35 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. I think the good doctor is twisting the truth a bit. Your penis doesn’t actually get longer, it just is more visible since there is no longer so much fat surrounding it after you lose 35 pounds. It just appears longer. Nevertheless, if this helps men out there lose some unhealthy weight, including you Sean, go hard.

  2. Thanks for the link to the story on “The high price of educating girls in SouthEast Asia”.
    My suggestion is that anyone who reads this forward it to their local newspaper, as I did with the following note. We’ve got to work at changing the way these people think,
    ———————————
    Ian (the editor), you may recall my letter which you kindly published last week, titled “Defending the Voice of Women”.
    Our local Peace Group are well-meaning people. But it worries me that they don’t understand how terrible are these Taliban folk that they are suggesting we negotiate with in Afghanistan. Here’s a good example: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2023831.ece
    And I suggested only that they beat or kill teachers who try to educate girls. For this poor person, oh that the process were that simple and painless.
    I know yours is not an international newspaper, so this isn’t the place for this type of information. However, I’m sending this for your “information arsenal” in the hope you might think of it when they bring in more “news” or “reviews” such as the one on the Steven Staples presentation.
    Best Regards,

  4. How to steal your opponents thunder! Just take all the conservative philosophy and call it “pragmatic Liberalism” From today’s nationa Post Editorial:
    No endorsement here, but …
    Article Tools
    Printer friendly
    E-mail
    Font: * * * * National Post
    Published: Thursday, November 30, 2006
    This newspaper will not endorse a candidate for the leadership of the federal Liberal party. Selecting the right man for the job from among the four front-runners is a task for the delegates at this weekend’s convention in Montreal, not us. But like all Canadians, we do have an interest in seeing the Liberal party rehabilitate itself: The health of Canadian democracy is dependent on having two national parties with intelligent, prescriptive agendas. And so we hope that whoever wins this weekend’s contest will adopt bold new ideas rather than clinging to the leftist dogmas and demagoguery that failed the party in January’s federal election.
    Whoever is elected needs to put the past behind him and his party. This means not only admitting the Liberals’ excesses and errors of the recent past — the knee-jerk anti-Americanism and assorted scandals, for example — but also quietly burying the Trudeau-era ideologies that grip the party still. The 21st century calls for a pragmatic, individual-driven liberalism, rather than the top-down, collectivist kind that has enthralled the Liberal Party of Canada for the past 40 years.
    To prove the Liberals have atoned for the sponsorship scandal, Shawinigate, the Transitional Jobs Fund/HRDC debacle and others, the new leader should announce that his party will co-operate fully with the Conservatives to ensure the Federal Accountability Act will be as tough as can be. He and his caucus need not go along with every clause the government has proposed. They should feel free to propose amendments of their own. But if they can at least maintain the facade of bipartisan co-operation, they will take the ethics issue away from the Tories in the next election.
    Shucking off the vestiges of Trudeauism will be tougher. Too many Liberals are nostalgic still for the man and his ideas. But the age of big government, social engineering and economic nationalism has passed. Today’s voter wants more control over his or her life, more choice in the services he or she receives.
    The reason the Conservatives’ childcare plan — $100 per month, per child under six, regardless of what kind of care is chosen — has been so popular is not because it appeals to moral traditionalists and stay-at-home moms, but rather because it frees middle-class working women and their families to choose the care that works best for them. They are no longer forced, as they were by the Liberals’ one-size-fits-all national plan, to accept government-approved daycare only or receive no childcare subsidies at all.
    Such government-knows-best social programs are too rigid for today’s flexible lifestyles. Few Canadians any longer believe that central planning of television and radio content, or restrictions on trade, or politically correct multiculturalism, will lead us to social nirvana. Similarly, universality of social programs — health, pensions and welfare — a cornerstone of Liberal thinking since the 1960s, needs to be eliminated.
    Another way in which the Liberals could demonstrate their confidence in Canadians is by reining in their enthusiasm for judicial and Charter activism. Given time and the right leadership, Canadians will nearly always choose the decent, tolerant option in social issues. Prime minister Trudeau, for instance, legalized gay sex, and liberalized divorce and abortion, all through Parliament, without the benefit of a Supreme Court that had the power to ram such changes through. The Liberals have to show that kind of good faith in the decency of Canadians again.
    Even though we still oppose the Liberals’ over-reliance on the Kyoto accord as the core of their environmental strategy, we acknowledge that the Conservatives’ half-hearted attempts to formulate a made-in-Canada alternative have left the opposition lots of room. A climate-change policy that combines realistic emission reductions with concern for the economic implications — and contains no carbon tax that would penalize the western resource-producing provinces — would likely be popular.
    The next Liberal leader also needs to show himself concerned about Canadians’ fear of crime and criminals. It will not be enough simply to disparage as cruel the Conservatives’ proposals for tougher bail and dangerous offender status, or to wave around symbolic (but largely useless) measures such as the universal gun registry or more community centres in neighbourhoods with troubled youths. The Liberals will have to propose substantive measures to punish and deter repeat violent offenders.
    Similarly, on international relations, it will not be enough simply to criticize the Tories’ handling of the Afghanistan mission. The Liberals will have to articulate a policy on when Canadians should fight abroad and when they should be peacemakers, all while avoiding such pie-in-the-sky cop-out notions as “soft power.” How will they make multilateralism work — really work — to advance peace and social development?
    And finally, they will have to find a way to dig themselves and the rest of us out of the Quebec-is-a-nation hole into which candidate Michael Ignatieff foolishly plunged us. That was an itch that did not need scratching. But now, having reopened the debate, the Liberals would probably be advised to revert to the hard-headed federalism of their former leader Jean Chrétien. Doing so would also distinguish them from the Conservatives and Stephen Harper, who have taken the soft-nationalist road to “asymmetrical federalism.”
    The road back for the Liberals may be long. Despite what they may tell themselves at their Montreal convention this weekend, they are still a party carrying a lot of ethical and ideological baggage. The sooner their new leader can jettison that baggage, and articulate a new, pragmatic liberalism, the shorter the party’s wait will be to return to power.
    National Post
    © National Post

