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The claim, by David Akin:

"The last major renovation to the property occurred during Pierre Trudeau's tenancy. Mr. Trudeau spent $200,000 to have an indoor swimming pool built."

nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2364690

That should raise a huge red flag to anyone who knows anything about the skinflint Trudeau. Now here's the real story:

"In 1975, Pierre Trudeau allowed a $200,000 pool house -- complete with sauna and sitting area, joined to the main house by underground tunnel -- to be built by Ottawa developer Bill Teron, who refused to say who paid for it. (Trudeau named Teron president of the CMHC in 1973 and deputy minister for urban affairs in the late 1970s.)"

www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/observer/story.html?id=b5bcd895-c935-46ec-97d0-5fb2d51d1e3c

This isn't a trivial inaccuracy.

From the approaching police state files:

Cop pulls gun on snowballers
http://tinyurl.com/yktrkop

Sheesh what a Grinch!

I saw a reference on the Ghost of a Flea blog to a documentary on work by Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark, who is researching the role of cosmic rays on planetary climate. Needless to say, his research has gone over like a lead balloon in the "CO2 is the primary driver of planetary climate" community.

The documentary (search for the phrase "The Cloud Mystery") is on youtube and is in 6 parts. Very good explanation.

See, good things do come out of Copenhagen.

There is some relevance to the earlier SDA posts on the issues with Wikipedia editors, if you look up Svensmark, or the role of cosmic rays in climate theory you will find Connolley or Kim D. Petersen edits attempting to dismiss or rebut the theory.

Merry Christmas to Kate and all SDA readers!

Israel harvested organs from Palestinians:

http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/12/20/12220976-ap.html

Bill. the story is. The people throwing snowballs saw a guy in a car(unknown the them a plain clothes police officer) had a gun exposed. The police were informed, a uniformed officer approached the car with his gun in his hand, identified the plain clothed officer and holstered his gun. No big deal in the real world.

Rob C, no the real deal is the cop, not in uniform, having been hit with a snowball, pulled a gun on the snowballers. He was then approached by a uniformed police officer who was responding to a call of a man with a gun. The uniformed officer pulled his own gun on the plaincloths officer. When the uniformed officer was informed that the other was also a police officer he, the uniformed officer, holstered his gun.

Ahem, while the above comments may or may not be worthy ones, they are a wee bit off-topic.

There's a wonderful rendition of "Good King Wencelas" by the Irish Rovers, adding the lovely Irish lilting accent to the beauty of the song. The Youtube link is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11GlNvi7hPY

Here's a little video I put together after hearing something quite incredulous on the radio.

P.S. Bonus Feature: Look carefully on the sleeve of the nurse's right arm! LOL

typo= plainclothes

Robert W.: Please allow me to wear my (pesky) editor's hat: I think you mean incredible not incredulous!

Incredulous means "unwilling to believe, skeptical." Did you mean that or did you mean incredible: "that cannot be believed" or "extraordinary"?

I suspect the latter.

And now for the latest update on global warming:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091220/Europe_weather_091220/20091220?hub=World

According to this article, frigid temps are the norm across Western Europe with northern regions experiencing -20 Celsius. Even normally temperate Marseille is reporting temperatures below freezing.

It must drive the MSM crazy to even have to report on weather events like this. This is why I think that Kate is onto something when she warned us about a possible message switch to "climate instability". As far as the global warming camp is concerned, its heads I win, tails you lose.

Ah, Vitruvius, that rare animal: a men and boys' choir! I just wish the soloist had worn a cassock and surplice like the rest of the choristers: 'less of a performance that way. Oh well.

When I was a girl, I went to a very large church where a portly old man with a bald head, a large white moustache, and a booming voice sang the part of Good King Wenceslas, which impressed the heck out of me.

Even though the Anglican Church in Britain is going the way of the Dodo, there's nothing like a full-blooded Anglican choir to show everyone else how it's done.

