Here's a rare gem of commentary from the MSM regarding Dion's performance this evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyZa0G46Uzs

All good men and women of passion and purpose mess up once in a while. Some are BIG f'ups, some are small.

The bloodsport known as politics has few victims ... they are eaten up and spewed out pretty quick.

Stay Steffie. Stay.

Jackson Browne - The Load Out / Stay - Live 1978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtuvXrTz8DY

Take a break from this nightmare to watch this hilarious fellow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jksnSf1jeyQ

It has NOTHING to do with Canada ... well, except that he indirectly takes a shot at our "Human Rights" Commissions!!

*
i guess it's really true what they say... iggy is the smartest banana in the bunch...

"The Ignatieff official said Mr. Ignatieff's view not to accept a cabinet position
- if one is offered and it likely would be - should not be interpreted as some
new-founded concern over the coalition or that he is backing out of the coalition."

two words... political... kryptonite.

*

Previously posted, but finally on the correct thread... the online petition to respect the last election. Please only sign once, and only if you haven't already. My signature was around 202,000. Current count, 1 hour later, 209,200

Let the New Liberal Blockheads know that there's a reason you didn't vote NLB in the last election.

http://www.petitiononline.com/CANADIAN/petition.html

well done edb

Once in Royal Trudeau's City,
Stephane Dion thought he was PM,
Had himself a caucus rather gritty,
Also Dippers, he had all of them,

Had the Bloc and all their team,
Then woke up and found it was a dream.

This proposed coalition is a mess, but Setting aside the fate of the country for a moment, there is something graceful about the move by Layton/Dion and the coalition. They recognized the political Shi -- the situation and dynamic of the moment -- and exploited it. Sun-tzu wrote "Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle but in defeating the enemy without every fighting". That may be exactly what happens once this all plays out. Although it makes me a little bit nauseous to say "Dion" or "Layton" and "excellence" in the same paragraph, there is something a wee little bit admirable about the deviousness of this whole plan, and how they exploited Harper's foolish economic update. Harper may not be in this mess had he studied The Art of War more carefully ... or at all.

I was hoping tonights selection would be by John Mellencamp.
'Little ditty about Jack and Dion...'

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it before, but here's the book "Hot Air":
http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771080968

Steal the name from a small business, and maybe... well I better read it before I make any other accusations. ;)

Talking to my father tonight about the events of the day, while watching the CBC, I had an odd question especially coming from a french canadian in the middle of seperatiste/souveraniste (is that really important hmm unkown montreal pundit?) Quebec. What does the Queen think of all this?

Stephen Harper is meeting the Governor General tommorrow. What power does the PM have against her decision (if she were to accept the coalition)? The Governor general is appointed by the PM but she is the representative of the Queen.

I'm perfectly aware that it's just another quirk derived from our unique system of government. Obsolete also comes to mind but I'm curious nonetheless.

I wonder what's going on in jolly old england anyways.

IN the "How Can We Trust A Thing They Say" category:

Every one of the Three Comrades promised Canadians during the election that they would NEVER go into a coalition with any of the others.

So, within a few weeks they ALL broke election promises.

Not only that, every one of them comprimised their party platforms and princiapls that they promised their voters they would fight for. (Except the BLOC - he always said he wanted Quebecd to leave Canada but meanwhile we'll take every penny we can from the stupid Anglos)

So, Canadians are supposed to believe any of them now?

Whereas, Harper ran on a platform that he then put in the Throne Speech which was passed by all parties in the House last Thursday proving that last Thursday he earned the confidence of the HOuse to carry on with his election platform.

So, who can you trust?

Of course, three parties who ran against the Conservatives will ALL say they have "no confidence" in Harper because he earned the right to enact his platform, not theirs.

How stupid do those jokers think we Canadians are?

Cherenkov, huh? The only thing that this ill conceived coalition did was to awaken the docile and politcally soft Canadian into raging against it. Not exactly a genius move IMO. The one thing that Canadians are is patriotic and buy merging with the bloc, they've poked the slumbering with a sharp stick.

Finance Minister Flaherty does a great job of standing up to an antagonistic Craig Oliver.

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/ctvs-question-period/nov-30-2008/#clip117262

at 6:05 Craig Oliver says “..but reducing taxes doesn’t put money in people’s pockets”

….Oh really

if you love him you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
[...]
'Cause after all he's just a man
++

What if you DON'T love him

"Every one of the Three Comrades promised Canadians during the election that they would NEVER go into a coalition with any of the others. So, within a few weeks they ALL broke election promises. "

Harbinger of what's to come if they are successful. But it wouldn't matter, 'cause they will not have been elected!

