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.