Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio. Ahem (clears throat). On February 3 last, Kate noted here that "disco makes me twitch uncontrollably", in what I take to be a negative sense. So we essentially don't do disco here in the SDA LNR studio, due deference and all that, and besides, most of it is hopelessly limited for a general audience because it was so situationally specific.

Yet it remains the case that a tune I've been watching for out of the corner of my eye over the last few years is now available via the normal channels, so here, tonight, it is. Now to be clear, the music here is at best bad, but at least it's not angry. What I find interesting, as a pragmatic engineer who is loath to buy in to high falutin' schemes, and, indeed, hilarious, are the lyrics.

So you have to particlarly listen to the lyrics in this case, or perhaps, if you're wise, just skip this one. Anyway, what with those provisos and disclaimers in place, here, without further ado, is an old comedy favourite of mine, Miss Marsha Raven performing her High Energy hit single, I Like Plastic:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_H4YODeUUE

Ah;Vitruvius, I think I've equaled you with this gem from from a 1973 Lawrence Welk show. Anacani is accompanied by Buddy Merrill and Neil Levang on guitars.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X89hTEe2C90

Hmm, not sure I can agree with you there, Gunney, at least the La Paloma exercise attempts at beauty, whereas it contains nothing to rival the comedic value of my favourite verse in I Like Plastic, namely:

Polystyrene (ow) nylon (ow),
bakelite (ow) polytetraflourathane.
Rayon (ow) cellulite (ow),
fiberglass (ow) margarine!

Cops stop high-volume traffic to let ducklings cross. It is not known if any fatal accidents ensued.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c1c_1209428470

He's a hero! This means the hunting will be better this fall. :>)

Hedley: "Cops stop high-volume traffic to let ducklings cross."

Deja vu all over again. Reminds me of Robert McCloskey's classic, "Make Way for Ducklings," where a cop stops high-volume traffic in Boston to let Mama Duck and her ducklings cross. My kids always loved the story.

And, as far as I know, no fatal accidents ensued because of Sargeant O'Flanagan's altruism. They lived happily ever after...

"“In and Out” is Opposition Hyperventilating

So, finally someone in the mainstream media tells it like it really is, that local campaigns are largely a fiction, that the Tories have done nothing wrong with their so-called “In and Out” scheme.

For the most part, it is true that local candidates ride to victory on their leader’s coat tails or they lose for the same reason. Very few local candidates win just for who they are — although there are exceptions such as Chuck Cadman. So, all campaigns are national and all the federal parties know it!

Andrew Coyne writes in Macleans that:
[...]
Similarly, if the local associations choose to pool their resources to purchase advertising — even through the party — there is, again, no law against it. Indeed, as the Tories correctly observed, all the parties do it. For example, in the last election, the Liberals transferred $1.7 million from the party to the ridings, which in turn purchased $1.3 million in goods and services from the party, without provoking Elections Canada’s wrath.

So, why has Elections Canada only gone after the Conservative Party of Canada?"
http://crux-of-the-matter.com/2008/04/29/only-in-and-out-is-opposition-hyperventilating/

STOPIGGY! He's digging for gold in the PET Cemetery. All he found were Iggy Rocks.

"Featured on the big screen were video clips of a younger Ignatieff playing brainy with Pierre Trudeau,"
...-

"Iggy's piggy bank
Former and future Liberal leadership contender looks for cash"
" Other Liberals say they were embarrassed by the videos, and wonder if the whole affair may be the first blunder of another accident-prone campaign for Ignatieff.

But most of the Grits we contacted since the fundraiser say that while the Iggy Rocks video definitely caused some squirming in the room, Ignatieff's leadership aspirations were no big secret."
http://tinyurl.com/66k2mo (weston)

Now here's some news for the weatherphiles.

Ed Lorenz, a MIT meteorologist has died.
Most noted for his 1972 paper with the catchy title 'Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?'

He was using the relatively new technology of computers to increase the precision of weather forecasts when he actually discovered the chaos theory.

He went on to demonstrate that precise long range forecasts are impossible because small changes in a any system can have large and unexpected consequences in the subsequent result.

Simple things like rounding of a number to 3 digits instead of using 6 digits in a computer program can make huge differences in the results.

Ironically he proved that it is impossible to predict weather more than two or three weeks in advance with any certainty.

Lorenz's original paper has been quoted at 4000 times, making it one of the most cited papers of all time.

And we all remember that Gore/Suzuki cited it many times in making their authoritative but dire predictions of the earth's weather/climate.

No wait, they did not cite it.

Well maybe they did not read it.
Or maybe they did not even know about it.

Story headline on CTV news last night:

"Peaceful torch relay in North Korea"

Duuhhh...

the beauty of flight.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dPv8psZsvIU

"Peaceful torch relay in North Korea":

It's as though the torch stepped back in time, to the China of 30 years ago.

