Via Blue Like You, here's a good opinion column in the Windsor Star by a fellow named Chris Vander Doelen. Excerpts:

"The furious energy being devoted to blocking the federal government's plan to shorten the federal census shows there's a lot more to the issue than meets the eye."

(...)

"It's patently obvious why government and its legions of apologists want us to cough up telling details about our lives. It's to tax us more efficiently and to enable their social engineering."

(...)

"The long parade of census defenders neglect to acknowledge that they nearly all work for government or rely on government for income. Teachers, mayors, economists, police, doctors, 'activists' - all public sector."

It's hard to believe they're all gone now. Nice one EBD.

From the what took them so long files:

http://weaselzippers.us/2010/08/12/man-wearing-burqa-robs-bank/

Remember all the shots Bush took for playing golf?

"According to unofficial presidential statistician Mark Knoller of CBS News, Obama has left the White House to play basketball 16 times so far, in addition to the countless times he has played on his home court. He's shot 44 rounds of golf, gone fishing and played tennis. Total sporting-related events hosted at the White House: 45. That's about six times the number of news conferences he has held.

"He's been to see the Nationals twice this year, the last time in June with Malia and Sasha to see the Nats play Obama's White Sox. Last week, he took Sasha to see the Washington Mystics of the WNBA at Verizon Center.

"Obama's foes have mocked him for playing golf more often than his sports-mad predecessor, who played only 24 rounds during his entire eight-year presidency. 'Obama skips Polish funeral, heads to golf course,' was one Washington Times headline. Liberals who once mocked George W. Bush's 'watch this drive' moment on the golf course now speak of the need for Obama to clear his head."

Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks also weighed in, saying Charest appeared to be opposing what he called "a good shared partnership" between two other provinces."In my opinion, the premier of Quebec should mind his own business," Estabrooks said in an interview Thursday.

Williams said he expects that the federal government will make a decision that does not bow to another province's wishes.

"The Quebec government has always had a sphere of influence. I think that's waning," he said.

"I think Canadians are finally wising up to the fact that Quebec can't blackmail Canada because it has a certain number of seats. … Quebec has a legitimate place in Canada … but when we have a situation when one province is deliberately trying to thwart at least two other provinces, and indirectly affect four other provinces, that's sad."

I commented (on SDA about 2-3 months ago) about this change of relationship after PM Harper and his entourage met up with the man with the new heart in Sin John’s and there was no sabre rattling or any media spotlight before, during or after the visit. The next shoe to drop will be the allocation of the 8.5% share of Hibernia that the feds purchased from Gulf Canada back in the day to keep the Hibernia project alive. Its investment has been repaid in full and has returned over a billion in profit to boot (I think that was the tip I placed about the return the feds had gotten from their Hibernia investment). The NL govt. has given its approval of the Hibernia South expansion so there’s plenty of oil that’s going to be flowing in the future & this gifting will happen before there’s a barrel of oil realized from those new wells (which is quickly approaching).

Then you have the federal contribution that’s going to happen at Point Lepreau Nuclear Plant to the tune of about 4-500 million for the refurbishment. PEI will vote blue cause the will be surrounded and feel like they are going to get shutout.

If the Tamil refugee crisis plays out well for the feds, that gives them their foothold in BC. AB & SK are in (see oil & gas) & rural ON will be the same (don’t forget the seat redistribution additions in 3 of 4 of those provinces). Then there’s Quebec. What will they do? Revert to their isolationist tendencies or will they recognize that their sphere of influence is waning?

Be sure to watch the video if you can (6 mins 13 secs). He lays the pipe pretty effectively.

Re: "It's patently obvious why government and its legions of apologists want us to cough up telling details about our lives. It's to tax us more efficiently and to enable their social engineering."

That's been my take since I first posted here on the issue. I wonder if columnist Chris Vander Doelen reads SDA?

