Fats Waller, some of the first "Bop" recorded, "Moppin' and Boppin"", I think it's 1939. I have the 12" 78 of this. My father treasured it.

Enjoy it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef_s2SNG6aY

Tip for Kate:

"Canada’s Governor General began her Arctic tour by gutting a freshly slaughtered seal, pulling out its heart and eating it raw, according to media reports.

Michaelle Jean, the Queen’s representative to the country, did it as a gesture of solidarity with the country’s beleaguered seal hunters, the reports said,adding that Jean expressed dismay that people would call the traditional hunting practices inhumane.

After eating the heart during a stop in Nunavut’s Rankin Inlet, Jean wiped her blood-soaked fingers with a tissue."

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Jean+eats+seal+heart+support+hunters/1629555/story.html

I've just found the funniest rant against Starbucks customers that I've ever read.

Here are some highlights:

Why does he use a cell phone if people can hear him three blocks away just fine?

No, I am American. My parents are from other countries.

No, my laptop is not for public use. Same as my lap.

Wow,the GG has the right stuff.

The Governor-General makes good!

Way to go, Madame Jean.

Lorne Gunter: The Liberal way with hypocrisy

Opening salvo:

What hypocrites the Liberals are. For more than four decades, the Liberal Party of Canada has deliberately confused its policies with our national interest, then labelled as "un-Canadian" anyone who disagreed with them.

This is really funny.

From the WaPo article:

"May I change the subject," said a prominent Washington theologian at a recent dinner. The conversation had been high-minded -- religion, philosophy, the nature of evil. "I'd like to talk about Michelle Obama's arms," he said.

He is a big fan of those arms. We then began a discussion about the significance of the first lady's arms. Actually, it turned out to be equally serious. Michelle Obama's arms, we determined, were transformational. Her arms are representative of a new kind of woman: young, strong, vigorous, intelligent, accomplished, sexual, powerful, embracing and, most of all, loving.

Michelle Obama's arms; my ass!

A few news cycles down the road...

Janeane Garofalo: "Anyone who doesn't think that Michelle Obama's arms are transformational is a racist bigot! And any Black person who doesn't must have Stockholm Syndrome!"

I'm not a big MJ fan (although she's a damn sight more tolerable than that elitist Clarkson broad). But that performance was sheer brilliance in its conception, and full marks to her for supporting the seal hunt with more than just political rhetoric. Talk about walking the walk.

Fist Unclenching

"Obama to the dangerous radical regimes of the world:

'As I said in my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.'

Response to the offer of an extended hand from the dangerous radicals:

* Nuclear explosion by N. Korea, with no notice given to the world, followed a day later with two successive missile test firings;
* Iran's Nuclear Program continues apace, Iranians send warships into Gulf of Aden "flexing their muscle" a day following the N. Korean nuclear test;
* The Taliban exhibit a "perceptible shift in momentum" inflicting serious American losses, according to Defense Secretary Gates.

It's almost as if dangerous radical regimes view offers of "extended hands" in the face of their belligerence as a sign of weakness or something."

Links included to points above here:

http://theplaceofbiff.blogspot.com/2009/05/fist-unclenching.html

Check out the latest puke inducing fare from the CBC
via Drudge
http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSN2536526920090525

This is just how I figured this would end up with GM and CAW. These car companies would have folded in normal times as the stupidity of their management and the greed of their unions combined to produce vehicles nobody wanted as they continued their downward spiral over the last decades. It shows how extensive their union contract was to cut $22 an hour yet not touch their wages or pensions so does the union member suffer for their greed, not at all. Our taxes are used to reward their incompetence. Any bets on CAW and GM becoming part of our overpaid public unions?

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1629558

I found this interesting. It's a letter from Lenin to Bavaria circa 1919.

"We thank you for your message of greetings, and on our part whole heartedly greet the Soviet Republic of Bavaria. We ask you insistently to give us more frequent, definite information on the following. What measures have you taken to fight the bourgeois executioners, the Scheidernanns and Co.; have councils of workers and servants been formed in the different sections of the city; have the workers been armed; have the bourgeoisie been disarmed; has use been made of the stocks of clothing and other items for immediate and extensive aid to the workers, and especially to the farm labourers and small peasants; have the capitalist factories and wealth in Munich and the capitalist farms in its environs been confiscated; have mortgage and rent payments by small peasants been cancelled; have the wages of farm labourers and unskilled workers been doubled or trebled; have all paper stocks and all printing-presses been confis-cated so as to enable popular leaflets and newspapers to be printed for the masses; has the six-hour working day with two or three-hour instruction in state administration been introduced; have the bourgeoisie in Munich been made to give up surplus housing so that workers may be immediately moved into comfortable flats; have you taken over all the banks; have you taken hostages from the ranks of the bourgeoisie; have you introduced higher rations for the workers than for the bourgeoisie; have all the workers been mobilised for defence and for ideological propaganda in the neighbouring villages? The most urgent and most extensive implementation of these and similar measures, coupled with the initiative of workers’, farm labourers’ and— ;acting apart from them— ;small peasants’ councils, should strengthen your position. An emergency tax must be levied on the bourgeoisie, and an actual improvement effected in the condition of the workers, farm labourers and small peasants at once and at all costs.