"Promises? What promises? Harper screwed things up so royally it's going to take months, no wait - YEARS to fix all that bad, evil stuff. And since we're saving Canada by reinstating democracy by cooperating with the other coalition members we may have to suspend elections for a while as we finish our noble task. Please be patient."

I consider myself the evil twin of Stephen Harper of the Calgary School ;) ... or let's just say I'm a fan.

However his political miscalculations since the election have forced me to reconsider. I would probably make the same mistakes ...

Regardless would somebody please bring up the OPEN GROUND WAR THIS COALITION CONTRAPTION WOULD HAVE WITH THE PROVINCES AND REGIONS. Dion talks about concensus when you and I know he's going to be shoving a lot of rhetorical bull shit down our throats.

The machiavellian in me craves for the COALITION CONTRAPTION to succeed because of the resultant comedy and encrusted underbelly of fringe Canadian Politics on the left would be exposed for all to see. They could talk all they wanted about their unicorns and brotherly love and the ice cap disappearing but to put it all in the spot light for 18 months. What glory.

But I kid myself, nobody would be laughing but me and a couple other guys like in that theater watching 'Blue Velvet'. Nobody will get it.

So Prorouge Parliament! Put the madness to sleep!

.... but would somedody with an audience pick up the thread of federal provincial political warfare on a number of fronts. Consensus my ass ... it will be ivory tower trio of idiot savants preaching from Toronto 'on high' ... or maybe 'just high'.

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past while, looking at the whole political situation from every angle... and I'm beginning to wonder if Harper is more of a genius then we are giving him credit for... here is my analysis:

http://anothercanadianblog.blogspot.com/

Cherenkov, maybe PMSH did not study Sun-tzu. He may have studied hockey. He said 'it is not where the puck is, it is where it is going'.

>Tonight we are a nation at a crossroads... as he fights for the nation he loves.
>Time for a sing-along, then.

Troubling times indeed, and nothing has so much as made me crack a smile of late, but this rendered me helpless with laughter. "Time for a bake-off" or "time for a knit-a-thon" might have done it too, but either of these would, obviously, have had less resonance in the LNRadio context.

A vote of gratitude to EBD for the much-needed Zen slap to the back of the head. I find myself once again grounded in a sustaining awareness that life is always absurd one way or another, that this present absurdity too shall pass, and that the crisis du jour, no matter how momentous, will not prevent the sun from coming up in the morning - and I needed to be reminded of that. Beyond identifying and initiating such constructive action as can intelligently be taken, there's no point in getting one's knickers in a twist.

Just the ladies, now...

Banachek,

Thank you for that video:
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/ctvs-question-period/nov-30-2008/#clip117262

Watching it is HIGHLY enlightening to see how the media drives wedges between Canadians.

cherenkov,

What nonsense. Go read Sun Tzu a couple more times and then answer these questions:

1) As of today, what was lost or won and by whom?

2) If your band of excellent idiots "wins" - what would they win, what would they lose? What would the Conservatives lose, what would they win? What would Canadians (except Quebec) win ... lose? And Quebec - same questions.

3) Which of the above groups can change any outcome with an election?

4) What would Sun Tzu do to a "general", given 1, 2 and 3 above, who couldn't even identify who the "enemy" is?

Why are all the talking heads missing an obvious point, namely a Lib-NDP coalition does not have enough seats to form a government? Remember the Bloc only promised to support them, not join them in any official capacity.

btw, love Tammy's Darth Vador Helmet Hair.

With regards to Sun Tzu, " In death ground, fight"

Must read is a column on the front page of National Post today by Terence Corcoran: "Why the PM must persist". He has it right on.An excerpt from the column: "The whole production is a page from the work of the greatest academic authority on the subject, Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt, author of the 2005 bestseller, "On Bullshit". Liars, says Prof. Frankfurt,need to know the truth. Bullshitters, interested solely in advancing their own agenda, have no use for truth. They just make things up so as to win over their audience"

Now, how much more accurate could anything be to describe the blasted Opposition and the goddamned media in this country?

Texas Canuck,

You're right. A coalition between the Liberals and NDP does not have nearly enough seats. In order for it to be a coalition, the Bloc must join, rather than support it.

The Bloc will not do this. They want the veto rights to ram whatever they want down the ROC's throat.

If she pursues this ridiculous notion, this is what the GG is going to have to ask them to do.

I don't think there's going to be a coalition government. However, the Liberals are going to wear this for a long time.

