GOLD for CANADA AGAIN!!!

World Junior IIHF Champs for the fifth time in a row!!

Prime Minister Harper was interviewed before the game...he was more excited than election night!

Great hockey, a great team! And congrats to Coach Pat Quinn!!

Weblog poll doesn't work on iphone

CUPE asks that Israeli professors be blacklisted:

“In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general,” said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario.

http://keyes.ca/journal/2009/01/06/cupe-asks-that-israeli-professors-be-blacklisted/

Wow.

Sid Ryan is blacklisted. He just doesn't know it yet.

Sid Ryan will be on the Michael Coren Show Friday night. Coren and Ryan always have great battles over contentious issues, particularily over CUPE's pattern of attacking Israel.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=e3e4e91f-7937-467e-acb0-3480928eee5b&k=27501

Friday should be no exception. If you haven't seen the show, watch it or tape it. A must see!

Bluetech, video below of Harper on TSN.

http://tinyurl.com/7cxlnh

Globe and mail sports writer piles on wrt PM Stephen Harper's appearance on TSN.....

Harper's quirky performance
William Houston G&M

http://tinyurl.com/7u58q4

I thought PM Harper was pretty good and answered no where near the writer's suggestion.

Congrats to our Junior boys. Way to play! And a nod to Peppermint Patti Quinn for his role.

With regard to the Sid Ryan thing... how could CUPE carry this out? They don't control who works at U of T. There's no way the U of T administration would go along with that... the university would fall apart as vast numbers of Jewish and Israel supporters probably quit in protest.

What n hell was the G&M's William Houston smokin' !!??

Pathetic, quirky journo :(

Most of the G&M's own commenters themselves thought it was a cheap shot.

Further to a post kate made on Bill Richardson - he's withdrawn his name for consideration.

BR was a guy who not long ago was running for POTUS and then was short-listed for the VEEP position. Lacking the foreign affairs "experience" he lost out to Biden. Otherwise I think he would have gotten the nod. If he had been he would have been an affirmative action choice.

What's really disturbing is that he was so poorly vetted first by the media when he was running for the top job and then twice by BO and company when considering him for Veep and then selecting him for Commerce sect (as Kate pointed out).

I reminds me of the story behind Clinton's selection of Reno for AG:

After having not one but two female nominees for AG dropped because they failed to properly claim their nanny's income he raged that his staff find a woman who didn't and would not have kids who was also a judge. The best they could come up with was the hopelessly under-qualified - at least for what actual duties the job entailed - Reno.

That's what happens when you make the foundation of your selection process affirmative action. It started with Carter, happened again with WJC and now its happening again with BO this time from the very top on down. The results will be disatrous on many fronts just as it was for the previous two POTUSes who tried it.

Robert W from Vancouver, just wanted to say thanks for the radio browser I downloaded from your site with links to all those Canadian radio stations. It comes in handy especially at work, thanks again.

Go here to download it if you like

http://tinyurl.com/7t9aeb

Hey Glenn, you're most welcome. When you said "downloaded" I assume you meant the old "Indigo Media Center" app I wrote a few years ago. That had to be actually downloaded and installed on a Windows computer.

What I built recently is a web-based version, though right now it's only configured for Canadian radio stations: http://pocketpollster.com/apps/PelaLusa/Radio/Canada/stations.aspx

I have it bookmarked too and it makes it super easy to listen to any station (that's listed). Plus, for the Corus stations that have AudioVault capability, it provides a simple way to listen to any program for the past 2 weeks.

Still looking for suggested improvements, if anyone has them.

Proportional Response

I recently wrote something expressing my disgust at the use of this term. It's a phoney term of the Radical Left, just as bad as them saying that they're "progressive".

An hour or so ago I received this comment:

To put some perspective to the idea of 'proportionate response', by now the BBC reports at least 500 Palestinians killed and over 2700 injured out of a population of about 1.5 million all in a span of 10 days.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups have shelled Israelis with rockets and mortars for quite some time now, but with a population of 7 million, I doubt 2300 Israelis were killed and 12,600 in all those attacks combined.

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

Me again. Could someone please explain to me what the author's point is? I truly don't know.

Remember that on the one side we have the Israelis who have installed bunkers throughout the affected region, into which people go when Hamas rockets are fired.

On the other side we have Hamas soldiers deliberately stationed near civilians and storing munitions in civilian areas.

Understanding that, what do you think that casualty numbers will be like?!

