Trivia:

We know Lester Pearson fought in WWI and Dief enlisted too, but can you name the Prime Minister who served in the 1st Canadian Volunteer Army in World War II? He fought in the North-West Europe campaign and attained the rank of sargeant.

Mrs. Miller was the name provided by Capitol Records in the U.S.A. for her U.S. releases. In Canada, she was known as Mrs Mills w/ 45s on the 72000 series and LPs on the T/ST6000 series (same as the first Beatles releases in Canada). Recordings in these series were generally made in the UK.

fiddle- the best cheese is Delice de Bourgogne. Ahh, sigh, swoon.

that's incredible singing.

Good to know that EBD wouldn't want to be tainted by this "selection". Elva's version of an old favorite of mine, "The Girl from Ipanema" is equally prized.

Your youtube links work equally well in either size in Mac, I prefer the smaller.
That Gloucester cheeze racing looks like it could make the transition to be an interesting Edmonton thing... ;)

The Best Cheese, ET? Bullshit! De gustibus non disputandum est. Though I must say that, if you would be so kind as to provide me with a link to or scanned image of a Delice de Bourgogne cheese, I would be most pleased to treat you to a portion thereof on my next trip to the bar. Alas, thus far all I've been able to find is an Époisses de Bourgogne, and a Delice Du Calvados. No doubt my CRC Handbook of Cheeses is out of date.

"Canada to welcome hundreds of Afghan employees"

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/626937

Yay.

I guess that was inevitable. Thanks Jason.

All I know about cheese is that the best ones do not come out of a can, or come with crackers and paddle in a snack pack.

I'm sure all the experts will agree with this.

Yukon Gold, 10-4, they come in jars or bricks (if your into velveta)

Mrs. Miller is great. One can easily imagine her singing to you while she's changing your infected bandages shortly before she mans the anti-aircraft guns.

Hey Marc: where did you conceivably get the notion that I wouldn't want to be "tainted" by this musical selection? A trivial matter, I suppose, and yet, I'm at a loss.

Don't forget Kraft Singles, Ural; my grilled cheese sandwiches are always made either with them, or with Cheez Whiz (preferrably with Safeway's Cracked Wheat bread). Only a fool would attempt to make a grilled cheese sandwich with Montgomery's Cheddar. I don't like cheese snobs any more than I like any other kind of snobs. Yet it remains the case that there are fascinating and cost-effective cheeses that are not available from commodity purveyors.

Vitruvius: My daughter told me once about a roomate (a jockette) who had cheese in spray form?
Do you favour Port Salut at all? Or too mild maybe?

EBD/Vitruvius: Glenn Gould, who was obsessed with Petula's version (or was that some kind of joke?), would NOT favour Mrs. Miller's Downtown.. I think he'd opine that the vibrato was a bit wide and unstable.

I don't know if anyone saw the front page of the Star Phoenix, but Kate would love the city councilor they reported on.

EBD, only that Vit mentions you in point #2 of his posting.
it's all in fun... I cannot imagine listening to this through my B&W's instead of this Mac's sorry excuse for speakers...

and try the grilled cheeze with old cheddar on sour dough fried in real onion butter.

If I'm not mistaken, Me No Dhimmi, the whole point is "that the vibrato is a bit wide and unstable", as EBD alluded to when he referred to her "singing to you while she's changing your infected bandages shortly before she mans the anti-aircraft guns". I mean, you don't really think that I didn't review Petula's version thereto and then subsequently reject it in favour of Elva's version, did you? No, of course not.

Thousands of great pop tunes in the 1960s and you had to pick THAT one? ? ?

Well, no, I didn't have to, at least not deontologically.

Oops, Marc. Thanks. I'm a bundle of skinless nerves recently. Fortunately, Mrs. Miller is working on it.

Sourdough, and Swiss. Dipped in ketchup. With a glass of milk.

Trivia: You didn't say CANADIAN Prime Minister...therefore is the answer Milton Cato,Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines 1979-84?

WOW, I am impressed Sarge! How did you know that? I thought I had *the* killer trivia question here!

Do you think Barack Obama has done a good job in his first 100 days?