Tis time to rethink the political system. If Alberta could be represented in parliament the way PEI is then they (alberta) would be sending 80+ MP's there. AS it is now structered Alberta with a population of aprox 1 million more people than the entire Maritime provinces, yes including Nfld (32), sends 4 MPs less (28). The total national debt should be divided between the 308 ridings, a referendum held for everyone and see what the new country looks like when the smoke clears. I would bet something like this would send shivers down the spine (metaphorically speaking) of the NDP including Washawaymylease, as I say her after question period in the house being quite indignant at being called "traitor",along with all other participants of this unholy triumvariate, and demanding an apology. Ms Washawaymylease you and your treacherous compadres are the ones that owe the apology to the Canadian people. One can only hope that this behavior will be duly rewarded in this lifetime or the next.

You know Kate, I've resisted being cynical about our
political class. Some people think Harper wears a rug. I don't know, but if thats the height (no pun intended) of his dishonesty I'm joining his hair club.
Who would have thought that good hair could have brought a retard (okay verbally challenged), a commie and a frog together.
Now we know Dion is Mr comb-over and Layton wears a hat all the time. He pretends to be Jewish except at CAW rallies. Wouldn't want to offend the brothers-in-bigotry. Could diminish their Buzz.
The frog has a good head of hair but seems to worrry it a lot. Looks kind of wild-eyed. Maybe not a guy fully comfortable with his meds.
Okay, your saying what have illiteracy, Communism and pharmaceuticals to do with the coming change of government. Probably nothing.
Any normal Canadian deals with dim bulbs, zealots, and nut-jobs pretty much daily.
We usually hope to have elected them.

New from RAND Corporation:

Yong Kang, Lu Shi, and Elizabeth D. Brown, Chinese Corporate Governance: History and Institutional Framework

The Chinese economy has been growing rapidly in recent years, as the nation has moved toward a stronger role for private enterprise and capitalism. As China has aligned itself more closely with the international economy, it has also sought to adopt more Western-style oversight mechanisms and legal standards concerning the operation of its corporations. Corporate governance is critically important to a country's economic growth and stability, because it provides the credibility and confidence in management that is fundamental to capital markets. There has been sparse scholarly research on Chinese corporate governance to date, and this report begins to address this gap by providing an overview of corporate governance mechanisms in China. Kang, Shi, and Brown review the history of Chinese corporate governance; discuss eight pillars that make up the institutional framework for Chinese corporate governance; and identify problems associated with Chinese corporate governance, their policy implications, and areas for further research.

[Summary and full report available in PDF only.]

I wonder if, within the Liberal Party, there are any rumblings of a split to form a new Liberal Party.

That is, with this NDP brokered coalition between the NDP, Dion's Boys and the Bloc, the Liberal Party has been effectively swallowed by the NDP. How can they campaign in any future election except as buddies? And, with an identity of pure left politics - the socialism of the NDP and Bloc.

Wouldn't it make sense, now, to save the Liberal Party, for a set of Liberal MPs to break away from the Dion's Boys, and set up the New Liberal Party or whatever they want to call it. Leave Dion and his Boys dangling in the wind and declare their federalist and democratici principles...that are being destroyed by Layton, Dion and Duceppe.

Post by: ET; That is what I was wondering. Does it seem that maybe there is a behind the scenes doing in this move. Maybe the Liberal/NDP/Bloc centrists are maybe set up doing a house cleaning. If these centrists split off and formed new party, they could have representatives in every province and be a very viable party debt free. Who better to lead them but Micheal Ignattia.

merle - yes, I see your point about being debt free! But, I'd guess that the Dion's Boys Party would insist on some debt carrying because of the cost of getting the New Liberal Party's members elected in the October election.

It's just that I don't see how the NDP-Liberals in particular, can in future separate themselves. They may see themselves as 'two separate companies' with a contract to work together, but in reality, that's not what is happening and in reality, the public will see them as one.

How can they have two candidates, an NDP and a 'Liberal' in the same riding in future elections? How can they ever undo this 'coalition' in the future and stand alone?

As I see it, the only way to save the Liberal Party, assuming it ought to be saved, is for a group of MPs in that party to now, break away, refuse to be part of the 'coalition' and set up their own party.

I think the coalition is a monstrosity, but even if they don't get into power, one thing they have still succeeded in doing is irreparably damaging Harper. Nobody is going to come out of this smelling like roses, but Harper has the most to lose and will likely suffer the greatest wound.

while I have my own thoughts on this recent gong show, it has been striking how little Canadians know about their own system of governance, and the Parliamentary system.

We do not have representative democracy in this country. Never have.

So when I see really dumb statements like "But it wouldn't matter, 'cause they will not have been elected!", it truly strikes me how much ignorance exists among citizens.

Guess its the way of the world. That, and one generation of politically correct civics classes teaching nothing.

I do trust and hope the Cons will go through, political instability at a time like this is idiotic. But Harper's cowardly climbdown from Party financing was - to say the least - inelegant.

Doing something that is right, is always right, no matter what the timing.

