the newly minted nation of Whackbackistan. This entirely culturally unique nation consists, for the moment, of one Supreme Dictator, my consort the Queen of Green and of course, the royal heir... aka the Oakland Raider.

From this day forward, these 60 acres of field and stream will be a bulwark against the forces of creeping political correctness and leftwing lunacy of any stripe.

Of course, like ADQ Leader Mario Dumont, I expect that the forthcoming parliamentary recognition of Whackbackistan will be the first step toward negotiating more power for myself whilst simultaneously limiting federal government meddling in internal WB'istan affairs.

I also look forward to having high tea with the Governor General and negotiating a seat at the next Bilderberg Conference.

UPDATE: WB'istan Redundant Stupid Shit Law #1

A spicy sausage known as the Welsh Dragon will have to be renamed after trading standards’ officers warned the manufacturers that they could face prosecution because it does not contain dragon.

The sausages will now have to be labelled Welsh Dragon Pork Sausages to avoid any confusion among customers.

In Whackbackistan, the penalty for promulgation of utter nonsense like this... will be torture & execution. No exceptions. Public participation is encouraged.

Thus spake Neo the Not So Nice.

Technorati Tags: nation within Canada, Whackbackistan, politics of appeasement

Arrrrrr... Billy, have you ever been to sea?

Bill Graham and the Fiberals are apparently taking another "principled stand"... this time fighting for the rights of teenage boys.

No, no... relax. It's not another government subsidised heroin parlour. It's just resolutions for the upcoming Liberal Leadership Convention.

Resolution No. 45: WHEREAS the current law discriminates against unmarried same-sex couples by not permitting unmarried persons under 18 to legally engage in consensual anal intercourse;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada urge the Federal Government of Canada to bring the age of consent for anal intercourse in equal pairing with other forms of sexual activity.

The Phantom Observer wants to know...

Umm . . . is discussing allowing teenagers to bugger each other really the business of the Liberal Party?

Well, lemme see... the Libs are in favour of enabling intravenous drug use and giving the vote to imprisoned murderers and rapists.

Looks like this one fits right in there... no pun intended.

SIDENOTE: It's a hard choice.

I don't know what pisses me off more... encouraging adolescent sodomy, or bringing in financial penalties for people who don't buy eco-cars?

UPDATE: But what about that scary Stephen Harper?

It's true, Harper's against both adolescent sodomy and intravenous drug abuse.

Since assuming office in January, Canada’s New Government has introduced a number of initiatives to tackle crime and protect the safety and security of Canadians. These include legislation to:

Impose stricter conditions on dangerous offenders;

End conditional sentences for serious offences;

Implement mandatory minimum sentences for crimes involving guns;

Raise the age of consent for sexual activity from 14 to 16 years; and

Crack down on street racing.

The Libs are right... he's no fun at all.

Technorati Tags: Bill Graham, sodomy, anal intercourse

A zealous fire, but nobody's home

While I was away, Tarikur dropped in to tell me what an ignorant and unreasonable infidel I am. I thought I'd drop by his place and see what other wisdom he might be sharing.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Technorati Tags: burka, Islam, Netherlands

If a Blogger falls in the forest...

We are all, to some extent, convinced of our significance in the larger world. Call it ego, or arrogance or whatever... it's a very human failing.

Thus I feel compelled to explain my absence of the last four days, all the while knowing that it makes not a whit of difference to anyone out there in 'the real world'.

Anyway, after experiencing a totally unexpected harddrive meltdown, I have been dealing with recovering and rebuilding my 'virtual world' on a new 250 gb drive. The only happy part of the story is that I have a dvd-burner which has yet again saved my sorry ass from complete oblivion.

For the handful of stalwarts who visit me here on a regular basis, I am reporting that I shall return as a regular contributor starting tomorrow or shortly thereafter.

In arboreal solitude & silence, I rise once again from the digital ashes...

neo

Big Burka Bombshell

Here's the best solution I've seen so far.

Perhaps rather than banning in public... that they require both male and female members of that religion to wear the darned things. I suspect that in short order they would no longer be that popular.