Following through with the Proportional Response dogma, all the Germans would have had to do during D-Day is station school children next to their bunkers. So while the German soldiers were mowing down the Allied Soldiers with machine guns & mortars, the Allies would not have been allowed to fire back for fear of harming the children.

How NUTS is that?! Yet this is the Leftist claptrap that so many of the Sheeple just nod their heads to and say, "That makes sense".

*
suddenly, lizzie may isn't the craziest spaniel on the treadmill.

*

Palestinian people dance and sing in the streets when planes are crashed into buildings and kill innocent men and women just doing there jobs. Palestinian women cry and yell in the streets when the bombs start to fall around them. Palestinian men run for cover and hide behind their wives instead of going to fight like real men. Palestinians teach there children to hate everybody whom is not Arab. What does the international community do about a group of people that are so completely F'D UP?

Thanks to 'neo' for posting that. Follow-up question: If you mix pink with green, do you end up with red? Just curious.

No surprise about Sid Ryan, he's an extreme leftist with the standard completely one-sided and fanatical version of the Israel-Palestine situation. He's written columns featuring his irrational, evil, disgusting views in the Toronto Sun over the past couple of years, among other places I would suspect.

CAN THOSE KIDS PLAY HOCKEY OR CAN THOSE KIDS PLAY HOCKEY!!!! Way to go Team Canada. You did yourself proud. The Israeli - Hamas situation is finally as it should be. The Israelis have had enough and are in the early stages of sticking it up the a-s of those crying, cowardly, hide in schools, playgrounds, hospitals, churches, (mosques) and homes of children Islamic jerks. Nothing will piss me off more than their stopping before they crush every one of them into the ground.

New York mayor explains "Proportional Response" to a CNN reporter.
"If you had a crazy neighbour living next to your apartment constantly banging on the walls, screaming that he wants to kill you, would you like us to send only ONE police officer? That would be "proportional", or would you prefer we use all our resourses to rectify the problem?"

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/01/pushing_back_at_cnn.html

Further to the antics of CUPE's President, Sid Ryan, you'll all be very interested to read this.

About halfway down you'll find this: "I was told that CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) was one of the organizers of the anti-Israel protest. Sure enough, I ran into CUPE President Sid Ryan, sitting comfortably in the back of a coffee shop near the Israeli consulate."

So it seems clear now that we have a public sector union calling for an end to free speech for [some] academics and inciting anti-Jewish hatred at rallies. And the MSM on all of this is ... where?!?

Steyn is promoting a petition to end the CHRC.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/repeal_section13/signatures.html
or click here.
(You need to quit the window afterward to avoid making a "donation".)

Thanks Vitruvius. Impossible to be tense or negative with such a sublime soundtrack.

I'm a member of CUPE here in Saskatchewan (I have to be to work where I want, another issue...), and Ryan disgusts me. I'll be bringing it up where I work so that I can see the response.

Every leftie should have to join a 12-step program because they are deep in the throes of co-dependency. "Victims" (read Palestinian Gazans) are never responsible for the mess they're in; it's always someone else's fault. 'No need to call the Palestinians to account for their behaviour because they're so obviously (sic) victims.

In the Hamas-Israeli conflict, the leftist brain computes that because Hamas has more casualties it's OBVIOUSLY the Israelis who are at fault--and the Palestinians that need the West's support. The leftist brain seems unable to factor in the the Israelis' competency in protecting their citizens, whereas the Palestinians seem quite happy to ensure collateral damage in their citizenry by storing their weapons arsenals amongst their wives and children. Hey, good way to gain the sympathy of the useful leftist idiots.

It's a curious blindness to see only the "victims'" plight and not their participation in their own misfortune. It's misplaced compassion to think that you can help victims by swathing them in cotton batten when, in fact, you're actually ghettoizing them twice: first, by giving them a pass in their original dysfunction and second, by consigning them to their squalid lives by requiring no responsibility or accountability--in other words, others must fix the situation, not the victims.

The leftist brain needs help.

Random thoughts. All CUPE members working in Canadian Universities must have a BA in a Social Science.
Proportional response would be an Israeli missile or three fired every day for 5 years.
I've discovered the only way to get trough to some people is to be as irrational as they are.
Used to do it to my shop steward a lot.

Random thoughts. All CUPE members working in Canadian Universities must have a BA in a Social Science.
Proportional response would be an Israeli missile or three fired every day for 5 years.
I've discovered the only way to get trough to some people is to be as irrational as they are.
Used to do it to my shop steward a lot.