  5. Re-write headline:
    Canadian military throws bilingualism, English-French, into the trashheap of Canadian history.
    Good riddance/bon voyage.
    Next: Multiculturalism.
    …-
    MILITARY CHANGING APPROACH TO BILINGUALISM
    The military is giving up on the idea of a fully bilingual army, navy and air force. Nearly two decades ago, the Canadian Forces adopted what it called “a universal approach” to bilingualism.(national newswatch)

  6. “Just take all the conservative philosophy and call it “pragmatic Liberalism” ”
    Somehow I doubt you’d guys would accept pro-choice, tackling global warming and gay rights as a conservative philosophy. There’s some good suggestions in the National Post editorial though.
    Sick stuff about the slain school teacher. Let’s hope the mission in Afghanistan suceeds.

  7. Way to go Sean. There are a lot of guys out there who wish they could lose 35 pounds or so [grin]
    About Maz2 comment on the military dropping bilingualism: Great! That does me a fat lot of good now. That stupid policy was almost as bad as the two times on my career that they froze our (meager) wages.

  8. Here is some bad news for John (and everyone else who believes a Dem win in ’06 means the USA will quickly leave Iraq). Godspeed to the Boys From Syracuse, the 174th Fighter Wing of the ANG. F-16 Cobras are awesome machines.
    -174th set to leave for Iraq-
    Friday, December 01, 2006
    As many as 300 Air National Guard personnel from Hancock Field are scheduled to leave home today to support the war in Iraq, local military officials say.
    The deployment has been planned for more than a year and is considered the largest single deployment for the 174th Fighter Wing since it went overseas during the Persian Gulf War 15 years ago.-
    Also,
    In the Fall 2003, the 174th Fighter Wing deployed aircraft and personnel in the Gulf region to be part of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. Primarily tasked with Close Air Support (CAS) missions, the 138th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flew missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as well.
    The 174th FW’s participation in this AEF cycle represented the largest deployment of maintainers and equipment since Operation Desert Shield in 1991.

  9. Nice to see Tom Axworthy is finally growing up, most lefty’s never do, as for John-Boy I found him less than relevant and stopped reading him months past.

  10. way off topic, but at the moment, we actually have a thunderstorm blowing thru St. Catharines, ontario. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the sound of thunder in December

  12. Isn’t it funny that the moniker John uses on his blog is from Lyndon Baines Johnson. If I recall my history correctly, LBJ also said “we will bomb those fuck*n gooks back into the stoneage”.

  14. I would suggest that if the S.Koreans leave Iraq that the US redeploy its troups from S.Korea to Iraq. That’s around 29,000 troups and an aircraft carrier group which could be better used on reliable allies. The S.Korean’s could then learn how to eat dirt with their Northern compatriots. I for one won’t miss the Hundai Ponies.
    For that matter, how many troops does the US have in Eurabia?