With sincere greetings and wishes of success.

Lenin"

Robert W, I love reading the comments on articles like Gunter's where he states facts and then watch the lefties tapdance when posters like Sassylassie ask them to refute Lorne's statments about Liberal hypocrisy. They charge off in all directions, blustering, yet never respond to the simple request to rebut what Lorne had written.

So I wonder if the Queen will be cutting up Seal's soon....we know Prince Philip would do it in moment.

Does anyone know where Big Al is? We are in dire need of the Gore Effect.

http://i40.tinypic.com/35904dl.jpg

Hey SDA readers, wondering if I could get some objecctive outside opinions on a local neighbourhood issue I'm dealing with here. Here's the situation:
Two schools
School B:
total students: 167
capacity: 216

School A:
total students: 396
capacity: 259
Portables: 5 (becoming 6 in following school year)

Areas A1 and A2 attend School A. Area B1 attends School B

Area A1
total students: 246
school A is located in area A1. It is one block north from the main street (S1) which splits the area in half. There are two traffic lights lights at which to cross for those on the south side.

Area A2
total students: 155
area A2 is 4-6km away from school A and the students are bussed in by two separate busses, soon to be three busses. Maximum capacity of a bus is 72.

Area B1
total students: 153
area B1 is east of area A1. The boundary between the two areas is a busy street (S2) with no traffic lights. School B is in area B1, and is split in half by the same main street (S1) that dissects area A1, although area B1 has the bulk or residences south of this street. The school is located two blocks south of S1, and 4 blocks east of S2.

Proposal X
split area A1 in half along the main street S1. send the south side to School B, displacing 90 students from School A. Upgrade school B.

Proposal Y
send area A2 to school B. Upgrade school B.

Proposal Z
split area A2 in half, rerouting a single busload to school B. Upgrade School B.

Predictions for future growth:
Area A1 north of S1 and A2 will experience an increase in students due to new developments, area B1 is currently in decline as it is a mature neighbourhood with no room for growth.

Proposal X adds an average of 400m of walking for students of A1 rerouted.

So, which proposal makes the most sense?

How about Condoleezza Rice's arms? Not transformational enough, I guess.

pete, do your own homework. I remember that question from uni.

eljay, I'm doing my own homework, looking for outside objective opinions that won't be biased by knowing the situation on a personal level. This is a very emotional issue regionally, and the process has been hijacked by people with obvious conflicts of interest.

creating new demand. the yard work robots look intriging

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/05/20/top-ten-robots-that-you-never-knew-you-wanted/

Travers at TORedStar:
“Why bashing Ignatieff beats talking policy”*

Policy? What policy? Travers sees no policy>>>

“Ottawa to allow working people to draw CPP cheques

“CHELSEA, Que. — The federal government said Monday it is going to allow Canadians to work and draw on their Canada Pension Plan benefits at the same time — a move analysts described as a “sea change” in pension policy.

The move was announced following a meeting between the federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his provincial counterparts, in which pension issues emerged as a significant talking point.

Analysts said the changes proposed to CPP indicate policy-makers are serious about the need to revamp Canada’s retirement-income scheme.

“The more flexibility you build into pension arrangements, the better,” said Jack Mintz, public policy professor at the University of Calgary.”

“the CPP policy changes that analysts said represent a “positive” step toward the pension reform, and are meant to address the country’s aging workforce and pending labour crunch.

“This is an important shift in public-pension policy,” said Finn Poschmann, vice-president of policy at the C.D. Howe Institute, a Toronto-based think-tank.

Chief among the changes is that Ottawa is going to allow Canadians to draw on CPP benefits early and continue working. Under the present regime, Canadians who opt to retire early, at 60, are required to quit their jobs and remain out of work for at least two months.

That will no longer be the case, starting in 2012. Individuals would be able to draw CPP benefits as early as 60 without leaving their jobs or reducing their hours.

According to a Department of Finance document, the change could help individuals to use income from their CPP pension to “phase into retirement or supplement their earnings.”"

“Nevertheless, the move represents a “positive development,” said Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, as it provides further options for Canadians in the tail end of their working careers. He said pension arrangements have been an impediment for those looking to reduce work hours or shift to part time because of the hit they would sustain to benefits earned.

Poschmann said current pension policy has too often rewarded early retirement because the savings earned from not paying CPP contributions for five years outstripped the reduction in benefits. Further, it penalized people who wished to work longer and made flexible work arrangements near impossible.

“The proposed adjustments mark an important sea change in government pension policy’s approach to dealing with population aging and, in particular, making it easier for those people who want to work later in life to do so,” he said.

Another change is that people who are 65 and older that draw on CPP but continue to work can continue to make contributions to the federal plan, thereby boosting the amount of benefits received.