Sorry for the double post, I had a "not connected to the internet" blurb.

Organizations that have "charitable" status must refrain from political activities or they risk loosing their charitable status thereby not being able to issue tax deductible receipt.

The same should happen with unions that promote a political agenda. CUPE members should not be able to deduct union dues from taxable income - period. That would shut the Sid Ryans of the world the f--k up.

I concur with batb. Leftists are obviously in a state of arrested development. E.g., Young children put undue value on outward appearances v motive. For example, they will deem that breaking 20 plates as a result of tripping is a far greater infraction than breaking one by throwing it across the room in anger. Young children will judge that the person who broke 20 plates is more at fault than the person who only broke one. As their moral sense develops, children will begin to factor in more than the outward appearance to take motive into account.

So, according to the leftist’s immature moral reasoning, if more Palestinians are dead, the Israelis are obviously the worst. Wouldn’t it be nice if these idiots would grow up and smarten up? Considering the indoctrination of our education system and MSM, that’s not too likely. Scary.

The best video, so far, of the Toronto terrorist rally.

'HITLER DIDN'T DO A GOOD JOB" says the Muslim, just before assaulting the camerman:

www.liveleak.com/view?i=46e_1231230093

In the above Toronto terrorist video, when the peace-loving thugs shout:

"You are the product of monkeys, you are the product of pigs!,"

they are referring to the passages in the Qur'an in which Allah curses Jews and transforms them into apes and pigs (2:62-65; 5:59-60; 7:166).

But, the ET's of the world would have you believe it's all about the economy, not about, you know, the Islamic ideology. And all the little dears need is democracy to make it all go away.

Meanwhile, they're in our livingroom, enjoying democracy, a country with a middle class, and an economy.

irwin daisy: I suspect you know by now that ET seems incapable of acknowledging spiritual realities, because she is, as she herself admits, an atheist.

She neither acknowledges the existence of God nor the compelling force that belief in God is in the lives of believers.

I admire ET for much of her analytical acumen, particularly when it comes to her take on the Librano$' pathology, but think that her ability to analyse any situation involving Islamist fascism, seeing as she simply does not/cannot grasp the powerful hold that their particular--and pathologically violent--faith has on them.

It's not about the economy. It's about the Islamofascists' understanding of what their God is calling them to do. There is no moral or ethical equivalency, either, between what Christians believe and are called to do--"love your brothers/sisters as yourselves" and "do good to those who hate you"--and what the Islamists feel called to do: annihilate unbelievers, "death to the infidels!" who are those who don't believe what they believe.

It's ironic that those who believe in God are often accused of blind faith; that particular affliction can just as easily be attributed to those who don't believe in God ...

Interior crocodile alligator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnMDrv8Mx3E

Write to Sid Ryan and CUPE Ontario at

cupeont@web.net.

They need to be inundated with letters of outrage at Sid Ryan's suggestion that there be a ban on Israeli academics in Canadian universities in response to the Gaza bombings and his comparison of Jews to Nazis.

A few questions.

WTF does Hitler have to do with the state of Israel? Is it Israel that these folks hate, or just jews in general? If it is jews that their very public hatred is aimed at, would that not be considered a "hate crime"?

Now, maybe it is because I breath through my mouth, and my knuckles hit the floor every once and a while, that I do not understand why charges are not laid on the spot against these hate mongers.

Someone please tell me that these hate mongers are being processed by the Toronto Police as I type this........PLEASE!!!!!!!

yes, batb, my views have nothing to do with theism, but you are quite incorrect to claim that I ignore the powerful hold of an ideology on people. And spirituality doesn't refer only to the existence of a god; it can also refer to a belief, as I have, in the overall 'mind' or 'rationality' of the universe.

By the way, a belief in god or reason, both rest on 'faith', although my faith in the reasoning of the universe does, I think, have empirical evidence. As has been pointed out, any consideration of the exquisite order of a crystal, a shell, a flower, reveals this reasoned order.

My point is that an ideology doesn't operate 'unattached'. It doesn't emerge unattached and it doesn't exist unattached. By 'unattached' I mean as an idea simply and only in the mind. Without links to the real, everyday life of the person. Not just in their mind but in their physical and emotional daily experiences.

We have lots of people with unattached ideas but these ideas don't take root among any more than a handful of people. They depend for their existence, usually on the personality of a charistmatic leader - a cult leader. They don't spread, they don't last beyond the leader.

