Another Diff between Conservatives and Socialists

Conservatives believe in God
Socialists believe in Santa Claus . . .

Credit to PJ O'Rourke

New Poster Available for Download

Reference and Hat Tip Here

This Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

Hat Tip to KD

The Man In The Arena

Given this is two days after Remembrance Day and is municipal election day, and given that many honest and true people will have run for election unsuccessfully after being whipped by powerful (leftwing) campaigns I offer Teddy Roosevelt's famous speech made in Paris on April 23, 1910:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows.
Still less room is there for those who deride of slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary.
There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength.
It is war-worn Hotspur, spent with hard fighting, he of the many errors and valiant end, over whose memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who "but for the vile guns would have been a valiant soldier."

Why Cats are Better Than Ants...

Little off theme, but then again, having laboured for six months to overthrow a government, I am whimsical this evening...
Henry Gibson said, "because they don't squish when you pet them."
Also, because they maintain their dignity, with poop on their paws, or just having fallen off a chair, or having knocked over a vase. We don't notice ant poop, can't see them drop off a chair, and they can upend only very small vases.
Aha, the tory-poli-link - Liberal leadership candidates find it impossible to maintain their dignity. This post is hereby justified...
Two cats shed more hair than a whole herd of wildebeests, eat more that a murder of crows and crap more in a day than the world's population of ants.
Cats demand attention far more than ants. And show their high regard for this better. And demand it much more.
Ants can lift hundreds of times their own weight, but cats are smart enough not to not to even try this when they have these sasquatchs around that feed and groom them and lift anything heavy that needs to be lifted.
Cats are smart little buggers.
Any other cat fanciers out there that care to build on this?

The End of the World as I Know It

Dems get elected, Al Qaeda claims victory.
Wandering through the streets of Toronto, and hearing that David Miller was a virtual lock to win as Mayor, and after thinking through what will likely happen in the Middle East with a real Nancy in charge of the House and the Dems running the Senate, I decided to give up and enjoy things while I can.
Toronto's traffic will be standing still, I will continue to get about $200 / month in tickets for parking in front of my own house, I will be getting even more nasty yellow notes from my garbage collector for desposing of more than 20km of wet waste and not following all the recycling rules, the bums will not hesitate to knock on my door to beg for money - it's their right (doncha know). Toronto will become more like Belgrade.
I'll steer clear of the subway, tall buildings and large collections of people because the islamofreaks will be bringing the war to us.
So, I'm gonna drink up and be merry.

Meanwhile, John Moore on CFRB is having a special celebrating veterans from WW2. Which is good. But then he slaps around all those who celebrate the attempts to do for Iraq and Afstan what we did for the French, Germans and Dutch, et al fifty odd years ago.
Ain't this finely hypcritical.

More On Entertainer Credibility - Halloween Version

Last week it was terrible slags on a Beatle and Charlie Sheen.
The week before it was Babs.
This week, Liza.
Of all the awful Halloween outfits seen tonight, Liza's mutilated face from scores of surgical procedures as revealed tonite on Law and Order is the worst.
Or maybe not, the below is truly scary . . .

Just When Entertainers Were Being Accepted As Reliable Sources

... a survey reports that actors are the least trusted members of any profession (are you reading Charlie Sheen), and then this about holier than thou anti-seal-killer-and-ex-beatle Paul MacCartney:

Last week, the Daily Mail splashed its front page with what appeared to be legal papers drafted by Mills McCartney’s lawyers against the former Beatle that alleged drug use, drunkenness, callousness about his wife’s amputated leg, indifference to her pain, and even an assault with a broken wine glass.

Last para from The Star
Yup, them anti-everythings have a lot of experience in hypocrisy...

Latest in a Series of Verification Words

Writers? You wanna think writers? German??

Wisdom in Galactica

Just watching this very cool program.
Ya see the good guys had a hero pilot down and the commanders were hell bent to send in a rescue mission.
The President urged them to reconsider and they would not. Finally they were persuaded by her statement that, "You are honorable and intelligent men. If you feel that the lives of 45,000 people and the future of mankind is worth the life of one pilot, than the human race has no chance of survival."
Rings a bell as far as our situations in Iraq and Afstan, doesn't it?

ps - in the end, she saves her own life through initiative, endeavour, intelligence and guts.

City Climate Change Stats - Please Advise . . .

Please talk among yourselves and post facts to comment on the following that I found on the City of Toronto Website:

"Results from Environment Canada’s Global Circulation Model (GCM) simulations of climate suggest an average annual warming of 2° to 5°C for Ontario by 2100. "

So let me get this straight. Is the Government of Canada saying that in 94 years our temperatures will be between 190° and 400° by 2100??
Wow - can you imagine how hot it will be in a drycleaning plant by then??

9 or 10

I'm watching Hockey a People's History.
I wish I had my little number 9 Canadiens jersey.
I was five years old when I became a Canadiens fanatic, Rocket was in his last year. My Dad bought me a Habs jersey and my little brother a Maple Leafs one.
I have stayed a Habs fan. Les Glorieux. Les Canadiens sont La!
My little brother is dead, but he was and is still, I'm sure, also a Habs fan though he got stuck with the Leafs shirt.
When I think about my 47 years of Canadiens worship, three players, only, stand out. The Rocket, Le Gros Bill and The Flower. Maurice, Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur. This small group of three among I suppose thirty or more spectacular superstars who have played for my team. I won't get into the goalies, Ken Dryden (who has become a friend) , Gump, Bunny, Roy, et al. For Habs fans its how fast you skate; how little you care about anything but getting ahead of the other 10 skaters, not how many pucks you get in front of.
Guy looked fast standing still. Maurice looked fierce when speaking at banquets. Jean was calmest when things were most turbulent.
They are my heroes, as a Canadian. And a Canadiens fan.
They stirred most of a nation to big dreams, and the thought that you can come from Thurso, Three Rivers or Montreal Est and become a national hero.
For me, the ultimate Canadien was Guy, even though he was a falling star when he retired. He thrilled we fans for years a couple of times a week. I'm sure that Maurice would have found Guy lacking - would have thought he could have been more if only he had been more aggressive.
Ya know, it thrills me to remember these times. I thank the Ceeb for this show. Even the retrospective of Abby Hoffman as an 8 year old hockey superstar in a boys league in St. Catharines.
Hockey keeps me forever young.

Warming Scientists? Get Your Story Straight...

WASHINGTON -- The Earth's temperature has climbed to levels not seen in thousands of years, warming that has begun to affect plants and animals, researchers said yesterday.
A report in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said the recent warming has brought global temperature to a level within about one degree Celsius of the maximum temperature of the past million years.
The Earth has been warming at a rate of 0.2 degrees C per decade for the last 30 years, according to the research team at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
Okay guys which is it? 30 years, thousands of years or a million years?
Where was the thermometer that Fred and Barney used a million years ago? In the Smithsonian? Is the granite indicator needle stuck on the temperature of the day?

Maybe the temperature started increasing when these scientists got out of grad school and started spouting their baloney.