Join the fray.

Technorati Tags: burka, Islam, Netherlands

I believe

Has anybody else seen the commercials where two people are in a car, driving along the road just shooting the shit, when their car suddenly gets 'godsmacked'... and all hell breaks loose as the airbags fire and the people pull about four gees, while the twisted hunk of former vehicle spins out of control?

I think the slogan they use is "safe happens".

The first time I saw this thing, it took my breath away. For reasons I'm not prepared to go into here, I firmly believe that bad things can happen to anyone... at any time. I am also a true believer, these days anyway, in as much emergency preparedness as you can reasonably afford.

We heat with wood here and have smoke detectors, including one that's hardwired in addition to battery backup, just outside the bedrooms. We have separate CO detectors as well. There are two fire extinguishers in the living room. My wife carries bear spray when she walks in the woods and we have an epi-pen for possible anaphylactic shock from bee or wasp stings.

We have a 4WD SUV that will almost surely take a bigger 'survivable' hit than the little eco-friendly smart-cars and as a bonus, can push through anything winter throws at us and almost drive up vertical surfaces. Oh yeah, hit a deer with your little eco-clown car and all that'll be left is a largish twisted can of 'stew of you'. I always have extra gas with me.

Lately, I've been looking around for an emergency generator, despite the fact that, with one glaring exception, the power has been more reliable out here than in Toronto. When our power goes, we lose the pump in our well, which means no drinking water... and unless you take a bucket down to the pond which is frozen all winter, no flushing the toilet.

I always marvel at the folks they interview every year, who apparently can't connect the dots and are puzzled at being wiped out repeatedly, like clockwork, by Hurricane Zelda. When the bird flu... or whatever other bug hits the big cities, and make no mistake, the experts all agree it's just a question of when, I'm prepared to yank my son out of school and wait for it to burn itself out, a la SARS.

But this is Canada you say... we're fine.

Ask people in British Columbia about that.

More than two million residents in the greater Vancouver area and about 100,000 in Nanaimo are under a boil-water advisory after a powerful storm stirred up water supplies.

Currently, B.C. Hydro crews are working from Vancouver Island to Chilliwack in an effort to restore electricity to almost 60,000 homes still without power.

At its peak, the storm left more than 210,000 British Columbians in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island region without power.

Unlike the slogan in the commercial, safe doesn't just happen.

It's worth thinking about.

Technorati Tags: shit happens, sheeple, emergency preparedness

I nearly crapped myself

I had to read this more than once, just to make sure I hadn't accidentally landed at the Onion.

Nope... Jerusalem Post, just like I thought. So, the question remains... if Israel doesn't have a problem with Al Jazeera International, maybe someone's missing the boat here.

In fact, Daniel Seaman, head of the Government Press Office, said, "I have only the utmost respect for Al Jazeera in Israel. They've tried their best to be fair, and even if I disagreed with their coverage at times, it was not one-sided.

Given their audience, they show the Arab side, the Palestinian side of the conflict, but they also present Israel's side."

Asked if he thought Al Jazeera was fairer to Israel than, say, CNN and BBC, Seaman replied, "Absolutely, they're much better than CNN or BBC."

I've been assuming that Al Jazeera was the stereotypical mindless, venomous middle eastern propaganda, but maybe it's time to reconsider.

I've always believed that more information is a good thing. It's that mindless liberal "everyone is beautiful, in their own way" bafflegab that's the real problem.

Bring it on, I say.

FEED YOUR BRAIN UPDATE: From Natedawg... in the comments

The Dawg recommmends "Control Room", a documentary about Al Jazeera coverage of the war in Iraq. The narrative comes from an Arab perspective because their target audience is Arab.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq, Al Jazeera

Dalton tries on OJ defense

Climbing down from yet another campaign promise, Dalton McGuinty is taking a page from the Johnny Cochrane, "absolutely, 100 percent, not guilty" playbook.

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is blaming unidentified advisers for his government's inability to keep its promises to close the province's coal-burning power plants.

Mr. McGuinty conceded yesterday that the smokestacks from the coal plants likely will not disappear until 2014 -- seven years later than he promised during the last election campaign.