Your, and irwin daisy's views of Islam, merely describe the 'what' (and in irwin daisy, only a selective 'what'). What this tactic of examination does is simply describe 'what is'. It doesn't explore 'why'. Why did this ideology emerge, why did it spread, why does it exist. Those are key questions for they ROOT the ideology into a realistic understanding of its force.

It is, of course, entirely unacceptable to root the cause of an ideology in 'racims', i.e., in the psychological or 'essential' nature of a people. So, you can't say that Islam exists because Arabs are all ignorant, or violent, or whatever. You have to look for the causes of an ideology outside of the physical-biological individual and in the collective experiences of the individual.

To probe into the 'why' an ideology emerges and exists, requires moving from the words into the lived experience of the followers of those words. That's the economy, the political system, the family structure. How do you move from the words to the lived experience of ancient texts? You read and compare.

To me, the Islamic texts reveal a way of life that is, economically, geared around pastoral nomadism. I won't go into it, but the privileging of the men, the restraints on women, the focus on warriors, on land, on animals, on men being with the animals away from women - all of this tells me that this is a p-n economy, and that this ideology is geared to organize and maintain it and its land base. And a land base under threat.

When I examine the 'why' of its current functions, I have to move on to the economic, political, family of current life. And I come up with an opinion that such an ideology keeps a population passive, unable to dissent, unable to question and change.

That, to me, suggests a frozen economy - one that has reached a stage where it ought to change it ideology but instead, represses the population. I can look to the tribal kingdoms of the ME, whicih operate in a two, rather than three- class situation and see the Islam is keeping the population frozen, in order to maintain the power of the elite tribe.

Medieval Europe went through the same frozen era, when questions, dissent were not allowed. The last thing a people will do, is change their ideology. They'll go through phases of famine, disease, war..and only when these fail to sustain the people, will they change their ideology. This happened in medieval Europe, which finally moved out of the rejection of dissent and questions, and empowered the individual.

The ME, with its tribal political and economic systems, has to do the same. The result of this refusal to modernize its ideology is Islamic fascism, which is an attempt to reject industrialism and return to the assumed purity of the past. It won't work; the population is too large and its mode of life is now industrial. But, it has to reject tribalism, enable a vibrant, flexible middle class and modernize its ideology.

There are, more and more Muslims who are seeking to modernize Islam. We in the West should both welcome, strongly publicize and support them, for it isn't easy fighting fascism. And we should also openly reject fascism, reject multiculturalism, and insist on everyone's right to question, debate, analyze.

kingstonlad,,

Good question. It appears the Canadian Mulitculturalists, specifically the HRC's, have categorized Muslims as a protected minority. Meaning the rest of us are expected to tolerate their obvious and very public hate crimes, under penalty of law.

Not only that, we're expected to compassionately understand their grievances and that their culture is an improvement on our own, making it more colourful, diverse and worldly. Just like the Middle East.

You now, I'm by you know, birthright, leader of the you know, leftards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W85XJADEHxU

Let's see the Wasilla dumpster diver f#@%wits bury this.

RAND Corporation, Unfolding the Future of the Long War
Motivations, Prospects, and Implications for the U.S. Army

The United States is currently engaged in a military effort that has been characterized as the “long war.” The long war has been described by some as an epic struggle against adversaries bent on forming a unified Islamic world to supplant western dominance, while others describe it more narrowly as an extension of the war on terror. But while policymakers, military leaders, and scholars have offered numerous definitions of the long war, no consensus has been reached about this term or its implications for the United States. To understand the impacts that this long war will have on the U.S. Army and on U.S. forces in general, it is necessary to understand more precisely what the long war is and how it might unfold over the coming years. To address this need, this study explores the concept of the long war and identifies potential ways in which it might unfold as well as the implications for the Army and the U.S. military more generally...

[Summary and full report in PDF only.]

Islam: a death cult.
...-

"Liberal Blogosphere Duped By 3-Year-Old 'Gaza Bombing Video'

Just how badly do many liberal bloggers want to depict Israelis as heartless killers and Hamas as poor defenseless victims?

On Sunday, a more than three year old video of an accidental munitions truck explosion at a Palestinian rally in September 2005 was spread around the liberal blogosphere as footage of an Israeli attack on Gaza on January 3, 2009.

Two prominent leftwing websites -- Raw Story and Democratic Underground -- displayed this video for hours before a poster at Reddit exposed the hoax (h/t NBer Blazer).