Trivia Question on http://www.ctv.ca/canadaam

EBD: I hear ya... roast turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie ect.. aren't always available...

http://www.cantsleep.com/articles/uncategorized/2009/01/07/sleep-tips-for-adults-20-to-60/

I haven't looked too deeply at this, I only know what works for me, and that isn't coffee or chocolate for 11 pm snack..
Dad had cancer behind his nose removed last month in Vancouver by a real class act at St. Pauls? Wasn't too excited with that train ride from Saskatoon, although the journey through the mountains makes it worthwhile, but he's acting a bit strange. He's actually stopped going to church 4 or 5 times a week at home in Regina because of the stares... better to be able to stare back at them I say... His mind's generally ok though, except for that bit about being an NDP'er for all those years. I can't explain that. can't even try.

you're all nuts. my box worx fine. and stilton rules.

Excellent column by Charles krauthammer over at RCP on torture. Right of Centre should read it and comment.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97T3SJ00&show_article=1&catnum=0

Mexico City is cleaner and has less crime during the Biden flu season...wonder if they'll make this a regular feature for the earth day crowd?

And Perez Garcia noted a new tranquility and civility. "Now at least we can walk in the streets—albeit with masks—without slamming into each other," he said.

"We're less vulgar and mean to each other. And we're not telling each other off like we usually do."

As an aside note, many don't cover their noses when they wear these masks, absolutely pointless to use a face mask and leave your nose exposed.
Ah well good thing it's not really a pandemic after all.

Thanks for the sleep link, Marc. There's some useful tips there, but sometimes life just whacks you hard upside the head in a way you can't put aside at any point in a day or night.

I hope and assume that you were quipping helpfully and don't need to reconcile your dad's NDP-ism. My uncle, who's 87 and the last surviving member of my dad's family (except for us kids) is an NDP'er as well, but it's one of those strange fact of life that the average hardscrabble prairie communo-leftist of 60 years ago was/is almost identical to a current-day prairie conservative/libertarian -- all hard work, self-reliance, family, with no sense of entitlement, etc. The old-timers' views are pretty much anathema to those of the modern-day left...but the vestigial politics do linger on the nominal descriptors.

God bless your dad. I hope he can just stare back. Those who stare at him need to deal with themselves, not him. Stand by him.

Vitruvius,

Although over the last decade or two I have got more adventuresome in my grilled cheese sandwiches, I haven't tried Cheez Whiz on them. In the mid 70's I was introduced to a variation that included a slice a ham ... I enjoyed it. About 7 or 8 years ago my wife started bringing home "extra thick" thins. Several weeks later, under duress, I was forced to use the "extra thick" thins. After I cleared that hurdle, I found that it took only a couple of years to experiment with onions AND ham on the "extra thick" thins. Overall the results were very positive.

I remain a traditionalist on the Cheez Whiz front. That is to say, on toast (or on celery). I do switch from plain, bacon topped, and tomato topped toast/Cheez Whiz. About 3 years ago I switched to sea salt on the tomatoes, but I don't believe that has changed anything to do with the basic toast/Cheez Whiz marriage.

I have thoroughly tested chicken noodle, mushroom and tomato soup with the grilled cheese sandwiches (and variations) I have discussed, and have no reservations in recommending any of them.

How to beat those recession blues:

"Everybody Loves My Baby" (Boswell Sisters, 1932)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltUzHJJ3aAo&feature=related

"Yes, Sir! That's My Baby!" (Lee Morse, 1925)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh1eGgFTLx4&feature=related

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group "True North"

air on a cheese string

http://teriskitchen.com/padutch/limburger.html

opus variations and good wallawalla onions around now.

Wolverine , born in Alberta to wealthy landowners. worked in mines in BC. appears to be part of an advanced health care program provided free by the feds.

http://www.ctv.ca/gallery/html/wolverine_20090430/photo_0.html

at 5 ft 3 in, they should have used Mel Gibson

It's Mrs. Miller's mashed potato face I found hard to take ... ;-)

I couldn't handle Miller's version of Downtown but it led me Petula Clark's version on YouTube which is brilliant.