Also, the federal government is looking to reward Canadians who opt to delay drawing on CPP benefits. Individuals who wait until age 70 to earn CPP would see their benefits boosted by up to 42 per cent, compared to the current maximum bump up of 30 per cent.

“This will certainly encourage people to use CPP more as a savings vehicle,” Mintz said.

Finally, Ottawa will allow Canadians to drop an additional low-earning years from the equation, under which pension benefits are calculated. It is meant to benefit those whose careers suffer “more work interruptions” than usual, the Department of Finance said.

The federal government said the changes could be accommodated at the current contribution rate, 9.9 per cent.”
urlm.in/cncn

*http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/640310

We get emails daily from USNewsBulletin and this was one of the items listed:

Canadian Program Criticized For Obama Assassination Joke The New York Times (reports Canada's public broadcaster "went too far with a New Year's Eve skit that joked about the possible assassination of President Barack Obama and suggested that he could be a thief, an industry panel ruled on Monday," according to a wire service report. The "Bye Bye" comedy show, "broadcast on the French-language Radio Canada network, received more than 200 complaints."

Do you think Star Choice should be notified that this was found offensive?

(Via SWJ; NYT warning) Denise Grady, Autopsies of War Dead Reveal Ways to Save Others

Since 2004, every service man and woman killed in Iraq or Afghanistan has been given a CT scan, and since 2001, when the fighting began in Afghanistan, all have had autopsies, performed by pathologists in the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System. In previous wars, autopsies on people killed in combat were uncommon, and scans were never done.

The combined procedures have yielded a wealth of details about injuries from bullets, blasts, shrapnel and burns — information that has revealed deficiencies in body armor and vehicle shielding and led to improvements in helmets and medical equipment used on the battlefield...

The Bye Bye (Goodbye to the Old Year) show on New Year's Eve not only was racist against blacks, but year after year paints anglos as a subspecies. It also portrays women consistently as no better than prositutes.

But it was the twisted joke about Barack that got them in trouble.

"New Animated Series on ABC to Lampoon Environmentalists

With television hosts unwilling to joke about President Barack Obama as those comedians regularly ridicule conservatives, there’s a bright spot coming up this week in a new TV show set to debut on ABC which will mock leftist environmentalism. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday:

The new animated television series ‘The Goode Family’ is a send-up of a clan of environmentalists who live by the words ‘What would Al Gore do?’ Gerald and Helen Goode want nothing more than to minimize their carbon footprint. They feed their dog, Che, only veggies (much to the pet's dismay) and Mr. Goode dutifully separates sheets of toilet paper when his wife accidentally buys two-ply. And, of course, the family drives a hybrid.

The series, from Mike Judge who created Beavis and Butt-Head for MTV and King of the Hill for Fox, will debut Wednesday night at 9 PM EDT/PDT, 8 PM CDT/MDT. The May 22 Journal article, “Making a Mockery of Being Green -- The creator of ‘Beavis and Butt-Head' and ‘King of the Hill' has a new target: environmentalists,” observed: “Much as Mr. Judge's series King of the Hill finds humor in the dramas of a working-class Texas family, Goode lampoons a liberal Midwestern household. In Goode, the characters are often mocked for being green just to fit in with their friends and neighbors.”"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2257924/posts

Pete, what does the school renovation cost?

Deficit could top $120B
Tue, May 26, 2009
OTTAWA -- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is warning Canadians to expect a "substantially" higher deficit than his government predicted in the January budget.

Flaherty refused to say just how much into the red Canada would go, but back in January the prediction was that we would run up almost $85 billion in debt before returning to surplus in 2013....
Last week the International Monetary Fund said Canada could end up $120 billion deeper in debt by 2013.....

Kevin Gaudet, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says he didn't believe the numbers in January and he doesn't believe the government when it says it will be in the black again by 2013.

"This is the fiscal child abuse," said Gaudet. "They are mortgaging the economic future of our children and their children for this over-reaction to the economic challenges they think they're facing today."

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/CanadaWorld/2009/05/26/9570246-sun.html

Five Feet of Fury has some excellent posts this morning. (Her posts are always great, but a couple this morning really grabbed me)

Thanks Kathy.

Thanx for that Maz2,
I'm looking forward to see this show...I'll even predict that if it's not too "shy" and attacks leftardism in general and not just their 'green' mental disorder it will be a huge hit for ABC who really needs some ratings BTW.

Prime time animated shows are becoming more common as they are cheaper to produce (And cancel if need be) and are more friendly for the writer's imagination.
I only hope reality TV is on it's way out...I never liked or watched any except some of the Osbournes.
We need comedy...Good comedy, not just the lefty immoral gutter crap either.

SNL, Stewart and Colbert need some competition from the Right. If Fox news is so damn popular, Fox and other more struggling networks should tap into a, IMO, starving right wing (Normal?) audience.

puddin, no matter how they slice it, the renovation needs to be done, because they need to build space for additional enrollments 5 years from now. So it can be assumed to cost the same under any.