Simma knows where the PET Cemetery is.
...-

"Former Liberal MP slams coalition, suggests Western separation

Simma Holt
Author / Lecturer / Broadcaster
Member: Canadian News Hall of Fame
Member: Order of Canada
Member: Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians
Member: Editorial Board: Beyond the Hill (CAFP)

The only way the three losers can get power is by total contempt of the Canadian voters–with this Coalition. They jeer and yell across the floor of the House of Commons charging Stephen Harper with only one motive–wanting to hold power. The only sound we hear across the miles is their hysterical demand for their own power–power none of them could get from the voters. Canada did not vote for Stephen Dion as the leader of this country.

I was a Liberal MP in the Government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1974-79. But there is no place in the Liberal Party of Canada for a true Grit. Nor is there a place for western Canadinans in this Insane Hysteria from the eternal losers–the NDP, the Bloc, and their chosen leader Stephen Dion — to succeed in this Contemptible Coup.

This cries out to us on the Pacific Rim: “if any part of Canada should separate it is British Columbia.

The contempt of the voters of Canada, and indifference to the economic and political crisis not only of Canada but the world, makes all of these power seekers unfit to service in the Nation’s Parliament…

Simma Holt"

http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2008/12/former-liberal-mp-slams-coalition-suggests-western-separation/

Dear hardboiled,

I fully understand that we do not have a representative democracy in this country. BUT I am adamant that beyond Constitutional Legitimacy there is also Democratic Legitimacy, which is arguably even more important that the former.

If voters in a democracy do not have the perception of their vote counting then the democracy is doomed. Period. Don't believe me? Talk with the "voters" in Zimbabwe.

The fact is that collectively Canadians elected a Conservative minority government. Period. Full stop. One can be a Radical Leftist CBC News Kool Aid Drinker and playing "62% mind games" but such talk is all nonsense and completely flies in the face of 141 years of our history.

For me, the primary reason there is no Democratic Legitimacy to Le Coalition is the timing. It's not even 2 months after the recent election. A budget hasn't even been presented. Yet now our vote is going to be discarded?

The secondary reason is the revelation that Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe, and possibly Stephane Dion had this all planned long ago. Whether or not we all should have heard the NDP Conference Call is up for debate but we did and heard in Layton's own words what he & the others had cooked up.

On these two reasons alone, what historical precedent is there for the government being overthrown in Canada? 1985 in Ontario and 1926 federally are frequently cited by Le Coalition supporters. Neither are remotely similar to what is going on now. So there is no precedent. And there's an obvious reason why there's no precedent: Because if it were commonplace then minority governments would be thrown out of office every few months and the stability we've all enjoyed and prospered from would be thrown into ruin.

The tertiary reason is the 3rd pillar of Le Coalition, the Bloc Quebecois. I find it rather peculiar/perverted that a party dedicated to removing Quebec from Canada (which would likely lead to the breakup of the rest of Canada btw) is now going to be part of the government. I concede that this is a weaker argument than the other two but is still very real in the minds of many, especially Western Canadians it seems.

You can argue that there's no such thing as Democratic Legitimacy in a Parliamentary System. But I will absolutely & vehemently disagree for the rest of my days on this planet.

Robert W.

robert w - nice post. Thanks.

Not only is there no precedence - and the 1926 King coalition is totally different from this attempt, for King was in power, called an election, lost it to the Conservatives, and, since he hadn't yet resigned as PM, [and that's a key point!!! He was still, legally, PM until he resigned!]...he said that he could continue to govern with the coalition of the Progressives. The NDP-Liberals-Bloc were not in power before our October election.

And, what the Coalition is proposing is a government that has not been approved by the electorate. We didn't vote for a coalition and of course, this 62% is sheer manipulative nonsense.
Furthermore, their restructing of the House is setting up a two-tiered process.

Motions would be voted on by MPs who are electable by 100% of the Canadian electorate. BUT, these Motions will have to be vetted by a 'higher House authority, the Bloc, before they are actually approved. This 'higher Authority' consists of MPs who are electable by less than 20% of the Canadian electorate. More than 80% of the Canadian electorate will have no power to elect this level of the House.

That's not a democracy.

I agree with most of your statements, inasmuch as the rational and earnest reasoning you include.

The fact of the matter is democratic legitimacy is irrelevant - it has no founding in the Parliamentary system. You elect a parliamentarian. They elect the government. That is the 'full stop'. And no matter how right you may or may not be, sadly, it doesn't matter.

There is nothing unconstitutional nor unlawful about the Three Stooges.

Being angry or (as I) disgusted that we pay fealty to a foreign monarch within a bureaucracy that simulates democratic tenets, the bottom line is that we have no such genuine democratic governance construct in this nation. Ask a westerner.