  15. Russia is fleecing the *unguarded unaware* on the internet . No sense leaving all the scams and knock-off profits to China.
    There are many examples where Western governments can not get any help or cooperation from Russian authorities. This is one example in the music downloads game.
    [ Warning, if you go to these sites, you risk downloading some nasty surprises. There is no free lunch. For your information. Be aware and avoid learning the hard way as I did buying Cigs for a friend at half price . . . There is no free lunch.]
    Allofmp3.com is one of many internationally based download sites that the U.S. and several other countries are trying to close down. Music labels and movie studios say that such sites are not authorized to sell music and don’t compensate copyright holders.
    The move is a setback for Allofmp3.com, which has come under continued U.S. pressure in recent months. In October, Visa announced that it would no longer process the company’s credit card transactions.
    Allofmp3.com has denied charges of piracy by pointing out that the company is compliant with Russian copyright law. It says it is careful to pay royalties to artists via the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society, which claims to represent copyright holders.
    http://tinyurl.com/ycc3vt
    [Don*t be fooled by the headline. Russia agrees easily but often fails to comply.]
    The U.S. has never recognized that organization as legitimate and, as part of the agreement, requires Russia to stop such groups from *acting without right holder consent.*
    From Cnet News ====== TG

  16. Not that I’m a scientist or anything, but…
    on the news this morning, they were talking about the end to the hurricane season and how there were zero major storms this season. Couple that with the far colder than normal temperatures this year, should we be concerned about global cooling?

  18. I wouldn’t worry about global cooling for a few centuries yet.
    From LiveScience:
    Westward swirling clouds of dust from the Sahara Desert might be putting a damper on Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, a new study suggests.
    Researchers analyzing satellite data from the past 25 years found that during years when the dust storms rose up, fewer hurricanes swept across the Atlantic, while periods of low dust storm activity were followed by more intense hurricane activity. Hurricanes are fueled by heat and moisture, and it’s thought the dust storms help muffle the storms before they fully develop.
    Here’s a link with some photos in case you think it’s a marxist conspiracy (although I suppose the conspirators know how to use photoshop)
    http://www.livescience.com/environment/061010_dust_hurricanes.html

  19. This was on the BCC last night… right after the beginning of the long dash, following the Dom Obs Time Signal, following the Weather…-
    GOVERNMENT
    KILLS
    PROPOSED CBC RADIO REGIONAL EXPANSION
    “Our Public Airwaves” is reporting that the federal government has killed a CBC Radio proposal to add ten new stations to serve the five million Canadians in 24 cities that now have no local CBC station. (national newswatch)

  20. Super Typhoon Kills Hundreds in Phillipines
    Link=http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/WorldNewsArticle.htm?src=w120141A.xml
    Related: Supreme Being takes credit for “Proving” global warming caused by conservatives…Al Gore at the forefront of worldwide efforts to blame weather on the rich ( except for posturing Hollywood gits and UN Troughhogs or US democrats who play along)….more to come on news at 11.
    Except for CBC / CTV where cheerleading of Liberal convention will continue uninterrupted!

  21. Re Maz2 at 03:47..
    Wasn’t it the Liberals who allowed CBC Brass to kill the the local shops to consolidate in the Toronto Front Street palace and fortress of Omnipotence?
    I think the CBC brass was using that as a tactic to forestall dismemberment!

  22. While regions tend to have inexact boundaries, generally one would place Afghanistan in southwest Asia, not southeast. Hence the campaign decoration CF members wear: the South-West Asia Service Medal.
    I’m not trying to nitpick, I simply wanted to mention the convention in the interests of clarity.

  23. Flushabye my baby
    you’re dreaming tumbling
    you’ll hear me singing this lullaby my baby believing surrendering to all close your eyes my baby you’re seeing …-
    JACK AND OLIVIA’S LOW-FLOW TOILET
    A video tour of Jack Layton and Olivia Chow’s Toronto bathroom, featuring Olivia flushing the low-flow toilet she shares with her husband.
    (national newswatch)

  24. As to thunder during snowstorms: indeed it is possible. I experienced a spectacular lightning/snow storm in Toronto just before Christmas of 1977. Of course I thought the world was coming to an end.