"CFRA Polls

Do you agree with the Conservative plan to speed up EI eligibility if a laid off worker dips into his/her severance payment to pay for job retraining?
Yes 78.2%
No 20.7%
Other 1.08%
Total Votes: 826"
http://www.cfra.com/polls/default.asp

Government solution would be to bus everyone to school C.

Seriously Pete, whether this is an University sociology, statistics or geography question or the real deal, there is no logical solution that will please everyone. The politicians and trustees will make a decision that will work in their best interests.

The government learning from the people?

Household debt at all-time high in Canada, study finds
Updated Tue. May. 26 2009 11:14 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Household debt is at an all-time high in this country with Canadians in the red for a whopping $1.3 trillion, according to a new survey.

Mortgage debt accounted for $900 billion of the nation's debt-load, while consumer debt was $400 billion of the total....."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090526/household_debt_090526/20090526?hub=Canada

Flashback: March 23, 2006.

PM Harper stands with seal hunters.

PM Harper sets the example: a leader.
GG follows the leader: PM Harper.
Bardot eats her heart out.
…-

“failing to secure an impromptu audience with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.”

“BARDOT POUTS FOR HARPER”(sic)

Before Pamela Anderson staged press conferences to demand clemency for chickens, and vigilante protesters lobbed buckets of red paint at well-heeled fur-clad women, there was French film actress Brigitte Bardot. Called “the Princess of Pout” by Time Magazine, the 1960s sex kitten starlet created a public furor that led to a permanent ban on the hunt for “white coats” after images of her cajoling baby harp seals on the Canadian ice floes were published in the 1970s. Bardot was back in Canada yesterday, failing to secure an impromptu audience with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Instead, she had to settle for a press conference on the 27th floor of an Ottawa hotel. Flanked by a fiery Paul Watson, a co-founder of Greenpeace and the man who first brought her to Canada so many years ago, Bardot dabbed her teary eyes as she demanded that the Canadian government stop “the massacre.” Meanwhile, on the streets below, Inuit youth protested with placards with slogans like “Protect Inuit Culture.” Of all the public crusades that occur in Canada on an annual basis, none garner as much attention or possess the degree of emotional wattage as the East Coast seal hunt.”
http://www.maisonneuve.org/index.php?&page_id=12&article_id=2156

The government learning from the people?

Household debt at all-time high in Canada, study finds
Updated Tue. May. 26 2009 11:14 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Household debt is at an all-time high in this country with Canadians in the red for a whopping $1.3 trillion, according to a new survey.

Mortgage debt accounted for $900 billion of the nation's debt-load, while consumer debt was $400 billion of the total....."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090526

Senator Mike Duffy: “We have to help write the story of Michael Ignatieff.”

Who is Iggy? Iggy? Iggy? Iggy? ???: “…the real Ignatieff, asking, “Is he a multiple personality disorder or something? What is he?”

Lizzy: “Bucky the Beaver”.
…-

Long-time journalist, turned Tory senator, takes aim at Conservative opponents and what he terms liberal bias in the media

Senator Mike Duffy was pulling no punches in his criticism of Tory opponents during his speech to Conservative supporters at the Southhampton Legion in Nackawic on Saturday, May 23.

The nationally-known former news host left his 40-year highly respected career in the Canadian journalism six months ago, making the switch to partisan politics by accepting Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s appointment to the Canadian senate.

Since becoming a Conservative senator for his home province of P.E.I., Duffy doesn’t hold back when defending the political record of the party, as he demonstrated in his speech to Tobique-Mactaquac Conservatives on Saturday.

In his speech, Duffy referenced many political firsts that belong to the Conservative party and took some shots at political leaders across the board.

Duffy spoke at length about Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s ties to other countries.

He questioned if Canadians are seeing the real Ignatieff, asking, “Is he a multiple personality disorder or something? What is he?”

Duffy also defended the Conservative’s recently launched controversial ad campaign targeting Ignatieff.

“The Liberals loved them (attack ads) when they slagged us,” said Senator Duffy. “We have to help write the story of Michael Ignatieff.”

Duffy also took pointed jabs at other thorns in the Conservative political side, referring to outspoken Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams as “that whack job over in Newfoundland,” and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May as “Bucky the Beaver.”"
http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/news/article/678424

that's exactly my point, Texas, no solution will please everyone, and right now it looks like the working groups are trying to steer the trustees to make a decision that works in their own (the working groups) interests. The issue needs to be assessed as to what will achieve the best balance of numbers at both schools, and what will be the least disruptive to the children and communities involved. That's not what is being done, and I was hoping for some outside feedback to present at the next meeting.

MaryT: Please respond to Don. Retiring bash for Don details TBA. BYOB.
…-

“CBC’s Politics to be canceled(sic)

The past week of rumors tumbling out of CBC headquarters in Toronto are correct: Don Newman’s chair will not be filled on the venerable show Politics.

In fact, several senior sources inside the CBC have confirmed the plan to cancel Politics show outright. CBC Newsworld is undergoing a network “transformation” and while the “transformed” schedule might have had a spot for Don Newman, it won’t now that he is taking early retirement.