Or as a letter writer in the National Post put it on Thursday, "all this census information is necessary so that the functionaries can plan programs that will empty my wallet."

from previous 9-11 events , they plant mosques as markers. and now this.

http://bigpeace.com/cderussy/2010/08/12/u-s-state-department-is-building-mosques/

Naw, say it isn't true that the CBC supports the Liberals in Ottawa.

Liberal communicationa head for Iggy, Mario Laguë dies in a car accident. Sad! CBC closes the story to commenting.

Helena Guergis, who is five months pregnant, and still a bona fide independent MP is involved in car crash with no serious injuries! The CBC opens up the gates of hell for all of Canada to go after her with derogatory comments.

Naw--we don't favor the Libs at CBC!!

I hope every Republican promises to eliminate
the most Corrupt Court in the Nation.. This is the Act that is sitting in Congress
--------
Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act of 2007, S. 525[10]
This proposal would amend Title 28, United States Code, to provide for the appointment of additional Federal circuit judges and to divide the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the United States into 2 circuits. The proposed split would be the Ninth Circuit (to be composed of California, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and the Twelfth Circuit (to be composed of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington). It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 8, 2007.
--------

Lets Count the days to Obama's removal & medicated treatment ...

1. Obama strikes out with his Hispanic initiative, seems Hispanics like a middle class

2. Obama Strikes out with his "Control the Black Congressional Caucus”...(Throw two blacks to the Republicans)... Randel shoves it up his nose...Nancy lacks decency to be present in the House during Randel's address....Randel Parties with Black movers & shakers....

3. The phony issue at Ground Zero, designed to to win Muslim votes, is unraveling.
Every American "KNOWS" you can't build anything you want, NYC Mayor is a liar, or corrupt, or both.. This was beyond stupid… a sick mind

Now Bill Clinton pounces;

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/harrisburg_politics/Clinton_denies_WH_story_he_tried_to_get_Sestak_out_of_Senate_race.html

Of Course that is "Rangel"

"Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register."

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke2&version=NIV

...-

"Tale of the Totem: $23G Census Project to Thaw Alaska Hearts and Minds Questioned

They tried mailings, launched a multimillion-dollar national ad campaign, hired tens of thousands of people -- they even tried a totem pole.

The $20,000 totem pole art project was commissioned by the Census Bureau with a local Alaskan artist and meant to incorporate both native Alaskan symbols with the spirit of the census and help engage the disparate and hard-to-count communities of America's largest state.

The totem didn't work."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/12/tale-totem-census-project-win-alaska-support-questioned/

...-

"the siren song of hope and change."

...-

"The Weeping, Wailing, and Gnashing of Teeth

Posse on the Horizon

The usual rush to the exits from a sinking administration is now ongoing. The only difference this cycle is that – whereas in the case of the Bush departed who, we were lectured, were rightfully bitter that their genius was not appreciated (e.g., Paul O’Neil, Richard Clarke, Scott McClellan, etc) by the Bush Neanderthals, and were men of conscience who were “blowing the whistle” — we are now told by the New York Times that the Obama parachutists are burned out and “exhausted,” from “blackberrying” all day long!

You see, we should not imagine that these technocratic careerists want to leave the bank before the posse arrives in November, or are moving on to lucrative seven-figure jobs after the requisite administration bumper-sticker billet, but rather after being on the cross suffering for our sins for 18 months, well, can suffer no more for the unworthy. We hoi polloi didn’t turn around the economy, and we couldn’t win the war, and we made them keep Guantanamo open, and we wore them out over health care, and we forced more of those once damn Predators and formerly unconstitutional renditions down their throats.

Defeat?

Al Gore just shrieked that his green war is over. He says he lost and is withdrawing from the front."

"The Thrill Is Gone".

http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/the-weeping-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/

If maz2's post stipulating that the left is finally waving the white flag is to be believed, then we are truly entering a major economic slowdown unrivaled since the 1930's.

The "I wanna Rock & roll all night and party everyday" vampires have no more blood to suck?

That means drill sargeant Van Helsing is just around the corner, soon coming to start making people sweat for their next meal...