Apparently, if the voters of Ontario will just vote in another Liberal government, Dalton pledges to go out and find the real liars.

Progressive Conservative MPP John Yakabuski demanded that Mr. McGuinty disclose the names of the experts he relied on in making the promise. If not, he said, "admit that your policy was just plain and simple made up, that you perpetrated on the people of the province of Ontario to get their vote a big fat lie."

Maybe Dalton will tell us the truth someday on a TV special.

UPDATE: 17 Nov 2006 - Dalton's latest "mea culpa"

"It's not a case of me trying to foist responsibility elsewhere," he told reporters yesterday. "I made the call, just as I made the more recent calls to delay the closure."

This was in stark contrast to a day earlier, when Mr. McGuinty pointed the finger of blame at unidentified advisers by saying, "Be careful about the advice you get from experts."

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, OJ Simpson, politics as usual

And while we're on China...

If the Liberals could spare a little time from their "Let's Crucify Rona Ambrose" campaign, perhaps they'd like to cast a critical eco-eye a little further eastward.

Yes, it's the same poor country they've been casting, all day long, as having been unnecessarily snubbed by Prime Minister Harper.

Not only does China have an appalling human rights record, it is killing nearly half a million of its own citizens every year with its flagrant disregard for, wait for it... the environment.

Indeed, Beijing is the world's worst city for air pollution. Sixteen of the world's 20 most-polluted cities are in China, according to the World Bank.

Satellite data from the European Space Agency reveals that Beijing and nearby northeastern provinces have the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide, causing respiratory problems and about 400,000 premature deaths per year.

Pollutants in China's sky have increased by 50 per cent in the past decade. Heavy industry, power plants and escalating numbers of car owners are to blame.

This is just one of many life & death criticisms a reasonable person could level at the Chinese government. Perhaps the Libs should take their collective heads out of their asses and bitch about something other than alleged name calling and hurt feelings... of anyone, or any country.

UPDATE: I'm begging. Please.

No more Liberal Eco-babble this week.

What would happen if all Canadians just disappeared and therefore all that hated machinery and technology that makes survival through a Canadian winter possible, just sat idle? No cars driving around, no need to heat homes or turn on lights. No more plants and factories. What would the effect on the global climate be?

Absolutely nothing at all

Technorati Tags: China, ecology, murder

David Frum goes to Gitmo

And finds that all the detainees are totally innocent.

Another detainee, a Yemeni, explained that he had come to Pakistan to study medicine at a university. Unfortunately, the particular university he had selected lacked any medical faculty.

He ended up instead studying Koran in a student guesthouse – and when one of his housemates suggested they take a sightseeing tour of Afghanistan, he agreed to go along. The housemate’s name? He had forgotten it.

"What is the meaning of ‘terrorist’? I don’t even know what that word is."

Next time, I guess he'd better get a closer look at the travel brochures.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, will of Allah

A Badge of Honour

**********
UPDATE: Scary Stephen Harper at it again.

Quick, hide the kids! Stephen Harper is gonna... well, he's up to, uh... something really, really bad. Honest.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government will not abandon "important Canadian values" by toning down criticisms of China's human rights record to improve trade relations with Beijing.

And the Liberals are still trying to manufacture outrage, even over this?

Sheesh.

**********

So, the Chinese government has backed out on a "grip & grin" with Stephen Harper.

And that reflects on the Conservatives... how?

We're being snubbed by a nation that runs tanks over citizen protestors.

That sells baby girls, like Walmart sells Skittles.

That imprisons political prisoners in gulags and apparently harvests their organs after executing them.

Who made a godlike figure out of Mao... who was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens with his Great Leap Forward.

Over the past few months, the Harper government has delivered a number of controversial messages to the Chinese, among them a decision by the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary, Jason Kenney, to meet with the Dalai Lama, and a delay in talks over a strategic partnership to which the two countries have agreed.

Canada has also complained of Chinese espionage and delayed a meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and the Chinese ambassador.

We should be ashamed to be meeting with these guys at all.