Gord Turk,

I read this article and I agree with CK. A while ago I was reading about the concept of a 'Just War'. It's actually current Catholic teaching and is discussed in the current Catholic Catechism. This 'Just War' biz has a big history of philosophical and theological thought behind it (from Greeks to St. Augustine to St. Thomas Aquinas, et al).
I am no philosopher or theologian but of the many precepts or conditions of a 'Just War' one of the things is the concept of less evil. It is understood that all wars are evil but in a 'Just War' the evil inflicted by the 'Just' side must be less than the evil to be overcome. This actually can justify the use of torture in a 'Just War'. In my opinion, the Afghanistan and War on Terror stuff is 'Just' according to the Catholic Catechism. The other thing is that a 'Just' war can become 'UnJust' if the 'Just' side does not win - if you start a 'Just' war you must win it.
Anyway, I think CK is right (and hopefully I'm interpreting this Just War stuff correctly).

Kind of surprised that there's been no mention of the Canadian dollar's rise from $0.78 US to $0.84 US over the last month. As Bambam continues to refashion the greenback as a shinplaster, the rest of the world is suddenly noticing the loonie.

Oka!

Ah yes, Morbier.

"Layer of ash separates morning and evening milk."

Garth
P.S.: Mimolette Vieille/extra Vieille or Boursault.  Two revelations in cheese.  You can occasionally find Boursault in specialty shops, but anything other than the young Mimolette is nigh-on impossible to find, dammit (and the young stuff's boring).

Hahah, at 1st I thought that was Susan Boyle's Mother.

Ahhh, cheese, my 7 year old daughter steals the cheese pack out of the Kraft Deluxe Macaroni Dinner and then we blend it right into the mashed potatoes. You have to eat it right away, for after a couple of hours it turns the mashed potatoes into 1 solid clump and then you have to cut it like a pie.

;-)
,

Personally, the taste for cheese can be a snobby thing. While I have tried and tasted many cheeses of the world, there is still no doubt that some stinky feet varieties are best described as "an aquired" taste.

I can say though, I pretty much try to stay away from those "processed cheese-like products" that even advertizers cannot claim as cheese. Like a wine lover avoids Baby Duck, Misty Blue, ect...

vitruvius - here's a link to my favourite cheese

Delice de Bourgogne (from Lincet France).

Delice

It uses creme fraiche, fat content is about 75%. Just google the name and you'll find lots of references.

I couldnt help myself after that I promptly went to ebay and bought myself "Hung for the Holidays" for the modern version of Mrs. Miller.

If you are in Calgary you can find all those fine cheeses at Springbank Cheese Co. in Willow Park Village. My very favorite is the St. Agar blue from France.It melts in your mouth and is a great with Port and Callebeau chocolate.

Melted, cheddar or moza...
Whats with all the fancy stuff?And the whole 'my cheese is better than yours' schoolyard antics?

Slightly connected to Kevin's comment is the graph in quietly hidden in the corner at CTV...apparently not newsworthy.Oh yeah!...it isn't about the Libs, that's why.

http://www.ctv.ca/generic/WebSpecials/interactive/budgetFlashback09/

cconn - with regard to the Just War thesis, there's a nice book on that 'Just War Against Terror' by Jean Bethke Elshtain, which is an examination of the right and duty to protect oneself against evil.

First, it acknowledges the reality of evil. A key tenet of the left is their refusal to acknowledge the reality of evil. Their utopianism, which is both pre and post hoc, requires the left to reject any acknowledgment of evil.

Terrible events are reduced to accidents; you can see this in the Obama administration's rejection of the reality of Islamic intentionality to terrorize and kill - to 'man-caused disasters'. That is, Obama has reduced terrorist acts to accidents; he has removed all evil intentionality to harm. The bomb was not intentionally set off; it was pure accident.

And, any other causality is reduced to 'psychological aberration'. The terrorist is psychologically damaged - usually by some colonial legacy caused by the West.

Interesting that the left, with its removal of evil intentionality by jihadists, retains all evil intentionalities of the West! So, you hear about 'it's all about oil' - while you never hear that it's all about 'Islamic supremacy against infidels'!

Sheesh - not a single mention of Canada's brand spanking new National Car Company!