...And that's why, in a nutshell, true conservatism is despised by so many. It means discipline, an honest days work, self reliance, responsability and accountability.

The primordial law of nature; "only the stongest and fittest will survive" will be in full swing for a while yet again until the mothers of the world scream "it's enough!" once more...Then the bleeding heart misguidances will start trickling yet again, to be passed onto society's doers, raising the undead to come feed and multiply.

History of man: "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose".
------------------------------------------------
My readers tip: I'm more than halfway through Glenn Beck's new thriller novel "The Overton Window". A good entertaining read that will provide some chills down your spine. It is highly based on current events. Recommended.

O'allah OOps.

Hope kicks O's nose. But, Hope is such a sweet, comely girl. Her little sister, Fear, is ...

Lesson # 1: "Arab" = Muslim, formerly Mohammedans.

Survey says ...... "The hope that appeasement would be rewarded by respect has earned the President a kick in the nose."

Appeasement is defeat. Is this what O and his O'mites really want? Is this O's hidden agenda? Does O believe He is the "hidden" Imam?

...-

Who Can I Turn To?

Forgotten in the discussion about the President Obama’s falling domestic popularity is his even more precipitous decline in the esteem of the Arab world. The Christian Science Monitor reports Zogby found it had slipped from 45 percent to 20 percent in the past year, and that his “negatives” had soared from 23 to 62 percent. ” The Asia Times says Arabs asked to name a leader they admired named Obama well below the Shi’ite Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

When respondents were asked to name the world leader they admired most, Obama’s standing was less than 1%. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was cited most often (20%), followed by last year’s top pick, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (13%), and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (12%).

The hope that appeasement would be rewarded by respect has earned the President a kick in the nose. Perceived strength generates its own legitimacy in rough places; Arabs who have traditionally feared Persia now believe it has a right to build nuclear weapons. They have watched Iran push the President’s flaccid arm down to the table and drawn their own conclusions. The policy of apologizing for America has not won friends or influenced people; it has not even delegitimized Iranian expansionism. It has produced the contrary result."

http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2010/08/12/who-can-i-turn-to/#comments

All that the govt has done, with regard to the census, is remove it from being mandatory to optional. They will still use the long form to a certain ratio of homes.

But, quite correctly in my view, the govt removed the threat of jail or fine if you did not return the form. Why do the Liberals/NDP want this threat?

And why are the Liberals/NDP insisting that the long form won't be used? All that's been scrapped is its mandatory nature.

Furthermore, what puzzles me is the nature of some of the long form questions. It's very 1980's women's lib style, with its questions about 'unpaid work in the home'. This begs the question - why is all work supposed to be paid? Doesn't the result of work around the home, i.e., clean and repaired, provide the value? Why is work of value only when it provides money?

Doesn't that lead to the view, found among many welfare recipients, that they will refuse to do this cleaning and repair - because it has no monetary result?

And what I find puzzling is why the critics refuse to acknowledge that much of the data of a self-reported census, and particularly a mandatory one, is, to put it bluntly, false. Who will verify how many hours of 'unpaid work', of the number of bedrooms in the house, of one's age, of one's ethnic background and so on?

A voluntary survey is psychologically far more likely to produce honest answers than a mandatory one.

Good questions, ET.

The Liberal agenda was always to get women outside the home and to punish, through an inequitable tax system, families where one parent (usually Mom) stayed home to care for the kids.

Sure, the form wants to know who's not ponying up, tax-wise, to put more sheckles into the government coffers.

Another way we stay-at-home moms were penalized by a feminist-loving-stay-at-home-mom-hating government was that when our kids were in school and we went to the employment office to see about training to get back into the work force, we had to pay $800 to take a course. There was no financial assistance to ease us back into the workforce, whereas if you were on EI, the whole shot was paid.