The larger concern of myself is that now there is precedent for a sitting government to avoid a confidence vote - by prorogation.

Think of that the next minority that doesn't get bounced. Especially when you are on the other side of the partisan fence.

Worst of all, Harper cowardly climbed down from what is a very democratic action: cutting off political parties from getting welfare cheques. It was the right thing to do. It remains the right thing to do.

I understand and mostly agree with you.

The problem is that we live in a statist gulag built and designed for the rulers, not the citizen. God save our gracious Queen man.

You may rise.

...when she says so...

hardboiled - I understand your concerns about a multi-tiered political system - but we must have such a system because it sets up checks and balances. I agree that a GG such as we have, is ridiculous though I'm not against the monarchy as a symbol of history.

But, more to the point, what the 'Coalition' was setting up was a deeply undemocratic process.

Democracy matters. You may not think so, but it has to be the mainstay of our system. It even says so in our Charter - 'a free and democratic society'.

However, our MPs are not free to do as they wish; we have a representative system and they must represent, not themselves, but us. Therefore, they are not as unbound and random as you suggest.

The Coalition was ignoring the results of the last election, and instead, setting up a blatant coup. To call it constitutional is irrelevant, for our constitution says nothing about coalitions. Nor is it legitimate, in that it both ignores our election and its duty to abide by our wishes in that election. It also refuses to take its option, a coalition, to the people.

The precedent that the coalition was setting up was such that in every minority government situation, and this is almost our normal mode, at each and every annual budget, the opposition parties would regularly bring down the current government and install themselves. Without an election. Is that democracy?

Harper was right to prorogue government and give the Canadian people the opportunity to see and debate the Hidden Agenda of the Coalition. Layton, Duceppe, Dion, wanted to keep it hidden from us and spring it on the day of the budget and leap into power. Just like that. Barring us from having an election for several years, by bribing the Bloc to support them.

That's a travesty of our system. If our system doesn't have in it, rules that could outlaw such a disgraceful action as these Three anti-democratic stooges have set up, then, now we know, and can develop such laws.

Any political miscalculation on PM Stephen Harper's part may be his thinking that the opposition parties would NEVER stoop as low as they have. He may have thought that they had more integrity and that they held the Canadian electorate in higher esteem. As it is, they've been playing us all for fools.

Who else would have thought that this Troika of Twits, with about one and a half brains between them and even fewer moral or ethical scruples, would have dared to put together a coalition to form a new government (sic) just six weeks after the CPC was duly and democratically elected--and a coalition whose de facto Prime Minister would be the separatist par excellence, Gilles Duceppe?

If PMSH can be faulted, I suggest it's for being a thoroughly decent and civilized guy (unlike his counterparts in the Dumb Dude's Coalition)--and a shrewd politician for understanding that the revoking of the $1.95/vote public subsidy would smoke out the parsimonious pettiness of the Opposition parties.

I'm not so sure that PMSH didn't mean to go for broke. These asshats, in the first week of Parliament, notwhithstanding their voting in favour of the Throne Speech, were already beginning to gag, blindfold, and bind the arms and legs of PMSH and his CPC. Can you imagine ANOTHER Parliamentary session the same as the last? A slow and painful death.

Maybe PMSH simply decided to speed up the inevitable.

The PET Cemetery is found by another "Bedrock Lib".
...-

"Thursday, Dec 4

Bedrock Lib weighs in: Realist Liberals should cross the floor

As a lifelong Liberal, may I suggest that two can play this lethal Coalition game.

If Dion can rule in a sleazy new order driven by the separatists (rest in peace, PET!), logic dictates that some centre-right Liberals might regard Harper as the lesser of the two evils and cross the floor to join him, at least temporarily. According to reports on the Web a few of the Ignatieff stripe are already entertaining this prospect. The upshot would be a true division of political authority in Ottawa at last: The forces of the Left, embracing Dion's expedient, power-mad Liberals, the NDP and the equally socialistic Bloc and a Centre-Right group, consisting of the necessarily more moderate Conservatives and Realist Liberals. After all, Harper, even though he is a bully and who inflicted this crisis on himself, at the very least supports a strong, united Canada, unlike Dion's separatist allies.

Meanwhile, may I recommend to Dion and his caucus drones that they read the essays of the late Oxford historian, AJP Taylor, on the decline and fall of the British Liberals. By seeking a coalition with the Loony Left and the separatists, they are on a similar march of folly to the one that destroyed their equally arrogant British cousins who made deals with devils.

Oh, a final thought: Surely all paid up members of the Liberal Party should be allowed to vote on whether to enter a coalition with our hitherto mortal socialist and separatist foes? Or is the Liberal party now the preserve of a clique of self-empowered MPs who would liquidate the noble legacy of Trudeau to consort with the likes of the triumphant Gilles Duceppe and the smarmy Layton?