  25. Speaking of medals, I’ve always found it rather odd the order in which they are displayed. At the top is the victoria Cross, which I have no problem with but then all the “Order of” medals for merit, Canada, St John and such. Only after all these Order of medals are done are things like valour, bravery and courage recognized. Given the political nature of say the Order of Canada and some of the doubious characters who have received it for political reasons, I am surprised it ranks so high. just my thoughts…
    Texas Canuck CD+bar (for undetected crimes)

  26. Read something about our GG Michaelle Jean weeping during a visit of the Elmina slave fort in Ghana. Understandably upset that her slow footed (witted?) ancestors were subjected to cruel and inhuman conditions by the African (!) and Dutch slave-traders, she had prayers for the millions of slaves that went through the fort and for those who perished during one of mankind’s not so shining moments.
    But I was wondering if Jean was offered a time machine and a magic wand capable of erasing that portion of personal history, of having her ancestors escape the traders and living a life off the land, would she accept her fate as an African woman (sans clitoris and labia), living in a mud hut like the ones she stood beside while posing for the camera, caring for her 8 malnourished kids, breasts down to her belly button, not knowing if her AIDS infected husband is ever coming back.
    Would she miss her charmed life of CBC, GG and cinéma making hubby? Would she weep?

  27. Backtrack to the Global Warming posts in the 2pm timespot.
    If the Sahara sands can regulate hurricane activity to the degree claimed then why not nail two birds with one stone ?
    What I’m getting at is that some enterprising environmental group should redirect its energies into covering the desert with wind generators that will not only produce power for the locals but stir up enough sand to take care of the hurricane problem out in the ocean.
    Petty smart huh?

  28. Backtrack to the Global Warming posts in the 2pm timespot.
    If the Sahara sands can regulate hurricane activity to the degree claimed then why not nail two birds with one stone ?
    What I’m getting at is that some enterprising environmental group should redirect its energies into covering the desert with wind generators that will not only produce power for the locals but stir up enough sand to take care of the hurricane problem out in the ocean.
    Pretty smart huh?

  30. Canoe news has the text below up on its site.
    Over the text, one would expect a pic of Dion.
    But… it’s some other contender with a red tie and his hands outstretched, as if to say….?
    Caption it.
    …-
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/
    Leadership hopefuls deliver speeches
    MONTREAL (CP) – Stephane Dion opened the final sprint to the finish Friday in a Liberal leadership race that has lasted 10 months, imploring delegates at the party’s federal convention to unite behind him.

  31. Putin moves to befriend neighbours
    http://tinyurl.com/yzpzz8
    Headline in the Economist does deal with easing up on 4X gas prices, yet towards the end swerves into this VERY interesting copy.
    Conspiracy theories in Moscow about who killed Mr Litvinenko have reached a pitch of dialecticism that is scarcely intelligible to outsiders. It was done either by Mr Putin, or to discredit him; to promote one of his possible successors as president, or to force him to stay in office.
    The polonium was either an intentional warning or a cock-up. Mr Litvinenko was murdered by the same forces who killed Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist, in October; or somebody saw her shooting as an opportunity to settle other scores.
    Mr Putin’s allies point the finger at Boris Berezovsky, a renegade Russian oligarch who lives in London and sponsored Mr Litvinenko. His alleged goal? To disgrace Mr Putin and ultimately force his clique from power.
    The Russians have agreed to co-operate with a British investigation. But whoever did it, Mr Putin has been vilified in the West’s media.
    It emerged this week that Yegor Gaidar, a former prime minister, fell violently ill in Dublin on the day after Mr Litvinenko died (Mr Gaidar is now apparently recovering). Although a critic of some of Mr Putin’s policies, Mr Gaidar is a highly unlikely target for the Kremlin. But his plight can only add to the impression, widely held west of Minsk, that Russia is an increasingly dark place.
    ==========================
    I*ll say. In other reliable media there is agreement that the Mafia has taken over places in the Russian Government. That may explain the total lack of cooperation regarding criminal activity from net servers operating in Russia. = TG