Ryder Cup Bias

A person can love America without liking their media.
Americans are brave, friendly, generous, honest (overall), fun, hardworking, etc.
But their media is as biased and yellow as pravda or the ceeb.
Yesterday, after Darren Clarke had chipped in to beat Tiger Woods just before Paul Casey got an Acey to seal his match, the Golf Channel's comment was "from the sublime to the ridiculous".
Of course, if the Yanks had pulled this magic off, the comment would have been something like "from the amazing to the heroic".
I know this post doesn't fit here, but I'm afraid to start a sports blog. Way too serious and might be harmful to my health (Leaf fans are dangerous doncha know).

Great News - We have enough cowards of our own..

I'm sure Jack Layton will be all atwitter over this.

An American war deserter who sought refugee status in Canada will be returning to the U.S. to face the music -- but don't mistake that for surrender, says a war resister spokesman.
Darrell Anderson fled to Canada two years ago after serving seven months in Iraq.

Humans Have Become Grief Junkies

Looking at the Ceeb this morning I am reminded how shallow our species is and how much we wallow and try to make ourselves as individuals feel special.
Dawson College is festooned with flowers, crowded with sad looking kids trying to get in front of a camera to show how compassionate they are (or to complain against the authorities).
Reminds me of the millions (billions) who were in great pain after Diana, estranged wife of the heir to the realm but contemporary celebrity, got in a car with a drunk driver and died in a car accident.
Media loves grief. They, like their interviewees, wallow in it. It makes a great story.
Grief is individual. No person can share this with you unless they were in the same circle with the deceased.
Dropping flowers or teddy bears at a media appointed grief site, and mugging for the camera doesn't show how compassionate a person is, it shows how trivial they are.
And how much they want to be noticed.

New Blogging Word

Factastic: (adj) a word used to describe a situation in which a blogger totally destroys a troll's weakass argument by rebutting with irrefutable facts .
(please credit to Canadian Blue Lemons)

Aha - The Mount Saint Vincent Cartoon Conspiracy Revealed

Looks like pro-islamism and anti-Americanism is rampant at a Catholic university in Halifax...

Then - the Effect on Feb 8, 2006:
Saint Mary's University administrators have told philosophy professor Peter March to remove editorial caricatures depicting Islam's Prophet Muhammad from the front of his office door. March says he was making a point about freedom of expression after the infamous caricatures, originally published in a Danish newspaper, led to worldwide violence.

Today in The Star:
Prof. Reginald Stuart of Mount Saint Vincent University said Rice’s visit signifies the closer ties that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has fostered with the U.S. administration of President George W. Bush.

From CTV website on Feb 2, 2006
Randi Warne, a religious studies professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, said non-Muslims should try to empathize with the outrage Muslims feel.
"I think we should ask ourselves how people would feel in the West if pictures of Jesus were being drawn this way, committing heinous acts or in compromising positions," she told CTV Atlantic.
"I'm quite sure that there would be outrage all around the world."

Sasha Trudeau Criticizes Canadian Human Rights Record

Spare us these damnable little Trudeaus.
A few weeks ago little Sasha wrote a glowing article in praise of Fidel Castro, who in his 46 years of being a Marxist dictator has murdered hundreds of thousands and imprisoned millions.
Here's a link to my piece on that trudeau tragic travesty.
Today on the CFRB John Moore Show he was railing against Canadian's imprisoning evidenced islamic terrorists.
What a hypocrite, what a waste of air time and ink.
In Cuba, if he was Cuban and said the same sort of thing against Fidel, he'd we welcomed to Villa Marista, Fidel's Lubianka equivalent. And be rotting in hell.

Weather Pimps Disappointed in Ernesto

From The Maritimes
The NB/NS Media were all atwitter the last few days celebrating Hurricane Katrina, showing the tragedies, pointing fingers, warning all viewers of what to do it another hurricane hits (notwithstanding the fact that there's been one in fifty years).
Now the US pimps that rely on things like big winds to prove their Climate Change forecasts (and to get their mugs on TV) are devastated that Ernesto didn't at least knock out power and preferably leave at least 10,000 homeless allowign those wide angle shots of Alligator Alley filled both ways with weather refugees.
From AP
MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Ernesto sloshed rather than slammed ashore -- surprising forecasters by failing to strengthen yesterday as it approached Florida. Briefly a hurricane Sunday, Ernesto lost much of its punch crossing mountainous eastern Cuba. The storm crossed the Florida Straits with top sustained winds of 72 km/h and was moving through Florida overnight as a weak tropical storm. That was good news for Florida, the victim of seven hurricanes since 2004. (But bad news for the pimps. ed)
"Frankly, I am surprised it has not strengthened," said Max Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Centre.

Maritime Notebook - Miscellaneous Ramblings

Lemon returns to his land of birth to hopefully shed his cynicism. He is unsuccessful...

Driving toward Nova Scotia from Saint John Airport, I had the opportunity to listen to CBC Radio, with some difficulty because of a weak signal. Maybe the CBC signal is purposefully weak in the east to make sure that not many of those way sensible Maritimers can listen to the bafflegab commonly spouted thereon. They would have no part of it, by jeezus.

Did catch a typical arts program that asked two guests to review their favorite romance films. The female guest focussed on "Fried Green Tomatoes" which this commentator thankfully has been able to avoid. The wonderful thing about this film, according to the CBC guest was the lesbian relationship between the two principal actors, Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates. (Now I'd love to see them too writhe and wrestle in cooking oil... ed.) Little did the maximum part of the thin audience for this picture know that this was the point of Fanny Flagg's story, 'cause of course it was smothered in the plot to avoid mass demonstrations by Lesbian Haters, I guess.
The male commentator waxed poetic on "Brokeback Mountain". Nuff said.
I guess "As Good as it Gets", "To Have and Have Not", "Adam's Rib", of anything featuring Gable/Lombard, Hepburn/Tracey, Bogart/Bacall, et al weren't worthy of consideration. I wonder why?

Evidently fraudsters are swooping in on unsuspecting Maritimers. They must be because the banks are on least an Amber if not orange alert.
I went into a Scotiabank this morning in a mid-sized town to do my basic by-weekly banking, and what takes two minutes with an absolute stranger in a never visited branch in Toronto took twenty in the Maritime version. They needed three signatures.
I was not alone in my waitful agony. One woman was buying US twenties with Canadian twenties, and the teller checked each bill for counterfeit-ness and again, needed two signatures. Brings to mind the old joke about the Toronto counterfeiter who mistakenly made $15 bills. Rather than waste them, he drove to the Maritimes to trade them in. He was successful, but his change was in $7 and $8 dollar bills.
Maybe he's back at work.

Everything and everybody down here works at glacier speed. People stop in middle of the road to talk about, well, nothing. Same stuff they talked about the day before and day before. Every day down here is Groundhog Day. Quick call Bill Murray. Maritimers are so distant in all ways from celebrities that its all they can talk about - Britney, Madonna, et al. Kids do manage to dress like rappers, tho.
A right hand turn is a major effort for drivers down here, they check all four ways, look out for pedestrians, check all mirrors. Never with a cell phone in hand. And these are the 16 year old boys driving their souped up Checy Cavaliers on deserted PEI red mud roads.

I'll probably need to add to this. Hope none of my family check my site...

Lemon off for now.

Trudeau the Younger Shows Marxism While Praising Fidel

Sasha Trudeau has made a film praising the Palestinians while slamming Israelis, now he compares Castro to Mandela... Puhleeze...