This is fun, I'm in a 3-way U-tube discussion about whether there's a good case to be made for global warming on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7OdCOsMgCw The video shows cherry-picked Russian temperature data for the October that they sent in September data for (so they wouldn't miss the deadline?). The warmers are really reaching.

batb, you're right! I was incredulous at hearing something incredible ... incredibly stupid to be precise!!!

As far as the global warming camp is concerned, its heads I win, tails you lose.
~Dennis

The Left never admits that they've lost or were wrong.
OK, not a problem for us.

Their problem is that admitting their lies or errors is irrelevant because they don't control the flow of information they way they used to.
The fact that they've lost is out there regardless of their admissions or acceptance of the facts.

The Left's days of winning are over.
They've never had facts on their side, now they no longer control access to a lot of those facts that have always weighed against them.

For your viewing pleasure tonite,on Fox News channel,good program 'A lot of Hot Air'..complete with interview with Mo Strong,Monbiot,and the 2 Canadians that blew the whistle on the GW scam. Or,you can watch cnn with Anderson Cooper and 'Planet in Peril'..Fox got my vote! I hope a lot of people watched,as it was pretty informative.

a sprightly version of the same toone by a wonderful Cdn artist who, for instance, is solidly behind the beef industry having a brother in the business:

3w.youtube.com/watch?v=41rmb_dhqmM

isn't this a fantastic country to live in? keep up the good fight fellow Canucks, the nation is calling on us.

Thanks for being a good sport, Robert! No doubt you'll never mix those two words up again! ;-)

wikipedia is doing some spring cleaning.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/19/more-on-wikipedia-and-connolley-hes-been-canned-as-a-wiki-administrator/

3w.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/not-just-drones-militants-can-snoop-on-most-us-warplanes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+%28Wired:+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

ain't technology wunnerful !!!

does this count as an MSM source? notice how I don't throw out the baby with the bathwater like almost all SDA posters. (poseurs?)

I must tell you all that I'm having a wonderful evening. First off, I'm receiving hilarious comments on my blog from the likes of Tim and C_Miner written directly for the Left's Poster Girl of Insanity, "Lynn".

I'm also calling up families around Metro Vancouver to give free computers to as part of my Charity Organization, BC Digital Divide. I know, the Leftards keep telling everyone that all right-wing neocon conservatives are evil, selfish hatemongers. If they would ever remove the mirror from in front of their faces perhaps they'd learn that many of us give back to our society wayyyyyy more than them. But in our case it's voluntary, not mandated by the government!

Robert - my pleasure. Anything that gets the anti-progress crowd out of the way before they (more) seriously screw things up for my children, the better.

I am in a quandary though: the mine that I work at only has a 15 year mine life. How do I ensure that my children will have good jobs before they go on to college? After all, they're 2 years and 9 months old respectively.

C_Miner

you give roots and wings.

the rest is up to them.

al

al - true, so far as it goes. If they need scuba gear and rocket assist to escape the ditch that they start in then root and wings won't be enough, will it?

C_Miner - As a former mining engineer, I must curious to learn more about where you work. Can you drop me a line: a1 [at] pocketpollster.com

Let's chat. Maybe we know some people in common.

And I'll share with you some stories about when I worked for Inco in Sudbury and used to drive 400km south to Toronto, only to get bombarded by Lefties there about how I was "raping the Earth". This, right before they turned on the electricity, got in their cars, boarded the TTC, etc. Hypocrites all!!!

Q: How do we definitively know that God hates Toronto?

A: Two words: Maple Leafs.

Robert W: (not my line, but i love it)
What is blue and white, blue and white, and blue and white and usually is found in the cellar?

Maple Leafs,
Argos,
Blue Jays

I think the threads on here are usually quite civil and well balanced. The same cannot be said for a blog thread over in the UK once a couple of Leftards climb on board. Absolutely hilarious reading. Especially look for a loon known as "fabiansolutions".