Raymond Heard"
http://www.bourque.org/notes.html

To note, I was responding to Robert.

And ET: you've obviously been drinking your bathwater.

Obituary: Odetta: singer who joined Martin Luther King on his freedom march

One of the great voices of the Civil Rights movement, Odetta brought the diva-like power of an opera singer to US folk music.

Had she chosen the world of R&B, gospel and soul music, she might have been a rival to Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples and Nina Simone, but she preferred the more understated pleasures of folk — although her repertoire did also encompass blues, spiritual, jazz, work hollers and civil rights songs. An early influence on Bob Dylan, she drew her own inspiration from the great seam of traditional US song and the acoustic blues of the prewar era...

Why Wall Street Always Blows It

In my example from the housing boom, for instance, each participant’s job was not to predict what the housing market would do but to accomplish a more concrete aim. The buyer wanted to buy a house; the real-estate agent wanted to earn a commission; the mortgage broker wanted to sell a loan; Wall Street wanted to buy loans so it could package and resell them as “mortgage-backed securities”; Alan Greenspan wanted to keep American prosperity alive; members of Congress wanted to get reelected. None of these participants, it is important to note, was paid to predict the likely future movements of the housing market. In every case (except, perhaps, the buyer’s), that was, at best, a minor concern.

"As much as I like" ... Wrong thread.
This is aletter to the editor.
Dera Mr. Ed,
N.L. is not hockeycountry; it's Danny ABC williams country, aka Newfie/Labrador.

Noter Mr.Ed: These words from MSM, "the North American market" is the Dead Tree Newspaper market.
Newsprint, Mr. Ed. Can you hear the tree falling?
But, hope youse don't fall too far; newspapers are great for recycling in the old wood stove.

One more, Mr. ed; its' Bowater, not bathwater.
...-

"AbitibiBowater cuts 1,100 jobs, closes N.L. mill

Paper producer AbitibiBowater Inc. (TSX:ABH) is cutting 1,100 jobs as it closes its troubled newsprint mill in Grand Falls, N.L., and a plant in Tennessee to cope with falling demand in the North American market" (nnw)

and a shrewd politician for understanding that the revoking of the $1.95/vote public subsidy would smoke out the parsimonious pettiness of the Opposition parties. Posted by: batb at December 4, 2008 2:13 PM

He sure wasn't shrewd on this. He had 2 rabid dogs backed into a corner (Dion & Duceppe - whose parties would atrophy without their government cheques). What is really worse, is that Harper climbed down over it, and got nothing. In negotiations, that is the worst case scenario.

So, the Three Stooges remain (for now at least), threatening to take out the government (or more likely, an Ignatieff/Harper election in the spring).

Either or, now financing rules are off the table for years, and the government is still unstable.

And nothing was gained. How Canadian.

Odetta Live in concert 2005, "House of the Rising Sun"

Among the corpses in the litter box of the Lib caucus: Kyoto Dead, Green Shift Dead, Separatist Coalition Dead.

Next: Bring Ad$Cam Chretien-MartinJr-Gagliano-CitoyenDion, et al, into a criminal court under oath.

Answer this question: Where have you stashed the $140 million your Liberal Party stole from the tax payers of Canada via Ad$Cam?
...-

"Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis says coalition is
finished, Dion should resign

After emerging from a closed-door meeting with the Liberal caucus, the MP for Scarborough-Agincourt Jim Karygiannis emerged with some critical words for the leadership and communication skills of Liberal leader Stephane Dion"
...-

"Only 'monumental changes' will save Harper's government: Dion
The Liberals are "more committed than ever" to replacing the Tories in government, said Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion on Thursday, after Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean granted Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request to suspend Parliament until Jan. 26.(via nnw)

Charles MacDonald: "One of the great voices of the Civil Rights movement [has died] ... " 'Caught Odetta just a few weeks before she died, at Hugh's Room here in Toronto.

Amazing! She was tiny and was carried in in a wheelchair, but her presence was huge, largely because she was so comfortable in her skin. Along with her confidence, there was a deep humility borne, I suspect, out of pain, suffering, sacrifice, and a deep faith.

What a voice! Even though age and illness had deprived her of the vocal control she once had, listening to her, you knew you were in the presence of a master--a master singer and a peerless human being.

Congratulations to the Inuit hunters.
Bravo!

"That hunt is now complete, said Mike Richards, Pond Inlet's senior administrative officer.

"There's a big celebration planned for Saturday.""
...-

Here are the barbarians:

""Hearts as dark as the foul breath of demons from the bottomless pit of hell have prevailed," posted Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Society, which has often taken direct and controversial action against whale hunting.