A co-hosted duel-city show with an economic edge coming out of Toronto and Ottawa may replace it. I’m also hearing Carol MacNeil may be tapped to lead this effort.

CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay refused to confirm the cancellation saying management was, “Still in the process of looking at what form the show will take.”

What do you think about the CBC canceling Politics?”
http://www.mediastyle.ca/2009/05/cbc%E2%80%99s-politics-to-be-cancelled/

I'd like to add my congratulations to Governor-General Jean. It's sometimes a messy business standing up for Canada's picked-on.

"The ground seems prepared for some sort of CPP-II that, like the original, borrows against the future and gradually turns into a pure source of economic deadweight loss...."

On EI, the Tories are the least wrong

Colby Cosh, National Post Published: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Here's Canada in a nutshell: The finance minister of Ontario can announce that the federal government must introduce a massive program to "shore up" the wealth Canadians retire with, and absolutely no one asks, "Hey, didn't we try that once already and call it the Canada Pension Plan?" The ground seems prepared for some sort of CPP-II that, like the original, borrows against the future and gradually turns into a pure source of economic deadweight loss; and sooner or later, when its failure becomes apparent, there will be a CPP-III to fill in the new gaps. For all the talk about Canada's new status as the most economically free and healthy state in the G8, we are still doing stuff like this, without the slightest consciousness of how ridiculous it will look to future generations.

Thus we have the debate on "reforming" employment insurance, which isn't very much like insurance in the first place..."

Your Cons are no different than the Libranos when it comes to confiscating your money for nothing. Pauli 'The Hammer' Martin and Jean 'Knuckles' Chretien diverted $50 billion from the EI fund into general revenues over the years.

Steven the Fraud's tally only stands at $23 billion. Give him time people, give him time.....

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=1629683

As a Civil Engineer, Pete, we are constantly being asked for our professional engineering opinions, only to have them overturned by politicians who apply their own politically-driven "solutions".

I'd love to help develop a practical solution for you, but I know that a practical solution won't be applied by the politicians, so I regretfully decline from assisting you.

"The ground seems prepared for some sort of CPP-II that, like the original, borrows against the future and gradually turns into a pure source of economic deadweight loss...."

On EI, the Tories are the least wrong

Colby Cosh, National Post Published: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Here's Canada in a nutshell: The finance minister of Ontario can announce that the federal government must introduce a massive program to "shore up" the wealth Canadians retire with, and absolutely no one asks, "Hey, didn't we try that once already and call it the Canada Pension Plan?" The ground seems prepared for some sort of CPP-II that, like the original, borrows against the future and gradually turns into a pure source of economic deadweight loss; and sooner or later, when its failure becomes apparent, there will be a CPP-III to fill in the new gaps. For all the talk about Canada's new status as the most economically free and healthy state in the G8, we are still doing stuff like this, without the slightest consciousness of how ridiculous it will look to future generations.

Thus we have the debate on "reforming" employment insurance, which isn't very much like insurance in the first place..."

Your Cons are no different than the Libranos when it comes to confiscating your money for nothing. Pauli 'The Hammer' Martin and Jean 'Knuckles' Chretien diverted $50 billion from the EI fund into general revenues over the years.

Steven the Fraud's tally only stands at $23 billion. Give him time people, give him time.....

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper

Michelle Obama? Arms, for the love of Allah!

Iggy'Narcissist = O'Narcissist*.

Iggy has a "foresee", a "foresee" a "foresee", >>>.

Vote Citoyen Dionky.
...-

"Don Martin: There's a definite 'I' in Ignatieff

There’s something singularly irritating about the Liberal party leader. Whenever he opens his mouth, out comes ‘I’ after ‘I’. If not ‘I’, he’s full of talk about ‘me’ or ‘my’. It’s often harder to find a party-friendly ‘we’ in his statements than a “Wii” electronic game in Future Shop.

Consider the typical statement delivered by Michael Ignatieff on Monday as he held court with reporters, preening and pretending he holds the fate of this parliament in his hands. This conveniently overlooks the minority math that requires both the New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois to bring down the Conservative government, but “I, Michael” doesn’t let that enter the equation.

Ignatieff: “The difficulty I'm having is I'm trying to make Parliament work, right? I'm here to get improved EI for Canadians, period. And the difficulty I've got at the moment is every time we put a proposal forward, we get it systematically misdescribed, I will -- that's polite language. And so we have a problem but we're still trying to make Parliament work for Canadians and that's my position. It's been my position since January.”

Question: Can you foresee introducing a confidence motion on this during an Opposition Day?

Ignatieff: “I can certainly foresee it. I use your word. I can foresee it.”

Question: In the near future?

Ignatieff: “I can foresee it and I can foresee it in the near future. But I repeat the word foresee. Let me say it again so it's perfectly clear: I am trying to make Parliament work for Canadians, number one. Number two, I am trying to get EI improved for all Canadians. That's what I'm trying to do.”

This scrum exchange clocks in at 168 words. There are 16 references to himself and only four references to ‘we’ as in his party. In other words, almost 10 per cent of the word count are devoted to Iggy referring to Iggy. Gosh. No self-absorbed attitude here at all."
urlm.in/cnfa
...-

*"Barack Obama - Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic?"