He lives to learn and to put his knowledge in the service of the revolution. For Fidel, revolution is really a work of reason. In his view, revolution, when rigorously adopted, cannot fail to lead humanity towards ever greater justice, towards an ever more perfect social order. [...]
With the possible exception of Nelson Mandela, already well into retirement, Fidel is the last of the global patriarchs. Reason, revolution and virtue are becoming more and more distant and abstract concepts. We will perhaps never see another patriarch.

Who will rid us of these Trudeau poppinjays?
The difference, of course, is that Nelson spent 27 years in solitary confinement while Fidel has spent 47 imprisoning all of his people in an island prison, executing those who go too far, and starving the rest. Castro is a criminal of the highest order.
But maybe his reign describes what Canada would be like if Trudeau really had his way.

The Post I Really, Really Wish I Had Written . . .

Brilliance from http://www.BlackFive.net that describes the heart-wrenching job we ask our soldiers and politicians to do plus, a helluva response to all the do-gooders in the west.

"It must be," I tell her sadly, "Here: That we pursue war without thought of the children. That we do not turn aside from the death of the innocent, but push on to the conclusion, through all fearful fire. If we do that, the children will lose their value as hostages, and as targets: if we love them, we must harden our hearts against their loss. Ours and theirs."

title with apology to Norman Spector

The Funniest Comment in the History of Blogging

Think about it for a sec. Security guards at airports are throwing bottles of liquids appropriated from carry on luggage into garbage cans for security purposes.
Colby Cosh at his very best:
And after five years' experience with the New Transport Security, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that the scenes of security officials pouring hand lotion, hair gel, and bottled water into giant waste bins apparently represent a spectacle every bit as irrational as a witch-dunking. It didn't blow up, therefore it was safe all along! Have a nice day!
h/t to Dis and Dis

New Best Word Verification Word Graphic

Really like the Yak part . . .

CBC Uses Professorial Buffoon to Comment on Afstan War

One would expect that the CBC would hire someone who knows something (anything) about the topic that they are asked to comment upon.
Today on the Afstan WAR, their talking dimwit wanted to know "Who are We At War With?", "What War Are We Fighting?", "What is The Mission?"
Idiot. Her CV follows.
We are fighting people who wish Afstan to remain a Taliban, fundamentalist, terrorist supporting shithole where women are killed by mullahs after they are raped, or raped because of a sexual misdeed of her brother, or are stoned to death becaus eof sexual preference.
We are at war to establish Afstan as a functioning democracy and we are doing this with a collection of other freedom loving countries who make up something called NATO.
The War will be over when there is a safe democracy, ruled by the people, and respecting all human rights.
What credentials in the following CV provide this moonbat the right to even comment on this war, (other than in a blog of course).

Elizabeth Trott is a full Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Ryerson University. She previously taught in the Department of Philosophy and the faculty of Education at the University of Toronto. Elizabeth Trott has written extensively about education, art and design, and Canadian Philosophy and culture. She was a Writer-Broadcaster for CBC radio and contributed in creating programs about justice, education and early Canadian philosophers. She was a founding member of the Canadian Society for Practical Ethics and served on the Executive 1985-1990.

Rempelia Medallion

The Rarest Day In the Year is Today

Today is the only one of 365 on which there is not a single North American professional sporting event - not hockey, not football, not bball and not baseball.
Why?

One More Diff Between Canada & The US??

Their courts respect their legislators:

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York's highest court ruled Thursday that gay marriage is not allowed under state law, rejecting arguments by same-sex couples who said the law violated their constitutional rights. The Court of Appeals, in a 4-2 decision, said New York's marriage law is constitutional and clearly limits marriage to between a man and a woman.
Any change in the law would have to come from the state legislature, Judge Robert Smith said. "We do not predict what people will think generations from now, but we believe the present generation should have a chance to decide the issue through its elected representatives," Smith wrote.
Gov. George Pataki's health department and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office had argued that New York law prohibited issuing licences to same-sex couples. The state had prevailed in lower appeals courts.
From The Star

Nancy Silverman is the Bomb?

I am a self-confessed Idol nut, for me the brand offers entertainment with the pathos of Euripides and the joy of Bach. I've been busy the last few weeks, yes, trying to overthrow a government, and haven't see much of the 2006 version. And with this group of idol attempters I'm kinda glad that I've had better things to do.
Not one performer in the single mens night and single womens night that I've caught offers a single participant that has even the p in performer. A really weak group of smiling pleasant untalented kids posing and strutting. And the judges are reading scripts that they have used in every previous season. Sorry to point out that Nancy, who seems to be a nice girl, isn't "The Bomb" as she was termed by the evil judge.
The whole show is the Bomb. She's kind of a bomblet.
And I'd really like to like it. Lemons Rating??
For Ben Mulroney keeping a smile through it all.

The Most Introspective Article on Canadianism Ever

Toronto Star - Andrew Cohen
A virtual country
On the 153rd anniversary of Confederation, Canada goes through the motions yet again. On Parliament Hill, the bells toll mournfully and the Maple Leaf hangs listlessly. Soldiers fire a 21-gun salute and Snowbirds fly overhead. Under sweltering skies, the prime minister still insists that Canada is "a young country," as he and his untutored predecessors have done since it really was a young country.Thousands gather on the grass. They hear breathless politicians declare that Canada is the best country in the world, a boast once thought terribly un-Canadian, but lately as predictable as the national time signal. In the shadow of the Peace Tower, they watch entertainers of every ethnicity, reflecting this extraordinarily diverse society. The show is as inclusive as Canada itself. Everyone must be represented — there was a minor scandal last year when Karen dancers from Burma were overlooked in the festivities — because peoples from around the globe are reserving rooms in Hotel Canada. All want a role in this spectacle, as if to confirm their arrival.Troupe after troupe of new Canadians in traditional national costume march across the stage. Recalling national birthdays long past, there are some high-stepping Ukrainians, fiddlers from Quebec and throat singers from Nunavut. But these are passé today. Now, the headliners are drummers from Senegal and acrobats from Brunei. After a half-generation of open immigration, Canada is home to millions who have fled the drought and desertification that have turned parts of Africa and Asia into a netherworld and made the environment humanity's ruin. The land that God gave to Cain and Voltaire called "a few acres of snow" now looks like Shangri-La in a beleaguered world. No wonder Canada's birthday party goes on for three days, as if it were a Hindu wedding.
Click Here for the entire, thoughtful and frightening (to many) future...

911truth.org No more needs to be said about the 911 Conspiracy Freaks....

911 Truth Link
Mr. Sheen, star of the TV sitcom Two and a Half Men, provoked a media storm in March by calling in interviews for an independent investigation.
“It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box-cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75% of their targets, that feels like a conspiracy theory. It raises a lot of questions,” Mr. Sheen said in an interview in March. “A couple of years ago, it was severely unpopular to talk about any of this. It feels like from the people I talk to, and the research I’ve done and around my circles, it feels like the worm is turning.”
Mr. Sheen “brings the movement some legitimacy. He gives it a face,” said a Los Angeles student attending the conference, who gave his name as Rico.

Right - a serious drug user, a comedy star, a procurer of prostitutes, and an alleged wife beater gives these moonbats legitimacy. I need to say it - Sheen is the half part of two and a half.
They don't need legitimacy, they need brains...

No News on June 17, 2006

Every morning I get up early and check the electronic versions of the papers.
Tonday, on The Star, I did my routine, Headlines, World, Province, GTA.
Not a single headline was newsworthy enough to even click the link.
Maybe this is a good thing.