  32. Cdn tanks deployed
    Canadian Press via Sun Media ^ | 2006-12-02 | Bill Graveland
    A Canadian tank rolls through the Panjwaii
    District in Afghanistan on Saturday.
    (CP/Bill Graveland)
    PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) – It’s the reason they’re called “rolling thunder.”
    The throaty roar of engines announcing the approach of the squadron of Canadian Leopard tanks could be heard from kilometres away as they emerged from the mist and rain Saturday to back up ground troops in the war-torn Panjwaii district.
    The 42-tonne monsters left Kandahar Airfield under the cover of darkness early Saturday morning in the first combat deployment of Canadian tanks since the Korean War.
    Hours later they rolled down the streets of the village of Panjwaii in an impressive show of force on their way to the nearby forward operating base, or FOB.
    Residents of Panjwaii, hearing the rumble of the metal tracks biting into the concrete, rushed from their homes to watch the biggest display of firepower since their war with the Soviets in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
    It also caused excitement at the FOB. Battle weary troops, who have been fighting the Taliban on a regular basis, couldn’t contain their glee.
    “Merry Christmas to the Taliban,” said one soldier.
    “It’s time to open a can of whuppass,” said another.
    The tank crews, members of Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) armoured regiment based in Edmonton, were excited to be finally joining the fight.
    “This is definitely going to send a serious message to the Taliban,” said Trooper Ian MacDougall, 30, of Burlington, Ont.
    “Everybody likes the tanks. It’s the first combat deployment since Korea. It’s pretty interesting to be part of that.”…-
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747484/posts

  33. CAUTION;
    Russia and Putin are in a deep mess.
    From a Loooong American Enterprise Institute Piece. This is the meat of the issue. Lots of bargains from Eastern servers, but do not use your Visa or MC on line there unless you WANT to lose it.
    What Does Putin Want? By Leon Aron
    Posted: Wednesday, November 29, 2006
    http://tinyurl.com/y5z96h
    The Kremlin’s intimidation of Russia’s wealthy elite has also translated into far less political accountability. Without substantial private capital, neither serious political competition nor free mass media can exist in today’s Russia. Opposition parties are forced to choose: either toe the Kremlin line (thus gaining a presence in the Duma) or find themselves in the political wilderness, excluded from the national debate.
    **
    One entirely predictable consequence of Russian society’s weakened control of government has been corruption so brazen, so pervasive, and involving sums so huge that it makes the graft of the 1990’s look like child’s play. In a recent World Bank survey, more Russian enterprises now report having to pay bribes to licensing authorities, tax services, militias, and courts than in 2002–a trend opposite to the one in virtually every other post-Communist nation.
    **
    At the same time, Russian politics has become more brittle. Without elected intermediaries at the local level, or a responsible national opposition, the center of political gravity has shifted to the very top. If popular dissatisfaction escalates–as the result, say, of a sharp drop in oil prices, a major terrorist act, or some spectacular public blunder–there will be no one to blame but the Kremlin. Having been devised to strengthen the Russian state, Putin’s post-imperial restoration runs the risk of dramatically destabilizing it.
    ==================
    Our law enforcement asks for help to curb internet server based crime. The Russians make promises, yet deliver no cooperation at all. = TG

  34. Reuters, aka the Splitters, splutters, spits, and spins. Scumbags. Where is the split?
    Why is al-Reuters spinning lies?
    …-
    Parliament to reexamine gay marriage law next week
    Reuters Canada – 1 Dec 2006
    By David Ljunggren. OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s parliament will soon vote on whether to revisit a 2005 law that legalized gay marriage,
    a contentious topic
    that has split
    the ruling Conservatives and will be …

  35. Crackdown on Uncovered Meat in Gaza
    Islamic supremacists are on the rise in Palestinian areas,
    and job one is getting those
    irksome females under control:
    Gaza women warned of immodesty.
    (Hat tip: Killgore Trout.)
    A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Just Swords of Islam issued a warning to Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip over the weekend that they must wear the hijab or face being targeted by the group’s members.
    In pamphlets distributed in various parts of the Gaza Strip, the group also claimed responsibility for attacks on 12 Internet cafes over the past few days. The warning was directed primarily against female students in a number of universities and colleges who do not cover their heads in line with Islamic tradition.
    The group said its followers last week threw acid at the face of a young woman who was dressed “immodestly” in the center of Gaza City. They also destroyed a car belonging to a young man who was playing his radio tape too loudly.
    Addressing female students, the group said:
    “We will have no mercy on any woman
    who violates the traditions of Islam and who also hang out in Internet cafes.”
    According to the group, its members used rocket-propelled grenades to attack 12 Internet cafes and a number of music shops in different parts of the Gaza Strip. It said the places were targeted because they were “distracting an entire generation of Palestinians from their duty to worship [Alla] and jihad so that they could serve their Zionist masters and the Crusaders.”
    Hamas, of course, doesn’t know anything about it. Try not to laugh:
    Hamas officials denied any connection to the group, noting that their movement does not resort to methods of “intimidation and terror” against the people. …-
    http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation