Joining Fats in tonight's band are Orlando Roberson, Henry Allen, Leonard Davis, Charlie Gaines, Jabbo Smith, Larry Binyon, Herman Hughes, Charles Clinkscales, Gene Krupa, Ray Bauduc, Kaiser Marshall, Oliver Childs, Maceo Johnson, Eddie Condon, Will Johnson, Pops Foster, Al Morgan, Toby Hardwicke, Arville Harris, Charles Holmes, Albert Nicholas, J. C. Higginbotham, Jack Teagarden, and Charlie Irvis.

What size earplugs does a polar bear use? I see an opportunity here:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/09/30/bs-alert-polar-bear-hearing-affected-to-due-global-warming/

Vit..re those stats:
I recognise every commenters 'name' except 'And then you Wonder', #67 in the bytes section.
That's a new one to me.

CBC x challenge, on the economy, pitted Flaharty against Brison, along with an NDP MP and a Green candidate. They started their show with audience/voters favouring the Conservatives at 39% to the Liberals at 33%. After it was over they 'miraculously' favoured the Liberals at 52% to the Conservatives at 29%.

I have never seen such a blatant, in your face fraud in my life.

It would appear that the audience was entirely made up of Toronto Liberals to begin with and the initial voting intention was falsified. At the end of the show the audience practically gave Brison a standing ovation. The host noted that this may indicate a momentum change in the election.

Another pathetic example of collusion between the Liberals and their taxpayer funded, propaganda tool, the CBC.

The Conservatives would be wise not to participate in the next one.

Watch the CBC attempt to use this debacle as leverage, even "momentum change" for the Liberals in tomorrows news.

bluetech:

Try this thread

Vitruvius you wrote that you like all the pretty colours on your graph but I wanted to see what the unified graph would look like. I just pulled 2 points/week off your chart, added and divided by the number of pollsters at each point.
Looking good to the middle of the 3rd week.

Grand Unified VEEP Graph is here: http://tinyurl.com/4zy2wx

I'm trying to think of the CBC as "the arts" that the conservatives so need to support... it's not really working.

How's that for spin. "but we already support the arts to the tune of + $1 billion a year" !

as long as it's all non fiction, shouldn't it count?

Marc, I think "funding" means an ever-increasing budget, year after year, culminating in a situation in 2047 where all Canadians are 'artists' paid by the government.

guess I should use "/sarc" then PiperPaul, I'm just trying to look at the bright side...

for anyone following msm coverage of the canadian election, CTV has actually published a poll from The Strategic Council with the headline, "Liberal support lowest since Dion took leadership"

guess it's safe to say this, after a healthy lead has been established.

at the current rate of liberal slide, it appears that the dippers may form an official opposition to a majority conservative government.

I think that'd be funny... but I'm like that. hey anyone remember "the rat pack" with Sheila Copps? does that ring a bell Stephene?

*
burkas back in the electoral spotlight...

When's the last time you saw 50,000 plus votes
in an online newspaper poll?

*

Didn't make it into Vitruvius's stats this time :-(
Easily explainable: have gone from an working part-time in an overdoctored area, Vancouver, to working full time in an underdoctored area in the interior of BC. There were many times when I was working in Vancouver that I had time to comment at SDA while working. No way that I can attempt this now unless patient volumes drastically decrease. Still sneak a peak at SDA a few times a day. Not sure how some of the more prolific posters do it and hold down jobs. Need to get more efficient.

Not sure how some of the more prolific posters do it and hold down jobs.

loki, haven't you heard? All the conservative-minded people posting here are paid operatives undermining Dion/supporting Harper's secret, evil agenda.

They are NOT regular Canadians expressing their views honestly. For that kind of truth and fairness, one has to go to the Canadian MSM.

Under the heading of fair and balanced, Gwen Ifill, the moderator of the US Vice Presidential debate, is the author of a new book titles:"Age of Obama". WTF!!!

Looks like the deck is stacked against the Republicans in the US debates.
How do obviously partisan people get to moderate political debates? Why is it allowed?

I know that Damian did up a post on Chris Wattie's new book "Contact Charlie" But I just wanted to remind folks that exerpts of the book are being published this week at the National Post. Just do a search for Wattie and the three exerpts so far will come up in the search.

This is first class warts and all stuff.

melamine milk affects growth hormone?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431182,00.html

Spengler, Truth, lies and ticker tape

To bankers and politicians who insist that the world will come to an end if the US Congress does not approve the proposed US$700 billion bailout package, I wish to say: "It is not the end of the world. It is just the end of you." Sadly, it won't be. America's financier caste will live to fleece another day.

There are no atheists in the trenches, and no free-marketeers in Congress after a nearly 10% fall in stock prices. A chorus of erstwhile conservative voices led by the likes of Newt Gingrich, the Republican firebrand of the 1990s, now argues that the proposed $700 billion bailout package is flawed, but it is better to enact it than to do nothing. This simply is not true...

Texas Canuck: "Under the heading of fair and balanced, Gwen Ifill, the moderator of the US Vice Presidential debate, is the author of a new book titles:'Age of Obama'. WTF!!!"

WT_, indeed!

Gwen Ifill was so over-the-top negative in her commentary at the Republican National Convention (she gave the Gwen Grimace every time she spoke about Sarah Palin) that I, and a whole lot of others objected on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Online Web site.

She wasn't seen again commenting at the RNC.

I have no problems with Ifill preferring one political party over another--hey, most of us do--but isn't she paid as a political commentator to keep her preferences under wraps? Of course, this never stops the CBC-types from their biased and partisan hackery...and they're never removed from their "duties."

More informative,quality 'reporting' from the Mothercorp and Julie Vanbadhair Dusen just now.Talking about the release of exerpts from the Coulliard tell-all,and how Quebecers will be talking.She points out the 'shocking revelations' of Maxime speaking of PMSH's 'big gut' and his excessive drinking....of Pepsi,no less!Is this NEWs??? As for the book,it sounds like a grade 8 school girls dear diary,and being PO'd about being dumped.What drivel.

Sarah (Choice for Childcare) takes on the Zerb.
The Star again short on facts and heavy on vulgarity.

http://choiceforchildcare.blogspot.com/

(Via CSP) Manzar Zaidi, Pakistan's Taliban warlord: A profile of Baitullah Mehsud

Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud is considered in some intelligence circles as a threat as big as, or bigger than, even Osama bin Laden. His rise from a relatively little known entity in South Waziristan to the head of a full-fledged Taliban movement in Pakistan has not only grave repercussions for local security, but also for the Global War on Terror. The rise of this movement in Pakistan is not just a local disturbance, but the phenomenon of Taliban resurgence after their post-2001 setback in Afghanistan, and with Baitullah as a protégé of Mullah Omar taking charge, has international implications as well...

[Full report in PDF only].

Will the Liberal Party of Canada become Canada's first all female political party?

Joel Millman, Palin Proved to Be Formidable Foe in Alaska Debates

There are two things people here remember about Sarah Palin's debating style during her race for governor two years ago.

One is the stack of color-coded cue cards she took to the podium for help whenever she was asked a policy question. The other is how quickly she was able to shuck those props, master the thrust-and-parry of jousting with her opponents and inquisitors, and project confidence to an audience of television viewers watching from home...

Pepsi? Did Bernier take offence that he drinks Pepsi. is that a quebec insult?

as for choice of drink Bernier fit in with the drunken stampede crowd here a year ago quite nicely.

"As for Dion, his last chance to recast himself in his home province actually came and went Sunday night, when he delivered a flat interview on Tout le monde en parle, Quebec's top-rated talk show. By now, most of his Quebec candidates are barely going through the motions of running a campaign."

Chantal Hebert. Thought the Star had a filter to catch these things.

I agree new, pig tallow makes excellant indelible ink.

The VP debate "Moderator" controversy has been picked up big time by Drudge. Gwen Ifill has a vested interest - BIG TIME !!

VP DEBATE MODERATOR RELEASING 'AGE OF OBAMA' BOOK ON INAUGURATION DAY (Drudge)

"It simply is not fair - in law, this would create a mistrial."

Glenn Zorpette, Bomb Squad Diary: Countering IEDs, Part 2

A high-tech form of bomb disposal has evolved on the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan. It may be coming to a city near you.

[Part 1 of the article is here].

Could someone here explain please?? From a speech Ken Dryden delivered in Fredricton this am...."where is Mr.Harper's where?"..this along with the cerebral line 'he's not a nice guy..he's not' Pitiful.

Re: french language debates tonight. Chantal Hebert is right, Harper needs strong performance. He can fend off the law and order and arts funding fairly easily, then he should move to an impassioned defence of Quebec within Canada, arguing that both benefit from the federation, and both would be diminished by separation and/or poor cooperation by Bloc in HofC. He should say that the Canadian federation is made up of many "distinct" societies, while Quebec is the more/most "distinct" and is part of the overall Canadian history and culture.