I agree with you about "unpaid" work in the home: Doing it was valuable in itself. It was done as part of a team and out of love for my family, not, as the feminists liked to assert, because I was my husband's "chattel."

batb- I think it's deeper than getting women out of the home. I think it's a rejection of the responsibility of individual care about oneself, one's family, home, environment.

If that work of care can't be transformed into a monetary factor then the left deems it 'unpaid work' and socially unacceptable. The only actions that are socially acceptable are those for which one receives a monetary compensation.

This removes responsibility from the individual to the employer. In the case of childcare, self-care, homecare - this employer becomes the government. To the left, it becomes socially necessary for the govt to take charge of your care, your children, your home.

Therefore, the govt moves in to define how much salt you may eat, how much you may weigh, what you may do. The govt is understood as a more valid caretaker of children than parents. The government dictates even, whether you are allowed to hang our your washed laundry on clotheslines!

This removal of responsibility from the individual to the government is a basic factor of the ideology of the left. So, devaluing work that is all about self-responsibility is one key strategy in this agenda.

You're right, of course, ET, and I was onto that in the '80s: how the government was wanting to take personal responsibility away from all of us, using radical feminism as one of their main battering rams.

The assault on the nuclear family was absolutely essential if they were going to forward their socialist agenda of taking all personal responsibility away from the individual/individual families.

My husband and I weren't buying it, and were punished accordingly. Not only did the Librano$ devalue non-paid work, they imposed a monetary penalty if you didn't fall lockstep into their scheme.

From the NY Times invites paranoids to join it in soiling your undies dept. :

New York Times : Afraid of Gun Crazed, ‘Motley Carnivals of the Tea Party Movement’

"The New York Times sent Mattathias Schwartz to find out what was going on at Jack Dailey’s firearms training camps across the country and what he found apparently made the writer fear that America was going to the lily white, revolutionary, tea party dogs.> Naturally, Schwartz found as many nay-saying “experts” as he could to help the reader along to the conclusion that Second Amendment supporters are a hairsbreadth away from going violent. With one “expert,” whose rhetoric was meant to demean American history, we find that Americans are returning to their “creation myth” over their interest in the Second Amendment."

http://tinyurl.com/2dk27ht

I could be wrong but this piece could win the snotty journalistic elitism award this year.

ET and batb, your comments are refreshing. Too bad more families have not figured this out. I have never been able to understand why so many women support the Liberals who have an agenda of destroying the traditional family.

The census flap is all about MSM seeking to help their Liberal buddies.

Danggit, EBD, that was outstanding !

But, unfortunately, it lead me to the Drunken Sailor song, and now I can't get it out of my head. What do you do with a Drunken Sailor. What do you do with a Drunken Sailor. What do you do with a Drunken Sailor. So early in the morning.

USS Forrestal CVA59 71'-73'
USN 71'-77'

Ontario Liberal McGuinty’s Green Smoke Steal-th Fraud.

It’s a socialist shakedown.

Guess who’s the mark? Who is being shaken down?

Notice the brevity of the MSM.

…-

“Ontario announces solar plan price adjustment

Solar-powered anger has fueled a change in the price being offered to ground-mounted operators.

The owners of eligible projects who applied before July 2, 2010, will get the original price offer of 80.2¢ per kilowatt-hour.

The Ontario Power Authority has also announced that it will pay 64.2¢ per kilowatt-hour for ground-mounted solar microFIT contacts signed after July 2.

This is still higher than the 58.8¢ per kilowatt-hour proposed in early July which set off a political firestorm in many communities where people invested in the technology hoping to get a high rate of return.

There have been almost 19,000 microFIT applications in less than a year, and about 800 are already feeding power into the grid.”

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/08/13/15014816.html

http://www.bluelikeyou.com/2010/08/13/sticking-it-to-the-taxpayer-over-and-over-again/#comment-87745

Thanks, Ken. What the CPC has done, to acknowledge the importance of personal responsibility, is to give each family with children $100 per child-six-and-under per month rather than sink million$ into a national daycare program, where families rely on the state to be their kids' nanny. Absolute yuck.