Then again, the faux-Cons didn't exactly get the same dollar for dollar deal as our American friends (=~$10 billion for 8% ownership versus our purchase paying $3.775 billion for 2%. Come to think of it, I wonder if it was because Clement the Champion of Socialism was a shitty negotiator, or what. And on a related note, our 'conservative' government valued Chrysler at $188+ billion dollars. Wow, they know better than Wall Street)

They'll also get a seat on the board (bureaucrats & related ghouls rub hands together in glee), dictate then type and location of vehicles made (remain at 20% minimum capacity, minivans in Windsor, real wheel drive elsewhere), and have a host of civil servants 'monitor and maintain' vigilance on the company's operations.

Well. Well. Well.

A nationalized car company, payments of (now totaling) $8 billion+ CAD, and a blossoming bureaucracy to maintain that vigilance.

Harper the Fraud has pissed away that much money, to save 1,800 jobs. Save them. Wonder if they just gave that money to workers? $4.5 million PER JOB.

Great investment Steve.

Leadership requires courage. Something this bunch of Con frauds knows nothing about.

Libranos in government? How about the NDP? We've got them both.

Liberal Tory, same old story.

Maybe the Cons will have a naming competition for our New Nationalized Car Company. Let me start it off:

'Canadian Peoples Car Co'

The CPC.

It has a ring to it.

Last nationalized major company was Petro Canada - where the feds got to dictate the board (more patronage appointments for the right donors).

Curiously, as announced that the feds were finally getting their tendrils out of Petro-Can - BAM - merger. Go figure :-)

At any rate, here's a quick quiz for all of you nationalization champions out there, how much time passed between the announcement that the feds were getting out of Petro-Canada, and the date they actually did?

C'mon. All of you quiet ones out there tacitly supporting the Cons purchase of their first Car Company (one more to come), surely you have knowledge of previous moves by a Dear Leader to nationalize an industry? How about making a large transfer of wealth to failed companies and bad management.

(Here's a hint: 17 years)

Obama expresses doubt about Chrysler deal
Nicolas Van Praet, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Tony Clement expresses hope for Chrysler deal
Apr 29, 2009
Les Whittington

OTTAWA – Industry Minister Tony Clement expressed hope today of a deal to save Chrysler Canada amid reports that the key elements of a bailout package are falling into place

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama expressed uncertainty Wednesday that a deal can be struck to prevent bankruptcy for Chrysler while Canada's industry minister said an agreement to remake the automaker was close.

I may be reaching here, but maybe Clement the Clown was referring to being able to play the Captain of Industry Game - where a failed businessman gets to go into government, and gets to play real businessman - all without risking a dollar of their own money. Meanwhile, earning a platinum level, fully indexed for life pension that pays out incredible amounts with such small years of service.

Maybe he's not so stupid. I mean, $187 billion valuation for Chrysler MAY be a little high, but hey, Clement and Harper naturally know better than the plebes.

Quickly! Salute your betters!

As a cheese lover this thread is giving me an opportunity to rant about one of my least favourite government entities. The Ontario Milk Marketing board. Anyone who has ever had it will probably agree with me that nothing beets English cream or French Butter. Single cream for your coffee, double cream to pour over your ice cream or cake and thick double cream to eat by the spoonful. French Normandie butter that can be cut into slices and eaten like cheese. According to the proprietor of my favourite cheese shop, these products cannot be obtained in Ontario because it is illegal to import them.

The imported French camembert that you can buy for cheaper than the domestic variaty has a 300% import duty. Ontario Dairies are not allowed to make cheese with their own milk and the license to produce milk from one cow is worth more than the cow.

I was in a cheese shop in France once buying a bunch of stuff. I asked for a piece of Rocquefort and was asked Which one? we have a dozen varieties." Being used to Canadian prices for this I asked for 200 grams, and was laughed at and told "I can't cut a piece that small"

Apparently New Zealand used to have a dairy industry like that of Ontario. They got rid of their Milk Nazis and now they are a huge exporter of dairy products to all over Asia.

Conservatives in UK looking to give Nu-Labour an electoral thrashing.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23682102-details/Cameron+set+for+election+landslide+bigger+than+Blair%27s/article.do

Cameron set for election landslide bigger than Blair's

David Cameron is heading for a landslide election win bigger than Tony Blair's 1997 victory, a new poll suggests.

The latest survey puts the Conservatives on 45 per cent of the vote, 19 points ahead of Labour on 26 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats on 17 per cent.

Labour dropped two points and the Lib-Dems one as the Tories gained five compared with last month.

The findings of the ComRes poll for The Independent suggest Mr Cameron could stroll into No 10 with a 186 Commons majority, seven more than the one Mr Blair won 12 years ago.

Mr Cameron, who has described himself as the "heir to Blair", is drumming into his party the need not to be complacent, as Mr Blair himself once did.

But the latest poll mirrors recent surveys and suggests the Tories may be establishing a lead in the high teens.

The polls since Gordon Brown took over have been particularly volatile. However, if Mr Cameron does clinch a victory on a scale similar to the latest one, it could see a string of Cabinet ministers losing their seats, including Chancellor Alistair Darling and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith as well as many Labour MPs in London and the South-East.

The Prime Minister faced a battle today to salvage authority lost over the MPs' expenses fiasco.

He was forced into a humiliating U-turn yesterday by a threatened Labour revolt which made him ditch plans to replace the second-home allowance for MPs, of up to £24,000 a year, with a daily allowance of around £150.

"I am absolutely bewildered as to how we have gone about this," one MP reportedly told a packed meeting of Labour's Parliamentary Party last night.

Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, meanwhile, signalled he will not be pushed by Mr Brown into speeding up his MPs' expenses inquiry.

"This whole episode has been a U-turn followed by a climbdown, ending in a farce," said Mr Cameron.

In addition, Ms Smith yesterday scrapped plans for a state database for communications records and Justice Secretary Jack Straw has dropped plans for "Titan" super-prisons.

Cabinet ministers are now talking of the possibility of an even more astonishing U-turn of scaling back the identity cards programme or ditching it altogether.

With Labour's economic reputation in tatters in the wake of astronomical borrowing figures announced in the Budget, and the damage caused by the Damian McBride "smeargate" scandal, Tory MPs are confident they are heading into government.

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group "True North"

If conservative want to re elected again for next time for next election to help economic of Canada get better:

I recommanded

Galen Weston Jr. is next candidate for Prime minster of Canada

or

Hillary Weston is next candidate for assitant to
Prime Minster of Canada, she is old to be Prime minister too streesful for him or minster of immigration or forign like Hilery Clinton

Hillary Frayne or Hillary Weston generation must be Danish or German and can be Catholic and Jewish

I suspected Hillary Frayne's family may be Jewish who hide her identification of fear of Hitler time I am not sure really

while I know Galen Weton jr. is married Jewish family and his wife is Jewish then their chidlren become jewish too!!

then

http://www.ywcatoronto.org/women_distinction/2009/wod2009_presidents_award.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Weston
http://www.hilaryweston.com/en/full_biography.html

there is not question that Jewish Canadian are smart in business and education and law firms equipment in hospitals and put dicipline on place not in good in food and physican though

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Bata

With NO Michael Kimber legal advice please
legal of Loblaw all must fired from A to Z.

Best chalk drawings ever.

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Hubble's Greatest hits:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/scienceandtechnologypicturegall/5055210/Hubbles-greatest-hits-Hubble-space-telescope-images.html

Cool pics.

UK Labour Party: No Whites and Jews need apply.

Labour Party embroiled in race row after candidate told she was 'too white and Jewish' to be selected

"Labour councillor Mahmood Hussain said he would not support her application for an inner-city ward because 'my Muslim members don't want you because you are Jewish'.

Mrs Cohen, 50, has made an official complaint about the alleged remarks made by Mr Hussain, a Muslim and former lord mayor of Birmingham."
...

"'I felt particularly aggrieved because I have worked across all sections of the community, particularly with the Muslim section, and have been on official visits to Pakistan.'"

[what was it Churchill said about appeasement and alligators?]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1174046/Labour-Party-embroiled-race-row-candidate-told-white-Jewish-selected.html

Jim Prentice the Moron didn't just spend 2 years as a failure as Industry Minister.

After 2 aborted attempts at flawed legislation, our copyright laws are horribly out of date, and remain an international embarrassment.

Just like Prentice the Moron

PAUL KORING

Globe and Mail Update

April 30, 2009 at 3:56 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration added Canada Thursday to a notorious blacklist of countries where Internet piracy flourishes, reflecting a new, tougher line in Washington over the Harper government's chronic failure to deliver on promises of new copyright laws.

“Canada has never been put on the priority watch list before,” said Stanford McCoy, assistant U.S. trade representative for intellectual property and innovation as he released Washington's annual report or offenders...."

'Chronic Failure'

Perfect description of this government's economic performance.

NEED TO POLICE THE RCMP?

Dziekanski affair just the latest scandal to taint RCMP's image

"I am not a liar."

RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr's curious claim of honesty this week — coupled with testimony that he and other officers did, in fact, lie to the public about the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski — would likely be more shocking to Canadians if they hadn't seen it all before.

For almost four years, the public has digested an unhappy diet of scandal and coverup from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a once-proud national institution whose roots are as old and deep as Canada itself.

The Mounties' reputation was already in question when Dziekanski died after being Tasered at the Vancouver airport in October 2007.

Since then, the inquiry investigating his death has been an escalating embarrassment for the RCMP, detailing how the four officers who confronted Dziekanski made false statements about what transpired; how the force tried to suppress the release of a video that contradicted their claims; and how it kept secret for more than a year the fact that Dziekanski was Tasered five times — not twice as initially reported.

Then this week, Carr, the official RCMP spokesman on the matter, told the inquiry he was responsible for feeding false information to the media about the incident.

Carr said that Dziekanski was violent with police and required a subsequent Taser shot, when in fact the man had been knocked on the floor by the first jolt and would soon be unconscious...."

A deeply corrupted, politicized, armed militia used to prosecute politicians' desires, and intimidate the populace upon command.

Another sad commentary on Canuckistan's steady march towards 3rd rate banana republic. All courtesy of the leadership offered by government.

Some amazing video on the Halifax Fires

Journalist run for their lives
cbc Vid crew caught up in the halifax fires
i watched this at Yahoo video
i do not have a link

heh - a typical Obama response; he says that 'swine flu may run its course just like ordinary flu but the govt is also preparing for the worse'. Result? Obama covers his back no matter what.

It's quite remarkable to watch his repertoire.

There's his basic misinformation - where he'll tell you that deficit spending will actually decrease taxes. Other misinformation is the lack of information - such as his educational grades and theses, his alliances and 'work' as a 'community organizer'.

There's his constant blame of Others - in particular, Bush. This is part of his constant, steady, whitewashing brushing of himself as the Teflon Purity. If something goes wrong, it's always someone else's fault - and he 'shares your anger' (as he pretended to with AIG).

Blaming others goes along with his denigration of other leaders - especially those in the West, and his kowtowing to dictators. After all, the dictators are only such because they were 'reacting' to the Aggressive Americans.

And his clear and deliberate differentiation of himself from America. He equates its democracy with that of dictatorships and defines patriotism as based on a matter of accidental citizenship not of knowledge of the achievements of America.

Along with this denigration of America, Obama is denigrating the middle class, middle America - independents, Republicans, Conservatives. This is his key error. He refuses to acknowledge their existence - just as he, at first, refused to acknowledge the existence of the Tea Parties and now belittles them as 'Tea Bags' and refuses to acknowledge the existence of the largest News Media, FOX News, in his Press Conferences. His Press Conferences are staged events, with no chance of hard questions and instead, pre-selected questioners that enable him to pontificate and preach.

His DHS memo defined these people, the middle class, as 'right wing extremists prone to violence'. I maintain that this rejection - of the middle class and its basic qualities of individualism, freedom, initiative and self-reliance - is Obama's biggest error.

Peter Day, Australian Apologetics for Islam

Professor Saeed uses Freedom of Religion to present his case for “rethinking” the Muslim position on apostasy. In the course of making his argument, he makes it perfectly clear that for the “vast majority” of Muslim scholars, that position is that people who leave Islam should be killed. His personal view is that this position is not well founded in Islamic scriptures. But throughout his book, he treats it as an uncontroversial fact that the death-for-apostasy position—the position which he is arguing against as a reformist Muslim scholar—is the one that today holds sway in the Muslim world.

Though this will not be news to other scholars of Islam, Saeed’s book Freedom of Religion will be an eye-opener to anyone who has gleaned what they know of the religion from his Muslim Australians...

Tax burden is too heavy and getting heavier
The GazetteMay 1, 2009

Another year's income-tax deadline has come and gone, and if you filed early you might already have received little thank-you notes from both governments, praising you for good citizenship and assuring you that your tax money is used wisely. They must be presuming you don't follow the news.

Taxes are now the biggest single item in the average Canadian family's budget, the Fraser Institute calculated last month: In 1961, the average Canadian family earned $5,000 and paid $1,675 in total taxes, or 33.5 per cent of income. In 2008, the average family earned $71,764 and paid total taxes of $31,535, which is 43.9 per cent of that income.

The breakdown reveals how thoroughly governments find ways to tax us: Of that $31,535 family tax hit, $10,293 is for income tax. Then there are social security, medical and health taxes totalling $6,403; sales taxes of $4,542; profits tax on capital gains and the like, $3,302; property taxes of $2,787; excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol, amusement, etc., for $1,782; auto, fuel and vehicle-licence taxes totalling $770; natural resource taxes of $586; import duties of $286; plus $783 in various other levies.

If yours is an average family, it paid 35.7 per cent of its income last year for food, clothing, and shelter. That's less than the 43.9 per cent it paid in taxes. A government big enough to give you everything you want really would be big enough to take everything you earn.

Our society includes numerous supporters of big government - a group which includes public-sector unions, empire-building bureaucrats, and politicians, as well as those well-intentioned souls eager to impose their well developed social consciences on others. These people argue that large and growing government is a "decision of society" that "reflects Canadian values." This is true to the extent that much of this growth in government has happened while ordinary taxpayers have been paying little attention. For many families, the whole pie has been expanding so fast in recent decades that nobody begrudged the growing proportion taken by governments.

Now, with the economy slowing, all this government will weigh more heavily. Family income might decline, but car licence fees won't, excise taxes won't, property taxes won't, and so on. Sales taxes will be going up in Quebec.

A glance at the headlines reveals many ways in which governments spend our money foolishly, or worse. Some other ways - such as the absurdly Byzantine tax code itself - draw less attention. But hard times and sloppy spending combine to make a recipe for tax revolt."

Boy, it's a good thing we've had a Con government for the past 3 1/2 years. All those conservative ideals - smaller, less invasive government, broad based permanent tax reductions. You know. All those things that conservatives support.

Surely, no conservative government would go against these ideals, ramp up public spending @ 3x the rate of inflation (excluding next 4 year orgy of spending), or even !gasp! - raise taxes at the beginning of this year.

That's why our Faux Cons have done exactly the above. Because they ain't conservative.

They are frauds.

IN fact Canada will have one seat on the board of "new car" the U.S. will have 4. There is no production in N. America at this point and 86 days of inventory. The current U.S. CEO (Nardelli) formerly forced to resign from Home Depot, will leave on finalization of the bankrupcy procedure and the CEO (Canadian) of Fiat will assume responsibilty. All salaries are to be paid in the period of bankrupsy. I'M not optimistic about a quick solution. Our initial tranche may be only the beginning, I wish Harper/Clement would have set a drop dead date!

Sorry for putting this in tips, but I'm not sure ROC will catch my comment on yesterdays thread because I'm commenting late.

"I would rather die in a terrorist attack than know that my nation threw away its principals that previous generations fought and died for."

Pure Bull Shit!

Sorry for not using #@$, but this is the biggest Bull Shit statement I've ever read. This guy knows damn well he's full of shit. He says he would allow an atrocity to uphold some ideal that is completely detached from reality; and in fact, an ideal that has never been applied by any nation. It’s that same BS ROC will use to argue “Iraq was an illegal war” or “POW’s need Miranda rights and speedy trials”. All of this is BS, POW’s have never been treated as domestic criminals and they are not entitled to that treatment; no law was broken when America invaded Iraq; and ROC can’t provide any example in history of any western country not using rough interrogation or torture(whatever you want to call it) and yet here we are, principles intact.

The bottom line: Getting our hands dirty when it’s absolutely necessary and hating every minute of it defines, western values.

According to Brent Butt on one episode of corner Gas "the five kinds of cheese were cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, slices and whiz."

; )
Noel

did it again

oops bad grammer

The bottom line: Getting our hands dirty when it’s absolutely necessary, and hating every minute of it defines western values.

Chrysler shutdown pushes suppliers closer to edge
Fri May 1, 2009 3:01pm EDT
Uh oh. Dang. Planned bailouts didn't quite see this coming. Guess that's the problem about selective bailouts of selective parts of the selective economy.

Tar babies aren't selective.

Chrysler shutdown pushes suppliers closer to edge

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - With all 30 of Chrysler's plants idled through the automaker's bankruptcy process, its cash-strapped parts suppliers will have no new revenue for the next 60 days -- or indefinitely.

As the 80-year-old icon of the American auto industry delivered itself into the hands of a bankruptcy judge, the U.S. Treasury assured that suppliers would be paid in full for any parts to be delivered during the Chapter 11 restructuring.

The twist: Suppliers will not have any parts to deliver, after Chrysler shut down all of its production starting on Friday. There is no assurance the company will exit bankruptcy in less than two months.

Some of the automaker's major suppliers include Johnson Controls Inc (JCI.N), Magna International (MGa.TO) and Visteon Corp VC.N -- all of whom were pinched by the industry downturn before Chrysler went into Chapter 11...."

Guess we'll not only have the CPC (Canadian Peoples' Car Co.), but MagnaRideonTaxpayer (you didn't think Belinda's time in government was wasted now, did you?), and maybe a new growth industry in auto parts bailouts.

The auto company bailouts bureaucrats boom is currently underway, and staffing like mad.

Time to move from Alberta to southern Ontarioj to get those fully indexed pensions and jobs for life. Why waste your time in the private sector, when our illustrious CPC is ready to make the cars you'll HAVE to love (and buy).

minuteman @ 11:55...We watched an intelligent,ambitious, hard working neighbour lose his shirt thanks to the Ontario milk marketing board.One of the worst things to see was hundred of gallons of milk washed down the drain because his cows were too good...they produced too much milk...sickening!

It's funny, yet sad at the same time:

http://www.redstate.com/warner_todd_huston/2009/05/01/condi-rice-schools-a-college-punk/

The Cheese Shop sketch, Monty Python

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KBuQHHKx0

Maggot Cheese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_-JzM-YQg

6 headlines in row from CTVtass, the new arm of the lieberal party. taking over from CBCpravda as they are flat out of money at a billion a year.

Former PM Jean Chretien counsels early election
Paul Martin rips Harper's aboriginal policies
Harper to Liberals: don't trigger election now
Ignatieff credits Harper for Grit comeback
Man behind infamous Dion video to produce tribute
Ex-MP Turner casts Harper as bully in new book

Gee, cal2, from the looks of those headlines you would figure it is the night of the living dead. Cretien, Martin, Dion and Turner all mentioned. Kind of expect Iggy's hope & change to be like Obama's Clinton-redux.

Spinellie's 108 ave+/- on 95 street. OR thereabouts. Lots of Italian cheeses. Salaamie's. Brio bevereage, Crodo Beverage. Pickeled octopus, stuffed peppers, stufed calamarie, seafood salad. etc.

Better yet, next door or so is Sorentos, great Italien cuisine.

Across the street in a small strip mall is SANTO'S. Great sit down sports bar/restaurant. Gnioci, pasta,espresso , AND veal cutlet sandwiches. Just the ticket for a two hour car ride back To Lac La Biche!!!

There are My go to ETHNIC food suppliers. But I will check out Paddy's.....

Quick summary:
any cheeze that a corporation hasn't put in a jar generally has a hope of being ...edible.