Harper must show Quebecers that a vote for the Bloc is a vote for undermining Quebec's position in Confederation, and in no way enhances it. He must explain to Quebecers that the Bloc is not interested in working for the interests of Quebec in Canada, that he wants to separate, and cause instability, during a time of economic uncertainty.

If he can tie the idea of the Quebec nation within Canada and economic welfare, that Duceppe's disinterest in being a partner in that undermines Quebec security, and ultimately, their culture, then he can put Duceppe off balance and perhaps provoke an "angry moment" from him.

I think that's what he will do tonight, if the moderator lets him.

Quebecers are the most savvy of voters. they are always on the side of the house with the chequebook. Danny Whine for Wine Williams has finally shut his cakehole , even he is smart enough to realize he has been barking up the wrong tree.

Does your dog bite.- no but he whines constantly.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/01/vp-debate-moderator-pens-pro-obama-book/

VP Debate Moderator Pens Pro-Obama Book
WASHINGTON: Gwen Ifill, who is moderating Thursday's vice-presidential debate, is releasing a book on Barack Obama and other young black politicians who are "forging a bold new path to political power."

Best Comment to the FoxNews story:

"since gwen ifill is in the tank for obama, I think rush limbaugh should be her replacement. after all fair is fair."

What a farce, as if people are not going to see through this transparent novella.

Money for nothing and cheques for free...

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

Frankenstein Battalion
2nd Squadron: Ulanen-(Lancers) Regiment Großherzog Friedrich von Baden(Rheinisches) Nr.7(Saarbrucken)
Knecht Rupprecht Division
Hans Corps
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”

Steve Janke has an interesting piece about the NDP in Winnipeg trying to intimidate voters. Wouldn't surprise me one bit, union heads tend to be quite dictatorial.

Jonas on the lack of accountability of the Dems:

Accountability
Why is there none for Democrats?

The House GOP has come under a lot of criticism for its failure to deliver on its end of the bipartisan bailout deal, including from yours truly. Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership has come in for some moderate pro forma criticism for failing to do what was necessary to see the legislation passed.

It is a funny — though not ha-ha funny — double standard: When the GOP ran the show, it was always held responsible for every “bad” outcome. Now that the GOP is in the minority, it’s still held responsible for every “bad” outcome. I suppose it’s a similar standard that somehow allows the Democrats in charge of overseeing the financial sector to whine that there hasn’t been enough oversight without even the slightest sting of embarrassment.

On that point, you know what I haven’t seen in all of the coverage of the bailout-blow-up? I haven’t seen a single interview with a Democrat who voted against this deal. I’ve seen interviews of Republicans who’ve voted for it. I’ve seen interviews of Republicans who voted against it. And, of course, I’ve seen interviews with the Democratic leadership in which they blamed the Republicans who voted against it but not the 94 Dems who voted against it.

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NDQ0ZGQ4ODZmZDVkNDcwODE0NTk3ZWZkZDlkOWIxZGU=

Someone from the NDP finally said something witty. It needs to be noted.

Brad Lavigne, NDP campaign spokesperson (on Duffy) "I think now we know why Mr. Harper doesn't have his platform out. They're waiting for the Australian Liberal party to finish writing it."

"I also have to question his stated reluctance for getting involved politically. For many months Weaver has been publicly describing the prime minister as in essence being either a fool or a liar. Weaver is entitled to his opinion, but I for one have not sensed any reluctance on his part to castigate publicly anyone who has the temerity to disagree with him. I would suggest that, for these reasons, at least, his new book should be approached with a certain degree of skepticism." John Sutherland , Victoria.

"In the Times Colonist’s review of his book, Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World, UVic climatologist Andrew Weaver claims that if we don’t stop carbon emissions now, 80 per cent of the world’s species will die and civilization will collapse by the end of the century.

Haven’t we heard this kind of apocalyptic prophecy before?

Oh, yes. Thomas Malthus in the early 1800s. He thought his prophecies of starvation due to overpopulation were based on hard science but he was wrong. Biologist Paul Ehrlich, in 1968, predicted mass famines in the 1970s. Wrong.

David Suzuki laments that, after 40 years of preaching doom, nobody in power in Canada has listened to him. Maybe it’s because he’s always been wrong.

Dr. Weaver will almost certainly be wrong, too." Paul MacRae, Saanich

http://digital.timescolonist.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Page A13

I like Andrew Coyne, as any naturally conservatively inclined person would, and he cuts through the bull so well....