"Who you gonna believe? Me or your lyin' eyes..."

I just can't resist posting Richard Prior's famous line.
h/t Celestial Junk

Coyne on Zerbisias . . .

"Or if I say that Antonia Zerbisias is a blithering idiot, am I engaging in deliberate overstatement for comic effect? Or am I making a clinical diagnosis?"

Whole piece behind firewall in National Post

10 Year Old Canadian Born Terrorist in Training

Driving to Montreal yesterday I tuned into CBC for a while - they were doing a call in on the home grown terrorists. A woman caller revealed herself as a teacher formerly working in a school in Regent Park. She told the story of a 10 year old boy she was working with. They were having a wonderful chat, he was smiling and laughing and explained how he knew how to speak all the languages in the world.
She asked him what Shalom meant.
She said his eyes went dead and he said "thats what Jews say and when we see Jews we're supposed to kill them."
The CBC host quickly soon after cut her off and started making apologies for 10 year olds in general, and how children of all backgrounds sometimes have misguided ideas.
Sure.....
Regent Park, along with being the easiest place in Toronto to get a cab, is also becoming largely Muslim. Of course, a fair share of these likely have such views and teach them to their children.

Slow Down For a While

Like many of my brothers (and sisters) in arms (and legs), I started this blog to try and communicate my frustration with an incredibly corrupt and incompetent federal government.
A dozen years ago I was an avid Liberal - called, campaigned, raised money. I was a Trudeauite for God's sake.
But once I got inside the Chretien government and saw how he operated Canada like he would a cash business corner store, I crossed the river. He, his pseudo adopted son Jean Carle, Allan Rock, Volpe, McLellan, and yes Martin, and the rest of this bunch are so crooked that they'll be screwed into the ground when they die, not buried.
I don't think that anything I wrote had the slightest effect on the outcome of the election, except relieve me of the cost and pain of following around Paul Martin with a baggy, picking up and recycling his trash vocally on a stump in High Park.
We have a government I'm proud of now, one with convictions and beliefs and one that doesn't quiver at a negative headline, or try to fix everybody's wounds all at once. Or at least promise to.
I still have things to say but not as much, so I'm gonna focus on maybe one article a week on Federal issues.
We got a Mayor to topple in Toronto, so I'm gonna focus on http://torontobluelemons.blogspot.com
See you there.

American Idol Finale

I admit. I dig it.
But the program tonight was the best variety entertainment program I have seen since Sullivan.
And frankly the phony award winners were more deserving than those at the Oscars, Emmys, etc.
Am I nuts?

Imagine if GW Bush Did This...

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton warned Canada last night not to go down an American-style, privatized health-care road.

Could You Imagine Al Gore or John Kerry Doing This??

One more sign of why George is a hero.

The Death of the Blog

According to Ted McKeough in a special to The Star:

NEW YORK—There have been plenty of commentators arguing that blogs will lead to the demise of "old" media organizations that publish newspapers, magazines and books. ABC News columnist Michael S. Malone predicted the end of newspapers last year when he saw "the first links embedded in blogs. There was simply nothing in the physical world that could ever hope to match the ability to leap through cyberspace from story to story, file to file, with almost infinite extension." Or as former editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com Merrill Brown put it: "The future of the news industry is seriously threatened by the seemingly irrevocable move by young people away from traditional sources of news."Yet despite the proliferation and popularity of blogs, the obliteration of mainstream media as we know it is just not happening. Rather than resembling a steamroller, blogs are looking like the cheese on the bread that is mainstream media; or if you prefer, the icing on the cake.

As it now stands, the reason that so many blog links go to MSM is because, currently, the MSM is the dominant gatherers of news and content. No blogger can afford, individually, to, for example, imbed a journalist with the troops in the front lines of Iraq (or as most MSM outlets do, in the green zone). An except to this has been Steve Marshall of Guerrilla News who produced a Sundance award winning doc while doing this on his own tab.
This will change when there are more bloggers at the places where news occurs. News will be something that is reported in real time, by the participants and direct observers. And the main media for this will be blogs, in real time. And with the use of aggregators and spiders, a second after someone posts something interesting, the world will have it.
Then the MSM will become republishers. And they will die.

Seal Hunt - Newfoundlanders Protest Right Back at Them

Got news that the do-gooding urban doh-heads looking to interfere with the Seal Harvest are blocked in their hotels by family members and supporters and unable to get to the helicopters to bother the working men on the ice.
Hurrah for Newfies!!!!

The Hypocrisy of Seal Hunt Opponents

Got a chance to listen in on the CBC Noon call in show on the Seal Hunt over lunch. Of course, there were a number of callers who like seals they've never met a lot better than people they've never met. What struck me was how the whiners were those typical urban pissers and moaners who know what's good for Newfoundlanders, and for seals, almost certainly never having seen either close up.
There were three observations I made from listening to the pap spewed by one of these metrosexual, do-gooding, humanity hating creeps. They made me chuckle. Bitterly.
1/ That they feel its perfectly natural and necessary for them to dictate to people living in Northern Newfoundland how to live, while they vehemently protest, in huge numbers and with loud voices, when they fear that these hated small towners might try and restrict their liberties to do or say anything they want: kill their unborn babies, marry their same sex squash partner, or abrogate their parental responsibilities by having the government raise their children;
2/ That they don't mind having uninformed Americans stick their noses into Canadian affairs when they support their own uninformed opinions;
3/ These saps are likely also strong anti-poverty advocates. But to them the amount of money that sealers make is trivial (stated amount was $1200, real average is $5000) and does not warrant participating in the hunt. They are so distanced from real economic conditions in Canada that they are convinced that sealers can get other employment, or that $5k isn't very much. To a Northern Newfoundlander $5k feeds and clothes a family for a year. (They also shoot down the value of $1200 a year in child care not recognizing that this is a fortune for an average family in most rural areas.)
I despise these creeps. They are responsible for me becoming the cynic that I sometimes am.

Why Would the YWCA Produce a Childcare Report Anyway?

The YWCA, in their mission and vision, do not pretend to carry any responsibility whatsoever to offer benefit to children, unless they are girl children, to wit:
Mission
YWCA Toronto is an association of diverse and caring women dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls through dynamic leadership, advocacy, and a range of unique and essential services that promote personal growth and economic independence.
Vision
Through a holistic and partnership approach, the YWCA will expand its programs and services to meet the more complex array of emergency and long term community needs, significantly increase its financial resource base and be widely valued for its commitment to equity, access, safety and a just society and as a leader in advocacy and service to women and girls.

Not a mention of kids, except girl kids.

That being said why would they (a) be interested in childcare at all, and, (b) apply for $ from the Libs to fund a plan to create a national childcare program?
It's simple, silly. To provide benefits to their constituency, i.e. women. To make women's lives better, to allow them to be more politically active to gain more power for . . . women. (Not that there's anything wrong with women - half the people I love or like are women.)
The YWCA doesn't give a flying fig whether children benefit or not, so long as a program creates something like 400,000 new $50,000 jobs for... women. Their advocacy to get the employment fits within their mission, actually doing the best thing for children doesn't.