Canada has a moral obligation to continue to be a voice for "doing the right thing"... regardless of what the murderous Chinese regime has to say.

UPDATE: Where are the Liberals on Human Rights?

“This snub by the Chinese is really in response to the new Conservative government's repeated snubs against China,” Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Keith Martin said in an interview Wednesday.

Hey Keith, you shameless apologist, it don't matter how much lipstick you put on this pig... she ain't ever going to the prom.

Technorati Tags: China, Falun Gong, murder

Holier than thou... and thou... and...

Pakistan has taken the first step towards repealing the Hudood Ordinances, which made it virtually impossible to prosecute rapists in Pakistan.

Pakistan's national assembly has voted to amend the country's strict Sharia laws on rape and adultery. Until now rape cases were dealt with in Sharia courts. Victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - if not they faced prosecution for adultery.

The reform has been seen as a test of President Musharraf's stated commitment to a moderate form of Islam.

The legislation has passed the first of three legislative hurdles and faces opposition from the religious community.

Predictably, the Islamic religious parties went apeshit.

Pakistan's religious parties called the legislation "a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country", and against the strictures of the Koran and Sharia law. The bill will turn Pakistan into a free-sex zone.

The leader of the six-party MMA Islamic alliance, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, did not not elaborate further on how being able to prosecute rapists, and particularly gang-rapists... will turn Pakistan into the world's largest swing club.

Here's a large part of what Canadian troops are fighting for in Afghanistan. Freedom from fundamentalist tyranny.

Technorati Tags: Pakistan, Hudood Ordinances, Maulana Fazlur Rahman

Religion of Rest in Pieces

How screwed up is Iraq?

POLICE around the Iraqi capital found 46 bullet-riddled corpses, many of them tortured, of men shot to death in apparent sectarian attacks, a security source said.

And that's not even the big news story today.

It's kind of telling when even the Prime Minister apparently chooses sectarian warfare over democratic rule.

It now appears that the mass kidnapping of a hundred or so employees from a scientific research institute was orchestrated by interior ministry militiamen... in other words, the police.

The raid on a higher education ministry building in a normally peaceful area of the capital came as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faced growing criticism from his US backers for not doing more to rein in Shiite militias with alleged links to the security forces.

This sad excuse for a leader, Nuri al-Maliki must feel as though he is untouchable... he makes no secret of his sympathies.

Mr Maliki has previously ordered US commanders to rein in planned operations against Shiite militia strongholds, including a proposed assault on Sadr City, Baghdad's most populous Shiite neighbourhood, where militiamen were believed to be holding an abducted US soldier.

What it boils down to is that these guys are so pissed off with the Sunni version of Islam, they're determined to send them all on to Allah forthwith. And if they're willing to squash other Muslims like ants at a picnic, what are they gonna do to infidels like you... and me.

My question is... where have they got all the sane people hidden away?

UPDATE: Oh, oh... the O.J. Defense again, not a great sign

"What happened was not terrorism, rather it was due to dispute and conflict between militias from one side or another," Maliki said in televised remarks. He later said the government's response had been strong and vowed to catch those responsible.

Technorati Tags: Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki, will of Allah

Hideously abundant trees

Tim Blair says we'll need to replace Global Warming with a new scare should it ever go out of fashion:

That suggests a contest in creative scaremongering. My first offer is … collapse of the hollow earth!

(Via Colin N., who notes: “Let’s hope the expanding and increasing forests are not swamped by the rising waters.”)

Technorati Tags: Global warming, conspiracy, politics of fear

Bad news for thugs & lawbreakers

It's back to basics for the Ontario Provincial Police. No more Gwen Kissy-Face.

Fantino likes his image as a hard-nosed cop. "I believe that the laws of the land are there for all of us to observe and obey and I believe those who transgress are to be held accountable," he said.

"Sure, criminals don't like me. That's fine. And a lot of defence lawyers don't like me and that's fine, too. If you are a victim you will like me; if you are a criminal you won't."

The next time someone's thinkin' about throwing a blockade across a public highway they'd better bring their toothbrush and an extra change of underwear.