"...Here’s Stephen Harper, campaigning in Ajax, Ontario yesterday:

Friends, the GTA doesn’t need higher taxes. The GTA doesn’t need a carbon tax. And the GTA doesn’t want this country to go back to deficits. Instead, it needs the kind of prudent investments our government is making to help the economy grow. Investments like the bridge on Sandy Beach Road south of Parkham Crescent in Pickering. Investments like a new passport office here in Ajax. Investments like the federal Gas Tax Fund, that by 2010 will have invested over 800 million dollars in the GTA...."

And then, in case anyone didn’t get the hint,

Friends, our government is delivering for the GTA. But there’s more to be done. And we need a strong team of Conservative MPs from the GTA in Ottawa to make it happen."

You need Conservative MPs to make what happen? To ensure that “more” is done in the way of “delivering” for the GTA. Want more passport offices and bridges? Vote Conservative.
This is the Prime Minister of Canada talking, you understand. The candidates for President of the United States debate the shape of the financial system and whether it is strategically wiser to focus on Iraq or Afghanistan. The Prime Minister of Canada — a Conservative Prime Minister — devotes himself to delivering passport offices to Ajax.

This is what is left of conservatism in Canada. This is what our politics have become, or reverted to — trawling for votes with hooks baited with other people’s money, like any 1940s ward-heeler. It’s the same old game, telling voters in every riding that they can make off at the expense of all the others, that the LIberals played for years. Only I remember a time when there was a party, and a leader, that said they’d put a stop to it."

Sigh. Once upon a time, there was a person who said they were conservative. Then they started doling out patronage gigs, appointed bagmen to cabinet, and ramped up spending faster than any government in history in their first 2 years.

Then they became what they said they hated.

The End.

http://tinyurl.com/4a5jw3

I'd like some of what the Elfin one is smoking.
A quote from a post today:

"My reasons for having confidence in Mr. Dion are pretty simple. First, I believe that Mr. Dion beat Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae in most of the Liberal leadership debates. Stephen Harper will be nothing in comparison. Second, I know that Stéphane Dion is very quick on his feet and able to put out a solid line."

For a good belly laugh, read the whole thing:
http://jasoncherniak.blogspot.com/2008/10/stphane-dion-has-most-to-gain-from.html

Sorry, hardboiled, but I don't get your point. Are you suggesting that it is wrong for a federal govt to use taxpayer money from a particular region within that particular region?

Are you saying that a federal govt should not invest in a particular region? Those investments noted in your post would have been carried out under the infrastructural devts of Transport Canada. There's a lot of federal investment in the GTA region, including 697 million for the TTC spadina extension, 83 million for a Mississauga rapid transit, 95 million for Brampton rapid transit.

There's money for hwy extensions, 700 million for Via rail..etc, etc. There's federal funding for water cleanup, sewer infrastructures etc.

These are all areas of 'local needs'. Are you saying that the federal taxes should not be spent in this way?

People care, first, about their local realities. Then, they'll move on to the farther distances, to the issues that are more remote from the most immediate and pragmatic. That's a healthy human nature. That's what Harper was talking about; what is locally relevant and how the federal govt operates locally. What's wrong with informing the public of that?

Someone who ignores his own local reality, who muses only about the abstract nature of good and evil, or the strategies of Iraq vs Afghanistan (why not both?)..is someone who belongs solely in the seminar room.

Bob Rae is incompetent

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=gjoHSENm-6s

The Life of a Bureauc-Rat.
...-

"The European Union monitors who are lucky enough to be based at Bazaleti, not far from the Georgian capital Tbilisi, are starting to live a life of luxury."

"Their home is an upmarket holiday resort set on a beautiful lake."

"Frustration as EU monitors barred"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7647111.stm

Ontario Liberal McGuinty: mugged by reality.
Caw ... caw ... CAW ...
Conservative Minister Flaherty* was correct in his assessment.
...-

"Prospects dim
'Some parts of economy not coming back:' Premier"
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/10/01/6937261-sun.html
...-

*Flaherty calls Ontario 'last place' to invest
1 Mar 2008 ... During a budget-selling stop in Halifax, the federal finance minister said Ontario is 'the last place' in Canada to start a business because ...
www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/03/01/flaherty-budget.html

Mao Stlong say, nephew Boob Lae is a [censoled].
...-

"The Censor in the Mirror

It’s not only what the
Chinese Propaganda Department
does to artists, but what it makes
artists do to their own work