Very good column on Obama from a different perspective than most of us:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/obama_left_behind_uDnFNaOZ11XuAEDOg8UzUN

a sample:

"Boy, this “Obama Derangement Syndrome” really has gotten out of hand. Why, just this past week the decreasingly popular president has been called a “bald-faced liar,” “an executive who can’t bring himself to lead,” and even an “Uncle Tom.”

And that’s just by liberals."

batby - I agree with you on the English choirs, many of the best in colleges. By the way I don't know why I just assumed you used to be a little boy!
Funny how we judge people differently when we can't actually see them. Something to learn there; you talk or text like a man, or so it seemed to me.
Vitruvius, doing his usual bang-up job, seems to be missing lately from the comments section. I hope he's not too depressed by the seeming failure of the certain persons who, claiming to be scientists, have let down the side terribly. This is not triumphalism here at all, it makes me angry too that these people mistreated science so badly. I'm not sure if this applies to the subject or not, but I read that a fellow called Edwin Mims, a Vanderbilt University Humanist, had this to say about the liberal lawyer and curmudgeon, Darrow: "When Clarence Darrow is put forth as the champion of the forces of enlightenment to fight the battle for scientific knowledge, one feels almost persuaded to become a fundamentalist". By the way, William Jennings Bryan won the case!

Hey Robert W., I did some design work waythehellago on an air sep plant for Inco in Sudbury. I hope it hasn't exploded yet.

Classic Elizabeth May

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msKPlM_UmRM

There's a bit of a dustup in Toronto lately where a property owner has been demolishing various parts of a building that was supposed to be designated as a "heritage site" - with all the regulations and interventions by parasitic government bureaucrats that entails.

So of course, Star art critic Christopher Hume weighs in, "When the most compelling argument his lawyer can make is that his actions are not against the law, you know the bar has been set as low as it can go".

What more justification does anybody need? If you want to do something and it's not against the law, you have the right to do it. The purpose of government is to step in when people get violent towards one another, not to preserve buildings.

Few people care much about heritage buildings in the first place. The issue is much mostly about bureaucrats having another excuse to spend taxpayers' money.

one years record of the root cause of climate change, now this demonstrates patience.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091220.html

Globe, Friday.

A couple of academics criticize (in a letter to the editor) an editorial on torture, arguing that assurances from other countries that they won't torture a person that Canada might send back should not be trusted.

They have a point, although they don't address the issue of terrorists running loose in Canada because they couldn't be deported and where, as the editorial also said, indefinite detention is not an option.

However, persons who are involved in terrorism cannot remain in Canada. If a person leaves another nation that engages in torture but arrives here and abuses our hospitality to prepare for terrorist activities, he should be shown no mercy. It's simply not Canada's problem. Of course, one has to make sure the evidence is strong before sending them back.

Star, Friday.

A study by a psychologist at Tufts University claims that TV shows have "racist body language" that can be subconsciously picked up by viewers.

To perform the study, he digitally removed a character from scenes in certain popular shows, then asked test subjects to say how much they thought the remaining character liked the person he or she was interacting with. The subjects apparently "judged the body language expressed by the visible white characters as more negative whenever the unseen character in the scene was black".

The mind boggles ...

This is Beautiful. O' Come All Ye Faithful, by Celtic Sister. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eLDvM7eSq0 **

Sorry; Celtic Woman.

nv53

Im not sure that the city of Toronto cares much about heritage buildings either. otherwise would they have attached that oversized icecube tray to the art museum

http://www.ago.net/frank-gehry-redesigned-ago

One hates to speak ill of the recently departed, but ... Star, Friday, Carol Goar, discussing David Pecaut "whose can-do spirit motivated us to roll up our sleeves and strive together".

This is standard anti-concept talk for government-funded programs of which 98% are probably worthless.

"One of his most far-sighted legacies was the Emerging Leader Networks, a coalition of young people intent on mobilizing their generation to make Toronto a stronger, fairer and more vibrant city."

So they're all going to go out and get proper productive jobs?

Well, no.

One team is going to have a homecoming for stars who left Toronto to find fame in the U. S. or London. (Details not supplied. Big party? Or what?)