Their program is a 'supply' program, not a 'demand' program. They insist that a place be available for every child under 6 in Canada - from Tuk to Toronto and Vic to Joe Batts Arm. Whether the place is needed or not. Plus a national head office, and 'hubs' to manage the regional activities. They demand that a national education program be built for the care givers.

And they boast about the Quebec program, that provides spots for 1/5 of les enfants, and the Liberal program, that simply called for a transfer of cash which could only provide 4% of the money needed for the program the YWCA believe is necessary. And for them, the work that mothers do to raise their children in a loving way is of no value. Women who stay home to raise children are beneath contempt for the YWCA; they refer to subsidies for daycare as stigmatizing and state that when a woman's primary role is as a mother, then her child is more likely to suffer poverty and social exclusions. And they say that paying Moms to stay home is too expensive.

As far as costs go, to pay the bills for this program, every household in Canada would need to pony up $3,000 a year, whether there is a need or not! Yes, not the $1Billion a year that the Libs proposed, but $30 Billion a year? Or $15,000 a kid (assuming every kid under 6 takes a place). There might be a lotta educated$50k an annum child care technicians playing hearts if the YWCA gets their way.

Question.
Why not just take the $15k per kid and pay $15k to the Moms.
But I guess that wouldn't create jobs for all them other wimmin.

The Monty Python Perspective on Rights

Imagine a bunch of civilians sitting on a hill during the time of Jesus, making plans to rebel against the hated Romans...
REG: Agreed. Francis?
FRANCIS: Yeah. I think Judith's point of view is very valid, Reg, provided the Movement never forgets that it is the inalienable right of every man--
STAN (Eric Idle): Or woman.
FRANCIS: Or woman... to rid himself--
STAN: Or herself.
FRANCIS: Or herself.
REG: (John Cleese) Agreed.
FRANCIS: Thank you, brother.
STAN: Or sister.
FRANCIS: Or sister. Where was I?
REG: Furthermore, it is the birthright of every man--
STAN: Or woman.
REG: Why don't you shut up about women, Stan. You're putting us off.
STAN: Women have a perfect right to play a part in our movement, Reg.
FRANCIS: Why are you always on about women, Stan?
STAN: I want to be one.
REG: What?
STAN: I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me 'Loretta'.
REG: What?!
LORETTA: It's my right as a man.
JUDITH: Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?
LORETTA: I want to have babies.
REG: You want to have babies?!
LORETTA: It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.
REG: But... you can't have babies.
LORETTA: Don't you oppress me.
REG: I'm not oppressing you, Stan. You haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!
LORETTA: [crying]
JUDITH: Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies.
FRANCIS: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister. Sorry.
REG: What's the point?
FRANCIS: What?
REG: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?!
FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

The Most Dangerous Man in the World's in Texas

Art Baker reveals a prof in Texas that truly scares the bejeezus piss out of me.

Charles Taylor to Make Bid for Liberal Leadership

Late Monday night from a jail cell, former Liberian dictator and war lord Charles Taylor announced he was seeking the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, although he has never even been to Canada. "I have the necessary experience, and, as well I would need to make very minor changes to my monogrammed towels and personalized license plates (Lib One)."
Observers believe this is just a stunt to possibly provide Taylor a means of evading a jail sentence; no Liberal politician has ever had to serve time for a criminal offense, while others are not so sure. Said Liberal Party member, Earl Mudflat of Lower Shobagan, NS, "It's time for Canada to be ruled by a visible minority , and Mr. Taylor has this as well as being tough on crime."
There was no comment from party leadership hopeful, Michael Ignatieff, who in the past has supported torture as a necessary tool.

The Death of Journalism

Take notice, MSM (lol)
I'm gonna write a piece on how journalism has stopped being a vital force of information for society. Instead, it has become a place of hysteria, celebrity and partisanship.
Points of Views instead of News.
Talking heads instead of investigators and fact checkers.
All Mainstream News is propaganda for its station owners, its advertisers and its preferred politicans.
News outlets profile their audiences and mirror their opinions in their reportage. It's become mass media masturbation.

Look out BIG MEDIA. I'm coming atcha. (But in a very self-effacing, humble and Canadian way.)

Anyone wanna start the thread and contribute some ideas that I can credit when I get going on the thing?

(note to all - the pomposity above is meant for humor...)

A Picture for the Ages

Credit - National Post

Cdn Blue Lemons December 17 2005 Seat Forecast

Originally Posted Dec 17 2005
Actual:
CPC - 124
Lib - 103
PQ - 51
NDP - 28
Ind - 1
Not a bad guess

I think the Libs sense some things that aren't showing up in the polls and some that are. The Chretienites are hurting not helping - a lot maybe even silently hoping for a CPC victory. Quebec is lost - maybe a dozen seats fewer there. Rural Ontario is fading - maybe a dozen lost there. These events alone result in a CPC minority government. If the trend continues and the Tories pick up an extra dozen seats outside of Quebec and Ontario, all of a sudden the CPC has 40% of the seats in the House and reverses the current standings.
My read given this scenario:
CPC - 122
Lib - 103
PQ - 63
NDP - 20
And if this scenario happens, which party would pull the string on an election in the next two years. They'd get slaughtered.
I can smell fear.

A Note for Those Who Prefer the State Raising Children

The former Liberal Government and New Democratic Party have promised starter and happier children if only the State is allowed to raise them as surrogate parents from cradle to drinking age.
With a sweeping assumption, I think it would be valuable to look for tried examples of this philosophy and conduct an evaluation, prior to drawing such a conclusion and defending it so vigorously.
Of course, we have an excellent, broadly-based, case study upon which we can draw educated conclusions.
Public education.
All levels of public school have been accessible without direct payment or taxes to all school age children now in all parts of Canada for almost fifty years. When I attended public school, our teachers were clearly proxies for parents; they treated us as their personal charges, disciplined us as a loving parent would, stayed late to offer after-school programs and rewarded us with stars on our scribblers.
What do we see now in our state run system? Well, first of all teachers have become mercenaries - unwilling to spend a minute more at school that they are contracted and paid to provide. Thus we have seen the end of after school chemistry clubs, photo-clubs, school newspapers and the like, and all the benefits these activities brought to kids.
Meanwhile, our courts have seen fit to remove the right of locos parentis, teachers are now not permitted to discipline children, not even take their knives away from them if they dare. Rather than open children's minds to different ideas, almost stereotypically children are coached on the values of liberal humanist beliefs, or worse, urged toward anti-Christian and anti-capitalist views.
When the teachers don't get their way, they go on strike and act like pre-juveniles, stamping their feet until they do.
And there are no failures in our state run education system; teachers don't want to be stuck with the same dullards for more than one year, so kids are automatically promoted.
The end results is that our educational achievement is bordering on the pathetic. Our children are not given the opportunities to develop new interests, they do not know the joy of success or the disappointment of failure. They are taught to resent the economic and social systems in which they live.
The proof of the failure of the public school system is evidenced by the choices being made by Canadian parents; depending on the province, as much as 9.1% of school age children now attend private schools in the country. This despite the comparative financial burden of a minimum of $15000 cost per student against zero. We have a two tier education system, where the rich kids get smarter.
We can expect the same sort of outcomes for under-sixers in an expanded state run day care program, as we now get from a state-run educational system. And the outcomes ain't very pretty at all.

Iggy's Liberal Campaign Chair Sees the Light

Says Toronto Star
And has swung his support to Cappy.
In this tight race, this could send Iggy and his intellect back to Harvard.

If Iggy wants to teach at UofT for a while and actually live here, we might see him again, which will frankly be welcome. He's a bright guy.

Steve Harper New Host of Vinyl Cafe

Just listened to Harper's "Martin's Ads" speech from St. Catharines in audio only.
If he ever tires of politics, Stephen can jump into Stuart MacLean's seat on CBC's The Vinyl Cafe immediately thereafter. He has a twin voice to Stuart: pleasingly laconic, comfortably referring to his 'friends" as Stuart does.
Personally, I hope Mr. Harper is our PM for the next dozen years or so, but if not, he could make our Sunday afternoons cozier on CBC as he regales us of tales of dogs stealing Christmas turkeys and the like.

Is Bureaucracy Partisan Liberal?

Right answer is probably, some.
But a recent example occurred when I scrutineered an advance poll last weekend. My name tag didn't say Conservative Party of Canada, or even CPC Party.
It said PC Party.
Now, this could be an accident. Or it could be an attempt by someone to dismiss or disparage the credibility of the CPC.
As I get older I get more jaded and cynical.
In Ontario of course we have some dimbulbs running as Prog Cdn Party - - they will be listed as the PC Party on the ballots.
Elections Canada is not, or chooses not, to make very basic corrections that could in a small way effect the election.

Anyone Else Offended by the Phrase "Progressive Voters"?

What unadulterated Bull Crap.
We are "neo-conservatives" (their politically correct sobriquet for fascist nazis) and "progressive" voters will vote Liberal. I guess that means the 40% of people who will vote for the CPC are "regressive" voters.
Those liberal turkeys love labels so long as they're not used on them, i.e. Hypocrites, Liars, Thieves, Fraud Artists, etc.

Susan Murray Defends Martin On Pensions

This morning on Newman, Susan Murray was here usual loud and obnoxious interrupting self defending Paul Martin for speaking to union workers in London about protecting their pensions.
Was this was the same Paul Martin whose Canadian Steamships stripped something like $150 million from the company's employee pension plans?
I think so.

Did Volpe Lose His License?

By ALAN FINDLAY, TORONTO SUN
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe rented limos to ferry him on long trips from Toronto last year, with one ride to Buffalo and back costing more than $1,000, Sun Media has learned.
Leaked documents detail a 12 1/2-hour trip to the nearby U.S. city last March that included an $850 fare, $127.50 tip and $68.43 in GST for a total cost of $1,045.93.
Another 10 1/2-hour trip to an undisclosed location from Pearson airport cost $522.

Doesn't Joe have a car??

Which is Which?

One of these fellows is the Video Professor, promising to re-educate the masses on using computers. The other leads the New Democratic Party of Canada, promising to re-educate Canadians to give all their money to the masses.

Hoping for a Carolyn Bennett Retirement

Back a dozen years ago at a meeting of the Hepatitis C Society (started to look for justice for people infected by the Blood System) Carolyn Bennett, as A FOUNDER of the SOCIETY spoke at the Annual General Meeting and as a new MP.
She suggested that the Society should stop opposing the government and cooperate, that it will be more valuable to work inside the system than as outsiders. The impression was that she would be able to generate better results inside Parliament than activists could by marching on the front lawn.
Of course, her statements were platitudinous, perhaps based on her naivite, perhaps with other motives.
Only a few weeks later a vote came to the house to comepensate victims and she, as all other Lib MPs did, voted against the victims.
It is time for Dr. Bennett to take early retirement with all the other hypocritical members of the Liberal government, who say one thing, do another, but always protect their personal interests, their power and positions.
I hope to see Peter Kent in Ottawa come Tuesday.

My Email to Think Twice Canada

If I were a part of your organization (which I am not) I would be ashamed.
Canada is still a democracy and your considerations, individually or collectively, are no more or less important or informed than anyone elses.
Being an actor does not provide you special insight into right or wrong. It likely does qualify you to be a politician. Being a trade unionist hardly suggests non-partisanship. As far as your inclusiveness, of 25 members identifiable by gender, all but 2 arefemale, which is fine, but makes your organization less gender equal than the Canadian Conservative Party.
Believe it or not, Canadians in vast numbers disagree with you despite the best intended results of you and of the NDP and Liberal Parties and the millions of dollars of public money they have spent in opposing the CPC.
Stop thinking that you're smarter than the masses, appreciate that people are allowed to disagree with you and be prepared to accept the possibility that Canadian Conservatives are every bit as well intended, every bit as honest, just as hard working and just as honest and forthright as you are.

Martin Admits He's in Trouble

I wish I had this on tape - a second ago Paulo Martini stated in a press conference and I quote, "I hope you appreciate that now I'm really in trouble."
Good to know you know, Paul.
Oh and just after he said that "I hope Canadians don't take us back 10 years when the government didn't know what its projections were, what its numbers were."
Ah, Paul, weren't you Finance Minister then??

Bloggers - Write Your Scandal Story Now Before its too Late

Hit the Link and write your scandal story in time for it to remind voters.

Liberals Insulted Hep C Blood Victims

On September 20, 1996 my brother, Tony, my best friend and the greatest guy anyone ever met died with Hepatitis C.
For the year before both of us joined the battle to confront the government and Red Cross about their failure to protect the blood supply and Canadians. I carried on this struggle for a few years after his death as one of the activists chasing Alan Rock and gang of thugs trying to hold them accountable.
We were less than a half dozen folks with no money, some very sick, all with lives to live who took on the entire Liberal Empire.
What did we know from those good bureaucrats was definite and disgusting.
The government knew (a Liberal one by the way) that the blood system was compromised as early as the 1960's. They new there was a new deficiency, they didn't know what it was. During the 70's this was labelled non-A, non-B Hepatitis. The Blood Committee of the Bureau of Biologics of Health Canada decided that the risks of infection were acceptable, but the cost of warning people of the infection of the blood system was not. They refused announcing this, and refused the obvious opportunity for people to provide autologous donations (of their own blood) and targeted donations for family members. Thousands of Canadians were infected during this period.
Later on, still under a Liberal government, it was decided that it would be cheaper to pay out any compensation claims, than to pay $32 million a year for treating the blood.
We know what happened, probably 20,000 or more people were infected by Hep C in the blood supply, with many more subsequently infected downstream.
When the Liberal government was attacked for this shame, their response was disgusting (and predictable). At first they denied any responsibility. Then they circled their wagons and stonewalled. Then they had a bunch of meetings and decided to not do anything. I remember Rock stating that this file was closed, and my response that they considered our people to be 8 x 11 and manila.
During this time and after my brother's death I visited death bed after death bed. Met with hundreds of people whose lives were ruined, without any Liberal compassion.
Thanks to the work of our volunteers, and the actions of people like Andre Picard and Michael Harris, they finally came clean and admitted responsibility for people infected between 1986 and 1990. Curiously a period when the PCs were in office.
I remember our volunteer lobbyist offering advice, "remember their jobs and power are way more important to them than your sick people are to you. They will do anything to keep you down. They will try and hire your volunteers, they will try to offer you directed money to make you pursue other strategies, they will invite you to sit on committees to study solutions (and delay proceedings) and then never have the committee meet." The Liberals did all of these and more.
Finally, they were nailed and had to come up with something to get the public off their back.
Their final response. $1.1 Billion in compensation, to be negotiated with by class action lawyers.
Where were these lawyers when we needed them? Personally starting class action suits in our victims interests, without the involvement of the victims groups. What was the end result?
One of Alan Rock's best friends was appointed by Alan Rock to represent the victims. He had not put one dime into our campaign or spent one minute advising us. Subsequently he received $60 million from the compensation fund. All Victims collectively have not received much more (the lawyers and fund administration costs now total an equal amount to all compensation pay outs).
An unwieldy compensation application process was designed making it tough (especially for sick people) to apply and qualify.
Alan Rock's buddy the class action lawyer flies around in a Lear jet. My brother is in his grave.
Another example of how Liberals do things.

Media Frenzy Proves Tory Prospects

Credit Paul Wells from Macleans
Media types don't line up to fopllow around losers. Losers can't afford the buffets and booze. Paul reveals that a third bus has been added to the CPC contingent.

"Greetings from the record-breaking third emergency media bus the Harper campaign has laid on, in response to higher-than-average interest in what the Calgary MP is up to this week.
That's right. The first bus is for electronic media. The second is for print. And the third is for stragglers and slow learners, including me, the guy from CJAD, and Rick Mercer. Fortunately Bogdan the techie has this thing wi-fi'd up, so I can blog inanely."

Globe Endorses Tories ----- Which Torlib Paper Will Move First?

Originally Posted on Jan 10

After last night's Howard Dean like performance by Paul Martin, and given the dramatic shift in poll responder support in the past week, bandwagon hopping might be one athletic event we can expect in the next 2 weeks.
I've been musing since Boxing Day that if the media moves to the Tories, we could see a landslide.
Certainly, with some exceptions, Stephen Harper and his party are being more fairly received by the MSM than last time. And in looking at the Star and the Globe today, a willingness to accept a Conservative government, preferrably in a minority, seems not to be an undesirable outcome.
I think that one of the 2 big Toronto dailies in the next week will be positing if not publishing an editorial with the headline "Time for Liberals to Take a Rest and Rebuild".
Any thoughts from Blogdom?

Newman, Derek Lee and John Baird Debate on Property Rights

Huge example during the show tonight.
A year ago the Provincial Liberals legislated a green belt around Toronto to limit urban sprawl. Prior to this those land owners were looking forward to a very comfortable retirement based on the anticipated value of the sale of their land for residential home building.
Back then I was consulting with a client who was looking at his land increasing in value from $10k an acre to over $500k, and he was keen on selling his land (that have been owned for generations.
The right of eminant domain, which exists without property rights, was invoked by the province and the individuals affected lost millions of dollars (except that owned by Liberal friends but that's another story).
Canadian's don't appreciate that we own nothing. Not the rights to the shirts off our backs, if the government decide to take them.

The Tory Surge Why??

Simple, I think.
About 6 or 7 years ago many of us looked to the combined polling of the PCs and Reforms and concluded that if only . . .
we could combine the vote . . .
Well,
now, perhaps we see it. The conservative factions have come together. And we are perhaps seeing this.
In Canada.
I'm not allowed to make this up.

What if these are the best ideas the Libs Got . . .

Reposted from December 28th
Hard to belive, but these HAVE been the best ideas the Libs have

I know its juvenile what we're seeing...

Liberal insiders calling attractive socialist candidates pooches and pols that wear cowboy hats gay (even if its an in thing what with the new hit movie Bend Over Mountain), and NDP leaders a-holes (not for the first time). And the let them eat cake, er, I mean let them eat popcorn comment was done over 200 years ago (but there were hereditary rulers back then - the Libs wish).

But what if these ideas are the best ones the liberal got?
What if their best minds got together and this is what they've come up with?
We haven't seen much else from a policy perspective so far. Day care (that I think Mulroney talked about first 20 years ago)? That's it.

Chatted with a long time Lib advisor in Ottawa on Monday. Even he's thinking about voting Tory. And he's a Red Liberal.

If the trend continues, we're looking at a landslide.

Martin finally gets a crowd

At the Delta in Agincourt tonite PM (Post Mortem) finally got a crowd.
Drew them from the entire GTA. 5 million people managed to provide a Liberal crowd that filled a room.
Compared to the Canadian Club earlier in the day that was 40% full, even with a whole gang of folks trying to fill seats.

PM "A Right Wing American Conservative Policy"

What . . .
Property rights are bad??
They would be a disaster according to PM.
A Charter of Rights and Freedom that does not prevent the Queen of England (Canada) from her legal right to take my car if desired, to take my house and land for the establishment of a safe injection site and pay me whatever they decide is market value is good according to Paul Martin.
Let's start with PMs farm. Lets have the Queen decide to take this over for a drug rehabilitation centre.
Under eminent domain, the Queen can.

As much as the long campaign is getting me thru the winter . . .

Campaign is too long
When the CBC is doing Political Speed Dating and letting each party produce and air their own stories . . .
Too much time too little said even less done.
Let's just select a poll and let that decide an outcome.

A Missing Debate Booboo and Charest to Support Harper

Anyone else notice last night that Gilles D kept pushing Paul M to agree that Quebec was a nation. The PM (post mortem) seemed to agree that Quebec was a nation but in his best liberal way, wiggled his way out of ever using the phrase "Quebec Nation".

Meanwhile, word is out that the Quebec Liberals will be supporting the Tory Candidates that are appear to be in the lead over the PQ.

Michael Ignatieff Runs like a . . .

Anyone catch Michael Ignatieff on Global tonite, dashing insecurely out of his campaign office looking uncomfortable in his toque, into a waiting BMW?? No doubt to dazzle his adoring public constituency with his deep intellectual opinions on ethnic nationalism.
I knew Pierre Trudeau and Iggy is no Pierre Trudeau.
I hope he didn't unvest his Harvard pension.
I like Iggy, but I think Cappy's gonna whip his butt.

John McCallum Squeezed by Newman

... and left a quivering jello of a minister.
Only a couple of minutes into the interview on Newman this morning, Emperor John McCallum started shedding his clothes.
With Monte Solberg chuckling in the background, Newman was trying to figure out what the heck the former RBC Economics head was talking about. Monte made it clear that the CPC would have a new approach and brought out the Natl Poverty Coalition and Conference Board as supporters of their program financial efficacy. McCallum slagged the CPC for cancelling the Liberals pre-election promises (as if they had had a mandate to deliver on them to begin with).
Newman caught the Lib on one piece of LibLogic - "what's the difference between the Liberals giving Ontario $5 Billion and the PCs transferring money to the province?"
Newman suggested that really, wasn't it just a matter of choices - to allow people to make their decision on which plan they preferred?
Monte was wonderfully dismissive and too be honest, McCallum kinda looked shakey. He also advised that the whole Tory platform will be out by the end of the week.

Forecast of Tuesday's Post Debates Comments

Susan Delacourt: "Paul Martin seemed to be half asleep until values were mentioned, then he was almost evangelical (in a good way) in denigrating Harper as 'an enemy of every single moral and ethical value that makes this country great. And I, for one, will not stand by while this man ruins this great country."

James Travers: "Paul Martin performed like an old shoe, not much to look at, but easy to slip into and out of. I suspect that a whole lot of people who tuned in are going to be dropping into Payless before January 23rd."

Tom Clark: "Paul Martin was in fighting trim and came out swinging when the topic turned to Quebec. He blasted at Stephen Harper that 'if you haven't lived in Quebec, then you can't understand Quebec, and you certainly can't help Quebecers who are trying to keep this country together'."

Greg Weston: "The Liberal's unhappy prospects for election took an even more desperate turn toward the end of the debate. The soon to be former Prime Minister piled one empty platitude on top of another until even his own eyes started to glaze over. Meanwhile, Stephen Harper stayed entirely within his bandwidth; not too hot, not too cold, just right."

Andrew Coyne: "When will it end... Repeating unfulfilled Liberal promises from elections past and bringing to the debate old enemies long gone from the battlefield. I kept waiting for Martin to bring up Arthur Meighen, for heaven sakes. If Martin is to have any hope in this campaign, then he has to start living in the now. Otherwise, I just wish someone would put him out of his misery. Maybe he could finish the campaign on a slow CSL boat to Vanatu or something."

John Ibbitson: "This campaign remains to be decided. No one was overly impressive, nor destructively bad, and nothing was done or said that would swing a meaningful number of votes in meaningful ridings. It will be hard to say, though, what Paul Martin can do between now and E-Day to turn things around."

Sheila Copps: "This guy has no shame; seconds after he was denying any connection to the Chretien government, he was taking credit for everything from the Clarity Act to staying out of Iraq. This even though in caucus meetings he had spoken vigourously against both."

A Certain Grit Blogger: "Paul Martin got em exactly where we want em. His calm, statesmanlike stance blew Harper out of the water and promises to make his tenure in Stornaway even briefer. Its great to be a huge underdog going into the last two weeks of the campaign."

Message to Be Delivered at Doorsteps

Many of the people I've talked to in the last week are in search of positive change, yet hang on to messages tied to political parties not called the CPC, not led by Stephen Harper, or not related to the policies of the CPC today.
I've heard Mulroney stories frequently, and devil you know stories, and memories of bozo eruptions and the like from the last campaign. An election scheduled early by the Libs so that the CPC would not be fully ready for a campaign.
One of the meesages I deliver is that our party offers the promise of dozens of new people to the House of Commons, not associated with the brothel that the Liberals have created and the negative atmosphere that has permeated the House.
In Toronto we have a slate of young, new entrants to the political scene, who, if elected will bring new vitality to debate in the House and to the policies of the CPC.

Urban ridings - especially Toronto - need solid and vigorous CPC representatives, whether in Government or in opposition. And we can offer them this. Not only for immediate change, but for growth of the party into one that represents, through their elected members, all perspectives on all issues that affect Canadians.

New Look

A New Look...

Did the Martin Boys Ever Pay for Their Dad's Company

I'm just asking the question.
Pablo Martini is a quarter billionaire thanks to the coniving of Maurice Strong and generosity of Paul Daimarais (Jean Chretien's daughters Father in Law).
Is Pablo totally liquid now?
Like did the boys pay cash or cheque??
Were capital gains taxes appropriately paid?
Woudl Revenue Canada dare to track this back?
Or was this just a phantom transaction?

Just asking.

Shoot Me Before I Read CBC Again

Story after story, spin after spin that is pro Liberal.
The CBC, which has a Board of Directors that entirely and exclusively donated money to the Liberal Party, that have News Directors across the country which did not have a single Conservative voter in the last election.
Mom Corp is trying her best to keep her sugar daddys in office.

I'm Concerned

All signs in the real world point to strong grassroots Tory support.
But I see the propaganda stanrting to spin out:
Tom Clark's pro Martin spin;
CBC's absolute lies about the Tory tax plan;
Canoe's reporting Martin's incorrect math.

I think the media are beginning to unmake Stephen Harper thinking that they have made him.

I do think that he will cause an earthquake in Quebec on Tuesday.
But Toronto media are starting to aim their pencils at him.

Claude Dauphine - Honourary President of Option Canada

M. Dauphine's spokesperson said that le bon monsieur had nothing to do with management of the organization, that he was only "honourary president".

Question I have is whether he received any "honourary stipends or honouraria" for being honourary president?

I bet there was a little or a lot of kaching in the budget for him

Update on Toronto Centre

Got a chance to canvas a downtown condo today for Lewis Reford. This would be expected to be red - mainly upper middle class young folks, upwardly mobile types
Response was surprisingly positive - only had two doors hit my nose. More tories than liberals, lot of undecided almost all going to the candi debates on Wednesday.
If we can win a poll like this we can win the riding.
But still a lot to do.

Neil Macdonald - Hater of Israel and anything to do that ain't liberal

Neil Macdonald came up with a story that the Tories are going to increase personal tax rates in their first budget.
Macdonald is largely a discredited journalist for the scandalous stories that slagged Israel in the last couple of years.
He has no credibility and frankly, should have been fired (like Terry Milewski was a couple of years ago by challenged Chretien).
This story assumes 2 things, 1/ that the Tories are gonna win and 2/ that they have already completed a budget for April after they're elected.
Please pick up on this story and run with it.

Raptors, Tories and Leafs All on Win Streak

Ya gotta love it

Brilliant Work from Joel

See Link - Martin Anger Good. Harper Anger Bad.
I think Tom Clark of CTV is looking (and hoping for) a federal pension.

Who is Daniel Cook and How Can I Hire Him

My God, he's as cute as a Muppet.
Where did he come from, and is he a member of the Guild??

Back to the Future

Fascinating.
Tonite on Newman Susan Delacourt described the campaign as existing in a bizarro world.
How Martin and Libs were acting like the CPC in 2004, while Harper & the Tories were looking like the Libs.
A week or so ago, I suggested that Paul Martin was trying to fight the 2004 Campaign over again, but the CPC wasn't cooperating. Looks like deja vu, but roles are reversed.

Scott Bryson as a Taxi Driver

Scottie is qualified as a hack.
But not much else.
His comment, I tried to smoke dope but Stephen Harper wouldn't fit in the pipe.
What an idiot Scott is.
Too smart assed by half.
He is a liar, at best.
Good riddance Scotty.
Get a real job.
Hope you enjoy an opp bench next to Belinda and Paul.

AM 640 and CFRB

When Paul Martin, Daltin McG and David Miller got together a week or so ago to announce their next futile attempt to stop Jamaican posse members from murdering innocents in Toronto, ultimately their empty statements were ignored.
Today, after Stephen Harper spoke in Toronto, AM640 with Charles Adler and CFRB for the duration of the John Moore show focussed entirely on crime and guns in Toronto.
This is a huge sign (along with recent Star reports) that the Conservatives are the leading and accepted choice for Canada.
Canada is about to move back into a reality that offers the opportunity to achieve our potential, to achieve our destinty.
I am glad and proud to be a Canadian, again.

Paul Martin Tsunami Promises Prove Bogus

Paul MArtin, the most compassionate of all the compassionate a year ago, has not followed through with his promise to donate $450 million to the suffering victims of last years devastating tsunami.

Promise Made. Promise Broken.

From Canada Free Press:

Tip-offs passed to canadafreepress.com by Sri Lankan journalists during the past year were right on target: The promised money from Canada for victims of the December 26 tsunami never came.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, who made a January 3, 2005 photo-op of tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka, guaranteed $425-million for tsunami relief that has yet to arrive.

Forty million dollars of the $425-million pledged by Martin was donated by average Canadians.