By Ha Jin

Censorship in China is a powerful field of force; it affects anyone who gets close to it. Four years ago, I signed five book contracts with a Shanghai publisher who planned to bring out four volumes of my fiction and a collection of my poems. The editor in charge of the project told me that he couldn’t possibly consider publishing two of my novels, The Crazed and War Trash, owing to the sensitive subject matter. The former touches on the Tiananmen tragedy, and the latter deals with the Korean War. I was supposed to select the poems and translate them into Chinese for the volume of poetry. As I began thinking about what poems to include, I couldn’t help but censor myself, knowing intuitively which ones might not get through the censorship. It was disheartening to realize I would have to exclude the stronger poems if the volume could ever see print in China. As a result, I couldn’t embark on the translation wholeheartedly. To date, I haven’t translated a single poem, though the deadline was May 2005.

The publisher publicly announced time and again that these five books would come out soon, sometime in late 2005, according to the contracts. But that spring, the first in the series, my collection of short stories, Under the Red Flag, was sent to the Shanghai censorship office—the Bureau of Press and Publications—and the book was shot down. So the whole project was stonewalled. A year later, I heard that the publisher had decided to abandon the project. In the meantime, numerous official newspapers spread the word that my books had no market value in China."
http://www.theamericanscholar.org/au08/censor-jin.html

the bloggers pointed it out last year. maybe the MSM can use us a source.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/10/01/mercury.html

New online poll: Do you agree/disagree with the "experts"?

1. "Nelson Wiseman, professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said he's not surprised the Liberals have turned to negative ads."
2."David Dunne, a professor of marketing at U of T's Rotman School of Management," ""Second place is the first loser in politics," Dunne said. "In business you can be No. 2 and still be profitable, but that doesn't work in politics. You have to win."
3. CanPress: "The Liberals have been hovering at historically low levels of support in the polls - around 25 per cent. That's worse than the 28 per cent John Turner's Liberals took in the 1984 election where they won only 40 seats. That may be driving the attacks, Wiseman said."
...-

"Liberal Web attack links Bush with 'my pal' Harper"
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/CanadaVotes/News/2008/10/01/6945041-cp.html

Usually I don't listen to CBC radio (in fact, almost never) but something made me turn it on during the ride home today. What was going on? A terrifically smarmy smear piece on Thomas Steen, the CPC candidate running in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood-Transcona. They essentially likened his running for the CPC with being on a hockey team--coach (Harper) say, player do, no thought required. It was rather offensive. If I can find it online I'll post it here. It was on CBC AM Winnipeg, from about 4:45 to 4:50 PM CDT.

Anyone else think Mike Duffy Live is a Tabloid type show? He takes great glee in things like the Bernier affair and now he's letting us all know the jilted one, Couillard, will have he TIMELY tell all pillow talk book launch for all eager buyers across the country.No doubt he's referring to his Liberal friends who are looking for more info to toss at Harper. They've likely all got advance copies.

That's what the Liberal desperation has come down to.

Dionky say, Moi playgrrrize? Moi? Moi invade privacy of ex-judge and his wife? Moi?

"How it [quick clip] fell into the Liberals' hands is a mystery to her—and to the son."

Watch for the Libs to pull the ad.
...-

"And again: Liberals accidentally feature New Democrats in new attack ad

Will the embarrassments never stop?

The Tyee, an independent online magazine in British Columbia, has provided the latest indication that the Liberals might have wanted to think a bit more before firing away at Stephen Harper for borrowing the words of Australia's prime minister in a speech five years ago.

The online journal points out that the Liberals' latest attack ad (dissected here by the Post's Duncan Clark), which maintains Stephen Harper and George Bush are kissing cousins, inexplicably gives a central role to a prominent BC New Democrat. From the Tyee:

"22 seconds into the half-minute TV spot, the commercial shows a quick clip of a senior couple smooching behind a subtitle: Strengthen the safety net.

The couple are Jean Macintyre and her husband John, a retired judge of the B.C. Provincial Criminal Court. Jean Macintyre has for several years been the president of the North Vancouver-Seymour NDP Constituency Association.

As a longtime New Democrat, she's working to promote her candidate Michael Charrois, and to defeat Liberal incumbent Don Bell.

Dumbfounded to see herself and her husband in the ad, Macintyre says the video clip was taken by one of their sons in a Lower Lonsdale coffee shop a couple of years ago. How it fell into the Liberals' hands is a mystery to her—and to the son.

While the Conservatives are confessing to a plagiarism rap that would flunk them out of English 100, the Liberals may have to apologize to the Macintyres or perhaps face a charge of invasion of privacy."