The Province of Saskatchewan DISCRIMINATES against the city of Saskatoon. It gives the school boards here less money per student than in Regina. It gives the city of Regina grants to help run the Center of the Arts, the Museum, and many more civic facilities. Meanwhile here in Saskatoon the Saskatoon taxpayers pay for their civic facilities, WHY IS THIS

This mornings CBC In-Depth file has a picture of the man that shot Martin Luther King. The picture howver seems doctored or at least presented to look like PM Harper and the words "Canadian connection to assasination."

"Terrorist Threat to the USA

A US Resident has officially filed a Terrorist Warning to the US Embassy - By Law US Homeland Security must investigate the Terrorist Threat to the USA. The basis of the danger is the Failure of the OPP to secure the Hydro Transmission Lines in Caledonia which would affect the Eastern Seaboard.

US Steele, which has a contract with Stelco in Hamilton, is really angry that they can't get their steel from Stelco since the rail lines are blocked in Caledonia. Apparantly the natives have actually tore up the railway tracks and used the metal lines to block the highway."

Another addition to the Law of Unintended Consequences. The indians thugs have torn the wire off the highway safety posts as well as the railway tracks to build their barricades and still are closing the Caledonia bypass. The OPP cowards just let them do anything they want. It is obvious the indians are continually escalating their provocation to get the OPP to react yet they do nothing. I think the OPP are just waiting for the Caledonia residents to begin a shooting war as their homes and businesses now have no value and they have nothing to lose and are pushed to the breaking point.

Statement of the week:

"If you're having trouble keeping score, Warren Kinsella, who thinks I'm a Nazi and Ezra Levant's a Nazi and Kate McMillan's a Nazi and Jay Currie's a Nazi, is suing because somebody called him a Nazi."

http://www.steynonline.com/content/blogsection/14/128/

Lots of work? So much for the Great Airbrushing Drought of 2008! Go Kate!

How does one do an about-face when one has two of them? "Brenda Martin grateful she'll soon be home"

And speaking of asylum, looks like the inmates are gunning to run this one: "Addicts sue Ottawa, seeking legal status for injection site"

"Peaceful torch relay in North Korea"

The North Koreans must have been busy with routine pesky things such as finding food and water - eh!

There is a good story in the Vancouver Sun

)http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/weekendreview/story.html?id=f854dcc3-6d56-40e5-8074-08257cc616b9)

about how the US plans to impose a cap and trade system on all those countries who they import from as a kind of replacement for import duties i.e. protectionism.

I hink we should scrap NAFTA. Let them put all the duties they want on our exports-we can simply add it to the cost of their oil imports from us. Want to put an additional 10% tarrif on our lumber? Fine, go ahead,we'll jusr fugure out how much that will be and add it to the cost of oil we sell you. Want to add tarrifs to our auto industy? Fine, we'll just figure out how much that is and add it to the cost of oil we sell you. Want to............
Oh, and by the way, our water is NOT for sale at ANY price.PERIOD..
Horny Toad

And speaking of asylum, looks like the inmates are gunning to run this one: "Addicts sue Ottawa, seeking legal status for injection site"

VANCOUVER–A permanent exemption from prosecution for users at a drug injection site in downtown Vancouver would amount to a constitutional right to use illegal drugs, a federal lawyer says.

*
"He said one-third of crimes in Toronto, including the Jan. 12 shooting death
of innocent bystander John O'Keefe on Yonge St., are committed with legally
registered handguns."

The only problem is... it isn't true.

*

The natural end result of Mao Stlong's socialism:

"Chinese children sold "like cabbages" into slavery"

""These kids are robust and can do the toughest work," a foreman was quoted as saying, as he pulled a scrawny girl to stand beside him, the paper said."
http://tinyurl.com/62ev6l (reuters)

Boycott Mao Stlong's Orympics.
...-

"BEIJING - With 100 days to go, the battle has been lost to keep politics out of the Beijing Olympics."

"Countdown clock reaches 100 days in politically charged Beijing Olympics"
http://tinyurl.com/6nnfev (asspress)

Peter Berkowitz, Fighting Jihad

George Weigel. Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism: A Call to Action. Doubleday Religious Publishing. 208 pages. $18.95

Among the many issues that divide the nation, perhaps none is more consequential than that presented by jihadist terrorism. Of course, to entertain such an opinion is to take sides in a bitterly contested partisan debate. For the left tends to regard jihadist terrorism as one threat among many, including globalization, the environment, and universal health care. Conservatives, who needn’t disregard the disruptions of globalization, the threats to the environment, and the public interest in affordable health care for all, are more likely to see in the rise of Islamic extremism, and in the mega-terror aimed at civilian populations that is its weapon of choice, the paramount challenge of the age.