Technorati Tags: Julian Fantino, OPP, Caledonia

The Land of Misfit Toys

I wonder what starving people in Africa would make of a toy that costs more than their whole village makes in a year.

The Playstation 3 game console will be released this week in North America, to the delight of teenaged boys and grown men who don’t wish to be burdened with a sexual relationship.

In a related story, now we’ll never get him out of our basement, your mother said.

Deprived of male companionship, the continent’s women are expected to spend the coming weekend transforming society into a utopian paradise that will instantly collapse when their boyfriends or husbands come up from the basement in four days for more dip.

I like capitalism, but every so often...

Technorati Tags: Playstation 3, decadence, Africa

Great Britain - Zero... Junkies - 1

Maybe Sharia Law is the answer... for the Brits. It's gotta be head & shoulders above this lunacy.

Prisoners are set to be paid compensation because they were forced to stop taking drugs in jail.

Drugs charity DrugScope said the group of six inmates and former inmates who used heroin and other opiates were on the verge of settling out of court with the Prison Service after suing the Home Office.

File this one under... somebody's definitely on drugs.

Technorati Tags: European Convention on Human Rights, Sharia Law, heroin

Police Association backs Conservatives

Remember all the fuss judges and lawyers kicked up last week, about the Conservative proposal to have a police representative on the secret committees that select candidates for judgeships?

A spokesman for law enforcement in Canada had this to say...

The head of the Canadian Professional Police Association says he's astounded by the criticism.

"I was very surprised - shocked, even - to see that some people would prefer remaining in their ivory towers," association president Tony Cannavino said Monday.

"These (officers) will bring to the table an important, practical perspective on the justice system... "We would enrich the discussion. It's an advantage and those crying wolf today will see within a year, a year and half, that the change was beneficial."

Technorati Tags: Canadian Professional Police Association, Stephen Harper, Liberal Pork

Cherrypicking the news

What the Star left out of the Le Devoir column.

My translation... With its debate about recognizing Quebec as a nation skidding into the ditch, the Liberal Party of Canada is in the process of letting its last best chance of escaping its isolation in Quebec slip through its fingertips.

via Norman Spector

Technorati Tags: Toronto Star, Liberal Party, politics of self delusion

The will of Allah

Or just a metaphor for the rickety Palestinian pseudo-state?

A wooden stage collapsed during a memorial for Yasser Arafat on Sunday, lightly wounding 14 people, including the sister of the late Palestinian leader.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't everything in the world supposed to unfold only because it is the will of Allah? What was he thinking here?

Technorati Tags: Yasser Arafat, Palestinian, will of Allah

Bravo for life's little ironies

You can wish upon a star...

The program Sunday Morning on CBS had a segment today on the movie Bobby which had a quote in it from Robert Kennedy. "We are," he said, "a nation of compassion, a nation of peace, not a nation of war."

Kennedy was shot, I was reminded, by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian.

Of course, you can also try to reason with a cat... for all the good it will do.

Read the rest... at Meso West.

Technorati Tags: Robert Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, politics of self delusion

The Party of Polls

The Liberal party loves polls. They love spending taxpayer money on polls.

Perhaps if they didn't cherrypick which polls they really loved, they'd learn something valuable.

While the question has spawned a predictable blizzard of spin from the various Liberal leadership camps, they are all in for a cold shower from a new SES Research public opinion poll conducted this past week for Sun Media.

The SES-Sun poll asked Canadians from across the country how they voted in the last election, and which of the four front-running leadership candidates would make them more inclined — or less — to support the Liberals on the next federal ballot.

Turns out none of these guys are setting the world on fire. When your leadership slate includes Scott "Blackberry" Brison and Joe "Dirty Tricks" Volpe, it tends to dampen voter enthusiasm a little. It looks like all they've really got for ammunition, is that tired, old, scary Conservative agenda hype.

That may not be the best strategy, now that Canadians have had a chance to see Stephen Harper in action.

Greg Weston sums it up for us.