Snotty l/Liberal$/Dippers have said that this amount is peanuts and isn't helpful, but I would beg to differ. $100/child/month when my kids were young and we were living on my husband's income (who is in a "helping profession) would have been like manna from heaven.

Anyone who thinks that $100/child/month is negligible must be living a pretty cushy life.

As it is, the CPC government has rightly recognized that families make better decisions about what their needs are than governments do. They are allowing families to be responsible for their families, rather than having us rely on Big Father/Big Mother/Big Nanny Government.

It's a step in the right direction any way you look at it.

I,m single but its imperative we get family friendly laws back on the books. Even if it hurts me. These anti-family fanatics are just the Elite! Using social engineering to destroy the most solid voting block if not foundation stones. That make a free Polity. The Home.
JMO

Pakistan = Haiti: Voodoo Al/Moh.

...-

"[Pakistani Muslim]Zardari diverted millions of quake aid to other causes

More than $480 million (Cdn) in foreign aid for victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake has been diverted by President Asif Ali Zardari's government to other causes, officials have told The Daily Telegraph.

They now fear that the alleged diversion of funds will deter donors from giving further aid after the country's devastating floods.

According to senior officials, schools, hospitals, houses and roads planned with money given by foreign governments and aid groups, including Britain, remain unbuilt, almost five years after the earthquake killed 80,000 people and left four million homeless.

International donors gave $5.68 billion (Cdn) to rebuild vast areas of Pakistan's Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces."

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Zardari+diverted+millions+quake+other+causes/3396258/story.html

finally found out what killed the gopher on Kate's home page.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/100813/science/canada_saskatchewan_sk_praire_dog_plague1008

I see that Khadr's trial has been delayed because his lawyer collapsed from medical issues...I'm not providing link because I can't quite figure out how to copy links on my new phone.

My question...didn't this waste of skin get rid of all his council a short time ago? Why stop trial when he didn't even want a lawyer?

People are already making noise about a mistrial because the jury will be tainted after a one month delay waiting for council to get better.

Nothing against the lawyer and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Saw many reports that compared and contrasted the $2 million pledged by the Harper gov’t for Pakistan flood relief to that of the $70 million pledged by the Obama administration, with each reporter trying to infer that our gov’t is being cheap.

Well, it’s now being reported that the Harper gov’t will announce soon that aid will jump to $30 million, which, considering that the U.S. is 10 times our population, is like the Harper gov’t pledging $300 million to Obama’s $70 million.

With that said, I look forward to the CBC and CTV highlighting the generosity of our gov’’t -- no, I mean CONSERVATIVE gov’t -- and to compare and contrast it with what I’m sure they will describe as the cheapness of Barack Obama.

Oh, that’s right, such reports won’t be filed.

"The plague found in Saskatchewan gopher
Toronto Star"

"Migrants delivered to Victoria General Hospital
Vancouver Sun"

(googlenews)

Mole says, Liberal Ziffy is hoping to send Canadian "Liberal leader", Bob Rae, to Israel, er Pak, on a "fact-finding mission".

...-

"Pakistan flood response prompts rising anti-government resentment

Under fire president Asif Ali Zardari tries to ease public anger amid fears he could be overthrown"

"Pakistan's government faces the threat of social unrest or even military takeover after its shambolic response to the floods that have devastated the country, leaving 1,600 people dead and 2 million homeless, say analysts.

Fears that Asif Ali Zardari, the president, could be overthrown – possibly through an intervention by the army – have grown as the government's failure to adequately tackle the crisis has fuelled long-held grievances.

"The powers that be, that is the military and bureaucratic establishment, are mulling the formation of a national government, with or without the PPP [the ruling Pakistan People's party]," said Najam Sethi, editor of the weekly Friday Times. "I know this is definitely being discussed. There is a perception in the army that you need good governance to get out of the economic crisis and there is no good governance.""

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/13/pakistan-flood-response-anti-government-resentment