Bret Stephens, We're Not Losing Afghanistan

The increase in terrorism is a sign of the insurgency's weakness, not its strength.

TORONTO - The Canadian Islamic Congress and a group of law students who recently filed human rights complaints against Maclean's magazine for publishing Islamophobic content, are planning to present a public offer to the magazine's management to settle the matter.

Details of this offer and more information regarding the background of the above-mentioned complaints will be provided to those in attendance.

When:
10:00 a.m.: Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Where:
Fairmont Royal York Hotel, The Quebec Room, 100 Front Street West, Toronto ON

http://www.steynonline.com/content/blogsection/14/128/

So, what's the benefit of Muslim immigration, again?

"In France, Prisons Filled With Muslims"
(Washington Post)

This prison is majority Muslim -- as is virtually every house of incarceration in France. About 60 to 70 percent of all inmates in the country's prison system are Muslim, according to Muslim leaders, sociologists and researchers, though Muslims make up only about 12 percent of the country's population.

In Britain, 11 percent of prisoners are Muslim in contrast to about 3 percent of all inhabitants, according to the Justice Ministry. Research by the Open Society Institute, an advocacy organization, shows that in the Netherlands 20 percent of adult prisoners and 26 percent of all juvenile offenders are Muslim; the country is about 5.5 percent Muslim. In Belgium, Muslims from Morocco and Turkey make up at least 16 percent of the prison population, compared with 2 percent of the general populace, the research found.

Bonny England, where the foxes are protected but the Christian converts threatened with death are told by the police to "stop acting like a crusader."

From the London Times:

A British citizen who converted to Christianity from Islam and then complained to police when locals threatened to burn his house down was told by officers to “stop being a crusader”, according to a new report.

Nissar Hussein, 43, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who was born and raised in Britain, converted from Islam to Christianity with his wife, Qubra, in 1996. The report says that he was subjected to a number of attacks and, after being told that his house would be burnt down if he did not repent and return to Islam, reported the threat to the police. It says he was told that such threats were rarely carried out and the police officer told him to “stop being a crusader and move to another place”. A few days later the unoccupied house next door was set on fire.

The counter jihad arsenal is growing. Added to the cartoons of mass destruction - Barbie dolls, Spider Man and Harry Potter:

"Barbie denounced as destructive by Iranian prosecutor"

The blonde-haired, scantily-clad Barbie doll and other western toys will lead to "destructive and cultural consequences" for Iran, the country's leading prosecutor was quoted as saying today.

In a letter to the Iranian vice-president, published in the Mardom Salari daily newspaper, the prosecutor general, Dori Najafabadi, wrote: "The appearance of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and ... computer games and movies are all a danger warning to the officials in the cultural arena," Reuters reported.

Diana West formerly of the Washington Times has a blog (dianawest.net). An interesting observation from General Patton:

In 1943, Patton wrote what he thought about what he saw--in this case about the cultures of cruelty to animals he had witnessed in his travels--without any PC padding. He wrote:

Another similarity between the Arab and the Mexican is the utter callousness with which both treat animals. Neither an Arab nor a Mexican would think of unpacking an animal during a prolonged halt. If the beast is chafed raw, the Arab does not even bother to treat the wound with lard, which is the invariable panacea with the Mexican. He just lets it bleed and trusts to Allah. Because a horse is dead lame is no reason for not working him.

All the animals are head-shy and many are blind as a result of the cheerful custom method of beating them on the head with a stick.

The method of castrating sheep and cattle is unspeakably cruel. I think that the reason that the horse and donkey are not altered is due to their architecture, which forbids the employment of the Arab method.

One cannot but ponder the question: What if the Arabs had been Christians.? To me it seems certain that the fatalistic teachings of Mohammed and the utter degradation of women is the outstanding cause for he arrested development of the Arab. He is exactly as he was around the year 700 while we have kept on developing. Here , I think , is a text for some eloquent sermon of the virtues of Christianity.

Patton was a little busy for sermons as he would soon be enaged in reconquering the European continent from the Nazis. But interesting how all of this occurred to him in the meantime.

-------------------

What do psychologists say about serial killers? Something about starting with animals, I recall.

Found: email proof of Harper's in-and-out campaign finance scheme was designed to break the law!

Here's a story that is insightful to several topics interesting to SDA readers: Curious what unelected Conservative bagman and Public Works Minister Fortier is up to these days? Wonder why the MSM is going down the drain? Ever question how an unelected backroom blowboy gets control of billions in government spending? The answer is in the Gazette.

And he never had to face a voter. Not one.

"who zestfully took to the dance floor with wife Michelle "

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/story.html?id=72dd9055-1157-4437-b248-595dc5a272a6

What's your point, hardboiled? Apart from some kind of personal jealousy? Fortier was attending, along with umpeem others, the Cancer Benefit Ball.