Bottom line: A party that runs its B Team for the leadership shouldn’t be shocked to be second with voters.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party, Liberal Leadership Race, polling

Third Liberal appointee turfed at IRB

I don't know what I find more disturbing... the lying, cheating and stealing... or the lecherous behaviour.

First there was Yves Bourbonnais and Steve Ellis.

Now here's a third allegation of sexual misconduct, by yet another Liberal appointee.

Lloyd Fournier was escorted from the tribunal's Toronto premises in September and told he could no longer adjudicate asylum claims following an alleged incident of sexual harassment of a Spanish interpreter, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Mr. Fournier, appointed to the board in June of 2001 by then-immigration minister Elinor Caplan...

According to reports, he was a onetime vice-president of the Brampton Liberal Association who also sought the party's federal nomination in his riding.

How will the Liberal Party escape the stench of corruption when their patronage appointments keep turning out like this?

Of course, it's less surprising as time goes on. It's what we've come to expect from the party that won't even wipe the Volpe off it's shoes.

**********

SIDENOTE: Rocco Galati is the lawyer acting for Mr. Fournier.

Now where have I heard that name before?

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party, IRB, Lloyd Fournier

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

The attestation papers of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

Within three weeks, 45,000 Canadians had rushed to join up. John McCrae was among them. He was appointed brigade-surgeon to the First Brigade of the Canadian Forces Artillery with the rank of Major and second-in-command.

Just before his departure, he wrote to a friend:

It is a terrible state of affairs, and I am going because I think every bachelor, especially if he has experience of war, ought to go. I am really rather afraid, but more afraid to stay at home with my conscience. (Prescott. In Flanders Fields: The Story of John McCrae, p. 77)

Technorati Tags: Remembrance Day, Canada, Canadian Armed Forces

We remember

They stood up and fought for us. Today we honour the memory and the sacrifice of our brave veterans.

After the Great War, Canada was never the same. More than 600,000 of a population of barely eight million served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Of those, 60,000 were killed and another 154,000 wounded.

Do you know someone who enlisted in World War I?

Search the WWI CEF database

Do you know a Canadian killed while serving his country?

Search Commonwealth War Graves database

My wife's grandfather (in the kilt) was wounded by German shelling and carried around shrapnel from WWI the rest of his life.

Technorati Tags: Remembrance Day, Canada, Canadian Armed Forces

I've said it before

I'll say it again. There will be no Iranian nuclear bomb.

Or, to be more precise, it'll only ever happen over Israel's blackened smoking corpse.

Sanctions against Iran are unlikely to work, so Israel must be prepared to thwart Teheran's drive for a nuclear capability "at all costs," the newly installed Deputy Minister of Defense Ephraim Sneh has told The Jerusalem Post.

"I am not advocating an Israeli preemptive military action against Iran, and I am aware of all of its possible repercussions," Sneh stressed. "I consider it a last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the only resort."

He also said, "I prefer fewer declarations and more deeds."

In playgrounds and geopolitical circles, that's called, 'a line in the sand'.

Technorati Tags: Ephraim Sneh, Iran, Nuclear War

Vladimir Palanuik is dead

Who hasn't watched 'Shane' at least once in their lifetime?

And anybody who can do one-handed pushups at all... never mind at age 71, gets my respect.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of my dear friend Jack Palance, a true movie icon," Crystal said in a statement Friday. "Winning the Oscar for that movie and the one-arm push-ups he did on the show will link us together forever, and for that I am grateful."

Technorati Tags: Jack Palance, Vladimir Palanuik, one-handed pushups

There's just one problem

It's called the Senate.

So, the Conservatives put together a bill that directly addresses the failure of the government to be accountable to the citizenry... and what happens?

The Liberal dominated Senate has 150 things it doesn't like about the Federal Accountability Act.

That's right... 150 amendments, at least one of which coincidentally, puts more taxpayer money in the Liberal Party's apparently bottomless pockets.

The Liberals approved amendments that increase the maximum political donation from the proposed $1,000 cap by the government to $2,000. The Conservatives have accused the Grits of holding up the bill to maintain the current $5,400 limit for their upcoming political convention.

As well, the Liberal senators have rejected the government’s wish to create one ethics commissioner for both houses rather than continuing to have a separate one for the red chamber.