A gruesome propaganda video uploaded to LiveLeak that purported to show the aftermath of an IDF attack on civilians in Gaza turned out to be a fraud—it actually shows the results of an accidental explosion of a truck full of Hamas rockets at a Palestinian rally.

This didn’t stop the video from reaching the top spot on reddit.com and gaining more than 2,000 up votes, because reddit.com is absolutely infested with antisemites and terror supporters: GRAPHIC Video of Israel Defense Force’s attack on Gaza civilian market — originally uploaded on & banned by YouTube (NSFW) : politics.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ..."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2159604/posts

ET: "To probe into the 'why' an ideology emerges and exists, requires moving from the words into the lived experience of the followers of those words. That's the economy, the political system, the family structure."

But, ET, faith/belief IS a lived experience -- it has "links to the real, everyday life of the person. Not just in their mind but in their physical and emotional daily experiences" -- which is deeper -- and definitely a motivating factor in "how shall we live?" -- than just the economy, the political system, the family structure. Faith, for those of us who believe in "G*d", is the underlying structure upon which these three markers rest. (And, BTW, "the exquisite order of a crystal, a shell, a flower" is proof, for theists, of the "reasoned order" of G*d's creation!)

ET: "This [change in their ideology] happened in [largely Christian--my emphasis] medieval Europe, which finally moved out of the rejection of dissent and questions, and empowered the individual." Thus demonstrating, that Christianity, unlike Islamofascism, is a faith/belief which, in the balance, encourages the reasoned search for truth.

It is very difficult to have a reasoned debate here, because we are beginning at two entirely different--and opposite--starting points. It's like arguing apples and oranges.

I concede that "a belief in god [sic] or reason, both rest on 'faith'." But I would argue, quite vehemently, that "empirical evidence" exists not only for "faith in the reasoning of the universe," as you put it, but also for G*d's working in the everyday lives of human beings -- however one must have the eyes to see with and the ears to hear with!

Socialism is Islam's ally: 2 death cults working to send civilization back to the Dark Ages.
...-

"Lights go out as Britain bids farewell to the traditional bulb despite health fears about eco-bulbs

Throughout war, disaster and recession, it has kept Britain illuminated for more than 120 years.

But the traditional incandescent lightbulb is finally being switched off for the last time.

Retailers have stopped replenishing stocks of conventional 100watt bulbs and will have run out within weeks.

The voluntary withdrawal – part of a Government campaign to force people into buying low-energy fluorescent bulbs – follows the scrapping of the 150w bulb last year.

The move has angered medical charities who say the low-energy alternatives can trigger a host of ailments, including migraines, epilepsy and skin rashes."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2159596/posts

It's George's fault.
...-

"Obama's Senate successor turned away

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's appointed successor was turned away when he appeared at the U.S. Capitol to take his seat."
http://tinyurl.com/a5xvoa (asspress)

Yoram Cohen, Jihadist Groups in Gaza: A Developing Threat

Although Israel's current military action is directed against a Hamas regime that has controlled the Gaza Strip since its 2007 coup, a small coterie of other militant Islamist organizations has emerged in the Strip over the past two years. These Salafi-jihadist groups are small and have no direct ties to al-Qaeda, but they have grown in strength and appear increasingly inclined to act independently of Hamas leadership. While Hamas has taken steps to crack down on these groups recently, it is unclear how the current conflict will affect the organization's willingness and ability to do so in the future. If Hamas proves unwilling to continue taking these groups on, they could eventually pose a serious threat not only to Hamas, but also to Israeli and Western interests in the region...

Prince Albert is plain jealous, informed observers say. Critics are blasting the record while looming.
...-

"Cold streak sets new record - Saskatoon experiences 24 consecutive days of -25 C or lower

For those of you that don’t know where Saskatoon is, I have it on my city temperature map:"
http://wattsupwiththat.com/

Hassan Mneimneh, Defying Hamas

There is a distinct novelty in the current war in Gaza. While much of the Arab broadcast media displays graphic scenes of and outrage about the mounting Palestinian casualties, print media in the Arab world is steering in the direction of a far more nuanced position that recognizes, albeit often implicitly, Israel's right for self-defense in the initiation of its military operation. This recognition is generally framed as a denunciation of Hamas's reckless behavior, from its targeting of Israeli towns with rockets, to its termination of the truce and rejection of Egyptian and Saudi initiatives. Embedded in this formulation, though, is the evident corollary that Israel did not act out of the latent "lust for blood", attributed to it by much of Arab political culture, but as a result of a legitimate rational calculation to defend its own citizens. Arab commentators still express their disagreement with the methods used and/or their efficacy, but their acknowledgement, however shyly articulated, of Israeli rights, is an opportunity that needs to be developed...