Why is he a 'bagman' to you?

What's wrong with appointing members of the Senate to government positions? They are, like it or not, legally members of our government. I would certainly prefer an elected Senate, if we even bother to retain it, but the Liberal members of that Senate don't want such accountability.

On another issue, there's an interesting analysis in the current Macleans on the dilemma that Israel has put itself in, with its occupation and refusal to enable a Palestinian state.

http://www.macleans.ca/world/global/article.jsp?content=20080423_11237_11237&page=1

Alberta bends over, brutal dictatorship dictates exactly what will be tolerated by their government.

"the Chinese consulate has contacted two of our sponsors and basically threatened them..."

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j8VnX7mbZ0zaaugpzicWOIqtleHg

In the last election, at least one third of the space of all local Liberal election signs was devoted to their national campaign. Team Martin, or whatever.

Breaking the law, Ted? Liberals are professionals at it.

No ambulances today?

Why is he a 'bagman' to you? Posted by: ET at April 29, 2008 12:16 PM

No, it ain't personal. He hasn't made a pass at my wife, nor thrown eggs at my house. He is/was a fundraiser for the Cons. A very, very connected fundraiser.

And for that, and for that alone, he was appointed to the Senate. Appointed to a $150k per year gig, and then installed into cabinet (another $100k/yr). A role that controls tens of billions of dollars, across every facet of the government.

Only, because he brought in the big cash, the business crowd, and more cash.

And he never had to face a voter. Not one. You, sir or madame, are what is known as a 'useful idiot'.

TD study vindicates Flaherty's comments about economic slide in Ontario. Meanwhile, McGuinty still pi**ing in the wind

=====
Economists have been warning lately that Ontario is destined for have-not status, but the TD report crunches numbers to show exactly how much the province's relative position has deteriorated.

Data released on Monday by Statistics Canada showed that Ontario's nominal gross domestic product per capita — a common measure of standard of living — rose 3.4 per cent in 2007, compared with a national average of 4.8 per cent.

Ontario's standard of living has been below the national average for two years in a row now, and the gap is growing, the Statscan data show.

http://tinyurl.com/5c3dye

I'm not entirely sure, but I don't believe there is usually a Gnome found on Mount St Helen's.

As per the volcano web cam:

www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/images/mshvolcanocam.jpg

Possible settlement offer to Macleans from Elmasry's sock puppets.
http://www.steynonline.com/content/blogsection/14/128/

Hmm, hardboiled, would that make you a 'uselss idiot'?

Now, and I'll bet you don't know this, but expertise and constructive contacts and ability to raise funds count. These are results. After all, Belinda Stronach could be elected but heck, she has no expertise or abilities whatsoever. Same can be said for Dion, Goodale, Paul Martin, Rae and a heck of a lot of other esteemed ones.

I'm all for elected representatives, but I'm also all in favour of expertise. A lot of people don't want to be elected politicians; they are instead, active in the financial and industrial part of our nation. Sometimes, hardboiled, just sometimes, we have to actually seek their advice and work. Sometimes, just sometimes, they are more capable than our elected reps.

At the moment, the Liberals do nothing other than drive-by smears, boast about how wonderful they were and might be - and nothing, nothing constructive. They are all elected, hardboiled.

ottrob - exactly. Flaherty warned Ontario. The problem with Ontario is that the Liberal McGuinty is, as are all Liberals, focused only on his own political power. His agenda is simple. Remain in power. Therefore, he has sold out Ontario to identity blocs, aka, the multicultural groups, and the unions.

With regard to the multicultural groups, based primarily in seat-rich Ontario, McGuinty essentially buys their votes. Millions are spent on funding for their schools, community centres, special events and such. Millions. In return, they vote for Liberals.

With regard to the unions, it's the same deal. Millions are spent supporting and subsidizing unionized industries (the autosector) and services (the enormous bloated public service, the equally enormous teachers union, the universities, transportation and so on). All of these have, because of unions, priced themselves out of competitive viability.

Ontario's unionized industries and services are focused only on benefits, wages, pensions of the employees. That's it. The provision of goods and services has completely disappeared.

Automobiles? The unionized cost of producing them in Ontario has so escalated that without govt subsidies, the cars would be so over-priced they couldn't sell them. That means that the taxpayer is paying these workers.

Public services? Forget them. The focus is on the wealth and benefits and pensions of the employees. Forget good schools, forget good transporation. Just hand out more and more tax money to fund these people.

And, they'll all, all, vote for the Liberals. That's what it's all about for Liberals. Power.

The public sector employment is the major employer in Ontario and growing all the time. Small businesses and private enterprise don't have a chance.