Another group decided to tackle prejudices by enabling Torontonians to "get to know the people behind the stereotypes". They'll have some of those who have suffered from being stereotyped do ... (what, exactly, is not stated, but some kind of interaction. Does this mean the public education system still hasn't eliminated all vestiges of racism? It's only been working on it for decades)

Another group "took on the challenge of reducing poverty in Toronto" by deciding to show city residents that there is a lot of great work being done and that they can get involved and make a difference. (Apparently it never occurred to anyone to do actual productive work that creates goods and services.)

Obviously a society is better off without either poverty or racism. But these kinds of government-funded non-productive non-jobs are exactly the kind of thing that drags down productivity and the standard of living. Cut taxes instead!

Globe, Friday.

A woman suffering from cancer cannot afford a prescribed combination of two drugs. "[T]he drug company offered her lapatinib under its compassionate access program. But Ontario won't give her capecitabine if she uses it with lapatinib because the province's drug approval body hasn't signed off on funding its use in that combination." And the company won't give her its drug without the other one.

This is probably not what medicare was supposed to be like. We all know how slow bureaucracies are. And people die in the interim.

First question: in how many jurisdictions is the drug combination recognized as an effective cancer treatment? If the answer is "a lot", why not here?

Excellent selections for tonights SDA radio Vit.

You might enjoy this one as well:

The history of the Dresdner Kreuzchor (Choir of the Church of the Holy Cross) spans well over seven hundred years. Founded as a Latin grammar school at the “capella sanctae crucis”, today known as the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross), the choir has been instrumental in preserving to the present day the medieval tradition of choral liturgy sung by boys' choirs. Being the oldest artistic institution still to be funded by the city, the choir is an essential part of the city's identity.

The history of the Dresdner Kreuzchor (Choir of the Church of the Holy Cross) spans well over seven hundred years. Founded as a Latin grammar school at the “capella sanctae crucis”, today known as the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross), the choir has been instrumental in preserving to the present day the medieval tradition of choral liturgy sung by boys' choirs. Being the oldest artistic institution still to be funded by the city, the choir is an essential part of the city's identity.

Dresdner Kreuzchor - Vom Himmel hoch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kJXpPPgpAc&feature=related

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”

the twelve days of christmas. not so much partridges and pear trees as martyrs and lost body parts. what does one eat on the feast of the circumcision anyway?

http://fullhomelydivinity.org/articles/Twelve%20Days%20of%20Christmas.htm

CI, the follow-up to May is equally important for its clarity and common sense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foFOA_EHMHw

Gunney, that is indeed a beautiful rendition of the song!

Question: When Barack Obama hears it, do you think he believes they're singing about him?

There'll be nowhere to run from the new world government
'Global' thinking won't necessarily solve the world's problems, says Janet Daley

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/janetdaley/6845967/Therell-be-nowhere-to-run-from-the-new-world-government.html

cal2: " ... what does one eat on the feast of the circumcision anyway?"

Snakes, and snails, and puppy dog tails. ;-)

larben: "you talk or text like a man, or so it seemed to me."

No offense taken! It seems most people assume I'm a guy if they don't know I'm not. No prob! It's actually a compliment, because I try not to play the "damsel" card, which the feminists have tried to drum into women for the past 40 years. Gender roles have been overplayed and exploited way too much since the sob-sister fembos came onstage ...

Goorecale Report:

Happy Winter, Minister Prentice.

"Winter misery begins Toronto Sun"

"First Day Of Winter A Cool One
CityNews - ‎39 minutes ago‎
It feels like we've been dealing with the cold temperatures - if not the snowfall - for weeks now. But we won't ring in the new season until 12:47pm on Monday."

"Canada defends climate deal as 'turning point' Globe and Mail"

cbcpravda , back to midwifery and lactation.more of CBCs values leaking through.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2009/12/21/womens-bookstore.html

batb - good one
beats the more obvious bratwurst and calamari