"December 31, 2008

Get me a Massacre: Up next — the Kfar Qana of Operation Cast Lead

Whether by Israeli accident or Hamas engineering, expect a spectacular civilian massacre in the coming days, followed by an orgy of Pallywood photography, amplified by a compliant Western media, and even greater fury in the streets of the Muslim and Western world. It’s in the Hamas playbook… and will be until the media gets sober. Here’s the background, and the obscenity that will probably be played."
http://tinyurl.com/799vae (augeanstables)
...-

"Israeli shelling kills dozens at UN school in Gaza guardian.co.uk"

You see, batb, my view is that 'faith/belief' as a lived experience depends on being physically and biologically alive. That latter depends on the economy, ie, having food and shelter. That is, for the body to 'have the experience of faith' that body has to be alive.

As for the exquisite crystal, your and my causality are, of course, different in name. I don't accept the notion of a metaphysical power, ie, god.

I don't accept your view that Christianity enabled the breakthrough from the rejection of the right of the individual to think to his freedom to think. I think it was the interpretation of Christianity that changed - and a great many people suffered and fought to achieve that change. They fought to obtain the freedom to doubt, to question, to think as individuals.

The same could happen with Islam, as even now, Muslims are arguing that the current interpretation of Islam is incorrect and arguing that it can and must change.

Yes, I agree that you and I are not going to change each other's viewpoint, and why should we even attempt to do so? Intead, we can just respect each other, and that in itself, is its own achievement.

"In the Hamas-Israeli conflict, the leftist brain computes that because Hamas has more casualties it's OBVIOUSLY the Israelis who are at fault"

This thinking translates to Canada as well. Speaking from experience, I know that if you win a fight you will be charged regardless of who instigated the fight or how the fight transpired.

I was jumped by three guys(unprovoked) less than a decade ago. Fortunately a weapon was within reach and I managed to lay a beat down on two of them while the other called the police. In the end I was taken away in the cop car and charged criminally. Fortunately for me, the witnesses were not cooperating and the charges were dropped 2 years later.

My only crime in my opinion was that I defended myself, and kicked some ass. I suspect everyone(except me) would have been happier if I took my beating and the assailants escaped. Did I mention that the three who jumped me were In***n? I don't know if it's relevant, by I thought it was worth mentioning.

Yes, ET, I agree that we can agree to disagree, and to respectfully listen to one another's quite different viewpoints.

In my world, only G*d can change another's heart and mind, if that is what is needed, and so I leave that to G*d -- both the decision and the action. (I am not being facetious or disrespectful of you when I say that. It is my firm belief.)

Correuption in South Africa, who would have thought?

http://www.therightperspective.org/?p=901

Maz 2 - Your prediction has occurred. BBC is reporting that a UN operated school has been hit by an Israeli strike killing some 40 people - including children. Let the howling begin!

The buried context of Israel's limitations on media access to Gaza from the NY Times. Straight insight into the media's business model...

"There are other ways to construe the context of this conflict of course. But no matter what, Israel’s diplomats know that if journalists are given a choice between covering death and covering context, death wins. So in a war that they consider necessary but poorly understood, they have decided to keep the media far away from the death."

This corner post by Mark Steyn hits the nail on the head for us conservatives - we cannot just cede the entire public sphere of education, news media, movies, music, academia to the left and expect to have any future in the WEST. See also Big Hollywood Andrew Breitbarts new venture to bring Conservatives out of the closet in LA.
===================================

The Podium and the Odium [Mark Steyn]

Jay's round-up of politicized conductors, Boston Pops narrators, etc, tossing in dreary reflex Bush-bashing even in the middle of "Peter And The Wolf" should really be read in concert with Andrew Breitbart's plans for his new Hollywood website. They both address the same phenomenon: Liberalism is the default mode of the culture — to the point where the left-of-center position is so pervasive it's no longer a position at all, but rather something uncontentious, received wisdom, part of the air we breathe. In several of the examples Jay cites, I'll bet the musicians involved would be stunned to find that there was anyone in the room who would find the message remotely disagreeable.