Hmmm. Maybe this is the smooch shot the Liberals meant to use."
http://tinyurl.com/433ttl (NP)
...-

More: Featuring Liberal video & close-up of "smooch shot" of the NDP supporters.

"Ad Watch: A periodic look at campaign ads in the leadup to the federal election.

Update: A bit of strangeness to these ads. Online news magazine The Tyee is reporting that the smooching couple featured in this ad are actually NDP supporters."
http://tinyurl.com/3r6kyw

"The War Won’t End in Afghanistan
Michael J. Totten - 09.29.2008 - 4:32 PM

Senator Barack Obama said something at the presidential debate last week that almost perfectly encapsulates the difference between his foreign policy and his opponent’s: “Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there.” I don’t know if Obama paraphrased Gates correctly, but if so, they’re both wrong.

If Afghanistan were miraculously transformed into the Switzerland of Central Asia, every last one of the Middle East’s rogues gallery of terrorist groups would still exist. The ideology that spawned them would endure. Their grievances, such as they are, would not be salved. The political culture that produced them, and continues to produce more just like them, would hardly be scathed. Al Qaedism is the most radical wing of an extreme movement which was born in the Middle East and exists now in many parts of the world. Afghanistan is not the root or the source.

Naturally the war against them began in Afghanistan. Plans for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States were hatched in Afghanistan. But the temporary location of the plotters of that strike means little in the wide view of a long struggle. Osama bin Laden and his leadership just as easily could have planned the attacks from Saudi Arabia before they were exiled, or from their refuge in Sudan in the mid 1990s. Theoretically they could have even planned the attacks from an off-the-radar “safe house” in a place like France or even Nebraska had they managed to sneak themselves in. The physical location of the planning headquarters wasn’t irrelevant, but in the long run the ideology that motivates them is what must be defeated. Perhaps the point would be more obvious if the attacks were in fact planned in a place like France instead of a failed state like Afghanistan."
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/totten/34001
...-

"Through the Looking Glass

Alice in Wonderland, the white rabbit is arguing the case of the stolen tarts before the King of Hearts and is stumped for an initial place to start his argument.

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. `Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.

`Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, `and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’

Beginning at the beginning is easier done in Wonderland than in real life — whether the subject is the subprime financial crisis or international terror. Take the global terrorist threat, for example: when did it begin? Michael Totten writes about the difficulties of not remembering where things start:

Senator Barack Obama said something at the presidential debate last week that almost perfectly encapsulates the difference between his foreign policy and his opponent’s: “Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there.” I don’t know if Obama paraphrased Gates correctly, but if so, they’re both wrong.

If Afghanistan were miraculously transformed into the Switzerland of Central Asia, every last one of the Middle East’s rogues gallery of terrorist groups would still exist. The ideology that spawned them would endure. Their grievances, such as they are, would not be salved. The political culture that produced them, and continues to produce more just like them, would hardly be scathed. Al Qaedism is the most radical wing of an extreme movement which was born in the Middle East and exists now in many parts of the world. Afghanistan is not the root or the source."
http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2008/10/01/through-the-looking-glass/#comments

It's one thing to get nasty; that happens all the time - check out the NDP and Tory ads.

It's quite another to say you will run a civil campaign, until you see you are losing, and then dredge up 5-year old speeches, and coming soon no doubt, the abortion issue.

That's known as desperate hypocrisy, where your "values" are jettisoned at the first sign of trouble.

As far as nasty goes, Tories could unleash a torrent:

- Dion against carbon taxes before he was for them
- Dion is goofy professor who knows zip about real life
- Dion has no repaid his leadership debts
- Libs are borrowing against votes they haven't even received yet
- Libs stole trademark from environmental firm
- Libs plagairized Suzuki's intellectual property
- Libs still haven't paid back stolen money.
- Dion is loathed in his home province
- Rae nearly bankrupted Ontario and Ignatieff wrote torturing prisoners OK
- and much, much more

I say bring it on, bury these p****s; except, use the Liberal tactic of attack dogs, while Harper makes nice in his fuzzy sweater.

Not a leader, but yes a scumbag

Niks numbers are out ending oct 01/08
cp 37%(+1)
Lib 26%(n/c)
ndp 19%(-1)
Bq 10%(n/c)
grn 8%(-1) in-material
Undecided 13%(+2)

*Kate here's a thought maybe we should try to see if anyone can give results from their local riding Polls EG: local Newspapers, radio stations etc... and post them.