On his website, Watson rails against "ruthless Inuit killers" who "laughed barbarously" as they shot the narwhals.

"Every man who pulled a trigger on those whales is no different than the men who slaughtered the defenceless people in the pit at My Lai, Vietnam," he wrote in an email to Audla, referring to the murders of hundreds of civilians during the Vietnam War."
...-

"Inuit leaders dismayed by protests from southerners over narwhal cull
By Bob Weber, THE CANADIAN PRESS

A remote Arctic community is planning a feast this weekend to mark the end of a hunt in which more than 500 narwhal trapped by ice were culled.

But Inuit leaders are dismayed by protests from southern activists, some of whom have compared the hunters to war criminals.

"It's sad to know that there are still people out there like that," said Terry Audla, head of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.

Hunters from the community of Pond Inlet, Nunavut, killed about 560 narwhal that became trapped as they migrated through a strait between the hamlet and Bylot Island. Ice formed both in front and behind the small whales and prevented them from surfacing.

Hunters following polar bears discovered hundreds of trapped whales. Breathing holes gradually froze over and hunger began to take its toll. The nearest icebreaker was more than a week away, so territorial and federal officials decided the most humane solution was to harvest the animals for food.

That hunt is now complete, said Mike Richards, Pond Inlet's senior administrative officer.

"There's a big celebration planned for Saturday."

The skin, an Inuit staple, has been shared throughout Nunavut and arctic Quebec.

"A lot of kids who are (usually) eating chips and drinking pop are eating healthy," Richards said. "It's a lot better than craving Chiclets and gummi bears.""
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2008/12/04/7637691-cp.html

Narwhals have a long tusk.
Tsktsk.
...-

"Cruise ship carrying 122 adrift in Antarctica

Thu Dec 4, 2:53 pm ET

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Argentine navy says a cruise ship carrying 122 people is adrift and taking on water in Antarctica but is no danger of sinking.

There are 89 passengers and 33 crew members aboard the "Ushuaia."

Adm. Daniel Alberto Martin sent out an alarm Thursday after the ship suffered a crack and started leaking fuel and taking on water."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20081204/ap_tr_ge/lt_travel_brief_antarctica_cruise_ship

Thank-you for mentioning me as a person who values the kindness, the decency, the integrity and the intelligence of Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, EBD. Like you, EBD, I was one of the happiest people in Canada when PMSH agreed to lead the Conservative Party to victory because we knew that we could expect decency in our elected government.

The Liberanos lacked intelligence, ethics and moral principles; we were so glad to reduce them that we failed to note that some of them were still there..with their fellow crooks the Blocheads and the Dippers. The Puffins used our money to buy themselves jobs and then used our money to buy cheap oil from an evil dictator (Saddam Hussein) in Iraq so they could dump it on the free market (to countries like GB and USA who were not in the UN sponsored 'oil-for$$' loop) and pocket the blood money - it was 'blood' money because Saddam bought an army with the $$ and used that army against his own people. Canadians thought that the Blocheads and Dippers were good enough to be against that kind of nefarious behavior from public servants. It is a great disappointment to all Canadians who voted for the latter (Dips Bloc), to discover that they admire the Liberanos and are willing to work with AND steal power by forming a government WITH those crooks.

We finally have a Prime Minister and a governing Conservative Party that we can trust and who are not tainted with evil; we can be proud of them.

We have the BEST Prime Minister Canada has ever had - and he terrifies the crooks - rich ones (bigshots in the Liberano party), small time thugs (Jacko of Dippers), Gaspe(the Blockheads)and camp followers (msm).

EBD, Prime Minister, Stephen Harper could have just walked away from this...he could have resigned but he did not, because he would not sell out ALL Canadians (even the unwashed and unworthy in the MSM). He cares that much!

Canadian people have been fed biased vitriol from the press for many years - thank heaven for Kate and other blogs this fog is lifting. Why would we support a criminal outfit who use our work and our tax dollars to benefit themselves and to do evil in other parts of the world? People did not know, we had no news. MSM! No truth there.

We, the people, HIRE people to run the Nation's Business, these people VOW to be loyal to the Nation and to Canadian citizens who rule this nation. We expect impartiality, integrity, good work ethics...and honesty.

The 'troika of traitors' is not Canadian and not honest. They could not stand to look greatness in the eye, across the aisle from them. Evil hates good, evil cannot bear to be in the presence of good for long ...they 'loose it' - it happened last week in the House of Commons and you can feel it in the vitriol of the media for Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

The people in Quebec, like the Canadians in the rest of Canada, heard that good, three years ago, in the speech of Prime Minister Harper, in Quebec City. Quebec voted FOR Conservatives because their hearts told them that they could trust Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. The msm and the Troika of Traitors have appealed to the Devil's favorite sin, vanity, to turn some people in Quebec, NFLD and 'others' (useful idiots) in the rest of Canada against this stalwart, honest, intelligent, courageous, good/great Man; the Best Prime Minister this country has ever had. The towers of babble (twisters of truth) in msm and the traitors in the troika coalition tell outright lies through omission and innuendo.