In these conversations, one should distinguish between the activist types — the Sean Penns and whatnot — and the far bigger number of actors and musicians who don't think about politics terribly much and for whom a passive allegiance to the only recognized party of the entertainment state is just the easy option. Personally, I wouldn't want to live in a one-party state, and I'm slightly taken aback by the number of bigtime Hollywood stars who've said to me sotto voce in the last two years how much they agree with my book but please don't mention it to anyone. But Andrew Breitbart gets to what's really at stake:

If conservatives don't figure out popular culture soon, the movement will die a deserving death.

I think that's right. If the non-political sphere is permanently left-of-center — the movies, the pop songs, the plays, the sitcoms, the newspapers plus the churches, schools and much else — it's simply unreasonable to expect people to walk into a polling booth every other November and vote conservative. The culture is where the issues get framed and the boundaries set.

Great discussions everyone. I've reposted a few comments! Thank you all!!

I see a lot of discussion around global warming! Shouldn`t we be getting ready for the "big freeze??" Just imagine! Armageddon may be a battle fought with "viceicles!" How`s that for "Cold Humor?" Or is that "Cold Humour?"

* Professor Layton and the Curious Village *

Until I examined the website, I assumed that Taliban Jack had branched out, preparing to indoctrinate a whole new generation of Lil' Radical Leftist Permanent Victims.

But alas, I was wrong: http://professorlaytonds.com

Re: "Proportional Response" I am guessing that the concept of "proportional response" is linked the the concept of proportional punishment in the justice system. What is different here is that Israel's attack is not simply a "pay back" for 10,000 or so rockets shot into their territory, but an attempt to prevent (deter) future attacks of this sort. So the issue of "proportional" has to be addressed with the counter question of what would it take to stop Hamas from shooting off their rockets? Since Hamas is not yet surrendering, I think the Israeli attacks have not yet reached "proportional" or (better term) sufficient.

Something to ponder,if the police are hard of hearing then perhaps they should have leasons in lip reading?

Toronto 3rd January 2009

Gaza Protest.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=46e_1231230093

"as the country’s [Germany] bitterly cold weather continued."

Longtail effects from Adolf's Operation Barbarossa, aka Unternehmen Barbarossa:
Da vs jawohl.

Goreacle is somewhere in the rear end, hunkered in a bunker with Suzuki, reading "Manifesto for a New World Order" by George Monbiot.
...-

"Germany reports first effects in Russia-Ukraine gas spat"

BERLIN - Germany’s two main gas importers said Tuesday they were starting to feel the effects of the ongoing spat between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies, as the country’s bitterly cold weather continued.

E.ON Ruhrgas and Wingas both insisted they had enough reserves to cope with the crisis but complained that gas flows had dropped dramatically.

Bernhard Reutersberg, chairman of E.ON Ruhrgas, which imports 26 per cent of its gas from Russia, said "our limits will be tested if this dramatic drop in supply continues and temperatures remain at these very low levels."

Like much of central Europe, Germany is currently experiencing a bitter cold snap with temperatures plummeting overnight to as low as minus 26 Celsius."
http://tinyurl.com/9kdkzw (afp)

"22 March: His Imperial and Royal Majesty entered yesterday His castle of 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa [...] among his lawful subjects." (*H/T)
...-

"Waiting list to see Iggy in Halifax

Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is kicking off his national tour on the economy Thursday with a town hall style meeting in Halifax. 200 free tickets for event have all been snapped up and there is a wait list.." (nnw)
...-

Itinerary as reported by MSM:

"Newspaper headlines confirm that the perception in Paris of Napoléon's expedition gradually changed from complete aversion to idolatry. The Moniteur Universel wrote:
- 10 March: The Corsican ogre has just landed in Golfe-Juan
- 11 March: The tiger has arrived to Gap
- 12 March: The monster has slept in Grenoble
- 13 March: The tyran has crossed Lyon
- 18 March: The usurpator has been seen sixty leagues from Paris
- 19 March: Bonaparte strides along but he will never enter Paris
- 20 March: Napoléon will be tomorrow below our city walls
- 21 March: The Emperor has reached Fontainebleau
- 22 March: His Imperial and Royal Majesty entered yesterday His castle of Tuileries among his lawful subjects."
*http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/fr_1emp.html

"Newsalert
Tuesday, January 06, 2009

SUVs are Number One Sellers Again"
http://nalert.blogspot.com/2009/01/suvs-number-sellers-again.html

Lord, Nelson, it's cold, old chap.
April is no longer the cruellest month, old girl.