These unelected windbags from the Retirement Home for Political Hacks & Bagmen have more nerve than Dick Tracy.

The Liberal senator said the legislation reflects the new government’s current culture of distrust that revolves around “naming, blaming and shaming.”

Good grief... let's get rid of these grifters.

Technorati Tags: Stephen Harper, Conservative Party, Federal Accountability Act

What do you call 100 lawyers...

Naw, too easy... everybody knows that one.

Judges and lawyers are pissed off that your police force could have a presence on the secret judicial advisory committees that choose candidates for judgeships.

Yeah, let's not have any input from the dirty, plebeian footsoldiers in the never-ending war on crime. What do cops know anyway, compared to, well... judges & lawyers?

Beverley McLachlin, Canada's Chief Justice, along with a powerful council of the country's top judges issued an unprecedented rebuke yesterday to Justice Minister Vic Toews for hatching a plan to arbitrarily change the way judges are chosen.

So what's the beef here... and more importantly, how is this arbitrary?

It's like the old saw about gender equality in other occupations... if my house is on fire, I don't give a crap about the male/female thing... I just want the biggest, strongest, most stubborn S.O.B. goin' up that ladder to pull my kid out the window.

Successive governments have appointed judges from those who are merely qualified, ignoring some of those ranked as highly qualified.

It is far too easy for marginal candidates to be ranked as qualified, Mr. Russell said. "Right now, they just screen out the utterly incompetent," he said. "If you are in Kingston Penitentiary or something like that, you don't make the list, but that's about it."

Most of those pushing for reform insist that the government should be obliged to choose only from the pool of candidates ranked as very qualified.

Similarly, I want the most qualified candidate here, not some sleazy, politically connected hack, overseeing the system that metes out justice to criminals and more importantly, for victims. I think a representative from the enforcement side of the equation adds something valuable to the mix.

And that's what Justice Minister Vic Toews thinks too.

UPDATE: Steve Janke has more

A respected constitutional lawyer says her bid to become a federal judge was scotched because she "pissed off" prominent Liberal "godfathers" and the old boys' network that runs the legal profession.

Technorati Tags: judicial advisory committee, Supreme Court, Vic Toews

I'm speechless... and amazed

That this lunatic and his equally irrational lawyer thought they could justify this in a Canadian Courtroom.

On the other hand, the Liberal Court Challenge Program gave the vote to Paul Bernardo & Clifford Olsen.. so who knows?

Join the discussion at the Broom.

Allah made me do it

The Supreme Court of Canada declined an invitation on Thursday to consider whether Muslim cultural and religious beliefs in ‘’family honour'’ should be taken into account as justification for receiving a lighter sentence for killing an unfaithful wife.

Technorati Tags: honour killing, Supreme Court, liberal malaise

WHO ARE THEY PROTECTING?

The NDP and the Liberals oppose Stephen Harper's 'get tough on crime' bill. They think it's too draconian. On criminals, that is. Like the murderers of a 15 year old girl. 

Here's a prime example of who the Libs & Dippers are enabling with their catch and release mentality.

A man arrested in the Yonge St. shootout that left Toronto teen Jane Creba dead was under three gun bans following convictions at the time of the Boxing Day incident, court documents show. Court documents show Valentine has been in and out of court since 2004 on drugs and weapons charges.

Someone tell me... how does a 2 billion dollar rifle registry (remember... handguns have required registration since the 1930's) that targets farmers, hunters and target shooters, stop a piece of shit career thug like Jeremiah Valentine? 

Do the right thing... for Jane Creba. Vote Conservative.

Iggy nation

**********
UPDATE: Voters not happy with Lib "nation" idea

In a telephone survey of 1,000 people conducted this week, respondents were more than twice as likely - 40.4% versus 16.3% - not to vote Liberal in the next election if the party symbolically recognized Quebec as a nation.

"I think the fact of the matter is, outside Quebec, it's just not on," said SES Research president Nik Nanos.

**********

There has been much brouhaha over Michael Ignatieff saying he recognized the “nation” of Quebec. But maybe Iggy just really likes the idea of nations.