Unions? They are parasites. They have effectively ruined Ontario - and the NDP/Liberals are totally at fault for allowing this to happen.

One for Ted the troll: "No matter your political stripe, the Tories are veritable pikers when it comes to indiscretion"

"'In-and-out' less salacious than it sounds"

Apr 29, 2008 04:30 AM
ROB MITCHELL (Toronto Star)

As scandals go, the Tories should be complimented for their parsimony when contrasted to their crimson accusers. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion would be wise to advise his caucus to review their own record of integrity and frugal management of the taxpayer purse before indulging in paroxysms of outrage.

Where to begin? "Adscam," Auditor General Sheila Fraser's revelation of a $100 million sponsorship program to woo Quebec voters to vote Liberal in the ramp up to the 2004 federal election. Monies distributed to Liberal friendly advertising firms in Quebec for sponsorship programs of little or no documented value. Still in the news as recently as two weeks ago, when one of the culprits, Eric Lafleur, was ordered to pay back only $150,000 of the $10 million he bilked.

Then there is the "billion-dollar boondoggle" known as the job-creation program at Human Resources Development Canada that hit the Liberals in the 2000 election year, a $1 billion fund administered with virtually no oversight. Another memory lost in the mists of time.

A personal favourite is the ill-fated folly of former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps and her bid to promote Canadian nationalism with the purchase of 1 million Canadian flags in the mid-'90s for a sum of approximately $45 million. That put the cost of each flag at about $45. Trouble is, the flags had no eyelets, sleeves or halyard lines, making them difficult to display.

Copps has recently been a "pitch person" for Herbal Magic weight-loss products. Who knows what herb she was indulging in when she came up with the flag idea?

No matter your political stripe, the Tories are veritable pikers when it comes to indiscretion. If they are guilty of breaking the law they will undoubtedly pay a price. However, it's unlikely it will be at the ballot box.

ET - There are many, many people and persons in this world who are capable. Why don't we simply appoint each to the Senate as openings become available (I understand there is alot of openings right now).

Then, we can put them into Cabinet, and have them run the government.

Wait, that's already begun.

Honestly dude - you seem to have alot of issues. Me? My world is a little smaller. I don't like unelected bagmen having control of $30 billion taxpayer dollars.

I know, I know, hardboiled, you prefer the corrupt elected Liberals to steal your 40 million. That's how much, at a low estimate, that they stole. To secure their own power. You prefer that. OK.

Awright - who did the number on the Mt St Helen's observatory window?

What's up with the volcano cam?

Can anyone read the sign?

I am not a Librano ET. I dislike their policies. I dislike their deep corruption of the RCMP. I was embarrassed with the childish petulance of US/Canadian relations under them. And I hated the the pure thuggery of Cretin. And most of all, the $100 million conspiracy and theft of taxpayer funds.

I also don't like the subversion of democracy any more than I like the Libranos.

That gnome looks threatening. Hope it's not part of an invasion force.

I think it says "I will get the snow".

Maybe he's got a tiny snowblower ready to roll.

Rachel M. McCleary, Religion and Economic Development

Surprisingly, the modern study of religion and economics begins with Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), an examination of conditions leading to the Industrial Revolution. In his book, Smith applies his innovative laissez-faire philosophy to several aspects of religion. However, Smith’s fundamental contribution to the modern study of religion was that religious beliefs and activities are rational choices. As in commercial activity, people respond to religious costs and benefits in a predictable, observable manner. People choose a religion and the degree to which they participate and believe (if at all).

Smith’s contribution to the study of religion is not simply theoretical. He held substantive views, for example, on the relationship between organized religion and the state...

Amitai Etzioni, Religion and Social Order

What do Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iraq have in common? In nations where an authoritarian regime has collapsed, liberation is typically followed by explosive increases in anti-social behavior. This fact, which holds irrespective of whether the regime was militantly secular or theocratic; communist or Islamic, is rarely discussed in the Western media or during political give and take on “regime change” and related subjects...

Explosive increases in anti-social behavior... do not naturally subside by themselves... I confront the question of how such conduct can be curbed. Enhanced law enforcement may do so initially, but, in the longer run, a rather different kind of authority must become the major source of social order if it is to be considered legitimate, which, in turn, is essential for sustained stability. Religion (in its moderate, nonviolent expressions), I will show, is a major source of such authority.

There is only one cause of the decay of the once-mighty auto manufacturing industry in Ontario. Unions.

Unions are parasites; they feed off the wages of the workers. Therefore, their agenda is to increase, increase those wages - so their 'take' is higher. That's how the Union Executive lives. Off the union 'dues' of the workers. Then, the union 'negotiates' a higher salary and benefits for the workers. Result? Two results - the union dues are higher; the Union Executive get themselves more pay.

But the real result? The cost of these higher wages and benefits is passed on to the consumer. The price of the goods and services goes up and up and up. Beyond the capacity of that overtaxed worker to pay...and no-one will buy those shiny new cars.

The CAW thinks that 'the govt' - that actually means the worker, the taxpayer, should step in and hand over money, money, from those worker-taxpayers..to the AutoCompany, to keep the price of the cars down. Of course, the CAW insists that the high salaries and benefits and their own Union Executive Fat Cat salaries must remain. All funded by subsidies from the Rest of The Canadian Taxpayers. Why do they reject competition? Why do they insist that Canadian taxpayers should pay for their Union Executive's Well-Being?

"The CAW has essentially sealed themselves to a relatively negative fate in that Canada now is the most expensive spot anywhere in the entire world for GM, Ford and Chrysler to manufacture vehicles and that's not a good position to be in," said Dennis Desrosiers, head of Desrosiers Automotive Consultants.

He warned the autoworker industry that if they do not make business more competitive, they are at risk of losing more jobs to the U.S. and Mexico"

And that's what Unions have done to Ontario. Since they operate completely as parasites, living off the wages of workers, their agenda is to increase those wages. But this moves the cost of the goods beyond the capacity of the consumer. Then, these same unions insist that OTHER Taxpayers from other jobs must step in and subsidize their union. Why? Why?

It's the same thing with our public services. The unions have transformed the focus from providing services to the public, to providing high wages and benefits to the public employees. There's no accountability for the provision of services. Once a public servant and you are guaranteed a job for life. No matter how unaccountable, no matter how badly you do your job. Your wages and your benefits are all that matters.

That's what unions do.

charles macdonald - I disagree. The authoritarian regime in China, for example, has not collapsed. It is being replaced from the ground up by capitalism and private businesses. Not by religion.

The authoritarian regime in Iraq has collapsed but has not been replaced by religion but by a civic model.

The authoritarian regime of Tsarist Russia was replaced by the Leninist-Stalinist regime. Its collapse didn't enable a religious revival (although that is occurring) but has left the country empty and desirous of singular 'heroic political leadership (that's how they see Putin).

As for Afghanistan - it's been a set of many adversarial tribes rather than a cohesive nation. It's trying to become a nation, but moving out of tribalism is very difficult.

Irwin M. Stelzer, Peak Oil Panic

Here in America, Congress alternates between calls for "energy independence" and refusals to allow drilling in what it considers environmentally sensitive areas in Alaska and offshore California and Florida. There's more, but you get the idea. There is a lot of oil out there to be found and produced, not even including the vast reserves in Canada's tar sands. We might have reached the age of peak panic about oil supplies, but not of peak oil.

If I were to be any other animal on earth, I'd want to be a peregrine falcon. Ya get to eat pigeons. Cool web cam indeed!

Actually, ET, the Chinese are enormously interested in Christianity in particular, to the extent that booksellers have trouble meeting the demand for Bibles (despite large print runs). The Sunday Times had a feature story on it some months ago, if you're interested.

The collapse of Communist China is a real possibility. There is a maxim of political science (dating back at least to Ted Robert Gurr, Why Men Rebel, 1970) that the most dangerous time for a bad regime is when it begins to change for the better. The lot of the Chinese people is improving rapidly in a material sense but not in terms of civil and political rights. We'll see if the revolution of rising expectations doesn't blow the Bamboo Curtain apart. The student "pro-democracy" protests of a few years back are unlikely to be a one-off event.

And of course, there is the centrifugal force of separatism. The Muslim Uighur minority may prefer to reconstitute their breakaway state of Kashgaria (under Indian rather than British tutelage this time?) instead of remaining under Chinese suzerainty. Other restive minorities - notably the Tibetans - may similarly prefer to go their own way.

Supplemental:

The book they used to burn now fires new revolution of faith in China

The gospel truth about China’s Christian millions

A poll by a university in Shanghai this year found that 31 per cent of its respondents would describe themselves as religious, of whom 12 per cent are Christian. That suggests that there could be as many as 40 million Christians in China. Some estimates put the figure as high as 150 million...

charles macdonald - I agree, that the communist monopoly rule of China is imploding, from the inside, as its people move more into capitalism and private enterprise.

But that doesn't mean a movement to a religious authority. That is, it isn't the case that a population is either under a civic authoritarianism or a religious authoritarianism.

The separation of church and state is the real alternative. In China, I think that the state authoritarianism will be reduced. Religious beliefs will indeed become stronger, replacing the control-over-the-future that the state ideology previously maintained. But, these new religious beliefs need not become state-authorities but can be separate. The state will be civic.

I also disagree with you that 'the most dangerous time for a bad regime is when it changes for the better'. Nothing to do with 'good' or 'bad'. The interface between one mode and another mode is always dangerous (ie. landing or taking off in a plane).

China's political rights are improving; indeed, the mass of people ignore the communist party.

As for separatism, that's to be expected in our new networked world, which is made up not of independent nation-states (and their colonies) but is instead made up of complex interlocked global networks of economic and informational connections. So, it won't be the independent old style separatism, but the regional, semi-autonomous sectors that are still economically and informationally networked together.

ET you're correct that public service jobs = high paying jobs and huge benefits for life with no accountablity.

I laugh out loud whenever I hear these union bosses argue that higher public service wages are required or valuable employees will be "lost to the private sector". No one is going to give up the gravy train in the public service for a private sector job. Why would they leave such cozy jobs for a world of accountability, performance measurement and job insecurity?

BTW, why do federal public servants get 90% of their pay while on maternity leave? The rest of us unwashed have to make do with 55%. What makes them so special? So deserving?

Anyone watch the CBC news "Today" at 12:00 PM CST?? More Conservative bashing. The program featured Question period, with Michael Ignatieff talking Elections Canada and the search warrant. If that's "the intellectual" of the Liberal Party, I think we're safe to call an election.!!

ET:

Render onto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's; render onto God which is God's.

Separation of church and state in about 35 AD.

A poll confirming that a large majority of Bourque's readership has no firm grip or understanding of reality:

http://bourque.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/095

Toronto passes handgun ban proposition. Un-fricken-believably stupid.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080429.COUNCIL29/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/

CBCpravda outdoes itself. read the readers comments on how Pravda photoshops the picture to look like PMSH. then read the article on how Ray actually lied while on the run. - CBCpravda actually acts astounded that someone lies about his name while being hunted.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/28/f-james-earl-ray.html

"Dozens of Tibetans imprisoned
State-run media describes the sentences as “the first batch”"
(TORedStar) ...-

"Awaiting China's implosion"
http://tinyurl.com/5tthbl (Salim Mansur)

"the United States, Canada and Israel have announced their intention to boycott the conference"
...-

The Planners of Durban II

Planning for the “Durban II” conference against racism, scheduled for 2009, is proceeding right along. Following a number of procedural meetings, the first “substantive” session of the Durban Review Preparatory Committee commenced in Geneva on April 21, 2008. The world’s leading human rights abusing countries are running rough-shod over the agenda. They are planning to set up Israel in particular for non-stop blood libel. They also intend to hold the Western democracies publicly accountable for what the planners brand as the twin ‘crimes’ of Islamophobic racism and religious defamation."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2008772/posts

How very New Age of you, ET. The regions that are most likely to separate are among the ultimate backwaters of this planet -- those least affected by our "complex interlocked global networks of economic and informational connections." Fervently wishing that the game has changed does not make it so.

"I also disagree with you that 'the most dangerous time for a bad regime is when it changes for the better'. Nothing to do with 'good' or 'bad'"

Change per se is only threatening to a completely ossified system. People have little or no reason to oppose positive change in a regime that is already beneficial. An evil, totalitarian regime can only improve by loosening the bonds of oppression, which provides the oppressed the opportunity for effective resistance.

The Soviet Union did not collapse simply because Gorbachev is a bumbling, inept fool. He loosened restrictions the minimum necessary to encourage economic reform while maintaining the CPSU's monopoly on political power. Then events overtook him, requiring further reforms to expand the private sector while state industries atrophied. Repeat as necessary until the repressive Soviet state is completely undercut.

Its late in the day, but .... ANTICRAFT is celebrating BACON this issue. Is this a statement?

http://theanticraft.com/this.htm#article1

{Sshhhh, Charles. You are not allowed to say that around here. The Cold War ended because of Reagan. Only Reagan's torquing up the war spending and anti-communist rhetoric is responsible for the end of the Soviet Union. It was not an unsupportable economic system and empire that collapsed in upon itself. Glory be to Reagan for single-handedly bringing down the Soviet Empire!}

Cal2 takes The Vast Leftwing Media Conspiracy to how new levels! Wow.

I mean, I know you folk think "The Media" is this all-powerful, anti-conservative monolith of a single entity bent on destroying conservativism, Harper and Bush and putting the leftard, statist LIEberanos back in power so they can funnel tax money to Chairman Strong, but I had no idea you think the CBC is so omnipotent as to be able to go back in time and alter all of these historical photos to look like Harper: http://images.google.ca/images?q=James+Earl+Ray&gbv=2&ndsp=20&hl=en&start=0&sa=N.

Maybe it's bigger than that. Maybe they are SOOO evil and CBCpravda that they actually hired James Earl Ray KNOWING Harper would eventually come along. What evil genius!

"Dion's priorities unclear

To the Editor:
Stephane Dion has unclear priorities in an uncertain world.

The Liberal leader of the Official Opposition visited Northumberland County recently, but don't be fooled into thinking he represents change or a real alternative to the Conservative government lead by Stephen Harper. Mr. Dion is a weak leader without clear priorities in an uncertain world. He and the Liberals do not represent change as they held power for over a decade during which promises were broken and scandals like the gun registry and sponsorship program took place.

Mr. Dion has unclear priorities on many major issues and has made billions worth of promises that no one knows how he could pay for without raising taxes. The Liberals have said at times they disapproved of the cut to the GST, so does that mean they want to raise it if they were to get back in? The Liberals have said they disapprove of the childcare benefit the Conservatives brought in, but does this mean they want to end that benefit? Mr. Dion has been unclear as to whether he supports a tax on carbon and what would such a tax do to gas prices or what would be taxed under such a plan?

In my view Stephane Dion is not a leader and not worth the risk since he has unclear priorities in an uncertain world.

Ryan Rantz
Port Sydney, ON"
http://tinyurl.com/66s2eo

See Spots disappear. Here Spots.
...-
"Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The scariest photo you will see all day

"Writing in The Australian, Phil Chapman -- geophysicist and former NASA astronaut -- sounds the alarm claxons for climate change. Problem is that it relates to catastrophic cooling -- not global warming."

"The first sunspot appeared in January this year and lasted only two days. A tiny spot appeared last Monday but vanished within 24 hours. Another little spot appeared this Monday. Pray that there will be many more, and soon."
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2008/04/scariest-photo-you-will-see-all-day.html

charles macdonald - I disagree with your conclusions. And no, I'm not into 'new age' junk, but if you want to insult me, go ahead.

I disagree that separation is only operative in the backwaters. Separation operates within asymmetry, and when two domains are functionally deeply asymmetric with each other - that's when you can get separation. Basic physics and biology.
Nothing to do with 'good' or 'bad' or 'backwaters'. Everything to do with symmetry and asymmetry in economy, technology, political infrastructure.

But, our globe is networked and that necessarily operates within a certain level of asymmetry to enable the network..

'Dangerous time' and 'threatening' are not the same meaning. When a regime is changing, for the better or worse, that means that its infrastructure becomes loose, becomes flexible. That's an extremely fragile and dangerous time, for the system could 'flip' and go either way. Nothing to do with 'threatening'.

And people don't necessarily recognize the changes as 'positive'; that can sometimes take decades and even a generation before the change is recognized as productive and accepted. Before that, there will be resistance, merely because people become used to the normative patterns.

Who said that the Soviet Union collapsed because of Gorbachev? He was articulating the need for changes that were already happening! The population base had become too large for a centralist, rigid, top down governance and was changing internally, by itself. Articulating this, was Gorbachev's legacy. But he didn't create those changes. I'm not into history occurring because of single individuals (that's the Hero Thesis).

No, ET, Gorbachev was trying to minimise changes to preserve his beloved CPSU's monopoly on power. Once the genie was out of the bottle, he found he couldn't control it. His incompetence hastened the end of the Soviet Union.

The population of the Soviet Union was too large for a planned economy (apart from short periods of national emergency) from the outset. This is not something that developed under Bolshevism.

The fact remains that backwaters, the areas which are poorly integrated into the nation, are the areas where separation is a realistic possibility. The separation of an area that is integral to a nation results in civil war, and civil wars tend to be much bloodier than conflicts between states.

charles macdonald - we'll have to agree to disagree.

You keep changing your definitions. You began your discussion of separatism by defining it only as a 'centrifugal force' and one based around minorities.

You then changed that to 'backwaters' - those least affected by 'our complex interlocked global networks'. This definition introduces an economic and social disparity. Nothing to do with minorities.

Now, it's those areas 'poorly integrated into the nation'. This introduces economic, social and political isolation.

So- which is it? I maintain that the era of the nation-state is over, and indeed, was over with the two World Wars. We have now, economically and informationally, moved into a global economic network. Therefore, the huge nation-state with its centralist governance is no longer viable, and we have instead, economic activities within regional areas defined largely by ecology and population.

I also disagree with your assessment of the Soviet Union and Gorbachev. He wasn't the idiot you see him as. No population is too large for a planned economy but it can certainly be too large for a centrally planned economy.

Having gone through the last two weeks of SDA I can find only oblique references to the EC/RCMP raid of CPC HQ. I was expecting the loyal folks here to entirely repudiate the charges, but it appears silence is the only response.

Impossible to defend the indefensible, or have I just missed the dozen or so threads that I expected to be here?

CBCpravda , All Khadr , All the Time.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/29/khadr-kuebler.html

apparently he turned into a 15 year old again. the terrorist tyke must have cost us 5 million so far in just costs for covering him on Pravda.