The trio of traitors had planned to stage a coup before the parliament was even called; maybe even before the election was called...their motivation was never about their employers (Canadians) it was always about POWER over Canadians and access to tax money and the MONEY in the secret Trust Funds (filled with Canadian's tax dollars and blood $$) No matter what the Conservatives would have presented, the Troika would have voted against it...co-operation for their employer (Canadians) was never in the cards. The deck was stacked..for POWER and MONEY for themselves.

The next six weeks will tell the tale - the success or failure of this great nation, Canada, that many in my family fought for with courage and conviction (not for 'free'$$ - my family have never tolerated 'sell outs') - The msm is banging the pulpit of the RED 'guy' for the traitors and sell outs - Kate is exposing the truth as she always does herself, and via posters like you EBD and commentators like btdt, Lee, Pat....Thank-you all, from the bottom of my heart.

I'm praying to the same really BIG SHOT, the Good Lord, that Stephen Harper and you, EBD, and other good people hail when we need help! God Bless Canada, God Bless Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative M.P.s who are fighting on the RIGHT side, they are fighting for Canada.

Jema, Stephen Harper is the best prime minister I've seen in my life by a million miles. There's no close second.

I find it troubling to see that the MSM, by writing and broadcasting the narrative they want to stick, and hammering on it endlessly, have a serious effect on some Conservative commenters -- I can tell because this OPG/Lib/bureaucrat narrative always filters down, over time, almost verbatim, into the blog comments of putative Conservative supporters.

People with backbone like you and Kate and Dolly, and many more, who know what time it is, who know right from wrong, who don't change their mind about the PM depending on which way the wind blows, are irreplaceable. It helps me sleep at night to know there are true-hearted people out there that you could trust in a war.

Mr. Harper is up against a deeply-entrenched group of people for whom governing is nothing more than a racket, a big business that uses money taken from taxpayers. Their reaches have almost no limit -- watch CBC for evidence of that.

Those who accuse Mr. Harper of being a bully, etc., don't understand that he's holding the fort, and fighting the good fight.

Thanks for fighting the good fight and for keeping the morale up, Jema. It's truly appreciated.

BATB, many thanks for the word on Odetta. I am glad to hear that she could perform admirably almost to the end.

Charles MacDonald, you're welcome! Thank you for bringing Odetta's passing to the attention of SDA.

I'm listening to her right now, on a CD called "A Concert for the Holidays." She's singing "Rise Up Shepherd and Follow." Her voice is riveting, mesmerizing, a true, God-given gift, something of which she was hugely aware.

It was a consummate privilege to have been at one of her final concerts. I don't use "greatness" very often when speaking of others--and, for sure, a lot of what the MSM thinks passes as greatness is just so much chaff blowing in the wind--but in Odetta's case, I can say with confidence that I was in the presence of greatness.

Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord. And may light perpetual shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

Thanks, Jema54, for your ringing endorsement of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the CPC--and for your incisive indictment of the Librano$, propped up, and their strings pulled, by Power Corps and Uncle Mo Strong.

I'm so grateful that many more now know (in large part thanks to Conrad Black's National Post and the blogosphere, very much including our host, Kate) what scumbags the LPC and its many minions are. I use Librano$ advisedly, because it's a moniker which very neatly sums up what these crooks and thugs have been up to for the past almost 40 years.

Like you, many in my and my husband's families, fought and died for the democratic freedoms that Canadians enjoy. At long last, Canada has a Prime Minister who cares deeply for our home and native land and is willing to stare down the bullies who have held Canadians hostage for far too long--aided and abetted by the scumbags in the MSM. The constant traps set for PMSH and his party have got to take their toll on Stephen Harper and his family but, unlike the Opposition bullies, he doesn't complain. And, not only does he not complain, he soldiers on because he has a vision for a free and truly "liberal" Canada, where all Canadians benefit, not just a coterie of elitist opportunists--a brand that the Librano$, Dipper$, and Blockhead$ abound in (we'll leave the Green$ out for now, shall we?).

After having spent many, many years in the political wilderness, it's a blessing for me to have like- and fair-minded Canadians standing shoulder to shoulder to counter the delusional, greedy, unscrupulous "Liberal" hegemony.

Thanks to all of the commentators and posters at SDA who are standing on guard for Canada. 'See you at the Rally for Canada tomorrow!