After all, his youth web site is www.iggynation.ca. This all raises some serious questions that may wreak havoc on our constitution.

Can someone be part of the Iggynation, but keep Canada as their country? Martha Hall Findlay will ask how many women are in Iggynation. If there are simply a lot of men in Iggynation, then Scott Brison might be interested in coming over.

Technorati Tags: Michael Ignatieff, Iggynation, Liberal Party

Boys WILL be boys

There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, but I know I've read somewhere that the most significant influence in a young child's life is the same-sex parent. That makes perfect sense to me. As a general rule, boys model themselves on their father, as do girls on their mother.

So it's no huge surprise, to me anyway, that if kids are separated by gender, they tend to do better at academics.

TRAIL, B.C. — Grade 7 boys and girls appear to do better in elementary school if they're separated by gender, an elementary school principal says. Girls and boys in Grade 7 at Glenmerry elementary have been separated for three years.

The students' Foundation Skills Assessment scores have been rising and exceed district and provincial levels, said principal Kere MacGregor.

This will no doubt upset the applecart of rabid Andrea Dworkin disciples, but anyone who's had children knows that boys and girls are hardwired differently, right from the get-go.

It's hard to imagine, in oh-so politically correct Canada, that anything will be done to take advantage of this finding.

And it's our children who will suffer.

Technorati Tags: education, Foundation Skills Assessment, gender politics

Hail to the Chief

Looks like there could be more First Nations fireworks at another building site in Ontario. I sure hope the Liberals don't decide to rush in there with another multi-million dollar taxpayer bailout.

The chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte is appealing for calm in a dispute over who owns land slated for a $30 million-plus housing development in Deseronto. The Chief of the band in question is trying to keep a lid on the situation.

As the Mohawks enter federally-led talks regarding the planned subdivision, Chief R. Donald Maracle asked the community “remain peaceful and patient” in a notice sent out late Tuesday.

Remember Dalton, fifty million dollars here, fifty million there... pretty soon you're talkin' serious money.

LAST WORD: Speaking of Taxpayer's money

Given the recent MPAC flim-flammery of Dalton McLiar and his minions, I did some surfing and found the list of McSquinty promises (copied in at the bottom of this post) at the “50Plus” bulletin board.

I don’t know about you, but the big ones for me are:

- No tax increases - followed immediately by the Health Premium/tax.
- No tax increases (by him) - but new powers to Toronto for Miller to raise taxes.
- Shut down coal-fired electricity generating plants by 2007- Ha, Ha, Ha.
- Shorten wait times - does anyone believe this?
- More family doctors - in fact, there’s less, and the trend is worsening sharply.
- Ensure cleaner air - until the next smog alert.
- Give real legal rights to victims of crime - sure, any day now.

And, my all-time favourite, to resign if he breaks any of these promises.

Technorati Tags: Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, First Nations, aboriginal

Your tax dollars at, well... eternal rest

Another reason to scrap the Bureau of Indian Affairs and bring these people into the larger Canadian community.

When are we gonna stop the insanity?

OTTAWA, TORONTO -- Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says there is a good reason why the vast majority of homes in Pikangikum have no running water and toilets: He says it is the custom of residents of the remote Ojibwa community to bury their loved ones in the family backyard, making it difficult to install water and sewage pipes without disturbing graves.

There is a water plant, but only 20 of the community's 387 houses are hooked up to it, leaving the rest without water and sewage facilities.

The large blue pipes that were supposed to connect the rest of the houses to the water plant have sat discarded in fields around the reserve since 2001, when work on various projects ground to a halt.

How about we just go with one law, one people?

We could call them Canadians.

**********
UPDATE: 9 Nov 2006 - Liberal MP Roger Valley checks in

"I've always been worried that these burial sites are going to interfere with some of the future plans of the community," he said. "I'm going to go there and ask that very specific question: Are there instances here you can show me where we are not allowed to bring in the water and sewer pipes because of this, and how do we deal with this?"

**********

Technorati Tags: Pikangikum, First Nations, aboriginal