It's Goreacle's jackboot in the face, says George Orwell.

"The fountains in Trafalgar Square had frozen over this morning due to the freezing cold temperatures in London." (pic)

Howler >>> colder than "the Antarctic, where temperatures of 3C were recorded today."
...-

"Thousands of drivers stranded every hour as temperatures fall to -10C... and it's going to get even COLDER tonight"

"Temperatures plunged so far it left Britain freezing and much colder than parts of Greenland at 8C, Iceland, at 6C and the Antarctic, where temperatures of 3C were recorded today."
http://tinyurl.com/7zvn8p (dailymail)

What???!!!

Quebec is recruiting king

The latest army recruitment report has numbers that some might find surprising.
Quebec leads the country in army recruits per capita.
In 2007, just over 1,700 Quebecers signed up for the army.
That's the highest number in the country when adjusted for population.
The military has been recruiting in CEGEPS and universities to boost its numbers to 70,000 by 2012.

I find this hard to believe and I live in the province of Quebec!

No need for an URL, just go to CFCF 12 ( or CTV Montreal ) and scroll down, they do not say more than what I pasted here.

Charles Adler - 7:00 here. Do listen. You won't be disappointed!

MSM Dinosaurs on the exstinkt/endangered species list in Can & US.
"But what if the old media dies much more quickly?"

Read between the lines here:
"The Recorder and Times, although it has a remarkably loyal readership, is not immune from these changes."
...-

"End (New York) Times (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Virtually all the predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital. Most of these scenarios assume a gradual crossing-over, almost like the migration of dunes, as behaviors change, paradigms shift, and the digital future heaves fully into view. The thinking goes that the existing brands—The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal—will be the ones making that transition, challenged but still dominant as sources of original reporting.

But what if the old media dies much more quickly? What if a hurricane comes along and obliterates the dunes entirely? Specifically, what if TheNew York Times goes out of business—like, this May?

It’s certainly plausible."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2159822/posts
...-

" The R&T is moving to five-day publication

The newspaper industry is evolving and these changes have been accelerated by the weak economy, as newspapers look to contain the costs of distributing their product.

The Recorder and Times, although it has a remarkably loyal readership, is not immune from these changes.

Effective Monday, January 12, we will no longer print a Monday edition. This change to five-day-a-week distribution is also being implemented at several other Ontario daily newspapers.

We will continue to bring you the news online, with enhancements to our website."
http://recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1375315

Remember, AGW is a religion.
AGW does not need facts.
>Keep the faith is the only requirement.
The AGWs exist in the same place as the psychotics: They have built their castle in the clouds and live in their Cloud-Castle.
...-

"NCDC* updates database for Dec08 - NCDC’s own graphic shows decadal cooling trend"
(*National Climatic Data Center)
...-

Commenter says:

"A 10 year down trend (or any down trend, really) absolutely and completely debunks Mann (et al) and it does so in a manner that wipes away any need to go through his maths or data. Quite simply, if Mann’s, Hansen’s, and IPCC forecasts were correct, what we are seeing could not possibly happen. It is happening which means they are utterly and completely incorrect. No additional quibbling needed. They have simply been shown to be wrong by the observed reality. Now if one wished to ignore reality, that is an option, but not one generally placed within the boundaries of what we might consider sanity."
http://tinyurl.com/7whbzr (wattsup)

http://tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=114703

Global warming causes snow shovel shortage

Robert W:
Thanks for the link. Nice to see some folks on the side of Isreal instead of the irrational terrorist-coddling appeasing wusses .

It's official.

Liberal Iggy Ignatieff wears four (4) albatrosses:

1. Warren Kinsella from Chretien-MartinJr-Dingwall Ad$Scam, and,

2. The Separatist Coalition, and,

3. Party disunity/kevetching/grumbling*, and,

4. It's a TO Party.

STOPIGGY.
...-

"Warren Kinsella will manage the war room, as he’s done in the past for McGuinty and former prime minister Jean Chretien."

*"Moreover, some Liberals are grumbling that Ignatieff has made little effort thus far to include supporters of his former leadership rivals, Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc, in his inner circle."

"Ignatieff’s inner circle starts taking shape"
http://tinyurl.com/8vx522 (canpress)

Revnant Dream,

You're most welcome! Of course, because Charles Adler is Jewish, his views are labeled as irrelevant by the Radical Left. The only "acceptable" Jews are those who worship at the Mosque of Liberalism instead of their own traditional Temples.