"Bragging and false autobiography – The narcissist brags incessantly. His speech is peppered with "I", "my", "myself", and "mine"."

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/71124

But Maz, you've missed the best part. The Greens really don't like it when they are the ones being mocked. Witness Lynn Crosbie's bleating in today's Globe.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/so-lets-beat-up-on-goodness/article1152232/

On the "Whose life is it anyway?" file, we have this
from the West Coast: 21 year old Paul Adrian Fraser
of North Vancouver has been charged with supplying a loaded shotgun to his depressed friend, in exchange for the keys to a stolen BMW. When his friend thought it a bit awkward, it is said Paul showed him how to do it right (toe in the trigger technique?). The young man (20yrs) went through with it the next day. Is this what the Charter and the culture of death implicit in the assisted suicide groups would call, dignified?

Let's get our Rights right. Right?

Vince Li - Check!
Tim McLean - ummm, not so much....

Public may not hear fate of Greyhound bus killer
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 | 12:10 PM CT

The fate of a man who decapitated a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus last summer may not be made public.

Vince Li was found not criminally responsible for killing Tim McLean in July 2008 on a bus heading to Winnipeg, so it is now up to a review board to decide his fate.

Manitoba's Criminal Code review board is to meet next Monday to assess whether Li should be institutionalized or given a conditional release.

But the review board's chairman, John Stefaniuk, said making the decision public could violate Li's rights as a patient.

Stefaniuk said government lawyers have advised against releasing any details on board rulings but that hasn't been tested until now.

McLean's mother, Carol de Delley, said Li should be treated as a criminal and not as a patient.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story

Sorry for the garbled message, I need a proof-reader

Big surprise - Obama's supreme court nominee is an anti-white male nutter
--------------------------

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor, who is now considered to be near the top of President Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html

An end to sofa government
By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 10:53 AM - 4 Comments

David Cameron wants to overhaul British democracy.

"But it’s not just by decentralising power and reforming parliament that we can redistribute power away from an over-mighty executive. We need to end the culture of sofa government, where unaccountable spin doctors in No 10 – whether it’s Alastair Campbell or Damian McBride – toss around ideas and make up policies not to meet the national interest but to hit dividing lines or fit the news cycle. So we’ll put limits on the number of political advisers, strengthen the ministerial code, protect the independence of the civil service, and ensure that more decisions are made by cabinet as a whole.

Much more at the Guardian’s New Politics project. Read and imagine what it’d be like if we were having as serious a discussion in this country.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/25/david-cameron-a-new-politics2

Dang, please ignore that post.

Seems we already had that discussion a few years ago...http://www.conservative.ca/media/20050319-POLICY%20DECLARATION.pdf

It certainly hasn't made a difference...

US supports Lebanon government to fight Hezbollah, but aids Hezbollah instead:

http://joesettler.blogspot.com/2009/05/did-us-aid-hezollah.html

The motto of this world is 'Everything is ass backwards'

Just in case you are wondering who the runner up to Al Gore was for the Nobel Peace Prize.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler

You just can't beat a good Powerpoint presentation.

I don't know if this is old news, but I just found out today and thought a few more people ought to know.

Ralph blows a gasket today in the HoC

Ralph Goodale is insisting that the PM said at 2:20 in todays question period he will raise taxes in the Next Budget, He (ralph) went Ballistic retorting that they The liberals always had balanced budget's No Deficit. However Ralph fails to say How! the Liberals achieved this. Ralph fails to tell us that by Drawing on the UI fund to the tune of Billions this is how the Liberals balanced budgets He also fails to say that contributions were raised almost yearly.
Watch the CPAC rerun to see this & see if the PM actually said what Ralph is insisting. Iam sure the media is checking the Tapes for their continuing headline bash fest of the PM.

Further to Lorne Gunter's article . . .

I just turned on the radio to CKNW and heard a virulent anti-seal hunt advocate rail against the GG. Of course, like a devout Leftist, she cited her views to be the same as "Canadian values" and that the GG's actions were "divisive".

What a Truly Pathetic Scumbag such people are!

Liberal Senator Dennis Dawson has introduced a bill in order to stop political parties from going on Pre-Election spending binges.
Clearly aimed at the tories
this is up at NNW via canadaeast.com

* Not a very flattering pic of their mesiah ignatieff, Claaassssssssssss Claaasssssssss

September 8, 2008...The Conservative government, which is on the verge of launching a national election campaign, has pledged $8.8-billion as part of 293 announcements in the last three months, according to figures released Friday by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

...

Over the last number of weeks, the government has issued a myriad spending announcements - such as $80-million to help revive a mothballed auto engine plant in Windsor, Ont.; $2.9-million aimed at helping organic spinach farmers; and $2,000 for a festival in Shag Harbour, N.S., to commemorate a 1967 UFO sighting. Those announcements continue today and are expected to continue up until Sunday morning.

"I wouldn't want to be a government bookkeeper when the waves of spending receipts from July and August crash into the finance department," Mr. Williamson said. "Of course, taxpayers will be even more distraught, and some livid, since they are responsible for paying the government's bills."

http://bcinto.blogspot.com/2008/09/harpers-88-billion-spending-spree.html

Funny how people forget these kinds of things depending upon the color of their tie...

Flaherty warns deficit may top record $50-billion

Paul Vieira, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

OTTAWA -- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned Tuesday the deficit for the current fiscal year could surpass the $50-billion mark -- the biggest annual shortfall on record.

Mr. Flaherty told reporters of the $50-billion figure after Question Period in the House of Commons....

http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=1632349

Boy, thank heavens the little fella was able to post that surplus for the first three months of this year.

Remember? Lotsa cheering if I recall. Now, let's see - since we don't return to the black until 2013 (heh, the joke's on you there), then we'll get to some additional $160 billion added to the national debt.

Boy, thank heavens the little fella was able to post that surplus for the first three months of this year.

posted by hardboiled at 12:42==="Your Cons are no different than the Libranos when it comes to confiscating your money for nothing. Pauli 'The Hammer' Martin and Jean 'Knuckles' Chretien diverted $50 billion from the EI fund into general revenues over the years.

Steven the Fraud's tally only stands at $23 billion. Give him time people, give him time.....

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper"

The above comment may be the eggman's personal opinion as it is not contained in the story that is linked. Damn the facts,full speed ahead.

wallyj - while I can't speak to the quality of the article attached (don't know the group itself), I can state the quality of the description of EI changes are good, based upon my understanding.

The $54 billion number is known best from the 2005 debates, where Gilles confronted Pauli, and asked "where did the money go?" The Cons reduced the EI contribution amount in the successive budget to some $2.12 per thousand, reducing it by some 15%. The annual accumulation at record low employment levels was contributing some $12-$15 billion per year in excess cashflow. This went directly into general revenues. They then reduced it again the following year to $1.96 (est).

I extrapolated that $15B + $8B = $23B that went into general revenues before the game was up. One might suggest the Cons did good by doing this. I would agree.

With the exception that the Cons also promised to reform the Treasury Board guidelines to state that government services need to cost (to the public) roughly equal the cost of provision.

They balked at that, and it provides some $20B per year in excess taxation to the government. The Passport Office alone generated more than $100 mmillion in free cash flow to the government in excess taxation last year, only to be either pissed away in IT follies (as recently seen at the passport office - please google that for more information), or transferred into general revenues if they need a honey pot.

Remember, the government does NOT need to follow GAAP/IFRS or any other actual accounting standards. They do what they want, with your money, when they need to.

Hope that helps explain the $23B number. It will be several more years until the government actually provides it. Which is exactly the way it is intended: complicated backstory & long past the interest of the news cycle.

The “New” Employment Insurance Fund

Posted by Andrew Jackson under Uncategorized.
February 27th, 2008

The government has announced in the Budget that it is creating a new, independent Crown Corporation, the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB) to manage a separate EI bank account, and to set premiums from 2009 on. This responds to employer concerns re paying EI premiums which are “too high” as opposed to worker concerns over access to and the level of benefits. That said, both employers and labour strenuously opposed the accumulation of a staggeringly high EI surplus which was used to pay down public debt, mainly as part of the Martin/Chretien anti deficit/debt crusade. The Liberals slashed benefits, but only slowly reduced premiums.

From 2009 on, EI premiums will be set as now - to balance revenues and expenditures for the coming year, with a maximum change in the EI premium of 15 cents. The big change is that, moving forward, any EI account surpluses could be used to reduce premiums. In other words, if there was a surplus in 2009, it could be used to cut 2010 premiums, or to add to the reserve fund. If there was a series of surpluses, EI premiums would be cut.

Responsibility for setting EI program parameters will remain with the Government of Canada (HRSDC), as it should. The Government has also clearly stated that the Consolidated Revenue Fund remains available to “backstop” legislated EI benefits in the event of a recession which resulted in a deficit in the new EI Account....."

*http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2008/02/27/the-new-employment-insurance-fund/

wallyj - while I can't speak to the quality of the article attached (don't know the group itself), I can state the quality of the description of EI changes are good, based upon my understanding.

The $54 billion number is known best from the 2005 debates, where Gilles confronted Pauli, and asked "where did the money go?" The Cons reduced the EI contribution amount in the successive budget to some $2.12 per thousand, reducing it by some 15%. The annual accumulation at record low employment levels was contributing some $12-$15 billion per year in excess cashflow. This went directly into general revenues. They then reduced it again the following year to $1.96 (est).

I extrapolated that $15B + $8B = $23B that went into general revenues before the game was up. One might suggest the Cons did good by doing this. I would agree.

With the exception that the Cons also promised to reform the Treasury Board guidelines to state that government services need to cost (to the public) roughly equal the cost of provision.

They balked at that, and it provides some $20B per year in excess taxation to the government. The Passport Office alone generated more than $100 mmillion in free cash flow to the government in excess taxation last year, only to be either pissed away in IT follies (as recently seen at the passport office - please google that for more information), or transferred into general revenues if they need a honey pot.

Remember, the government does NOT need to follow GAAP/IFRS or any other actual accounting standards. They do what they want, with your money, when they need to.

Hope that helps explain the $23B number. It will be several more years until the government actually provides it. Which is exactly the way it is intended: complicated backstory & long past the interest of the news cycle.

The “New” Employment Insurance Fund

Posted by Andrew Jackson under Uncategorized.
February 27th, 2008

The government has announced in the Budget that it is creating a new, independent Crown Corporation, the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB) to manage a separate EI bank account, and to set premiums from 2009 on. This responds to employer concerns re paying EI premiums which are “too high” as opposed to worker concerns over access to and the level of benefits. That said, both employers and labour strenuously opposed the accumulation of a staggeringly high EI surplus which was used to pay down public debt, mainly as part of the Martin/Chretien anti deficit/debt crusade. The Liberals slashed benefits, but only slowly reduced premiums.

From 2009 on, EI premiums will be set as now - to balance revenues and expenditures for the coming year, with a maximum change in the EI premium of 15 cents. The big change is that, moving forward, any EI account surpluses could be used to reduce premiums. In other words, if there was a surplus in 2009, it could be used to cut 2010 premiums, or to add to the reserve fund. If there was a series of surpluses, EI premiums would be cut.

Responsibility for setting EI program parameters will remain with the Government of Canada (HRSDC), as it should. The Government has also clearly stated that the Consolidated Revenue Fund remains available to “backstop” legislated EI benefits in the event of a recession which resulted in a deficit in the new EI Account....."

tinyurl.com/r7prrj

I should add that estimates of the draw down on the EI fund - given a recession - are expected to be some $15 billion.

Given that the EI fund is now a closed loop (and yet strangely 'frozen' at its' current level) - one can see where the deficits that Flaherty's projecting are coming from.

Instead, in the election run up last year (completely predicated upon the impending economic downturn - which Harper broke his fixed date election law to call), The Cons bought the Organic Spinach Farmers of Ontario's vote with $3 million of that EI money. Among 293 other pre election announcements.

Why do liberals/socialists hate?

Because they are closet fascists.
...-

"Dignitas Assisted Suicide Clinic in Switzerland Probed, Killed Man With Depression

Zurich, Switzerland (LifeNews.com) -- The Dignitas assisted suicide facility in Switzerland is coming under investigation for allegedly killing a man with depression. Under the euthanasia law in Switzerland, someone can only be killed in an assisted suicide if they suffer from a terminal illness.

Swiss Judge Philippe Barboni has ordered an investigation of the death of Andrei Haber, a Romanian who lived in Fribourg.

Relatives notified Swiss authorities that he had planned to kill himself at the Dignitas facility.

"This case presents a particular fact: that the person didn't suffer from a serious or incurable disease, provoking severe pain. His motives were essentially psychological," Judge Barboni said, according to Swiss media reports.

Care Not Killing, a British-based group that opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia, commented on Haber's death and the resulting probe, which it called felicitous given that euthanasia advocates appear to prey on the depressed.

"Almost invariably, they change their minds over time... and die in due course peacefully and with dignity," a spokesman said.

A former worker for a Dignitas suicide clinic, Soraya Wernli, spent two and a half years working at the suicide clinic. She told the London Daily Mail newspaper in January she began to see the suicide clinic not as the compassionate place for ending lives but as a money-making killing machine taking advantage of the disabled and terminally ill.

She explained how its founder and operator, Ludwig Minelli, would rush people through the death process by giving them the deadly drugs just hours after arriving from the airport."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2258538/posts

Liberal bill aims to end pre-election ad binges
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The Liberals have introduced a bill in the Senate aimed at stopping political parties from going on pre-election advertising binges.

Senator Dennis Dawson’s bill — which is aimed at the cash-rich Tories — comes amid renewed election speculation on Parliament Hill.
FROM
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/canada/2009/05/26/9577351.html

It's clearly time to pass legislation to limit the CBC's roll as a free Liberal advertising source or at least blow the whistle on it.

O'Narcissist: The natural end result of O's socialism/fascism.
...-

"We Are Out of Money"

President Barack Obama handed his political opponents a bludgeon the size of Thor's hammer Saturday.

In a story played up by the Drudge Report but virtually ignored by the New York Times and Washington Post, C-SPAN's Steve Scully pointed to the massive financial obligations taken on by his administration and to America's generally lousy financial forecast. He asked Obama, "At what point do we run out of money?" "Well…" the U.S. president began with his practiced nod to the unhurried, unflappable style of Ronald Reagan.

Then he said it: "We are out of money now."

He tried that classic Obama workaround, essentially conceding the opposition's point then sidestepping it to advance his own vision. "We are operating in deep deficits, not caused by any decisions we've made on health care so far," he said. But just wait."
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/05/26/we-are-out-of-money

gord, That was a fascinating -- and frightening -- post.